American Kirby Is Hardcore: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Kirby_Air_Ride_2_1379.jpg|link=Kirby|right]]

 

{{quote|''Being happy is sometimes rather pleasant, really. Japanese developers understand this mysterious truth, but while they keep trying to export their eternally sunny characters to us, we just keep transforming them into gloomy, moody tough guys.''|"[http://www.gamesradar.com/f/why-japanese-box-art-is-better/a-20080729123833874037 Why Japanese Boxart is Better]," Games Radar}}

 

For whatever reason, when a Japanese game is released Stateside, there's a tendency to make the boxart -- or even the character models -- a little more ''hardcore''. Maybe it's as simple as adding [[Angry Eyebrows]], or maybe the character's model is completely redone. This is often done to characters who are supposed to be cute in the first place. Sometimes it goes the other way, too: an American character may be made cuter for the Japanese release.

 

 

Essentially the opposite of [[Bowdlerise|Bowdlerising]] and a subtrope of [[Cultural Translation]]. It's also [[Tropes Are Not Bad|not always a bad thing, mind you]]; if the game itself isn't particularly cutesy poo, then giving it cute box art is just weird. On the other hand, if you're thinking about buying a game whose main character is [[Kirby|an adorable pink puffball]] [[Sugar Bowl|surrounded by sparkles and rainbows]], then whether or not he's smiling on the cover honestly shouldn't be a deal-breaker.

 

== Video Game Examples ==

=== Action-Adventure Games ===