Shinya Kumazaki Shinya Kumazaki in 2023 Details Born May 21, 1979 Role(s) General Director & Designer Employer(s) HAL Laboratory Notable works ManyKirby games, starting withKirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

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Shinya Kumazaki (熊崎信也Kumazaki Shinya, born May 21, 1979) is a Japanese video game designer, graphic designer, and chief director forHAL Laboratory. He began working as a designer onKirby Air Ride (including work on course design), then onKirby: Canvas Curse (specifically handling the story andfinal boss).^[1][2] Subsequently, he served as director onKirby Super Star Ultra for the first time. He is currently managing the development of the entireKirby series as General Director sinceKirby: Planet Robobot, a position previously held byMasahiro Sakurai.

List of works[edit]

Games[edit]

• Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land - Communication Debug^[1][2]
• Kirby Air Ride - Design
• Kirby: Canvas Curse - Design
• Kirby Super Star Ultra - Director
• Kirby's Return to Dream Land - Director
• Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition - Director (withTatsuya Kamiyama)
• Kirby: Triple Deluxe - Director
• Kirby Fighters Deluxe - Director
• Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe - Director
• Kirby and the Rainbow Curse - Special Thanks
• Kirby: Planet Robobot - General Director
• Team Kirby Clash Deluxe - General Director
• Kirby's Blowout Blast - General Director
• Kirby Battle Royale - General Director
• Kirby Star Allies - General Director
• Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn - Character Supervisor
• Super Kirby Clash - General Director, lyrics of "Green Tree Memories from Kirby"
• Kirby Fighters 2 - General Director
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land - General Director, lyrics of "Welcome to the New World!"
• Kirby's Dream Buffet - General Director
• Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe - General Director
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World - General Director, lyrics of "TWINKLING STAR SHOWERS" and "Last Song (Incomplete) - NEICHEL's Unfinished Track"
• Kirby Air Riders - Supervisor

Shinya Kumazaki is also the current voice ofKing Dedede (and his variants) sinceKirby Super Star Ultra, as well as one ofMike Kirby's voice clips andVoid Termina (Phase 4, withHirokazu Ando,Yuuta Ogasawara, andYumi Todo).^[3]

Other[edit]

• Kirby Wii Music Selection - Liner notes
• Kirby: Triple Deluxe Soundtrack - Liner notes
• Kirby Memorial Arrangements - Lyrics ("Take off!", "Eternal Dream")
• Kirby: Planet Robobot Original Soundtrack - Liner notes
• The Sound of Kirby Café - Sound Director
• Kirby Star Allies: The Original Soundtrack - Commentary
• Kirby Star Allies: The Original Art Book - Commentary
• The Sound of Kirby Café 2 - General Director, commentary
• Kirby: Lor Starcutter and a Magician of Falsehood - Commentary
• Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival - Special Guest and Vocals for "King Dedede Medley"

Trivia[edit]

• Like many staff members ofHAL Laboratory, Shinya Kumazaki signs with the initials of his romanized name (his being S.K.).
• Shinya Kumazaki once had a female pet cat called Tom (now deceased) whose voice was sampled forStar Dream andNago (for theCleaning ability inKirby Star Allies). He currently has a male pet cat called Sora-kun, whose voice was sampled forClawroline.^[4]
• Shinya Kumazaki has a personal art gallery where he has illustrated someKirby characters, includingDrawcia andTaranza. The gallery can be viewedhere.
  • He was one of the Box Comic draft artists inBYE-BYE BOXBOY! andBOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!, and appears to have drawn some of theCelebration Pictures inKirby Star Allies.

Gallery[edit]

• 
  Shinya Kumazaki with theKirby: Planet Robobot team in 2016
• 
  Shinya Kumazaki in 2018
• 
  Shinya Kumazaki with a selection ofHAL Laboratory staff fromKirby and the Forgotten Land andKirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe

References

External Links[edit]

• Shinya Kumazaki's blog
• Shinya Kumazaki's Instagram
• Shinya Kumazaki's Bluesky

• Staff