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AKA: Hoshi no Kirby, Kirby of the Stars
Genre: Video game adventure
Length: Television series, 100 episodes, 23 minutes each
Distributor: R1 DVD from FUNimation, licensed by 4Kids, televised by Fox
Content Rating: Y7 officially - should be 4-6 though (nothing objectionable)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended: Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog, other video-game mascot cartoons
Notes: Based on the Nintendo video game series.
Rating:

Kirby: Right Back At Ya!

Synopsis

Pink, fluffy, cute Kirby comes from the stars to save the world from various villains by inhaling their powers and giving them a dose of their own medicine while going on various misadventures with two little kids.


Review

More pandering kiddy fluff from the Fox Box.

It's very confusing. I'm not sure what the Fox Box is trying to attempt with its weird blend of shows. On one hand, you have action-oriented shows for older kids like Stargate, Ultraman, and Ultimate Muscle. On the other hand, you get patronizing drivel like Fighting Foodons and this.

Kirby is so out of place in the Fox Box because it's a toddler show. It's for little little kids. We're talking Blue's Clues...our to six year olds. Anyone older than that will have little patience for Kirby, and the average age of the Fox Box is over seven. Kirby would be much better in a different time slot, though it's still not good as a children's show.

Like most cartoons based off Nintendo games, it's slow-placed, cutesy, with lots of slapstick humor. But it's dumb, even mind-numbing. Even my nieces, who are in the prime age group for this, had a hard time sitting through it.

The animation for Kirby is very weird, switching randomly between 2D cel style and 3D computer coloring...it's like they don't know which style to animate it in, so just mash it all together and hope the audience is too young to notice. The music is rinky-dink piano straight out of the video game, and it's not annoying or good or anything. It's just there.

While the characters aren't insulting, they aren't interesting or original either. You have the stock princess character, the stock sidekick character, and two little bubble-fairy companions who tag along. But while everything revolves around Kirby, Kirby itself has no personality. He just sits there saying his name over and over again, and eats. You wonder why on Earth the king wants to have Kirby so bad when he doesn't actually do anything unless you send monsters after him. He's not a hero so much as a plot device. The only reason Kirby exists in this show is so the creators can call it "Kirby"...the show only needs him at the very end when it's time to defeat the Monster of the Week. Otherwise, it's just cute, brainless misadventures with the kids. Yippee.

The children's market is overcrowded with stupid shows like this, and just because it's Japanese doesn't make it any better. There's no sense of continuity, creativity, or humor to be found here. The old Super Mario Brothers cartoon was much better. Overall, Kirby is more watchable than Fighting Foodons, but that still doesn't make it a good show.

A twenty-minute video game advertisement that is out of place on the Fox Box. — Christi

Recommended Audience: According to the television, it's for seven and up, but anyone older than seven would probably be bored by it. Harmless and charmless.



Version(s) Viewed: Broadcast airing, English dub
Review Status: Partial (6/100)
Kirby: Right Back At Ya! © 2001 Nintendo / HAL Laboratory
 
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