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5th Sgt. Frog Movie, Nintendo DS RPG Detailed

Chō Gekijō-ban Keroro Gunsō Tanjō! Kyūkyoku Keroro Kiseki no Jikūjima de Arimasu!!, the fifth film based on Mine Yoshizaki's Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunsō) science-fiction comedy manga, was officially unveiled on Wednesday. Not coincidentally, Wednesday, December 9 is the fictional frog-like alien's birthday. The teaser trailer for the film is now streaming on the official website.

The film's story revolves around a curious stone figurine, shaped like Sgt. Frog, that Sgt. Frog's friend Fuyuki comes across. Uncovering the secrets of the figurine leads the two and their allies on an adventure at the massive stone statues of Easter Island.

Singer-songwriter (and self-professed "huge Sgt. Frog fan") Ayaka Hirahara (The Story of Saiunkoku) appeared at the film's Tokyo press conference on Wednesday to announce that she is singing the film's theme song. Her song will be inspired by the "Trepak" dance number from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. Junji Takada and Tamaki Matsumoto will sing another song, "Mendoku-sei March," to open the film.

The film will open in Japan on February 27 in a double-billing with the SD Gundam anime film, Chō Denei-ban SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors.

The fifth Sgt. Frog film was first revealed by a listing on the website of the Japanese film studio Kadokawa Pictures. Junichi Satō (Gate Keepers, Prétear, Princess Tutu) will retain his chief director duties from the television anime series, while Susumu Yamaguchi will be the actual director of the fifth film (as he was for the second film). Hiroshi Yamaguchi (Bastard!!, Blue Submarine No. 6, Yukikaze) will write the screenplay, and the Sgt. Frog television anime's Fumitoshi Oizaki (Kaleido Star) will design the movie characters.

Also on Wednesday, Bandai Namco Games provided more details on Keroro RPG Kishi to Musha to Densetsu Kaizoku (Sgt. Frog RPG: Knights, Samurai, and Legendary Pirates), the franchise's first traditional action role-playing game. The game will ship in Japan for the Nintendo DS portable console on March 4. Bandai Namco is using the same Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS) that it also uses in its Tales of… RPG game franchise. The Game Watch website posted screenshots and related images from the game, and Bandai Namco also has a website for the game with a 69-second trailer and a 40-second teaser.

Image © 2009 Mine Yoshizaki/Kadokawa Shoten, Kadokawa Pictures, Sunrise, TV Tokyo, NAS

Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Saishin Anime Jōhō