The English dub itself is this; it is one of the very few of 4Kids Entertainment's dubs that is generally agreed on being solid, with a large amount of praise being given to the snarkiness of the characters and especially the bombastic glory that is King Dedede. It certainly helps that 4Kids' usual goofy, exaggerated and more localized style of dubbing fits perfectly with Kirby's eccentric and bizarre universe. Even better, in terms of Bowlderization, 4Kids were extremely lenient on this show and allowed many rather violent or questionable parts to completely slip by, such as Kirby cutting monsters in half with Sword Beams and the sight of a battlefield littered with corpses, many of which being pin-cushioned by arrows and spears. The few moments of Bowdlerization that do happen actually work to the show's benefit; like Dedede's laser chainsaw and the removal of Bouncy Tiff.
His original Japanese voice kicks all sorts of ass as well.
Tiff gets a lot of awesome moments:
In "A Blockbuster Battle", Kirby's gets his pink keister handed to him by Blocky. Right when things start to get bad, Tiff runs right in and does a Diving Save, snatching him from a horrible fate. Regardless of your opinions on her, give the girl an A for badassery.
In "The Pillow Case", most of Cappy Town gets brainwashed into thinking all their memories of Kirby are bad, except for only a few of which Meta Knight, Blade Knight, and Sword Knight are some exceptions. Tiff is one of many to fall under the pillow's influence... for only a few seconds, before she snaps back to reality. Her will and care for Kirby were stronger than Nightmare's very influence! Tuff also gets one for immediately breaking out of his trance after Tiff wakes him up.
Probably her biggest CMoA is "The School Scam". Dedede orders a couple of delinquent students for his school, who cause Tiff to get fired from being a teacher. She asks Meta Knight to train her in combat, and by the end of the night, she's able to confront the students and give them a good battle using her skill, and the bullys' own weight and inertia against themselves, instead of brute force. All the while, she calmly and confidently insults them to their faces. And after their defeat, she still has the decency to admit she screwed up as a teacher because of it. Of course, then the three fuse into one big monster and Kirby has to deal with it like usual, but Tiff took quite a few levels in badass all just for this simple endeavor.
And then there's both times she was a Damsel in Distress. The first time, when Dedede and Escargoon captured Tiff, she doesn't crack under their interrogation when they try to make her spill the beans on the Warp Star's location.
The second time, when she was taken hostage by Nightmare, she immediately saw that it was a trap for Kirby and begs him not to save her. This is a girl who's, what, 8-10? Any child in her situation would've been rightfully scared out of their wits. The only one Tiff was scared for was Kirby. And that's before she gets the idea to call on the Warp Star in Kirby's nightmare, revealing she had it in her possession, right under Nightmare's nose, essentially leading to his final defeat! Perhaps Nightmare should've chosen a different hostage...
Some of the monsters from the series have their moments.
Bugzzy from episode 3 is one of the better battles of the series. His deep voice, swordplay and general design all deserve a mention. Even his death is awesome, if not ratherbrutal. To think that this guy’s just a mini boss in the games!
Sasuke from episode 13/29, while small and mute, doesn't take any nonsense from anybody, even his owners. During his battle with Kirby, he swiftly escapes from his exploding Dedede float just in time as the explosion dazes Kirby and then straps himself to a massive firework, blasting both himself and Kirby into the air, even at the cost of his own life. Finally, when Kirby begins escaping, Sasuke unties himself and climbs up after him to try and stall him until the firework explodes.
WolfWrath from episode 26/24 is seen as a beloved Ensemble Dark Horse when it comes to monsters, and for good reason. Being a badass fire-breathing wolf monster capable of setting fires to fuel its combat prowess and described as being born in the fires of Hell — in the Japanese version, at least — certainly gives it plenty of points. The fights against it were pretty cool as well, and go to show how mighty enough it is to have badly injured and paralyzed Meta Knight, as well as its capability of seeing through smoke. Even its defeat is awesome; the fact that it's weak against water gives Sword and Blade the motivation to wrestle it into the lake with a great degree of difficulty, and even when it knows it's about to get chopped in half by Sword Kirby using Galaxia, it remains defiant long enough to spit a fireball at the sword beam, which stops the fireball and slices it down the middle. Wolfwrath's explosion afterwards is beautifully displayed.
Masher is one of the few monsters to appear in more than one episode, and it definitely scores positively in many topics for its designs, several attacks that weren't in the games (such as flying and spinning rapidly to strike and firing laser beams), and being one of the few that actually came close to murdering Kirby, especially when Knuckle Joe tag-teamed his attacks with its own. The fights against this thing were awesome; in the first fight in episode 40/37, just when it looked like Joe was going to do the job for it, he suddenly turns Kirby into Fighter Kirby and turns against it, and they both team up on it and smash it up real good! And then there's the Dragon Ball-esque explosion from Masher once they both deliver the fatal blow through Rising Break, and it's glorious. And then Masher comes back in episode 65, rebuilt and made EVEN MORE POWERFUL, and given awesome new demon-like features and made immune to most attacks for a while. And even so, Kirby and Joe still manage to take it down again eventually, with help from Joe's father's locket, and once again, Masher is consumed by another beautifully-displayed explosion.
Fridgy from episode 41/38 may have been one of the shorter-lasting monsters, but it still scores on many topics for having a goofy and hilarious design, as well as having a unique voice and being an ice mammoth with impressive physical strength and unique ice attacks that come out so fast that they can't be inhaled. Once again, the way it dies by the hands of Fire Kirby is beautifully displayed, having it melt away into huge amounts of water after the flames damage it long enough. What ends up making things even better is that the episode it appears in is only just part one of a very awesome two-parter about the asteroid Gerath on its way to crash into Popstar!
The stadium match against the Martial Arts All-Stars in episode 53/46 is one of the best ways for Fighter Kirby to showcase all of his available skills in the anime. Each round starts out with one member - one of five different types of martial arts, such as Kung Fu Lee the kung fu expert, Boxer Dyson the boxer, Karate Kid the karate master, Taikyoku Roujin the tai-chi master, and Yankee Sekitori the sumo wrestler - subjecting Kirby to a beating... only for him to make a comeback, turn the tables on them, and make them fall to a well-placed attack. Special mention even goes to their unique designs and the way they fight. Meta Knight wasn't kidding when he said during the third round that this was the perfect opportunity for Kirby to learn how to exceed his limits by getting pushed to them. There's even a cute scene involving Kirby mimicking Taikyoku Roujin's foot-raising moves.
Special mention also goes to Kirisakin from episode 60 for his badass design and roars, and due to him having a part in Galaxia's history and being a Hero Killer and the only monster to cause the actual death of someone on-screen; in his case, he claimed Garlude's life. Heck, even the battle against him was awesome in its own right; he's a Lightning Bruiser of a monster who can dodge Sirica's blasts with ease, and can tank a stab from her sword right onto his shoulder, shaking her off and knocking her unconscious for a short moment while also prying her weapon off. And what happens when Sword Kirby breaks one of his scythes he has for hands? It regenerates, and he proceeds to go juggernaut on a surprised Kirby until he breaks his sword. And again, his death at the hands of Sword Kirby through Galaxia is brutally awesome, and he impressively survives long enough to examine his broken scythes and growl in a confused tone as to why they aren't regenerating, all right after being run through by the Sword Beam, before he splits open and explodes in the end. Oh, and did we mention the music that plays during the fight with this thing in the Japanese version? That's right; the Kirisakin fight scene is set to an epic remix of "Green Greens" (Later used as the Drag Race theme from Kirby Air Ride), of all songs!
Hell, King Dedede wasn't kidding when he said how impressed he was with the intimidation that Kirisakin presents on sight.
Dedede: Now that's a monster! Escargoon: I think I'm gonna faint.
Rekketsu from episode 83 is one of the shorter lasting monsters, yet he scores points on various topics. His entry, his design, his voice, his laser sword, among others. Special mention goes to when he stretches his limbs as if they were made of rubber to attack from a distance. Once again, his death is brutally awesome. He is somehow still able to scream even after being cut in half.
Meta Knight's fight with Kirby in episode 3, particularly when he reveals that Kirby can't suck him up despite being neither too heavy or big. His only explanation? "I have other ways to defend myself." Oh, and let's not forget his sparta-kicking King Dedede's vehicle down a cliff, doubling as a CMOF.
In "Flower Power", Meta Knight goes up against the Pukey Flower, and it overpowers him; then Kirby goes Needle on it, and cuts off most of its heads, and pins it down. The day is saved and they all leave... until the remaining head gets back up and tries to eat Tuff. Meta Knight tosses his torch at the plant and lets it burn to death.
Go! Knuckle Joe! The adorably Cute Bruiser gets a fine introduction in episode 19, despite some initial miscommunication.
Later on, he becomes a monster hunter, and he takes out one of Nightmare Enterprises' strongest monsters, Masher, by summoning it himself and beating it alongside Kirby.
Chilly. He was created specifically to kill Kirby, and only exists thanks to the Ice Dragon's eternal winter. Yet he refuses to perform the deed, almost accepts his fate to the Ice Dragon, and helps Kirby stop the endless snow despite knowing full well that he'll melt away and die if he does. If he didn't have to sadly melt away, he would've made an excellent Star Warrior.
Princess Rona gets quite a few of these while in disguise as Commander Vee, including delivering a Curb-Stomp Battle to King Dedede and teaming up with Sword Kirby to defeat Susshi. The real Commander Vee gets one for keeping up her Rona disguise for so long, as well.
In "Hatch Me If You Can", Kirby ends up outside in a rain storm protecting a mysterious Galbo Egg he woke up with through a series of events. After Rick shows him how to construct a nest and keep the Egg warm, Kirby begins to fall asleep on it; but just as he does so, lightning strikes a nearby massive tree and causes it to fall toward them. Cue Kirby catching the falling tree (Which for reference, is several times his size.) in mid-air, stopping it, and throwing it aside like it was nothing; all to protect this single Egg he'd only found earlier that day.
Mixed with CMOF, but this anime supports Mike Kirby's status as Kirby's ultimate Screen Nuke. It has appeared only twice in the anime's whole run ("Abusement Park" and "Fitness Fiend"), and in both instances absolutely rinses the currentMonster of the Week and destroys Dedede's castle. During its first appearance, even after being warped to Nightmare Enterprises, seven monsters that were eagerly waiting to come at him with their jaws open found his singing too much for them to handle and exploded from the pain suffered by hearing it, and the NME Salesguy had to send him back. Let's put that into perspective: Kirby almost brought down Nightmare Enterprises via bad singing. He even does it again to defeat Max Flexer in "Fitness Fiend".
In both parts of "Scare Tactics", Kirby managing to scare both King Dedede and Escargoon twice. The first time, he's wearing a jack-o-lantern and terrifies both of them. Then, during the second part, he's dressed up in a ghost sheet with flashlights. Both times he really sells the creepiness with his laughing. What's really epic though is that for the second scare, Kirby came up with it all by himself!
In "A Half-Baked Battle", Dedede throws a bomb while he, Kirby and Escargoon are trapped inside the episode's Monster of the Week. What does Escargoon do? He immediately takes over from Tiff's usual role and orders Kirby to inhale the bomb, which ultimately frees them. In the original version, he also expresses some reluctance before pushing it aside.
Sword and Blade's fight with Sirica in episode 60 "Crusade for the Blade". They may often be reduced to Cannon Fodder due to the Worf Effect, but the pair made a good showing against the formidable young lady.
A minor one in Episode 63: When everyone in Cappy Town has a cold, through a series of events, King Dedede believes that the cold only affects smart people since himself, Kirby, and the Waddle Dees haven't caught it yet. Tiff decides to pretend Kirby has caught the cold to teach Dedede a lesson (in Japanese, it was so Dedede won't tease him for not having one), believing cold germs don't affect idiots, which causes a bit of confusion. Even while sick, she planned a well-thought-out trick.
Episode 63 in general can be seen as one for the NME Salesman as it's one of few episodes where he had more than just a minute of screen time. Using Dedede's beliefs about colds and idiots, he pulled off an elaborate scheme to magnificently manipulate Dedede into willingly purchasing several expensive products; all to get enough sales figures for the end of the year, as well as to get back at Dedede for insulting him at the beginning of the episode. While it's certainly not the first time he's outsmarted Dedede out of his cash, it was a pretty good play that left Dedede completely floored as well as laid up sick at the end of the episode.
A small one in Episode 83 (Teacher's Threat), but when Dedede unleashes a samurai substitute into the school to attack Kirby, it immediately starts to do so. Mr. Chip, who had just confessed that he was forced to work for Nightmare Enterprises, isn't having any of that, shouts at the monster and rushes to attack him. Although he ended up getting blasted back for it, it was pretty impressive for a simple teacher.
Credit where credit is due, Dedede does not mess around but special mention goes to "Frog Wild." This time, a Demon Frog is let loose on Dream Land and has possessed Kirby, turning him into a devilish prankster playing malicious tricks and destroying Cappy Town. In response, Dedede is impressed, but determined to prove he's the #1 villain in Dream Land. To wit, he takes the Demon Frog when it's finally out of Kirby and forces it into possessing him; and what happens next is Dedede turning into Devil Dedede! He grows twice his size, gains some impressive muscles, red eyes and fangs, and devil wings tattooed on his new pecs, and declares once and for allhe'sthe top villain. Soon enough, he's delivering poor Kirby one brutal beatdown! The only thing that saves Kirby is that Dedede forgot about his earlier ordering of the Heavy Anaconda to eat the Demon Frog.
Devil Dedede: You puny peewees better be scared... 'cause I'm the baddest dude on the whole planet!
When Dedede meets the NME salesman, the first thing he does (besides comment on the man's height) is force-feed him a spoonful of Kawasaki's awful cooking.
Dedede: That liver sure made you shiver!
Salesman: (washing his mouth out) I was completely disgusted!
Kirby defeating the Big Bad Nightmare in the finale. A fine "David and Goliath" homage.
Nightmare's screams of terror as he disintegrates into nothingness. Partially undermined, however, by his As Long as There Is Evil speech shortly after, which was removed in the dub rendering him Deader than Dead.
(Later used as the Drag Race theme from Kirby Air Ride), of all songs!