Keroro Gunsou (2026) Review: Can the New Platoon Replace the Legend?

Keroro and the platoon are back to invade Pekopon! Can the Fall 2026 Sgt. Frog reboot and its all-new voice cast live up to the original legend?

You may not have noticed, but Keroro Gunsou (also known as Sgt. Frog) and his platoon have reached Pekopon and are preparing to invade us! Okay, I'm just joking about the second part, but the first part is real: the new Keroro anime, Keroro Gunsou☆, aired its first episode on October 3, 2026. I've been a Keroro fan for a long time, so I gave it a try as soon as it officially aired.

I noticed that the new Keroro Gunsou☆ hasn't become a phenomenon or a trending topic on social media, but its fans are starting to come back and strike up conversations on X (formerly Twitter). After watching the anime myself, I feel like there's a lot to discuss about it, so in this post, I'll dive in. I hope it helps you understand the new Keroro Gunsou☆ better, and decide whether it's worth investing your time in.

Source: アニメ『ケロロ軍曹』公式 Official X account

Keroro Gunsou☆: The New Keroro Anime and the Nostalgic Frog Alien Platoon

Before we dive into the review, let me first share some information about this anime. There's something important I think everyone should keep in mind before watching it, Keroro Gunsou☆ is not a continuation of the original anime series. It's a completely new anime, which means we'll be watching the Keroro Platoon's invasion of Earth from the very beginning once again. Why is this important? Because if you've just started your Keroro journey, or rewatched the original series recently, you'll be watching the same stories again. In that case, you may want to wait a while before jumping in.

If the story remains almost the same, what's the difference between Keroro Gunsou☆ and the original? Well, since the season has only just begun, I can't point out many differences here yet, though I'm looking forward to discovering more. For now, the biggest difference is the new voice cast. The original voice cast are legends, and I love them very much. They're also the reason I fell in love with this series. Unfortunately, as with other long-running anime, some of the original voice actors have passed away. Since it's hard to bring the original cast back, the production team went with a new voice cast this time, and it really makes a huge difference compared to the original anime.

There are pros and cons to the voice acting being so different from the original series, and we'll talk about them later. Besides the voice acting, the main plot remains almost the same as the original: five cute little frogs trying to invade Earth, also known as Pekopon. Why do these five little frogs want to invade Earth? Well, since I don't want to spoil too much, let's watch the anime and find out. But actually, the reason isn't that complicated. And like in any other comedy anime or cartoon, Keroro and his team always fail.

Watching Keroro, whether it's the original or the 2026 version, is extremely similar to watching the legendary, world-famous cartoon series Tom and Jerry. In almost every episode, Keroro and his team come up with a hilarious idea for invading Earth, and then put it into action. Almost every idea sounds crazy and needs a ton of money, but in the end, just like Tom, they never succeed. Even from my short explanation, you can probably tell that the story is quite simple. There's nothing complicated here: in almost every episode, you'll just watch them come up with stupid plans and act on them.

Source: アニメ『ケロロ軍曹』公式 Official X account

Keroro Gunsou☆ in 2026: The Legendary IP That Quietly Came Back

Everyone has different tastes. The original Keroro anime isn't an epic series, and it doesn't have high-quality battle scenes, so it's understandable if you feel Keroro is boring, or that it isn't your kind of anime. But you can't deny that it's a world-famous and successful IP. You may not have noticed, but Keroro is popular enough to have its own model kit line from Bandai. It isn't easy for an anime to get its own products and have them sold outside Japan. For example, in Malaysia, when the original series was still airing, you could find a lot of cool Keroro products. The simple fact that you can find Keroro model kits across Asia already shows how famous and successful it is.

For a legendary IP that's this famous and successful, with products sold in other ASEAN countries, everyone, or at least every fan, should be very excited about its reboot and having tons of discussions about it. So why can't we find anything on social media? Right now, if you browse anime discussions or posts on X, most of them are about Black Clover Season 2 and Even the Student Council Has Its Holes!, and we can barely find any Keroro-related posts outside a small circle of longtime fans. Why is this happening? What actually happened to this title?

To understand what happened, we first need to talk about a big disaster the Keroro franchise faced. 2026 was supposed to be a big year for Keroro: not only did it get a brand-new anime, but the original anime series got a new movie too! The sixth movie of the original series, Keroro Gunso: Upon Revival, Immediately Facing the Threat of Earth's Destruction!, officially premiered on June 26, 2026. It was supposed to be an epic movie that brought back as many of the legendary original voice actors as possible, as their final show together. But it turned out to be a total disaster for every fan. I hate to use this word, but "terrible" is the only way I can describe how it performed.

It performed very badly in Japan. Even though this IP has a lot of loyal fans you'd expect to show up for the movie, in the end, it only earned 100 million yen. That may sound like a lot, but let me give you a comparison. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island, which premiered on July 24, 2026, has earned over 10 billion yen, more than 100 times what the Keroro movie made. What hurt fans even more is that on well-known movie websites like eiga.com, the Keroro movie scored just 1.5 out of 5, which is extremely low. With such terrible results, if you opened X at that time, everyone was talking about Keroro, but for all the wrong reasons: they were complaining about how bad it was. This ultimately led to today's situation. The official side doesn't seem to be putting in any effort anymore, and fans aren't willing to talk about it again.

Source: アニメ『ケロロ軍曹』公式 Official X account

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The Original vs. 2026: What Does Keroro Gunsou☆ Bring to Us?

It's a fact that the movie did a terrible job, but that doesn't really affect Keroro Gunsou☆, since the teams behind them are different. If we're just discussing the performance of Keroro Gunsou☆, it's actually quite good. First, let's talk about the art style. Keroro Gunsou☆ uses the art style of the original work. You may not know this, but Keroro Gunsou actually started as a manga created by Mine Yoshizaki. The original anime took an approach that was quite different from Yoshizaki's designs, but Keroro Gunsou☆ has gone back to the original style. As someone who loves this IP, I think both styles are good, and Keroro Gunsou☆'s style feels fresh to me.

Next, let's go back to the voice acting. Keroro Gunsou☆ uses an almost completely new cast, and it really does sound and feel different from the original anime series. Starting with the main character, Keroro, everyone in this anime sounds completely different from the original, but what amazed me is that they stayed true to the characters. If you haven't watched Keroro before, this may be hard to understand, since you don't know the characters yet. But if you've watched Keroro before, I think you'll be able to relate. The most interesting part of Keroro is its unique characters. Each of the five little frogs has a different personality, and how the voice cast performs them really decides whether this anime is good or bad.

Let me give everyone a good example: Kururu. In the original anime series, Kururu is a legendary character, and I believe everyone loves his unique voice. The current voice, of course, sounds completely different from the original, but it turns out it still fits his weird personality! Another example is a super important character, Natsumi Hinata. The original version is more aggressive, and it really gives you the feel of a frustrated big sister. The current version is different, but it still fits the character. If you've never watched this series before, you may not understand what I'm talking about, but whether you've watched the original or not, this anime will still give you a fresh, new experience. I don't know about others, but I really enjoyed the current cast's performances, and I love them!

Speaking of voice acting, the team actually prepared a little surprise for everyone who has watched the Keroro series before. Even though almost every character has a new voice actor, there's one person from the original cast who joined Keroro Gunsou☆ as well: the famous voice actor Saito Chiwa. She voiced Hinata Natsumi in the original series, and this time, she voices Hinata Aki, Natsumi's mother. If you haven't watched Keroro before, this may not mean much to you, but for us fans, watching the same actor voice another important character in the series really hits different, and we love it so much!

Here’s a great YouTube video worth checking out.

Keroro Gunsou☆ Recommendation: Who Should Watch It and Who Shouldn't?

After sharing so much about Keroro Gunsou☆, let's talk about who should give this title a try, and who shouldn't. No anime is perfect, and no anime is completely boring and trash for everyone. For better or worse, Keroro Gunsou☆ is a pure comedy anime that doesn't really focus on the story, and almost every episode follows the same pattern. If you're looking for a good story, to be honest, this anime isn't the right choice for you, because after one episode, you can kinda guess where the story is going.

Next, if you're looking for something with a serious vibe or a deep story, Keroro Gunsou☆ isn't for you either. As I mentioned earlier, watching the Keroro series is no different from watching Tom and Jerry: every episode brings a similar story, and the ending never changes. No matter how strong Keroro and his team get, or what weapons they have, it will always end in comedy. While I personally love it, if you really want a great, serious, or dark story, this anime won't give you that.

On the other hand, if you're looking for something new, Keroro Gunsou☆ is a good choice. If you haven't watched this series before, Keroro Gunsou☆ is definitely a good starting point to get to know it, as it will give you a fresh and funny experience. If you've watched it before, that's all the more reason to watch Keroro Gunsou☆, because the voice cast has really put a lot of effort into this anime. I promise you'll get a whole new experience, even if you know this title inside out.

And if you're someone like me who enjoys comedy anime, then Keroro Gunsou☆ is a great choice for you. The Keroro series has a lot of interesting characters, and most of them turn the anime into comedy gold. Although Keroro Gunsou☆ has only just begun, I have confidence in it, because I really enjoyed episode 1. Even though the movie has become a dark chapter in this series' history, in terms of comedy alone, Keroro Gunsou☆ is off to a great start, and I think it's something we can look forward to.

Here’s a great YouTube video worth checking out.

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading this post. Although Keroro Gunsou☆ has only just started its new journey, I've truly enjoyed it. I'm a hardcore Keroro fan. I've watched every episode of the original series, some of them even multiple times, but Keroro Gunsou☆ still felt refreshing to me. It feels like reuniting with an old friend, and I'm looking forward to finishing this journey with them. Have you watched episode 1 yet? Let me know what you think of the new Keroro Gunsou☆ in the comments!

Here’s a great YouTube video worth checking out.

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