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You’ve seen his green face and fried-egg eyes staring at you from the manga shelves at the bookstore, and probably wondered what a manga called Sgt. Frog could possibly be about (other than, obviously, a frog who is in the military).

It’s about frogs from outer space invading Earth – what else? 

Sgt. Keroro finds himself stranded on Earth after Planet Keron’s invasion forces abruptly withdraw, leaving him in the home of the Hinata family. Natsumi, the teenage daughter, is suspicious of Keroro, but younger brother Fuyuki is thrilled by their visitor, being a fan of the paranormal and the unexplained. Their mother, manga editor Aki Hinata, loves Keroro because now she can exploit his adventures for her manga magazine.

Keroro is the leader of a small advance force, and his four subordinates got stranded nearby: Private Tamama, who was lucky enough to be taken in by schoolgirl Momoka and her extremely wealthy family; intelligence officer and curry addict Sgt. Major Kururu; ninja-trained Lance Corporal Dororo; and my favorite character, the gruff Corporal Giroro, a take-no-prisoners kind of frog, complete with scarred face and weapon belt.

If Giroro had his way, their leader Keroro would be more gung-ho about their continuing mission. Unfortunately, however, the lazy Keroro has been co-opted by the planet’s more fun distractions, preferring to surf the Internet and build Gundam models instead of resuming the invasion of Earth.

The pace of both the manga and the anime is quick and snappy. The Funimation English dub is a delight, with funny voiceover narration and American pop culture references. A note: the manga is more appropriate for older children and teens, while the anime is more kid-friendly.

The Sgt. Frog manga was created by Mine Yoshizaki and is published by TOKYOPOP. The anime series is produced by Sunrise/Funimation.

Currently, the first 27 episodes of Sgt. Frog can be viewed for free at Funimation’s website: www.funimation.com.

Jan Suzukawa works in the manga industry as a freelance editor and English adaptation writer. Website: www.jansuzukawa.com. Blog: jansuzukawa.blogspot.com.

Vampires are in vogue these days, what with Twilight and True Blood, and a new manga series from TOKYOPOP falls perfectly in line with the new craze.

Bloody Kiss is about Kiyo Katsuragi, a girl who inherits a haunted mansion from her late grandmother. Unbeknownst to Kiyo, the mansion comes with a few extras: two vampires.

Kuroboshi is a bishonen who is looking for his “bride.” As he explains to Kiyo, vampires only drink the blood of one human, and that person is known as the vampire’s bride. Alshu, the other vampire, is Kuroboshi’s attendant. When the two were expulsed from their vampire clan due to Kuroboshi’s half-human blood (his mother was human), they were taken in by Kiyo’s grandmother and raised in the mansion.

At first Kiyo decides to sell the mansion and kick them out, but gradually she becomes attached to the two vampires. Kuroboshi and Alshu show up at Kiyo’s school and help her out of a few fixes, and Kiyo begins to fall for Kuroboshi. If only he would stop wanting to drink her blood!

Kiyo is an independent girl who can take care of herself, and she’s not above punching out Kuroboshi when he gets obnoxious. Kuroboshi pretends not to care about Kiyo, but of course he actually does. The art is cute and the growing attraction between Kiyo and Kuroboshi is believable, making Bloody Kiss a fun read for the shojo audience.

Volume 2 of the series is due to be released in November 2009.

Bloody Kiss was created by Kazuko Furumiya. Published by TOKYOPOP.

Jan Suzukawa works in the manga industry as a freelance editor and English adaptation writer. Website: www.jansuzukawa.com. Blog: jansuzukawa.blogspot.com.

It may be because I’m going to Yaoi Con this weekend, but for some reason I was in the mood for a gender-bendering manga, and Otomen perfectly fit the bill.

The cover illustration alone – featuring Asuka, the main character, wearing a flower in his hair – tells you that you are about to meet a different kind of male protagonist. On the outside, Asuka is a nationally-ranked martial arts competitor and is admired by the other male students. His handsome face and stoic appearance have the girl students falling all over him.

But secretly, Asuka Masamune loves to cook, sew, and stitch little stuffed animals. He makes beautiful bento lunches and is addicted to reading a shojo manga entitled “Love Chick” which – oddly enough – features a female protagonist named Asuka who has a hard time being her true self in front of others.

Asuka’s father left the family early on to become a transsexual, and Asuka’s mother is dead-set against Asuka being anything other than the manliest of men. Asuka tries his hardest, but he just loves doing typical girl-type activities. His friend Juta notices this and encourages Asuka in his feminine ways and to be who he truly is.

Once Asuka meets Ryo, however – a girl who only likes manly men – he is now faced with a dilemma. Ryo is a tomboy incapable of cooking or sewing or doing any traditionally feminine things. Can Asuka hide his girly hobbies and still win Ryo’s heart? And why is Juta seemingly pushing him towards Ryo? Could it be that the secret author of “Love Chick” is actually Juta… who is using Asuka as the perfect role model for his female protagonist?

I laughed out loud several times while reading Otomen, which is rare for me. When Asuka doubts his path and tries to return to being manly, he stops reading “Love Chick” and reads a manga called “Shonen Junk” instead. And his expression when a martial arts student tears his uniform is priceless. He so wants to sew up that rip!

As the back cover of Volume I says, “Having girly hobbies doesn’t make you less manly!” The gentle message of Otomen is that you need to be who you truly are to be fully alive – and happy. It’s also just a fun, fun read.

Otomen is published by Viz Media. Volume 4 of Otomen is due out next week.

Jan Suzukawa works in the manga industry as a freelance editor and English adaptation writer. Website: www.jansuzukawa.com. Blog: jansuzukawa.blogspot.com.

Autism is a complex, painful mystery.

With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child is about a family whose son Hikaru is autistic. The manga series begins with Hikaru’s birth and how his mother Sachiko gradually comes to realize that her son is ‘different.’ Hikaru’s condition is initially faced with denial and lack of understanding within the family and extended family, and later with the prejudice, ignorance and indifference of many in society. The initial volumes focus on Hikaru’s situation at school – where the faculty is ill-equipped to deal with autistic children – and with the other special needs children in Hikaru’s class and their families. Hikaru’s parents eventually have a second child, a daughter named Kanon, who does not have autism.

The story touches your heart on nearly every page, and the reader will shed more than a few tears – both sad ones and happy ones – throughout the reading of it. The courage of Sachiko and of the other parents who are raising autistic children is inspiring. This story is truly about the power of love; and you also learn a lot about autism and what can be done to help those who have the condition. It’s a beautiful, moving story – and ultimately a very uplifting one as well.

With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child, a manga series by Keiko Tobe, is published by Yen Press. In Japan, the story has also been made into a TV series, and both the manga and TV series have won awards for excellence.

Note: Yen Press publishes With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child in books that contain two volumes each and are usually stocked at the beginning of the manga shelves, since they don’t fit in with the regular-sized manga books.

Jan Suzukawa works in the manga industry as a freelance editor and English adaptation writer. Website: www.jansuzukawa.com. Blog: jansuzukawa.blogspot.com.

Welcome to Stuff You Should Watch, my chance to play an interweb film critic and recommend some strange and wonderful Japanese movies. My first recommendation comes from ancient Japan: 1963! Post war Tokyo was a swinging place with the Japanese keen to imitate Europe and the West, and from this came new styles of film. Director Seijun Suzuki gives us a glimpse into this world with Youth of the Beast (Yaju no seishun).

The plot is a simple yet satisfying one: Jo is a detective set up by some baddies. When his former partner shows up dead with a whore, Jo sets out to find out what’s up. This naturally leads him to the Yakuza where he gets a gig as a new soldier for the boss, a guy who strokes his cat constantly and throws knives with deadly accuracy. 

Now this should already be enough to get you to watch this film! However I’d also like to add that this film still looks great visually especially when compared to other films of the same era. The music is very nicely done bebop which lends fitting accents and punctuation throughout. Unlike many other Japanese films of the era, the whole of Youth of the Beast is very stylized and the pacing keeps things from getting stale. The film is light viewing and all a bit camp, but still charming from beginning to end.