Island Sisters
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| “ | We are the Island Sisters from the South Seas. | ” | — Island Sisters, in Caterpillar Thriller |
The Island Sisters are a pair of tiny twin fairies from Kirby: Right Back at Ya! who live with Mosugaba on the Embrya Island in the South Seas. They have a peculiar bond with the giant monster Mosugaba, and have the power to both summon and calm the giant insect using their singing. To take advantage of this, the Island Sisters are kidnapped by Night Mare Enterprises and forced to call Mosugaba to Dream Land for King Dedede. After causing a stir in the kingdom, Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby reunite the sisters with Mosugaba and they return to their island in peace.
The Island Sisters are based on the Shobijin from the film Mothra.
Characteristics
The Island Sisters are two tiny twin girls with sparkling eyes and tan skin. They wear a rough two-piece outfit and have long light-blue hair with blossoms on their heads, as well as orange hoop earrings. Their anatomy is similar to Tiff's, as they have defined arms and hands, but only two stubby green Kirby-like feet and no legs.
The Island Sisters either speak in unison or finish each-others' sentences, and only desire to live in peace on Embrya Island with Mosugaba. They have the ability to both summon and calm Mosugaba using their singing, which can be heard by the creature from extreme distances.
Mosugaba's song
In the Japanese version, the song that the Twin Nuts sing to Mosugaba has very peculiar lyrics. It is based upon "Mothra's Song", but unlike the original it is not in garbled Indonesian. On the contrary, the lyrics are substantially in coherent Japanese, as follows:
モスガバーや モスガバー
Mosugabā ya Mosugabā
Mosugaba, oh, Mosugaba
大きいけれど 堂天任
ōkīkeredo dō ten'nin
Even though you are large, Do-ten-nin
支社は 神田のビル
shisha wa Kanda no biru
Regional office in a building in Kanda
小っちゃいな 山梨県 ＨＡＬは
chicchaina Yamanashi ken haru wa
Tiny little Yamanashi Prefecture's HAL, there
食いもんに 困るよ
kuimon ni komaru yo
Grub is quite a predicament
モスガバーや モスガバー
Mosugabā ya Mosugabā
Mosugaba, oh, Mosugaba
モスガバーや モスガバーや！
Mosugabā ya Mosugabā ya!
Mosugaba, oh, Mosugaba, oh!
堂天任 (dō ten'nin) is a simple inversion of Nintendo, while the subsequent lines reference HAL Laboratory's corporate headquarters in Kanda, Tokyo (although the present-day headquarters is in a different location within Kanda), and the development center in Yamanashi often pictured in modern Kirby games. At the time of Caterpillar Thriller's Japanese airing in March 2003, HAL Laboratory actually had a third office: a development center in the Nintendo Tokyo Prefecture Building in Nihonbashi, one of Nintendo's numerous corporate buildings. A corporate restructuring later that year forced this development center to consolidate and move into the Kanda building.[1] It is unclear whether the lines about largeness and grub being a predicament are in reference to Mosugaba's characteristics or in reference to Nintendo and HAL.
In the Japanese version, three different arrangements in instrumental form play as Mosugaba turns into a butterfly, attacks Kirby (which reappears as "Evade and Dig and Dash" in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse), and after it's calmed by the Island Sisters' singing, respectively.
The song reappears in instrumental form in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, as "More Dig and Dash". Instrumental arrangements of the same song also appear in Kirby Mass Attack, as "Desert Scorcher" and "Lifted Upward," respectively.
Role in Caterpillar Thriller
- Main article: Caterpillar Thriller
In Caterpillar Thriller, the Island Sisters are kidnapped from their home on Embrya Island by Night Mare Enterprises. From there, they are sent through the Monster Delivery System in a cage to Castle Dedede, and King Dedede commands them to summon their guardian monster to Dream Land using their singing.
Later on, while Mosugaba is antagonizing Kirby, Escargoon decides he has had enough allergies and gives Tiff the key to the Island Sisters' cage. After being freed, the Island Sisters sing to calm Mosugaba down, ending the conflict. Kirby then delivers the Island Sisters to Mosugaba, and they fly home.
Trivia
- The light pattern in the Island Sisters' eyes is a reference to the symbol used to summon Mothra in the film Mothra.
- The Island Sisters later cameo as posters in the episode Tooned Out.
Gallery
The Island Sisters trapped in a cage by Night Mare Enterprises
Kirby returning the Island Sisters to Mosugaba
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ザ・ツインナッツ Za Tsuin Nattsu |
The Twin Nuts This name is based on the music duo The Peanuts, who play Mothra's twin fairies in the film Mothra. |
References
- ↑ A company profile from N-Sider details this restructuring. The move evidently caused significant confusion for reporters at the INSIDE website, who reported on the news in a pair of bulletins on the 17th and 18th of August. The consolidation is also evident in comparing Wayback Machine snapshots of HAL Laboratory's corporate info page from August 2003 (when the Tokyo center was at the Nihonbashi building) and from December 2003 (when the Tokyo center was at the building in Kanda, at the same address as the corporate headquarters).
