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Sgt. Frog, known in Japan as Keroro Gunso (ケロロ軍曹, Keroro Gunsō^?, Sergeant Keroro), is a manga series by Mine Yoshizaki. It was later serialized into an anime TV series directed by Junichi Sato. Both the anime and manga are comedies that follow the attempts of a platoon of frog-like alien invaders to conquer Earth. Sergeant Keroro, the titular character, is the leader of the platoon, but 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. The platoon has many failed attempts at taking over Earth.
The series takes its comedy from a combination of wordplay (particularly puns and homophones), physical humor, situational irony, breaking of the fourth wall, and numerous pop culture references (especially to Gundam, Kamen Rider, Space Battleship Yamato, Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Evangelion and many others, although when broadcast and published in the United States, they make references that American audiences would be familiar with like Ghostbusters and Men in Black).^[2] Various anime, games, manga, and other aspects of pop culture are parodied/referenced throughout the series as a bonus to older viewers. Both the manga and the anime are laden with pop-culture references, and even in the same story the references often vary wildly. The anime does not explicitly refer to Evangelion or other animations to which Bandai does not hold the copyrights, but only recreates the "feel" of famous scenes from these anime. The anime is much more detailed and direct in its Gundam references, however, since it's animation studio, Sunrise, is a subsidiary of Bandai who does hold the rights to the Gundam franchise.

 

Plot

The main plot of the story focuses on the steadily deteriorating conditions of the Keroro Platoon, a group of five, frog-like aliens from Planet Keron of the Gamma Planetary System. The platoon’s mission is to invade and conquer Earth (known to the aliens as “Pekopon”), but fail miserably at each attempt. Sergeant Keroro, although being the leader of the platoon, is childish, incompetent, and would rather spend his time indulging in his hobby of making plastic Gundam models than take over Earth. Aside from Keroro, there are four other members of the Keroro Platoon: adorable but violent Private Second Class Tamama; bellicose yet tenderhearted Coporal Giroro; intelligent but mischievous Sergeant Major Kururu; and disciplined but traumatized Lance Corporal Dororo.
The largest obstacle in the way of their mission is the Hinata Family, who must take care of the Keroro Platoon due to the Keron Army deserting the latter on Earth. Keroro is kept busy with manual labor and constant abuse, primarily from the family daughter, Natsumi. Each member of the platoon finds himself in the care of a human: Giroro's human is Natsumi Hinata, whom he falls in love with; Keroro's human is Fuyuki Hinata, who considers the Sergeant his only true friend; Kululu's human is Mutsumi Saburo, who discovered him; Dororo's human is Koyuki, a fellow ninja; and Tamama's human is his equal in bipolar insanity, Momoka Nishizawa. All are tied to the Hinatas in some way throughout the events in the anime and manga. although the series is made for children it contains suggestive themes making it popular with all audiences.

[edit] Production and awards

Sgt. Frog is published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the magazine Shōnen Ace, and published in English by Tokyopop. The anime is produced by Sunrise, and has been aired on Animax, TV Tokyo, and TXN at 10:00 A.M. until 10:30 A.M. every Saturday since April 2004. In addition, 5 full-length theatrical movies have been released:

• Super Movie Keroro Gunsou (超劇場版ケロロ軍曹, Chō Gekijō-ban Keroro Gunsō^?) (2006)
• Super Movie Keroro Gunsou 2: The Princess of the Deep Sea sir, yes sir! (超劇場版ケロロ軍曹2 深海のプリンセスであります!, Chō Gekijō-ban Keroro Gunsō 2: Shinkai no Purinsesu de arimasu!^?) (2007)
• Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 3: Keroro vs. Keroro Great Duel in the Heavenly Sky sir, yes sir! (超劇場版ケロロ軍曹3 ケロロ対ケロロ天空大決戦であります!, Chō Gekijō-ban Keroro Gunsō 3: Keroro tai Keroro, Tenkū Daikessen de arimasu!^?) (2008)
• Keroro Gunsō the Super Movie: Crushing Invasion Dragon Warriors sir, yes sir! (超劇場版ケロロ軍曹 撃侵ドラゴンウォリアーズであります!, Chō Gekijō-ban Keroro Gunsō: Gekishin Doragon Woriāzu de arimasu!^?) (2009)
• Keroro Gunso the Super Movie: Creation! Ultimate Keroro, Space-Time Island of Miracle sir, yes sir! (超劇場版ケロロ軍曹 誕生!究極ケロロ奇跡の時空島であります!!, Chō Gekijō-ban Keroro Gunsō: Tanjou! Kyuukyoku Keroro, Kiseki no Jikuu-jima, de arimasu!!^?) (2010)

All five films were directed by Junichi Sato and produced by Sunrise.
At present, 20 English manga volumes have been released by Tokyopop. ADV had previously announced they had acquired exclusive rights to an English dub of Sgt. Frog^[3] (for $408,000^[4]). However, on July 4, 2008, it was announced that rights to the English release were transferred to Funimation Entertainment.^[5]
In 2005, the manga received the 50th Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga.^[6]

[edit] Media

[edit] Anime episodes

[edit] Manga

The Keroro Gunsou manga began its monthly run in the weekly shōnen magazine, Shōnen Ace. The manga, first aimed at the older audience (teens/adults) from the first to the seventh Tankōbon, was toned down after the Anime started (Since the TV-series was a family show). However, the manga still maintains suggestive comedy that only the more mature audiences understand in present volumes. The Tokyopop US release of the Keroro manga have censored nipples drawn in some scenes, in order to get away from the OT (Older teen) rating and maintaining its Teen rating.

[edit] Merchandising

A signature element of the manga series is its frequent Gundam references, ranging from Keroro's Gunpla obsession to the Keronian military equipment, which is based on those of various Gundam series. As a result, the series was picked up by Bandai, who have supported it with an extensive line of merchandise. For example, Keroro action figures are called "Keroro in Action?!", a play on the long running "Mobile Suit in Action!!" Gundam action figure line. Indeed, the Keroro name on the packaging is even designed to appear to be hastily pasted over the MSiA!! name (referring to the recurring theme of get-rich-quick schemes in the show). Other such lines include the forthcoming Keroro FIX (based on Hajime Katoki's popular Gundam fix figuration) and Keroro model kits, formally dubbed KeroPla in honor of Keroro's beloved Gunpla, which come in two distinct lines:

• Keroro figure models depicting the Keroro Platoon members themselves (up to the recent Musha Kero line), along with newer characters like Dark Keroro and Lt. Garuru, which include rotating eyes to depict facial expressions made famous by the anime ('scheming' Keroro and 'trauma switch' Dororo, to name a couple) and special neck joints to allow the user to place the heads on various Gundam kits.
• Keroro mecha models, depicting the Mk. I basic robots, the Mk. II mecha, recolors of the Mk. I line dubbed the Real Type series, and the samurai-themed Musha Kero mecha. The latest Pirate Keroro series consists of vehicles instead, all able to sprout arms or legs for a "mobile armor" form. Each set of five mecha have a combined mecha form (the Pirate line is the only one that combines to form a larger vehicle).

[edit] Spin-offs and guest appearances

Other spin-offs include a manga called "Musha Kero" that has recently been adapted in the anime.^[7] The series has also spawned a magazine called "Keroro Land" that promotes toys, games, media, and events based on the manga and anime. Sgt. Keroro, Tamama, Giroro, Dororo and Kululu also make cameo appearances in the movie of Kaiketsu Zorori, Keroro and Tamama also have appearances in the OVA of Lucky Star, and Kagami also spends almost all her money on a grip-claw-game trying to get a Keroro doll. The incoming Japanese game Monster Hunter Tri G is to have downloadable costumes of Keroro for the humanoid companions Kayamba and Cha-Cha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Frog