Anime 2390 Hoshi No Kirby

Hoshi no Kaabii was my childhood anime, but certain episodes still have me going back to relive the memories from back then.

This is an anime aimed at children around elementary school. But despite this, there are many themes that ring true to adulthood and there is plenty of social commentary that rings true to this day. A few examples:

Episode 28, Pollution and Exploitation of Labour
This episode features the brainwashing of citizens into performing labour, in order to industrialize Pupupu Land. The effects of pollution and brainwashing are clearly seen here, as well as the lesson that heroisms can be a thankless job.

Episode 49, ... Animation Industry
This episode is arguably one of the funniest ones in the anime. It is a satire of the anime industry, where many are overworked and underpaid. The civilians in Pupu Village all make an anime under the command of Dedede, which ends with them being severely sleep deprived and one screaming "Animators have human rights too!" The finished anime is a parody of the Kirby anime, with Dedede taking the place of the hero. It's a whole entire mess, with the animators also filling the roles of voice actors. Here is a quote that sums it up.

Meta Knight: Doing post recording without rehearsal... this isn't sane.

The whole "anime" they're broadcasting just gets worse and worse, but in the most meta and hilarious way.


The Humour
Much of this anime's humor relies on introducing an idea, and having it build in ridiculousless or insanity that it eventually spirals out of control- eg. A "which restaurant can make the spicier dish" episode, a pie-throwing episode, an obesity episode, "devil kirby". If that's your thing, I would definitely recommend this anime. As well as this, the anime regularly parodies themselves and inserts references from pop culture.


The Characters
Dedede and Escargon's shenanigans are a must-watch: though much of their interactions is slapstick, they are sometimes shown to cling to each other in times of need and Escargon is once seen singing a parody of the anime's OP, with the lyrics about Dedede. He also outright states he loves him in doing so. Their relationship is what makes the show.

Meta Knight is one of the characters dearly loved by the viewers. He is one of the few with a developed past, and a mentor figure for Kirby. He is often the voice of reason, and although he may act morally gray, he is always there for Kirby in the end. Most times he takes on a serious or cool role, but that is what makes his comedic moments all the more funnier.

Oh, Kawasaki. This guy might be one of the funniest characters in the anime. From his horrible cooking shenanigans to his one-liners, his presence makes a scene more hilarious. One of the most memorable lines I remember is the others discussing they haven't seen Dedede recently (obesity episode) and Kawasaki outright saying "Maybe he's DEAD?" Oh, he also once tries to cook Kirby, who is blissfully unaware of what's going on.

All in all, this is an amazing must-watch especially for kids, and an anime even adults can enjoy if they watch the right episodes.

I have only now remembered that Kirby TV Channel on the Wii and Kirby, Right back at Ya! exists, despite religiously watching it and waiting for new episodes to appear weekly. Very nostalgic to just randomly come upon it online.

I greatly enjoyed this anime as a child but watching clips online, the art style and particularly the CGI haven't t aged particularly well, although the OP still slaps. Some of the scenarios as well weren't particularly brilliant, but it is, at its core an anime designed for children and in my case, it served it's purpose correctly.

Overall 5/10 and if I rewatch it I ... will post a more thorough review.

So I'm gonna be quite blunt here, I've watched Kirby Right Back at Ya maybe two and a half times. Once fully in English & about halfway through in Japanese. Based upon a popular video game series by Nintendo & Hal Laboratory, the anime did it's own strange adaptation based upon the video games. There's one thing to note about the anime also, most notable the English dubbing company. Apparently, while some people claim that 4kids is the butcher of all decent anime *cough Sonic X, *cough One Piece.* With the Kirby anime, honestly to me it's not all that different from English to Japanese. ... While some forms of "American Dubbing" have been put into place, however we'll get into that soon.. To me it wasn't all that different. But now let's get into the concept of this anime.

Now basic story, Kirby lands on Pop Star he found by two children named Tiff & Tuff (lots of puns in the english dub). Kirby lives with the family to fit in more with society and in Cappy Town. King Dedede & his minion Escargoon try to defeat Kirby for a profit for the company Nightmare Industries. Basically that's the jist of the story. Nothing more to say honestly, it's basic but it gets the job done. All of the characters speak except for Kirby, which is similar to how he is in the video games. So I won't complain. They got the source material right for that.
Most episode basically follow a similar path, Kirby is loafing around being himself, the characters give a lecture on how Kirby should act. Like Kirby has the personality of a child & he honestly doesn't know any better. Dedede hires a monster or a setup or Kirby and his two friends get lost somewhere. Plus, Kirby once in awhile gets a copy ability to win the fight. This sort of set up runs for about a hundred episodes most of the time and honestly does get extremely tiresome. However there are some unique episodes that sometimes come out if you do pay attention. Plus, it's a shame that Kirby rarely gets an screen time sometimes. Most of the attention is either given to Dedede trying to end Kirby or Tiff/Tuff giving a pointless lecture. Kirby is either seen in the beginning eating food or in the end fighting an enemy. A better build up would have worked way more honestly.

There are some small bits of censorship such as the removal of guns, the context of Japanese food has vanished & even English text was cleaned out of the anime. It's minor though, cause to me it doesn't effect the quality of the anime but it's just a notice for some of you. Lots of characters from the games make tons of cameos such as Meta Knight, Whispy Woods, tons of Waddle Dees, Chef Kawasaki & lots of enemies. The art style is also decent to me, the colors are quite vibrant and the main characters do pop out. But a little flat in terms of the art direction and scenery. The music is nothing to write home about either, even in the English or Japanese dub.

The voice acting in English is quite funny honestly. Nothing too terrible considering the source material. But it leaves a lot to be desired for. The Spanish accent of Meta Knight is honestly insanely cringy to no end but King Dedede's Southern accent is absolutely hilarious though if you don't take it seriously. The puns in this anime are insanely noticeable, some of them don't make sense but you have to realize it's an anime for children so it does make sense why.

Overall, Kirby Right Back at Ya is something you'd probably enjoy if you're a huge fan of the video game series. But as an anime itself, it leaves a lot to be desired for. The lack of Kirby himself really diminishes the value. Plus the typical plot, generic OST & questionable voice acting will probably get you scratching your head asking why. Though some of the source material is there and a few episode are enjoyable. You should probably look at this anime not as a tribute to the video games, but as a massive joke. Think of it like fan fiction, but it's not that painful.