Keroro Gunso

Keroro Gunso
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For the main character, see Keroro. For international versions, see Keroro Gunso international adaptations.

Keroro Gunso (ケロロ軍曹, Keroro Gunsou, lit. Sergeant Keroro) is a manga series by Mine Yoshizaki. It was serialized into a TV anime series with the same name directed by Junichi Sato. Keroro Gunso is a series about a group of aliens led by Sergeant Keroro that is tasked by the army of Planet Keron to prepare Earth for their invasion. However, the platoon of five ends up being friends with humans in Inner Tokyo, and their plans of invasion stuck up indefinitely.

The series began serialization in Shōnen Ace in 1999. Insanely popular in Japan, the manga was eventually released in North America in 2004 by Tokyopop, later being licensed by Viz Media after Tokyopop's initial closure. The series was later adapted into an anime television series by Sunrise, which ran for 358 episodes from April 2004 to April 2011. A second 23-episode series was broadcast from March to September 2014. In April 2024, it was announced that the series would receive a new anime project in commemoration of the anime's 20th anniversary.

Media

Manga

Main article: Keroro Gunso manga volumes

Kerorotankobon1 — First *tankōbon* volume cover, featuring Keroro

Keroro Gunso is published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the magazine Monthly Shōnen Ace, and was published in English by Tokyopop. The manga, first aimed at the older audience (teens/adults) from the first to the seventh volume, was toned down after the anime adaption 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.

Tokyopop initially held the American rights to the Keroro Gunso manga until 2011 when the company ceased operations. By the time their publication ended, they had published 21 volumes. Their release of the manga have censored nipples drawn in some scenes, in order to get away from the OT (Older teen) rating and maintaining its Teen rating. Viz Media relicensed the manga for digital release on December 16, 2014.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the series, the November issue of Shōnen Ace announced the launching of a new manga titled Chō Keroro Gunsō UC: Keroro Robo Daikessen (Super Sgt. Frog Ultra Cool: Keroro Robo's Epic Climactic Battle) on the next issue, on sale October 26, 2018. The manga is created by Yūtarō Shido, while Mine Yoshikizaki being credited as original author.

Anime

An anime adaptation aired from 2004 to 2011 on TV Tokyo for seven seasons. This was followed by a new anime in 2024 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original anime, and a flash series in 2014. The series takes its comedy from a combination of wordplay (particularly puns and homophones), physical humor, situational humor, and numerous pop culture references (especially to Gundam, Space Battleship Yamato and Neon Genesis Evangelion). 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.

In November 2006, ADV Films announced that they had acquired the rights to the anime adaptation; however, after nearly two years without a single word on the project save for a couple of trailers, Funimation acquired the distribution rights in 2008 (along with about 30 other ADV titles). After a bit more Development Hell, the first season 1 DVD was released September 2009. By March 2010, all of the first season had been released on DVD - split into two "seasons" for whatever reason. In February 2011, Funimation announced that it has licensed further seasons and would continue the dub, but production came to a standstill after the completion of their third, and no further dubbing was done. However, another, more faithful English dub provided by Animax aired in a few select countries of the series' birth continent and covered the whole series. In March 2021, Discotek Media rescued the series, and will release all 358 episodes on SD Blu-ray. They've also licensed the show out to Crunchyroll for the time being.

On April 1, 2024, it was announced through a video that the series would receive a new anime project produced by Bandai Namco Pictures in commemoration of the anime's 20th anniversary. Many of the original cast are reprising their roles.

Movies

Special Movies

Keroro Gunso the Super Movie: Star of the Solar Plants de arimasu!! (2008, featured in D-D works Planetarium. Re-released in 2011 for special viewings.)

Plot

Both the manga and the anime focus on the steadily deteriorating conditions of the Keroro Platoon, a group of frog-like invaders from the planet Keron, whose mission is to conquer Earth (Pekopon). But when their cover is blown, his battalion abandons him and he ends up in the home of the Hinata family. The platoon's leader, Sergeant Keroro, is easily distracted, and would spend his time making Gundam models, watching anime, surfing the Internet and other stuff rather than coming up with a plan to conquer Earth. Aside from Keroro's laziness, what most stands in the way of their mission is the Hinata Family, a trio of humans who keep Keroro busy with ridiculous demands and constant abuse, primarily from the family daughter Natsumi.

Differences between manga and anime

The transfer from manga to anime is somewhat uneven, as some episodes strongly resemble the manga while others only borrow the basic story or even use it only as a starting point.

In the manga, Earth is referred to as 'Pokopen', whereas in the anime, it is 'Pekopon'. Since 'Pokopen' is a derogarory Japanese word used during the Sino-Japanese wars, hence it is not allowed to be used in television programmes.
Whereas the manga is somewhat oriented towards teens, the anime is toned down to a level acceptable for children.
Keroro possesses the Kero Ball in the manga, but Fuyuki has it in the anime.
Because Giroro, Kururu, and especially Dororo are introduced in the anime much earlier than in the manga, several storylines not featuring them at all were modified to include them.
Because of the time difference between the manga's start and the anime's Start, Angol Mois's backstory is somewhat modified. Everything up to the point of Mois telling Nostradamus about her destroying Earth was true but she ended up being five years too late (2004 instead of 1999).
623 still has his radio show in the anime, but he is a senior from Natsumi and Fuyuki's middle school instead of a high school dropout, and his last name is Saburo rather than Hojo.
In the anime, Sumomo is a hit intergalactic pop star who appears in several episodes, while in the manga she is a female alien who appears in a bonus issue.
Dororo and Koyuki live in a house next to the Hinata's in the manga, whereas in the anime, they live in the woods near Momoka's estate and can see the Nishizawa tower from their home.
Due to the anime being much farther ahead than the manga, several episodes have been added that aren't found in the manga. To make things more interesting.
The way the characters are drawn are slightly different. Look at the characters in the first page of the manga, then look at them in the first episode of the anime.
In the anime, Keroro mainly sleeps on the floor, but in the manga, he sleeps in a bed.
In the manga, the Keron Army has clones of platoon leaders just in case something happens, but in the anime, this is not mentioned at all. (When the Garuru Platoon invaded, they had a clone of Keroro, so there were two, but in the anime of the same situation, they only made Keroro younger without the clone.)
Fuyuki's occult club was made before Keroro and his platoon came to Pekopon in the anime, but in the manga, the occult club was made after Momoka became a ghost with help of the platoon in Volume 14: Encounter 114.
Pururu's syringe has a needle as a point in the manga, but in the anime, the point is a ball.
Natsumi is a 9th grader in the manga, but in the anime, she is an 8th grader.

Characters

Sergeant Keroro (ケロロ軍曹, Keroro Gunsou) Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe

Sergeant Keroro is the hyperactive and manipulative leader of the Keroro Platoon. The antihero of the series, the platoon's plans almost always fail because of him. When it's not his turn doing the Hinata family's household chores, he would spend his time making Gundam models, watching anime, sleeping, or other stuff instead of coming up with a plan to conquer Pekopon (Earth).

Fuyuki Hinata (日向冬樹, Hinata Fuyuki) Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami

Fuyuki Hinata is what makes an average Japanese teen except for one thing: he's obsessed with the occult and paranormal. This obsession, however, made them discover Keroro in his hiding place. Now, Fuyuki and Keroro are very close friends. Whenever Fuyuki recalls their friendship, Keroro stops with whatever plan he has come up with. Fuyuki also has low stamina and therefore low interest in sports and does not know how to swim.

Natsumi Hinata (日向夏美, Hinata Natsumi) Voiced by: Chiwa Saito

Natsumi Hinata is the hot-blooded girl who commands around the house. Keroro works under Natsumi's demands while calling him stupid frog. The opposite of his brother Fuyuki, Natsumi is gifted with the stamina and one of the best in Kissho Academy. She is especially sensitive to whatever invasion plans the Keroro Platoon comes up with.

Private Second Class Tamama (タママ二等兵, Tamama Nitouhei) Voiced by: Etsuko Kozakura

Tamama is the cute character in the Keroro Platoon and he loves Keroro. Tamama's mood can change very quickly, especially when Keroro gets his attention on something or someone else. As being the cute character, he is always seen eating cake, cola or chips.

Corporal Giroro (ギロロ伍長, Giroro Gochou) Voiced by: Jōji Nakata

Giroro is the serious character in the platoon. He is the one who always reminds Keroro about the invasion. Giroro is also very skilled at wielding guns. Aside from guns, he is also madly in love with Natsumi. When abused, this fact can affect him greatly.

Sergeant Major Kururu (クルル曹長, Kururu Souchou) Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu

The resident brains, Kururu is the intelligence officer of the platoon. His downside is his bad personality, but he makes effective inventions, some with interesting effects. His knowledge in hacking is also useful at times. He becomes uncomfortable when someone with a pure heart stares at him.

Lance Corporal Dororo (ドロロ兵長, Dororo Heicho) Voiced by: Takeshi Kusao

Zeroro is the platoon's ninja assassin. Zeroro changed his name to Dororo when he came to live with Koyuki. Zeroro has always been friends together with Keroro and Giroro, until the becoming of the Keroro Platoon, despite Keroro using Dororo for various bad situations. As such, when he is reminded of one of those, his trauma switch turns on and becomes useless for the next few moments.

Momoka Nishizawa (西澤桃華, Nishizawa Momoka) Voiced by: Haruna Ikezawa

Momoka Nishizawa is the rich daughter of the owner of the big Nishizawa corporation. Momoka discovers Tamama, who now lives with her. She is in love with the average Fuyuki, and does everything to get him. She has a split-personality, the more courageous of which appears when she is angered by Keroro or some other factor.

Angol Mois (アンゴル＝モア, Angoru Moa) Voiced by: Mamiko Noto

Angol Mois is a planet destroyer from Angol destined to destroy Earth. Angol Mois and Keroro had been friends for a long time such that Angol Mois regards Keroro her 'uncle', and they can get too close to each other, much to the jealousy of Tamama. She transforms into a human form (based on a girl named Asami) for disguise.

Koyuki Azumaya (東谷小雪, Azumaya Koyuki) Voiced by: Ryo Hirohashi

Koyuki Azumaya is a ninja who lives with and is a friend of Dororo. She has always lived with the ways of the ninja, and has therefore trouble adapting to city life. She becomes best friends with city girl Natsumi who is also a student of Kissho Academy.

Mutsumi Saburo (サブロー睦実, Saburō Mutsumi) Voiced by: Akira Ishida

Saburo is also a student of Kissho Academy, but skips school a lot because of his extremely high IQ. He becomes friends with Kururu, who shares the same trait. He also hosts his own radio show as 623 (pronounced Mutsumi). Natsumi is in love with Saburo, and also consequently listens to his radio show.

Aki Hinata (日向秋, Hinata Aki) Voiced by Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (Funimation)

Aki is the buxom mother of Fuyuki and Natsumi. She calls the Keronians by their short name plus -chan. Aki is a very busy manga editor, although she does try to find time with her children.

Controversial Scenes

The manga is the most controversial part of the Keroro Gunso series, especially in the first seven volumes, due to fanservice scenes:
- In several chapters of the manga, Natsumi's breasts are shown.
- In the chapter A Shocking New Year!!, Mois' breasts were shown 2 times. The first was the drunk scene, and the other is the Lady Moa scene (The Tokyopop USA version of the manga however censors Mois' bare breasts with a bra to avoid the OT (Older Teen) rating).
- In the chapter based off the 5th movie, a tribal male character was wearing a loincloth. His buttocks can also be seen, but in the anime movie, he was wearing something else.
- A lot of violence and blood is shown in the manga, but is toned down shortly afterwards.
Both the manga and anime, Aki's breasts are shown to be oversized. The same with Melody Honey.

Keroro (2014)

On December 9, 2013, It was announced that there would be a new Keroro Gunso anime called "Keroro". Its episodes are minute shorts, animated in flash, and started airing in Spring 2014. It ended on September 6, 2014. It was hinted in the ending credits of the last episode that a new season will begin in 2015, but this did not occur.

20th anniversary anime

A 20th anniversary version of the anime was announced.

Music

Soundtracks

International adaptations

Main article: Keroro Gunso international adaptations

Terminology

Earth (Pekopon) (地球(ポコペン), Earth (Pekopon))

The main setting of the story. The Keron Army planned to invade Earth but decided to leave Keroro and the others behind.

Keron (ケロン星(ケロンせい・ケロンスター), Keron-sei / Keron-sutā)

A planet far away from Earth. Its appearance is a plain green background with yellow stars. Its inhabitants, called Keronians, are frog-like creatures that grow tails in young ones and breathe in air.

Resonance (共鳴, Kyoumei)

A mystical ability all Keronians and Earth Frogs can do. It is used to strengthen ones spirits and is usually used to strike fear into ones enemy.

External links

Sgt. Frog at Wikipedia
Sgt. Frog (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Keroro Secret Base (Official website, see also the article) (Japanese)