The Nintendo Mangaverse is WILD

Kirby

Despite the fact that the final boss of Kirby and the Forgotten Land was so terrifying that my kids swore off Kirby seemingly forever, they were overjoyed to find out that Kirby had several mangas. So like with Splatoon, I got a bunch for them.

At first, you’d think that these books starring Nintendo and HAL Laboratory’s pink puffball of cuteness would be adorable little adventures. At first, glance that’s what they seem like. Kirby goes about his day looking for food and just living his best life. He sleeps, he eats, he floats about. All seems right. Then you realize what kind of best life he’s got going.

For one, Kirby engages in some stuff you don’t really see in the games. For example, Kirby has a favorite drink and it’s called “Loopy Juice”. Loopy Juice is just straight-up alcohol. Kirby will drink until he barely has control of his motor functions and will cause enough nonsense to blame on the juice that it would make Lizzo blush.

And if you’re wondering why in the games you constantly fight King Dedede despite him not actually being a villain (and in some cases actually trying to help) well, that’s because Kirby straight-up sucks.

King Dedede is an actual king. And he’s not that bad of one. His primary focus is to make sure that all the Kirby characters that live in his land are well fed, have fun things to do, and a decent place to live. He’s a little greedy sometimes but you wouldn’t know because everyone in his kingdom lives great lives.

And then Kirby comes along. Kirby, much like Mickey in Steamboat Willie, is an absolute disaster. He will not only ruin most plans Dedede comes up with but he’ll do so in a way that not only causes major damage to the town (that he does not fix despite always promising to) but also by beating the living hell out of King Dedede. Kirby is a terrible scumbag in the manga.

So these are just three of the ones in the Nintendo Mangaverse that are wildly different, do you know of more? What do you think of these sides to some of Nintendo’s most popular franchises you might not have known about. Let me know in the comments.