Ask GiroDoro was a Question-and-Answer audio blog created by ThornBrain and spun-off of Sgt. Frog Abridged, starring its (one non-dysfunctional) Official Couple, Giroro and Dororo. It was hosted on Tumblr
from 2012-2019 and concluded on YouTube in 2020.
The series takes place after the end of Sgt. Frog Abridged Season 2. It consists of Giroro and Dororo answering user-submitted questions on their laptop. The first few episodes were set in their tent, while Episodes 5 through 11 were of the duo traveling the world investigating the apparently weakening time lock the Garuru's Platoon placed on Earth during the SFA season finale. The characters are aware that they exist in an alternate universe to us and are aware of SFA, the framing premise being that ThornBrain sends them the questions and transmits the audio recordings.
Keroro from SFA joined the cast with Episode 8, and Kululu and Tamama appear in Episodes 10 and 11. The story arc concluded with Episode 12 as a lead-in to Sgt Frog Abridged: Reset. The podcast's second season returned the series to a straightforward Q&A series, though it ended early when Thorn dissolved TheMidnightFrogs and deleted the podcast's Tumblr. She redacted the decision to end the team, but she left the podcast over, deciding she was tired of it.
Thorn revived the blog for a third season in August 2015, as Dororo got a new laptop in SFA Episode 21. Two new episodes were recorded in September, but a third episode was delayed while Thorn focused on completing SFA's episodic series. Thorn finally returned to the blog in May 2016, teasing a new plot of the group searching Earth for Viper's lost treasure hoards, which served as a lead-in to The Sgt Frog Abridged Movie. Ask GiroDoro Episode 20 served as the podcast's finale, airing on a livestream on January 5, 2020.
Season 1, Season 2 and Season 3 are uploaded to YouTube in full.
This series provides examples of:
- All There in the Manual: The blog was made to give more detail into Giroro's and Dororo's lives, personalities, relationships, and marriage so as to better avoid flanderization.
- Alternate Dimension: The two are aware that they live in a dimension separate from ours and that they are being transmitted across dimensions. Several jokes are made based on this premise.
- Babies Make Everything Better: Discussed in regards to Keroro and the then-pregnant Tamama, primarily that Dororo thinks this trope is very much untrue and that the two's relationship may only continue to sour. Zig-zagged when Tamama finally gave birth in SFA Episode 21 to Kemama - Keroro ended up taking the brunt of the responsibility and hated it at first, until eventually warming up and finding himself attached to his new son. Then Kemama turned into a giant bird and flew away. Keroro and Tamama's relationship improved afterwards, however, and Dororo later noted in the blog that parenthood brings out Keroro's softer side.
- Black Comedy: Discussions involving death or the time-locked planet dip into this.
- Brick Joke:
- In Episode 3, Giroro swears that he can hear Tamama's shrill voice from miles away. Shortly after, Tamama's voice echoes in the distance the answer to one of the questions.
- Twice in Episode 18: A viewer asks the guys what happened to "the iced tea", and they have no idea what iced tea refers to. Later Giroro recalls Kemama turning into a giant bird, to which Dororo has the first half of a horror flashback. Giroro answers the next question, and when he's done, Dororo says the second half of his sentence. Giroro snaps him back to reality, and Dororo then remembers that they had iced tea last week.
- Carry-overs from Sgt. Frog Abridged:
- Dororo's opinion on paper mache, which was never answered in SFA9.
"I find it to be a fun but messy crafting tool." (Beat) "I know you were expecting more of a payoff, but..."- In Episode 8, Keroro remembers the "poodlejumper" incident mentioned in SFA6 and finally questions how a poodle got on Keron.
- Captain Obvious: "This is the fucking interlude. They're fucking."
- Character Blog: Both the audio series and the Tumblr account itself when it was active. Giroro and Dororo occasionally reblogged and commented on Tumblr posts.
- Continuity Nod: Constantly to SFA, usually brought on by questions pertaining specifically to events from the abridged series.Dororo: "Thank god we never did Cotton Candy Cockfighter."
- Cover Version: Giroro attempts one of "House of the Rising Sun" until he impulsively starts beating up his guitar.
- Crapsack World: In Season 1, Earth is still time locked after the Garuru Platoon's invasion, leaving only the SFA cast "alive". Everything is back to normal by Season 2.
- Darker and Edgier: The blog was more serious and willing to discuss personal, relationship, and traumatic issues among the characters, and its first season ends with Giroro and Dororo solemnly accepting that they don't know what will happen to them after the time jump.
- Deadpan Snarker: Usually Giroro and sometimes Dororo deliver jokes in a dry, matter-of-fact way. as is typical of writer Thorn's humor style.
- Don't Explain the Joke:Giroro: "No one in this dimension's gonna stop me!"(He and Dororo laugh)Giroro: "You know, 'cause they're all frozen and dea-"Dororo: "YES...dear...they know."
- Flanderization: As stated in All There in the Manual, the series was made with the premise of defying this trope.
- Foreshadowing:
- Episode 3 mentions that Kululu is busy working on something in the base, which Dororo likes to think is for fixing the time lock. Kululu indeed puts forward the plan in Episode 11 that leads to SFA: Reset and the correction of the timeline.
- Every time death is mentioned in the first half of Season 1, Giroro becomes audibly uncomfortable or has a fixation on it. It's later revealed that he knows his brother Garuru is dead.
- Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: The pair answer questions sent in by listeners on Tumblr.
- Freudian Excuse: Dororo ponders if a childhood incident where Keroro and Giroro "abused him with a toy unicorn" is the reason he's gay.
- Fridge Logic: In-Universe, in Episode 8 Keroro finally questions how a poodle got on Keron, as originally mentioned in SFA6.
- Happily Married: Giroro and Dororo, and a frequent discussion topic. They are open about the reasons they got married (primarily that they not only love each other but like each other), and they are critical of couples who don't marry for what they see as obvious reasons.
- Heroic BSoD: Dororo sometimes lapses into these when childhood traumas come to the surface. They manifest as lucid, PTSD-like moments.
- The Last Straw: Giroro considers his 300 messages to Natsumi from SFA18 to be this in regards to losing his crush on her.
- Late to the Punchline: The "very unkinky" Dororo doesn't understand a question about finding Giroro tied to the bed.
- Lighter and Softer: Season 2 onward deals much less with personal and relationship drama, returning the blog to the relaxed and humorous atmosphere of the early half of Season 1.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Keroro, we're brothers.
- Malicious Misnaming: A continuing running gag from SFA involving Dororo's name being mangled or replaced, though this time it's perpetuated by the viewers. Dororo and Giroro often get back at them.
- Mood Whiplash:
- The two talk soberingly about life post-Future Kululu in Episode 3. Then the next question is by someone named Penguin-Balloon...
- In Episode 9 when Dororo finally finds out that Garuru's platoon and everyone on Keron are dead.
- In Episode 10 when Kululu notices that the winds are so strong for the humans that one has been blown off a high-rise.
- No Fourth Wall: By nature of the characters talking directly to the audience via recording.
- Noodle Incident:
- The time Keroro and Giroro "abused" Dororo with a toy unicorn.
- The one time Giroro tried to cook.
- The time Giroro and Keroro started calling Dororo "Stitchy", which presumably involved damage to his bottom.
- Official Couple: Stars one of SFA's official couples, and its least-nuts couple at that.
- Pun:
- Dororo reveals himself to be a minor punster in the series. It rubs off on Giroro occasionally.
- Keroro has one in Episode 8:
Dororo: "Would indifference count as a 'no'?"Keroro: "Eh, I’m not good at math." *Beat* "Wow, even I’m ashamed of that one." - Rapid-Fire Comedy: Though the tone of the podcast is laid back, jokes happen quickly and often without room for the listener to catch them before the duo have moved on.
- Running Gag:
- God Broccoli, a key part of Dororo's diet that is so nutritious he can survive having every disease ever in his body.
- Giroro's poor military/gun skills.
- Giroro eating and being allergic to cats.
- The two becoming increasingly frustrated with questions about Dororo's face, which is perpetually hidden behind a mask.
- Satire: Tamama's Church of Beetle Christ is this to religions as a whole. Direct connections are made to the Abrahamic religions ("[She says] we all believe in the same Beetle Christ, just with different names"; "[She hasn't claimed her child as the new messiah], just a prophet. Which means she won't call it the messiah, but her followers will still kill each other over it").
- Sarcasm Mode: Often with Giroro and occasionally with Dororo.
- The Scrappy: Keroro In-Universe for most of Season 1. The duo do not mince words in their loathing of their former commanding officer. By the Season 1 finale they've patched up with him, but they still take occasional shots at him in the next two seasons.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: The "Fucking Interlude" in Episode 3.
- Shout-Out:
- Whenever someone does something significant for the Tumblr account, E.G. NelloNello's banner, the couple will thank them in the podcast.
- Dororo is a big fan of Scott Walker and has turned Giroro on to his work.note Dororo also mentions that he likes The Smiths, Jimmy Cliff, The Cure, and Joy Division.
- Giroro recalls two of his childhood heroes in Episode 9, Tagogo and Magogo, who are named after the Can album Tago Mago.
- The two will watch any movie with John Cusack, Ewan McGregor or Robert Carlyle. Dororo singles out The Full Monty as a favourite.
- Dororo: "He makes a logical point."
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Discussed at various points in regards to their own relationship. The two themselves are aversions, being affectionate but not over-the-top with it.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Dororo leans toward Idealistic, Giroro towards Cynical. They discuss how they both balance each other out and pull each other to opposite ends of the spectrum.
- Sophisticated as Hell:Giroro: "[Keroro's] voice is an aural smelling salt."Dororo: "Very poetic diss my dear."
- Spin-Off: From Sgt. Frog Abridged. The initial intent for the blog was to give more insight into the characters, but when it was decided that SFA would end, it also became a continuation of the story. It also served as a Prequel to SFA: Reset, and after SFA was revived, Season 2 of the podcast returned it to its place as a Spin-Off.
- Stylistic Suck: Dororo's and Giroro's attempts at playing the guitar, particularly arpeggios.
- Title Drop: Inverted. Every episode takes its title from a random line in the episode.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Dororo is an inversion. He's too tortured to be kinky."Spanking makes me sterile."
