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Hunger Struck
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Hunger Struck is the 92nd episode of theKirby: Right Back at Ya! series. In this episode, after learning how expensive it is to feed theWaddle Dees,King Dedede attempts to short-change them by hiringChef Kawasaki to make "thin-wiches" for them to eat instead. This ends up backfiring when the starving Waddle Dees revolt and hold Dedede hostage. To save himself, he orders a chefmonster fromNight Mare Enterprises namedFryclops who earns the loyalty of the Waddle Dees and then uses them to harassKirby. To fight back, Kirby gains theCookCopy Ability and uses it to feed the Waddle Dees something healthier, which pacifies them. Kirby is then free to duel Fryclops and defeat him, returning things to normal in the process.
Characters[edit]
The following characters appear in this episode:
| Cast of "Hunger Struck" | |
|---|---|
| Character | Selected quote |
| Primary characters | |
| "Pooyooyoo!" | |
| "The King's so stingy, he put us on a starvation diet! Now, our stomachs cry out for vengeance!" | |
| "Great! I'm sure I can cook up a winning bid! I already make food that costs next-to-nothing, and it tastes like it, too!" | |
| (no dialogue) | |
| "If it's fit for a king, how come I ain't gettin' any?!" | |
| "So! All you Waddle Dees are hungry, eh? Here! Let's start with stir-fry dumplings!" | |
| Secondary characters | |
| *unintelligible* | |
| "We can also make grilled lamb-chops, and they'll only cost you twelve d-bills!" | |
| (no dialogue) | |
| "Huh, huh?! Baby string beans, spring rolls with asparagus tips, black truffle risotto, and a deluxe sushi platter?! SIRE!" | |
| (Fololo)"Hey, watch it!" (Falala)"Knock it off!" | |
| "Let's put in a bid together!" | |
| "We are experts at making meals economically!" | |
| "-Money!" | |
| "Why the handcuff links?" | |
| "You mean this uprising is over food?" | |
| *laughs*"Isn't this ironic? You guys got cheesy with the Waddle Dees' food and now those little meatballs have you quivering like jelly!" | |
| "Waddle Doo? What's this about?!" | |
| "Like beef rolls and veggies for fourteen d-bills!" | |
| "The rest of you run!" | |
| "You can't make a good meal for that money!" | |
| "Whoever wins will make food for the Waddle Dees!" | |
| "There are so many Waddle Dees working for the King, whoever gets the job will get rich! I'll try!" | |
Locations[edit]
Plot synopsis[edit]
The episode begins inCastle Dedede, whereEscargoon takes a peek at theWaddle Dees having dinner in the dining hall. He catchesKirby mooching on a meal, but soon notices that the dinner the Waddle Dees are having is much more gourmet fare than what he andKing Dedede are used to. He runs off and immediately informs the cup-ramen-slurping King how much better his servants are eating than him, which makes him extremely upset. Escargoon is forced to stop King Dedede from causing a scene in front of his soldiers, and succeeds when King Dedede starts to wonder how Waddle Dees eat anyway. They take a look at one of the guards to try and find out and offer him a cookie, which the Waddle Dee proceeds to absorb through his mouthless face, much to the observers' horror. King Dedede then wonders how much it costs to feed his soldiers, and after several hours of calculations, Escargoon comes up with 98,800,000 d-bills per meal, which is comparable to the average price of one ofNight Mare Enterprises'monsters. To help reduce costs, King Dedede and Escargoon put out a want ad onChannel DDD to try and hire someone who will cook for cheap. This gets the attention of severalCappies, who are interested in making money by cooking for the Waddle Dees.
Soon,Tuff tellsTiff about the situation and they spy on the proceedings along with Kirby. The three bidding teams try to one-up each-other with progressively cheaper meals, until raw greed takes overChef Kawasaki and he proposes his translucent "thin-wich" for just one D-Bill per serving. Seeing the thin-wich, all the other contestants along with the eavesdroppers become offended at him and head out in a huff, leaving the Chef to reap the inevitable consequences of his cheapskate tactics. The next day, when he serves the Waddle Dees his thin-wiches, they all look visibly upset.Captain Waddle Doo heads to King Dedede and warns him that if he does not feed the Waddle Dees properly, they will go on strike, but Dedede brushes him off. As time goes on, the Waddle Dees begin to slouch and slack on their duties as they start to go hungry. Once they head to the cafeteria and get another serving of thin-wich, they decide they have had enough and turn on Chef Kawasaki. Later on, they also turn on the other members of court and become generally hostile, capturing and locking up everyone they can get their hands on.
While Tiff and her friends get to safety, King Dedede and Escargoon are surrounded by their formerly loyal soldiers and forced to cower in the throne room. At that moment, theN.M.E. Sales Guy tunes in and chides the King for his stinginess. He then offers them a solution by sending the cookingmonsterFryclops. Fryclops proceeds to shower the Waddle Dees with stir-fry dumplings, and Captain Waddle Doo thanks the chef, asking what he wants in return. Fryclops responds by telling them to attack Kirby, and they oblige, forcing Kirby and his friends to make a run for it. They use a secret passage in the castle whileMeta Knight and his apprentices fend off the Waddle Dees, but Kirby and the kids only end up in the mess hall, where a trial is being held to falsely convictSir Ebrum andLady Like for starving the Waddle Dees. They go along with this due to being controlled by Fryclops' cooking, and Kirby tries toinhale some hostile Waddle Dees, but cannot copy them, so he ends up spitting them back out. As Fryclops continues to butter up the Waddle Dees with his food, Tiff and Tuff get an idea to turn the Waddle Dees to their favor by having Kirby feed them instead, so Kirby inhales Chef Kawasaki's frying pan to gain theCookCopy Ability.
From there, Cook Kirby and Fryclops proceed to try and one-up each-other by preparing dishes for the Waddle Dees. Soon, the observers see that the Waddle Dees are starting to get big and fat off the excess food they are being given. To rectify this, Kirby causes the giant food to vanish and instead gives the Waddle Dees servings of the healthier dishes they are used to having. With the Waddle Dees summarily taken care of, Fryclops resorts to attacking Kirby directly using his wok. He manages to get a first hit on Kirby by scorching his rear in oil, but Kirby retaliates by dunking Fryclops' head in that same oil. They then make one last strike, but Cook Kirby prevails, deep-frying Fryclops and destroying him. King Dedede and Escargoon celebrate Kirby's victory, since they are relieved that the Waddle Dees are back to normal. The episode ends as Tiff tells King Dedede he better keep to serving them good food to avoid this happening again.
Differences between versions[edit]
- In the Japanese version, an arrangement of theKirby Dance jingle plays at the start of the episode.
- In the Japanese version, an arrangement of the intro theme forGourmet Race plays whenFryclops is feeding the Waddle Dees in the mess hall.
Dialogue differences[edit]
- In the Japanese version, the Waddle Dees make vocalizations when they are being fed.
- In the Japanese version, the meal thatEscargoon sees the Waddle Dees eating is described differently, and has an additional item: wasabi leaves with fig tempura.
- In the Japanese version, when Escargoon is trying to stop King Dedede from barging in to the Waddle Dees' mess hall, he sings a song about how the food they are eating is too refined for Dedede's palate.
- In the Japanese version, King Dedede explains that he initially hired the Waddle Dees because he thought they would not need to eat since they had no mouths.
- In the Japanese version, King Dedede needs to be told what a "bid" means during his advertisement on Channel DDD.
- In the Japanese version, Tuggle surmises that there are "tens of thousands" of Waddle Dees in the castle. It is unclear if he is exaggerating or not, as other counts usually result in around two thousand. However, King Dedede later states the figure "tens of thousands" as well.
- In the Japanese version, several of the bids and prices are different. Notably, Chef Kawasaki's sandwiches cost only one deden, which - if deden and d-bills are equivalent to Yen and U.S. Dollars respectively - makes the sandwiches more than a hundred times cheaper than in the English version.
- After winning the auction and leaving the room, Kawasaki says he is not happy in the Japanese version, while the English dub has him ask if his bid was too low.
- In the Japanese version, when King Dedede and Escargoon are being chased by the Waddle Dees, Escargoon says (translated) "This is a revolt! No...it's a revolution!" This may be a reference to the famous line offered toKing Louis XVI of France when theBastille was stormed in 1789.
- In the Japanese version, Kirby shouts "KIRBY STEAK!!" when conjuring the giant steak for the Waddle Dees. He later shouts "KIRBY VEGETARIAN CUISINE!!" when conjuring the healthy dishes.
Trivia[edit]
- This episode marks the first time that Kirby has attempted to inhale the Waddle Dees.
- This episode marks the first time thatHana andButtercup have appeared in an episode, but their husbands did not.
- When the episode originally aired in Japan, the ending scene was cut out by a breaking news report about an earthquake that struck the country around that time. A re-run of the episode aired uncut later in the same month.[1]
Gallery[edit]
The Waddle Dees settle down for dinner.
Escargoon notes the delectable food the Waddle Dees are having.
Escargoon informs King Dedede how much better his subjects are eating than him.
Escargoon stops King Dedede from barging in to his Waddle Dees' mess hall.
Escargoon and King Dedede find out how Waddle Dees eat.
Escargoon calculates the cost of each of the Waddle Dees' meals.
Tuggle takes note of King Dedede's want ad.
The Cappy homemakers propose their dishes to King Dedede and Escargoon.
Chef Kawasaki slips into pure greed mode.
Chef Kawasaki wins the bid by proposing one d-bill meals.
Chef Kawasaki sets the Waddle Dees on their starvation diet.
Waddle Doo warns King Dedede and Escargoon that they are not meeting their end of the deal to the Waddle Dees.
The Waddle Dees turn on Chef Kawasaki after another day of thin-wiches.
The Waddle Dees begin indiscriminately attacking the Castle Dedede residents.
Waddle Doo raises the Waddle Dee standard in the courtyard.
King Dedede and Escargoon are menaced by their mutinous soldiers.
Fryclops steps in to mollify the Waddle Dees.
Fryclops orders his grateful Waddle Dees to attack Kirby.
Meta Knight and his solders defend the secret tunnel Kirby and his friends used to escape.
King Dedede hosts a kangaroo trial against Sir Ebrum and Lady Like.
Kirby spits out the Waddle Dees, unable to copy an ability from them.
Fryclops threatens Kirby by asserting his control over the Waddle Dees.
Fryclops feeds gyoza dumplings to the Waddle Dees.
Cook Kirby conjures a giant steak for the Waddle Dees.
Fryclops counters by conjuring a giant turkey.
The Waddle Dees start to become obese from the unhealthy food.
Cook Kirby conjures healthy dishes for the Waddle Dees, returning them to their old diet.
Fryclops dunks Kirby into his sizzling wok to attack him.
The final shot of the episode
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ワドルディの食文化大革命 Wadoru Di no Shokubunka Dai Kakumei | Waddle Dees' Great Food Cultural Revolution The title is a clear reference to theCultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China, a sociocultural movement known to some Chinese as the "ten years of chaos". |
| Italian | Un mostro in cucina | A monster in the kitchen |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Briga dos Famintos | Fight of the Hungry Ones |
