Interest

Gundam Crosses Over With Sgt. Frog in Latest Film & New Art

The Sgt. Frog franchise released four Mobile Suit Gundam collaboration illustrations on Tuesday, before the latest Sgt. Frog film opens on June 26. Sgt. Frog creator Mine Yoshizaki and Mobile Suit Gundam character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko personally drew these art pieces:

Even though Sgt. Frog has frequently parodied Gundam over the decades, the two franchises describe these art pieces as the first "official" collaboration art between them. Yasuhiko drew the first piece of Gundam's Amuro and Char walking arm-in-arm with Sgt. Frog's Keroro, while Yoshizaki paid homage to the first Gundam film trilogy's iconic posters.

The franchises also announced two new Sgt. Frog x Mobile Suit Gundam plastic model kits. The Keroro Robo Mk-II Titans Color (below left) goes on sale on June 26, and the 1/144 Real Grade RX-178 Gundam Mk-II Keroro ver. (below right) will be available on Premium Bandai's Hobby Online Shop.

The staff for Sgt. Frog posted a clip from the upcoming film featuring the MS-05 Zaku II Char Custom and RX-78-2 Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam:

Mine Yoshizaki launched the Sgt. Frog manga in Kadokawa's Shōnen Ace magazine in 1999. The manga series inspired an anime series that aired on TXN Network stations from 2004 until 2011. The anime spawned five feature-length films in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. The latest feature-length film will open on June 26, before a new anime series premieres this fall.

Sources: Sgt. Frog's X/Twitter account account (link 2), Keroro YouTube channel, Gundam's website, Anime! Anime!, Comic Natalie