YMMV / Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

• Accidental Innuendo:
  • "You're going with me to the bathroom!"^note Dedede believed the bathroom was haunted, so he demanded Escargoon to come with him together. In the English dub, the phrase is replaced with the much safer "You're gonna keep me company!".
  • At the beginning of "Right Hand Robot", there's a scene◊ that looked like Dedede was raping Escargoon. Unlike an example above, this one did make into the English dub unchanged.
  • "Abusement Park" had this line from King Dedede:
    King Dedede to the NME Salesguy: Yo! Show them melons!
  • Meta Knight's infamous "I feel... dirty" line. Also "here comes the custard!" from the same episode.
• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Does Meta Knight only care about Kirby because he is a Star Warrior who will defeat Nightmare? Or did he genuinely grow fond of him?
  • Some people believe that Princess Rona is actually a trans man, and the "Commander Vee" persona was the only way that they could show who they really are. It's helped more in the sub, as they beg Tiff to keep calling them Vee over Rona. However, Vee also presents as female.
  • In the episode, "Cappy Town Down," Cappy Town is completely obliterated, and the townspeople briefly turn on Kirby for failing to save their town. Are they Ungrateful Townsfolk who have just been using Kirby for their protection, turning on him the one time he fails? Or is the episode order chronological and they're still on edge for what happened in "Frog Wild"?^NoteIn which Kirby gets possessed by a demon frog and wrecks havoc. The fact that Kirby does not interact with the Cappies in the two episodes between "Frog Wild" and "Cappy Town Down" supports the latter idea, though numerous episodes can be used to support the former.
    • Hell, the Cappies' opinion towards Kirby, in general. ARE they just using him for their protection (and as garbage disposal for leftovers and expired food), or do they genuinely enjoy his company? Again, there is evidence that supports both.
  • In the Japan-only pilot, is King Dedede crying Ocular Gushers because he failed to kill Kirby, or because Kirby gave him a wiener? And if it's the latter, is he genuinely touched by Kirby's act of kindness, or regretful for ever trying to kill him, if not both? Consider that he doesn't attack him for the rest of the pilot after this point.
• Anti-Climax Boss: Kirby defeating Nightmare in the final episode. It takes less than a minute after exposing him to the Star Rod to defeat the "Emperor of Darkness" that had terrorized the majority of the universe.
• Audience-Coloring Adaptation:
  • This show's depiction of King Dedede, particularly the English dub, has more or less characterized how the canon Dedede is viewed. In the actual games, Dedede ranges from a well-intentioned adversary to a greedy but generally pleasant guy. Thanks to this show however, he's commonly believed to be a comically incompetent Jerkass with a southern accent.
  • To a lesser extent, the anime's depiction of Kirby has also influenced how many view Kirby as a character. Particularly him not being able to speak besides "Poyo" and him being a baby. Neither of which actually apply to his game self. Kirby is stated to be a little boy in some manuals of the games and is shown to be perfectly capable of full speech numerous times in pretty much all of the supplementary material before this show and in other adaptations such as the light novels.
• Awesome Music:
  • GOGO HEAVEN is an amazing disco arrangement of Dedede's iconic boss music and the ending credits tune of Kirby's Dream Land. The Truck Driver's Gear Change when the whole cast starts dancing elevates it to entirely new levels.
  • The theme that plays when Kirby inhales something in the English dub is an epic-sounding, heroic fanfare that reminds you just how hardcore American Kirby is.
  • From the original, we have Warp Star, which sounds just as magical and uplifting as a Disney song.
  • Some music in the Japanese original was later reused in Kirby Air Ride, as the game came out around the same time the anime was being produced. And any time a track used in Air Ride plays, expect the scene to be awesome.
    • Some of the tracks from the later episodes appear years later in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, including the Island Sisters' song as well as the dark cue when Demon Kirby rampages through Cappy Town.
  • Also, admit it: the jazzy/big-band song they use in the 4Kids dub is awesome.
  • The first credits song from the Japanese version is not only relaxing and catchy. But the song is a reference to the original Japanese commerical for Kirby's Dream Land showing the viewers how to draw not only Kirby, but King Dedede as well.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Tiff. Some admire the character for her intelligence and for speaking her mind, while also arguing that her presence is not a bad thing because the show still makes it clear that Kirby is The Hero and not her. Others find her to be a know-it-all killjoy and feel that, regardless of how the show handles her role, she is still taking too much screentime that could be given to Kirby.
  • Meta Knight and Dedede (though not to Tiff's extent) have had their Adaptation Personality Change(s) criticized, with many detractors complaining about the former's Informed Ability of being a grand Star Warrior when "all he does is stand around and talk", or the latter's dual Adaptational Villainy and Took a Level in Dumbass. Others welcome these changes with open arms, considering them on par or better than the game canon.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Kirby's transformation into Kabuki Kirby in the Bonus episode. Having a copy ability based off of classical Japanese history? It's not standard fare, but not too weird either. The fact that Kirby's appearance (initially, at least) is that of a real-life man dressed to resemble the Kabuki character Benkei? Uhhh...
  • The original version of "Hatch Me If You Can" had a scene where Kawasaki starts playing with a small egg while the Townsfolk are in the middle of discussing the large one Kirby found. It was cut from the English dub, quite possibly because of its sheer pointlessness.
  • There's also a shot from "Fitness Fiend" where all the characters except Meta Knight start dancing to Max Flexer's workout song. The next we see them all, Escargoon is the only one dancing, and Tiff is back to complaining about how brutal the training is.
• Broken Base: Similar to Pokémon: The Series and Sonic X, there is debate as to whether this is a good adaptation of the games or not. Detractors criticize the amount of screentime given to the Canon Foreigners, with the actual game characters (outside of Kirby, King Dedede and Meta Knight) mostly being One Scene Wonders; they also claim that the Strictly Formula nature is stale and would have preferred a more faithful adaptation of the games, and also mention the omisson of certain fan-favorite characters such as Marx, Gooey, and Adeleine. Especially compared to aformentioned Pokemon: The Series and Sonic X which more more faithfully adapted their source material while all while adding to it. Others say that, due to the nature of the cast in the Kirby series at the time, such an adaptation wouldn't work and think the overall experience being the same (a simple story meant for beginners) is good enough. They also point out that even with all the attention given to side characters, the show always makes it clear that Kirby is The Protagonist while Sonic is usually Out of Focus, and that he's able to show proper progress and succeed in his goals compared to Ash Ketchum who constantly loses in Pokémon Leagues at least until Alola where Ash FINALLY got to walk home a champion. Ultimately, fans find themselves at odds over whether or not the creators made the right call to go for a Pragmatic Adaptation. Especially as the main series continues to create new entries which make fans further debate over how faithful adaptions of more modern adventures would compare to the original anime.
• Can't Un-Hear It:
  • Dedede's dub voice can tend to make some people think of the game Dedede with that southern voice, especially when reading his dialogue in Kirby Super Star Ultra and Kirby Battle Royale.
  • The same goes for Meta Knight's Zorro-esque voice, though that depends on whether or not you prefer his deep voice from Super Smash Bros. instead (although it still has a Spanish inflection).
• Common Knowledge: The names of GSA leader Arthur's companions are and always have been Percival, Galahad, and Lancelot. The names Falspar, Dragato, and Nonsurat are nothing but gibberish caused by a "Blind Idiot" Translation in the fansub. In fanfic territory though, the warriors are known almost exclusively by these names.
  • It was believed for many years that the All Just a Dream ending to Air Ride In Style only existed in the English version, as the episodes were aired Out of Order in America to coincide with Kirby Air Ride, which was released earlier in the series run than the Japanese version was. Both versions have the "prophetic dream" ending with the only difference being that the finale for the Japanese comes directly afterwards, making that one's ending more in line with Dreaming of Things to Come rather than Vagueness Is Coming as it's depicted in the English dub.
• Complete Monster: Nightmare, or eNeMeE in the dub, is the scheming puppetmaster behind the entire series. Through his galactic conglomerate empire NightMare Enterprises (Holy Nightmare Corporation in the Japanese original), Nightmare manufactures monsters to sell to the whims of unsavory buyers for their own destructive purposes, using his influence to conquer or destroy entire planets while viciously putting down rebellion—the time he twisted Knuckle Joe's father into a monster, forcing his friend Meta Knight to put him down, and then wiping out the rest of his resistance, being simply one example. In the present, Nightmare pumps out monsters to Popstar and speeds up the asteroid Gerath to crash into Popstar to destroy it, and in the finale, Nightmare destroys Cappy Town and even kidnaps the young Tiff to trap Kirby in a horrific nightmare. Drunk on his own power and remarkably vile for the source material, Nightmare stands as possibly the darkest villain in the fluffy Kirby franchise.
• Designated Monkey: Hardy, as noted under Designated Villain, gets launched into the stratosphere by Kirby despite not doing anything evil.
• Designated Villain: Hardy, the dentist monster. True, his patients aren't normally willing to let him check them, but he does his job rather efficiently and painlessly; yet Kirby still offs him without an actual motive. Justified in that Dedede was the one who tricked Kirby into beating him in order to save his own hide. At least he gets taken to Yabui, so we get to revel in Dedede's torment as he freaks out over nothing.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Sirica, in spades. For such an underused character ^*(she only appeared in three episodes, and one of them was a cameo appearance), she sure does have a lot of fans.
  • Then there's Knuckle Joe's portrayal as a young warrior who becomes the very thing he's fighting before undergoing a Heel–Face Turn. It probably led to his popularity within the franchise, especially since he only ever appeared in two games (one of which was Japan-exclusive) before appearing as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
  • To a lesser extent, Demon Kirby, which was made relevant once more with Kirby Star Allies due to his cameo right before the game's Soul Melter mode. Ditto with "Swole Dedede".
  • Some of the monsters are this as well, including Wolfwrath and Max Flexer. The latter even appears as a boss in Kirby Mass Attack's sub-games.
• Fandom-Enraging Misconception: Tell any fan of the Japanese show that the anime score reused in Kirby Air Ride debuted there, and you're prone to get some mean looks. Doesn't help those tracks suffer from Marth Debuted in "Smash Bros." as it only saw release in the west via that game, becoming far more well known than the anime's soundtrack.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • What would happen if (insert character/plotline from another Kirby game here) took place in this universe? Ideas range from the characters meeting Gooey, Chuchu, Magolor, Marx, and so on. Susie and the Haltmann Works Co. succeeding NME after its fall, Pitch replacing Tokkori, or the anime characters being among those sucked through the portal to the New World are especially common ideas thrown around. Same with Adeleine either being friends with Tiff and Tuff or replacing them.
  • Another common idea in fanfics is whether Meta Knight was actually the demonbeast that defied his creator rather than Kirby, given the slight implications towards such in the anime.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Among Japanese fans, "Japanese South Park" is a common nickname for the series, owed to its similar off-the-wall nature and frequent lampooning of American pop culture.
  • In the days when the anime first aired in English, Meta Knight was called the "Mexican Vampire." Much silly fanart followed.
  • Knuckle Joe's unnamed father also has a few. The most popular is "Jecra".
  • The N.M.E. Sales Guy, as he isn't named in the English dub, is often called "Frontman", "Salesguy", which was used by Nintendo Power, or just simply "the NME salesman".
• Fanon: The matter of the anime's placement in the series wide canon is a constant topic of discussion. While some consider the show to be an Alternate Continuity, others feel that it actually is meant to serve as a Broad Strokes Prequel. The few elements from the anime that make their way into the games, especially in Kirby Mass Attack, support the latter theory, but the omission of many of the anime's major characters from the games have made this theory to fall short among modern fans.
• Fountain of Memes:
  • Dedede has become one, in no part thanks to his dubbed southern accent. The episode "Cartoon Buffoon/New Anime Series: Dedede of the Stars" also tends to be memetic due to the Stylistic Suck nature of "Dedede Comin' at Ya!" and the characters mocking the final product's shoddy quality.
  • Devil Kirby from "Frog Wild" gained quite some traction as a source of memes. People absolutely love the idea of Kirby giving out death glares and evil laughs.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The episode "Labor Daze" involves King Dedede ordering an industrialization set and tricking all the townsfolk into working on his new Ice Dragon Robot. It's bad enough that he's overworking them, but then Kirby: Planet Robobot comes out with a similar scenario, and it's not at all portrayed in a light manner. And then you wonder if Nightmare Enterprises did this kind of thing to Shiver Star...
  • The Japanese version of "A Novel Approach" includes a scene (cut from the English dub) where King Dedede hosts a Book Burning of the Pappy Potter and the Fool's Stone books, due to not being able to read them. The actual Harry Potter books would be subjected to numerous book burnings in The New '20s due to J. K. Rowling's controversial political views.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The two-parter "Snack Attack" revolves around mini-figures of characters from the series that become insanely popular, with plenty of frustration among collectors who miss out on the rare figures. A little over a decade later, Nintendo introduces amiibo, and an eerily similar scenario plays out (bonus points for Meta Knight being a rare mini-figure, which is almost a situation in his amiibo form).
  • In the dub, Mike Pollock voices Mayor Blustergas. Fast forward ten years later, where he voices a different mayor in Sonic Boom.
  • King Dedede becomes buff in episodes 80 and 95 via a power drink and a demonic frog, respectively. Kirby Star Allies gives us just that when Dedede is transformed by the Jamba Heart.
  • NME in this version is actually responsible for creating Kirby. Ages later, Star Allies implies that Void, the same thing that made Dark Matter and 0 made Kirby as well.
  • Star Allies has Kawasaki as a befriendable character, allowing him to help Kirby directly like he often does here.
  • Kirby did an episode about penguins turning a planet into an ice age 11 years before a certain other Nintendo mascot did.
  • In "Escargoon Squad", Kirby poses as a ghost alongside Tiff, Tuff and Escargoon to scare Dedede. In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Kirby can actually become a Ghost as a Copy Ability.
  • Dedede distracts Biblio with a joke about a flying giraffe so he can steal a copy of Pappy Potter and the Foul's Stone. Years later, Dragon Quest X would later introduce the Giruffian monster family, who, yes, CAN fly.
• Ho Yay: Enough for its own page.
• Jerkass Woobie: Escargoon is almost as much of a Jerkass as Dedede, but it's impossible not to feel bad for him in Episode 25 where all he wants to do is impress his mom, and Episode 39 where Erasem makes everyone forget who he is.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: It's no secret that Tokkori is despised by the fandom for his obnoxiousness and rudeness towards everyone around him, particularly his "roommate" Kirby. Meanwhile, the show's Rogues Gallery have attempted to murder Kirby, yet Dedede and Escargoon are too funny to hate, Customer Service too suave, and Nightmare too cool.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Customer Service is the smooth-talking salesman of Nightmare Enterprises. The main man King Dedede turns to whenever he needs a Monster to clobber that there Kirby, Customer routines making a dupe out of Dedede while making as much profit as he can out of his crooked deals. Customer Service also excels in collecting debt from the greedy King, whether it be using a "ghost" to scare him out of his cash, to rigging his super-successful Waddle Dee vending machines to pay off NME instead. Not only the company's most successful salesman but The Dragon to Nightmare himself, Customer Service tricks Dedede one last time in the finale into revealing the location of the heroes before dispatching the Heavy Lobster to dispose of them, bidding farewell to Dedede with the remark he's been fond of "double-dealing" with him to the end.
  • "Ninja Binge": Yamikage is a powerful warrior who once successfully betrayed the Star Warriors and one-upped Meta Knight himself. Summoned in the present by King Dedede, Yamikage showcases honor and skills alike as he tuckers out and takes down the young warrior Benikage while proving himself unable to be surprised even by a stealth Meta Knight. After putting Kirby through a harsh fight, Yamikage vanishes with a smoke bomb, escaping into the nearby forest and swearing to one day return for revenge on the hero.
  • "A Spice Odyssey": Monsieur Goan is a tiny but devilishly cunning Supreme Chef who wins all of Cappy Town to his side through his brilliant cooking. Actually a Monster from NME, Goan uses his rival Chef Kawasaki's spicy recipes to his advantage, brewing up a soothing cold sorbet he's spiced with a chemical that makes anyone who eats it want to eat Kirby. Goan ends up rallying the entire town in the end in an attempt to devour Kirby himself.
  • "A Novel Approach": The Broom King disguises himself as Pappy Pottey author Rowlin to turn King Dedede's castle into a "magic school" and lure the entire populace of Dream Land to the school as students, using their obsession with Pappy Pottey to turn them into his puppets. After fooling the whole town with his Rowlin guise, the Broom King uses a harmless sport to enact a brainwashing curse that turns the whole town against Kirby, nearly destroying the pink hero. Even when exposed, the Broom King uses a variety of cleaning utensils to fight Kirby and nearly defeat him in physical combat.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Tiff of the Stars shows up a lot in videos.
  • King Dedede and Escargoon's "anime" Off-Model selves from the Dedede: Comin’ at Ya! Show Within a Show. This gets a lot of fanart, especially the realistic Art Shift version.
  • The episode it comes from, "Cartoon Buffoon", is pretty popular in general, due to being a gold mine of Funny Moments. At one point, a bunch of people gathered together and reanimated it scene by scene, with hilarious results.
  • Pretty much every line out of dub Dedede's mouth is this, thanks to his ridiculously thick southern accent. Not only can people not unhear it, but there are many people who honestly would have loved if it made it into the games because of how hilarious it makes all his lines sound.
    • "I NEED A MONSTAH TO CLOBBAH DAT DERE KIRBY!"
    • "HEHEHE! I AM A SUPAHSTAH WARRIAH!" (Someone even made an entire YouTube channel based around this line.)
    • "AW, COME NOW! LITTLE OL’ ME A HERO? SURELY YOU JESTIN’!"
    • "HAND ME ANOTHER BAG O’ DEM CHIPS!"
    • "I'LL KICK DAT KIRBY TO THE KERB!"
  • The spoken interlude in the English theme song for Right Back at Ya! has become quite popular among Kirby & anime fans, particularly the aforementioned King Dedede's "I NEED A MONSTAH TO CLOBBAH DAT DERE KIRBY!", if only for the sheer absurdity/hilarity of the line and its delivery.
  • Thanks to KroboProductions: "Suck up this torch!"
    • And pyromaniac Meta Knight in general.
  • Meta Knight punching Broom King (while he's disguised as a JK Rowling Expy) after the actual author's incendiary comments on transgender women started to become a hotly debated topic. Usually, Rowlin is edited out of the picture and posters claim that she was horribly killed off in the episode.
• Misaimed Fandom: Believe it or not, the Otakings and Hoshi no Fumu-Tan have fans! Their fans insist that since they were just a group of normal people and not demon beasts, it was Disproportionate Retribution for them to be locked in a dungeon or attacked with a hammer. This completely ignores the fact that they stalked a little girl and then proceeded to create a cartoon where she was a busty adult either flirting with the viewer or talking like a brainless idiot. Not only that, but in universe, the anime that the Otakings create is derided as just as lazy as Dedede's previous attempt to make a cartoon.
• Moe:
  • Tiff is an adorable Badass Bookworm and Cool Big Sis to Kirby. Just don't litter around her or call her short. Tuff counts as well, to a certain extent.
  • Honey, the small girl Cappy that tends to hang around Kirby and the others, can also be pretty adorable. Iroo/Spikehead's interactions with her can also become this.
  • Kirby himself. What even needs to be said? It's Kirby!
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • While Nightmare was already pure evil from the beginning, he crosses the line when he speeds up Gerath's course to crash into Dream Land. What he does to Cappy Town in the five-part series finale is even worse: he sends his Destroya ships to completely obliterate the village and leave dozens of townspeople homeless. His most despicable act, however, is GAMBLING with Tiff's life to lure Kirby into a horrible nightmare in the finale.
  • As for King Dedede, he crosses the line in episode 8. Holding three small children hostage to stop them from revealing his plot was bad enough, but you'd have to be a real sick bastard to almost crush one of those children with a giant stone monster. Lampshaded by Meta Knight.
  Meta Knight: "You have done a lowdown thing, Your Highness. Holding these kids captive because they wanted the truth."
• Most Wonderful Sound:
  • Anytime Kirby goes "Poyo!" Especially his particularly high-pitched one in "Sweet and Sour Puss", which sounds like a kitten meowing.
  • King Dedede's ultra-memetic laugh (HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH...)
• Nightmare Retardant: Dub-exclusive: the ultimate evil threatening the entire universe with his presence, taking over the world with his near-infinite supply of monsters, and could very well return As Long as There Is Evil... is named eNeMeE. As if that weren't on the nose already, the name works better as an abbreviation for Nightmare Enterprises, which is already named after Nightmare, so having him and his company essentially be named the same thing makes him come across as someone with a bigger ego than King Dedede himself. Nightmare should probably fire his agent for this.
• Older Than They Think:
  • While many fans consider Eric Stuart's "Antonio Banderas with a Spanish accent" a case of Hilarious in Hindsight because of Shrek's Puss in Boots, Banderas is actually from Spain, and his Spanish accent is actually his natural voice. Stuart has also stated the specific role that inspired him was Banderas starring as the titular character in The Mask of Zorro, which also influence Puss in Boots's character.
  • While Kirby's "poyo" speech debuted in (and is pretty much entirely exclusive to) this show, this wasn't the first time Kirby was voiced by Makiko Ohmoto; that would be Super Smash Bros. 64. It isn't even the first time Kirby was voiced at all, as he was voiced as far back as 1994, by Taeko Kawata in an audio drama.
• One-Scene Wonder: Max Flexer (Macho-san in Japanese). He even got a cameo in Kirby Mass Attack, complete with the "GO GO HEAVEN".
• Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading:
  • Kirby and Tiff are supposed to have a mother-and-child or sister-and-brother relationship, but many of their scenes together can be taken in a romantic way.
  • Tiff is accidentally hinted to have a Precocious Crush on Meta Knight on many occasions.
• Signature Scene: King Dedede's Stylistic Suck anime, if not the entirety of episode 49, tends to come up a lot when people mention this series due to its sheer hilarity. Fans even reanimated the episode.
• Special Effect Failure:
  • The 3D animation (particularly on Kirby, Dedede, and Escargoon) hasn't aged too well and is fairly obvious when it switches between regular animation to CGI. Almost jarring in some cases since the 3D models look so stilted and clashes heavily against the other regular animated characters. Many wonder why they didn't just animate the three normally or, at the least, leave the CGI to the fight scenes.
  • Dyna Blade, in her first three episodes, is hit harder by this than the other characters due to her model in those episodes looking dated for early 2000's standards, as well as the fact that it uses normal shading instead of celshading. This makes her stick out like a sore thumb when grouped together with other characters◊. Her appearances from "The Empty Nest Mess" onward gives her an updated model that makes her blend in a lot more, thus avoiding this trope.
• Squick: "Tooned Out" has Biggy, Boney, and Sleepy, the Otakings. Their designs are already unflattering exaggerations of otakus, but their actions in the episode are even more disgusting, with them stalking Tiff to record out-of-context audio from her, and even taking pictures of her while she's sleeping. Their movie is just as uncomfortable, with Tiff being drawn to be an adult with big boobs, and the out-of-context audio being used to make Tiff sound like The Tease. Tiff herself is wildly discomforted by this, as expected. Ironically, this is a case where the Bowdlerization is an improvement, as the Otakings' movie is edited to be less perverted.
• Stoic Woobie: Meta Knight. The backstory that's gradually revealed to us in the series is quite sad from his perspective. Nearly all of his friends are dead as a result of the previous war with Nightmare's monsters, had to kill one of those friends himself and watch another sacrifice her life for him, and the only remnants of his old life as a warrior are an old man who's been stranded on an island for years (Kit Cosmos), two children that want to kill him as they blame him for their parents' deaths (Knuckle Joe and Sirica), Sword and Blade, and a baby warrior that can barely speak, let alone fight without an Ability handy (Kirby). Wow. And yet, he remains stoic during the whole series, training Kirby to become a better warrior.
• Strawman Has a Point: Despite what Tuff wants to believe, episode 10 is one of the few episodes where King Dedede's actions are entirely justified. While attempting to fire the police chief just because he was responsible for a car crash may seem like Disproportionate Retribution since nobody appeared to be hurt, he was still sleeping on the job while directing traffic, and the cars themselves were dented pretty badly. One of the headlights are missing on the mayor's car, and Escargoon presumably had to repair a lot of damages on Dedede's tank. Plus, what if there were people who were hurt in that crash? It's highly doubtful that the Cappies were willing to take that chance, since not too many of them looked happy with the chief when they caught him sleeping on the job (especially the mayor, his presumed best friend). Of course, as soon as Dedede continued to want to fire the chief even after he tried to save Tuff's life, then almost blew everyone up with his tank, all bets are off.
• Subbing Versus Dubbing:
  • The 4Kids dub has a divisive reputation; some find its script and voice acting gloriously hammy (especially from the likes of Dedede, Escargoon, Meta Knight and the NME Salesguy) to the point where it's actually funnier and more enjoyable than the perhaps more "flavorless" original, while others find that the translation choices make the show too hard to take seriously (albeit, for a show that at its core is already very goofy/"Saturday Morning Cartoon") and dislike the moderate dose of Bowdlerization that 4Kids gave the show. In the end, your preference probably depends on how much you want to take an anime based on the Kirby games seriously.
  • Many siding with the subbed version tend to point out that the original anime was designed with a Western audience in mind, with several allusions to Western culture or humour ironically getting lost in the dub. Also, as with most 4Kids dubs, the entire soundtrack is replaced, while the original edit would have music that would later be recycled in Kirby Air Ride and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.
  • While some appreciate the Japanese version of the first intro song for its cuteness, being befitting of Kirby's overall personality and just being plain happy, there are many who cite the dub version as superior for being energetic, cool and a very catchy tune (compared to other theme songs 4Kids produced). That said, many lament that the Dub only had one vocal song, while the original version had four in the shape of two Opening and Ending sequence songs.
• Suspiciously Similar Song:
  • Professor Curio's Leitmotif in the 4Kids dub sounds like Pomp and Circumstance. Somewhat fitting in that he's a historical figure.
  • The second Japanese opening for the series sounds oddly similar to the opening for Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, with certain portions of both songs sounding oddly alike and the two sharing identical musical structures.
  • The second ending sounds like the opening to The Muppet Show.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: While there wasn't a previous adaptation in anime format to this franchise, many of the changes this adaptation did from the source material don't sit well with fans of the games themselves:
  • While Kirby himself wasn't shown talking in dialogue of any of the games before it, the implication he could talk wasn't very deniable considering pause screens spoke in first person sometimes, or him being able to talk on past Mangas or spin-off games (Kirby's Avalanche and the Japan exclusive Kirby's Super Star Stacker, both for the SNES). Right Back at Ya! mostly sticking with Pokémon Speak and having a passive role closer to a baby compared to a more independent hero hasn't sit well with most fans that weren't introduced via this series.
  • The show's setting takes a more down to earth approach on its locales compared to the source games, lacking many of the landmarks or artstyle the games' imaginative backgrounds in favor of more generic looking forests and grasslands.
  • This show's Dream Land sticking with only Cappies for its inhabitants hasn't sit well with fans, as previous games mostly implied that Dream Land's grasslands were populated by more native species, like Bronto Burts, Poppy Brothers, Waddle Dees, Scarfys, Gordos, Tacs or others omitted. With Waddle Dees being stuck serving only under Dedede's Castle with non-speaking roles, the constant presence of Cappies as the only citizens of this land has been criticized for paralleling too much with a Human-Focused Adaptation, just trading Earth's species for an alien one. The fact most of the games' monsters are usually introduced only in the shape of a fantastical foreign monster meant to break the status quo of the Cappies doesn't help the implications of this alien planet's species being thrown out in favor of human parallels.
  • While previous games rarely gave an insight to any of the characters' normal lives (as they usually only took action while there was a villain causing conflict in Pop Star), this show's choice of sticking mostly with mundane conflicts with the promise of a larger villain looming above instead of more active arcs has been contested by many. Considering the show usually takes place only on Dream Land's grasslands compared to the source games that explore more imaginative locations, many feel this anime's smaller sense of scope wasn't the best possible adaptation of the games' feel. While the Grand Finale of the show makes on its promise to let the cast travel to a far off place to defeat the villain, it's a bit too late considering many of the previous 95 episodes usually didn't bother trying to fill in a story arc.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Yamikage, the ninja who betrayed the Galaxy Soldier Army from the episode "Ninja Binge," vows to return and rechallenge Kirby and Meta Knight. The attention Yamikage gives to Meta Knight implies he has a personal grudge against him. Sadly, he never appears after that episode, and whatever past he had with Meta Knight is soon forgotten. The worst part is that "Ninja Binge" was episode 24, so Yamikage had plenty of time to come back compared to most other examples of this trope in the series.
  • After years of Meta Knight thinking he was the Last of His Kind, the series finale reveals that not only are there still surviving Star Warriors, but a small pocket of elite soldiers that all resemble his and Kirby's species. They only appear in person^*They first appear as figures in chocolate eggs as a Red Herring implying they're dead. in the series finale.
  • Demon King Dedede. The Demon Frog is said to amplify malicious thoughts by a million fold, and since Kirby had no malicious thoughts, all the frog could make him do is wreak havoc on the village. Once Dedede gets hold of it, however, he turns into a buff, monstrous figure that could have potentially been one of Nightmare Enterprises' strongest monsters (or biggest problems) thanks to his petty antics over the course of the series... had Dedede not ordered the Heavy Anaconda as backup. Thanks to that, both plans contradict one another, the Demon Frog is eaten, and Dedede ends up in the belly of the beast.
  • Certain characters in the games have become fan-favorites and their omission from the series was lamented, since fans would've loved to see them animated. Special mention goes to Marx, who became one of the most iconic and beloved characters in the series, and whose omisson was contributed to the series being mostly based on Kirby's Adventure and therefore having the less favored Nightmare be the main antagonist in the series. Many wish the show spent its episode run on more villain arcs instead of just sticking with Nightmare, as even by the years this anime began production (around 2000), the series had a big enough Rogues Gallery to dedicate more villains to. Another special mention goes to Dark Matter, who showed up on the pilot but wasn't given any stories as the show ended right after Nightmare's defeat.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • In episode 8, with the reveal of the Monster of the Week the (fake) ancient relic of Dedede becoming a giant statue of mass destruction. This would have been perfect if the relic's true form was revealed to be Wham-Bam Rock, another giant destructive monster designed as an ancient relic. Could also double as They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character.
  • In episode 14, everyone in Cappy Town was given pillows by Dedede supposedly in an act of good will, but in Tiff's words, "they make you dream about Kirby, and they hypnotize you somehow and make you want to get rid of him." However, beyond just going to his house, none of the affected victims have ever taken any action against Kirby before the rest of the good guys woke them up. What's more, Tiff was the first seen to fall under the pillows' spell... but she quickly wakes up on her own within seconds, presumably because she loves Kirby too much. Imagine the emotional response that all of Kirby's friends setting off to destroy him would convey. It's especially egregious in the 4Kids dub, where Tiff was talking about destroying Kirby in a trance right before the commercial break, leaving the audience in suspense and thinking "Oh no, is she gonna kill the little puffball she loves?". But then, once it cuts back to the show, she's back to normal pretty much instantly. If it's any consolation, "eNeMeE Elementary" has the Teacher Creature hat accidentally fall on Tiff, causing her to attack Kirby for a little bit before Tuff knocks it back off of her.
  • Similarly in Episode 6, Dedede brainwashes the Cappies into attacking Kirby, but it barely lasts a minute before Tiff easily distracts them and they go back to obediently sitting in front of the TV. What's more, Tokkori and Tiff's family were unaffected for no explained reason (save for Tuff briefly agreeing that Kirby needs to go, but he didn't act like he was under hypnosis).
  • Episode 39 has Kirby becoming an Un-person after he makes the stupid decision of inhaling Erasem. This could have been a compelling twist, but the episode was already spent helping Escargoon and thus it's resolved quickly via Erasem having a sudden Hazy-Feel Turn.
  • King Dedede and Tuff actually have more in common than one might think. Episodes 32 and 81 show how terrible their dental and trash habits are (respectively), and generally just how childish they can act, making you wonder why Dedede never pulls a We Can Rule Together with Tuff.
  • There's also the mystery behind Meta Knight's history with Kirby. He obviously knows a lot about Kirby, but it's never expanded upon.
  • There are some fans who felt the main antagonists of the show should've been Dark Matter and/or Zero instead of Nightmare. This mainly comes from the fact that Dark Matter is seen as the more prevalent threat in the Kirby games than Nightmare, especially considering the former were the main antagonists of the previous 3 games that came out before this anime, while the latter has only appeared in one game.
  • The lore on Star Warriors in general is also a topic of interest to some, but like the above, it's swept under the rug and barely explained in favor of more inconsequential filler episodes.
  • Episode 3 states that Nightmare created a monster who wouldn't obey him. It's implied this is either Kirby or Meta Knight, but the series never elaborates on it.
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • While the series' bevy of pop culture references mostly focus on older media with long-lasting cultural presences, a number of other elements readily date the series to the first half of the 2000s. Among other things, the English and Japanese versions feature references to the Nintendo GameCube, Fear Factor, Everybody Loves Raymond, Tiger Woods, Hamtaro, and Harry Potter (the latter of which forms the basis of an entire episode), all of which were at the peak of their popularity at the time.
  • Another aspect which seriously results in the cartoon showing its age is due to Canon Marches On.
    • Dedede is portrayed as a clearly villainous jerk whose Pet the Dog moments are few and far between, unlike all later games which showed his relationship with Kirby drastically improving, with their opposition permanently becoming a Friendly Rivalry by Kirbys Return To Dreamland in 2011.
    • The Halberd's design is clearly inspired by the ship's introductory appearance in Kirby Super Star, rather than its revamped design in Kirby Super Star Ultra and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, only two years later, which recoloured the pink elements to dark purple, made the underside much less bulbous, and made the wings much larger.
    • The use of Nightmare as the Big Bad is almost funny in hindsight; it was clearly meant to tie in on the then-recent remake of Kirby's Adventure, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, but Nightmare was just a Villain of the Week (in fact, he's one of the only major antagonists to never return outside of non-canon cameos), while the closest thing to an overarching villain in the franchise is Dark Matter, who only appeared as a cameo in the show's pilot, and numerous antagonists far more monstrous and powerful than Nightmare (who received a massive power-up and became far nastier in the anime) have been introduced since, making Nightmare seem quaint by comparison.
    • The use of a Waddle Doo as a leader of the Waddle Dees and Canon Foreigner Escargoon as his second-in-command instead of Bandana Dee also dates the series to before Super Star Ultra, when he was re-introduced as Dedede's Number Two and became a main reoccurring character alongside Kirby, Meta Knight, and Dedede by Return to Dreamland. Later games also established Waddle Dees can talk perfectly well, while they're completely silent in the show.
• Values Dissonance: The infamous episode 89 with the Tiff/Fumu anime scene was a Take That! to anime and otakus that sexualized minors. This is something that (thankfully) doesn't happen in western animation, where this scene was perceived more as an example of the called out issue than the parody it was intended as; leading to the scene to be heavily edited in the 4Kids dub to remove any overly sexual shots and the context was change to them making her a Dumb Blonde in the dub instead. Not helping matters is the small Misaimed Fandom this scene ended up causing, meaning this episode's efforts fell on deaf ears. One line in the same episode that got lost in all the controversy was Fumu offhandedly remarking about cheating on her diet. This joke would've never flown in America, especially not nowadays when people are far more critical of diets and diet culture being targeted at young girls.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Say what you will about the animation parts, but any time the show used 3D animation (typically on Kirby), the style was very smooth and well animated.
• Woolseyism:
  • Due to the nature of the show as an anime that was actually made for kids, the dub is often considered one of 4Kids's better dubs, possibly even their best depending on who you ask. There are some that even argue it's better than the original Japanese, which they view as a lot more boring and generic (disregarding the fact the subbers had a fondness for Spicing Up the Subtitles), while the extra goofiness in the dub helps to make it more fun and enjoyable. Overall, it seems whether or not you'll favor the sub or the dub depends on how seriously you really want to take an anime based on the Kirby franchise, a series that's mostly lighthearted to begin with. See Subbing Versus Dubbing above.
  • While 4Kids Entertainment dubs are always controversial, many agree that giving Dedede a thick southern accent was an absolutely wonderous decision.
  • Likewise, Eric Stuart's take on Meta Knight is also fondly regarded. Especially when he says something silly like "Look, it is Fire Dedede, our hero!"
  • In the English dub, Blade Knight speaks in a heavy Scottish accent that sounds borderline incomprehensible. The Italian dub originally made him speak in gibberish noises where only the names of the other characters are comprehensible, then in the second half of the series (that was voiced years after the first one) he was instead made into a Motor Mouth, keeping the "hard to comprehend" point but allowing the viewers to actually get what he's saying.
  • One of the better received changes 4Kids made was the decision to change the palette of Dedede's tank from a rather generic military camouflage palette in the original to a bright orange palette with Dedede's symbol slapped onto it, due to it better fitting the setting and being much more in character for Dedede.
  • One of the more welcome changes includes a lasersaw replacing the ordinary chainsaw from the original. Not only does it look awesome, it could realistically chop trees down faster than a regular chainsaw, and doesn't even look out of place in this universe.
  • Some of the name changes may be controversial, but admit it - Wolfwrath is a cooler name for a monster than Chilidog.
  • There's also the corn monster named Cobgoblin. Even detractors have to admit, that's a pretty good name.
  • The English dub renaming "Holy NightMare Co." to "NightMare Enterprises" (or "NME" for short) is widely well-received, since it keeps the basic gist while sounding more natural in English and adding a layer of wordplay. Changing Nightmare himself to eNeMeE is a more controversial change due to clashing with the games, but some fans who prefer the name Nightmare still refer to his company as NME.
  • In The Fat Episode, Customer Service sends Macho-san, an apparent fitness trainer, to help King Dedede lose weight through Training from Hell. Dedede assures Macho-san that he will be paid if he helps him slim down, while Fumu berates the king for turning to outside help instead of fixing the situation he got into himself. It isn't looked down on in the West to hire a professional trainer to help you get in shape, so in the English dub, King Dedede is instead weirded out by Max Flexer and refuses to work out with him, and Tiff insists on him doing so, saying that the only way to reduce his size is through diet and exercise.

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