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Sgt. Frog: Season 2, Part 2
FUNimation // Unrated // March 30, 2010
List Price: $39.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
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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