Sgt. Frog

Overview

Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunso) is a near exact animated translation of the hit Manga series created by Mine Yoshizaki. The series is a Comedy/Sci-Fi that parodies many other popular series namely of the Sci-Fi genre. It is produced by the Sunrise Animation studio which known for the Gundam series (which is featured in this show as well) and has aired in Japan on both the TV Tokyo and Animax networks.

The series was originally licensed by ADV Films and their website added a brief teaser page, announcing their licensing of the anime. The site turned to static before playing a short clip of Keroro dancing to "Afro Gunso," then leaving the message "hacked by the frog. "This was followed by a press release from ADV on November 20, 2006, stating that they had licensed all Sgt. Frog properties (except the manga, which was already licensed by Tokyopop but has ceased as of 2010) for the US. It was once confirmed that the anime dub would be released on DVD in the United States in February 2007. However, ADV Films had never confirmed a release date. ADV announced at Comic-Con International 2007 that the US release date had been delayed because of TV negotiations but would not comment on which networks they were talking to. In a DVD included with the December issue of Newtype USA was an English-language trailer for Sgt. Frog released by ADV, with voices for Keroro (said to be voiced by Vic Mignogna), Natsumi, Fuyuki, Aki, and the narrator. However, as of July 4, 2008, the English license for the first 51 episodes of the Sgt. Frog anime was transferred to Funimation Entertainment through a deal with Sojitz. Funimation has released the first 3 seasons on to DVD and has begun streaming the episodes on Hulu and Netflix.

Plot

Keroro is leading the advance guard of a frog-like alien army to planet Pokopen, which the locals call Earth. But he is captured by the natives and abandoned by his invasion fleet. Siblings Natsumi and Fuyuki Hinata take him home, where he has to do housework in return for a room in a haunted basement. He gradually settles in, comes to like his new home, and loses all interest in military glory when he discovers the delights of making plastic model kits. The other members of his platoon also find homes on Earth and comic mayhem ensues.

The theme of the alien observer of human foibles has been used in TV comedy from My Favorite Martian to Third Rock from the Sun. But Keroro follows a Japanese tradition dating back to Emperor of the Plum Planet, and also brings the army-issue kero ball, a device akin to Batman's utility belt, functioning as weapon, communicator, and general situation-saving MacGuffin-compare to Doraemon. Supposedly based on Mine Yoshizaki's manga, but with an "original creator" credit for Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise house pseudonym Hajime Yadate, the show is packed with references to Japanese science fiction like Space Giants (*DE, the live-action version of Ambassador Magma) but the PlayStation 2 game packs in even more homages to all kinds of anime weapons, from Gundam's beam rifles to Evangelion's Lance of Longinus. A movie followed in 2006. LNV