Ask John: Will Keroro Gunso Get Released in America?

Question:
Will Sergeant Keroro come to America? It was on the cover of last month’s Newtype USA. Is there a possibility?

Answer:
Keroro Gunso currently has 13 collected volumes of original manga, over 100 TV episodes, a motion picture, and countless toys and other merchandising. The show has managed the rare feat of actually becoming sensationally popular with both Japan’s hardcore anime fans and mainstream Japanese viewers. Normally any anime with that degree of success would be virtually assured of eventual American release, but Keroro Gunso may be a bit of an exception because it’s such an unusual show. Keroro Gunso is a mainstream hit that’s not a children’s anime nor a shonen adventure series like Dragonball, Naruto, and One Piece. Keroro is a character comedy that contains a lot of references and parodies of other anime, and anime conventions and stereotypes, which makes the show potentially inaccessible for average American viewers. More importantly, Keroro Gunso is a show about intelligent alien frogs.

Although Keroro Gunso is roughly as popular and successful in Japan as shows like Bleach and Naruto, there’s almost no fan interest in Keroro Gunso in America, I think, because it’s a show about talking frogs. Despite the fact that Keroro Gunso isn’t a Disney-esque fairy tale or a Warner Bros. style children’s cartoon, I suspect that many American viewers are unwilling to give the show a chance simply because it stars talking animals. Keroro Gunso doesn’t have the obvious trendy chic of a Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Bleach. It doesn’t have the action and adventure elements of Naruto, Inuyasha, and One Piece. Keroro Gunso is a mildly amusing domestic comedy. In other words, it’s a humorous soap opera, and an anime like that has never hit mainstream America before.

On one hand, it’s logical to presume that Keroro will get licensed because virtually every other anime that’s been equally successful and targets a similar audience has been licensed. On the other hand, Keroro Gunso isn’t like these other shows because it’s not an action, adventure, or sports series. A show that’s as successful as Keroro Gunso will be expensive to license because it’s a high profile title, and there’s a lot of it to license. The probable cost of acquiring the series combined with the fact that it’s not well known in America may cause domestic licensors to hesitate. TOKYOPOP has released multiple volumes of the Keroro Gunso manga in America to little success. Other anime that Keroro Gunso creator Mine Yoshizaki has worked on, including Arcade Gamer Fubuki and Seven of Seven, haven’t been very successful in America. However, Anime Insider magazine has reported that the show’s Japanese producers are eager to see the show released in America. And Newtype USA has published a cover story on the series with the tag line, “Prepare for the invasion.”

I can’t guess whether or not the Keroro Gunso anime get an American release because there are so many unusual conditions surrounding the show. I think the show’s American commercial potential is rather low, and I suspect that it’s licensing fees are high. Those factors should logically prevent it from being released in America. However, the show’s Japanese success may be influential enough to result in an American release.