Forum - View topicNEWS: Sgt. Frog Manga Gets TV Anime With Brand-New Cast Next Fall
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PilotPayback
 Posts: 137 |
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i've been wanting to get into this show, but similar to osomatsu, i look at the episode amount and find it...daunting (300+ episodes)...that said, i might watch the show throughout 2026 (that's what i did with osomatsu) because i am interested in this...
and i'm really excited to see sgt. frog come back, so yeah, i'm excited! |
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NeonZ
Posts: 23 |
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The OG anime starts pretty strong and adapts a LOT of what the manga had available at the time in its first year/51 episodes (although it also changes a lot of things). It's starting from the 2nd year where it becomes very inconsistent, since from that point on, it's strongly based on original material with only a few episodes of manga content here and there (since the manga was monthly and Keroro was constantly running, and often adapting manga stories into half episode stories for this intial seasons).
Starting from the 3rd season any manga adaptations become really rare. I think the anime kind of stumbles there, but after the a while the anime original content starts improving, although some of the worst part are dragged on for a long time (like the colored boxes joke with 556 that start in s2 only get dropped by s6). |
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BalmungHHQ
Posts: 709 |
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Keroro Gunsō ☆, actually. The only change to the title is the addition of the star mark. 
As someone currently nearing the end of my years-long watchthrough of the original 356-episode TV series, I admire you wanting to give that a look before the new TV series starts, and if you truly want to do so then go ahead, it is a very fun TV show. BUT, this new TV series starting in Fall 2026 is a complete reboot of the series starting from the very beginning of the story, with (as stated in the article) a completely new voice cast. It will be the perfect place for new fans to get into Sgt. Frog without the need to worry about the many, many episodes that came before. So please don't feel obligated to watch the old series unless you really want to.
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TheSeventhSense
 Posts: 174 |
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I've never seen Sgt. Frog past the original 78 episodes Funimation dubbed...speaking of dubbed, is Crunchyroll going to make an effort to bring back any of the original cast?
...Who am I kidding? They don't care about anyone who didn't get into anime less than two years ago, because those people know what crap they are. |
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BalmungHHQ
Posts: 709 |
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Well, I guess it was a matter of time before someone broached the topic of dubbing, so I guess this is as good a time as any for me to ramble about the weird situation this new 2026 "Sgt. Frog☆" series would be in regarding any potential dubbing. Putting aside any assumptions being made that CR would license this series in the first place, or even dub it if they did, let's go over the various factors one has to consider before even getting to casting: First and foremost, while the old FUNimation dub is fun for what it was, I'm not sure I'd say it was entirely representative of what the original Sgt. Frog anime actually was, and because of that it raises the question of whether any potential dubbing of the new TV series should even use that same cast. In the first place, this series is going to be an entirely new adaptation of Sgt. Frog, with an entirely new cast on the Japanese side. It's still too soon to understand what kind of adaptation it'll end up being exactly, but the approach will most likely be at least a bit different than what the original TV series did. THAT version of Sgt. Frog is being sent off with the upcoming film in the Spring that still retains the original cast, and the movie itself will probably embody the spirit of that original Sgt.Frog TV series at its core, giving it one last hurrah. Remember, the original Sgt. Frog TV series was not just a manga adaptation, it ended up becoming its own beast entirely, and built up a legacy of its own over its 7-year broadcast. There are jokes and character settings in that show which differ from the manga already, which probably won't be retained in the new adaptation. I think some of you may not understand how big a deal it is, but the original Japanese cast of Sgt. Frog is a huge part of the image these characters have over there. It was a huge part of the career of many of the seiyuu involved (ex: Before Takehito Koyasu got anywhere near Jojo's Dio, he was already famous for his smarmy performance and kukuku's as Kururu.) It's a very intentional cut off to start a new series with a different cast over there, and I'm sure the Japanese production companies will want to treat "Sgt. Frog☆" as a wholely separate product, a new "Reiwa version" of the series. All that being said, that doesn't really have much to do with the English version's actors. They don't have the years-long legacy and attachment to this series, and it'd be a stretch to say these roles were particularly definitive roles for much of the cast, as many of them were landing more popular roles in other big shows from FUNimation around the same time. Sure Sgt. Frog's dub absolutely had its fans (like me!), but it didn't really take off over here on the same level of cultural significance as the original version did in Japan. (Which is probably part of why the dub ceased after just barely covering only 1/7th of the series.) So, the question then becomes: If the new 2026 "Sgt. Frog☆" series were to get an English dub, should it bring back the original cast FUNimation established back in the day? For all intents and purposes, most of those actors are still active in dubbing to some extent, and probably perfectly capable of still doing the voices. Compared to the Japanese cast, much of the English cast was actually still quite young back then. But if they were to be called back for those roles, they'd be coming in to what would likely be a very different show. How different is still up in the air, as discussed above regarding the big changes for the series over in Japan. But even taking that into consideration, the FUNimation dub was kind of its own thing already. And in contemporary 2026, I don't think that type of loose adaptation in dubbing (which even got to the point of actively mocking the source material at times) would be accepted by today's fans, outside of those nostalgic for the original dub. I've typed a lot, but in the end if "Sgt. Frog☆" were to receive a dub, I'd be fine with seeing the original FUNimation cast come back and tackle this new interpretation of the Sgt. Frog world and its characters with fresh new interpretations of their old performances in a dub more faithful to the material. But at the same time, I think it'd also be perfectly acceptable if it mirrored the hard-cut change on the Japanese side and just brought in a whole new cast of talented newer voice actors instead to really cement the fact that this is a whole new era of Sgt. Frog, no matter the language. Yes, I wrote all this just to say "I'd be fine either way", but I feel like there's a lot of nuance here, man...
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ZelosZoidberg
 Posts: 1063 |
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^ Have you considered writing for ANN? Not gonna lie I thought you were ANN staff for how well put your argument/statement was.
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Primus
 Posts: 2908 Location: Toronto |
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Funimation cancelled their dub just 20% of the way through the series. They never touched any of the movies. Unless one of the big streamers (Amazon, Disney, Netflix) picks this up, I wouldn't even put money on a dub happening. The Japanese version is a complete recast. If there is a dub, I struggle to see why they would adhere to the nearly 20 year old casting choices of a failed direct-to-video production. I'm not saying this franchise has no fans in the Anglosphere, but clearly it wasn't enough to sustain its existence. Even the manga flopped. The Discotek production people seemed surprise they even got the rights to the original movies, suggesting their releases haven't been huge sellers (them dumping out 153 episodes in one set should've raised alarm bells). |
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Hagaren Viper
 Posts: 834 |
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In the incredibly hypothetical situation that Crunchyroll licensed and dubbed this, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't get back any of the original cast who is easily available. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood retained almost the entire original dub cast when the original Japanese did not, and the Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card dub had Tsubasa reprisals even though it didn't even make sense for them to do that.
We're almost certainly not getting a dub, but there's no real reason not to use the original cast if they're still willing and available. |
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2488 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Tbf, the early English dubbing for this series took a lot of liberties with their script (at least the 1st season did, which is why I felt the second felt so off watching). Nowadays, however, japanese producers have become more involved in the English translations and as such the scripting has become more adherent to the source material (controversial A.I. translations notwithstanding). While there are a few exceptions off and on, they are frankly FAR removed from the days of Ghost Stories to ever compare.
Besides, Todd Haberkorn and Cherami Leigh have been kinda all over the place lately. Often when voice actors make the jump from japanese anime to English animation, they don't necessarily go back, eg. Kari Wahlgren, Laura Bailey. Could be a union thing. Don't quote me. |
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TheSeventhSense
Posts: 174 |
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Did the original Sgt. Frog dub make any major changes to plot elements, other than making the narrator more snarky, localizing some of the pop culture references, and episode 18 changing Natsumi's Kansai dialect to a storm of bleeped swearing? (I don't think there's any other way around that. If someone wants that dubbed literally, they should just be watching subtitled anime.)
I did watch a few episodes subtitled at the time, and I didn't find that there was that massive a difference in the experience. Of course, if Crunchyroll wants to dub some isekai trash instead of the frog, screw them anyhow. It'd be refreshing to hear the old cast back, but there are far worse scenarios than it being without a dub, such as it being sent to Amazon. I did notice a Japanese cast member had made a post about the new anime on Twitter, which was basically "This is the way things are, not much can be done", and most of the comments were upset but understanding. |
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louis6578
 Posts: 1909 |
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I guess I'm among the few who actually would prefer they continue with the gag dub if they ever dub more Sgt Frog. Oof. I get why it's not a popular opinion though.
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bluebaron
Posts: 159 |
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If it gets redubbed, I'm sure it will be a new cast. CR is just different than Funimation or if another company gets it in general.
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Bvick00
 Posts: 80 Location: Goa, India |
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Man, what a blast from the past! The original anime was apart of my childhood (it used to air on Animax over here in India). The OG show is rather underrated IMO, so I hope this new series is able to reach a wider audience.
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MushroomMan674
 Posts: 123 |
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Case in point, look at the new Detective Conan dub. Some FUNimation-era VAs returned—some in new roles—but the cast is mostly brand new. |
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Ruprecht
Posts: 25 |
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I hope it's a late-night anime and will be less toned down this time than the original anime was and be more closer to the manga's ecchiness.
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