Anime Review- Sgt Frog

Narrator: Sgt Frog belongs to it's original creators and Funimation and no one else.. Now can I please get my money already? My gambling debts aren't going to pay themselves you know..

--

*Que Ribbit March*

3..2..1.. Fire!

Kero Kero Kero
Iza susume-! Chikyuu shinryaku se yo
Kekkerokkero
Kasa motte dekaketa hi ni wa itsumo hare

"Ki o tsuke me o kuishibare!!"
Curry no rice o taki wasure

Shimaru DOOR koyubi hasanda
Tobinottara yukisaki chigau
Shain ryokou wa Keron
A katta houga yasui ne ban no okazu!!!

Gero Gero Gero
Takaraka ni shouri no otakebi o
Geggeroggero
Harikitte denwa ni detara FAAKUSHIMIRI

"Heisei wa honjitsu yori Keroro gannen de arimasu"
Shikakui tokoro wa maruku hake

Mizukaki asekkaki besokkaki
Ha migaki nara ichigo no kaori
Keron wa uchuu ichi tabun
A eki kara go fun wa jitsu wa juugo fun
Sore ja sorujaa dotsukaresan
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*On screen are XxDe-JixX (Dejjj for short) and myself..

Dejj is wearing a red jacket with a white shirt underneath, along with matching pants and shoes. On her head is a maroon colored cap with a skull in the middle. She's sitting comfortably in a chair.

With me, I'm wearing a white tank top with a yellow and green shoshinsha mark on the chest area (it's a mark that new japanese drivers have to put on their vehicles in a year after getting their licenses..), and dark blue pants with matching shoes and suspenders. On my head is a yellow cap with the the same shoshinsha mark.I then proceed to do a back flip into a chair next to the one that Dejj is sitting in.*

Me: *Thinking to myself mentally* Weird.. Haven't been able to do that before..

Dejj: Welcome to a brand new anime review!

Me: Hopefully I can still be a good reviewer since I haven't done it in a while..

Dejj: Which is why I'll be helping you out! After all, it's my duty as an older sister figure <3.. *Hugs me..*

Me: Yeah I know.. ^//^

Dejj: * Stops hugging me..* Anyway, today's review is on Sgt Frog..

Me: Sgt. Frog was originally a manga created by Mine Yoshizaki in 1999 (and is still ongoing). Later, Sgt Frog was serialized into an anime series by Sunrise studio in 2004 and lasted until 2011 with an episode count of 358. Funimation managed to gain the rights to dub the anime in 2008 of course, which is all good.

Dejj: In both the anime and manga, it's basically the same story;  a platoon of frog-like alien invaders  are from their planet Keron in order to conquer the planet Pekopon (their word for earth) and enslave all of the Pekoponians (earthlings obviously). There is a bit of a snag; as Sergeant Keroro is, at the mercy of a human family of three after he is captured while trying to hide in one of the family member's bedrooms. In both the manga and anime, Keroro is forced to do meaningless chores and errands for the family after his army abandons his platoon on Earth. Obviously by the sound of it, it's a comedy series mixed with science fiction.. Which is obviously a neat idea.

Me: One thing I love especially about the series is it's style of comedy. Aside from the wordplay, it has a great mix between slapstick humor (I especially LOVE the timing and expressions), situational irony, fourth wall breaking (I love those kind of jokes when they're done right), and numerous pop culture references. Luckily, the pop culture references don't take up too much of the show and it's humor.. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer should be taking notes on this.

Dejj: Aside from the great comedic style of the series, I also adore the art style and animation. It's really fluid and quite pleasing to the eyes.

Me: I'd also like to note that the sci-fi elements are really creative and fun to watch. They give off this feeling of wonder and enchantment that do make me wish could occur in real life. In fact, the keronian technology and culture themselves are really fascninating!

Dejj: Now that we got those out of the way, let's get on to the main focus of the series.. The characters!

(Note: There are many major characters in the series, so we'll just talk about the Platoon)

Me: Starting off with Sergeant Keroro himself. He basically used to be a great soldier back on Keron, but basically lost most of his interest in the invasion, preferring to spend his time making Gundam models, watching anime, or reading manga, when he is not doing the house chores of the Hinata household (it's mostly because Keron is a very humid planet, which gives Keronians their strength.. It kind of makes sense since frogs are amphibians). When there's enough moisture, Keroro does turn back into his former self.

Dejj: For those of you who may not know, his voice actor in the funimation dub of the anime is Todd Haberkorn, otherwise known as the funimation voice of Death the Kid from Soul Eater.


*Switch to a scene where Kid basically encounters Keroro*

Kid: *Thinks mentally to himself while staring at the sergeant* Such a perfectly round head, matching eyes, matching legs, and arms.. The beauty in his symmetry holds no bounds~

Keroro: *To himself mentally as he looks at Kid from the corner of his eye* Weirdo..

*Switch back to Dejj and myself*


Me: I like Sarge's personality.. He's carefree, happy-go-lucky, negligent, greedy, vengeful, unlucky and at times a coward. What especially makes him so hilarious is how sure he is in himself despite how hare-brained his schemes can be from time to time, even when they backfire, he's undaunted and still think his plans will work. He's a little bit like Wile E. Coyote when you think about it. XD

Dejj: Next up is the weapons expert of the platoon, Corporal Giroro. This red frog is basically the most serious and gruff of the platoon with a short temper to boot. He's basically one of my favorite characters in the series, thanks especially to how irritated he can be with the laidback and unfocused attitude of Keroro (which offers a LOT of hilarious moments). Despite this, he's honorable, and even has a soft side (he has a pet cat living with him in the Hinata's backyard named "Ms. Furbottom" XD). He's also in love with Natsumi (who we'll, again, get to later). I'd also like to note that he's voiced by Chris Sabat, who has quite a name for himself when it comes to voice actors in anime. (One of his known roles is Major Armstrong from Full Metal Alchemist.)

Me: Next up is Private Tamama, who's also Dejj's favorite character, and I can see why. He's basically the youngest member (still a tadpole I believe) who looks adorable and acts childlike (he even has a taste for junk-food and sweets), he's also quite devoted to Keroro (to the point of a possible man crush). However, he has mood swings that border on a split personality. He can be gentle and cheerful at one moment, then become a vengeful, stark raving lunatic at the drop of the hat (which is hilarious of course.. XD). He's also prone to fits of jealousy to anyone who gets near Keroro, though not usually the other members of the platoon. What also makes him stand out is his ability as a martial artist,  and being able to fire blasts of jealousy/hate fueled energy from his mouth (known as the Tamama impact). He's voiced by Brina Palencia, who's also the voice actress of Tony Tony Chopper from the funimation dub of One Piece.

Dejj: You've also got Seargent Major Kululu.. The best word to describe him, is "mad scientist..". Despite being higher in rank then Keroro, he's not the leader due to his unnerving personality. However, despite this, he is vital to the platoon due to not only his hacking abilities, but also because of his technological prowess (basically he's like Card-shark, just far more mischievous and mad scientist-y.. If that's a real word.. >.>). Due to this prowess, he's invented many gadgets and weapons for the platoon. If you ever need a mad scientist, he's your man.

Me: And for the final member of the Keroro platoon, is Lance Corporal Dororo. Aside from being the kind and meek soul of the platoon, he's also the platoon's ninja.. (and as we all know, ninjas are awesome.. Except for the popcorn movie ninjas that get killed easily in action flicks). Despite being a member of the platoon, he no longer shares the the same invasion objectives as his platoon. In fact, he believes that they should invade with love and kindness.. Yeah, I think it'd be better if he were also called the platoon's  "Hippy" at this
point.

Dejj: I think what also makes the humor of Sgt. Frog work to it's advantage is the way EVERY major character interacts with each other. Especially the platoon itself, since there are very different and dynamic personalities that are able to work off of one another.

Me: So to sum it up.. See the anime!! It's great!