The
Series:
While fans are patiently (or not so patiently as is often the case)
waiting for the further adventures of Sgt. Frog to be released here in
Region 1, FUNimation has decided to put together the second season into
one nice-sized boxed set. I would have much rather a set of new
episodes, but this release is a good sign. At least they haven't
forgotten about the diminutive alien and his mission to conquer
Earth. Clever, witty, and hilarious,
this show consistently delivers irreverent fast-paced comedy and is a
'must-buy' title.
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 Season:
This collection presents more of the same, and thank goodness
for that! These 24 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. This
time around the Armpit Platoon gets pulled into a school play, Peter Pan - A
Tale of Terror, they present a parody of Jurassic
Park
complete with a cloned T-Rex, and
try to raise money (to pay off Keroro's Gundam model debts) by opening
a Ninja Training
School.
Unfortunately this competes with Space Detective Kogoro's
attempt to
raise some cash with a "Space Deputy Seminar". Mayhem
ensues.
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.
Like the other collections, just about every
episode on
these discs has some good laughs. One
of the best this time around is the Christmas episode where Keroro
decides that
Santa is a rival alien trying to conquer Pekopon and sets out to kill
him. Or tickle him, whichever is easier. There's also a funny parody of practical joke
shows where the space pop-idol Sumomo gets into a Natsumi disguise and
tries to
'punk' Giroro by getting the frog to kiss the human on TV.
It's not as easy as it sounds.
Even the shows with
weaker plots are funny because the show
is filled with rapid-fire puns and jokes; so many that you can't catch
all of
them the first time around. Not all of
them are aimed at kids either, such are the time that one character
pulls out
"A weapon so horrible even North Korea has banned it!" Basically, if you enjoyed the first two sets,
this is more of the same. Pick it up.
The
DVD:
This four disc set contains the entire second season, episodes
27-51.
They come on four single-sided DVDs each in its own thinpak
case. The 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 and fourth discs
include 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 season. While there are no new
episdoes, and if you have the earlier releases you can safely skip this
one, Sgt. Frog is easily the
best humor
anime currently in release and deserves to be in everyone's anime
collection. Highly
Recommended.
Buy: