"I can't believe anybody - particularly a Mario fan - could NOT be sickened by something like this."
Uhh, I'm not one of those close-minded idiots who find out something like this and go "Man, that's disgusting."
So, Vivian is a dude in the Japanese version and kissed Mario.....OH NO! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD! THE APOCALYPSE IS COMING JUST BECAUSE A TRANSVESTITE KISSED MARIO!
Now, you see how completely stupid that sounds? Yeah, so, Paper Mario 2 is more risque when it comes to things like this, and is even more risque in the Japanese version.
But, don't you remember, Miyamoto-san stated before the release of the Gamecube, he wanted to make Mario more mature? .....Well, he probably meant graphically, but maybe he wanted to make the gameplay of some of the Mario games more mature as well, while trying to keep its family....genre.....thing. I stink at wording things like this.
Furthermore, I don't find homosexual things such as a guy kissing a guy sickening. In this case, Vivian in dude form pecking Mario on the cheek. So, they do it, you can't stop it. Doesn't affect me much at all. It's normal. Kissing is a gesture of love, and love is a normal thing. It's probably even more normal in Japan, because people there are even more open there than here in the states.
I'd say more, but the current temperature in my room is about 48 degrees, and don't feel like continuing.