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The Show:
FUNimation gives fans another 12 laugh-out-loud funny episodes of
everyone's
favorite alien invader in Sgt. Frog Season Two Part Two. Clever, witty, and hilarious, this has show
consistently
delivered irreverent fast-paced comedy over 50 + episodes so far. It's pretty impressive if you think about
it. If you enjoyed the earlier releases,
rest assured that the program hasn't jumped the shark.
If you haven't seen the earlier sets yet,
stop reading this and run out and buy them.
Series Background:
The Earth is in danger. A ship full of troops from the planet
Keron are
in orbit and ready to invade, but first they send down a squad of five
frog-like reconnaissance soldiers led by Sgt. Keroro.
Unfortunately for
the invaders, Keron is an idiot. Soon after landing on Earth he
meets up
with the Hinata family, mother and manga creator Aki, son Fuyuki, and
daughter
Natsumi. In the first episode Fuyuki takes Keroro's very powerful
control
ball and accidently sends a signal to the invasion fleet to flee the
planet,
leaving Keroro and his comrades behind.
Aki quickly agrees to let Keroro stay at their house, in exchange for
some
'light' house work (so she can chronicle his adventures in her
manga.) He
agrees and basically goes from intergalactic soldier to slave in one
quick
motion. The frog lives in the spacious basement which sounds like
a sweet
deal until he discovers that the Hinata's house is built on the ruins
of a
mental hospital which was built on top of an old cemetery and the
basement is
haunted by the ghost of a wrongfully committed female patient.
There's
always something, isn't there?
In addition to Keroro, there's the rest of his command, the Armpit
Platoon. This consists of Private Second
Class Tamama who goes along with whatever Keroro says; Corporal Giroro,
the
group weapons master who is constantly irritated by Keroro's lack of an
invasion plan; Sergeant Major Kululu, the intelligence expert who
invents
various items at the drop of a hat; and Lance Corporal Dororo, who
follows the
ways of the ninja and has vowed to protect Earth, even from his team
mates.
Though he's trapped on Earth (or Pekopon as it is called on Keron) that
hasn't
stopped the soldier from trying to conquer the planet... his love of
Gundam
models has. He spends all of his free time building models and
recreating
famous Gundam battles, and only thinks about destroying humans when he
has to.
This volume:
This time around we get more of the same, and thank goodness
for that! These 12 episodes have Sgt.
Keroro and the Armpit Platoon still trying to conquer Pekopon, but
mainly bickering
among themselves and getting into odd (and hilarious) predicaments. In Keroro's
Sweet Patato Dango the sergeant
decides to raise some money by selling chocolates before Valentines Day. The only problem is that he gets conned into
spending his limited capital on a truck load of sweet potatoes, so he
makes a
confection out of them and tries to convince everyone that sweet potato
candy
is a better gift than chocolate. One of
the better episodes was How to Succeed in
Pekopon Conquering Without Really Trying, where Kululu becomes nice
and
starts to help the Hinatas for a change.
They're all so grateful that they give him cookies and other
nice
things. The whole platoon decides that
they'll be good too, gain the Earthlings trust, and then turn on them. Keroro has a hard time however, and isn't
sure what a good deed actually is.
Since there's not a lot of continuity in this show (though
there is some, and the narrator, my favorite character, often points it
out. "Hey, we haven't seen that since
episode
13.") much of what I've said in my previous reviews still applies. This is a bizarre show, with off the wall
humor and a rapid-fire pace that keeps my whole family laughing. Basically, if you enjoyed the first two sets,
this is more of the same. Pick it up.
The DVD:
This two disc set contains the next 12 installments in the series,
episodes 40-51.
They come on two single-sided DVDs each in its own thinpak
case.
The two cases are housed in an attractive slipcase.
Audio:
This show comes with the original Japanese soundtrack in stereo
and a DD
5.1 English dub (with optional subtitles). I viewed the show in
Japanese
and spot checked the dub track and found them to be both fine, if
unexceptional, mixes. There are not a lot of effects in the show,
but the
2.0 track has some good separation and the 5.1 option does make some
good use
of the rears in the occasional action sequences. The rare
explosions do
sound better on the dub track though they aren't as forceful as I would
have
liked. Whether you prefer watching anime with subs or the dub,
you'll be
pleased with this set.
Video:
The show was made in 2004 and features a 4:3 image that looks very
good.
The colors are solid and bright, the lines are tight, and the blacks
are
deep. There was a bit of aliasing in the background, but nothing
too
tragic. Overall this is a nice looking show.
Extras:
Not much in the way of extras. The second disc includes a clean
opening
and closing as well as a text 'Pekopon Invasion Database' which is a
gallery of
character designs.
Final Thoughts:
Filled with more puns, quips, and jokes, this set is just as
uproariously funny as the earlier ones. This is easily the best
humor
anime currently in release and deserves to be in everyone's anime
collection. Highly Recommended. |
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