15+ Secondary Blog of @cosmicsponge2004 (Send any asks, submissions, or requests there if they don't reach me here.)
Covering random things about the Sgt. Frog Manga (the anime too once I watch it) along with other media
I was kinda doing something else but I ended up coming across this with zero documentation on the English Web.
In August 2024, Kadokawa started publishing a Vertical Colorized Version of the Sgt. Frog Manga on their various digital manga sites.
ケロロ軍曹【タテスク】【フルカラー】
The first 3 chapters are free, with the rest costing either site points, real money, or subscription depending on the app/site (Kadowkawa owns... many). Though this is partially a farce as chapters are split up depending on length. Chapters 2 is actually just the second half of chapter 1
Here's that half cause it was easy to download and a good example for what the Colorized palettes look like (compressed heavily by Tumblr)
I doubt Yoshizaki was involved in these, Colorized manga rarely include the original mangaka. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's for example had no involvement from Araki so the colors are very different from the anime which he did have creative control over.
It does however seem to just scan the original full color pages when applicable. Though just like Dragon Ball, Chapter 1's limited color green tint pages ARE recolored. Good point of comparison
I feel like it's kinda weird seeing the chapter covers colorized
I wonder if this version re-colors the pages that were made monochrome in the tankoban like in Volume 6 or does it use the original Shonen Ace Magazine Versions
I know this was done in color not just cause of Koyuki' hair but because the cover gets reused in the book
This was an issue with the initial Dragon Ball Tankobans iirc but some newer collector's releases have all the color pages... in Japan. ViZ Media's American release is always incomplete yet inconsistent. Both with colored pages and Censorship
These are still released today (Keroro Vertical Color AND Dragon Ball Rereleases. I hear Poland's is uncut. MUST BE NICE!!!)
You can see it a bit better here (Keroro, not Dragon Ball. Pay attention)
MeroMero Battle Royale - Simple English Menu Guide
It's not perfect (I haven't told you the controls) but it's enough to navigate the game perfectly for those who don't speak Japanese... like me. I used a mix of DeepL, Google Searches, and the few Japanese Phrases I recognize from other games. I hope this guide is helpful to anyone who now has no other choice but to play this game
The Weird Arena-Platform Fighter Licensed Game for PS2
Keroro Gunsou : Meromero Battle Royale (2004) and it's expansion pack, Meromero Battle Royale Z (2005)
"Meromero" roughly translates into some sort of onomatopoeia for being love struck or smitten.... so I'm calling this one SGT. FROG SUPER ATTRACTIVE BATTLE ROYALE!!!! (Like Aki) [Google and deepl machine translate it as "Love-Struck" Battle Royale but my titles funnier :(]
Some of the Earliest Keroro Games, the only one not on a handheld (that includes computers). So early infact that the FMV Opening predates the finalized anime model sheets.
IT USES THE MANGA DESIGNS 🌟!!! (Saturated Colors, Black Tamama, Black Giroro Hate, Dark Dororo, ect.)
The game itself looks Ike the anime.
Down to the wacky charm of the way they move. Both in the Power Stone-esque main arena, and the Smash Bros-like 2D Sections. Perfect If you want a PS2 Fighter that Isn't the standard 2D Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat fare.
The merging of concepts keeps it a bit unique from Capcom and Nintendo
As well as... THE STORY!!!!
in which i.... cannot discuss. Because I don't speak Japanese and none of this has been translated
Except Saburo's story for some reason. Check it out
Jp Wikipedia says it's partially adapted from the anime but with more influence from the Manga. There's campaigns for KERORO, GIRORO, TAMAMA, KURURU, DORORO, NATSUMI, FUYUKI, MOMOKA, SABURO, & KOYUKI (and unlockables Angol Mois & Aki Hinata), each with 5 Chapters
as for the differences with Z, all documentation remains exclusive to Japanese Wikipedia. Which states...
Removal of the Opening and Story Mode
Menu Screen (Previous Game: Accessed from the Start Screen; menu designed to look like a model kit sprue / This Game: Selected from the Start Screen)
Character Selection Screen (Previous Game: Model kit sprue-style / Gachapon capsule-style or action figure box-style)
Gallery Selection Screen & BGM (Previous Game: Ninja mansion-style BGM identical to the menu / This Game: Main screen features cards, with the rest remaining the same as before; on the right side, every time you scroll down, Keroro looks like he’s about to be sucked in by Nyoro-ro. BGM features school bell melodies for class start and end, along with children’s chatter)
Character Additions and Presets (Aki and Moa, who didn’t appear in the previous game unless you cleared it; Paul, who appeared via Momoka’s move in the previous game; Keroro’s Earthling Suit; and 556)
You can choose character costumes
While there are still two patterns per stage, there is no pattern change feature via Poyon-chan.
Character designs in the previous game were based on the anime’s first season, while this game’s are based on the second season. For some characters, you can switch to first-season-style costumes.
Stage Design Changes
Hyuga Family Home / Nakano’s Low Table (wood grain changed to newspaper), the color of the plastic model paint that prevents jumping (changed from yellow to purple), and the contents of the basket (mandarins replaced with gacha capsules)
Hot Spring / Underground Ruins: The ground pattern (changed from Nazca Lines-style to marble inscribed with ancient characters)
Shrine / Snow-Covered Scene: Set during the day in the previous game, but set at dusk in this game
Others
Basically Graphical Changes, Paul, Kogorp, and removing all the manga influence.
Frankly perfect for any international players who are more into the anime or simply can't read japanese so they'd get nothing from the story. But this released in 2005. The Spanish, Italian, and French Dubs wouldn't air until Late 2006 and the American English Dub in 2009. :(
Please someone make an English Patch... or atleast a Spanish one🙏
TokyoPop's English Sgt. Frog logo has "Keroro Gunso" (the original name) in the bottom right. All in a militarized font
This logo was of course used in the book as well
HOWEVER, Volumes 2-18 mysteriously change this rominization from KERORO GUNSO to KERORO GUNSOU. With a U at the end, as do many translations that try to write the ending O sound to japanese words
Kind of hard to get clear images due to scan quality and me not owning copies of the volumes that include it but it's visible enough.
This is a typo because the Japanese logo has already romanized it without a "U" since the first volume from 1999
It is unknown why this mistake turned up exclusive inside the book in volume 2 (as the color logo on the front never had it) nor why it persisted all the way until volume NINETEEN (2004-2010, MOST of this translation's life)
I kinda wonder of part of why Sgt. Frog stuck around till the very end of TokyoPop's life (besides it not being Kodansha) was from it being translated marginally better than the consistent dog-ass that would come out of their translations.
There's still plenty of errors and weird localization decisions (as I sometimes discuss on this blog) but it's not quite to the level of everything they got wrong in like Cyborg 009 or Devil May Cry.
This isn't to say Keroro is the only translation to approach accuracy. I wouldn't even call it their BEST (well.. maybe their best comedy translation but... fuckin' ghostbusters? Ugh. Well it IMPROVED) But the bar was more like an erratic snake that could sometimes be really helpful, and other times bite you in the tiny dick Dante DMC wished for.
Oh yeah. Here's some early temp covers from various early websites.
It just feels wrong to post something without images
I'm a little afraid of the movie, not only because the bad reviews I'm seeing, but because the letter saying sorry of the errors of comunication and use of parodys not authorited and I'm afraid of it ending like the first episode of Osomatsu-san being banned because the parody thing...
I guess this is a good opportunity to go into that since I was gonna make a post on it anyway.
🥳 We’re in legal trouble! 🥳
…Nah jk. I think. I mean I believe there will be some edits to the home media/streaming release but it doesn’t seem like they’re actually gonna pull the movie from theaters or anything.
Essentially what happened, as per this article (it might be machine translated but this is what the official Oricon outlet put out in English), is that Bandai Namco Filmworks/Pictures did reach out to all companies whose works are parodied in the movie and got permission since there aren’t really fair use laws in Japan, but in the case of the Attack on Titan parody scene, they didn’t actually get full approval from the rightsholders on the depiction. But BNF failed to communicate this internally to the movie production team for whatever reason and the unapproved scene made it to the final cut. BNF takes full responsibility for the mishap and nobody who actually worked on the movie is at fault because they didn’t know they weren’t supposed to include this version of the scene. Based on the fact that they don’t say anything about the film’s theater release being impacted, my assumption is that they worked something out with AoT’s rightsholders behind the scenes to avoid the film getting yanked. I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered to compensate them in some way, likely by editing/cutting the scene for the home media release. I think that’s what happened in the Osomatsu-san case, though I don’t know much about it as I only just learned of it myself. The public apology really seems to be mostly directed toward business partners because while consumer transparency is nice the audience might’ve been better off being none the wiser tbh.
I’m a little concerned at how this may or may not impact/delay the home media and possibly international releases, but on its own it might not have been the end of the world. However…
Having spent basically the entire last day trying to keep up with all the buzz, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it you guys—if you asked me to imagine a worst-case scenario opening, this would come pretty close. Not every single element of the movie has been universally panned and even many loud complainers have said it picks up in the second half, but you have to remember this is the internet in 2026, where people don’t read beyond the headlines. And right now every review site has it being completely lambasted with 1-2 star reviews. The box office also looks quite poor but don’t take my word for it entirely because I don’t know what their financial goals are, and Friday was a depressed day for theater crowds in general (typhoon, World Cup match). I thought at first it might hit Movie 1’s peak, but now I’m thinking it might come more in the middle of the pack of the old films. I had higher expectations due to the amount of seats they gave it and aggressive marketing, but the early word of mouth and now this surprise apology statement have really dampened the mood, and I know not everyone is terminally online, but it will reduce some turnout.
Regarding the content, I still have the same stance of “you’ll just have to see it yourself.” I’m certainly not gonna try to form any concrete opinions on the whole thing until I watch it in full. But in terms of publicity they really dropped the ball here considering it’s the cornerstone of the anniversary project, and I think Bandai and Kadokawa are going to have to put in extra effort to win back goodwill with the fans as they transition into prepping for the musical and the new TV series. Or maybe they won’t give a shit considering people seem to be buying the theater merch in droves even if they hate the actual movie, idk. So far the only thing resembling a PR response they have done is delete the tweet featuring comments from some of the Gintama guest actors, who were joking about how they didn’t gaf about Keroro and just came because Fukuda told them it’d make money or something. I might get around to translating the guest comments like I have been but it’s low on my priority list.
All this being said, it’s going to be awkward posting all the clips and stuff I missed over the weekend as if nothing happened, but c’est la vie.
His official website, opened in 1998. Last Updated in 2013. 13 YEARS AGO!!
Humble site, really. Just a couple links and buisness information
Interestingly, one of the few background images is an AMERICAN SGT. FROG Back Cover. Specifically Volume 17 (published in 2009 so this was likely a recent addition in relation to the site).
Basic about me with the works he currently had (Keroro was at Volume 24)
The host site (nicomi.com)'s home page and twitter was up until 2020
While the page today doesn't load at all, someone in San Francisco archived the 2024 error
I plan to do a deep dive into Yoshizaki's site at a later date but this post is more of a brief look. SPEAKING OF TWITTER!!!!
Yoshizaki-Sensei's only social media (complete with cute Gijinka/Tan like his old Windows mascots). Active from 2010-2017. Breifly used again in 2018 for a single letter reply, deleted soon after
Why the silence? Why dissappear? This actually gets kind of interesting. It has to do with The somewhat successful video game and anime he did character design for. KEMONO FRIENDS
something something cute animals. Not important.
In 2017, The anime series entered production troubles after it's first season. When the director, known as "Tatski", along with the 3DCG Studio Yaoyorozu were suddenly REMOVED FROM THE PROJECT. Replaced! After all they'd done!!! Kadokawa producers claimed this Tatski & Yaoyorozu had been using Kemono on NicoNico without permission This apparently heavily upset fans when it came to Season 2. That's where it ends officially.... but there's rumors within the fandom. Quite alot actually. From Twitter (US/JP), 2chan (JP), 5chan (JP) and Namu Wiki (KR), it's really weird. But seems to be a minority
Some believe believe the top guy Kadokawa who had Tatski removed... was YOSHIZAKI!!!
일본쪽에서는 2018년부터 시리즈의 저작인격권 소유자인 요시자키 미네도 뭔가 문제가 있지 않나 하는 얘기가 조금씩 나오고 있었는데 여기에 불을 붙인 것이 2019년 3월 미네의 1기 1화 각본원안 타츠키가 수정한 1화 각본 이 웹상에 퍼지고부터 h
His detractors call him "Mukuzaki". A pun on a jealous and envious... "Zaki" (cause Yoshizaki)
https://dic.pixiv.net/a/ムクムクムクッ%21%28嫉妬心%29 (pixiv links don't embed on Tumblr when they have japanese text, so just copy this)
The Twitter result of this claim changes depending on the person. Some believe he left social media to avoid the heat of the Fandom. Others believe Kadokawa BANNED HIM from using social media (for some reason, the fans at Namu specify "without the permission of his wife and son"... maybe that's a mistranslation? It IS a Korean site)
Regardless, this seems to be the end of Yoshizaki's public internet life.
there are likely internet appearances prior to 1998. As from 1994-1998, he was in Doujin circles. But I have no idea how those were organized and the few I do know are not yoshizaki related and are lost media from 2004-2010
Any Kemono fans able to weigh in on.... THIS whole thing???
The Censorship of Keroro Reprints (In JAPAN) and TokyoPop Translation issues
An addendum to these posts
💬 4 🔁 2 ❤️ 17 · Sgt. Frog Censorship & Differences Volumes 1 & 2 · We begin our adventure here! But why 2 volume? Simply, Volume 1 had ver
💬 6 🔁 0 ❤️ 5 · A Risqué Theory? · I was watching some of Hazel's anime videos and it got me thinking about the early volumes of the Keroro
My theory about ViZ's unique Censorship in the First 6 Volumes being a Japanese thing because of the Italian Translation was confirmed (moreso affirmed since it's just some nerd who knows more about the manga's history than me) on 4chan of all places (it's a whole thing. The movie and all. Bog Dumb Kero Thread)
Less to do with the manga industry in 2001 (but definetly some as the the 2002-2004 chapters had alot more underwear shots as you've seen on this blog.) and more due to the Shonen Manga getting a Kodomo Anime. Fun!
Strangely, The during the early run of the anime, the JP manga volumes often advertised these early chapter compendiums, named by color. Keroro Pink being a March 2004 release (before the anime was out) along with the others being from 2004 (before the anime became a planet destroyer), they're actually completely uncensored.
I also missed one more nipple censorship! I actually just didn't notice it was even there. So for any of you who wanna see a nearly topless Angol Mois... don't touch me. Volume 1 Chapter 10
TokyoPop 2004 (Left), Fan-Scanlation 2003 (Right)
(for context, she reveals her angol form in the very next page. This was her changing into the outfit in a strange comedic way. She doesn't strip her chest intentionally until Volume 4. You can learn about that... online. Like this)
TokyoPop's printings had incomplete Censorship. With only 2 panels of Mois edited to have a bra on (really just the straps). I theorize (oh no not again) that ViZ Media's digital versions come from the TokyoPop iPhone app that launched around 2009. Though TP could've gotten these masters as early as 2005/06, since Forums at the time complained about some censored Sgt. Frog printings
I also never noticed that Mois' verbal tick of constantly using "Like" was just completely missed in TokyoPop's first 9 Volumes. So when they finally translated it properly in Volume 10, it seemed weird to me. But this original fan translation and the anime (along with... The Original Japanese obviously) show that it was always supposed to be there
I think that covers all the early stuff. I hope so :v. I got a couple more things to post today related to newer stuff and reblogs.
Keroro Musical Remaining Cast Member Key Visuals Revealed!
Had a couple busy days so I am back in catchup mode again…
On Monday, more costume reveals for the rest of the main cast from the musical were posted!
Jun Noguchi as Fuyuki Hinata
Yuria Sato as Natsumi Hinata
Hazuki Tanda as Momoka Nishizawa
Wataru Yamane as Saburo
Arisa Sonohara as Koyuki Azumaya
Noa Tsugumi as Angol Mois
Cecile Daigo as Aki Hinata (video appearance)
And here’s the brand-new characters who serve as the musical’s antagonists, the Meta Keroro Platoon:
Yuya Tominaga as Meta Keroro
Rukia Nakagawa as Meta Tamama
Ryoshiro Tsuji as Meta Giroro
Gaku Matsuda as Meta Kururu
Kenta Matsui as Meta Dororo
No actor comments were released with the visuals this time! Full portraits are here on the official website.
Personal thoughts: The kids look older than they should—obviously, the actors are all adults—which is a bit uncanny, but the costume design is pretty ok. Looks like Koyuki and Mois will be in their casual/disguise fits for this show unless there’s some part where they change into their other outfits? They did a good job selecting believable lookalikes for the Meta Platoon.
Finally got to the Next Holiday Issue!!... after those holidays ended. The few TP copies I can find online all seem to have foil covers, but ViZ still uses a weird scan
[Ch.92 - Moody Natsumi's Fascist Spy Drone]
Nothing more than bad font choices by TP
But I did find this ending really cute
[Ch.93 - Fuyuki & Keroro Bathe for a full chapter]
The title difference between languages was kind of noticeable I shape so I feel the need to compare the titles. TokyoPop's is "Splendor In the Tub". The Original Japanese title was "第九拾参話冬樹殿お風呂でユージョー････の巻" which means...
My experience with Doraemon 1973 tells me that "no maki" is usually like a way to introduce an old timey fable. This is a weird one but if it was localizer, I would've went with something like "The Bonding Tale of Fuyuki in the Bath" or "Fuyuki(-dono) and the Friendship Bath". TokyoPop's works for the story that's told but it feels weird to just introduce completely different words; and it kind of emphasizes the Bath itself more than Fuyuki & Keroro's comradery.
[Ch.94 - Keroro gets sick, Moa is forced to be super important again after like 7 Volumes. Epic] i kinda forgot that Tamama despised Mois. I love that for him. He's such a stupid
[Ch.95 - The Japanese entertain the idea of Watermelon being a veggietable. I'm too docile to pick a side]
[Ch.96 - Typhoon Texas Tokyo] I really noticed how dark the english scans online were. Giroro is turning into a void. Also Keron has controlled weather. Truly communism perfected
[Ch.97 - Jump Roping is epic. We should all follow Natsumi in her ropemaxxing]
[Ch.98 - HALLOWEEN 🎃]
For some reason, Momola's heavy breathing (Ho-Ku) while scheming is left untranslated. But it's in the Doraemon logo font
Speaking of Fujiko Fujio, visual references to Kaibutsu-Kun ('cept Mois. She's above all that)
This was obviously not altered in English but it WAS altered in the anime
[Ch.99 - Fuyuki Gets Kidnapped. HALLOWEEN ☠️]
Not so much a manga change but a weird discrepancy I see.
Nebula's name phonetically in Japanese is infact the English word NE-BU-LA (not the japanese word that means Nebula, as that would be "SEIUN" 星雲)
Yet the fandom wiki and CRUNCHYROLL call him "Nevula" with the B swapped for a V
Alisa and Nevula join the Hinata-Keroro Platoon hot spring outing.
Maybe they did this to seperate him from the actual Nebula in the sky of the anime ever says that??? But I feel like you could just do that through a quick note, is his name not Nebula!?!?!?
[CHAPTER 100!!!! - NEW YEARS!!!] we're skipping Christmas this year. Also a Bonus chapter with Kululu dicking around.
Ad
Fine Volume. NEXT!!!!
VOL 13 (JUL2007 🇯🇵/JUN2007 🇺🇸)
TP used the Street Fighter 2 Parody Chapter Cover. But more importantly, THERE'S A KERORO MOVIIIEEE!!!! Go watch it. Cause it ain't in here ;)
The Character Relationship Chart has been Updated!!! TP REFUSES TO COMPLY AND JUST REUSED VOLUME 12'S
You ever NOTICE how different Natsumi's hair looks these days compared to Volume 1? English readers don't even GET information on Alisa & NeBula. >xv Pfft!
[Ch.101 - Fuyuki messes with the Kero Ball and contacts QQ. Natsumi gets trafficked and mass produced into life sized space dolls to pay off the call fee.] I think my experience with this chapter was enhanced by me being at Denny's covered in sticky syrup. Or maybe this was just a really funny gag chapter xD.
[Ch.102 - A Shit-Ton of Dark Race & Alien Lore] Super fascinating. Not really easy to explain, nor is there any translation difference or censorship to talk about. But Poyon got a Haircut
[Ch.103 - Ski Adventure] Adult Body Chaperone Natsumi from Volume 3 is back!! And with that comes the grand return of〜 🥁🥁 MELODY HONEY!! 🇺🇸🦅💣💣💥💥💥🎆
To emphasize her American accent, in the Japanese version, she yells in a DIFFERENT FONT!! As with all font choices, TokyoPop failed us americans entirely. Not even changing the regular dialogue choice. You wouldn't even know she's yelling (the beauty contest poster sucks too)
Is that Chizuru's Pooka Vizor?
This really is just the winter equivalent to to Volume 3's Beach Chapter. Down to (Adult) Natsumi's clothes ripping off again (full body this time instead of just the top)
[Ch.104 - Girl's Day Doll Fight with Ghosts] 👻
[Ch.105 - Cherry Blossoms (Hanami)] why is Zororoi one of the aliens? Where are his ears?
[Ch.106 - Silent Hill] ALIEN INVASION!!! SPACE WAR!!!!
TP added a footnote explaining what what Reuters is. Did TP's readers not read non-US News?? Did weeb kids not have internet in 2007? That's what the SCHOOLS are for. YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRANSLATE THE 8:05 NEWS ARTICLE and TOOLBAR.!!!
[Ch.107 - Momoka's Mom's will Destroy You] Mama Momoka is named... Oka. Pfft lololololol. 💪
[Ch.108 - Bread Battle Brawlers 🍞] this chapter made me so fucking hungry
[Ch.109 - Space Ninja Battle (genuine title)] there's a little bit of a battle but it's mostly just Dororo childhood exposition. I mean it's alright.
There's an Extra Prequel Chapter for the movie, as well as the original film treatment. Since those are technically movie related, I'll get there in another post, since the initial development of that movie is a bit interesting to me.
TokyoPop's English Sgt. Frog logo has "Keroro Gunso" (the original name) in the bottom right. All in a militarized font
This logo was of course used in the book as well
HOWEVER, Volumes 2-18 mysteriously change this rominization from KERORO GUNSO to KERORO GUNSOU. With a U at the end, as do many translations that try to write the ending O sound to japanese words
Kind of hard to get clear images due to scan quality and me not owning copies of the volumes that include it but it's visible enough.
This is a typo because the Japanese logo has already romanized it without a "U" since the first volume from 1999
It is unknown why this mistake turned up exclusive inside the book in volume 2 (as the color logo on the front never had it) nor why it persisted all the way until volume NINETEEN (2004-2010, MOST of this translation's life)
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