Why is Luigi's elemental power electricity? Because one of the earliest people to research electricity was LUIGI Galvani!
Sort of a Stealth Pun, but it makes too much sense to just be a joke. Almost all of the game takes place in the Beanbean Kingdom — in Japanese, this is the "Mameria Kingdom". "Mame" means "Bean" (predictably), but say 'Mameria' out loud. Given the r/l translation issues, it sounds an awful lot like "Mamalia", from the animal kingdom. The beanish people are humanoid, humans are mammals...
Why is an obscene amount of Mushroom Kingdom coins worth so few Beanbean coins?
In the usual Mario games that take place in the Mushroom Kingdom, coins are very abundant and it would be very easy to rack up several thousands with all the bricks and underground store holds of them everywhere. Not so much in the Beanbean Kingdom.
Maybe it's not just that the Mushroom Coins lose their value over the course of the game, but the Beanbean Coins increased in value at the same time. When Tolstar first checks the exchange rate, the prince is missing and Beanbean's capital city is under attack or in ruins already. When Peasly's bet is concluded, it's long since been rebuilt, and the kingdom is in good shape.
The tendency of the Mushroom Kingdom to be invaded and conquered effortlessly mostly by Bowser every other week might have something to do with the massive devaluation of Mushroom Kingdom currency. The Mushroom Kingdom's economy must be in the toilet by now, and not one plumbers could fix.
In the trailer for the remake, various laugh tracks and synonyms for laughter were used in the beginning, referencing the Beanbean kingdom's secondary theme of humor and pleasure in the original game.
The fact that the Chuckola Reserve itself attacks you (it's the Chuckolator). If you read the statue plaques back at the entrance to the woods, the last one notes that the quality of the brew may vary depending on the quality of the jokes told. When you arrive to find Bubbles telling joke after joke to the reserve, you might note that they're all pretty bad/lame jokes. No wonder the Reserve turned bad/evil if the jokes are bad.
It might seem a little tasteless for Queen Bean to refer to Bowletta as "it," when she clearly altered her physical appearance to look feminine. In the remake, however, there are times where Bowletta's dialogue is accompanied by Bowser's speech noise, rather than Cackletta's. This implies Bowser is somewhat aware of what's going on, so his consciousness occasionally shines through. Queen Bean refers to Bowletta as "it" because sometimes "it's" Bowser, and sometimes "it's" Cackletta — there's no telling which one she'll be referring to at one time, thus the gender-neutral language.
Why was Luigi so reluctant to go on this adventure with Mario? At the time of release, the last game Luigi starred in was Luigi's Mansion. After that horror story, Luigi probably wanted a break.
Every NPC that teaches Mario and Luigi field moves in this game acts friendly towards them, except one. The Thunder God, who teaches Luigi to use Thunderhand. Every other one of those teachers is red or green. The Thunder God is blue.
How are the Jellyfish sisters alive and young looking if they are implied to be over 3,000 years old? It's possible they are Turritopsis Dohrnii, also known as the immortal jellyfish
"Bean Juice" is quite clearly coffee... It could be a parody of Frothy Mugs of Water, or it could be a Genius Bonus: Coffee is made from beans. Or both.
When one thinks about it, Bowletta makes perfect narrative sense as the game's final boss. (Almost) everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom has a Beanish counterpart (e.g Queen Bean for Princess Peach as the ruler of the kingdom, Lady Lima for Toadsworth as the ruler's retainer, Prince Peasley for Mario/the Mario Bros. as the hero of the kingdom who may or may not have royal ties, etc.) including the enemies, such as Beanies being the parallel for Goombas. We can assume, then, that Cackletta is the Beanish version of Bowser in that she's the region's primary threat (as Cackletta is implied to have attacked before) along with Fawful being the Beanish Kamek in that he's the primary villain's Dragon. So a fusion of both kingdoms' villains would make perfect sense once you consider that.
Shortly after you enter Woohoo Hooniversity to face off against Cackletta and obtain the Beanstar, a bunch of professors run by... except for one, who falls down, tells you that the professors from the Hooniversity are being transformed into monsters, and transforms into a Laser Snifit. After Mario and Luigi defeat him, he doesn't change back. Neither do any of the other monsters in the Hooniversity. They all simply disappear, implying that they die like the normal enemies. Now think about it. If all of the monsters in the Hooniversity were once professors, then that means you were basically forced to kill all of them so they wouldn't suffer a fate worse than death.
When Mario gets sick via eating an Invincishroom (or in the remake, was actually a Poison Mushroom, as confirmed in the Minion Quest side mode) in Little Fungitown, the Toad doctor points out the cause as Bean Fever (It's a disease that affects people not accustomed to the food in Beanbean Kingdom) and that if Luigi doesn't get the cure, Mario will turn into a bean. Said cure is Crabbie Grass that seems to be hard to come by. Then you realize that there are a near unlimited amount of beans in the kingdom.
You destroy Cackletta's soul!
What about the fact that the battlefield where you fight her in the climax, Bowletta's stomach, is on fire? That has to be painful.
The aformentioned Fridge Brilliance regarding the Mushroom Kingdom–Beanbean Kingdom exchange rate becomes this when you realize that actually happened in real life to Zimbabwe. The bank actually printed out hundred-trillion-dollar bills, and you still could barely buy anything with them.
Bowletta's design is a jarring difference from Bowser's, and as you think about the biological differences it gets even worse. The face is completely restructured, the chest is...different, as well as more minor changes (undone in the remake), things that even a Demonic Possession should never do. The question is - is that all just an act of Cackletta's strange magic putting an image over Bowser's, or is it actually nasty Body Horror, having actively mangled and mutilated Bowser's body into her own likeness?
