Dr. K's Waiting Room

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Created by Masahiro Sakurai, the disgustingly cute, ever-ravenous Kirby is one of Nintendo’s most popular characters. Accordingly, I’m dedicating most of July to celebrating the pink puff-ball.

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Quick Facts:
After spearheading Kirby’s illustrious videogame career, Masahiro Sakurai supervised this anime adaptation of the franchise, which aimed to appeal to viewers of all ages. Supervising director Sōji Yoshikawa faced challenges dealing with a mute protagonist in a fantasy world but believed in the concept, which was purposely edited for Western audiences and has a mixed reputation amongst critics.

The Review:
While the amusing earworm that accompanies the colourful, action-packed open titles helps set the scene for Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, the basic standard of the anime is established in “Kirby Comes to Cappy Town” (Kusakabe, 2001), which depicts Kirby (Amy Birnbaum) as a young “Star Warrior” sleeping soundly in his (literal) starship before being awakened when his ship detects a giant monster on Planet Popstar. I’ve played many Kirby videogames, and they pretty much never have a deeper plot than “Dream Land/Planet Popstar threatened by evil”, so it’s interesting to see the additional lore is tacked onto Kirby here. For example, Kirby isn’t from Planet Popstar; he’s a fledgling Star Warrior who crash lands and is stranded there in the first episode. Dream Land (if not the entire planet) is ruled by the bombastic King Dedede (Ted Lewis), a greedy, selfish monarch who craves power. He’s not an anti-hero or even a reluctant ally of Kirby’s here; he’s a bumbling bad guy, no question. However, while King Dedede is aided by underlings, his right-hand snail, Escargoon (Ted Lewis), and enjoys the loyalty and protection of the mysterious Meta Knight (Eric Stuart), he orders monsters from the shady N.M.E. organisation. When King Dedede wants to cause a ruckus or spawn an enemy to destroy Kirby, he calls N.M.E.’s customer services representative (Dan Green) and orders a familiar mini boss or big boss from the games to be the “Monster of the Week”, racking up quite a debt that N.M.E’s head (Andrew Rannells) is sure to want to cash in later. This quickly becomes the formulaic premise for the show: King Dedede orders a monster, the monster challenges Kirby, Kirby learns how to beat it (usually with a new copy ability), and everyone laughs about it afterwards.

Although there appears to be no organised resistance against King Dedede, the residents of Cappy Town – including Mayor Len Blustergas (Mike Pollock) and siblings Tiff (Kerry Williams) and Tuff (Kayzie Rogers) – strongly dislike the king. For one thing, they’re forced to work in his palace and cater to him; for another, King Dedede and Escargoon are notorious liars and manipulators. King Dedede swears blind that he’s not sending monsters into the neighbourhood to devour sheep or kill Kirby, yet he’s constantly rolling around in his tank and observing and commenting upon these events, barely even pretending to not be the cause. Cappy Town’s prayers for a hero are seemingly answered when the wise old Kabu (Jim Napolitano) foretells the arrival of a mighty Star Warrior, only for Tiff and Tuff to be disappointed that Kirby is little more than a “baby” barely capable of speech. Young and naïve, Kirby is an inquisitive and enthusiastic little puffball, but the Cappies are unconvinced of his abilities, especially after witnessing his incredible “inhale” power, voracious appetite, and when King Dedede sabotages his efforts to assist Chef Kawasaki (Maddie Blaustein) in “A Blockbuster Battle” (Kusakabe, 2001). While he’s untested and still has much to learn, Kirby is extremely formidable. His rubbery body helps make him durable (though his powers wane when separated from his “Warp Star”), he can puff himself up to float, he exhibits incredible strength, and he can copy the abilities of his enemies to change form. This occurs after being humbled by King Dedede’s latest monster or minion and Kirby undergoing training, either from Tiff and Tuff or receiving cryptic instructions from Meta Knight. While Cappy Town applauds his efforts and rallies behind him, they prefer Kirby to stay out of town due to his appetite and clumsy nature, eventually building him a house (one promptly claimed by Tokkori (Kevin Kolack), who trades Kirby his nest).

Although he’s also dismissive of Kirby, King Dedede immediately attacks and hates Kirby on sight, worried that even an immature Star Warrior threatens him. King Dedede initially sics Octagon on Kirby, surprised to find what was initially a small and unimpressive monster becomes a mindless kaiju that wrecks his castle. Thanks to Meta Knight, Tiff, and Tuff, Kirby recovers and becomes Fire Kirby, destroying the beast and causing King Dedede to total his starship and vow to destroy Kirby. He then ruins Kirby’s reputation in Cappy Town and orders a new monster from N.M.E. This turns out to be Blocky, a massive sumo wrestler-esque stone so dense that it’s immune to Kirby’s inhale ability. Blocky destroys Kirby’s treehouse home and seems unstoppable, until Meta Knight suggests using its weight and power against it. Thus, Kirby lures Blocky to an incline, turning into smaller duplicates that he promptly crushes with his Stone ability foiling King Dedede once more. In “Kirby’s Duel Role” (Yokoyama, 2001), King Dedede orders Meta Knight to challenge Kirby to a duel, something the mysterious conquistador is reluctant to pursue. However, he’s duty bound to follow the king’s orders and quickly proves Kirby’s superior. Meta Knight turns the duel into a training exercise, however, mentoring Kirby on finding his inner calm and strength and mastering the Sword ability, surreptitiously obeying his master while also aiding Kirby. This training comes in handy when King Dedede unleashes an expert swordsman, Bugzzy, to finish the job, only for it to be sliced in two by Kirby’s Sword Beam. Enraged, King Dedede tries to take matters into his own hands only to be toppled by Meta Knight, who refuses to elaborate on his true allegiance and seems destined to walk the line between enemy and ally.

I felt a little bad for Kirby, here. It’s interesting that the anime depicts him as immature when he’s always so forthright and proactive in the games. He still is here, to be fair, never backing down from a fight or a challenge, and he always triumphs thanks to encouragement, training, perseverance, and his copy abilities. It’s strange, then, that he’s depicted as a clumsy, disruptive child who Cappy Town finds annoying yet inspirational. I feel it might’ve been just the same, if not better, to depict him as childish and simple but still formidable and reliable, since he is all those things anyway. It’s a strange dichotomy as Kirby naturally rises to the occasion and isn’t really hampered by being awoken two-hundred years too early. It does create a bit of drama, though, as Kirby’s often on the backfoot or must use more than brute strength to win. “Kirby’s Duel Role” excellently shows that Kirby is outclassed against Meta Knight’s swordplay and it’s therefore more meaningful when he masters the Sword ability. Still, it was weird seeing people shun and doubt Kirby, especially as he’s always so friendly and so damn cute. While the episodes quickly adopt a recognisable formula, I never found myself bored, mainly because the animation is so good and it was fun seeing Kirby get into scrapes and learn new powers. N.M.E’s monsters are presented as intimidating obstacles for Kirby to overcome and I got a real sense that Dream Land has suffered under the whims of King Dedede, who seemed to previously unleash monsters just for a lark.

Final Thoughts:
The anime really captures the vibrant and surreal nature of the videogames, mixing traditional animation with CGI to bring Kirby and King Dedede to life. While it was a strange decision to have Kirby be an alien visitor and these episodes don’t pull any locations from the games except King Dedede’s castle and Planet Popstar, the visual appeal is undeniable as characters are very expressive. The CGI elements added a cinematic quality and emphasised how goofy Kirby and King Dedede are, which only made the cartoonish fun more enjoyable. I loved how the amine incorporates Kirby’s inhale and copy abilities, translating the former into his insatiable appetite and the latter into one-time power-ups that show his growth as a character. Kirby is adorable here, mimicking voices and taking pleasure in the simple things and always happy to help and stand against any enemy, no matter how big or skilled they are. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding him as a Star Warrior, which was only exacerbated by Meta Knight, who constantly talks in riddles, aura farms, and is presented as an elusive (and incredibly powerful) warrior. I loved Meta Knight’s Spanish accent and accompanying theme, elements I never imagined for him, but which really worked to give him some spice. Similarly, it was strange hearing King Dedede using a Southern accent, but it quickly grew on me and surprisingly suited his pompous character.

I loved how Kirby’s mere presence upset King Dedede, like he knows his rule is threatened by this seemingly harmless pink marshmallow and it’s driving him mad (and into debt) ordering monsters to get rid of him. I thought it was pretty funny how King Dedede is seen as a liar and a dick, yet people begrudgingly tolerated him because he’s their ruler. The Cappies seemed unable to do anything but complain about him before Kirby showed up and hardly rally behind him once he’s there due to his age. Tiff and Tuff were okay supporting characters but it’s Escargoon who stood out amongst the new characters. Unlike other animated underlings, he’s not an abused, spineless lackey. He offers his opinion, enforces King Dedede’s will, and even questions his king, being fiercely loyal while also recognising when things aren’t going there way. I’m biased but Meta Knight stole the show for me with his mysterious demeanour and undeniable screen presence, which are both backed up by his reputation as a master swordsman. I also enjoyed that the episodes used enemies from the videogames. That may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how often adaptations don’t use characters and elements from the videogames. It was admittedly odd to have them teleported to King Dedede from N.M.E. but that aspect was a fun way to build that shadowy organisation up as a greater threat than King Dedede. Ultimately, I had a lot of fun with these episodes. They’ve bright, colourful, harmless fun that tweak the lore in interesting ways, depict Kirby’s abilities and enemies in entertaining ways, and the animation and visuals were top notch. I would definite be happy to watch more of this anime and would recommend it to fans of the character, or anyone needing a quirky anime to pass the time with.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Are you a fan of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!? What did you think to these first three episodes and the way the anime depicted Kirby? Did you like the formula of the anime or would you have preferred to see King Dedede be more proactive? Were you also a fan of Meta Knight’s portrayal? Which episodes were your favourite? Let me know your thoughts on Kirby: Right Back at Ya! in the comments and donate to my Ko-Fi if you want me to review more episodes of the anime.