Funimation Entertainment has uploaded an 11-minute, English-dubbed episode of the
Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunso) anime to YouTube and is requesting that viewers comment on its adaptation of what is one of most popular anime properties in
Sgt. Frog, which is based on the manga series by Mine Yoshizaki (published here by Tokyopop), is a huge mainstream hit in Japan where it has inspired an ongoing (233-episodes and counting) TV anime directed by Junichi Sato and produced by Sunrise as well as four anime feature films (the fourth is due out in Japan next March).
The reason that ADV didn’t manage to release any episodes of Sgt. Frog and that Funimation is seeking comment on its preliminary localization of the property is that the humor in the series is based on a combination of puns and references to Japanese pop culture (and anime) as much as it is to the more universally enjoyable elements of slapstick and character-based situational humor (the alien platoon of frog-like creatures is here to take over the world, but woefully incapable of doing so). The kind of humor that endears Sgt. Frog to Japanese audiences is hard to translate, though American anime fans will certainly get most of the Gundam and Evangelion references that are rampant throughout the Sgt. Frog property (and particularly blatant in the anime).
While Tokyopop’s Sgt. Frog manga has never become a top 25 property here in the States, it has developed a solid following, although it is not nearly as popular here as it is in
