#Anti-Tetsuya Nomura

[themattress]

So basically three things just got confirmed:

1.) The "Lost Masters Saga" starting with KH4 is a soft reboot for the franchise.

2.) However, the "Lost Masters Saga" is also the last saga of the KH series for Nomura.

3.) Nomura will be retiring some time within the next decade.

Conclusion?

Call me when the "Lost Masters Saga" is over and Nomura is retired. If the KH franchise still continues past then under new management, then I might - might - just give it a look.

[themattress]

This is so hilariously accurate it hurts. We had Chain of Memories as a nice little stump between KH and KH2. But then instead of growing into a similar stump, Birth by Sleep became this tall tree that caused all these other tall trees to shoot off from it and get in the way of KH3…which in its final form is shielded by the boulder that is the 2.8 HD Collection.

I speak for us all when I say: poor Daffy.

Trying to jump into Kingdom Hearts 3 like

[themattress]

So, in the Kingdom Hearts Series Memorial Ultimania, aka the only Ultimania book that was actually translated and released in English, there is a flow chart detailing Xehanort's stupid retcon of a "master plan" and actions across time through all of his primary incarnations.

And this part caught my eye:

Did you get that? Let me type it if you can't make it out:

"Young Xehanort follows the path he* had been on previously, which he knows about from seeing Sora fall into the abyss of sleep. All of Xehanort's other selves share this awareness. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas end up unknowingly gathering the components for the X-Blade that Master Xehanort seeks: the Seven Lights and the Thirteen Darknesses."

*"He" meaning Master Xehanort, as this is under his section.

.........What!?

OK, for years now I have been under the impression that what DDD put forward was that, as nonsensical as it was, Ansem was collecting the Seven Princesses of Heart and Xemnas the Thirteen Darknesses knowing full well that it was for the sake of forging the X-Blade. But apparently they didn't? They were only subconsciously doing it because it was "etched"?

On the one hand, that is a little better in that it means they aren't actually minions of someone else during their stories. But on the other hand, that's even stupider, for three reasons.

-1. This whole "etched" thing brought about by time travel really does fuck with a character's agency and give the illusion of free will. Someone will do something thinking it's clearly for their own goals or are reacting to the current situation they're in, but akshually it's because they subconsciously know they have to do it so that the future they're subconsciously aware of through time travel can happen. That's so lame and it makes the character less interesting.

-2. There's a huge contradiction here with Ansem: him not knowing the Seven Princesses were needed for the X-Blade and just wanting them for the Final Keyhole would make perfect sense as he's presented in KH1, but 3D went and established he remembered his Master Xehanort past and time-traveled to provide time travel power to Young Xehanort and marked a time-traveling Sora with an "X" so that the current story could happen leading to Master Xehanort's revival and master plan reveal. So that means he should be aware of the X-Blade legend and the significance of the Seven Lights to it! His actions still don't add up, then!

-3. So Xemnas didn't know about the X-Blade plan, and yet 3D still says his stated goal was to turn the Organization into vessels for Xehanort's heart which is why he "lied" about Nobodies not having hearts. Why do that!? If Xemnas wasn't seeking the X-Blade, then why the fuck would he feel the need to turn the Organization into vessels? Why them specifically, since if he became a god to reshape the universe he'd basically be able to do that to everyone? And the subconscious explanation isn't good enough since I refuse to believe Xemnas wouldn't think about the reasonings behind his intentions, plus that goddamn scene had him talking as if he always knew. The replica project I could totally see being a subconscious time travel-related thing, but not specifically creating thirteen Xehanorts.

It's amazing - there really is no way to make this plotline work. Square peg, round hole.

[themattress]

I was playing some KH2 recently and thought back to this scene, and it truly boggles the mind how Nomura is such a bad writer that he forgets the point of his own damn concepts.

This line from Yen Sid was said after teaching Sora about Nobodies and, specifically, about Organization XIII. And that reflects what was so brilliant about them as concepts regardless of how one feels they were executed: the way in which they differ from the major threat of KH1. In KH1, the threat posed by the Heartless (and the villains in control of them) was done in the style of an apocalyptic force of nature, like a zombie plague. Creatures of instinct sweeping across the universe and laying waste to entire worlds, with their home base being an organic hellscape. It was a hostile invasion of a dark and destructive but largely impersonal force.

But in KH2, we have the exact opposite. The Heartless are still the ones mindlessly going around and causing trouble in worlds that villains can take advantage of, because the Nobodies operate very differently. They lurk in the shadows - crafting plans, doing recon, manipulating people...taking advantage not just of the Heartless and villains but of the heroes who oppose them in order to advance their own agenda. Rather than destroying entire worlds, they specifically target the inhabitants of those worlds, adding a far more personal level of evil to what they are doing. And instead of an organic hellscape, their home base is a constructed urban city full of advanced technology. They clearly run on brains, not instinct.

And THIS is why the Nobodies are led by Organization XIII. They are not an invading force but a secretive conspiracy, and such a conspiracy requires organizing. A group of people in black hoods and coats gets the point across that this threat is more stealthy and planned out.

Which is precisely why the "True" Organization XIII led by Master Xehanort does not work. If Nomura is positing that Master Xehanort was behind both the Heartless invasion and Nobody conspiracy, plus the flood of Unversed before that, then having another Organization XIII isn't a contrast to anything. Moreover, this new Organization isn't behind a shadowy group conspiracy, instead it's a result of a shadowy conspiracy by a single man. So things like convening in the Castle That Never Was in 3D doesn't work because they're not all Nobodies engaged in a Nobody-based plan and the Castle That Never Was is part of the Nobody-Heartless contrast. Similarly, being an Organization makes no sense when they aren't actually advancing a conspiracy targeting the inhabitants of worlds but instead largely waiting in one place for the heroes to come to them so that they can have a big mindless slugfest.

Organization XIII under Xemnas was brilliant. Organization XIII under Xehanort was idiotic.

[themattress]

Nobody's mentioned this, but yeah, in the Kingdom Hearts series...

Tetsuya Nomura after several games with inexplicable mystery or intrigue beyond the scope of their borders: oh fuck I need to explain all the mystery and intrigue it was so rude of me to leave the story open like that and now I am going to provide lore explanations for everything and overexplain my narrative which is ironically half the reason my series will gain a reputation for being confusing (the other half being that it's just conceptually confusing).

fans when a story has some sense of inexplicable mystery or intrigue beyond the scope of its borders: oh fuck we need to explain all the mystery and intrigue immediately it was so rude of the author to leave the story open like that

[themattress]

A post looking over Kairi's actions in KH1/KH2/KH3, because curiously (and frustratingly) enough she only seems limited to approximately 10 major action set-pieces per game.

Races with Sora and Riku.

Referees a race between Sora and Riku.

Makes the Oathkeeper charm.

Goes to the Secret Place to safeguard the world's heart but is attacked by darkness.

Sends Sora a flashback of her and her grandmother from within his heart.

Saves Sora from having his head caved in by Ansem from within his heart.

Tries and fails to save Sora but still refuses to believe that he's gone, then runs away with Donald and Goofy at Riku's urging.

Recognizes Sora as a Heartless, protects him from other Heartless at great personal risk, and restores his human form to him.

Gives Sora the Oathkeeper charm and has him promise to return it to her.

Goes to the Secret Place and draws herself giving a Paopu Fruit to Sora.

Prior to Destiny Islands' destruction, Kairi as well as Riku are both, apart from their major character development scenes at sunset, simply doing things that reflect their friendship with Sora and their easygoing tropical life. There isn't anything major until the big storm strikes and they are both lost to Sora. After this, Kairi is a passive character by plot necessity, being unable to do anything because she's inside Sora's heart and for the longest time isn't even aware that she is. The moment she gets an inkling about it following the events at Neverland, she does something from within Sora's heart, and once it's outright confirmed by Ansem she immediately puts that knowledge to use and saves Sora from him. After this is her main actions everyone remembers her for - saving Sora after he becomes a Heartless and then giving him the Oathkeeper charm we see a lot more of in the following two games. While she absolutely could have stood to do more after regaining her body, she is at least given the focus in the ending FMV and (epilogue aside) does the last action seen in the whole game.

As I said here, I really like this mostly-passive-by-design role for Kairi in the first game, since as a potentially standalone title with heavy basis in fairy tales, mythology and of course Disney movies, this kind of mysterious magical damsel role is a perfect fit, plus it had a nifty twist put on it and was accompanied by an actual human and relatable character arc for her. Some may find it disappointing, but I feel for this specific entry in the series, it is perfectly justified. The only fuck-up was putting the scene where she gives Sora the Oathkeeper in Traverse Town instead of Hollow Bastion, which is then nonsensically said to be "way too dangerous" for Kairi and she'd "get in Sora's way" if she did...a fitting description for if she followed him into End of the World, not Hollow Bastion where the other Princesses of Heart are managing to get by just fine. Fix that one glaring error and Kairi in KH1 would be perfect.

Writes a letter to Sora and sends it out to sea to reach him.

Resists Axel's manipulation and runs into a dark corridor to Twilight Town with Pluto.

Befriends Hayner, Pence and Olette.

Gets away from Axel when he kidnaps her (off-screen).

Escapes her prison cell alongside Namine and is willing to fight Saix alongside her.

Stops Riku from leaving and has him be honest about his current condition.

Fights a chamber load of Heartless alongside Riku to save Sora, forcing Xigbar's hand.

Stops Riku from leaving AGAIN and reunites him with Sora.

Takes as many small actions as possible as a member of the party.*

Merges with Namine, thus saving her from fading into darkness.

* Stops Mickey from getting himself killed, points out the appearance of a Heartless swarm and the door to Kingdom Hearts, gets back through the door alongside Mickey (off-screen).

I again link to a prior post I made, where I brought up the reasons many people found Kairi in KH2 to be a disappointment. And while those reasons are and always will be valid (and always rectified in the KH2 manga; please check it out, people!), when I look at Kairi's actions in KH2 as a whole I can't help but feel that it's a major overreaction. People get caught up in either the various execution flubs that affect more characters than just Kairi or let their personal expectations for her get in the way of actually looking at and appreciating what's actually there, because what's there is a strong young woman learning to come into her own and fighting tooth and nail for every scrap of agency the villains keep trying to deny her, all while forging new bonds with others and being responsible for restoring the old bond of the Sora/Riku/Kairi trio. Her first action undertaken boomeranging back at the very end to save Sora and Riku from dying in the Realm of Darkness and bringing them home to a happy ending is just beautiful, the ultimate reward for Kairi taking it upon herself to be proactive.

Writes a letter to Sora but doesn't send it to him.

Gives herself a makeover.

Shares a Paopu Fruit with Sora.

Fights Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed alongside Lea (off-screen).

Guides Sora in corporeal form as he uses the Power of Waking to save everyone.

Kills some Heartless during the Heartless Rain event.

Fights Xion and Saix alongside Lea and Sora, but loses and is kidnapped then killed.

Re:Mind - Fights Xemnas, doing well until he saps her energy with a nil technique.

Re:Mind - Fights Master Xehanort alongside Sora then takes part in destroying him.

Re:Mind - Does everything alongside Sora in the ending FMV.

I've bitched about this a lot, but I want to specifically call to attention just how incongruous Kairi's actions added in the Re:Mind DLC are with her actions in the base game. The first two actions she takes in KH3 are utterly useless, with the actual point of her in those scenes being for Lea's sake and for the sake of pushing bad retcons. Sharing a Paopu with Sora comes out of nowhere both in the context of the game and the series up to that point and it affects nothing. We then get her fighting either entirely off-screen, shown killing a single raining Shadow Heartless, or pathetically short-lived and ending in miserable failure, with her actual major plot-affecting role being spiritual in nature and, again, out of fucking nowhere. Whatever one's issues with her in KH2, Kairi was not being built up for a combat role in that game - she was only being built up for a more proactive one in KH1, and while that role could have been executed better (like it is in the manga) she still fulfilled it. In KH3, she was very specifically being built up for a combat role, and she didn't fulfill that role in favor of a sudden, unsatisfying bait-and-switch where she's just as passive as she was in KH1, if not more so.

So that's why it's jarring when in Re:Mind, she's suddenly having no problem against Xion despite struggling in the base game, fiercely fighting Xemnas to the point of shattering his energy sabers and forcing him to drain her stamina in order to save himself, and then not only fighting and helping kill Master Xehanort but being the most OP playable character in the process which is at stark odds with her useless party member AI. Then she's inserted into literally every part of the happy ending montage she was originally almost entirely absent from until the last minute. It is such an obvious ham-fisted case of damage control after fan backlash that it only satisfies you in the moment, then you begin asking how and why the game even had to get it so wrong in the first place. And the dissonance only gets worse with the following Limitcut Episode + Melody of Memory, where suddenly it's like Re:Mind never happened as Kairi's once again a weakling who needs more training because adventuring's "way too dangerous" for her, with her main story contribution being passive and spiritual!

Character-wise, for Kairi it's KH1 > KH2 > KH3.

Action-wise, however, it's KH2 > KH1 > KH3.

[themattress]

And now, I just feel compelled to sing the praises of one of Kingdom Hearts' greatest heroes:

SHIRO. MOTHERFUCKING. AMANO!

The more time passes, the more amazed I am by this man. He's had a hero's journey IRL when it comes to his place in the franchise: jumping at the call but being inexperienced and screwing up, reaching his lowest point before rising, dealing with great adversity only to come out of it stronger than ever, and becoming a beloved hero to many who continues to do good.

KH1 was his first manga adaptation, and for the most part it's your by-the-numbers comic book adaptation of a story from a non-comic book medium, not especially good or especially bad. But Amano showed three weaknesses: he mischaracterized the KH-original characters (Sora, Kairi, Riku and Ansem all start out on point, but once Destiny Islands is destroyed this changes drastically: Sora turns into a spastic moron, Kairi into a bland bystander, Riku into an emotionless tool, and Ansem into an over-the-top eeeevil lunatic who actually gets himself killed without any contribution from Sora, Donald and Goofy!), he sucked at action scenes leading to many iconic battles from the game being straight-up left out altogether, and his gag manga inclinations caused him to turn scenes that should be serious / emotional into jokes.

CoM was his aforementioned lowest point. All those flaws were not only still there, but worse, turning what was once a dark, mysterious and psychological story into an unfunny farce.

Disgraceful. For a good while, I actually disliked Shiro Amano due to this.

But then came the redemption: KH2. The Prologue section of this manga is masterfully done, possibly even better than the game's version. The pace is less sluggish, the events less irritatingly obtuse, and the humor actually works to the benefit of the story's seriousness - because so much of the goofy humor is between Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette, you build even more of an emotional connection to them and the tragedy of Roxas learning the truth about his life hits that much harder when it transpires. When Sora returns, Amano is briefly tempted by his old inclinations and kind of backslides, with the resulting trips to Hollow Bastion, Beast's Castle, Land of Dragons and Olympus Coliseum suffering as a result. They aren't quite as insulting as the CoM manga, but still bad. However, true to hero's journey form this period of temptation and backsliding passes and only reinforces Amano's commitment to improving and actually balancing his humor and adaptational changes with drama, emotional sincerity and faithfulness to the game. From Disney Castle on, he returns to quality output. There are still mistakes here and there, but on the whole the manga is an enjoyable one. From the characterization to the action scenes to the tonal balance, Amano had improved.

And then came the hiatus between its first half and second half, during which he worked on the 358/2 Days manga. Take what I said about KH2's Prologue, then apply it x10, and you get this manga, where the writing and pacing is improved from its game counterpart and the humor is rich, well-timed and actively feeds into the drama and tragedy of the story rather than detract from it. To make the contrast to how far he's come most apparent, remember how in the CoM manga where there's an omake short that makes a complete joke out of the Riku Replica, originally one of the story's most tragic characters? Well in this manga, we get an omake short about a Dusk, which starts out hilarious but then ends up being absolutely heart-breaking. It makes me legit sad over a goddman DUSK. Now that takes real talent!

What's also apparent with the Days and KH2 mangas is that Amano had come to shine in a way that Tetsuya Nomura absolutely does not: respect for his female leads. Kairi, Namine and Xion in these mangas aren't primarily sources of support for male characters or there to make male characters feel things above all else; they are their own distinct individuals with vivid personalities and clear character arcs. Even Olette shines brighter than in the games!

Once Amano made it back to the KH2 manga for its second half, he was firing on all cylinders. Again, not everything was perfect, but much like the game itself the narrative flaws were not enough to overshadow the many more narrative strengths. And when the manga finally concluded after so many years, Amano confirmed that it truly was the end. He would not be adapting other KH games. And given that the rest of the KH series never got better than where KH2 ended, this was absolutely for the best. I could very easily imagine the Olympian gods making a constellation in Amano's image, as he had become a true hero.

However, oh no! He got persuaded into adapting KH3 when it came out in 2019! This is going to ruin everything, right? WRONG! The KH3 manga has not only been a shining example of how far Shiro Amano has come, but also a masterclass in demonstrating how acutely aware of the game's problems he is and the lengths he is willing to go to fix them. For example...

- He opens the manga with a direct adaptation of the game's opening scene with the Boy in Black and Boy in White in front of the chess board followed by the FMV intro. By doing things in this strange way, Amano invites the possibility of this being an alternate, diverging timeline from the prior manga continuity so that its ending remains untouched should you desire it to be. Almost as if the Boy in Black and Boy in White reside in some higher plane of existence and the KH3 manga is the "game" that they're playing, so it's not to be taken too seriously.

- The whole opening that semi-recaps stuff leading into KH3 is played off as a joke, and given that the stuff in question was stupid (such as the Mark of Mastery exam through sleeping worlds and Sora failing his Mark of Mastery exam on bullshit grounds), this is appreciated.

- He actually makes Maleficent and Pete more competent; rather than have Maleficent dismiss Pete's idea to take Sora out while he's still weak, he has both of them agree that they needn't bother with Sora because his weakness will lead him to being destroyed by the Xehanorganization anyway. They can find the black box while their foes fight each other.

- 0.2 BBS is adapted after the Olympus visit in a way that also recaps the most important points of BBS and includes stronger characterization for Aqua, Terra and Ventus. Stupid things like Mickey losing his shirt are avoided, and there is actually clarification on how Mickey could not have gone into the Realm of Darkness to save Aqua earlier and all the time between KH1 and KH2 he was building up his strength to obtain the Power of Waking so that he could as he promised to, making him come off so much better than he did in the games.

-Coded is not referenced, ever.

- The "Roxas and Namine ceased to exist when they merged with Sora and Kairi" retcon is completely avoided, with the manga instead saying they do exist within them as was originally the case in KH2. Giving Roxas his own body is less correcting some injustice or "hurt" and more part because he's needed for the battle against Xehanort and part because Sora's just a nice guy like that, wanting to provide his friends with all the basic comforts.

- Xehanort's master plan retcon is also discarded! Here it's said that Ansem and Xemnas' plans remained their own, as they should be, and that since Master Xehanort's return he's embarked on "a new plan" once joined by his time-traveling younger self, who never mentions needing Ansem for his time-traveling which keeps things consistent with how KH2 depicted time travel as simply a magical phenomenon that didn't need complicated rules.

- Not only are Riku and Kairi way more in-character than they were in the game, but most shockingly Axel is too! He actually feels like Axel, character flaws and all, not dumbass Lea!

- Toy Box, Corona and Arendelle, while still filler, are all adapted faithfully, which is nice.

- Various alterations are made for the better: the Riku Replica stuff is kept to an incredibly bare minimum, Ansem the Wise first appears in the scene where he returns to Radiant Garden meaning him still being alive is more of a legit twist plus he never meets Aqua only for there to be no pay-off and the dumbass plotline with him and Xehanort's Heartless is left out, the "secret Keyblade legacy" stuff with Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia and Larxene is cut, the second Kairi and Axel scene is no more, and the big reconvening at Yen Sid's Tower scene and the fallout montage is massively reworked into something far better written and paced.

All this plus maintaining his balance of humor and sincerity, including using the former to support the latter, and even correcting previous flaws (holy shit, Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen...they're all completely in-character now!) If Amano keeps this momentum going and actually manages to make something good out of the notoriously disappointing finale in the Keyblade Graveyard, then he will officially have given us the best version of KH3's story in existence.

Tl;dr: nothing but respect for Shiro Amano, who is a better writer than Nomura will ever be.

[themattress]

I hate Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. Everything about it.

However - there is one scene in particular that I absolutely despise above all others. Don't get me wrong, every other cutscene is bad, many of them even rage-inducing....but none of them quite measure up to this one in its wretchedness. Which one is it, you ask? THIS one.

So after Xigbar reiterates the bullshit Inception-esque "dream within a dream" plot twist that Sora is currently experiencing all because he happens to have an "X" on his clothes (yes, that is an actual thing that Nomura wrote), Sora just randomly declares that Nobodies have hearts after all. What does his base this on? The memories from 358/2 Days that he experienced.

"Axel and Roxas and Namine, and that other girl. I felt what Roxas felt and they laughed together, got mad, and they grieved. You have to have a heart to cry."

First off, "that other girl" shouldn't be here. In 358/2 Days, Namine specifically said "If you return your memories to him, you'll disappear. And since everything about you was built on those memories...no one will remember you when you're gone. There won't be any "you" to remember. I can't save you, Xion--even a memory of you." But this game, just like Coded before it and KH3 after it, is flagrantly ignoring that because the rabid fanbase that Days / Xion / the Seasalt Trio developed, particularly in Japan, demanded Xion back and because he's a clout-chasing coward Nomura complied, the story's internal logic be damned.

Secondly, all of the characters Sora mentioned are special cases. Roxas and Namine were special Nobodies built upon a literal heart-to-heart relationship (Sora and Kairi), allowing them to feel things at the cost of having no memory, when for normal Nobodies it's the other way around. Xion was not a Nobody, she was a replica with a heart constructed from memories. Of course she felt stuff. Lastly, this game continues to ignore that Axel's feelings were...off. Making a connection with a heart allowed him to start feeling things, but his Nobody nature was still technically heartless and self-centered, which meant that his feelings were purely based on himself and what his friends mean to him. He never cared about them the way someone is actually supposed to, as that depth of feeling was still foreign to him.

And finally, this seems to be in direct response to that stupid Tomoko Kanemaki-made scene from KH2:FM of Roxas talking with Axel's ghost and they wax poetic about what a heart is and what it means to have one, ending in a shot where Axel is seen shedding tears ("You have to have a heart to cry"). But even that scene, as bad as it was, was still written with Nojima's KH2 scenario in mind where the answer is a philosophical difference between a literal heart, which Nobodies can't have, and a metaphorical heart, which they can develop through bonding with someone with a heart and find a way to exist (as evidenced by Axel even having a ghost at all) within that someone's heart. But now, we get this from Xemnas:

"A heart is never lost for good. There may have been variances in our dispositions, but a number of us unquestionably showed signs of a burgeoning replacement. Once born, the heart can also be nurtured. Our experiments creating Heartless were attempts to control the mind, and convince it to renounce its sense of self. But understand, one can banish the heart from the body, but the body will try to replace it the first chance it gets, for as many times as it takes. And so I knew, even after we were divided into Heartless and Nobodies, it was just a temporary separation."

Where do I even begin?

"A number of us unquestionably showed signs of a burgeoning replacement"? Is this Nomura's way to "explain" why the Organization reacted emotionally on many occasions? Except that was already explained in KH2! As Yen Sid said, their behavior is a ruse to pretend that they have hearts and properly exist, and as Saix said, it's their memories of their human selves and the feelings they felt with hearts that allow them to do this. We literally SEE Demyx drop the facade and show his true unemotional colors right before fighting him!

"One can banish the heart from the body, but the body will try to replace it the first chance it gets". Um, HOW? The body shouldn't be able to recreate a heart because in this universe the body never created the heart to begin with! The literal title of the series, Kingdom Hearts, is where all hearts are born and where all hearts return to. We established that in Game 1!

There was talk earlier about puppets like Pinocchio "growing" a heart, but that's not even the case. As seen earlier in KH2's Space Paranoids and later in KH3's Toy Box, it's not that the non-living thing "grows" a heart, it's that Kingdom Hearts grants them a heart specifically based upon the feelings someone with a heart has toward them. Gepetto, Ansem the Wise, Andy, etc. The hearts didn't just come out of nowhere from nothing like this game suggests.

For that matter, the heart is established as holding the essence of a person; it's who they are. The whole reason Nobodies "don't exist" is because while they have the body and soul of a person plus the memories of said person, without a heart they are not actually that person, who is actually now a Heartless. So is Xemnas saying the body can grow a new freaking person? Then what will become of the original person once they're purified from being a Heartless? The same bullshit of "recompleting" that Lea and co. underwent? But doesn't that contradict the notion that Nobodies are their own individuals who supposedly deserve to live as such? Also, why does all of this only apply to the Organization? What about all of the lesser Nobodies, like the Dusks? Can they not also "regrow" their hearts? Did Nomura think any of this out at all before committing it to script form? And at this point, Sora yells out:

"Why, then? Why did you lie to them and tell them they had no hearts?"

Yep, that's right. Even though Yen Sid also said they had no hearts, Ansem the Wise's research turned up that they had no hearts, and they themselves largely behaved as though they had no hearts, apparently it was all just a lie Xemnas concocted, stripping away half the depth that he and the Organization in general had. Xemnas is now depicted as just a simplistic bad guy and the others save for Xigbar as total victims of brainwashing. Hilariously, the narrative tap-dances around how, if this is true, then Sora and the other heroes now look way more questionable for killing them. The bullshit train keeps chugging as Xigbar says:

"Xemnas and Xehanort formed the Organization for a specific reason - round up a bunch of empty husks, hook them up to Kingdom Hearts, then fill them all with the exact same heart and mind. Translation--they were gonna turn all the members into Xehanort."

So now the claim is that Xemnas, who totally had Xehanort's heart inside him even when Ansem existing should render that impossible, was gonna use the power of Kingdom Hearts to copy-paste that heart into the other Organization members as part of Xehanort's plan to forge the X-Blade. Just like with the claim that Ansem's goal was the Seven Princesses rather than the Final Keyhole they unseal, this clashes with what we actually saw in the previous games. Why would Xemnas do anything he did if this was the plan? The event that got him his thirteenth "vessel" also set the Seven Princesses loose, then several of those "vessels" perished, and yet he carried on with the plan anyway? KH3 tries to do damage control by suggesting Xemnas was out to betray Xehanort, but that just creates more issues with this abominable retcon trying to force separate villainous plans as part of some convoluted whole.

Xigbar then follows all this up with:

"Me? I'm already half Xehanort!"

.....Moving on. Xemnas proceeds to give us this absolute howler:

"However -through weakness of body...weakness of will...or weakness of trust--most of the original members we had chosen for the Organization were inadequate. Thus, naturally, they never had a chance to attain their goal."

MOST of the original Organization members were inadequate!?

Um, yeah, let's flash forward to KH3 and see who made the cut:

Xemnas Xigbar Vexen Saix Demyx Luxord Marluxia Larxene Xion (as a replacement for Roxas)

So basically, 9 out of 13. Only 4 (Xaldin, Lexaeus, Zexion and Axel) "failed".

.....Xemnas, I don't think that the word "most" means what you think it means.

Then we get to the big, dramatic confrontation as Sora yells:

"Just stop it! You treat people's hearts like bottles on a shelf, but they're not! Hearts are made of the people we meet, and how we feel about them-- they're what ties us together even when we're apart! They're what...make me strong."

This is a good line, but Xigbar proceeds to ruin it with his comeback:

"Duh! You're strong because of the ties you have with other people. As if the Keyblade would choose a wimp like you. But no pouting. We see much bigger and better things in your future...once you side with us."

To which Sora replies:

"I know the Keyblade didn't choose me, and I don't care. I'm proud to be a small part of something bigger--the people it did choose! My friends. They are my power!

Beyond this callback to a famous line in the original game feeling cheap, Nomura doesn't even seem to actually remember the scene in which the line was used! Because the Keyblade DID choose Sora in that scene, precisely because of how he bonded his heart with others and took strength from them. In fact, he may be the ONLY person the Keyblade has "chosen" in this series - the allegedly worthier "other people" who appear in the above image have either had their Keyblade bequeathed to them by a prior wielder, transformed another weapon into a Keyblade, or wield a Keyblade specifically because Sora can wield it. (Also, why are Terra, Aqua, Ven and Xion even there? Calling them Sora's "friends" is a huge stretch, especially when people like Namine and HPO who fit the bill better aren't present! And if them not having Keyblades is the excuse given, I must point out that Donald and Goofy are also here! So are they part of "the people it did choose"!? Where is the consistency!?)

This combined with Xehanort's later "dull, ordinary boy" remark reeks of Nomura being touchy about criticism BBS got for making Sora out to be more special than he was supposed to be which led to him overcorrecting here....which doesn't even stick given Data!Ansem the Wise's later monologue about Sora and the events of KH3. Just terrible, contradictory writing.

I hate Dream Drop Distance. I hate the convoluted dream mechanics, I hate Yen Sid's whole Mark of Mastery test and the stupidity and hypocrisy he displays as it unfolds, I hate the literal TWEWY cast being present, I hate the Lea subplot, I hate Maleficent and Pete doing nothing, I hate the shafting of Kairi, I hate the Sora/Riku queer-baiting, I hate young Xehanort, and I hate all of the screwy, time travel-based retconning and twist reveals in the last act that essentially destroyed the whole series. But this fucking scene in particular, I hate above all.

[themattress]

So do I, though probably not in the same way you mean. -_-

ohmy god. oh my fucking godd. i miss kingdom hearts so fucking much holy shit oh my god

[silalcarin]

The many parallels between Aragorn/Arwen and Cloti

(Preface: before I start, I want to point out that I've already touched upon the first two paragraphs of this post, in more detail, in my previous post from last week.)

So, my bestie and I were watching The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition), and it got to the part where Aragorn rejected Eowyn because she wasn't actually in love with him. My bestie is more well-versed in LOTR Lore than I am, so she surprised me when she said that if you look at the book's timeline, Eowyn "knew" Aragorn for only 6 days at most before she confessed that she "loves" him, then he rejected her because she was actually Loving a Shadow.

I had to look this up for myself, because I haven't read The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit in years. Sure enough, Eowyn meets Aragorn in Third Age 3019, March 2nd, and on March 8th, literally 6 days later, before Aragorn departs for the Paths of the Dead, Eowyn confesses that she "loves" him, and he rejects her. Also in the book's timeline, by the time Aragorn met Eowyn, he and Arwen had been betrothed for 39 years. And Aragorn and Arwen have known each other for 44 years before Eowyn was even born. Heck, Aragorn and Arwen have known each other for 10 years before even Eowyn's father was born.

This is almost exactly like Final Fantasy VII. Cloud and Tifa grew up together and were very close as young children, as confirmed in Trace of Two Pasts. They've known each other for literally their whole lives (20 years, due to the 1-year age difference), and they've been in love with each other for over 7 years by the time they met Aerith, whom they knew for only 3 weeks at most before:

Aerith literally trapped Cloud in her dream world where Zack and Tifa don't exist, meaning that Cloud never met Zack or Tifa in this world, and she manipulated Cloud into going on one last "date" with her (a.k.a. the infamous nightmare date/funeral date) — which was actually a recreation of Aerith's date with Zack in Crisis Core and which, like literally every other "date" Aerith has claimed to go on with Cloud, Cloud never actually agreed to go on this one last "date" with Aerith because Aerith physically stopped Cloud from angrily protesting against her; in other words, Aerith forced Cloud to go on one last "date" with her without his consent — and Cloud was visibly miserable and uncomfortable throughout its entire duration, and Aerith struggled to confess that she didn't know what type of "like" she feels for Cloud, only for Cloud to respond to Aerith's confession by calling her weird (twice in Japanese) with zero hesitation — per Trace of Two Pasts, after Elmyra adopted Aerith, Aerith's ability as a Cetra to talk to people through the Lifestream led to a lot of misunderstandings with the people around her and, as a result, she assumed that people thought she was weird, so she hated being seen or thought of as weird and wanted to be normal, but in Crisis Core, Zack made Aerith feel better about her thinking of herself as weird by telling her "normal is overrated" — thus Aerith realizes that, by calling her weird, Cloud rejected her and she finally understands that Cloud does NOT like nor love her, and

Aerith was killed later on the exact same day as the infamous nightmare date/funeral date.

I honestly wonder if Kazushige Nojima, the head writer of FFVII, took some inspiration from LOTR, because there are many parallels between Aragorn/Arwen and Cloud/Tifa:

(1) Aragorn is the hero (with Frodo and Sam) of LOTR.

Cloud is the hero of FFVII.

(2) Aragorn grew up in Arwen's home, Rivendell.

Cloud and Tifa grew up together in Nibelheim.

(3) Aragorn was very young when his father, Arathorn, was killed by Orcs. He was raised by his mother, Gilraen, until he left her in Rivendell to become a Ranger in the wild. During his time as a Ranger, Aragorn concealed his name and identity. Gilraen didn't hear much from Aragorn after his departure. They were reunited when he returned to Rivendell several years later, shortly before her death.

Cloud was very young when his father was possibly killed by a monster. He was raised by his mother, Claudia, until he left her in Nibelheim to become a SOLDIER. During his time as a Shinra infantryman, Cloud concealed his name and identity. Claudia didn't hear much from Cloud after his departure. They were reunited when he returned to Nibelheim several years later, shortly before her murder.

(4) Arwen lost her mother, Celebrian, after she was tormented by Orcs and her poisoned wound never healed, so she departed to the Undying Lands.

Tifa lost her mother, Thea, after she became struck with an unknown illness and she was never healed of it, so she died sometime afterwards.

(5) Arwen is Aragorn's beautiful light-skinned dark-haired future wife whom he's known for several decades.

Tifa is Cloud's beautiful light-skinned dark-haired future life partner whom he's known since they were toddlers.

[Side Note: per a discussion I had with one of my friends, Tifa is physically based on her Japanese voice actress, Ayumi Ito (as confirmed in the Advent Children Reunion Files), and Tetsuya Nomura stated that Tifa has Asian features and cuteness in this 2019 Famitsu article. However, in the actual games, Tifa is just as fair-skinned as Aerith, and there's no visible difference between their skin tones. Per my friend, who suggested either "fair" or "light", I decided to go with "light".]

(6) Lord Elrond, Arwen's father, disapproved of her and Aragorn's relationship, but that never deterred their love for each other.

Brian Lockhart, Tifa's father, disapproved of her and Cloud's relationship, but that never deterred their love for each other.

(7) Arwen is the sole source of inspiration and motivation for Aragorn, who must become King of Arnor and Gondor before Elrond allows her to marry him.

Tifa is the sole source of inspiration and motivation for Cloud, who felt that he must become a SOLDIER and a hero before he becomes special to her.

(8) Aragorn fell in love with Arwen first. Many years later, Arwen reciprocated Aragorn's love.

Cloud fell in love with Tifa first. Many years later, Tifa reciprocated Cloud's love.

(9) Aragorn/Arwen became betrothed on Cerin Amroth in Lothlorien (her second home), many years before Eowyn briefly came into his life and tried to come in between them, despite her knowing full well that Aragorn is in love with another woman, before Aragorn rejected Eowyn 6 days after meeting her and she was Loving a Shadow.

Cloud/Tifa made their promise on the water tower, a popular date spot in Nibelheim, where Tifa realizes she's in love with Cloud and wants to spend the rest of her life with him (as confirmed in Trace of Two Pasts), and Cloud holds on to that promise several months later as he travels to Midgar to become a SOLDIER for Tifa (as confirmed in 2000 Gil to Becoming a Hero), many years before Aerith briefly came into their lives and tried to come in between them, despite her knowing full well that Cloud and Tifa are in love with each other, before Cloud rejected Aerith 3 weeks after meeting her and she was Loving a Shadow.

(10) Aragorn is loyal to Arwen. Aragorn is deeply in love with Arwen, his only love interest. Due to his deep love for Arwen and his loyalty to her, Aragorn is never tempted by Eowyn, whom he knew for only 6 days.

Cloud is loyal to Tifa (as confirmed in a 2022 video on FFVII's official TikTok account**). Cloud is deeply in love with Tifa, his only love interest. Due to his deep love for Tifa and his loyalty to her, Cloud is never tempted by Aerith, whom he knew for only 3 weeks.

(11) During their marriage, Aragorn and Arwen have a son, Eldarion, and also at least two daughters, who are younger than their son.

During their relationship, Cloud and Tifa have an adopted son, Denzel, and also take care of Marlene, who is younger than their son.

I'm aware that the similarities between Aragorn/Arwen and Cloud/Tifa aren't perfect, but there's still enough there that I just can't help but have a feeling about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Link to the official TikTok video: https://www.tiktok.com/@finalfantasyvii/video/7137687150564314374

** Here's an alternate link: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTYpmaB8a/

** Here's another alternate link: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT21236Gy/

Here's a screenshot of it, in case you still can't view the TikTok video for some reason:

[themattress]

Yet ANOTHER Xehanort Post

Because I had some thoughts following this post and now I want to get them out.

Not counting any version of Coded where he never appeared except in stingers nor 0.2 BBS which is more of a tech demo / prologue / direct lead-in to KH3 than a full game plus had an appearance that was more of an illusionary mind screw than real, the games where Xehanort shows up can be divided, evenly and neatly, by two lines into Peak, Mid and Ruination.

Peak Xehanort was in KH, CoM, KH2 and Days. He was at his best when he was the amnesiac apprentice of Ansem the Wise who usurped his master's name and position before splitting into a Heartless and Nobody, both of whom fixated on absorbing Kingdom Hearts and remaking the world through utilizing the Keyblade and the Keyblade Master which dovetailed nicely into the not-subtle hints that he himself was a Keyblade wielder in his forgotten past. If Xehanort was to be brought back, then it should've picked up from here.

But instead, it was picked up from BBS, which is Mid Xehanort. Once you get past the weirdness of Xehanort being an old man who possessed a young man before being stricken with amnesia, it works since Terra and Master Xehanort were well-written, with a very good victim-villain relationship and both possessing traits that would surface in the character they ended up becoming. Master Xehanort had a particularly good goal: destroy and remake the world because he wanted to conduct a grand experiment to see what it was like and what would happen, and he wanted it to be him specifically who pulled it off. It tied in perfectly with the traits we already knew of Xehanort: a scientific obsession with broadening his horizons and gaining knowledge, and hubris that twists into a god complex. The issue that held him back was that he was hampered by a two-dimensionally evil portrayal (that was admittedly entertaining), a total blur in regards to what motivated his goal, and a facepalm-inducingly contrived backstory of living on Destiny Islands in his youth. That's what makes him Mid.

What is frustrating about his Ruination is how each successive game in it somehow ruined him even worse than the one before. DDD was bad enough, inventing time travel for his younger self and retconning the lore behind the X-Blade in order to turn him into this nigh-omnipotent mastermind who was progressing a convoluted master plan this whole time (trivializing all of his prior incarnations and schemes in the process, to say nothing of the heroes / players' work in thwarting them) and who split himself into many different characters at once which made him more of a plot device than a person. But at least there he seemed to be formidable enough with how he'd backed the heroes into a corner, and his goal appeared to be the same as before. KH3 not only made a total mockery of him, his plan, and his organization even as it continued to talk him up as "the most powerful Keyblade Master ever" and "planning for every eventuality", but his backstory changed again with the reveal he had been a boy in Scala ad Caelum, the X-Blade lore changed again in a way that blatantly contradicted the previous games which officially made all his actions in BBS make no logical sense, and his blurry motivation became a clear one that had never been hinted as a possibility before (it in fact was in total contradiction to his established character!) which thus changed his goal from scientific curiosity into well-intentioned fascism. The Re:Mind DLC gave him a better send-off, but it also retconned his past some more in a way that made it clear what a tool he was, making all that hype given to him since DDD feel pointless.

Dark Road then built off him being a boy in Scala ad Caelum, his fascist motive rant, and the DLC scene of his past, giving him a full-on "sympathetic" backstory that really isn't that sympathetic at all (Eraqus suffered the exact same trauma and while flawed he didn't become a straight-up evil psychopath) and even turned him into this special snowflake descendant of Ephemer (the founder of Scala ad Caelum and its order of Keyblade wielders) who is also this important prophesized "Child of Destiny", which officially takes anything that was remotely relatable about Xehanort and throws it in the trash. We even find out that Master Xehanort isn't even that old and just shaved his head, meaning that he had no good reason to ever possess Terra other than "it was etched!" And Melody of Memory is the final gut-punch, as it takes the original Xehanort we started out with and turns him into an idiot who somehow thinks the very young child he kidnapped is a willing co-conspirator and thus talks to her like an adult who would understand or remember all the convoluted jargon that he's espousing, leaving Xemnas as the only remotely respectable incarnation of Xehanort.

You suck, Xehanort. And you suck even harder for making him suck, Nomura!

[themattress]

Clips from the videos I recently linked to.

Out of all the main characters, Nomura and Oka's writing in Kingdom Hearts III (and the preceding Dream Drop Distance + 0.2 Birth by Sleep for that matter) significantly derailed five of them, four of whom the video above discusses and the other whom I'll bring up myself.

Axel then: A deeply selfish guy whose pursuit of his own agenda above all else puts him into conflict with others, even his own friends. Has a fiery (heh) side but is usually cool and collected, with a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, and is very smart and calculating.

Axel now: Honestly still selfish but in a bratty petulant way rather than a mature interesting way, and the narrative pretends like this isn't the case and portrays him as this great guy and wonderful friend. He's also hot-headed dumbass whose style of humor is more "wacky", based in catchphrases and self-aware jokes. Yes, I'm aware he has a heart now, but that explaining the difference doesn't work when the series is now claiming he had a heart all along as a Nobody anyway! If Lea's gonna call himself "Axel", he oughta resemble him more!

Kairi then: Spunky and sassy. Prone to reckless actions due to following her heart without thinking. Will fight to the teeth against any enemy trying to chain her down and will always use her agency every chance she gets, even if it's simply sending a letter. While she obviously loves Sora, she cares deeply for others too and does all she can to help them.

Kairi now: Meek and polite, a "Yamato nadeshiko" type. Frantic and self-doubting, to the point of freezing up in combat. Greatest contribution is "believing really hard" rather than doing anything, and who will write a flowery love letter for the sake of it but never send it. Her care for others is de-emphasized in favor of her love for Sora, even though he barely if ever thinks or talks about her when she isn't right in front of him, making her look pathetic.

Riku then: Starts out as a rude, arrogant jerk who uses darkness and falls prey to it, ends up a still rude but humbled and considerate guy who overcomes his darkness and turns it into a unique power of twilight. At peace with following his heart more ("which is Sora-esque").

Riku now: Totally polite, nigh-infallible hero who just uses plain darkness, not twilight, without consequence. Acts like a dull stick in the mud who barely shows emotion from the heart.

Sora then: Just a regular kid/teenager. Could be kind of a dumbass but not to the point of chronic idiocy that's always being made fun of. Reacted proportionately to events around him and was prone to bouts of depression that he covers up with his usual cheerful attitude.

Sora now: More childish than he should be at his age. Stereotypical shonen Idiot Hero, to the point of everyone making fun of him for it. Reacts over-the-top and excited to everything, is seldom if ever depressed about anything short of people dying. "Weak" yet OP all at once.

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness then: Profoundly arrogant in order to cover for his insecurities. Feels as though everything he does is justified. Cares for no-one but himself + darkness.

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness now: Will openly admit to his insecurities and stow his pride. Knows and acknowledges what he does as evil. Apparently cares for "Subject X", and Riku to a degree, plus chides Ansem the Wise for his cold treatment of others. Seems on board with Xehanort's plan which evidently is meant to safeguard the worlds against darkness.

[themattress]

Hot take: this looks like a really fun and unique kind of spin-off game, complete with a lot of Disney charm to it. In other words...exactly like X (Chi) started out like. And that, in addition to my personal Nomura boycott, is why I will most certainly not be playing it. Fool me once....

a city of light and darkness

[finallyfantasy7]

Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - Ultimania book

Part 1: The cover, Tetsuya Nomura's art, and Prologue translation

First page is Crisis Core art

Middle: Zack Fair

Anti-clockwise: Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley, Sephiroth, Director Lazard, Cloud Strife, Tseng of the Turks, and Aerith Gainsborough.

Next,

(Left page)

Prologue:

This story is proof of a young man's life.

In a cruel world where injustice is rampant and human feelings are often trampled on to satisfy desires, how did Shinra's SOLDIER Zack persevere and live his life?

The episodes that are told bring to light the truth that has never before appeared on the main stage of history. The role Zack played for the Planet. The seeds of hope Zack planted will eventually save its future.

A young SOLDIER who fought spurred on by his dream of becoming a hero, dream too pure and innocent to be called ambition. Will he be able to resist the cruel destiny and fulfill his wish?...

Let's watch as it all unfolds.

Through many interconnected stories, we will discover the meaning of Zack's existence.

We will witness the shining trajectory of the life of a warrior who will be a character in this new epic...

Published: Square Enix

Edited: Studio BentStuff

Year: 2007

Language: Japanese

Dimensions: A5

Pages: 591

(Disclaimer: I own several Crisis Core and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII books that have never been officially translated from Japanese to English. I don't speak Japanese at all. I am doing this to satisfy my own curiosity, but since I already did all the work I figured someone else might be interested to see it too. I have used several automatic translators to cross-check the accuracy as much as possible, but if you speak Japanese and spot an error I would be very grateful if you would let me know.)

[saiko-shippai]

Psycho Pass 3 and Kingdom Hearts 3 similarities and differences

Similarities

Both were long awaited third sequels of beloved classics (Psycho Pass and Kingdom Hearts)

Both hyped the fanbases as more news dropped

Both had rushed and mediocre stories that feels empty because there was no conclusion in their stories’ end, opposed to the first Psycho Pass season and Kingdom Hearts II

Both nerfed the characters very badly wondering if the writers just lazy or don’t care anymore

Both divided the fanbases into tiny balkanized groups

The Pro 3 crowd (KH3 and S3) are very vocal and excuses bad writing and dismisses opposing opinions from fans who genuinely care about the two series

Even today, the Pro 3 cannot come to terms with this fact

Both fandoms are collectively waiting for the fourth installment, the pro 3 crowd are excited and the anti 3 crowd are worried

Differences

Fandom size, Kingdom Hearts fandom is big compared to Psycho Pass fandom

Kingdom Hearts fandom suffers from ship wars, Psycho Pass fandom did not until recently with Shinkane shippers

The second sequels: Psycho Pass 2 was bad (but not on the same level as season 3) while Kingdom Hearts 2 was a masterpiece in both story and gameplay

Different writers, Psycho Pass’s original writer Gen Urobuchi may not come back and Tow Ubukata is now the head writer who deteriorate Psycho Pass since season 2, Tetsuya Nomura has been writing Kingdom Hearts since the very beginning and it wouldn’t be same without him, it also wouldn’t be the same without Yoko Shimomura and Hikaru Utada either 

[yuisdad]

NORN9 but better

(If Norn9 was written by Tetsuya Nomura or the developers of Haven, it would've been friggin BIS)

Norn9 ~Norn + Nonette~ is a 2013 otome and science fiction game created by Otomate, and...it honestly sucks. Outside of character interactions, most of the romance in the game was garbage and the plot and lore was pretty confusing to follow due to how they told the story through the routes. (It doesn't surprise me that this game was written by the same person who did Brothers Conflict: dad edition, aka, Home, Honey Home.) Very long post ahead.

In my revised version, I wouldn't have it be an otome game in the first place. If it were up to me personally, the only established romantic relationships would be Mikoto x Sakuya and Natsuhiko x Ron. The rest of the relationships would be found family becuase I'm a sucker for that trope.

General revised plot:

Sorata Suzuhara is an intelligent 12 year old going on a feild trip with his class. He feels isolated from the rest of his peers due to his higher intellect, whereas other children might be concerned about their high scores on video games or if they'll miss the new episode of their favorite show, Sorata is concerened if his inventions are finallized enough to not cause an explosion and if he'll be accepted as a man of science due to his age. Despite this, he's still a cringe kid living in 2015, most likely playing Minecraft and FNAF lol. Sorata, feeling rather bored about correcting the tour guide on some wrong history, decides to venture on his own without anyone noticing. As he does, he hears a girl singing a song somewhere in the museum. Following the singing, he finds a rather odd looking girl floating in an abandoned part of the museum. Sorata and the girl, who's name is Aine, chat for a bit. Aine reveals that she is a robot from the future, and that Sorata is her creater. Sorata is shocked that his future self created artificial intelligence, and this causes him to want to show Aine off to his peers to show that A.I. and time travel are possible. However, when he takes Aine's hand, she suddenly takes him into the future.

When Sorata wakes up, not only can he not find Aine, but he finds himself in the future...yet it looks like the Taisho Era. When asking for help, he finds a teenage girl with pink hair and a modern school uniform walk up to him, asking if he needs any help. As Sorata explains his situation, he sees the girl carrying a book, as if she's looking for information about this situation. The book appears to be a journal of some sorts, and judging by how the girl is using it, it seems to be a journal with written social cues and situations. When aksed for her name, the girl looks through her journal and says it's Koharu. Sorata wonders if Koharu can even remember her age without looking at her journal, which Koharu proves this by stating she's 17, making Sorata even more confused. Koharu then states that she's heading to a ship called Norn that's taking her to something called Nonette, and believes that it could help Sorata's situation. As the two head towards the ship, Sorata says he's from the past and is the inventor of a robot named Aine. Koharu says that she's been looking foward to meeting other people like her, showing Sorata that she can control fire, making Sorata both amazed and confused about the future he's in. Sorata suddenly notices that he's being taken to a grassy field rather than the docks...Then the Norn ship suddenly comes down and it's revealled to be an orb that flies in the sky. 

Sorata and Koharu are taken into the ship and meet the other members: 

Masamune Toya, the pilot and leader of the ship with the ability of seeing other people's past memories.

Kakeru Yuiga, a nice yet mischevious guy who's ability is to grow and control greenery.

Senri Ichonose, a shy and anti-social boy with water abilities.

Akito Shukuri, the short-tempered older brother of Senri who's there for moral support.

Heishi Otomaru, an energetic and friendly guy who uses telepathy.

Nanami Shiranui, a stoic girl who's a ninja and can erase people's memories.

Mikoto Kuga, a refined and arrogant girl who creates barriers and force-fields.

Sakuya Nijou, Mikoto's gentle and wise boyfriend with an androgyness appearence who can see the future.

Itsuki Kagami, a playful and teasing guy with the ability to manipulate dreams.

And Ron...who's also there...He naps and eats a lot...but he's there to...protect the Norn ship? 

The poeple with abilities are reffered to as Espers, who's job is to give there powers to Nonette so it can protect the world from danger. As the Espers practice there powers and Sorata tries learning more about the future he's in, one day, there is a sudden attack on the ship from an inventor named Natsuhiko Azuma, who seems to know Sorata. Only Sorata and Mikoto know what Natsuhiko looks like after he leaves, leaving them to wonder why he invaded the Norn ship. 

The game then bracnches into different routes based on the protaginists; Koharu, Mikoto, Nanami, and Sorata, with Mikoto and Sorata being locked. Playing Koharu and Nanami reveals;

.The year of the future is 8075.

.Koharu grew up isolated due to her fire powers, causing her to not remember her name well because she was often referred to as a "monster."

.Koharu was told by a hooded man that at the age of 17, she will aboard the Norn ship and use her powers for good. He also gave her the uniform, which is why she had it before entering the Norn ship, who usually provides the uniforms.

.Mikoto and Sakuya are childhood friends to lovers.

.Ron has a boyfriend and won't shut up about how amazing he is.

.Kakeru is the adopted son of famous political figure and inventor Shiro Yuiga.

.Masamune and Shiro work for The World, an organization who built the Norn ship and Nonette.

.Akito, Senri and Nanami grew up in a drouted village, with Senri being forced to use his powers to provide water. Because of Senri's weak constituion, this caused a toll on his body, leaving Akito to tell everyone to leave him alone. Nanami's dad, the village chief, forces Nanami to erase Senri's memories of his brother so the village can kill Akito. After this, Nanami tells Akito everything that happened, and helps Akito leave before they could kill him, promising to protect Senri.

.Senri's memories of his brother slowly return to him during his pre-teen years, and him and Akito reunite when they enter the Norn ship. Akito changed his last name to dissociate himself from the village.

.Heishi was abandoned by his parents and was picked up by a group of traveling musicians, where he learned to play the flute.

.Masamune gets drunk on sugar and shows a more passionate and affectionate side to him (and is surprisingly good at flirting when drunk lol)

.Ron grew up poor and had to steal to survive. He also had poor eyesight, which only grew worse over time. Two years before the events of the game, he met Natsuhiko, who gave him sunglasses that could help him see for the time being as Natsuhiko was making Ron artificial eyes. Ron immediately fell in love with Natsuhiko, with the latter falling for him overtime when they became friends. Even after having both artificial eyes, Ron keeps the sunglasses on because he thinks they make him look cool and Natsuhiko made them.

.Ron later admits to being a traitor and was working with Natsuhiko to stop the Norn ship from reaching Nonette. 

After playing Koharu and Nanami, choosing Mikoto as the protagonist reveals;

.A young Sakuya had a future vision of him dying for Mikoto and other people. They both promise to always protect each other and to prevent that from happening.

.Itsuki had an older twin sister, but she died at the age of 14, which is why he presents himself as the cool older brother to the younger espers, especially Nanami and Heishi.

.In spite of Natsuhiko's cold first impression, he's actually a nerd who only knows how to invent things. He's also the desendant of Sorata.

.Future Sorata is dead.

.The World's plan is to bring the Espers to Nonette so it can reset the world to turn it into a utopia. It has reset the world three times, which cause the rest of the world to have techonology and architecture similar to that of the 1920s, despite it being the 8000s.

.Natsuhiko used to work for The World with Masamune, but after learning their ultimate plan to reset everything in the world, he decided to rebel against them. Ron joined Natsuhiko since the resets did nothing to make the world a better place.

.Natsuhiko and Ron want to stop the reset from happeneing so technological advancements won't disappear.

After Sorata is unlocked;

.Shiro is actually the head of The World and is mind-controlling Kakeru as a spy to make sure the reset happens. Kakeru is mind-controlled via the ear cuff he wears.

."Nonette" refers to Aine, who was then renamed Aion by Shiro for copyright purposes.

.Shiro's goal is to find his dead wife, Haruka, via reincarnation and to mold the world into his own image. After finding Haruka's reincarnation, he intends to cause a World War 3 so humanity can bend to his will.

.Shiro was the hooded man who gave Koharu the uniform and told her to find the Norn ship at 17.

.Koharu is the reincarnation of Haruka, and Shiro wants to use Koharu's soul and memories to transfer them into a robot version of Haruka.

.The only thing that remains the same after the reset is Aine. Because of this, Shiro transfers his memories into a robot version of himself made from parts of Aine so he can survive each reset. Robot Haruka is also made of Aine's parts.

.Masamune and the rest of The World's team were all victims to Shiro's doings since they were never told the true intentions of how Nonette was used.

.Future Sorata made Aine with the purpose of helping humanity when he worked for The World. When he hears about how The World intends to reset everything, he takes Aine and tries to leave, but was killed.

.Aine went back into the past with the intention of telling Sorata about the future so he can change it. However, her time was limited, and when Sorata took Aine's hand, she accidentally brought him to the future instead.

.Aine is deteriorating because of Shiro using her to make robot clones of himself, Haruka, and a robot army to set his World War 3 plan into motion. 

Sorata/the player will then have to choices to make: Reset the world or destroy Aine.

If Sorata chooses to reset the world, he hesitates, leaving a controlled Kakeru to use Aine to take the Espers' powers. Aine becomes Shiro's weapon. When Shiro tries shooting the other Espers dead, Sakuya takes all of the bullets as they run away, turning his vision into reality. The exception was Koharu, who was taken by Shiro. After a timeskip of ten years, Shiro is the ruler of the world, with an uncomfortable looking Haruka by his side. The only survivors left are Natsuhiko, Ron, and Sorata, who are trying to find a way to take Sorata back to the past. 

If Sorata chooses to destroy Aine, the Espers use there powers to protect the citizens from Shiro's army, with the help of Akito, Ron, and Natsuhiko. During the battle, Koharu burns Kakeru's ear cuff of, freeing him from Shiro's control.

Aine takes Sorata to the island where she was created to protect him. Sorata then tells Aine to sing a song loud enough that it will destroy her from the inside, which in turn will destroy Shiro. Sorata promises to make Aine when he gets back to the present. Aine sings the lullaby that future Sorata used to sing to her, loudly enough for the entire world to here. This results in her breaking down, causing Shiro's body to not only deteriorate, but his soul is finally destroyed from the Espers using their powers as one, essentially "reseting" Shiro's soul into oblivion.

Everyone then heads to the island to find a way to return Sorata back to the present. They reuse Aine's main power source and some of their powers to create a device that allows Sorata to return home. Everyone gives there goodbyes before Sorata returns to the present.

In the future, the Espers travel around the world to save humanity using there powers. Masamune becomes Koharu and Kakeru's legal guardian, Heishi and Itsuki look after of Nanami while Akito looks after Senri, Mikoto and Sakuya are living their best life as a loving and cringe couple (affectionate), and Natsuhiko and Ron recreate The World organization into their own business. Meanwhile, in Sorata's time, ten years pass as a 22 year old Sorata finishes making Aine. When she wakes up, Sorata welcomes Aine to the world she'll soon experience.