Ask Guru Gobbo #12

1) The angelic and holy symbolism is a frequent trend in Japan. Since they aren't a Christian founded society, angels, halos, and feathered wings are just cool motifs instead of the ultimate in righteousness. Just look at Evangelion. The entire foundation of that anime is angels on the attack. Back to 02, I won't even touch upon the possible underlying meaning of the ultimate force of darkness containing a white and "holy" being that is actually even more sinister. That sure is some deep stuff for such a cute and innocent seeming series.

2) I answer them because, for the most part, it is fun. I mean, not long ago there was a question regarding Kirby's tone deafness. I didn't know if it was ever established that the pudge was lactose intolerant or what not, so, hey, that seemed like a valid question. They pull a lot of junk off in the animated series that I am largely unaware of and that involve Kirby's eating habits. The change of preference from tomato to watermelon opens the door for all sorts of possibilities about Kirby's appetite.

3) Done and done. Rawr! I wish I got to use this more often. I mean, I could use it more often, but then I'd feel like I was publicly scolding individuals who were just curious. Unless, that is, they ask something really, really stupid.

PA) That's Post Answer, I guess. I was not aware of the Crystal Shards cheese chuckin' fridge. Thanks for the info. See, folks? Even when I drop the ball, helpful readers are their to catch it.

1) I became a guru, actually, against my will. I was content having my question/answer sessions separate from the others. Ask the Kirby Gurus was supposed to be for the elite and esteemed Kirby trivia masters. However, there was a search feature implemented to scan all questions and responses which worked easier if the two were united under the same flag. I was uneasy at first, but then I got around to reading an old Gurus session. I never read them since, well, I'm doing my own sessions now, right? Most of it was already known to me. So, after reading a few, no problem was had slipping my name into the roster at all.

2) In truth, I have never played the first Mega Man game. From what I understand, it is just an inferior version of the second with Guts Man's lift power. Kirby, on the other hand, has a unique and individual first game since it is the only one without copy abilities. The entire layout of the game is designed different, and the Extra Game adds quite the challenge. I would have to go with Kirby, as if that choice wasn't going to be obvious from the start.

Back for more already? Well, In truth, I plan on doing as many as I can. I guess I'll stop when I either no longer receive questions or a replacement takes my spot. I haven't abandoned any of my other duties here yet, no matter how slow the flow gets. And, lemme tell ya, that is barely a trickle. I'm looking at you, Frontpage Picture Challenge! It sure will be interesting to see what happens if I hit triple digit sessions, however. I only set up the naming convention to hold two!

That blob? You mean Gooey. He's the lovable pal of Kirby despite only helping him once and being made of pure evil.

1) Gooey is blue rather than black since he is good, I would take it. Plus, the navy contrasts with Kirby's own pink color scheme. It's very complimentary. Those of you with artistic backgrounds know what I'm talking about, right? Anyone? Color theory? ... Of course not.

2) The blob of dark matter story line can be found in the instruction manual for Dream Land 3. It's pretty much tagged to Gooey wherever he appears, which, really, is just about in that title. The mangas, I'm sure, lend to this fact some. I can't read them, tho', so I'd have to check. The game manual was enough for me, though.

3) Despite being made of dark matter, Gooey is good at heart and became friends with Kirby. Since Kirby is trying to save Dream Land, Gooey goes along to help his bestest buddy. Granted, it's a pretty rushed and poorly explained scenario, but chiefly a second player was needed for Dream Land 3. Since Gooey was already established (sorta) back in Dream Land 2 and was globular, the game makers just went with him. He's simple, round, and fits right in with the over all feel of 3.

Wow. Well put.

I have to agree with you. The two series do share some pretty out there themes. Kirby stars a cute, pink puff battling tyrannical oppression, greed, and a dominating, galactic force. Mother has a rag-tag band of kids who are psychokinetically empowered that fight against the evil intentions of the universal destroyer. Both games have simple, cheerful graphics despite the over all game content. Kirby consumes foes whole. Ness cracks heads with his baseball bat. None of these should be in a children's game, but there it is. Both manage to pull off a bit darker of a plot while still carrying that unique charm that makes them special. It's this same appeal that probably has the other series stand out more when compared to different game titles outside of this imaginary circle.

As for the Starmen.net/Rainbow Resort junction, there is an easy line to draw connecting the two, and it's named Zopher.com. This was a ROM/Emulator site that hosted the two gaming giants at some point in time, back when both were just testing the waters and taking control. They may have had ties before this, but there's no blatantly stated record of such. You'd have to get confirmation of that from the mouth of someone there at the time. Since the two sites grew up together, it's like a kid-next-door sorta thing. They stayed friends even as they grew up and move apart. Also, if you look at the "Special Thanks" area at Starmen.net, one name sticks out in particular: Kindar Spirit, this site's founder. The Thanks list is not an easy one to get placed on. You have to be not officially staff and have contributed greatly to the site. Now, since I didn't really hang around either community back then, I don't really know what her contributions were, but before her idle grandeur, Kindar was a video game website force of reckoning. Being that prolific of a character, I'm sure our rainbow queen had no problem ferrying folks between the two sites.

The Smash Bros. character choices makes sense, I would guess. When you compare the line up, who matches one another? The good Captain and Link sure stand apart from the puff ball, and Mario Mario, while dwarfed and cartoony, doesn't fit the extent of exaggeration seen by the Mother boys. Plus, what shows at character selection? A cropped in square of their face? Look at Kirby's and Ness' image: big round thing, beady eyes. Without knowing there's a body there, they do look more alike than any of the other profiles. That's gotta count for something when choosing a player. I wish I could say something about how the characters handled in game play and possibly link some of that to the cause, but, well, I've never played Brawl, and it's been years since I played any Smash Bros. at all.

Additionally, while I can't claim that the website mega-alliance is solely responsible for uniting all Mother/Kirby hybrid fanatics, I sure know it's not hurting. Despite being wholly different types of games (platformer versus role playing), the first impression of either is probably about the same. A lot of references to stars, a lot of crazy enemies, and irresistible graphics. With the gap between the two series already not being that long of a trip, having those two titans shilling for one another just sets up a bridge to make it easier.

Actually, that was The Adventures of Lolo. Previous to his Kirby cameo, there were only duplicate syllables instead of the triple. This was probably changed not only to distinguish the borrowed character between series but also since the game had a trend for triplicate: Popopo, Pupupu, and Dedede.

And Lolo and Lala are just that, borrowed characters. I recognized it from the first time I saw the second stage's title in Dream Land. My suspicions became certain once I laid eyes upon them. Lolo and Lala are originally from the Eggerland series of games, with Lolo generally questing to save his dame, Lala. This was another HAL Laboratories property, and HAL does so love to have crossovers and guest appearances by other characters outside of their own titles.

Lolo and Lala may have been the first, but there were no wear near the last cameo appearances. Chao, a small girl from Yuuyuuki, appeared rarely from an Animal Friend sack if you already had that particular helper in Dream Land 2, but this was changed to Blob in the American version since bagging small girls is, apparently, frowned upon in the States. What's that say about you, Japan? As revenge for this, she appeared yet again in Dream Land 3 as a holder of a Heart Star. She'd only give it if you found her monkey.

As stated on that li'l page you trekked through before getting here, "all of your question can be directed to the Guru on call, your Uncle Gobbo. Games, animation, manga, site info, theories, or opinions are all open for questioning." There's actually been a question or two about things of or about the site already, ranging from the the deal with Project R.A.I.N.B.O.W. to who the site founder was. Even questions about these very Q&A sessions themselves have been dealt with multiple times. There's not much I won't take a crack at answering, so long as it has something to do with Kirby, related characters, properties, merchandising, websites, theories, opinions, or sheep. I am not that picky.

It's true, the game doesn't know what it is talking about. Insects haven't been considered birds since Ye Bestiaries of Olde. Nothing is more hilarious than seeing a bee grouped with an eagle. Oh, Middle Ages, thou art jesters through the ages. Burt is, if anything, a grumpy butterfly-like being. I don't know why they wrote "bird", but it's not the first time a game has had a typo in it. (Bimmy and Jimmy, anyone?)

The Kirby series does have a lacking of insect enemies, true. I would chalk that one up to the fact that most arthropods are far to spindly and complex to be dwarfed down to a rounded ball. After all, they'd all start to look the same. Bugzzy gets the bonus of being larger and able to show off more detail, but you can't make all bugs be bosses. That'd be too constricting to their roles.

That really is about all the insects I could think, although I'm not too sure if I'd count Como. That's basically Japanese for spider, and I don't think number of appendages really has much bearing for this categorizing. Bugzzy nor Burt have three pairs of legs to fit the bill. Maybe, on Pop Star, they all work with one less set? Then Como would be tossed back with Mariel to hang with the arachnids. Meanwhile, Coner, Peezer, Kany, and Heavy Lobster (maybe?) would chill with the crustaceans. I might be forgetting some of the newer arthropod adversaries. I haven't written up any enemy lists for those titles.

This question has a follow up to it in Session #14.

This question has a related answer in Session #15.

Cake? A lie? Find out why in Session #21.

I think we all saw this one coming? RAWR!

Explanation is never really a strong point in most video games, let alone Kirby. Why does King Koopa always nab the Princess? What does living planet Abbadox want with your lady? Why does King Dedede set up puzzling scenarios for Kirby to go through, including pinball, a golf course, star stacking, blob piling, and break out?

Grill, for those of you who do not know, and why should you with the obscurity of this never States side, secret at that, final boss, is an onion witch. Additionally, KiraKira Kids is basically a super Star Stacker.

As for why Grill appears, that's one of those great, big blanks. She doesn't give much of a reason outside of testing Kirby's strength. Since she only appears if you best every previous challenger on the first try and since her conical hat sports a Star Block on the tip, much like those stacked in the game's play, I'd take it that she is a master Star Stacker. Kirby obviously displayed tremendous skill, and she must see how he stacks up to the best. Again, these non-platformer Kirby games have little to nil plot driven reasoning behind them. She's just looking for a challenge.

The end scene pictures may not seem to make much sense to you, but that's a typical course of action in Japan's eyes. Spend all day hard at work and then head to the bar for some sake and relaxation. There's lots of occasions where drinking is replaced in imported media to either hot sauce or "bubbly soda". People drink, a lot of times to relax. It's not really out of character. Kine may be putting off going home to his wife, Mine (I'm not makin' that up, either). Rick could be having troubles with his gal, Pick. Coo? Well, he's a bachelor. What reason does he need? And Kirby, he- wait, is he even old enough to drink? Most games slate him as a boy. Hm...

Well, I wouldn't read too much into it. After all, one of those nutty pictures from Star Stacker has the crew blasting through space. Speaking of older scenes, this actually isn't the first time they've all been shown in a bar. Dream Land 2's Sound Test features a shot of them all sitting around with drink. Of course, they just look sleepy as opposed to intoxicated.