This was my episode of the week. Not the series with huge followings this season i.e. Fate/Stay Night 11 (which hopefully will begin to pick up) or Mai Otome 23 (~And now, the end is near, And so we face the final curtain.~). Heck, even Kashimashi has been more consistent. Upon Jason’s suggestion, I browsed Vol.10 of the manga at the local Forbidden Planet and while I could see the dramatic potential of the Keron Platoon arc, I was still thinking: “How dramatic can it be? Afterall, this is still a frog comedy!” Boy, did this episode prove me wrong.
The distorted Imperial March BGM in the opening scene (which also played in the previous episode) got a chuckle out of me. We were still on funny territory with Keroro’s anguish when he felt that Fuyuki-dono secretly thought he was responsible for the computer virus.
I was slightly annoyed that the Greatest Obstacle to the Keroro Platoon’s Conquest of the Earth, Natsumi Hinata, was reduced to Helpless Chick in a Tentacle Flick not once but twice. That was ameliorated by how, as a result, Koyuki and Giroro were able to strut their stuff and earn brownie points with their beloved Natsumi. This then set the stage for drama and loss.
The Keron Platoon led by Garuru (also Giroro’s elder brother, Lieutenant?), with mecha-ninja Zoruru (Corporal?), computer hacker Tororo (Recruit?) and Tamama-admirer Taruru (thought it was Private First Class but that’s Tamama’s rank according to this and Taruru outranks him) are not so churlish about dealing with the pekoponjin.
Koyuki and Momoka are rapidly dispatched Mai-HiME/Otome style - and IMHO better execute than recent episodes of Otome! I can’t seriously believe that they are permanently dead but it was still a bit of shock as to how ruthlessly they were gotten rid of, calling out the name of their loved one, Natsumi and Fuyuki respectively, as they vanished.
Two members of the Keroro Platoon are also taken down. Tamama is surprised by Taruru’s strength, losing his confidence before he is blasted into unconsciousness. Likewise when Giroro fails to defeat Garuru, he tries to flee, thinking that he’ll never be able to beat his big bro, only to be shot down and crying out for Natsumi as he plummets downwards. This might have been generic and corny (just think about it, a rambo-type frog who loves the hawtest girl in the series!) but the build-up, execution and BMG were all good. Really felt such sympathy for Giroro especially.
Next week, Keroro’s noble sacrifice? Fuyuki wields the Kero Ball in a standoff against Garuru and the return of Powered Natsumi de arimasu~~~!
Some notes:
-Garuru is a First Lieutenant. Taruru is a Private First Class. Toruru is a Buck Private. Zoruru is a Corporal, but the manga states that his rank is meaningless. This may imply that Zoruru is a member of some black ops-style organization within the Keron army.
-When it comes to drama, the manga has the anime beat hands-down. In the manga, Natsumi receives the Aegis/Powered Summer super-armor for the first time in the Second Platoon arc. It’s what Giroro gives Natsumi before his battle with Garuru. Also, I was personally moved by how Natsumi held Giroro after the “About Ear” debacle. Those are among the subtleties that I feel that ep. 101 either glossed over or skipped completely.
I nearly cried after reading vol. 10 of the manga. The anime rendition of the Second Platoon arc hasn’t had that powerful of an impact on me, though there is still ep. 102 (and maybe 103 as well) for tearjerker opportunities.
W4 - Thanks. I headed out to the bookshop to check the ranks and make comparisons after I wrote the entry.
Agreed that the Giroro-Natsumi setup was better in the manga. Natsumi no mune no naka ni. Mmmm. :3 However Koyuki’s manga part was rather less well done IMHO. She’s merely captured by the Nyororo as she was distracted by the thought of having scored a point with Natsumi and wasn’t sparkled by Zoruru.
My guess is that Ep 102 will probably be a cliffhanger as well.
Do you watch this in raw? There don’t seem to be subs of Keroro. I’m only at ep 5, but do you think I should
a) Get the manga (translated or Japanese?)
b) Wait for English Subbers
c) Watch subs in other languages
d) Watch the raw
It’s a pity such a great show is being missed by many people.
Yes, I watch this raw since only HB is subbing this series and it’ll be too long before they catch up to what’s current. I’m also reading the manga (trs in En by Tokyopop) to fill in for the 85+ eps in between. Don’t know if the manga is available in Sg though. So my recommendation would be to get the raw and the manga - of course it helps plenty if you have some Jp lang ability, even a little bit will go a long way as this series is nowhere as difficult as say, GITS:SAC. Also I get a better understanding by reading Jason Miao’s posts on this series as well as getting clarification from commenters like W4 above.
Where do you get the raws from?
Look in the usual place: tokyotosho.com. I normally expunge comments asking about downloads but as it’s still unlicensed and I’m glad readers that an interest in this show…
Yo!I totally loved the fight between Giroro and Garuru!Talk about evil though, I mean Garuru practicly destroyed his lil bro’s pride!He dooesn’t need to make it worse by shootin’ him down!But it was pretty cool to watch!Hee hee hee!
i love tamama…..