Super Mario Manga Mania

Super Mario Manga Mania is an English-translated collection of stories by Yukio Sawada from the long-running manga series Super Mario-kun released on December 8, 2020 and contains 160 pages. Previously, the manga series is Japan exclusive and has been translated to both French and Spanish. The selections in the volume include single chapters (called "stages") from other volumes based on various games including Paper Mario, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Super Paper Mario, Super Mario Galaxy, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. There is also an additional story entitled "Super Mari-Old", which has an age discretion for younger readers as it deals with a deeply personal loss Sawada went through.

Throughout the manga, there are additional comments by the artist Yukio Sawada. In the preface, page 6, Sawada discovers that 119 instances of poop and 77 instances of fart feature in the first 52 volumes across 686 chapters, which he has actually expected to be higher. He admits to being more selective about the amounts of vulgar humor for this volume, though crude humor is still prevalent.

Summary
"Super Mario Manga Mania features stories that were handpicked especially for you by the manga's creator, Yukio Sawada. Some selections will make you laugh, some might make you cry, and all are the greatest hits from the long-running manga series known as Super Mario-kun in Japan.'"

Stage 1: Counting on you, Sushie!
This chapter, from a volume that features Paper Mario, begins with Kammy Koopa and Bowser being uncomfortable with the high temperatures. Bowser requests something cool, and Kammy gives him trading cards, which Bowser likes but demands cold food. Bowser also cannot even use his Star Rod since it is overheated. Kammy serves Bowser ice cream, shaved ice, and chilled watermelon. The chapter then focuses on Mario, Goombario, and Kooper traveling in Mt. Lavalava on Lavalava Island to rescue Misstar. Sushie is a partner they recruited from Yoshi Village. The group complains about the high temperature, and Kooper quips about his lost appetite while Sushie, well-fed, agrees that she's losing weight. The group's progress is blocked by a stream of lava. Goombario points to a pile of blocks for Mario to use to cross, but Mario uses Kooper's body to cross, causing Kooper to yell at him. Mario then complains about thirst, and Sushie gives him a drink. Kooper asks for a drink, which Sushie agrees, but Mario notices that she spits her water out. Mario, disgusted, asks where Sushie asks her water, which she replies that she has a "personal stash", and disgusts Mario more by demonstrating that the water comes out her rear end. Mario, however, shortly feels vitalized and runs off, and Sushie adds that her beverage is actually an energy drink.

Mario gets chased by a Spiny Tromp. Kooper attempts to stop the Spiny Tromp by kicking at it with his hind legs, leading Mario to remark that Kooper is behaving like a dung beetle. Kooper, however, cannot sustain for long and gets run over. Mario pleads for Sushie to help and tells her to stop snacking, and she destroys the Spiny Tromp with a water squirt.

Eventually, the group meet Lava Piranha. Sushie tells the group they can rescue Misstar once they beat the Lava Piranha. Goombario recommends and uses a Snowman, which is later to reveal Kooper inside and the attack is ineffective (Goombario says, "Welp. That didn't work..."). Lava Piranha retaliates by spitting burning Nipper Plants and forcing Mario, Goombario, and Kooper to do a fire dance, prompting them to plead to Sushie for help. Sushie encases them in a Water Block. Sushie then uses Squirt and Belly Flop to hit Lava Piranha. Mario, impressed with her, unwittingly walks out the Water Block to compliment her. Sushie gets distracted, telling Mario to remain in the block and she gets burnt. Mario, sobbing, laments that Sushie, who just saved him, is now "all broiled and actually tasty looking!"

Lava Piranha, telling Mario and his friends that Sushie is down, must now retire. Mario takes this literally, saying with relief that it beats working. Sushie, at her last resort, transfers water to Mario through mouth-to-mouth and fills Mario with water. She launches him to Lava Piranha, and he releases his water, defeating Lava Piranha and releasing Misstar. Misstar gives Sushie, who is deflated from her last attack, a healing smooch and restores Sushie but makes her even larger. In the last panel of the chapter, Bowser appears to be suffering from too much cold food.

A personal comment from Sawada states that Luigi and Yoshi are Mario's most frequent friends but he introduces some temporary replacements depending on the game's story including but not limited to Goombario and Kooper; Red Bob-omb (from Super Mario 64), baby Yoshis (from Yoshi's Story), F.L.U.D.D. (from Super Mario Sunshine, Goombella and Koops (from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door); Baby Mario and Baby Luigi (from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time); and more. He states he enjoys writing them and feels bittersweet when Mario says goodbye to his friends in the last chapters.

Stage 2: The Super-Sad Red Coin Tale
In this chapter, while trying to remove goop spread around a town, Mario encounters a Strollin' Stu who is spreading paint with a paintbrush. The Strollin' Stu falls over, and F.L.U.D.D. notices that something is wrong. He then explains, after being sprayed with water, that his sister is sick, that he is tired and has no vacation days, that his job is to cover the town in paint, that he has not recently hit his job quota, that his sister and himself are "done for at this rate", and that Mario can cure his sister's illness by collecting eight Red Coins. Mario initially leaves him; despite F.L.U.D.D.'s crying, however, the Strollin' Stu mentions that his sister won a beauty contest, interesting Mario. During this part of the chapter, he ends his sentences with -Stu (i:e "Mario, it's in your hands-Stu").

Mario starts collecting the Red Coins, with the help of F.L.U.D.D. He also collects a fake Red Coin. The forth Red Coin is too high up, so Mario switches to F.L.U.D.D. Rocket Nozzle (after F.L.U.D.D. transforms to the Racket Nozzle and a chicken-like nozzle, annoying Mario) to collect the Red Coin. While collecting the fifth, sixth, and seventh Red Coin Mario manages to damage himself, being brought down to four slices of health. Mario notices that the last Red Coin is across a rope. However, on the rope there is a Wire Trap. Mario is electrocuted several times by the Wire Trap; including when he tried to jump over it, resulting in the Wire Trap also jumping up. Two Piantas notice Mario, and they tell him to go back to cleaning. Mario explains to them, and a third Pianta of what he is doing and why. He gets electrocuted more, and the Piantas call him dumb for helping an enemy. They then decide that it is not dumb and that they have to help him. They jump onto the Wire Trap, getting themselves electrocuted, and Mario manages to collect the last Red Coin. Mario gives the Strollin' Stu the Red Coins, and, speaking normally, he informs Mario that his sister's illness was a lie. His sister, covered in makeup wearing bows on her head, congratulates her brother. Mario is surprised that she won a beauty contest. He reveals that his plan was to have Mario get himself hurt while gathering the Red Coins, allowing him to defeat Mario, while using the Red Coins collected to "rise up in the rankings". Mario informs him that the Red Coins he gave him were actually tomato slices. He then uses the real Red Coins to heal himself. He then punches the Strollin' Stu. The three Piantas walk up to Mario; angered that Mario tricked them and that they got electrocuted for nothing, they beat Mario up. A Pokey and two Piranha Plants come up to Mario to tell them that their family member is ill; Mario informs them that that trick will no longer work.

A personal comment from Sawada in this chapter states that it was hard for him to select just a couple of chapters for the compilation. He stated that a Baby Yoshi story was one of his favorite, but that he could not include it in the book due to a lack of space. He then mentions that the chapter where Mario does not appear are some of his favorites; he listed Stage 7 of volume 27 and Special Stage 1 of volume 29 of examples of this. He also mentions Stage 10 of volume 40, which has a focus on Bowser and the Goombas. He finally states that he would like to include these chapters in future compilations. The comment is accompanied with a drawing of Starlow, despite Starlow not appearing in any of the book's chapters.

Quotes

 * "Summer is as hot as a volcano is bald. So of course a volcano in summer would be hotter than heck!" - Sushie
 * Mario: "Is it just me, or is it getting even hotter?"
 * Lava Piranha: "Bleckhyuckhyuck! That would be my fault!"
 * Mario: "WAHH! Lava Piranha!"
 * Mario: "Maybe if we all band together..."
 * Elder Princess Shroob: "...You'll still lose! My tentacles can't be beat!"
 * Luigi: "Oh yeah? I'll give you ten tickles... Get it?"
 * Elder Princess Shroob: "I said, tentacles!"
 * Luvbi: "My name is Luvbi. Verily, I pine for a prince. Art thou the one I have so longed to meet?"
 * Mario: "Meat, you say?"
 * Luvbi: "Did I request a beefy prince? I think not!"

Trivia

 * Though not featuring a story from Super Mario Odyssey, the table of contents includes Mario, wearing Cappy, sleeping near a Checkpoint Flag and a Mushroom.