Nintendo just revealed Bowser’s age, but why is the Japanese fandom turned on? 

A convincing theory regarding the age of Nintendo’s signature character Bowser has been put forward, causing waves in the fandom. Bowser’s unexpected age of 34 has generated a variety of reactions, but Japanese fans seem to have found the new piece information sexy more than anything else. 

The theory about Bowser’s real age was first suggested by the Mario series trivia account Supper Mario Broth on Twitter, based on information from a How-to Series video uploaded to Nintendo of America’s official Youtube channel. In the video, Bowser’s birthday is stated to be February 5, 1989, making him 34 years of age. 

There had always been mystery surrounding Bowser, especially his age. In his original lines in Japanese, he uses the personal pronoun “wagahai,” which suggest that he is indeed of an older age, and his overall behavior and speech also match that impression. On the other hand, Mario was previously revealed to be 26 back in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the fact that Mario and Bowser both appear as babies in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island had people assuming that they may be roughly the same age, which would make Bowser somewhere around 26 as well. At the same time, the Western fandom was dominated by the presumption that Bowser is a considerably older fellow. 

However, all was overturned with the new information suggesting that Bowser is 34 and Bowser Jr. 13. From what can be gathered from some of the user tweets, English-speaking fans were mostly shocked by the fact that Bowser is younger than physically possible, expressing confusion about the fact that Bowser was born 4 years after his debut and wondering whether that makes him –4 years old in the Super Mario Bros. from 1985. Some expressed contempt for Mario for taking on an unborn child in battle, while others praised Bowser for being a brave single father at the age of 20. 

However, reactions to Bowser’s age reveal in the Japanese fandom “differed,” to say the least. As news of Bowser’s age hit, fans were obviously surprised at the new information, but many found their impression of Bowser changing, becoming kind of sexy. Needless to say, a series of Bowser thirst tweets followed. 

Are the two sides of the fandom that different? Or is it simply that no one in the Western fandom is brave enough to say what everyone is thinking? The fact that Bowser is older than what many Japanese fans assumed is definitely what contributes to him gaining the mature and sexy atmosphere, though one must also note that the Bowser thirst tweets are mostly posted by monster lovers, judging by their profile pictures. Perhaps the monster lovers in the Western fandom are also rejoicing, albeit not as conspicuously.