Sgt. Frog | |
Cover of the first Tankobon volume.
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ケロロ軍曹 (Keroro Gunsō) |
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Genre | Action, Comedy, Science Fiction |
Manga | |
Written by | Mine Yoshizaki |
Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
English publisher | |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Magazine | Monthly Shōnen Ace (April 1999 – September 2007, October 2013 – ongoing) Kerokero Ace (October 2007 – September 2013) |
Original run | April 1999 – present |
Volumes | 27 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by |
Junichi Sato (Chief Director) Yusuke Yamamoto (eps 1-103) Nobuhiro Kondo (eps 104-358) |
Produced by | Yoshikazu Beniya (TV Tokyo) Norio Yamakawa (TV Tokyo) Aya Yoshino (TV Tokyo) Naoki Sasada (NAS) Teruaki Jitsumatsu (NAS) Kazuhiro Asou (NAS) Tomoko Takahashi (NAS) Chieo Ohashi (Sunrise) Masayuki Ozaki (Sunrise) |
Written by |
Mamiko Ikeda (eps 1-103) Masahiro Yokotani (eps 104-358) |
Music by | Saeko Suzuki |
Studio | Sunrise |
Licensed by | |
Original network |
Animax TV Tokyo |
English network | |
Original run | April 3, 2004 – April 3, 2011 |
Episodes | 358 |
Films | |
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Anime television series | |
Keroro | |
Directed by | Haruki Kasugamori |
Produced by | Tsuyoshi Kikuchi Hiroyuki Watanabe Hiromitsu Higuchi |
Written by | Haruki Kasugamori Mine Yoshizaki |
Music by | SuperSweep co., ltd. |
Studio |
Sunrise Gathering |
Original network | Animax |
Original run | March 22, 2014 – September 6, 2014 |
Episodes | 23 |
Sgt. Frog (ケロロ軍曹 Keroro Gunsō?, lit. "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, Super Sentai, 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). 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 its animation studio, Sunrise, is a subsidiary of Bandai who does hold the rights to the Gundam franchise. Season 2 began on April 1, 2005, with episodes aired on Fridays instead of Saturdays. With Season 4's debut on April 7, 2007, episodes aired on Saturdays instead of Fridays. With Season 7's premiere on April 4, 2010 episodes aired on Sundays instead of Saturdays.