Here's the afterword
SatLW - Afterword
Commentary by Kumazaki Shinya
Afterword by author Takase Mie and illustrators Karino Tau and Poto
Commentary by Kumazaki Shinya
Thank you very much for reading "Kirby of the Stars: The Lor Starcutter and the Lying Wizard." I'm the Kirby series General Director, Kumazaki.
It's now been 10 years since the release of the game that formed the base of this story, "Kirby's Return to Dream Land," one of the many works that we here at HAL Laboratories feel quite strongly about. I read this book as an editorial supervisor regarding things like the settei, but I always find myself enjoying it as a reader too, thanks to Takase-sensei's talent in embellishing those little moments that can't be captured within the game itself.
And this time, the story begins with a prologue that touches upon the real truth of the tale being told. The game hides this information from you, treating Magolor only as a wayfairer from afar who, despite having his suspicious sides, makes you feel like you want to help him out.
In this prologue, depicting Magolor's first encounter with the Lor Starcutter, you get to see that his tale of having excavated it is in fact one of Magolor's truths tucked in amongst the lies.
There's still many mysteries regarding the promised land, "Halcandra," but some depiction of its glory days and the nightmare of its destruction were able to be captured here as well in this heart-pounding prologue.
In a game, you have many restrictions on what you can convey when you take gameplay and pacing into consideration, so many of these elements are portrayed, not in explicit detail, but as scattered puzzle pieces that fuel the imagination.
It was quiet a surprise then, that so many of these pieces from this old story were able to be strung together so well in this prologue.
Magolor is an unusual character in the Kirby series for the amount of dialogue he has. While he has several scenes here, I want to highlight Magolor's particular way of talking, that is, mixing in Katakana where their wouldn't normally be that we call "Magolorese." And while it has its own unusual rules, we were able to maintain readability while also keeping Magolor's characterful style intact. This is one of the things in particular that I check for, especially in these novels that use one of the games as their base.
For example, there was a novel based on "Super Kirby Clash" and another based on "Super Kirby Fighters 2." The main directors of both of those games and their opinions became the focus in discussion with myself and the other staff as we read through those novels.
The more novelizations we go through together, the less disagreements we have on the work, finding ourselves in sync on it as early as when we receive the rough outline, as if we are writing them alongside Takase-sensei.
And as new proposals come about through our discussions with sensei, we feel as if we are learning more about the works themselves, which gives us an interesting opportunity to look at the games all over again.
While reading the climactic fight in this novel, I found the battle theme, "CROWNED" playing vividly in the back of my mind. The sound of the anvil going clang, clang in my head. The further on I read, the further on the song progressed, until it hit its peak at the same time everyone unleashed their finishing moves. It continued like this through Magolor's defeat, all the way to the music that plays through the ending where they part ways. I believe that many readers who had the experience of playing through "Kirby's Return to Dream Land" must have experienced a similar situation while reading it.
Just like how "Last Battle" (*bonus track on the "Kirby Wii Music Selection" album) captures the cooperation of Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede and Bandanna Waddle Dee in the titular battle, as well as the Super Abilities, when you finish the novel, it will hopefully give you a feeling of having finally cleared the game and reached the ending after many stages filled with adventure.
However, thinking about those who have played the game first, there's a quandary there as to how much new expression of the work will be accepted in a media tie-in work like this. And I don't have a complete answer to that yet. But I do think that Takase-sensei's novel adaptations function as one possible answer to that question. That is thanks to the unique characteristics of a novel, a true advantage in this situation that allowed this work to come about.
And I must compliment the work of illustrators Karino Tau-sensei and Karino Poto-sensei, who draw such Kirby and the others with more expression than even the games allow, bringing various scenes to life in a way the games cannot. The movements of Kirby, Magolor, and others, and their fight, is surely playing out vividly in the readers's imaginations.
The subtle balance of what should be left up to the players imagination within the story, especially for games where play control is vital, is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. But in a novel, where the story is the focus, the story-telling quality of the text can make the story that much deeper, leading to the birth of a new "Kirby's Return to Dream Land."
(*Note, this is talking about how this adaptation is giving its own spin on RtDL, not hinting about the remake. Though I'd be so bold as to say the part where he mentions the interesting opportunity to look at the games all over again MIGHT have been a hint about the remake.)
That is why Kirby and the others talk in the novels. Something brought about thanks to the existence of previous novels and also various comics. If we had to decide on something like, say, King Dedede's particular style of speech, or Meta Knight's exact personality within the strict confines of the game series' settei, there would be many things making that a difficult decision to nail down. And if that were to happen, there would be less opportunity for the various works and authors behind them to give this world their own shine and spin on it.
That ideal, encourage greater works, is part of the reason we occasionally allow and even welcome works that might differ greatly from the settei of the games. If we cannot bring out the best traits of that medium from it, then it might not end up producing the best possible work featuring Kirby.
Speaking of, there's a scene with Magolor in this novel I'm very fond of. It's when he and the group arrive in Halcandra and suddenly get attacked by Landia. Once more, Kirby and the group fall for Magolor's scheming. Magolor's "acting" is both cunning and delightful. It's so very Magolor-like. Unlike the case with the prologue, there's visuals from the game for this scene, but there's no dialogue or even subtitles, just whats on screen and the bgm. We made it this way so that people from many countries and a variety of languages could all enjoy the same version of the scene. Now here, in the novel, Magolor doesn't go straight to saying "Help me." He covers his hands with his face and starts to cry. Then he says, "And they damaged the Lor too... I only... Ugh... I just...!" It's just so sly of him. Magolor gets Kirby to be the one to offer assistance, just as he planned it. This is a scene where you can see that amidst Kirby's carefree, easygoing personality, he has a strong sense of justice as well. Of course, it's that sense of justice that causes him and the party to be taken in. I wonder what the Lor, who is able to understand the hearts of others, was thinking as this scene was playing out?Meanwhile, the cool and analytical Meta Knight continues to watch Magolor with doubt. Everyone's personalities were captured quite precisely.
There's also that moment when Meta Knight questions Magolor quite harshly when he Magolor slips up in mentioning Kirby's copy abilities. There is the fact that Magolor had heard about Kirby before coming to Pop Star, but also, while he was supposed to be working on the ship, he was actually observing Kirby and the others from far away via the ship's monitors. Just one of many background elements and character traits the novel is able to bring to the surface.
"Kirby of the Stars: The Lor Starcutter and the Lying Wizard" is made up of exactly these kinds of new scenes. A new work that captures the characters more expressively than the game and provides additional scenes the game wasn't able to show. The game is over 10 years old now, so there may be those out there who haven't had a chance to play it. If reading these novels makes people interested in those works, I would be very grateful. And I would be especially happy if the novel and what it does well, and the games and the experiences they capture bring about even more Kirby fans.[/COLOR]
Afterword by Takase Mie
Thank you so much for always supporting "Kirby of the Stars." I've been writing Kirby novelizations under the Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko label so far, but this time, in celebration of Kirby's 30th Anniversary, this was published as a solo book. "Kirby's Return to Dream Land" was used as the base for this story. Magolor, a key character in the story, is very adorable with a unique way of talking, but once you find out his true personality, he's quite frightening indeed... That and other things makes him a very impactful character. And it was fun to write him, though he is a difficult character to write as well.
Thinking back on it, it's been over nine years since I started writing the Kirby novel series. In the beginning, I was constantly struggling to find my way. "Can Kirby talk?" "How does King Dedede sound?" There was so much on my mind.
Through much trial and error, I was able to make the world of novel Kirby into what it is today. I want to thank HAL Laboratory for making such wonderful games and also giving me advice on how to novelize them, as well as the amazing illustrators Karino Tau-sensei and Karino Poto-sensei, and everyone who read this book. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I want to continue writing more Kirby novels for everyone to enjoy. Your support as I do is appreciated!
Afterword by Karino Tau & Poto
When we played "Kirby's Return to Dream Land" Poto played as Kirby and Tau played as King Dedede! This novel had scenes that weren't shown in the game, something very exciting for both of us as we worked on the insert illustrations. Kirby turns 30 this year. We're looking forward to more new Kirby adventures!