Hoshi no Kaabii ("Kirby of the Stars", which is the Kirby game series' official Japanese name) is a 100-episode anime series starring Nintendo's popular pink puff-ball. The game series is designed to be incredibly simple, with the goal of being easy for beginners to pick up and enjoy. This doesn't mean the games don't include plenty of challenge for experienced players, because trust me, they do, but the anime decides to keep things simple and target the young children that the series appeals to so well. Since the games have very little lore or story, creative liberties were taken by the show's production staff in order to create a world in which to tell these children's stories, so what you get is a new universe that's heavily inspired by the lore of the games, yet still manages to feel unique and separate. Older fans of the series may find this slightly disappointing, but that's to be expected from a show that isn't directed at that older audience.
The main issue with the anime is that it doesn't contain much in terms of story or character development. It's a "monster-of-the-week"-type anime where, similar to a sitcom, characters don't change from episode-to-episode (apart from the show's beginning and ending, which are definitely heavier on story). The good guys and bad guys both go through trouble and learn morals as they go, but while the good guys learn from it, the slapstick baddies always ignore the lessons and go back to being their regular selves, which makes the show feel pointless. That's not to say that's a bad thing, though. For its intended audience, the show is perfect. It's light-hearted, funny, has action scenes in each episode, and best of all, has top-notch animation that stay consistent throughout the entirety of the 100-episode series, although it's a little disappointing that character models switch from 2D to 3D animation from time-to-time. I assume they do it for simple convenience, which is why it seems so random, but for an anime released in 2001, the 3D implementation is actually fairly impressive, so it's forgivable in my eyes. All in all, its a show that's definitely worthy of that Nintendo Seal of Quality! The only question is, will older viewers be as entertained as those that the series was intended for? In my honest opinion, even middle schoolers won't find anything of much interest in the show. While I'm not saying its a bad watch, I'm saying that there's far more worthy shows out there that you could be watching instead. Don't waste your time with this one unless you're watching the tube with someone who's the right age for it.
Of course, I can't end the review without mentioning the Western edit of the show, handled by 4Kids Entertainment, named "Kirby: Right Back At Ya!". Since the show was originally meant for such a young audience, 4Kids was never able to popularize the series in the West among 7-12 years olds, which was the usual demographic for cartoons of the sort. Surprisingly enough, however, all 100 episodes still aired on TV, although it's quite difficult to find them all now, since only a handful were ever released on video, and Nintendo, the current distributor of the series' following 4Kids' bankruptcy, hasn't seen fit to permanently re-release the anime in any physical or digital form (although they had done temporary re-releases of certain episodes in the past through various Wii/3DS applications). That being said, the Western adaption is quite similar to the Japanese original, despite the usual edits made to all of 4Kids' dubs. I really like the authenticity of the Japanese original, which promotes the series' excellent production values and also features music identical to the Kirby Air Ride video game of the day, which I thought was an awesome touch. Despite that, I also enjoyed many of the changes made to the English version: the voices and personas applied to Dedede and Escargoon (the series' main "baddies", of sorts) are a lot more fun, adding to their slapstick charm, and to top it all off, it has one of the most fun cartoon theme songs of all-time. This is great news for English viewers, because let's be honest: your kindergarten-aged kids probably aren't going to want to read subtitles.
The score below is written with the older audience in mind, since they're the ones reading the review. In my books, it's a must-watch if in the 90's, worth watching if in the 80's, casually enjoyable if in the 70's, and not a complete write-off if in the 60's. With a 60/100, I'd say that the show definitely isn't for you, but it may be great for your kids or siblings.