Sgt. Frog Volume 6

I've been amazed at sme of the reviews. This is one of the best comedy manga ever. Is it up to Simpsons' or Family Guy quality? no..but it comes close..really really close. The premise is pretty cool and universal. Incompetent Sgt Keroro (the star) comes to Earth with a small platoon to advance an invasion of Pokopen (the universal name for Earth). Being a boob though (they could have totally done this as a live action show in america since we are so familair with this concept..think Sgt. Bilko, Gomer Pyle and so on) the platoon never has a chance and each volume chronicles a series of misadventures as the family who is simultaneously covering for the aliens and likewise having conquered the aliens (making them do menial labor in exchange for room and board) learns more about the aliens, the ever -expanding universe (complete with satires of Gundam, Kamen Rider and many other popular american and japanese pop figures) as well as themselves, There is enough tawdry humor of the girls in the manga (mainly the mom but occasionally the daughter and youthful looking lady Moa) to give a dirty laugh alongisde of the often flat out inspired comedy. Great manga, great read and have been amazed that so far over 6 volumes it;s maintained a fun and pleasant reading experience.

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 love this soooooo much!!! I went to Japan and bought it. Its THAT good. Plus the frog on the cover is banging.