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Shinya Kumazaki

Shinya Kumazaki

Shinya Kumazaki (熊崎 信也) is a Japanese video game concept designer, an employee at HAL Laboratory, and a creative force behind Nintendo's Kirby series, being the current director of the franchise.

General Information[]

Shinya Kumazaki was born in 1979 in the Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Since he was young, Kumazaki had been playing video games and aimed to work on them. Graduating from the Kanazawa College of Art with a degree in visual design, he was hired by HAL Laboratory in 2002, starting his work on the Kirby series as a communication debugger in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and later as a designer in Kirby Air Ride.[1]

After Kirby series creator Masahiro Sakurai had left HAL Laboratory, there was no one left to create the world and the story of Kirby: Canvas Curse, as well as for the series itself. Believing that the Kirby series would cease to continue if no one stepped up, Kumazaki began working on Kirby: Canvas Curse, contributing to the story and designing the direction of the final boss, Drawcia/Drawcia Soul, aiming to eventually become director of the series itself.[1] The first Kirby game he would direct after becoming director is Kirby Super Star Ultra, released in 2008.

As director, Kumazaki is responsible for creating the stories of the games, writing dialogue and text. In terms of story, Kumazaki considers the climaxes of Kirby games to be very important, with most games directed by him starting off light before escalating in intensity and stakes near the end. This is largely due to inspiration from Kirby's Adventure. After playing Kirby's Dream Land, Kumazaki initially thought that the Kirby series was only meant for young children. However, while playing Kirby's Adventure, he was taken aback by the end of the game, in which the plot twist where King Dedede was actually trying to stop a bigger evil, as well as Nightmare himself, had him surprised in comparison to the seemingly simple story at the beginning.[1] Notably, Kumazaki is seemingly a fan of eldritch horror, creating many artworks of such on his website. This may also bear an influence on the direction of the stories he creates for the Kirby series.

Kumazaki considers "devices, maps, and tough boss battles" to be the essential components of quality action games.[2] His favorite main series and spin-off Kirby games are Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Air Ride, respectively.[3][4]

Additionally, Kumazaki has done voice work for the series. He has voiced King Dedede and related characters in various games, as well as Void Termina in Kirby Star Allies.

Credits[]

Director[]

General Director[]

Design[]

Special Thanks[]

Character Supervisor[]

Original Game Supervisors: HAL Laboratory, Inc.[]

Voice Acting[]

  • King Dedede
    • Kirby Super Star Ultra
    • Kirby's Return to Dream Land
    • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition
    • Kirby: Triple Deluxe
    • Kirby Fighters Deluxe
    • Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe
    • Kirby's Blowout Blast
    • Kirby Battle Royale
    • Kirby Star Allies
    • Kirby Fighters 2
    • Kirby and the Forgotten Land
  • Shadow Dedede
    • Kirby: Triple Deluxe
  • Mini Dedede
    • Kirby Fighters Deluxe — pitch modified
  • Combo Dedede
    • Kirby Fighters Deluxe — pitch modified
  • Dark Crafter
    • Kirby and the Rainbow Curse — uncredited, voice clip modified
  • Dedede Clone
    • Kirby: Planet Robobot — pitch modified as character splits
  • King D-Mind
    • Team Kirby Clash Deluxe
    • Super Kirby Clash
  • Parallel Dedede
    • Kirby Star Allies
  • Void Termina
    • Kirby Star Allies
  • Phantom Dedede
    • Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Trivia[]

Kumazaki Mii

Kumazaki's Mii on Miiverse

  • Satoshi Ishida, an employee at HAL Laboratory, posted and updated Behind the Scenes Miiverse communities on behalf of Kumazaki, specifically for the Kirby's Nintendo 3DS games.[22] Both developers would converse back and forth on some occasions, such as for the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon event.[23]
  • Kumazaki owned a pet cat named Tom. He recorded its voice and spliced the sound into Star Dream and Star Dream Soul OS's screech in Kirby: Planet Robobot, making it sound more feline-like.[24]
    • Kumazaki later announced Tom's passing at 2017.
  • Kumazaki's favorite Kirby character is Mr. Floaty.

Gallery[]

External Links[]


References[]

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