Kazuyuki Kurashima, monster designer and character supervisor of the 1996 release of Super Mario RPG, created this short manga strip for the December 2017 issue of Dengeki Nintendo magazine. This was shortly after the release of the SNES Classic.

Support the Artist

Kazuyuki Kurashima sells an ebook of his art on Amazon Japan, よりぬき倉屋 vol. 1, for only ¥500: https://amazon.co.jp/dp/B07N7QL9G2/

He also sells merchandise featuring his art style: https://suzuri.jp/kurashimakaz

See his pinned tweet for more: https://twitter.com/kurashimakaz/status/1110892663086080000

This issue of Dengeki Nintendo is now out of print and can no longer be purchased directly from the publisher.

This issue of Dengeki Nintendo is now out of print and can no longer be purchased directly from the publisher.

Here is a photo of the manga strip alongside an English translation by Philhouse.

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Header: A laid-back comic about video games and raising kids. (This one's about the Super NES Classic!)

Intro Panel: Kuranindo Vol. 3 by Kazuyuki Kurashima

Panel 1: Super NES Classic Edition Includes 21 titles! (Whoooa!!) (I wanna play!)

Panel 2: And... Papa's point of pride to his daughter today is: Super Mario RPG! (SFX: Boing) (Your dad made this one long ago.) (Cool!)

Panel 3: (It’s me.*) ****King Koopa joins your team in Mario RPG y'know. (Whaaat?!) (*Translator’s note: In Japanese it says "Wagahai wa," likely as a nod to SMRPG being the origin of wagahai as Bowser's first-person pronoun.)

Panel 4: I thought up a bunch of original characters too, but had to pick only a few.… Like Geno. (Huh…)

Panel 5: Nintendo was known for action games and Square for RPGs, and this was their first time teaming up. So I got really into it. (Look here.) (Check out how many project notes I wrote.)

Panel 6: There was a game called Donkey Kong Country with pre-rendered graphics that looked very nice, so I wanted to use those. (They're 3D!)

Panel 7: But your ol' dad couldn't figure out 3D modeling at all. So I cheated by making it 2D that looked like 3D. (This is impossible...!)

Panel 8: I loved Nintendo games, so I put a bunch of Easter eggs in the game. (Samus in bed) (OMOROID*) (8-bit Mario) (Arwing on the armoire) (*Translator’s note: In the Japanese version of SMRPG, Samus makes a reference to a Metroid commercial, "Metroid Omoroid" which has elsewhere been translated as "Metroid Funroid.”

Panel 9: And it had a timed button-press system in battle. Good timing increased the damage! That was a fun idea. (Boooing!)

Panel 10: There were a lot of tough times, but looking back, they're all great memories. (Those were the days.)

Panel 11: ...Wait, hey! You weren't even listening?! (Busy playing Pokken) The End

Footer: Kazuyuki Kurashima - "Super Mario RPG" Monster Designs, "moon Remix RPG Adventure" Character Designs, "Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland" Character Designs, "Dandy Dungeon - Legend of Brave Yamada" Character Designs and Pixel Art, etc. Also handed out flyers at BitSummit 2017 for the upcoming title, "Million Onion Hotel" (Android & iOS).