Keroro Gunsou 81
ケロロ軍曹 Episode 81
Sgt. Frog anime, 81
Keroro Gunsou episode 81

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

The platoon decides to give Giroro the ultimate warrior body and when he wakes up, he’s smaller and grafted onto Natsumi’s right hand. Natsumi is ticked by this as well, especially since this is her P.E. class softball game against her rival IMOGO Rie. Since it is going to be at least half a day before Kururu can figure out how to undo things, Natsumi has to go to school, having wrapped Giroro in a bandage. The other girls worry about Natsumi, but she promises she’ll be OK for the game.

Koyuki suspects something is up and learns the truth from Natsumi. She provides a wrist band for Natsumi so that Natsumi can pretend to be wearing an accessory on her hand. It works and though difficult, Natsumi is able to pitch with Giroro using his mouth to grip the ball. For batting, Giroro grips it as well with his mouth. The game progresses until the final inning with Giroro nearly exhausted. As such, a pitch from Natsumi causes a batter to get on base. Rie steps up to bat to destroy her rival and though she hits the ball, Natsumi is able to catch it thanks to Giroro. Rie now has respect for Natsumi.

That night, Koyuki is wondering the city when she comes under attack by a mysterious, invisible ninja. She reports this to Dororo, showing him the blades used against her. He says they come from the Special Moonlight Squad, specifically the Mobile Illusion Tribe, a space shinobi group that are allies with Keron. As such, Koyuki thinks they must be good people but Dororo isn’t sure. The next day, Koyuki and Natsumi walk to school (Natsumi having been returned to normal) when Koyuki senses a presence but sees nothing.

That night, Koyuki is again wandering the city when she’s attacked again. This time, the shinobi reveals herself and her name is Sylbie. Sylbie doesn’t answer why she’s attacking, she just attacks. Koyuki avoids all her attacks and flees, leading Sylbie to wonder if all humans do this. Koyuki performs some counter attacks, but to no avail. Koyuki again flees and finds herself at Natsumi’s house. Realizing she has something to fight for, Koyuki leads Sylbie to the Nishizawa Tower. There, Koyuki gets the drop on Sylbie and uses a freezing technique that will kill them both until Dororo rescues them. Turns out Sylbie was scouting Koyuki to join her squad but sees Koyuki’s friendship with Natsumi won’t allow her to leave. However, Sylbie leaves with a new friend on Earth.

Thoughts/Review:

The first story clearly was in part, a parody-tribute to the manga (and subsequent anime) Midori no Hibi (Midori’s Days as the official English translation goes). In that story, a shy girl named Midori is in love with a punk named Seiji (who protects the weak) but is unable to express her feelings for him. Seiji wants a girlfriend very badly, but most girls are afraid of him. Midori makes a wish to be with him and it is granted as she becomes Seiji’s right hand. Since I enjoyed the anime and manga of that series, this parody tribute is a nice touch.

I’m guessing that with this “Rei” rival for Natsumi suddenly appearing combined with the sports anime parody, some anime/manga series is being referenced (and parodied) but I’ve no clue what that would be.

In the second story, I was delighted to hear ORIKASA Ai doing the voice of the space ninja Sylbi. Ai-san does the voice of Ryoko in my favorite anime, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki.

As to the story itself, it wasn’t too bad since I like Koyuki-chan. So giving her a solo story is pretty nice.

In the end, a pretty good episode here on the enjoyability scale.