Sgt. Frog, Volume 4

Volume two of "Sgt. Frog," "Keroro Gunso" in Japanese, carries on the tale of the abortive takeover of planet Pokopen by small frog like aliens. Sergeant Keroro, abandoned by his platoon, finds himself holed up in the Hintata house somewhere in the Japanese suburbs. So far he has become addicted to Gundam and has mastered the fine art of house cleaning. But earth has not shuddered a micromolecule at his inocuous froggy prescence. The humans even pose significant challenges. Natsumi-san simply kicks his [...] every time he gets out of line. And throughout volume two the heinie walloping never lets up. Encounter XI starts by displaying Fuyuki-kun's amazing, though amaterish, manga skills and Natsumi's basketball prowess. Typical Japanese kids until they return to their atypical house, which now crawls with alien invaders. Keroro entertains cute Private Tamama and the Lord of Terror Moa with his lyric writing abilities. But before they know it the indefatigable Corporal Giroro blasts through the tv set and whoops some buttocks into shape. But he's no match for Natsumi, physically or emotionally (following the obligatory shirt-changing scene, that is). Giroro acquieces to the Pokopeians and soon takes up residence at the Hinata house, though he wants to revive the sagging invasion. Meanwhile, Tamama and Moa make rather inappropriate Pokopeian suits for Keroro to ease his cabin fever. Giroro comes with some surprises, though, including the knowledge that the rank mark on their helmets enables an anti-barrier of invisibility. By Encounter XV the new foursome have constructed a complex pokopen invasion operations center. Fuyuki and Momoka, who has insatiable hots for Fuyuki, stumble across this via a strange refrigerator in the Sergeant's room (complete with undies). They foil the purebred Andromedan Husky and the trap ceiling before Giroro escorts them to the control room. Invasion plans get set aside for New Year's celebrations, preceded by a rigrous cleaning of the Hinata house. Keroro shows his true colors, much to Giroro's frustration. In the end, they all sit down to Toshikoshi Soba noodles and a "red and white" singing contest. An interesting interlude. Then Keroro's father plans to visit the Hintata house, which throws the Sergeant into a tizzy since he has taken to the Pokopeian lifestyle. Natsumi and Fuyuki agree to stand in as slaves, but Natsumi ultimately avenges the whippings Keroro delivers to her posterior. The next Encounter, XVIII, takes place during Japanese Valentine's day, when girls give chocolate to boys they like. Fuyuki collects a surprising amount of these, but the only one that ends up meaning anything is the package he gets from Momoka. Tamama's depiction of Keroro in chocolate makes for an oh so touching ending. Hearts will flutter. Next, the invasion group decides that they must search for Kururu, the Unil Strategy and Communications Staff First Sergeant. They scour the country, from Hoikaddo to Miyazaki. Meanwhile, a st

The basic premise behind Mine Yoshizaki's SGT FROG manga is this: froglike alien Sgt. Keroro and his extraterrestrial compatriots, in a failed attempt to conquer Pokopen (the Earth), find themselves stranded in the company of two Pokopenian siblings, Fuyuki and Natsumi Hinata, and their friends and family. Hilarity ensues. There you go. That's the series - beyond that there is no real coherent plot. But that's not particularly important, because the fact is a complex storyline isn't required for madcap comedy of this order. The best comparison you can draw to Sgt. Frog is probably to Pinky & the Brain: overloaded with pop culture (Japanese anyway) allusions and socio-political send-ups, our protagonist conjures up preposterous scheme after preposterous scheme, to no avail. Another easy comparison would be with Invader Zim. The biggest difference between Sgt. Frog and these others, however, is the ensemble size: while P & B revolved around the clashing personalities of the title characters, and Invader Zim a team of four or so, Sgt. Frog is propelled by a stable cast of about a dozen unique, distinctly off-the-wall personalities. There's Natsumi Hinata, for instance, the Pokopenian teen whose authoritative hot-headedness remains the biggest obstacle on the path to invasion - apart from Sgt. Keroro himself, equal parts inept interstellar conqueror and freeloading plastic Gundam model fanatic. Then there's Natsumi's younger brother Fuyuki, a quiet, introverted kid with a keen interest in the occultm or Momoka Nishizawa, the insecure heiress to a worldwide fortune with a keen interest in Fuyuki. Not to mention Private Tamama, one of the Sgt.'s fellow-invaders, whose adorable exterior belies a violent split personality; the ditzy Lady Angol Moa, sent to Earth by her father the universal Lord of Terror to destroy it, but diverted by Keroro's misadventures; and many more. The various plots, goofy and overblown as they are, make full use of the characters' interpersonal chemistry. For instance: when the School Sports Festival rolls around, athletic Natsumi petitions mom Aki to join her in the child-parent activities. But Aki is unable to attend due to her demanding career as a manga editor, which causes her to be gone most of the time anyway. Natsumi is forlorn by yet another absence, and while Keroro schemes to stand in for Mom Hinata in an attempt to put Natsumi in his debt, Corporal Giroro, whose hard-boiled shell hides a monstrous affection for the girl, has other plans. Meanwhile, Fuyuki suffers from a lack of self-confidence living in his sister's athletic shadow, and wealthy Momoka's attempts to aid his cause at the Festival, like having her bodyguards tranquilize the other racers, are sweet but probably misguided. That's just a sampling, from one of the tamer chapters at that - the insanity quotient is generally far more in excess. Many of the installments have sensitive undercurrents: unrequited love, the clash between friendship and d

I like it so much me and my friend Cory read it everyday. I also recommene Yugo's treasure hunt and Pokemon, Pikachu's trip to the seaside.