Ranked #996

Keroro Gunsou (Manga)

I'm surprised there are no in-depth reviews of Keroro Gunsou, so here goes. It's also called Sgt. Frog, so you might see me switching off between names.

I'm tempted to say that part of this manga is slice of life, and for the most part thats true. Most of the fillers involve holidays or traditional Japanese events, and its really refreshing to see these within a manga. No real predominate romance or action either; this manga is all about the comedy. And boy, does it get funny and weird.

STORY: 9/10

Get this: Frog-like aliens attempt to invade earth and get caught by two middle/high school kids, one of which is obsessed with the supernatural and one of which enslaves the aliens to do menial housework. How original is that? This is probably the most creative story I have seen a manga attempt to weave, and so far I am excited to say that it has been a success, even to the extent that Keroro Gunsou is released here in the US. Why don't we hear about it more, then? Beats me.

ART: 9/10

Yoshizaki take few liberties in the drawing of Keroro Gunsou. What I really enjoy are the unique facial expressions of the frogs; they seem endless and always funny. Some of my fav eye styles as well.

CHARACTER: 9/10

Some characters are predictable, some are not. They are all unique in some way or another, and this is proven by Yoshizaki's purposefully over-complicated character web that he so kindly includes in every one of his volumes. Quite entertaining to see how the love/hate relationships play out. Did i say entertaining? that leads right in to:

ENJOYMENT: 9/10

Even the fillers are funny/slice of life-y. There's always something new happening, and whatever it is there's a lot of humor there too. The only reason I didnt give this a 10 was because there are a lot of japanese jokes that I don't understand beacuse I'm obviously not japanese. The manga tries to explain these so i can understand them, its just not as good if I don't know the culture. Still very funny, and the only manga I actually buy.

OVERALL: 9/10

The average of 4 9's is a 9, what a surprise. I definitely reccomend checking this manga out, though. If you enjoy fun, laughing, good times, and strange plotlines (not always too strange) then you'll love Keroro Gunsou read more

It's nice to have this great series to hit USA shelves in English.

Fans who have been watching the fansubs may feel a little awkward with different spelling of the names. As well, if you watched the on-going series before reading the manga, things feel like a re-run. Overall, the artwork is great, however, not all the "sound affects" in Japanese are translated for you.