#Year of Keroro Challenge

[tamamatango]

My Project Revealed: The Fabled Fanfiction Come to Fruition

Crossing an item off the bucket list before the dopamine gods give out on me. (Yes that’s the story link in case you want to just go there and skip the whole me not shutting up part)

Back in my most active period in the Keroro fandom, I tried and failed multiple times to write a fanfic; might’ve even talked about it here at some point. But for one reason or another, it just never panned out, and I ultimately fell out of it for a few years before I managed to publish anything. However, I got back into the practice with my next hyperfixation, so now that I’ve returned to frog hell again, I knew I had to do what teenage me could not.

I can’t say this is “the fanfic I always wanted to write,” because I ended up scrapping whatever I had started all those years ago. When this started to come together in my head, it initially seemed way too ambitious given the limited time I have and where my strengths and weaknesses lie as a writer…but I got possessed by the artsy demon or something and started to write it anyway. Whoops.

To Chase a Butterfly asks one simple question: What if Kururu actually failed to save Saburo at the end of episode 229? Okay that’s not really a simple question, considering it leads to a whole emotional and physical journey about grief and companionship and space-timey shenanigans. But basically, Kururu goes “bet” and attempts to bring him back to life. Naturally, the deuteragonist of such a story is…Dororo? Yes, at the central conflict of the story is Kururu’s friendship with Saburo, but it’s Dororo who serves as his confidant/partner in crime over the course of the story, and so I consider this to double as a KuruDoro fic as well—though I will make it clear now that it’s not conclusively romantic, so you can decide if that’s the direction they go in or if it stays platonic, and it works either way.

As of the latest update from. Uh. 15 minutes ago at the time of writing, the fic currently sits at about 60-65% completion and is divided into two parts. Part 1 (chapters 1–6) is the angst/drama-heavy half, which I uploaded in full as a batch drop. Part 2 (7+) is more action/adventure, sort of in the vein of what you’d expect from one of the Keroro movies, and I am updating it chapter-by-chapter, since it was getting too unsustainable to try to dump it all at once. AO3 has the most robust features, so that’s where it’s hosted for now, but I know people have very understandable problems with that site, so I’ll consider porting it elsewhere if that’s something anyone is interested in.

Well, that’s enough yammering from me. If you like the idea, please do check it out. Things are starting to heat up as the climax approaches, especially with the introduction of a surprise third major character who very longtime Kirb fans miiiight faintly recall. And if you’re already following it—it’s been up for a while now, just waited to discuss it here to temporarily save myself from potential embarrassment—thanks for your support, and I hope you look forward to the rest! Part 2 is very research/planning heavy and has been pretty challenging to write so far, but I intend to see this all the way through damn it. And yeah, this is what’s been pulling my focus away from the blog, but there will still be posts here whenever I feel like putting energy into an essay and/or next real info drop about the new anime (BNP gimme something soon please I’m parched).

[markbandanawitts]

A Full English Translation of Mine Yoshizaki’s 47 Question QnA 🔥🔥

— Near the end of the 11.5 Guidebook, Yoshizaki sat down for an exclusive interview with Shonen Ace (The magazine that serialized Keroro Gunso), where he answered some personalized questions about himself

I’ve translated all of them along with giving some context to certain media references in this w attached links. he’s talks exactly how you’d expect lmao

Q1: Yoshizaki-sensei, people often seem to think you’re a woman.

I guess it’s because my name reads as “Mine.” When I chose it, I only had the image of Ryuta Mine in my head. But judging by Keroro’s behavior, I think it’s pretty clear I’m not a woman (laugh)

Q2: What was the first manga you bought?

I had my uncle buy me one copy each of Kiteretsu Encyclopedia and Obake Q-Taro. I used to borrow Doraemon from a rental bookstore.

Q3: Do you still have them?

Nah, even if I did, they’d be unreadable by now. I reread them so much they fell apart.

Q4: Do you have a favorite place to read?

I haven’t been reading too much lately, but I love to in a quiet, cozy café.

Q5: Has anything recently made you feel like you’ve been tricked?

Actually, yeah. Not too long ago, a friend took me on a small trip. We hopped on the highway and drove quite a bit, and I had no idea why we were going where we were; but it was fun, so I didn’t think much of it. Later, when I got home and watched the episode of Kamen Rider Hibiki that I’d recorded that morning, I realized the episode was filmed in the exact spot we had visited! My friend hadn’t said a word! It caught me completely off guard, but honestly, it kind of made me pretty happy too.

Q6: Is there a character you look up to?

Oh, definitely Saeki-san (laugh)

Q7: Keroro’s gotten really popular. Anything about that make you happy?

Hearing that everyone involved with Keroro is having fun working on it is what makes me happy.

Q8: On the flip side, anything tough about it?

It seems like working on Keroro is also kind of exhausting (laugh)

Q9: If you could be any character in Keroro, who would you choose?

Maybe Poyon-chan. She seems so nice and fluffy.

Q10: Who would you like to live with?

I’d say the new characters, Alisa-chan and Nevula.

Q11: Why them in particular?

I feel like we could have a nice, quiet time in an old Western-style mansion.

Q12: Is there any invention from Kururu that you’d want?

Oh, definitely that one thing for making Gundam models!

Q13: What’s your favorite part of the manga drawing process?

Definitely when it’s finally completed (laugh)

Q14: What’s the toughest part?

Getting started (laugh)

Q15: What do you think of the illustrations in the first volume of Keroro?

What do I think? Well, it was my best effort seven years ago. There's something beyond just thinking "it's bad." Especially for Keroro, since I challenged myself to break my previous style and start from scratch, so there are definitely some awkward parts in there.

Q16: When do you draw the cover illustrations? At the beginning, in the middle, or at the end?

The inking is random, so it varies every time.

Q17: Do you pay attention to differentiating characters?

Sometimes I intentionally try not to differentiate them visually. I make their personalities distinct, so that can create a sense of difference. I’ve even tried going against silhouette theory a bit, which is directly reflected in characters like Keroro.

Q18: Which is more fun to draw, Keronians or Earthlings?

Keronians’ round eyes are a hassle, and Earthlings have too many lines... It’s a toss-up (laugh)

Q19: What about secondary characters? Which ones are fun to draw?

Every character becomes lively as soon as I draw them, so it's fun. To me, they’re all waiting in line to be drawn!

Q20: Any tips for drawing something you’ve never seen before?

Draw with your eyes closed!

Q21: Do you do anything to improve your drawing skills?

Since I started working, not really. I draw every day, so whatever I’m bad at stays bad, which can be a bit of an issue.

Q22: When creating a manga, do you start with the characters, story, or setting?

The theme. Something that instinctively feels like "that's it!" The rest comes after that.

Q23: When do you come up with story ideas?

I thrash my ideas around, trying to come up with something, and eventually, once I reach the mandatory state of resignation, it comes to me (laugh)

Q24: Which takes more time, storyboarding or drawing?

Storyboarding!

Q25: If you had to sum up the feeling of struggling to come up with storyboards in one word?

Ugh.

Q26: What’s something essential while you work?

Coffee, probably.

Q27: You’ve never taken a break from publishing, but do you ever want to? If so, when?

I always feel like I want to! Every single time, no matter what!

Q28: When do you usually draw your manga—morning, afternoon, or night?

My schedule is all over the place. I live on a 25-26 hour cycle, so when my timing is off, it tends to mess things up for a lot of people. It makes planning pretty difficult too.

Q29: What’s your favorite manga that you’ve drawn so far?

Definitely Keroro Gunso.

Q30: Do you think you’re better suited for one-shot manga or long series?

Considering the amount of ideas on my brain when working on Keroro storyboards, I think I’m better suited for long series.

Q31: Are you currently thinking about your next manga project?

Ideas come and go, honestly. Right now, I’m putting all my effort into Keroro!

Q32: Do you like your own manga?

When it comes to Keroro, I like it without hesitation.

Q33: If you were an editor, what would you tell yourself?

“You can take a three month break if you want.”

Q34: Are you comfortable with drawing manga in front of people?

I’m totally fine with it! But in reality, I usually work alone, holed up in my workspace.

Q35: Do you do anything for your health?

Not really… It’s bad… I feel like I’ve been sending out SOS signals lately (laugh)

Q36: Do you have any stress relief methods?

I never considered myself to be stressed, but recently my eye started twitching, and apparently, that’s a sign of stress. I was kind of surprised when I found that out!

Q31: There are 24 hours in a day, but how many hours would you really want?

48 hours would be great!!

Q38: Is there anything that influences your manga drawing?

I’m most influenced by the general atmosphere of the world around me.

Q39: How would you describe the feeling of racing through Okutama on your bike?

Yahoo!

Q40: Anything that’s stuck with you or left a strong impression recently?

The insurance commercial with soccer commentator Matsuki has really stuck with me… As for things, I’m obsessed with the NSF100 motorcycle— I want it so bad!

Q41: A memorable quote that’s stuck with you?

“Ramen is long and delicious!” (I have literally no idea what he’s referencing here my bad guys)

Q42: Since getting your cat, Mac, has your life changed?

My lifestyle hasn’t really changed, but it feels like my heart’s OS has been upgraded by about three versions!

Q46: Do you like traveling?

I like it, but I haven’t gone anywhere recently. If I could, I’d love to go with all my friends.

Q43: What’s the most wasteful thing you’ve ever spent royalties on?

Royalties, huh... (laugh) The other day, I saw a Keroro bath towel in a UFO catcher machine, and I had to get it. I ended up blowing ¥2,000* and still didn’t win it. I wonder if my royalties will cover that…

*this is like $14 😭

Q45: What are the things you love the most?

The Earth, my wife, and Mac (my cat).

Q46: What’s the most shocking thing you’ve experienced?

When I first moved to Tokyo, I saw an elementary school kid at Yotsuya Station wearing a backpack and smoking a cigarette. I thought, “Wow, Tokyo’s scary. Maybe I should just go home.” But I’m glad I didn’t because I became a manga artist (laugh)

Q47: What does drawing manga mean to you?

It’s about making people happy. That concept hasn’t changed since I was a kid making hand-drawn manga for my friends in elementary school.

Anddd heres my impressively terrible scans of those pages just in case anyone wanted the source

[emilija04acer]

Cartoons and Anime from My Childhood (part 1)

Born in 2004 in Serbia, I cherish the memories of a time when cable TV was a luxury that only became available to us when I was about 12 years old. Most of my cherished shows were watched at my grandma’s place. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane with this list!

This is part one; I'm not certain how many I will create, but I'll begin with some that have significantly influenced me. They are listed alphabetically, and most are anime.

(I included a short description of each show)

Of course please share your favorite cartoons!

>>>

“Angel Friends”: Angels-in-training, Guardian Angels and Demons. First Angel x Demon ship that I sailed.

“Angelina Ballerina”: A dancing mouse with big dreams and a passion for ballet.

“Atomic Betty”: Intergalactic adventures with Betty, the space-faring superhero.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender”: “Water. Earth. Fire. Air.” A beautifully crafted world, elemental bending, and Aang’s quest to restore balance—this 2D gem blended adventure, humor, and wisdom.

“Barbie Movies”: Every Barbie movie—magical adventures from princesses to explorers.

“The Secret World of Benjamin Bear" Heartwarming adventures with this lovable stuffed bear.

“Bibi Blocksberg”: A young witch named Bibi and her magical escapades. Also Bibi and Tina.

“Bratz Movies”: Fashion-forward Bratz dolls navigating high school and friendship. That one with Paris traumatised me. ( the bone ageing thing)

“Captain Keroro” (Sgt. Frog): Frog-like alien invaders attempting to conquer Earth.

“Code Lyoko”: Virtual reality, secret codes, and a group of students fighting digital threats.

“DelTora Quest”: Lief, Barda, and Jasmine’s quest to restore the seven gems of the Belt of Deltora. (Barda was one of my first fictional crushes guys… 😭 don’t ask)

“Digimon”: Digital monsters, DigiDestined, and epic battles in the Digital World.

“Dragon Ball Z”: “Kamehameha!” The battles between Goku and his formidable foes kept us on the edge of our seats. The iconic transformations, energy blasts, and the quest for Dragon Balls fueled our imaginations.

“Galactic Football”: Futuristic football matches in outer space—goals, teamwork, and cosmic challenges!

“Holly Hobbie and friends”: The adventures of Holly Hobbie, a creative and kind-hearted girl.

“Mermaid Melody”: The enchanting story of mermaid princesses who use their voices to save the ocean. (Other first crush…)

“Mia and Me”: A girl named Mia discovering a magical world with unicorns and elves.

“My Little Pony (MLP)”: Friendship is magic in Equestria with Twilight Sparkle and her pony pals.

“Naruto”: Believe it! Naruto’s ninja journey, friendships, and determination. Who didn’t watch this?

“Nodi”: The little blue train Noddy and his friends in Toyland. (This and Strawberry Shortcake where my everything at like 6)

“Pokémon”: “Gotta catch 'em all!” Ash Ketchum’s Pokémon journey, Pikachu’s thunderbolts, and Team Rocket’s antics—this show captured our hearts. The Pokémon theme song is forever etched in our minds.

“Postman Pat” (Postman Pete): Delivering mail in the charming village of Greendale.

“Sailor Moon” (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon): “Moon Prism Power, Make Up!” Magical girls, cosmic battles, and the power of friendship—And of course censorship!

“Strawberry Shortcake (2003)”: The sweet adventures of Strawberry Shortcake and her berry friends in the magical land of Strawberryland. (Logorovanje/ camping episode was my fav

“Tokyo Mew Mew”: Magical girls with animal DNA fighting to protect Earth from alien invaders. (Ren can get it)

And of course as I lived in Vojvodina, “Hungarian Folktales”

Here are some links... Sadly I couldn't include the images that I wanted...

Strawberry Shortcake (2004): Wikipedia, IMDb, MoviefoneWonderful Galaxy of Oz: Wikipedia, IMDb, Oz Wiki

Mermaid Melody: Wikipedia, IMDb, Trakt

Tokyo Mew Mew: IMDb, Wikipedia, IMDb for New Series

Galactic Football: IMDb, Wikipedia, SideReel

Sailor Moon: Wikipedia, IMDb, JustWatch

Winx Club: IMDb, Wikipedia, Netflix

W.I.T.C.H.: Wikipedia

As you see I had great taste! Please share yours!

If you are from Serbia... Do you remember ULTRA?! Half of my nostalgia comes from the ads that were on that channel!

Do you remember this people!?

[poppun-chan]

The Year of Keroro Challenge Update 5 (Yes Sir)

We’re Back! Actually this one was much easier than the last when I actually had the chance to work on it. Either way I’m going to be doing this a little bit differently, the end result will still be the same it’s more a difference in the production process so it will be easier to catch up.

On that note I had a bit of a surprise, I thought I was going to have several bits of writing to cover between the “Room of Reflection” and Labbie’s dry erase board on uses for bread crusts, but now it turns out both of those were more or less covered by Funimation (A few of the room of reflection notes seem to have been missed) so I have a whole bunch of unexpected free space now which I’d like to use to thank everyone who has been following my updates....And to give a special mention to DeadofFrogs who has been commenting on all of them, I just wanted to let you know that I do read and appreciate your comments, even if I can’t always think of something to say in response.

And now as usual, the plan count:

Serious Plans: K66:18 D66:1 MMK:1 TMM:1 (The anime one was a bit hard to classify since it could also be a funding one)

Funding Plans: K66:2

It’s a plan, I Swear!: K66:6 (I threw the birthday one in for good measure) 

Oh look! Progress!: K66:3

Also I somehow forgot to bring this up last time but in regards to episode 22, has anyone else realised this? It’s a bit odd that Tamama made such a big deal out of being leader since, unless he’d have to cross Momoka in the process, he technically has an army of sorts at his disposal already in the form of Momoka’s bodyguards (speaking of which, I wonder how he kept everything from that episode from getting back to her)

Episode 29: Oh goodness this episode is just full of fun little easter eggs....And Keroro’s acting, that’s just hilarious. Either way the first is Keroro parody Chigusa Tsukikage, the acting mentor from the shoujo manga “Glass Mask” who has a similar hairstyle to the one Keroro wears in the episode to hide the burn marks on her face. Rabbie’s bit about uses for bread crusts is a nod to a trope in Japan that a staple food for poor characters is the bread crusts that bakeries throw away when making their sandwiches (They sell crust-less sandwiches)

I remember somebody mentioning that the members of the Newspaper club are likely inspired by the human children from Doraemon (less Nobita), and I can sort of see that; but more than that has anyone else noticed the small animal they test the device on looks a bit like Ryo-ohki from the Tenchi series? No really, look at it.

Episode 30: Now let’s all be honest with our ourselves, this episode represents our worst case scenario when meeting our online friends; we all say it’s finding out the other person is really a creep twice our age sporting a moose hat or a serial killer or something like that, but after several years we can assume such people would have lost patience. No, secretly the thing we dread the most is having the other person meet the people we see everyday and reference all the times we’ve vented our frustrations over things they’ve done. 

Oh! One thing I noticed was that Taruru mentions being the representative of the 4th year group, not the kindergarten group....granted that doesn’t really tell us that much; in Japan only elementary school has a 4th year, but since Keron is a different planet altogether they could have a fourth year of middle school or high school, or it could be a system where the first year of training starts much later than you’d except (maybe around 11 or 12). Another is at the end Tamama says “Our Generation’s Turn”, not “Your Generation”, but the Funimation release’s subtitles fixed that anyway (my guess it is was a typo, it does make more sense with “Our” though since the age gap between the two doesn’t seem to be that big)

Moving along to part b, regardless of your stance on these sort of things and whether we should show developing characters being insecure about their appearances and working through it or whether we should have them always be satisfied with it no matter what (I lean more towards the former, it covers the people who arrive at insecurities on their own), can we just take a moment to look at Momoka’s Mother? She more or less looks the way Momoka wants to and considering the other ways she takes after her Mother, just waiting a few years to see what happens seems a viable option (Though I have to admit I never understood when other girls compared their appearances to adult women; it’s like comparing a kitten and a cat, you’re a similar thing but you’re not there yet). I have to admit I never really went through this though, my parents didn’t really draw much attention to these things and there’s quite a lot I didn’t notice about my appearance until I turned 20 (Plus I had a back brace I wore most of the day from ages 9-15 because my back muscles weren’t strong enough and after it came off most of the major changes had already happened, like a butterfly)

Episode 31: Aww! This one was quite cute, really there’s no other way I can describe it, this episode has a lot of really adorable moments between Keroro’s excitement over his space craft, the effort he goes through to make it back with his souveneer, and the moments with the narrator. And of course the two sweetest moments of the episode: the interaction with the Mojajin had the same sort of charm as seeing somebody pay a backhanded, yet sincere compliment and seeing Natsumi go searching for Keroro was adorable as well. I’m going to admit, when I first watched the series Natsumi’s way of handling the aliens rubbed me the wrong way and it still does, especially when she does the authoritarian “I’m forbidding it and expect you to just accept it” bit (honestly, I can’t condone that behaviour in anyone), so the opening was a bit dicey for me but the ending makes up for it. Really Keroro and Natsumi have one of the most tumultuous relationships in the show, so the rare moments when we get to see that they do care about each other are always nice to see.

And as a side note, the moment with the frog was absolutely hilarious; I always love it when you see characters based on an animal species interacting with that animal (Honestly, I’m shocked that after four movies Equestria Girls still hasn’t done a “Pony meets Horse” joke)

Episode 32: I’m going to take a moment to ask the one question that’s been burning in the back of my mind since I first saw this episode and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s wondered this: What would happen if they used this thing on a frog? Would it turn into a Human or a Keronian? There’s the potential for quite a few humour moments with this one and I would have loved to see that explored a bit. Also does anyone else find it funny that when Keroro explains why a Panda would make a good ally he basically describes a role that’s already filled by Tamama? Having a cute appearance, but becoming violent when you get too close. Actually Pandas aren’t especially aggressive towards humans, they have attacked them, but usually out of irritation (Dolphins would fit the cute yet deadly bit better than a Panda, some species such as the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin hunt for sport).

Having said that I’m guessing the Zoo they visit is based on the Ueno Zoo since that Zoo is located in Tokyo and did have a Panda at the time; though that Panda was male, also the Elephants they had during the war died of starvation, there’s a memorial, and a historically inaccurate picture book about it and everything

Episode 33: Now this one is interesting, my goal is to be a director/producer of animation (I’ve actually been working on a story board for a fan project) so I always enjoy a peek into the production process, especially for shows. It’s doubly interesting since the process they show is very different from in North America where the voice acting is typically done first, while the method shown here has it as the last step (it must make dubbing foreign shows easier though, if you usually do something similar anyway)

Though there are a couple of options for a difficult to draw pose that weren’t in here that I remember from the classes I took, one is taking a picture so you don’t have to have a model standing for as long. The other is a bit controversial considering the sensibilities I’ve seen from some fan artists, but it’s something called a swipe file. Basically it’s a collection of pictures that that catch your interest that you can use for inspiration, reference and things you can’t get to look right. I know some people don’t approve, but some professionals do actually trace poses and details they have trouble with, especially if it’s something like key animation where you have to make a large number of drawings in a short period of time with nothing to work off of (in-between animation is easier since you’re working off the key drawings and most of the image is the same once you figure out how the character will go from pose a to pose b, and the inking stage of cel animation even more so, enough that Walt Disney replaced the entire inking depart with photocopy machines after Sleeping Beauty released in theaters because the film did poorly and the studio was in financial trouble as a result). If nothing else it’s a good way to practice since you can build muscle memory.

I just wanted to mention this since I remember a while back in another fandom that a lot of people were scandalised when it came out that one artist known for drawing comics had been using screenshots to get the basic pose he built the character on top of and I thought people’s reactions were a bit unfair given how quickly he had been putting his comics together. Especially since nobody was bothered by vector tracing and it’s apparently something that the animation industry has done for years (Some actually do more than that, I remember reading a book from overseas that mentioned a possible shortcut for monochrome pieces of keeping a stack of travel and real estate brochures and catelogues to cut out background from. That I don’t know if you’d be able to do here though) 

Episode 34: Oh I remember this one, to be honest I prefer the ending in the anime version, not just because everyone gets to go, but also because it acknowledges the fact that Keroro never needed a ticket to begin with (on a side note, I feel the Tamama shaped canon on Momoka’s powered suit is a fun little touch). 

As for part 2, actually I don’t think I’ve watched either part of this episode very many times, but watching it again I’m surprised that one Duet with Keroro & Fuyuki doesn’t play, the one about finding a pebble while walking....Having said that I remember back when I first watched the series, the song boulevard of broken dreams played on the radio a lot and I think this episode was the reason for a parody that always popped into my head of Keroro singing it as “Boulevard of broken plates” (By the way, the best way to fix ceramics is to moisten it and use crazy glue; it needs moisture to stick so running it under the faucet should work)

Episode 35: It’s the birthday episode! I remember this inspiring an entire discussion trying to work out the approximate Birthdays of each character based on astrology (Fuyuki & Momoka have actual hints since we see their birthdays celebrated; Fuyuki’s is likely mid-October and Momoka’s in late March) we actually worked out a few, though I remember we had trouble with Dororo, Mois, Koyuki & Saburo & I’m not sure what we ultimately settled on.

Having said that Keroro’s does fit really well, there’s one person my family knows (the mother of my closest friend growing up) who has her birthday the day before Keroro’s and there are certain....similarities in their behaviour (To give you an idea, my mom first met her when I was in kindergarten and she asked my mom to be the emergency contact for her son who was in my class and my mom agreed to avoid her asking someone dangerous)

Also the gifts Giroro gives Natsumi are space versions of the items the title character of Kaguya Hime asks five suitors (one per suitor) to bring her to win her hand in marriage, in the end all of them fail since the tasks were supposed to be near impossible (it was more to stop them bothering her parents). Either way Giroro’s comment that he casually picked them up for her would probably have been a bit more believable if he had taken that claw/fang out of his head first....just a thought.

[shima-draws]

Omg I love your palettes;; would you be willing to do Dark Keroro in Strawberry Basket?

Oh thank you!! Ah I don’t think I put KG in the tags, what was I thinking?! Silly me. But YES I ADORE Dark!! He’s my favorite KG character tbh and I wish he could have been in more than just the 3rd movie but;;

He tries so hard to be intimidating but it just. Doesn’t work. He’s too cute I can’t take him seriously

It’s been a while since I’ve drawn any of the frogs, I’m super out of practice lol hopefully my anatomy isn’t too off //shot

[poppun-chan]

The Year of Keroro Challenge Update 3 (Yes Sir)

This took quite a bit longer than I hoped, this post is a really big one, especially episodes 15 & 17. Actually, today I’ve caught up to watching, once I catch up in writing as well I’ll update weekly, but for now I still have a few posts worth (I’m especially looking forward to the next one).

But for now enjoy a translation of all the writing on the whiteboard from the pool episode:

There’s no shot of everything on the board but here is the meeting related part (Note “enjoy” is written a bit oddly, normally it would be in katakana since they used the English and the “ji” would be from “shi”, not “chi”). However, the best part is the little scribbles on the whiteboard:

It works because Japanese has vertical writing, but one of these is supposed to be both names under the same umbrella (You can see it done full scale with actual people at the end of Only Yesterday). In Japan sharing an umbrella with somebody is considered very romantic, so this is a bit like writing two names in a heart, either way it’s easy to guess who drew it. As for the “Finding Nemo” bit, it basically translates as “Even for searching....” which doesn’t really make any sense, but given the drawing and the fact that the movie came out less than a year before this episode aired, chances are they fiddled around with the writing to make a nod to the movie without name-dropping it (You can find more about that and quite a few other things under the break). And fun fact, flat fish can be either left or right sided and one is considered better tasting (I can’t remember which)

And the plan count:

Serious Plans: K66:14 D66:1 MMK:1

Funding Plans: K66:1

It’s a plan, I Swear!: K66:4

New category: Oh look! Progress (Not actually invading today, just trying to make it look they are so HQ will leave them alone): K66:2 (The ocean invasion plan went here, though it could fit almost anywhere)

Episode 15: This is one I’ve always really enjoyed....fun fact: psychologists seem to be a bit undecided about multiple personalities and over the years have gone back and forth a few times on whether it’s a real psychological condition or created by a person reacting a certain way to unrelated things (for example there was a time when a lot of people were diagnosed and it was traced back to a repressed memory, but when the catalyst events were researched it turned out that most never happened and those people were highly susceptible to suggestion).

On that note there are a lot of fun little touches in this episode like the fact that Momoka’s legs don’t fit in the machine (of course it’s made for somebody much shorter, but still), how when the the two Momokas merge the reversed light and dark pink on their swimsuits also blend to create a peachy pink (subtle), and the nod to frogs hibernating. It’s also worth noting that this episode aired in 2004, in July I believe, which is part of the reason why Keroro mentions the Olympics since this was shortly before the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens (Also Keroro & Giroro’s expressions while swimming are just strangely delightful, the way their faces look when their expressions break the face’s natural patterning).

Now onto something big that has caused a lot of confusion in regards to the original subtitles: The bleeped out bit was supposed to be Patrasch, not Cleopatra. The name and this entire bit of the scene was supposed to a reference to the Dog of Flanders anime series that was part of the World Masterpiece Theater series, namely the ending scene of the anime where the boy and his dog (Patrasch) both freeze to death in a church. The book is considered a classic children’s story in Japan and the 1975 anime still occasionally reruns on T.V. and received a remake movie in 1997, and the ending scene has been referenced in many other works (One example that’s made it here is the Pokemon episode Holy Matrimony). Basically, it’s the anime counter part to calling out “Rosebud”.

As for the censor bleep, that’s something that sometimes happens when somebody name-drops something that the production company doesn’t have the rights to, I’ve seen it in talk shows too. I believe it’s related to the way Japanese copyright laws work in regards to parody and references; appearently they’re allowed as long as the copyright holder doesn’t object, so by bleeping out name-drops and putting pixelation or censor bars over the faces of famous characters they can help lower the chances of a complaint by just suggesting the other work instead of out right referencing it. When there is a complaint the scene can end up being removed or in some cases, like the first episode of Osomatsu-san, the entire episode can be banned from official release.

Oh by the way, I’m presuming “Oha” is short for ohayou or good morning, I know around this time there was a children’s idol/media show called “Oha-star” which used a similar greeting.

Episode 16: It’s the Masami episode, and I have to admit, I had forgotten how far off the deep end Tamama goes in this one; when he showed up I expected him to be excited, but sweet goodness I didn’t expect him to be that excited. This bit is for the cross-section of Keroro & Pony fans, but I always imagined that if they had the originally human Sunset Shimmer appear in Equestria Girls they would handle it a bit like this

Also this is the second time Mois has come really close to destroying the Earth and I have to wonder how it repairs itself afterward so it isn’t already on the brink when she starts, the best I can think of is that magma flows into the crack and solidifies, linking the ground back together; sort of like when you get a cut

Episode 17: 

Actually, it’s a bit interesting that Tamama & Giroro were the ones who fell in the water tank; dark colours absorb heat better than light ones and red tends to make people feel warmer so they’re actually the best able to warm up afterwards. Also in part two the Aliens could have done better if they switched Mois & Dororo and Momoka dodging Natsumi was a fun detail, but didn’t they already establish the being watched feeling was caused by a weird but harmless alien? Having said that, I can imagine some ghost stories would actually be more frightening for a ghost since there’s a chance you’ll encounter whoever the story is about

The next two paragraphs are just talking about two ghost stories mentioned in the episode that I wasn’t sure how well know they were, if you already know them feel free to skip to episode 18

The T.V. program Keroro & Tamama are watching at the beginning is an adaption of a famous ghost story; there are many variations, the basic premise is a jealous wife thinks her husband is smitten with the maid and destroys one of their best plates so she can frame the maid and fire her. When the maid is accused she tries counting the plates and when she finds there’s one missing she searches for it, in one way or another this leads to the maid dying in a well near the house shortly after and her ghost appearing every night, counting the plates and always being one plate short.

As for Koyuki’s story, I’m not sure if the subtitles are quite right; she says “entrust”, so....Either way it’s the story of the Yuki Onna or Snow Woman. Although she’s known for freezing people to death in the mountains, in this story she spares a young man and warns him never to tell anyone of the encounter or he will suffer “a fate worse than death”. Eventually he marries, has children and forgets all about the incident, then he suddenly remembers it one night and tells his wife only to find out she was the Snow Woman all along and that because he told the story to somebody she must leave and warns him to take good care of their children. The fate worse than death she mentioned was having loved someone so much and had her taken away from him.

Episode 18: Alright, I have an odd question....If they’re doing a manzai or cross talk routine, does Keroro play “The dumb one”? The way a lot of these work is that there’s one person who says ridiculous, outlandish things and a more normal person who reacts; the former role is called “Boke”, the same as in “Bokegaeru”, so it would be a bit funny if actually choose that part.

Also Keroro & Mois’ disguise names translate as “Blue Sky Keroko” (Aozora Keroko) and “Great Sea Mois” (Unabara Mois....Appearently it was supposed to be an N, I was surprised too). They don’t show up until the next beach episode, but Nankyoku Tamae is “Southpole Tamae” and Giroro’s I believe is supposed to be a nod to Cucuruz Doan, a character from Mobile Suit Gundam who only appeared in one episode which never aired overseas.

Episode 19: Actually, Natsumi’s reaction seems a bit much to me; Dororo was making the takoyaki properly and had good intentions, Giroro was actually helping children win at his game (Come to think of it, considering Japan’s laws about gun ownership those games are probably the only time any of these children ever touch a real gun), and they removed Kururu’s rigged booth from the manga, so the only dodgy bit was the masks (and isn’t the scoop supposed to be defective with the normal ones being slightly more secure? so wouldn’t it be okay if she fiddled with the wire or used it upside down? I’m thinking about this more than I should, aren’t I?). I’m fairly sure her reaction to the radio plan would also have been less if it had been during another show

Episode 20: At the beginning Dororo makes a statement about protecting the Earth’s environment after invading and I’m going to hop onto my soapbox and mention that he’d probably do a better job. Did you know there are massive patches of garbage floating in the oceans caused by currents bringing the garbage together? Research has been done into cleaning it but if we could even just remove the plastics that would remove one of the main types of waste in these patches, benefit the (at least) 267 species affected by the photodegradation of plastics in the ocean, and save both petrochemicals and the energy that goes into creating new plastics (To give you an idea of the difference recycling makes, by recycling one aluminium cam instead of making a new one you can save enough energy to recycle that can 20 times or enough to power your house for 4 hours)....The ozone layer is starting to grow back, so let’s keep going (If nothing else do it because it would make Dororo happy)

I’d like to point out as well that they had recycling in the Edo period (one example was shops that repaired broken pottery, which were so popular that for a year no new pottery was made at all)....On a more lighthearted note the Keroro platoon looks adorable in those little sailor outfits

Episode 21: I have to wonder about Kururu’s handling of the video: on the one hand, he did seem to genuinely be upset about it, on the other hand not saving your progress is more of a beginner mistake than you would expect given he does this work all the time (and the laughing when the phone falls in the drink could be taken as either finding it funny or that laugh people do when everything has gone so spectacularly wrong it’s the only way to can cope with it all). In other words part of me suspects that he did have a backup stored away somewhere and just wanted to enjoy everyone else’s emotional highs and lows. It’s also interesting to compare Natsumi’s more transformational approach to coping with the heat (change the air’s temperature so it’s colder) to Koyuki’s more adaptive approach (change one’s body temperature so the air feels colder by comparison)

I also really enjoy the second part (and I’m sure Dororo would have too if he had gone with them), though I admit I used to get vertigo from the bit at the beginning with the other motorists (Appearently it’s a Lupin reference) when they fly off the road. The end is adorable though, when they realise they were helped by Grandmother Akina (though the scenes when she helps them are charming too)

[poppun-chan]

The Year of Keroro Challenge Update 4 (Yes Sir)

Goodness, even though I mentioned looking forward to this one it took quite a while to write it (this has been a difficult week)in terms of watching I’m almost finished with the first season, actually, one strange thing I noticed was that the valentines episode actually lines up with valentines day. But before we get started Jlucy pointed out to me that the scene from episode 21 with the car is specifically a nod to “Castle of Caliostro” with the drivers being based on two of the main characters and the car being a nod to the Fiat from the movie. Actually I wonder if the writers for the dub had this in mind when they were writing; in the English version the driver mentions he was renting a car because he didn’t want to use his Fiat.

Either way I had planned to wait until there weren’t any text pieces to translate, but I have at least one more of these non-episode specific notes to do before we reach episode 65, so a bit on name origins (The ones for the Human characters will probably be less familiar, but still....)

Keroro-Kero, the noise a frog makes (I’ve always suspected this is actually a really common name)

Tamama-Otamajakushi, meaning tadpole (I really find myself wondering about his family background that his parents gave him a name that assumes he’s going to look like a child for a long time)

Giroro-Giro, the onomatopoeia for glaring at someone/something

Kururu-Kuru, it’s used as an onomatopoeia, a noun, and a verb, either way it refers to something twisting, spinning or turning (which is why his resonance creates a loop)

Dororo-It’s best known as a reference to the Osamu Tezuka manga Dororo, which takes place in the feudal era, it also works as a play on Doro-Doro which is the sound of something dripping

And the plan count:

Serious Plans: K66:16 D66:1 MMK:1 TMM:1

Funding Plans: K66:1

It’s a plan, I Swear!: K66:5 (I’m throwing the sports day mission in here too)

Oh look! Progress!: K66:3 

And the marker board from episode 27:

Episode 22: Now first of all I’ve always enjoyed this episode, the absurdity, the cute break down Tamama has at the end, the completely impractical but still fun plan (actually I think Tamama only comes up with three plans over the course of the entire show and they’re all more or less the same basic concept). Plus the little stealth pun when Natsumi gets angry about the shower; she shouts “Kora!” which is an interjection that can be used as a reprimand, but it’s pronounced similarly to Cola.

Actually, speaking of this part I have to admit I sort of agree with Tamama’s point that Fuyuki could just serve that cake in the fridge instead of making dinner....Actually even the bit about accounting for nutritional balance could sort of be refuted; Baked goods often contain grains and eggs, not always dairy but ice cream and cheese cake covers that, his plan allowed tuna as an exception so that’s meat covered, plus many desserts are made with fruit and there are some made with vegetables (carrot cake, anything with pumpkin in it, corn cake), sure most people would probably either stop eating before this point or simply die trying, but theoretically it IS possible to get normal nutrients that way....Yes I’ve seriously thought about this; there are quite a few characters that can be explained this way.

Finally no discussion of this episode would be complete without bringing up the infamous letter, so I’m going to try and cover this in more depth since I have the luxury of making this a separate note. First of all, it’s written really oddly; everything except the word “leader” is written in katakana which you normally wouldn’t do (hiragana only is a different matter, but in modern times it’s considered a bit childish). One big issue with not using kanji is that it’s much harder to tell what you’re trying to say, plus katakana itself is a bit sticky since some of them strongly resemble each other or other kanji (one relevant to this is katakana ni resembling the kanji for two which is often pronounced the same way). The revealed part admittedly seems phrased a bit simply, but it says “Taichou wa Tamama ni” or “Tamama’s Leader” while the full message is “Taichou wa Keroro ni Makasetamama ni” or “Keroro will be left as the leader” I suppose the closest thing in English would be if the letters were a bit more spaced apart instead of grouped together

And fun fact; Etsuko Kozakura, the woman who provides Tamama’s voice, also did the voice of Puppetmon/Pinocchimon from the original Digimon series. I just thought I’d mention this since I noticed a few....similarities between their management styles (Though Tamama just imprisoned people who crossed him instead of....deleting them)....actually watching the episode and knowing this made me look into Digimon again, did you know one of the newer series has a Puppetmon who is one of the friend Digimon that shows up every now and then? Really. They have his nose grow when he lies (including to himself) and give him some really charming moments....and he shares his English voice with Keroro, hm.

Episode 23: And it’s the clone episode! I have to confess, the bit about the clones not having a star always makes me wish there was a video of the original Keroro singing the song from the Sneetches, the one where the starred Sneetches are roasting marshmallows....I know it’s a strange association to make, but....Come to think of it, I don’t think this was a manga chapter, I’m not completely sure and I know most of the season one episodes were based on the manga, but I know a few stories were anime exclusive and I believe this was the first one, either way it’s hilarious to see Keroro being the responsible one and getting annoyed by the behaviour of his own clones (still, at least there was an easily visible way of telling them apart, which is better than what happened with Pinkie Pie, some people still theorise that they kept the wrong Pinkie).

Now for a bit of a sticky area, especially since I’ve been putting up with my grandfather’s preoccupation with this particular time for most of my life, but I noticed something a bit odd. Even now, a lot of people seem to be weirded out by the “clone salute”, but they actually switched two of the syllables in the Aliens’ name for Earth because the original term from the manga was associated with the Sino-Japanese wars (I’m not sure which, there’s two major ones and a bunch of smaller conflicts, but the second big one was during the world war) and was banned from television. I’d be curious to find out what it is that makes one war reference more acceptable than another (maybe because calling Earth “Pokopen” alludes to much longer standing conflict with a specific country? I have to admit I always wondered if the best way of handling “touchy terms” would be to find a positive, unrelated use for them so they take on a new meaning and the old one eventually falls out of use; you often hear about the power of words, but it’s actually their meanings that have effect rather than the words themselves)

Episode 24: Oh dear it’s 556, I have to admit I’ve never liked this guy (though I will admit, I like the instrumental version of his song on the Christmas album) I know for a lot of people felt the same way with Joriri eventually replacing him, but it didn’t work the same way for me.

Actually, one thing I love about this episode is how when Keroro wonders about the emotions he’s feeling watching 556 fighting “monsters” they immediately cut to Tamama; it’s almost as if the cinematography is saying “Let’s ask your resident expert, shall we?”

Actually I recently looked at the Japanese version of the full character page again, I think there’s one surprising one on there; I know 556 and Labbie are references to Space Sheriff Gaven and a character named Annie from Space Sheriff Shaider, but the character page lists their relationship as Gukyou-Kenmai or “Goofy Older Brother, Wise Younger Sister” which was the original title for a T.V. series called “Otoko wa Tsurai yo” or “It’s tough to be a man” which later became a huge film series of the same title (Often called “Tora-san” after the main character, Torajirou), spanning 48 installments and nearly three decades (only ending when the actor playing Torajiro died). The films followed a similar formula of Torajirou the traveling salesman going home to his sister’s family, walking out after getting into an argument and meeting a distressed young woman in the next town he goes to and offering to let her stay at the family’s sweet shop if she needs it. Eventually this happens and he falls in love with her, but in trying to win her over indavertantly ends up setting her up with another man and ending up disappointed, but putting on a brave face and wishing her the best before journeying to another town in hopes of getting over her and eventually becoming somebody his family can be proud of. 

The first movie was actually made to please fans of the original show who were upset that Torajirou died of a snakebite in the final episode, it also took quite a bit of convincing from the director to get the first movie made. Incidentally, the working title for the original show came from the final caption in another piece Torajiro’s actor played in

Episode 25: And here we have a Nishizawa family quarrel....which is appearently not considered complete unless enough money is spent that you could buy a small town and heavy weapons are nearly used (that’s the second time Keroro’s nearly let to Earth be destroyed only to be stopped at the last moment by the realisation that Earth is the official “Gunpla Planet”). Still there are some nice little moments (though I wonder if they ever did make that video, as long as they cut out the bits where they start to lose it could work)

Episode 26: Sports Day fun times ♪ Actually, has anyone ever noticed that whenever a show wants to slow down a sports day they usually target the scavenger hunt? Though now that I think about it, the cruel irony of all this is if they hadn’t tried to help, Aki probably would have made it in time to run in the race (or at least, the combined effect of accidentally speeding up the 100 meter dash and ruining some of the manuscripts). Though I do admit that I miss the parts from the manga where Momoka is running a race and the newspaper article at the end “Freak in tights crashes sports fest” I find it strangely hilarious the way they worded it. Also it’s amazing the things that become relevant later on, let’s see who remembers what I’m talking about.

Episode 27:  First of all, I love the way Keroro offhandedly compares renewing interest in the invasion to reviving the dead (He already knows it’s a lost cause), it’s especially interesting considering they come across the remnants of a failed invasion later on. Actually I sort of want to see a spin off about those past invaders; not necessarily a big, dramatic, action-y thing mind you, honestly I expect it would be more or less the same thing as with Keroro but in ancient times, perhaps with the human characters being the ancestors of the current ones.

Also they use the pun of kaeru meaning both “frog” and “to return” quite a lot in the series. Though I have to admit I can relate to Keroro’s feelings a bit here; all of the women in my family have been quite formidable, especially for their time, and my mother is crusading to change the child welfare system in Canada (even though she’s never been in it) and doing all of these things for political change and I sometimes feel I can’t really measure up to that, even though I don’t plan on going into a related field. Plus because of her work I’m a bit burnt out on people issues, I focus more on environmental ones.

Episode 28: This one was a bit tricky, though I always thought the effect of the cold weather on the Keronians sounded more like windburn than all out frostbite. As for the second part this officially marked the beginning of the odd sort of dynamic of Mois & Kururu, I don’t remember how much it was explored in the show apart from her sometimes being who they went with when they needed a girl to associate with Kururu, though I remember a few moments from the manga that built on it, such as the “Angol Stone” chapter.

[poppun-chan]

The Year of Keroro Challenge Update 1 (Yes Sir)

I probably should have done this post a few days ago, but here are some of my thoughts thus far:

First is something that I’ve realised nobody ever translated, not even the Funimation dub, it’s all the way in the first season opening when they jump off the ship to pose together....and then catch fire in the Earth’s atmosphere:

Actually I feel that part of the opening says a lot about the show....

Another interesting thing is the names of Natsumi’s friends, Yayoi & Satsuki mean February & May respectively. I’m hoping to add other references and notes about things that haven’t been tracked yet as I go including 

Moving right along (in search of good times and good news, hee hee):

Episode 1: I had actually forgotten that was how they found him; I always describe the show to other people as “Cute, Frog-like Aliens come to invade Earth and get distracted”, oddly I did remember the bit about the ghost being why they could afford a house that big (And that despite her appearance and the legend she actually lived into her 90s)

Episode 2: And now they introduce my favourite characters, honestly I feel the dynamic between these is a bit underrated; a lot of the fan works focused on the other Keronian-Human partnerships and most of the time people didn’t seem to be sure what to do with them beside them both being obsessive and losing their tempers. It really is too bad because they have some genuinely sweet and adorable moments, especially a bit later on when they handle it more overtly that in some ways Momoka acts almost as a surrogate parent to Tamama (true it’s a bit odd when you realise that Tamama’s closer to adulthood than Momoka, but it’s still cute)

Episode 3: The timing wasn’t quite right when I first watched this, but I’ve found part one fairly relatable lately and I would have when I first watched the show if it had been a bit earlier since both are times where when I’ll sometimes go for days without being able to go out (My Mom takes the only car to work and when she runs her program she’s away until late and around 2006 there was a time where we couldn’t leave my Dad alone because of his heart problems and since I couldn’t drive I could only go out if all three of us did). In a way part 2 is as well; how Keroro panics when they get to part of the video with him eating the ramen....Not something like that but sometimes I put a lot of effort into hiding things that are completely innocuous (Even though most of my generation seem to be exhibitionists....Sweet Goodness)

Episode 4: There’s something that’s been hanging over the series ever since Giroro was first introduced and I’ve been meaning to talk about it for a long time: Does anyone else think Giroro just doesn’t know how young Natsumi is? Really though, in the second half he’s surprised that it rains on Earth, so it’s not too far fetched to think that he wouldn’t know very much about the human life-stages, plus she would look a bit older than her age-mates.

Episode 5: This is actually the first time I see this episode in Japanese, it’s almost the first time I see the episode at all, come to think of it; I saw the dub version once, I remembered it being depressing in the manga so....

Episode 6: It’s the summer-ish episode that doesn’t actually happen during summer, I always enjoyed this one; it has some genuinely sweet moments (Like when Keroro & Tamama do the forest trek) as well as some really funny ones (Like the ironic game of space invaders). Though I do wonder about Momoka’s logic about being able to compare with Natsumi and Aki’s....appearance, if Fuyuki’s Mother & Sister look that way would it even be something he’s drawn to or care about? And a bonus point to the dub for the “Who stole my cake? I’ll kill you all if I have to!” line, that’s just great

Episode 7: And the infamous Mois introduction, I seem to remember her attraction to Keroro having to do with her seeing him as “rescuing” her when her parents had locked her in a room, I always thought that the reality was she was told to wait upstairs while her parents had a grown-up party and Keroro accidentally opened the door while looking for the bathroom, perhaps it was actually said somewhere and I’m just not remembering but it always seemed like something that would happen. Also I rather feel bad for Tamama at the end of the episode, true he behaved badly but I think he was a little bit over punished....At the very least let him have a piece of the cake

[poppun-chan]

The Year of Keroro Challenge Update 2 (Yes Sir)

First of all I’m surprised by how much attention the last one has gotten, I know it isn’t a huge number, but I didn’t expect it to be noticed by anyone who doesn’t know me, so thank you.

Now one thing I forgot to put in last time was that I’m going to keep track of how many plans each character puts forth and categorise them (There aren’t any actual plans until Dororo shows up anyway, so all I missed was Keroro talking about his allowance) For now there are three categories:

Serious Plans (What it says on the tin):

K66: 13 D66: 1

Funding Plans (You could say, in the red?):

It’s A Plan, I Swear! (Froggy Fun Times, but with a thin coat of invasion plan varnish to avoid the wrath of Giroro):

K66: 2

Also there are some linguistic & cultural notes mixed into my comments below the break

Episode 8: There are a few things, first of all the bit about Mois “Hearing the three man’s voices” always seemed a bit odd to me and I finally realised why; two of the three are voiced by women. Next is I’m surprised he didn’t at least set up the camera for the Gunpla Room (Then again, Giroro would probably be even more ticked off if that was the only camera functioning). 3- The “I can’t stop it now” part, I always wondered if it actually could have been stopped by putting a lollipop in his mouth.

Finally the part with the bar at the end actually could have potentially been a good idea; alcohol dehydrates you slightly, that’s how it causes intoxication. Since they all thought it was a Nyororo in the base, with is attracted to moisture, it could potentially work, or maybe you can trick the Nyororo into drinking it? Come to think of it if Keronians become intoxicated by excessive moisture would alcohol effect them differently? Either way, that probably wasn’t his plan, but it was at least salvagable

Episode 9: The Kururu introduction episode, I’m not sure if I ever watched the whole thing, if I did it couldn’t have been very often; the bit from the dub with the musical alarm stayed with me though, since watching it this time I was surprised it actually played Ode To Joy. Also I’m fairly sure they were talking about them being picked up by “Men in black”, sometimes words end up with different meanings or being said differently for various reasons (Like being difficult to say or sounding unweildly), I just thought I’d mention it since I remember some people getting weirded out by that.

Also in the second part I’m not sure how commonly known it is, but in Japanese part of what makes something more or less polite is the degree of familiarity it implies, unlike in English where generally the “impolite” ways of addressing somebody are always considered impolite, in Japanese most of ways of somebody “impolitely” are actually fine in other circumstances and the issue is assuming a greater degree of familiarity than you have (though the latter exists too, for example “Omae” is a variation of “You” but the “mae” means “in front”, so it sort of feels more like you’re talking in the other person’s general direction). I’m not sure of certain points but generally the surname is more formal than the given name and from most to least formal honoriffics are more or less: Dono, Sama, Sensei (used for professionals in a feild as well as teachers), San, Senpai (I think this is where it would go?), Kun/Chan, no honoriffic, “you” (Within that I believe the order is Anata, Kimi, Anta, Omae)

Part of this probably should have gone with episode 2 when Momoka is trying to move from Hinata-kun to Fuyuki-kun, but it’s similar here where Momoka thinks “Fuyuki” has gone from using the fairly formal Nishizawa-san to the much more familiar Momoka-chan and says that she’s even fine with “him” using her given name alone (generally only done with immediate family like children and siblings, very very close friends, and of course close and/or married couples). This also makes Keroro’s way of addressing the human characters & Mois a little unusual since using the given name implies a certain degree of familiarity, while using the honoriffic “dono” implies reverence.

Having said that, how did nobody notice “Fuyuki” suddenly growing several inches of hair?

Episode 10: Ooh! It’s the infamous cavity episode, it aired in early June, yes? Cavity awareness episodes usually run then to correspond with dental hygene week and cavity prevention day on June 4 (Because June is Rokugatsu, meaning 6th month and the kanji for 6 is sometimes read as Mu and 4 for the 4th day can be read as Shi. Together that’s Mushi, meaning bug and as in Mushiba which means cavity, and literally translates as bug teeth....which is why you sometimes see images of little insect people making them).

A couple of other things I noticed were that Giroro is holding two guns at the beginning instead of one like the other were and the other is one thing that a lot of people have wondered about through out the run that’s actually explained this early. Namely why Keroro got a cavity in this episode while Tamama, who eats considerably more sugar, never did; if Keronians get cavities from tiny aliens, his Tamama impact probably kills them all whenever he uses it.

Episode 11: I’m not sure, but I think this is the first time I watch this episode in it’s entirety, I know I’ve seen parts of it and read the manga chapter, I but didn’t especially care for the ending. Though the manga’s version had something that I found odd: Kururu burning his tapes of the show, I know it’s because he’s disappointed it’s real, but plastic produces toxic fumes when it burns and he should know better than to sit right next to it.

Episode 12: Since Sumomo’s shapeshifting is supposed to be due to Axolotls being neotenic I thought I’d mention a bit more: this means they function fully as adults without reaching their final stage of physical development, like Pokemon. There is a way of maturing Axolotls by exposing them to iodine (this was discovered when a crate of them were shipped to a scientist, exposed to iodine in transit and arrived as a shipment of salamander like lizards), it’s very rare, but some will also mature by themselves. Also I wonder what picture was in Giroro’s belt before he met Natsumi

Episode 13: And the gang’s all together now! Sort of. First of all that names of the first two Aliens that show up Gesu-chan the seal was probably derived from “gesui” which refers to waste water (drainage ditches, sewers, etc) since that’s where the “seal” appears, but “gesu” can also refer to something boorish or in poor taste, hence the species name (Because let’s face it, that guy was a little freaky deaky). Then the one spying on Melody Honey was called “Muku-chan” and muku is a way of saying “to glance”. Having said that honestly I sort of relate to Dororo’s delayed reaction to Keroro’s apology; There are some thing I’m still upset about people doing or that affect me years later even though for the other person it’s a minor thing they completely forgot (Like the time I gave my tickets to a magic show to a friend because my mom made a comment that made it sound like the behaviour standards were something I couldn’t live up to)

Also it’s a bit funny that even though Dororo is the one associated with the “Trauma Switch” Keroro was the first one to have it go off on-screen. And I know Viper is a parody of something but I can’t remember it right now

Episode 14: And here are the first actual invasion plan(s) for the most part it’s a sweet and charming episode about friendship....Having said that the bit with the city workers really makes me wonder about a few things, namely what happens when the authorised flowers spread on their own? Why would the flowers be such a problem that they’d have the city workers work overtime to get rid of them? And if Momoka can buy an island and buy the truck full of flowers, wouldn’t it be possible to buy a marriage from the government later on? A bit out there, but so are some of the other things she’s done (And I remember this being the premise for another series)

[tamamatango]

Keroro Gunso 30 Day Challenge Day 19: Best Invasion Plan

Technically, the best invasion plan would be none of them since they all failed...

...or at least all of the ones that Keroro has come up with, anyway.

One invasion plan did in fact succeed in that the invasion was instated for more than a couple of hours. I’m talking about Kururu’s plan in 214a.

...Alright, I guess we’re not sure if he really intended to invade or if he was just being spontaneous, but it was genius either way: Kururu pretended to be tired of the Platoon so he could leave, then he bribed Momoka to get to stay at her mansion, then ended up assisting her dad in business meetings, and finally he singlehandedly took over the entire Nishizawa Corporation. AKA the leader of Japan’s economy. It’s incredible how much sheer power Kururu had during that two-week or so timespan...until he quit because he was no longer entertained by it. And thus the world returned to normal because of Kururu’s fickleness. Also, the rest of the Keroro Platoon was completely and utterly helpless during all this. So help us if Kururu ever starts getting serious for real.

So that was an enjoyable episode. And now you know why Kururu is the best character. No honorable mentions today because, as I said before, the rest kinda suck. Good thing, too, otherwise the show would be pretty boring.

Tomorrow we’ll be going over most talented character. Alright then, that sure is a prompt.

[poppun-chan]

Wait, was Tamama originally an adult!?

So, I’ve been thinking about the Keroro series recently and there’s something that’s been pulling at the back of my mind for a while; a few things seem really different compared to the beginning of the series, in terms of the series canon. And I know some things were influenced by the anime and considering how drastically the series changed from the pilot chapter it makes sense that the world building shifted a bit, but it looks like Tamama was originally meant to be a lot older than he is now.

I remember reading that his actress, Etsuko Kozakura said in an interview once that she voiced Tamama as being around 19 years old, and in a retrospective she wrote on her blog she mentioned that she sometimes wonders if she overshot his age a few years. And there was that one episode of the anime where he briefly becomes an adult (and orders cola at a bar) due to the age gun accidentally hitting him. And a lot of people pin him as being even younger after that booklet was released giving their ages (though I take it with a grain of salt since it also lists them all as being the same height when Kururu is slightly taller, even with his poor posture, and Tamama is slightly shorter).

But then in the earlier chapters it looks like he was originally an adult with some form of hypoplasia that kept him from maturing normally. In the New Years chapter from book 4 he’s shown getting drunk with the others and some of the comments he makes imply that he’s not only done it before, but has often enough that he knows how it effects him and have a nickname tied to his tolerance (or maybe he’s just playing up his tolerance by claiming people have called him “the fish”). Or at least in his internal monologue after his confession he realises that he’s not actually drunk yet.

Plus there was the “interview” with Tamama in the first book where he mentions his tail being “full of bad memories”. The interviewer even mentions assuming that it was because Tamama isn’t an adult yet and he replies that he “lets everyone think that” and that he “always knew [he] was special” and that things were rough for him at first because of it. To me it seems like his original backstory would have been that Tamama was originally considered a late bloomer and as time went on and he still hadn’t matured it eventually got looked into and turned out that it either wasn’t going to happen at all, or at least not for a long time and as a result has spent his entire adult life with people either not taking him seriously because he looks like a child, or assuming he’s a girl that likes wearing boy’s hats (I wonder if that’s why in the Kemono Friends event story he doesn’t care about being turned into a girl, people have made the mistake so often that he doesn’t care any more and at least now there’s a legitimate reason to assume he is).

That might also be why we’ve gotten so little of his backstory compared to Keroro, Giroro & Dororo; it still hasn’t been completely decided on, or at least was changed at some point. I’m not sure which option would be better, but it would explain part of why he is the way he is now, and some of the aspects that would make it interesting are still there. Namely how his cute appearance is a double edged sword; on the one hand he seems to take pride in it, or at the very least enjoy being doted on as a result, but on the other hand it damages his credibility. People have a hard time taking you seriously when you look like you haven’t even finished puberty yet. I remember at least one point in the manga where he gets defensive about his appearance, it’s in one of the chapters with Ouka where before he tries to fight her he delivers a monologue about how he’s “been put on a pedestal as the platoon’s feel-good icon, but is actually a tragic hero faced with a dilemma” true some of it was probably to be dramatic, but right before attacking he says “If you dismiss me as something small and cute you’re gonna get burned!”. But at the same time he still doesn’t want anyone else challenging his position as the cute one because if he has to deal with negative aspects without having the positive ones, he just can’t handle it.

Either way it would explain part of his resentment issues, especially towards Taruru; it’s frustrating enough that your several years younger student gets promoted ahead of you, it’d be even worse suspecting it’s because he’s normal and that makes him seem more capable, especially if it was hard for you to get into the field at all (Keronians are already cute and hard to see as a threat, I can imagine it’d be difficult for somebody cuter than average to get into the army). When you add the root of his over attachment issues being hinted at in the kindergarten story as being due to always being the last one to go home because everyone else’s parents picked them up long before his could, if they were even able to take him home at all. Even if it was something as innocuous as his parents both working later, it clearly had enough of an impact that it still affects him years later; it’s no wonder he’s such an incredible mess now.

It could also explain his easy acceptance of his circumstances on Earth without his necessarily being from a rich family or self-entitled; between the issues he had with his family as a young child and his not being taken seriously now, he might see it as things finally going his way. So it could be a matter of “It’s fine that I’m better off than everyone else, they’re happy enough and had a fairly normal life, now it’s my turn”. Even in the anime where he clearly isn’t an adult yet some of this is still applicable where he still had to deal with feelings as a child that none of the other children had to (the kindergarten episode was animated in the flash series) and people still have trouble seeing how capable he is under his cute appearance.

[tamamatango]

Keroro Gunso 30 Day Challenge Day 26: Favorite Side Character

Oh yes. I’ve been waiting for a good chance to talk about Special Ops Soldier Dorara for like an entire year and here it is. I know I usually do a little intro to the prompt or something before going into the answer but who cares it’s motherfucking Dorara time.

Dorara is actually in my top 10 favorite characters in the series, and is the only one of those to not be part of the Keroro Platoon or one of their partners. I would say that’s a pretty big achievement.

Dorara is exclusive to Keroro Gunso: Gekishin Dragon Warriors de arimasu! for the Nintendo DS, an action platformer by Bandai Namco obviously based on the movie of the same name and spiritual successor to 2008’s game based on the 3rd movie. Despite being a licensed game, it actually really stands on its own as a surprisingly good platformer with smooth, fun controls, decent level design (albeit a bit tiresome toward the end), pretty great presentation for a 2009 DS game...and a better story than the actual fucking movie. Seriously I have no idea how that happened. If you can run DS games on your computer (I recommend desmume), it’s worth checking out even if you can’t read the text. It’s perfectly enjoyable despite the language barrier and there’s English video walkthroughs on YouTube if you need the help.

Anyway, enough about the game, let’s talk about Dorara. Dorara is first introduced toward the end of the game’s first world (iirc), and he was sent by Keron Army’s HQ to investigate the big scary dragon tail thing along with the Keroro Platoon. He commands his own special forces (which all look identical to each other) and seems to be a very disciplined and serious soldier at first glance, but he has a tendency to get flustered, and when he does...he slips into a country accent. Yes, cool-looking Dorara is a country bumpkin. He’s also a super big mamma’s boy. And it’s really funny.

So Dorara kinda just hangs around for most of the game showing a little support here and there, masking his true intentions the whole time...until he shows up at he very end of the game as Keroro and pals are about to confront the Earth Dragon and absorbs the dragon’s power for himself. And then he turns into this thing:

And it’s really badass.

See, Dorara gets fed up with the Keroro Platoon working with those lowly Pekoponians and decides to take the Pekopon invasion into his own hands (even though the Earth Dragon is already effectively destroying the planet). In fact, it’s revealed (though I don’t remember where in game I got this part from another site lol) that Dorara was never satisfied being a special ops soldier in the first place—he wanted to be something bigger so he could make his hometown back in the country proud and show those city slickers who’s boss. And he sure did become a boss—the final boss, in fact. Ultimatley, the Keroro Platoon beat him up a bit and then Fuyuki steps in to give him the power of friendship! speech to explain the relationship between Keronians and Pekoponians, and Dorara goes back to normal and the ending of the movie follows (Terara being born and all that). And so Dorara ends up as a good guy (or at least a guy who decides not to take over the world).

It doesn’t end there, however. When movie 4 hit theaters in Japan, moviegoers were given a set of seals that you could trace into the DS touch screen and get cool stuff. In the age of emulators and the Internet, you can still use the seals, which you can find images of online, but since they’re not traceable you have to draw the shape yourself until the game accepts it. It’s tedious as hell but worth it because you can play as Dorara. (And also Garuru who is essentially a faster Giroro)

Dorara is extremely overpowered. He has all the abilities that the individual platoon members have plus infinite flight, meaning he’s the best for combat and platforming and can solve every puzzle in the game. He can also go into almost every single stage, whereas most of them are normally only accessible with a certain platoon member. He’s essentially a crutch or a way to find hidden collectibles more easily, and he’s a lot of fun. He’s also really cute. Please look at his widdle face.

Anyway, that’s about all there is about Dorara, sadly (why the hell wasn’t he in the movie). He has a really cool design in both forms, emotes really well (look at some of his event sprites on the Keroro wiki), has a cute backstory, comes from a really fun game and is broken as hell. What’s not to love? Also, he did have a brief cameo or two in the Kero Zero short before the 4th movie, but that doesn’t make me any less angry that we never see him again. Please I just wanted to see him animated ;-;

That’s all for today, but tomorrow’s prompt is favorite rivalry. That should be fun. And possibly make me seem a bit hypocritical.

[tamamatango]

Keroro Gunso 30 Day Challenge Day 21: Favorite Hinata

I guess it makes sense that the Hinatas get their own prompt considering how important they are to the fate of the entire world. It’s entirely possible the Earth would be enslaved by the Keronians if they weren’t around. Always nice to remember our lives are in the hands of a couple of middle schoolers and their weird mom.

Anyway, it might (or might not idk) come as a surprise that my favorite is the youngest Hinata, Fuyuki.

I guess we’ll go back to the list format I used toward the beginning of the challenge for this one:

I covered this before so I won’t go into detail but Fuyuki’s relationship with Keroro is just the damn sweetest thing. These guys have done duets. Move over, Ash and Pikachu.

I don’t think Fuyuki’s done a single really bad thing in the entirety of the series’s run. I mean, besides being bratty as a child and perhaps making mistakes here and there, Fuyuki doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. I like to call him Fuyuki Goodboy.

Fuyuki has the patience of a saint, honestly. He deals with Keroro’s shenanigans on a regular basis, puts up with his sister’s nagging, never gets upset when Momoka goes into Anger Mode, and doesn’t seem to hold any ill will toward any of the other frogs (maybe Kururu in the beginning but it becomes clear later on that he warms up to him quite a bit). He’s the chillest 13-year-old ever.

Fuyuki’s infatuation with the paranormal is actually a character trait that’s not only entertaining (and relatable) but also gives way to some actual plot. He also is kinda a real environmentalist, often sacrificing himself to save some cool animal.

Fuyuki sucks at sports and can never focus on homework but is actually more intelligent than most of the cast which is a really cool way to balance things out. Also the sucking at sports part is incredibly relatable.

I can’t think of a single Fuyuki episode that stuck out to me as bad. They’re all really good and oftentimes tend to be the sweetest and most memorable. Besides the numerous ones about him and Keroro, the Loch Ness Monster episode, the transfer student episode, and the Pluto episode are just a handful of the ones that I can name off the top of my head.

Fuyuki might be considered kind of weak and passive, but he knows what to do when things get serious. He was responsible for pretty much resolving the plots of movies 3 and 5 and saving the world from the Garuru Platoon. He also knows how to use the Kero Ball better than Keroro. He is also surprisingly really good in the PS2 fighting game and going against him is a frightening experience.

Overall, Fuyuki’s just really hard to dislike and probably one of the characters that’s easiest to empathize with. A lot of the show’s best moments revolve around him and, let’s be honest, although he doesn’t have as much raw power as his mother and sister, he definitely has more than enough influence over things. He’s well deserved his spot as the main non-Keronian character.

Tomorrow’s prompt is...least favorite frog? Wait, didn’t I already go over this? Eh...

[tamamatango]

Keroro Gunso 30 Day Challenge Day 28: Character Most Like Me

I think I’ve talked about how I find traits of certain characters to be relatable before, but I think Kururu has to take the cake here. I stated at the very beginning of this challenge (and quite a few times before) that I headcanon him as being autistic, and while I’m not the first one to come up with that HC my own experiences certainly were a factor my adopting of it. He’s very knowledgeable in his fields of passion and expertise, and is damn good at figuring things out to the point where he can know what he’s talking about, but he’s also quite inexperienced and uncoordinated in other areas. He also clearly has a hard time adapting to social norms, and displays discomfort in large groups, preferring to be quiet and off to the side until his abilities are needed. He can be talkative and goofy once he finds people he can be comfortable with, but it takes him a while to get to that point. In general, as someone who grew up as “the really smart kid that doesn’t socialize,” these aspects of him are heavily relatable. We share quite a few other traits and mannerisms as well, but that’d be going a little too deep for the purposes of this post. While I don’t think the writers’ intentions with Kururu were to reflect the autism experience(TM), that’s a large part of what I get out of him.

Today’s honorable mentions: Tamama, another rather predictable answer, not only because I’ve used him as a large part of my online presence for the last year or so. Tamama’s constantly teetering on the borderline between maturity and immaturity, which is a spot I find myself in a lot. And, without getting too Personal On Main, I’ve been through some of his emotional struggles as well. I also see a little bit of myself in Keroro, for the sheer anxiety and inattentiveness that overwhelms him at the mere thought of having to do something with himself. He’s a lot more extroverted than I’ll ever be, but that one aspect really gets me in the gut.

The next and penultimate prompt is best gadget. There’s like 500 machines in this show how am I supposed to choose

[tamamatango]

Keroro Gunso 30 Day Challenge Day 15: Favorite Opening

What would anime be without openings and endings? Sometimes it makes me sad that western shows only get 30-45 second openings usually. Not to say that those openings can’t be jams. Speaking of jams, my favorite opening happens to be Hello Darwin! ~Curiosity on Demand~, the ninth opening of the series and the only one done by JAM Project (famous for many, many mecha anime...how fitting.) This opening, based around the theme of adventure and discovery, is definitely the most blood-pumping of the whole bunch. It almost feels too epic for Keroro Gunso, and that’s why it’s amazing. The first few seconds especially always send a chill down my spine. JAM Project has done two other great songs for the series but this one’s definitely my favorite. It’s also used during my favorite season and often accompanied my favorite ending! Today’s honorable mention is the opening immediately preceding my top pick, What a Wonderful Saturday, the eighth opening. This one is also extremely motivating, which is incredibly ironic because the actual lyrics are about how fucking lazy and cheap the Keroro Platoon is (you can actually find the translated lyrics for the full version here on my blog in the translation tag ;D). I think that’s part of what makes it a great song also - how funnily self-contradicting it is. Besides the lyrics though this song is just super catchy and it’s always nice to hear the Keroro Platoon sing. Fun fact: this opening was the one used in my favorite episode (see day 6 of this challenge). The fifth season had all the best songs I guess. Fitting for the show’s 5th year of broadcasting. Tomorrow’s prompt, unsurprisingly, is best ending. I hinted at my top pick in this very post. ...Oh, we’re halfway through this challenge, by the way. Cool.

[tamamatango]

Hooh

So last night at like 1 AM I ended up downloading the predecessor to the Keroro fighting game I talk about all the time, Keroro Gunso Meromero Battle Royale (the Z version was an upgrade released the year after the first). The game is...almost the same as the Z version, except with fewer characters (no Paul, Pekoponian Suit, or Kogoro; Mois and Aki are unlockable instead of default), a few missing modes, different menus, and (this is the reason I'm playing it) an actual story mode instead of the challenge mode, complete with cutscenes!

The story mode is basically five episodes per character, with each scenario having a different mission (which pretty much amounts to "beat up everyone that isn't on your side" or "beat up a stage hazard"). Some of these mini plots are borrowed from the anime, but some of them are completely original! This game was released around 2005 or so, which was very close to the beginning of the anime, so some of the characters are written closer to their manga versions. It's pretty noticeable, especially with characters who are drastically different in later anime episodes like Kururu, Tamama, Saburo and Koyuki.

If I had the time/energy/there weren't any technical problems I would really want to translate these because they're pretty interesting. It could possibly be something I do in the future if there's any interest, although it'd take me 50 years probably between irl things and fansubs. Yknow