Kirby Talks

Kirby Manga Mania doesn’t waste any time shattering any preconceived notions we may harbor about Nintendo’s pink mascot. We find our titular rotund boi sleeping in the clouds before waking up to the smell of food from King Dedede’s picnic down below. Kirby reacts with his new manga catchphrase, “pee-poh,” before descending upon the masses and making a break for their food.

“Yay, let me join too!” he shouts.

Huh? Did Kirby just display a command over the English language? Hikawa you madlad, what have you done?

Regardless of how limiting it would make crafting short stories around him, you might expect a Kirby manga to maintain the character’s propensity for baby talk, which has been a staple of his characterization throughout the games. The revelation that the pink puff can not only speak, but regularly partakes in conversation takes a lot of getting used to. I’m haunted by all these words he should have never spoken, but the speech is just the first of several unsettling choices Hikawa makes.