#KH1 is not indicative of the emotions the characters feel NOW

[passive-t-u-m-b-l-r-user]

God forbid Kairi have to find a new dream that isn’t being with Sora

[lightandfellowship]

As much as I would have liked Sora to share a paopu fruit with Kairi and Riku, I think a valid reading of the canon events is that Riku has no anxiety about Sora leaving him anymore, and thus would never think to share one with him; it's just not necessary to him when his resolve to stay by Sora's side and "protect what matters" is so set in stone now. It shows how much he's grown from his insecure, jealous self in KH1. He doesn't need to "intertwine their destinies" in order to be with Sora; he simply always will be, because he's decided it.

Kairi, on the other hand, does still have some anxiety about her friends leaving her behind, so she was more likely to resort to using an unconfirmed legend like that in the hopes that it would actually work and prevent Sora from leaving her again. Rather than believing that they'll always be together simply because they want to be and because their connection is strong enough to accomplish that on its own, Kairi feels that she has to turn to the forces of destiny in order to guarantee that she remains with Sora (an understandable train of logic considering how many times they've been separated). IMO, it shows that her character is still on the road to achieving the same level of confidence and fearlessness toward her relationships that Riku now has.

(This is all assuming that she genuinely believes in the power of the paopu fruit, that her intent was to utilize the legend, and that it wasn't simply a symbolic gesture; a way for her to show Sora how much he means to her. Which, it might be! But I like the interpretation that her being the one to initiate the sharing of the paopu fruit indicates the secret emotions that she's struggling with.)

[angel-with-a-pipette]

I’m sorry I am replying late, but... I genuinely have problems answering this appropriately.

You see, I look at Sora and I am happy. Just seeing his face makes me happy and I could gush about something he did and said or just the way he looks all day, but your ask made me think. Yeah, why do I love him so much? Can I even explain it? Is there an actual reason?

(Warning: Long post is long. Tons of screenshots. You have been warned)

It’s everything about him. It’s the fact that I got to see him grow in the last 12 years, from a 14 year old awkward and goofy but cute boy to a 15/16 year old handsome young man who had to mature far past his age with everything he has been through. But his personality is just so delightful, too.

He is a funny person:

He has sass:

He radiates confidence:

But despite being thrown into these crazy adventures and being forced to make very adult decisions and having to fight the fight of adults, he still retains his childlike wonder:

Actually, he really keeps the child inside of him alive and it’s precious how playful he is. It’s also telling how we get to see more of this playful side after he’s been nearly norted :/ 

It’s like he is trying to live life to the fullest now - and he is so genuine and uninhibited about this. Not to mention downright precious:

He’s the type of person people like to surround themselves with, he shines as bright as the sun with only a smile:

But most of all?

It’s his love.

Sora has practically become a symbol of love and hope in this franchise.

He is always ready to help people despite not even knowing them:

He is even ready to help somebody who attacked him prior. He can immediately tell Elsa was just scared and doesn’t hesitate to protect her:

And he doesn’t leave Riku behind even though he turned into a villain right before his eyes:

Heck, he’s even friends with a bunch of stuffed animals! 

And gladly so, he is even super upset when he suddenly vanishes from the Winnie the Pooh book cover, indicating that his connection to them might have been harmed:

And if that wasn’t sweet enough - can you picture a 15 year old boy starring in a musical just to cheer up his mermaid bestie? Because that’s what Sora absolutely does:

And don’t even get me started on how sweet he is to little creatures and kids!! He even tends to crouch down to their level to make them comfortable:

Just look how sweet he is to Hiro who clearly looks up to Sora:

Upon witnessing Will’s death, Sora freaks out and goes to punch Davy Jones because he is done witnessing unfair deaths:

But not only Will - Sora has such a big heart that seeing Flynn die shortly after meeting him devastates him as well:

And when he is revived, Sora is more than relieved, so relieved in fact that he has to hug Donald and Goofy:

It’s so rare to see a male protagonist be so openly affectionate with his friends in general and it’s such a fresh breath of air:

He also doesn’t hesitate to show tears of relief and happiness:

(okay, he was a little flustered about that xD)

And he is so incredibly selfless, too, willing to give his life for Kairi:

He even expresses the wish to help Strelitzia Nameless star despite barely clinging onto life himself, if that isn’t selfless, I don’t know what is:

Sora insists that his friends are his power and he values them most:

And he pretends he is alright just for their sake, not allowing his sad feelings to surface if he can help it:

He even goes as far as to doubt his own self-worth without them:

And it’s the connection to them that shows Sora ultimately that everything can have a heart and he acknowledges it:

And of course, one thing that gets overlooked a lot: His love for Kairi. How he started out crushing on her, but still feeling so protective over her that he just had to share a paopu with her, no matter how, as long as he did it before Riku could:

He promised to return back to the Island with Riku in tow, but he can’t hold his promise. Sora feels guilty about it and doesn’t even have it in him to rejoice until she hugs him first:

And in KH3, they finally confess their feelings for real, by sharing a paopu fruit:

She is his light.

Their love is so sweet and wholesome and innocent and it just melts my heart when I look at them. Sora is so clearly in love and it suits him so well:

Needless to mention that Haley Joel Osment’s performance for him just adds to the richness that is Sora’s character. Without him and the emotions he is able to emote, I doubt Sora would have such an effect on me. In fact, I didn’t originally play the English version of Kingdom Hearts and while I always had a fondness for Sora, I only really fell in love with him in the last years, when I played KH1 and 2 FM for the first time, when I got to play CoM and BBS for the first time and especially now in KH3, his arguably best performance since KH2. With every scene, my love for Sora just grew.

Also, how can you not squeal at these images?

He’s the good this world needs. The unconditional love, the happiness, the helpfulness. If more people were like Sora, I truly believe this world would be a better place.

I’m sorry, I don’t feel like I did a good job at explaining at all ._. I also don’t feel that I remotely did Sora justice :/ There are so many other people who’d be more eloquent than I am, sorry ><

[semi-imaginary-place]

KH3 is like half a game, it feels incomplete and clunky. It sets up events that never happen and tries to force moments without having the build up to support them. The game does some things really well and reaches some truly heartfelt emotional beats and solid character moments.

3:48 PM - 31 Jan 20191 reply0 retweets1 likeReply 1 Retweet  Like 1 View Tweet activity

The Disney (and Pixar) worlds were pretty well incorporated and mostly able to contribute thematically to the game unlike sometimes in past games were the worlds were kind of just dropped into the game.

The Toy Box much like Halloween Town brings up how dolls/toys/those who begin as inanimate objects can gain hearts. Monstropolis allows a plausible  entry point for Vanitas with the connection between fear induced scream  energy and the negative emotions of the unversed.

Of all the worlds, I enjoyed Sora's time with the Big Hero 6 gang the most. Their interactions felt genuine and I had a lot of fun watching them. It also had the most complete arc of the worlds with the continuation of the movie's theme of living after loss.

Most of the worlds' story arcs felt incomplete. Starting in Olympus we are left hanging with Pete finding Pandora's box and the city in ruins. The story just kind of ends. There also was not enough time and build up to give significance to Hercules' choice to rejoin the mortals.

In Twilight Town, with all the discussion surrounding hearts and data from Coded to KH2 to KH3, that a whole other Twilight Town exists was completely dropped. It felt like the game was leading the audience somewhere and then never followed through.

With the Toy Box, the Sora, Goofy, and Donald leave and don't come back with Woody, Buzz, and the others still stranded in another world just hoping to one day meet Andy again. The search for Andy and the other toys is the main arc for this world and its never resolved.

While some worlds aren't quite as obviously half a story arc, all of them could have used more time. Many of them assume you have already seen the source material. In Frozen, Hans being the villian is the big twist but with the first half of the movie cut, there's no impact.

Pirates of the Caribbean makes no sense to anyone who hasn't seen the movies. I wish there was a scene of Sora unlocking Tia Dalma given how it was setup to happen. There was good characterization for Sora here though on how both he and Jack are free spirits.

The Winnie the Poo part while sweet (because I love Winnie the Poo sections) doesn't go anywhere. Sora just loses his connection with Poo and disappears from the cover, and then a few mini games later he's back. Sora's comment on how their bond has weakened never goes anywhere.

In the other games you search for lost pages or help Poo regain his memories, here there is no story. It's a lost opportunity to do, well something,  but that can be said of much of the game. They could have used this part to talk about how relationships must be nurtured.

The ending also fell a bit flat because of the buildup-payoff problem. The game tries to show the characters despairing only for someone to swoop in and give them hope. The problem is that in the Keyblade Graveyard they do this so many times it loses its impact.

Given the amount of stuff this game should have resolved, not enough time was spent on that. Instead precious time was spent trying to create sequel hooks. In doing so, the cohesiveness of the game as a unit was compromised. The game was too short for all they tried to achieve.

At times the narrative would point "Look! its a  happy/sad/intense/etc. scene", but without a proper build up, these  scenes lacked emotional weight.

I'm conflicted on KHUX in KH3.  I liked Chirithy reuniting with Ven, Laurium possibly remembering, and Strelitzia's maybe cameo. The black box stuff could have been cut. Its to connect  KHUX with future games, but it does nothing for the Xehanort saga and bogs KH3 down.

Then there is the mysterious girl with connections to Lea, Isa, and Ansem that we are only hearing of now. Who is she? Is she Ava? I don't know but they should have saved it for another game.

I thought all the keyblades of the Union members coming to help was a nice touch, but why did Ephemer of all people show up? He was a Dandelion; the player was the one who chose to stay (except the player has no canon appearance in khux which makes them hard to depict).

On one hand I got really excited looking for my KHUX username but on the other hand it was a little too 4th wall breaking and took me out of the game. The other 4th wall leaning scenes with Axel didn't do it for me either.

I did like the definitely-not-instagram loading screens. They were just this side of absurd to be amusing. It was cute. Humor is a subjective thing but I didn't like the increase in jokes in this game. It broke immersion for me.

Some were funny like Verum Rex. Others though felt forced. KH3 had more Donald, Sora, and Goofy poking fun at each other. At first it was fun, but then they kept doing it and it got old.

Maybe its because of all the jokes and narrative problems broke my immersion in the game or maybe its because I'm older now, but KH3 wasn't as magical an experience for me as the other games.

I don't mean magic in how many spells Donald can cast but in that sense wonder, that the extraordinary is possible. That sense of magic is why the Roxas prologue of KH2 is one of my favorite parts of the franchise.

Part of it also is that the section where Sora goes saving everyone's hearts from the Lich after they "died" didn't reach me emotionally. Which is a shame since the part right before where Sora runs around in the Final World and talks with the stars is one of my favorite parts.

I was surprised we didn't see more Dives to the Heart and battles at the center of the heart given the Terranort, Ventus-Vanitas, Xion, etc. After Sora got the power of awakening I was expecting him and Riku to use that to free Xion and Terra.

And then we would get an epic battle where Terra finally kicks Xehanort out of his own body. I also wanted to see Aqua beat up Xehanort. Aqua's suppose to be super strong from spending 10 years in the Realm of Darkness.

Kairi deserved better. Kairi deserved more. 3 games (II, 3D, III) on how Kairi trains to become a keyblade wielder and she doesn't get to do anything. Why was she kidnapped anyways? The answer is to give an excuse for Sora at the end to have a "I must do this alone" moment.

Kairi was kidnapped just so Sora could angst over her and so he could go save her. She deserved better.

The developers really pushed the Sora-Kairi romance this game. I was disoriented since we since the last game we saw a lot of romantic indications was 17 years ago in KH1. Riku got third-wheeled this game.

Enough complaining, parts that worked pretty well/were well executed: Big Hero 6, Monsters Inc, Sora finding the Door to Darkness in Destiny Islands and Aqua returning to the Realm of Light, Sora's interaction with other characters(Rapunzel, BH6, Jack, etc), the Final World.

Visually the environments are amazing! I was so happy running around everywhere. Its pretty. (and the heartless are cute)

KH3 was on the low side for number of worlds visited. Again, I'm surprised how (comparatively) short the game is. There was a lack on Final Fantasy characters as well (or well videogame characters given how TWEWY was in 3D).

I would have loved to see a Moana world. Moana, Maui, and Sora interactions would have been great. Thematically it would have worked too since Moana's plot centers on how Te Fiti losing her heart changed her.

In every KH there's always been some wham moments and that didn't happen to me at all in KH3... until the every end with Luxu. Many of us have been suspicious of Xigbar for a very long time. His organization chair height is too high. He seems to know more than he should...

As much as I am complaining, I do like the Kingdom Hearts III. Its a good game.

I've said it before, but KH:coded is a thematic summary of the entire series and one of the important points in that game is how Data Sora understands hurt. Data Sora understood how to live through hurt and this is something we see Sora learn as well through the games.

In CoM Sora did not understand this. All the way to 3D he did not know how to deal with hurt so when Roxas shared all his pain, that contributed to Sora sinking into darkness. In KH3 though Sora has grown and can accept hurt.

I would have though liked to have seen a more overt conclusion to Sora's relationship to darkness. Sora has always had darkness in him, he's not a princess of heart (or Ven) and there were hints before KH3 that he was falling to darkness.

Anti/Rage form are a manifestations of that darkness. Maybe this was just sloppy character writing, but Sora is noticeably meaner during KH2 and at the end he says "maybe the darkness has gotten to me, too". In KH3, besides rage form Sora's darkness isn't directly addressed.

Back to UX. The devs connected the epilogue, the secret reports, and UX well. That's all that was needed really. From Backcover we already know the black box is important. KH3 shouldn't have wasted time focusing on it.

And about X girl )Shuld?? idk). It really is awkward how they bring her into KH3. If she's the reason Lea and Isa got into this mess they should have dropped a line in 358/2 or one of the other games something like "Don't forget we're doing this for her"

Another good scene was Aqua giving Ven head pats. This gave me life.

Scala ad Caelum was built inverse on top of Daybreak Town. I didn't notice! Never mind what I said earlier, there's the "oh shit... what" moment. I'm just going to sit here mind blown thinking of all the implications...

[bluerosesburnblue]

The issue being that I don't think that the KH3 characterization is bad, precisely because of the context from DDD, which was also a large part of the post that I linked to. That you are missing a large part of Sora's development without DDD, causing people to misunderstand what's being represented in KH3. It's like you skipped to the end of a book and went "the main character's acting totally different from the middle, that's OOC!" when you skipped over key scenes for their development at the 3/4 mark. All Kingdom Hearts games are in a single continuity, and there is no "side game" that you can skip without missing large chunks of who these characters are. If you know the context and still don't like it, I don't have a problem with that, but you not knowing the context surrounding what you're speaking about doesn't make it bad, it just makes your stance weak

It's hyperbole that's also just wrong. It implies that he's sad and that Pete is needlessly picking on him, as opposed to angry and frustrated with himself after being rightly called out, which is obvious with the previously stated context you're missing by skipping DDD. As for the finale scene, that's a false equivalence because obviously people are going to react more strongly to almost all of their closest friends getting killed and their own imminent death as opposed to two guys who you've known for maybe a month ditching you for your friend who stole your stuff. "My friends are my power" is harder to pull off when those friends are dead. And, again, you are missing the context from DDD, where the entire finale of that game was about tearing down Sora's self-confidence by having his good nature taken advantage of. The very traits that let him get through KH1 nearly get him possessed by Xehanort. I cannot stress enough that you are missing the entire point of his characterization in KH3 if you are not aware that DDD was his biggest failing, a game dedicated to tearing his character down, which he has not gotten over yet because KH3 happens immediately after DDD. And by immediately I mean, like, a week or two later at most, maybe not even that

The only reason he's asking is because he doesn't believe that's our Riku, but it looks like Riku and sounds like Riku and is claiming to be Riku. And, again, he doesn't remember that Repliku exists, so the idea of this Riku being a copy won't occur to him. You see a guy who looks exactly like your best friend, but a whole year younger and you're going to ask the same thing, i.e. "Is that really you and if so why do you look like that?" If he thought it was post-KH2 Riku as we know him, he wouldn't bother asking that question, he'd just cut straight to "why are you here with the Organization when you should be in the Realm of Darkness with King Mickey?" Your point was that it doesn't make sense for Sora to think that post-KH2 Riku would be a villain, and he doesn't indicate that he thinks that this is a post-KH2 Riku at all, just a Riku. When time-travel and possession are both on the table, it's a valid question to ask. This point wasn't even hyperbole, you were just wrong

Your first example was you over-exaggerating a very minor emotional moment as a reason that you didn't like KH3 Sora, and KH3 Sora being "over emotional" is a common reason for disliking the character, that's all I meant by that (hence the use of "nobody" rather than "you"). That you're playing into a common argument I've heard, which you've now doubled-down on in this response and that I personally feel has a valid narrative reasoning for, which I've already explained. This wasn't even an argumentative point, which is why it was in the tags that elaborated on my own opinion, rather than actually part of the main argument, which stuck to factual analysis

Then watch DDD and go back with the context you're missing before casting judgement on the whole thing with faulty info and claiming that it makes no sense. You say you've seen it multiple times to solidify your stance, but that doesn't matter if you're approaching it with the wrong or incomplete background information. Additionally, the fact that you completely misrepresented the scenes that you brought up as reasons why you didn't like it made your bias very obvious and cast your reasoning, or at the very least your memory, into doubt. This poll closed a year ago, if you didn't want your stance to be scrutinized, you shouldn't have jumped on to make it known or made your own post

I didn't address the "generic nice boy" point because it's literally just your opinion and I said that you were entitled to not like parts of his KH3 characterization for your own reasons. You don't like that he has less bite? Fine. My issue with your post was that the two points that I did address were, factually, not what happened and that was all I intended to debate in the hopes of showing you another side of his characterization that you might have been mistaken on because, again, the information that you presented showed a faulty understanding of the context. If this whole thing had just been your opinion, I wouldn't have bothered responding at all. I'm just here to correct misinformation that you put on my post

Pre-Remind KH3 wasn't the greatest thing ever, but Sora was way better than he was in DDD, where he came off as really slow.

I find Dream Drop Distance to be the absolute worst game in terms of Sora's characterization, and I can't fathom why that's the interpretation of his character that they decided to go with. Sora has never been "Xehanort on 5D chess" levels of smart, but he's not stupid, either. But DDD constantly throws in these... I don't know, "jokes" about his intelligence, like not understanding that "Dream Eaters" is obviously not Neku's name

Did they want to make Sora look stupid to justify having him fail the Mark of Mastery exam? To build up Xehanort? To build up Riku? I have no idea, but I can't say that I agree with the decision. If your smart characters only look smart because you forced everyone around them to act stupid, then you're not writing your smart characters well

Also, since I just noticed I can do this...

[mysticdragon3md3]

Stayed up all night and practically wrote several essays, trying to convince myself to not/buy KH3 Nendo Kairi. Sorry, Kairi. Maybe if you weren't $62. Maybe if you were KH2 version. But as it is, spending that much, after also preordering other things, including a more expensive Nendo Aqua,...I just can't spend that much on a KH3 Nendo Kairi without feeling guilty. Sorry, completionism. But $62 is too high.

12:23 AM 6/22/2021

Yknow what?

If I had the choice between only having money for a 2nd Nendo Joker or a 2nd Nendo England, I'd choose Joker in a heartbeat. So what am I trying so hard to decide here? Do not preorder Hetalia World Stars version Nendo UK! Even though he's blond, you haven't had need of that. And if you really needed him blond in a photo, you could Photoshop him! but let's be serious, people want to see authentic Nendos in photoshoots, and his non-blond hair will mark him as authentic. So you don't get called a bootleg buyer! But what do you care what others think? You care that Nendo England looks like the England from your nostalgia...and for that, you need blond. And I can do that through Photoshop. Because seriously, you've barely used or looked at your current Nendo UK, you haven't been compelled/obsessed with more USUK photoshoots, you haven't even been playing with Nendos US UK much. YOU WOULD NOT EVEN _NOTICE_ IF YOU HAD 2 NENDO UK. You only need one. Your Nendo US doesn't even have sandy blond hair like your anime nostalgia! So what does it matter if UK is off-color!?! ...It matters because you have a chance to get proper-color UK hair. But I don't want to spend all this money. When I first saw this figure announcement for Hetalia World Stars version Nendo UK, my immediate thought was that I don't feel the need to have 2 Nendo UK. I already barely play with the one I have. It wasn't until I realized this 2nd edition Nendo UK has blond hair, that I started thinking I had to have it. But if that's the only reason, then I don't really need to. I don't actually have such an intense need to have it. I've barely had an intense need (anymore) to have my current Nendo UK. So I definitely don't need a 2nd one. And if saving my money on this, will allow me to get possibly a better Nendoroid later, well then, this is an opportunity to revisit that "lost battle" where I wasted money on Bayonetta, 2B, etc---*This* time, I could win that "battle". And then maybe in the future, there'll be a 2nd Joker Nendo or Nendos for Claude and Dimitri! *o* In any case, so many figures end up in the Available Now section, that blond Nendo UK will probably end up there. Or, if you're worried to not have a blond UK ready if GSC later releases a properly sandy-blond Nendo US, then I'm sure if they ever announced a 2nd Nendo Amerrica, then they'd re-release the Nendo UKs. This is not even your last chance, you might have extra money to afford a 2nd Nendo UK in the future, but for sure you know, you don't have the money to waste on a 2nd Nendo UK _right now_. So don't. Save your money for that hypothetical 2nd Nendo Joker in his school uniform, or Nendo Dimitri and Claude, or whatever gets announced from the Nendoroid Select '21 survey results. Remember, that still needs to get announced. So, no on preordering Hetalia World Stars version Nendoroid UK.

As for Kairi...Let's be honest (again). I haven't been obsessed with Kingdom Hearts in years. And even when I was, Kairi was barely in them. I don't have that much of an attachment to Kairi. Even though Oathkeeper is my favorite Keyblade because it came from Kairi, sometimes I fear that emotional impact was more the effectiveness of that plot point in that moment of the first game, more than a reflection of my attachment to Kairi. I have attachments to Riku and Sora. When their Nendoroids were announced, I preordered ALL of them right away. Even though I didn't really like KH2 Sora's outfit. Even though it pained my wallet to buy 3 pairs of the same characters, back to back. Even after all these years, those 2 were the characters I was sure of feeling attachment towards. I can't keep judging whether to buy Kairi's KH3 Nendo, based on possible attachments I might feel towards Kairi in KH3. Because I've had that game for months and I still haven't even opened the case yet! O~o! That should be my strongest indicator of my attachments towards Kairi and willingness to buy Nendos for her, especially KH3 Nendos of her. Admit it: Your KH nostalgia is all wrapped up with KH2, Birth by Sleep, and earlier. I shouldn't be making $62 purchase decisions for Kairi, based on KH3---a game that I'm apparently no longer interested in enough to play immediately. Not getting KH3 Kairi's Nendo feels bad as a completionist and as someone who has real life personal attachments to sibling-like groups of 3 friends. But I knew when she was announced that I still preferred her KH2 look, because I've just always liked long(er) hair. And I love her dress in KH2. Yes, I have to gamble on GSC eventually announcing a KH2 Nendo Kairi, and then when I get her, all my "groups of 3 friends" figure photoshoots will be limited to Sora, Riku, and Kairi's KH2 depictions...even though I don't really like KH2 Sora's look...But am I even that compelled to take photos of Sora/Riku/Kairi in the first place? I barely take pics of my current, KH1 Sora/Riku Nendos right now. But if KH3 is my last Kingdom Hearts game (even if my status is still to "eventually" play it), wouldn't I want Sora/Riku/Kairi's last depiction in my memories to be what I own as Nendoroids? I mean, it would be the perfect end-cap image to the series for me. And Square said that KH3 is the end of the Xehanort Saga or something. It's the end cap. ---There I go, basing a Nendoroid purchase on a game I haven't even played yet, while I ALSO already know I prefer Kairi's KH2 look. Y'know what? What if they do eventually release a KH2 Kairi, a KH1 Kairi, even Terra and Ven as Nendoroids? They'll definitely choose some previous Nendos to re-release alongside them! And if they release another version of Kairi, then guess what? The re-release will be KH3 Kairi. And maybe by then, I'll have the money for this. Or at least, the results for the Nendoroids Select '21 survey would have been released by then, and then I can know whether my money can go towards a character I want more, or towards a KH3 Kairi re-release. I mean, it'd be different if Kairi played a bigger role in KH3, and though I've been staying away from most spoilers, I did hear that she got sidelined AGAIN. And sure, it seems she might be the protagonist of the upcoming rhythm game, but I may not get that. I'm stopping at KH3, remember? So if she's getting sidelined in KH3 again and in the rhythm game, she's like asleep or something, reminiscing, just being used as the overall story's framing device,...then that doesn't sound like a lot of screentime for me to get attached to her. I mean, when I was younger, I thought Kairi did a lot in KH2, but I didn't cry when she reunited with Sora, I cried when Sora and Riku reunited. (I don't even ship those babies! LOL) ---I feel really bad writing all this to convince myself that I don't like Kairi enough to spend $62 on her. It's not like I hate her. I don't even *dislike* her! I LIKE her!!!! It's just...I've been retroactively organizing my Nendoroid

inventory lately, and I've been seeing all the money I've wasted on figures that I only bought out of completionism, that made me cringe inside at the pain this would cause my wallet, because I didn't love the character enough to jump and thrash in my chair with excitement, when I saw their figure announcements and "DAMN THE COST!"... If KH3 Kairi Nendo can't make me feel that way, then I shouldn't be buying her.

There's a perfect counter example in this month's preorder interests!!! I wasn't expecting Pop Up Parade Kikyo! I don't even like static scale figures! I like articulated figures! And chibi too! Pop Up Parade isn't either of those things! And I haven't been a fan of Inuyasha in years! I haven't been obsessing over anything Rumiko Takahashi in years! But when I saw Kikyo's Pop Up Parade announced, I knew I had to buy her. I jumped up and thrashed in my chair. I gasped. I uttered "ohmygawd" over and over like I was losing my mind. Even now, I occasionally browse her announcement pics, just to admire my waifu some more. That's how ALL my figure preorders should make me feel.

And I don't feel that way about KH3 Nendo Kairi.

And I don't feel that way about Hetalia World Stars version Nendo UK/England.

I kind of want to be suspicious if Nendo Aqua makes me feel that way, but what's there to be suspicious about? I'm too attached to her. The majority of my favorite cosplay memories are attached through her. On top of that, her character design is so pretty! She qualifies as what I call in my figure collecting, a "beauty piece", a figure whose design or sculpt is so pretty, that whether I even know the character/series is negligible for me to enjoy owning that figure. Aqua's got that AND she's endeared herself to me. Plus, she's a nice character. I got invested in her BBS story, her 0.2 story, and curiosity about her in KH3 is a big part of why I never concede that I'll someday play that game. I like Aqua. And her character design is pretty. I shouldn't feel guilty about preordering her Nendoroid this month. Even if a future hypothetical Ky Kiske Nendoroid gets announced in the possible future, I would gladly spend money on both Aqua and Ky. I'd make my budget work.

So, sounds like I'm preordering:

Pop Up Parade Kikyo

Nendoroid Aqua

and that's it.

1:37 AM 6/22/2021

Y'know the funny thing is that I feel like if GSC did announce a KH2 Kairi, I'd want KH3 Kairi too. ...She is pretty cute... Damn it. This wouldn't be such a problem if she wasn't $62!!!!!

Looking back through my Nendoroid Inventory, most of my 2017 Nendoroids were under $40! That's because the currency exchange rate was to our advantage. Because the US$ was stronger vs the yen back then, we got everything pretty much at least $5 off! But now we buy from GSC Shop US, and their prices don't account for currency exchange rate changes. (But can I justify switching back to preordering from GSC's international shop, when they have $20 shipping vs GSC US's $3/figure shipping, and we're still in a pandemic so I should limit my purchases to as local as possible? I feel like especially in the pandemic, I have to stick to the GSC US shop.) A 4000yen Nendo isn't $35.30 like it was for me in 2017. Now a 4000yen Nendo is probably like $40 at GSC Shop US. Hold on...Browsing through the GSC international online shop...Even the simple Nendos, like this Nendoroid Steven A Starphase, just a guy in a suit, is already 6930yen! These Bofuri Nendo preorders right now? BOTH ARE 6600YEN EACH!!! In 2017, I got the freaking special edition harvest moon Kagamine Len and Rin Nendoroids for $35.30 each!. I thought that maybe Square was charging GSC extra licensing fees since they would prefer to make money off their own figure lines (Play Arts Kai, Bring Arts, Play Arts Mini, etc.). But it seems like Nendoroids are just more expensive in 2021. O______________O!!!!!!!!!!!! In 2017/2018, even the freaking Madoka Magica maiko version Nendoroids were only $42.36, $43.99, $39.71! And those had so many tiny printed floral details! And accessories! O~o! Same for my detailed Touken Ranbu and KanColle Nendoroids back then! O_O!?!?!???????!!!??????????? Nendoroids are just going to be more expense now. Wow.

I guess the important thing is that if I buy Nendo Kairi, that when it comes time to unbox her, I don't get that sickly unboxing feeling in my stomach, where I can't believe I spent money on this. Like, Kiso is cool, but I don't know her and I'm certainly not obsessed with her. I shouldn't have bought her, especially for over $50. Same with the Akizuki sisters. Probably same with Shoukaku, though she seemed nice in the anime. And certainly the lack of attachment applies to my Nendoroid Iowa. More than half my Touken Ranbu Nendoroids, I bought without really knowing their characters. Half of them, I bought just to prove to Good Smile Company, the demand for male figures. Soon after those first few TouRabu toudans, GSC announced their Orange Rouge line: "Good Smile Company and Max Factory's brand dedicated to male character figures and goods." And yeah, I'm super sentimental enough that even though I didn't really know these characters, now that they're in my collection, they're MINE, they're my precious little tsukumogami babies, whom I wouldn't trade away, no matter how much my finances complain. Plus, I have so much anxiety, that selling/trading is too much stress for me. If my reluctant and failed attempts to sell the lesser parts of my manga collection at swap meets have proven, is that even if I wasn't obsessed with the thing I collected, and even if I have an easy opportunity to get rid of them, WHILE making money in doing so,...I still just can't do it. That's why I threw away all my Nendoroids' packaging plastics when I ran out of storage room for them. I knew I was too chicken and too sentimental to ever sell any of my Nendoroids. Even the ones that gave me that sickly unboxing feeling in my stomach, thinking about the $50+ money I wasted.

---Even when I could have instead been spending it on Nendoroids of characters I actually love! What if a school uniform Nendo Joker gets announced? Or a Nendoroid Claude and Dimitri? What about Nendoroids for Ky, Sol, Lady, Lelouch, Rukia, etc.??? Sure, I can squeeze things into my budget right now. But if that time comes later, when I'll want a Nendo schoolboy Joker or a Nendo Rukia, and I don't have the money for them, will a Nendoroid KH3 Kairi have been worth it? I mean, I already prefer her KH2 look over her KH3 look. Why do I have to care if I don't have a matching Kairi to my Sora/Riku Nendos in my figure photos? Why do I have to be so completionist about this? People will understand that not everyone can afford matching Nendoroids. Hell, my Nendo America and Nendo England don't match! One is from Hetalia World Stars! The other is from Hetlaia The World Twinkle! No one cares! What's important is that I have the 2 characters from my ship in the same pic or the same shelf! No one cares if they match! If I prefer KH2 Kairi, then I should hold-out for her and then take goddamn pictures of her with KH3 Sora/Riku if I want! Hell, I prefer KH2 Riku's look too! I'll just swap out Sora and take pics of KH2 Riku with KH2 Kairi, and KH3 Sora! ...That is, if GSC eventually makes a KH2 Nendo Kairi.

omg I'm going in circles again. I need a snack break.

8:15 AM 6/22/2021

I'm too tired now to remember all the thoughts I wrote about and thought through. x~x;

8:43 AM 6/22/2021

If I skipped KH3 Nendoroid Kairi, would I even miss her? I mean, before, I was so hung up on my Nendo UK not being blond, but now I realize that I barely even think about that, nor even often think of that Nendoroid itself, very often. Hardly ever, actually. Will it be similar with Kairi? I mean,I don't look at my KH1 Sora/Riku Nendo and lament about how I don't have a KH1 Kairi Nendo to go with them. I actually don't really like Kairi's KH1 look. I guess I only really like her KH2 look. So why not hold out for KH2 Kairi Nendoroid possibly being announced in the future? But what if they never make a Nendo Kairi besides this KH3 Kairi, and I miss out on this one and only Kairi, while holding out for a Nendo of KH2Kairi? I hate gambling. But if I skipped KH3 Nendo Kairi now, would I even miss her?.......... She's $62 and I should save my money.

10:12 AM 6/22/2021

I think you should buy figures that you feel good about spending $62 on. Figures that you don't feel guilty about buying. If Nendoroid KH3 Kairi makes you feel guilty, like $62 is not worth it or too much, then don't buy her. Wait for a KH2 Nendo Kairi that will make you feel good to spend on.

But I feel so bad to pass her up! Ugh! This is so hard! ;o;

10:30 AM 6/22/2021

Funny the clarity you can have while brushing and flossing your teeth. If I feel bad spending $62 on Nendo KH3 Kairi, then she must not mean that much to me. She's not worth $62 to me.

I remember when I first saw her announced at WonHobby and I felt safe from needing to buy her. I even commented on GSC's Twitter, that my suddenly finding her cute, threatened my original security and certainty in knowing I didn't feel compelled to buy her.

Remember:

1) Don't buy based on predicted attachments to a character in a game you haven't played yet. I haven't played KH3 yet.

2) If Kairi changes my mind after I play KH3, then she'll probably get a re-release later anyway.

3) When you first saw KH3 Nendo Kairi, your first thought wasn't that I needed her. It was that I felt secure that I didn't need her.

4) You don't have money to spare for a Nendo you're unsure about liking to the worth of $62. Because you didn't expect a Pop Up Parade Kikyo nor her unexpected costs, even if it is relatively cheap. And you still need enough money for a $65 Nendo Aqua. You don't have enough money for any half-certain, hesitating likes towards KH3 Kairi Nendoroid.

5) Other people are skipping KH3 Nendo Kairi even though they also want to buy her.

(https://twitter.com/guttural/status/1406709434592735237) "I want her, but I'm so broke and already ordered the Axel and Roxas Nendos ;_;"

10:38 AM 6/22/2021

I'm going to tell Kuya, I don't need Nendo KH3 Kairi. And then I'm going to forget I was even considering buying her. KH2 and KH3 Sora/Riku Nendoroids are going to come in, and I won't even miss her. Just like I do now, with my KH1 Sora/Riku Nendoroids. And I will wait for a KH2 Nendo Kairi. And when she does get announced, I'll preorder her without regret, because I prefer that character design.

2:33 AM 6/28/2021

I really wanted to get Swacchao Nendoroid Hinata. I was originally just going to get the Swacchao parts since I already have the full Nendoroid Hinata Shoyo. I didn't need a seated Hinata, but as a completionist and Hinata fan, I thought I SHOULD get Swacchao Hinata, or at least the seated Swacchao parts.

But then I had this idea that when I return to an office job, it'd be so nice to have Nendoroid Swacchao Hinata at my desk with me. I had had ideas before about bringing a Nendoroid or 2 to my next office job. I even bought Nendoroid Aoba Suzukaze for that reason. (She's an "office lady" and her accessories include dialogue bubbles of her shouting about doing her best. I thought it'd be really encouraging to have at work.) But I was worried about leaving an actual Nendoroid at my desk, overnight. Would I pack up my desk's Nendoroid(s) each night before I clocked out? Impractical. Should I only use Nendoroids of characters I don't care too much about, to decorate my office desk? But if it's not a character I love, then how is their presence encouraging? And being encouragaing is the entire point of desk decor at a soul-killing job. But then here are these Nendoroid Swacchao Hinata Shoyo announcements! Less than $30! I could have a character I love, from an explicitly encouraging series, and being essentially a dupliate of a Nendoroid I already have, I shouldn't worry too much about him getting stolen from any desk of mine.

But I just can't justify buying a duplicate of a character I already have. I was already cutting out Kageyama and Yuuji from my preorder candidates. I'm in the middle of cataloging my Nendoroid inventory and fully realizing how much money I've wasted on Nendoroids of characters I didn't know, barely knew, liked but didn't love, duplicates of characters I already had, etc. It had to stop. So no Swacchao Kageyama for me. And if we're being honest about my terrible spending, then I really shouldn't be getting either type of Swacchao Hinata either. No more duplicates of characters. ;_; No matter how much I want them. ;_____;

[nyctoheart]

I hope this isn't an intrusive question, but what are your thoughts on the way the stories and characters of kingdom hearts are written and handled? I tend to see several common responses with the stories being convoluted and inconsistent with it's lore, with retcons and time travel being confusing. I've also noticed that some fans preferred the more simple structure of the first game in comparison with the later games, as well as some criticism with director Tetsuya Nomura and his decisions.

In all honestly, friend, I am actually someone who is much easier to please when it comes to KH’s plot than others LOL. Under a read-more because I typed a lot haha!

I do joke about how complicated KH is, like a lot of us do, but in all seriousness: while KH’s plot is very hard/tedious to explain to others, I also feel that when one plays/watches the games one at a time, it’s very self-explanatory and really feeds you the plot one beat at a time. Yes, I do think that things such as the ansem/xehanort reports through out the games really help flesh out the more “technical” side of KH- like nobodies or heartless, but I still don’t think they’re vital to the core of the plot- If anything I feel like they just elaborate more on the more basic information we’re told by- say- Yen Sid. Though I would still say that by a landslide DDD is the most complicated game, and I had to watch the cutscene of Braig and Young Xehanort explaining things to Sora number of times to fully comprehend what they were saying LOL. 

I have heard people talk about how they don’t like what 0.2 did with KH1′s ending, or that Marluxia and Ven are in KHX (or that they don’t like KHX at all), but in terms of those kind of things, I honestly have been dying for a backstory for the later half of organization 13 as well as ventus so much that heck yeah I’m excited to finally get answers for them (even though this wasn’t what I was expecting at the time LOL).

And tbh I even forgive the inconsistencies/retcons. Like, I have wondered if, hypothetically speaking, Nomura completely remade KH1 today, would he make Ansem-possessed Riku have yellow eyes? Would he take out all the parts that heavily indicate there’s only one keyblade and that it chose Sora alone? etc? Well, either way, the game is what the game is, we understand the inconsistencies and why they are they way they are. And honestly, they just don’t really bother me haha!

In terms of overall plot- my only concern is how cramped KH3 will be with it. Even before KHX was even announced I remember thinking about how much KH3 has to go over and conclude. So inserting KHX (and unchained x and union x) into the mix, as well as still going over the Disney world plots, a part of me worries the plot will be crammed- one load of information after the other. I still want emotional reunions and even the lighter scenes to take their time. I don’t know if this makes sense LOL

And I guess my other problem (that deals with the titles already made) is that I think Nomura missed out a lot with his female characters. For example, KH is constantly talking about how much the little bit of light can do for just one person. “This person is bad for now, but I know they can still be saved because there’s still a little light in them” or “fragments of light in the hearts of children saved and recreated the worlds” yada yada yada. So it’s just such a shame that title after title Kairi is pushed to the side even though her heart is 100% Pure Light. And hell even the Seven Princess in total. Bring em back!! Let them do some damage! You think Aurora wouldn’t be down with bringing Maleficent down for good??? Or like finding that small bit of light in her heart?? idk its such a shame to me personally. The Seven Princesses of heart are literally the most powerful, untapped-potential figures in the entire series, but they’re “damsels in distress” so that doesn’t matter :// those DDD hints of kairi fighting better not be abandoned in KH3

But still, one last thing I have to say is that if Nomura hypothetically traveled back to the time of planning the original Kingdom Hearts, that if he planned all the titles with the future of the series in mind, characters and retcons in all, each title would be an even better game. And that’s why I always love writers who plan.. way.. way.. ahead…

[i-got-too-many-links]

I think a lot of Soriku shippers are going to end up thinking their reunion will be a mirror of Riku and Sora's reunion in KH2 but I honestly just think it's going to be messy and emotional and Sora's not going to remember him at all. And if he does, he's going to have some negative thoughts because of all the shit that's piled on that he refused to face. I mean, Sora did mention that he was jealous of Riku at the end of KH2, but didn't elaborate in a truthful manner as to why. Riku and Sora literally flip-flopped from KH1 to KH4. Now Sora is the one who refuses to talk about his feelings, whereas Riku is open about the things he's done and the things he's feeling--even if it isn't exactly pleasant.

Dream Drop Distance was not a story about Sora. It was a story about Riku. And I think it's because the story is headed in a way where Sora is meant to reflect on himself comparatively to Riku, where he watches Riku doing all these great things to improve himself and Sora is not in that sort of place yet.

Don't get me wrong, I love Sora as a character. But... Hot take.

Sora didn't earn the rank of Master because he didn't deserve it.

He has not reflected on the balance of light and darkness within him. Instead, he pulls himself inward and hides from the parts of him he doesn't like. That isn't indicative of somebody who's learned anything from his mistakes at all. That's indicative of somebody who still has to learn the ins and outs of himself.

Keyblade Wielders become Masters so that they may teach the next generation of Wielders to carry on the guarding of the light.

Sora isn't capable of teaching a new generation anything. Not yet.

Riku earned his rank of Master by facing his inner darkness. By reflecting on his misdeeds and accepting himself for who he is--even the bad.

It has come time for Sora to face himself in manners that he rather would not--and we'll just have to see if that's going to cause him to become a better version of himself, or cause him to collapse.

I hope it's the former option. Because I really want to see Sora become a Riku. I want to see him improve, because the spinning of his wheels is frustrating to say the very least.

I believe in Sora. I think you should, too.

CoM really lays all of Sora and Riku’s individual issues out on the table for them and while Riku is like wow I have a lot of work to do on myself, I better get started, Sora is like yikes!! What a mess! and shoves all his stuff off the table

[daylighteclipsed]

#Poly is never a ‘solution’ to a love triangle. #Poly only works if all parties want it. #Kairi and Riku have both shown jealousy towards the other over their relationship with Sora. #Not a great foundation if they wanted to be together, which people conveniently forget they don’t.

#KH1 is not indicative of the emotions the characters feel NOW. #They’ve had some time to sort out their confusion about what they want. #Riku has never shown anything that could even be CLOSE to romantic interest in Kairi after KH1. #And Kairi has NEVER shown romantic interest in Riku PERIOD.

#Sora has tried imagining himself in a romantic relationship with Kairi… but he hesitates. #He wasn’t just surprised about the paopu fruit. #She had to recontextualize it for him in order for him to be comfortable sharing one with her. #Why do you think that is?

#Sorikai does not ‘solve’ Soriku because Rikai would never happen and Sora doesn’t want the relationship with Kairi that she wants. #Regardless of sexuality, they are on two different wavelengths regarding what they want. #“A little charm in hopes that we’ll never be apart again.” - Kairi VS #“Even though we’re apart, we’re never alone. Right, Kairi?” - Sora.

#Sora does love Kairi. Just not the same way Kairi does Sora. #Not to mention that Sora has changed since KH1. #Kairi doesn’t really know who he is anymore and is basing her feelings on the past.

@passive-t-u-m-b-l-r-user Yup yup yup… Soriku also doesn’t need ‘solved’ because there’s nothing wrong with it. Two men can date each other. Men and women can be friends. It’s not the end of the world if Kairi’s love is unrequited and she has to move on.

Not only is that rarely ever the outcome of a situation like this in fiction, but also Kairi continuing to want nothing else but Sora does nothing for her character. Especially when Kairi is attached to the memory of Sora more than the real guy and that attachment to the past has been hindering her growth.

I get being frustrated with the way her character is written, but pushing Kairi into Sora and Riku’s relationship doesn’t do anything for her or them. I’m not gonna police what people do in fanon, but I’ve seen fans advocate for this in canon and good christ, dude.

God forbid Kairi have to find a new dream that isn’t being with Sora