#but imo the kh2 ones were way 2 hard for me personally but these ones are a lot easier to learn

[snowflakeb0ttles]

man kh3 data fights so fun

[nadziejastar]

It's funny that Saix is the one member of the True Organization XIII who isn't a current or former Keyblade Wielder

It’s interesting that you mention that. I really disliked the scene in KH3 where it was just quickly explained that Xehanort gathered them all there because of their ties to the Keyblade War. That felt so lazy and contrived. I think Marluxia, Larxene, Luxord, and Demyx (MLLD) got the same treatment that Lea and Isa did. They originally had a completely different backstory and explanation for being in the New Organization. But due to BBSV2 getting cancelled, their backstories were altered to better fit in with the new plot arc, revolving around Union X lore and characters. Now they’re amnesiac former Keyblade wielders from the distant past. I highly doubt that is going to feel anything but pulled out of the ass, just like Lea and Isa’s plot with Skuld.

I think most, if not all, the organization members had specific backstories in mind even all the way back in 358/2 Days. Luxord’s MG was originally a $10 bill. Maybe it implied that he lost his heart to the darkness due to greed or something. I think Luxord had a sad backstory. Whatever the case, the Mystery Gear had a specific meaning related to the secrets of that character’s past.

“That which we treasure has power over us, Roxas. His heart is captive to it. And that makes it his weakness.”

“Captive…? I don’t get it.” Everything Xaldin said only got harder and harder to follow.

“Nor should you. You have no heart to love with. Let’s not linger here.”

That’s why Saix’s Mystery Gear is Moon Rabbit, even though that weapon seems like the last thing that represents his personality. When you first play Days, it’s supposed to seem absurd. I remember on the forums, people were racking their brains trying to figure out the meaning of such a cutesy ass weapon. It has a smiling bunny and a rocket being launched by a heart. That weapon even has the crescent moon symbol on it. Then when you play BBS, that’s the same symbol on Isa’s jacket.

“Understood, sir,” Saïx replied, and Xemnas disappeared.

“…Well, do your best. The best a kid without a heart can do, anyway,” said Xigbar, and he too disappeared.

Its not hard to see that the idea behind Isa was that he was the polar opposite of Saïx. Isa was always supposed to be a selfless innocent person, unlike his Norted counterpart. That’s why his redemption felt so half assed. He wasn’t supposed to need a redemption. 

And yet, Axel couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his response. “Well, nice to know where I stand.” He said it with a grin, but the hint of a frown tugged at the scar between Saïx’s brows. Apparently, the joke wasn’t very funny. 

“You made it back in one piece, didn’t you?” 

Were you worried I wouldn’t? Axel almost said, but he didn’t want to deal with putting him in an even fouler mood.

It was heavily, heavily implied that Isa cared about Lea a LOT. He lost his heart because he had his weakness (love) exploited. His character was warped beyond recognition to fit into the new plot arc with Skuld as the main focus. But it didn’t fit the established groundwork built up over the course of the games and the novels.

For the record, I think anybody who is a special Nobody has a strong enough heart to have the potential to wield a Keyblade. I think Isa was probably supposed to become a major character after the Xehanort Saga was over and gain a Keyblade (It’d be cute if it was based on the Moon Rabbit). I’d be fine if MLLD eventually used Keybades at some point, as long as it felt natural in the story. I just don’t think that their original backstory was Keyblade wielders.

“Missions… speaking of that, don’t you find what we’re actually doing pretty unclear?” Larxene asked, and then stood next to Marluxia.

“In order to take back our hearts,” said Marluxia, repeating Xemnas’ exact words.

Larxene cast her eyes down for a moment. “But I don’t really want or need a heart. It’s painful with a heart. Right now I’m pretty comfortable,” she muttered.

“Maybe that’s true,” answered Marluxia, and started walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Larxene.

Marluxia’s Mystery Gear is called “Dainty Lilies of the Valley”.

More flower symbolism. IMO, Marluxia always had a tragic backstory. He was a sad character who was trying to find happiness again. Like Isa, he had a redemption planned long in advance.

I can accept that the idea was that he always was trying to save his sister, Strelitzia. There’s enough hints that Marluxia wanted to rescue a woman and had a very painful past. Okay, fine. I just don’t buy that he and the others were always envisioned as Keyblade wielders from the age of fairy tales. Just like I don’t buy that Lea and Isa were envisioned as apprentices who were trying to save a female test subject back when BBS first showed them sneaking into the castle over a decade ago. The implication was that they were the test subjects.

In many ways, KH3′s story was a total mess that seemed thrown together at the last minute to make it lead into KH4. They made it seem like M and L knew all along that Xehanort saw them as nothing but empty husks who were just being used as tools. The whole reason Xemnas kept it a secret from them in the first place was because he knew none of them would never accept being vessels (except Braig). So why is everyone perfectly fine with it in KH3?

In Corona, Marluxia spoke like he actually believed in the organization’s goal. He didn’t speak like he knew he was a tool. His quote about maintaining balance between light and darkness made me think that the original idea was that Xehanort tricked M&L into joining the New Organization. 

Xemnas: 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. Yet, even this was to be expected.

They had their own reasons to join of their own free will, even if they weren’t necessarily loyal to Xehanort himself. They really thought they were maintaining balance and furthering their own agenda, just like in the original organization. Same with Luxord, I’m sure.

When they are in the Disney worlds, they maintain their own personality and goals, which is not consistent with the idea of them being “another Xehanort,” “vessels,” or “empty husks”. Both Marluxia and Larxene were concerned with the Princesses of Heart. Luxord didn’t seem like he really wanted to be in the organization, (neither the old or the new one). But he had his reasons for following Xehanort, just like in KH2.

In the old trailers, Marluxia didn’t even have yellow eyes when he was in Corona. My theory is that when they joined the New Organization XIII, they became Nobodies again, but they weren’t really Norted until the very end (it’s a gradual process). They were 100% themselves in the Disney words. Saïx wasn’t in any of the Disney worlds because he actually was an “empty husk” from the very beginning. He always had yellow eyes and he was retrieved while he was unconscious. 

I don’t buy that Marluxia had amnesia in CoM, or that he was always supposed to be from the distant past. He had some other backstory when Re:CoM and KH3′s original story was written. The novels implied that Marluxia and Larxene fully remembered their past, that they were acquaintances, that they were often bored as humans, and that they thought losing their heart wasn’t so bad, since it was less painful that way. That’s not really what I saw in KH3.  

I’m not sure if this was always the case with Demyx (his Mystery Gear is just a broom), but there is definitely more to him than meets the eye. He was chosen to join the New Organization over stronger characters like Xaldin and Lexaeus. Despite him seeming like just an ordinary goofball, there’s something very special about him, and he knows it. He’s hiding something, though I personally doubt that he’s the MoM. IMO, he also joined the True Organization for his own personal agenda.

When Larxene asked if Demyx was sent to any worlds, he complained that he was “benched”. Larxene was confused about that, and Marluxia said that Saïx brought Vexen on board and mentioned his Replica program. Demyx said that the Replica stole his spot. This, to me, if proof that Xion was never intended to come back as her own character. There was literally no room for her in the plot. She took Kairi’s role in the final battle, she took Isa’s moment of glory rescuing Lea from Xemnas, and she took Demyx’s spot in the True Organization. There was just no place for all these clone characters. I like Xion but she should have been “revived” through Kairi. If not for her and Roxas, I’m sure we would have gotten a very cool boss battle with Demyx in KH3.

[daisy--sorbet]

no one cares but uhhh time 4 some kh3 opinions

god i love olympus. it was a rly nice world to be reintroduced to and i actually rly loved whats essentially a tutorial level.

and while im sorta implying game mechanics - i actually rly love the way kh3 plays. the fighting feels pretty fluid imo and i really love formchanges a lot more than i did in kh2

and by formchanges i mean

just. i guess just the formchanges from shooting star and hunny spout - more shooting star tho bc its just. rly fun to nyoom around 

uhhhhh what else

im sad abt twilight town bc it was one of my fave worlds in kh2 tbh and now its just. its so tiny. its gorgeous but its just so small and i would have loved to be able to see the usual spot at the very least???

HAYNER. PENCE. OLETTE. i love them. especially hayner tryin 2 fuckin kick ansem sod like u stupid boy i love u

also i never expected to love ienzo as much as i do but i love him w my entire god damn heart. a cute dude. 10/10 i can and will die for him

and speaking of characters i love a lot: demyx, axel, and larxene are all still <3333 for me. axel and demyx have been since 2, and larxene started w 3 and intensified when i met her in kh re:com because ugh she could literally slam me against a wall and i’d be heart eyes emoji at her

listen i loved playing as riku in 3D and i wish i could play as him more.

AQUA. MY GIRL. i loved fighting as her even tho i nearly died in the process once or twice but-

also!!!! waking ven up!!!!!! my boy!!!! i love ventus so much and hes probably one of my fave characters its just <333 to see my boy awake again

possibly also intensified by the fact i recently beat bbs and watched him sleeb

i already shared my thoughts on the paopu scene.

uh back 2 worlds

i think my fave worlds so far would be a huge tie between the kingdom of corona and san fransokyo??? which... im probably biased because i rly love tangled and bh6 but

i love eugene so much sdfkjhsdf hes just. one of my fave disney guys honestly.

and UHHH

TWO??? BAYMAXES???? i was so excited when i saw both of them bc baymax has been one of my favorite characters for a while now and bh6 is still one of my fave movies even tho i desperately need to rewatch it soon.

i tried to get a pic of hiro being hugged by both of them just so i could send it to a pal and say “god i wish this were me” but sdkfsdhf

uhhh least favorite world out of all of them is definitely the caribbean :/// FUCK luxord and that boat race. it was bullshit and i lost too many times bc i literally like. had the tutorial on how to steer boat and i went “oh no. ohhh no. oh no.” because i Knew what was coming because you dont just introduce new mechanics like that without putting in some kind of challenge with them tbh :/

but no, seriously, this world literally ruined any sort of replayability for me??? like. i’d replay the game, but i’d get to the caribbean and go “oh fuck, not this part” and die i guess

arendelle was.... ok. not my favorite world, but not my least favorite in the series at all. i wish they could have done more.

100 acre wood felt... rushed. im glad they included it bc theyve had it in every game im p sure??? or at least in most of them. i do love the minigames and its still a good happy place 

ALSO. SPEAKING OF 100 ACRE WOODS AND MINIGAMES

i got so excited to see remy in twilight town 

mr ratatouille im a huge fan

(idk how many ppl i dmed that with 0 context and they were like “ok then” but it was a lot)

monstropolis was fun! i grew up watching monsters inc a thousand times w my brother so it was just another <333 nostalgia thing for me 

TOY BOX WAS LIKE. VERY MIXED FOR ME??? i love the world and what it is, but i didnt enjoy certain parts of it

mainly also that opening bc that commercial confused me a lot before it was revealed to be a commercial

lets talk forms.

toy box sora: good design imo. very cute. 

monstropolis sora: also very cute. his lil tail...

the caribbean sora: honestly, as much as i hate this world, i absolutely adore this design??? hes so cute and he actually fits in with the world because kh2... the contrast there is rly funny sfkjjshf

uhhhhhh main complaint: can we talk about the writing in this game? mainly the female characters?

i was hoping for badass kairi. shes a keyblade wielder for christs sake! but instead shes stuck in another pretty pink dress and shoved into the background.

and while we’re on kairi: i wanna know more about her friendship with axel??? 

i actually really like concepts brought up with aqua. she stayed hopeful for so long, anti-aqua was an interesting concept! im also an awful person who likes to break characters sometimes for the development it brings but something tells me not much is going to come from this. she was left alone down there for so long, and when she had a shot at potentially escaping, she lost it. :(

thank u san fransokyo for giving us some good gals. i love go-go and honey lemon a lot since hell yea!!! smart gals kickin ass!!! love them.

i feel ROBBED of having elsa as a companion. i guess it makes sense but i was hoping to have her fuck shit up after accepting her ice powers bc her kingdom was in trouble Or Some Shit like cmon man :(

also why was the entirety of let it go in kh3. it looks so good but why.

were there any other female characters??? olette im relatively ok w since shes not supposed to be some super strong fighter or anything im p sure - and the other female characters in different worlds either didnt stand out enough for me to have any feelings towards

sora feels... off in this game. so does riku. idk what it is, but...

OH

THE DYNAMICS BETWEEN SORA, DONALD, AND GOOFY???

they’re so good.

i was smiling so hard at the “just like your face!” joke because it was so DUMB but it was so CUTE and i love the three of them being good pals and making dumb jokes together

i also love mickey and riku havin a good friendship there.

even if i did make the “mickeyriku is canon” joke when they reunited at the end of 2. it was purely to stop myself from crying.

but idk as much as i love sora, donald, and goofy gettin some good friendship stuff in - it feels like

thats where all the focus was for sora’s friendships? like.

idk he doesnt really talk to kairi or riku as far as i remember???? more kairi than riku but like. still. theyre supposed to be two of his closest friends tht he grew up with, and yet he doesnt??? really make any comments abt communicating w them from what i can remember???

like. the most he had was calling riku i think? and then going to the realm of darkness to get riku and the king back.

i wonder how much of the kh3 plot would change if we took kairi out

huh

[nadziejastar]

Sora: Don't worry. I've got a friend out there who will help. He's always picking up the slack for me.

I think if it was pulled off well, and Isa was properly differentiated from Saïx, then I don't think most diehard fans would oppose it. Among the general KH fandom, the biggest obstacle in my opinion is that Saïx is extremely unlikable (deliberately so). We never got a big reveal showing how Isa was Norted, like we were supposed to. It's left to the realm of innuendo and subtext.

It's not like it wasn't obvious he was possessed, but it was never stated outright. Still, I thought it was very easy to see where they were going with Lea and Isa ever since BBS. Saïx was very nasty, yet Isa was Lea's best friend. You can just tell that they were originally planning to give Isa an extremely endearing personality, if he was supposed to make up for how bad Saïx was. I'm sure if his backstory was shown in detail, he'd be way more popular. Isa was done dirty.

Riku: Sora can find the brightest part of anything, and pull off miracles like there's nothing to it. It's pretty hard not to smile around him.

Huge Akuroku fans might not like it, but I doubt it would cause a huge backlash or anything. I mean, let's face it. There never was any canon support for that pairing anyways. People are still free to ship it if that's what they want, just like they did when Xion was created as the obvious object of Roxas's affections.

And simply put, yaoi pairings are the most popular ships in KH. So LeaIsa has that working in its favor. SoraRiku is the most popular ship overall, and Lea and Isa were actually pretty similar to them in BBS. Two boys with cute character designs, complementary opposite personalities, and who are really close? KH fans eat that stuff up. I wouldn't be surprised AT ALL if LeaIsa was conceptualized, in part, based on the popularity of SoraRiku. I personally think that Nomura wanted to move away from AkuRoku as much as possible due to the inappropriateness of it, so he tried to create an appealing alternative ship.

“That Genie we met seemed really worried about his friend Al,” Xion remarked eventually. “But then he said he’d respect his friend’s wishes. I guess you can’t just jump in and do everything for them, even if you want to.”

Idly swinging her legs, she took another bite.

Axel leaned his head to one side. “Your friend’s wishes, huh…” It feels like I have heard that before, a long time ago, when I was human.

IMO, LeaIsa is what SoRiku would have looked like if it was actually specifically written to be romantic in nature. Sora and Riku had a very strong bond and Riku was very protective of Sora, but it also had that competitive rivalry aspect.

“He worries too much. Thinks he has to help Sora do everything…” Axel grimaced in irritation.

“But, Axel, aren’t you the one worrying about Riku and Sora?” Naminé giggled softly.

“Me, worry? You think I need to be worried about those two?” He stretched backward and rocked the chair back and forth, like a restless child.

LeaIsa had no such thing. It seemed like it was going for a purely protective dynamic, with Lea wanting to step in and do everything for Isa because he constantly worried about him.

“Say something. Have you even thought that maybe I can’t erase Roxas?” Axel said, in a playful tone, and Saïx finally looked up. “It’ll be all right. Cause I’m tough.” Axel puffed out his chest.

“How stupid,” said Saïx, and for a moment he smiled.

Also, not only was Lea protective, he apparently liked to show off for Isa. I just can't read this interaction as anything but flirtatious. It reminds me of how Sora and Riku were showing off for Naminé about protecting her from a shooting star. No other male characters in KH interact this way with each other. And Isa was a shy and softspoken boy who only came out of his shell for Lea. If they managed to emphasize these characteristics and successfully carry them over to the adult version of LeaIsa, then I can't see any reason why it would not be widely supported. I imagine most shippers would find it very cute.

“Why are you talking to me? There are heaps of other people to talk to.”

“I don’t want to talk to rough old men,” Larxene clearly intoned.

“If that’s so—there’s Demyx, or Marluxia, who joined just before you did. And then there’s Zexion. There’s also Saïx, in a way—”

And I think that's exactly the direction Nomura wanted to take them: cute. It would be a surprising but charming twist, considering how rough Saïx was. And I think it's why he specifically gave Saïx a different character design. Axel is very attractive. He is youthful and kinda looks like he's wearing eyeliner, too, which is neat. He was always fangirl bait, basically. Saïx was handsome, but he was still originally made to look like a villain. More rough around the edges compared to Axel.

I have no doubt that Nomura wanted an adult Isa to look more like he did in BBS. That's how he looks in the illustrations that were made after he was changed into Axel's best friend. And I mean, Isa's design is definitely going to be a lot more appealing to most shippers than Saïx's original design. That was no doubt intentional. IMO, Isa was created specifically with shipping in mind. He was obviously designed to look distinctly feminine and pretty. Softer facial features, slimmer build, etc. He has even softer features than Riku, who is also a pretty boy and huge fangirl bait.

IMO, Isa is the single most feminine KH male. I think this was intentional and based on the Sun/Moon theme. Sun is masculine, moon is feminine. So, Isa was also intended to be yaoi fangirl bait, no question. He was meant to be a very cute character. Both in looks and personality. It's why he has the Bunnymoon Mystery Gear and why Axel's fondest memories involve ice cream. He even has cute clothing, like that jacket with the little moon on it. It's just...cute. Basically LeaIsa was going for an adult yaoi vibe. They eat ice cream, play frisbee, and act cute together, since they want to relive their childhood. Done properly, fangirls would eat it up, of that I have no doubt.

In general, there is huge support for same-sex pairings in anime things. Sure, there will always be some opposition, but I don't think it's really a huge issue in these types of niche fandoms which love slash and shipping in general. Look how much demand there was for gay romance options in Fire Emblem. Korrasami was the most popular ship in TLoK and actually became canon. It was warmly received in general.

And KH2 had a very bromantic ending with Sora and Riku. And the series skyrocketed in popularity after that game, so it obviously wasn't a huge turn-off for that many people in the KH fandom. Female KH fans tend to like yaoi and male KH fans are already playing a Disney JRPG with a bunch of pretty boy heroes. In my experience, most male KH fans online don't seem to mind gay characters or anything.

And you know, KH isn't really heavy on romance anyways. Friendship has always been the most prominent thing in Kingdom Hearts. That wouldn’t change. The most canon pairing is Sora/Kairi and all we see between them is paopu fruits and hand holding. Even if LeaIsa were unambiguously canon, I still think it would be depicted in a very subtle way. It's not like it would have to be shoved in everyone's face, or become a distraction.

IMO, Nomura originally intended for them to be an ambiguous (but heavily implied) gay pairing. If the series didn’t have so much corporate interference, it would have remained that way in KH3. They even kept Isa’s outfit the same. The little star and crescent pin that Isa wore in the epilogue is a sun and moon symbol. All the games were building up to Lea using the power of waking on Isa in KH3. 358/2 Days was able to imply that Axel/Lea loved Isa, and that was fine because it was a smaller release that flew under the radar. 

Then suddenly in KH3 their relationship was not okay and had to be downplayed. I don't think that was a coincidence. KH3 had more than just the JRPG audience in mind. KH Days was a JRPG with Disney elements. KH3 was a Disney game with JRPG elements. Disney was a lot more strict with KH3 since it was a bigger title and had modern stuff like Toy Story and Frozen in it. Even if LeaIsa was ambiguous, who knows if Disney had any objections to it or not. They can be very conservative.

I think Square and/or Disney was definitely worried about casual fans disliking it. KH3 had a much stronger push to appeal to casual fans than any other game in the series. And let’s face it: a large percentage of people playing KH3 probably only played KH1 and KH2 (or it’s their first one). They didn’t play BBS or the “spin offs”. They don’t know Isa, they only know Saïx. 

And I can see many of them disliking the ship if it became canon because of that. KH3 clearly wanted to keep things familiar to causal fans. Incorporating Lea and Isa’s REAL backstory into KH3 was not a priority. Familiarity was. So sadly, Lea had to go back to being Axel and Isa had to stay Saïx. Then there’s people who just play for the Disney aspects and don’t even like the story. They might not like it, either. 

[nadziejastar]

If BbS V2 really was what you theorized they might have been better off planning it as a series of shorts. A game about filling in the gaps of other games was probably a very hard sell for executives, regardless of how much the overall saga would benefit from it. With shorts it would be perfectly normal to jump around, there wouldn't have to be a flimsy excuse to shoehorn in Disney worlds if they weren't necessary for the story, and it might even be cheaper if 2D animation was acceptable.

— So what will it be?

I can’t say that quite yet, but it will be more “official” than a side story. I actually told the producer this recently, and he said “…what?” It’s the mystery KH. (laugh) Of course, I am also thinking about KH3.

— In an interview in the KH Days Ultimania, you said ‘I’m thinking of a mystery KH that made the producer go “what??”‘. Was that KH3D?

No, it wasn’t. I originally planned to make that after KHBBS, but we ended up making KH3D and the project was stopped. It’s a shame, but we won’t be starting that project again.

I think you are correct. The premise of the game seemed very weird and that’s probably a big reason why it got cancelled. But the story still really needed all the loose ends tied up in some way. FFXV got a short animated series called Brotherhood. I totally think KH3 could have benefited from something like that to fill in all the blanks. And fans would love seeing a 2D animated version of KH. I know I would.

The biggest issue the series had was that it was spread out across so many different handhelds. But the HD collections solved that problem. If the shorts were included in the HD collection, or made freely available, it could have worked really well. It’s no worse than making so much of KH3′s plot tie into Union X, which is less accessible than Brotherhood, for example.

A game about “blank points” was probably just too weird from a gameplay perspective, which I understand. I also agree about the Disney worlds. That also seemed like it might have been an issue. KH games suffer when the Disney worlds aren’t incorporated well. This isn’t an issue in games that feature new worlds like KH1, KH2, KHBBS, or KH3D. Even Days was mostly fine IMO. The worst offenders were CoM and Re:Coded which felt like the Disney worlds were just obligations and their plots were tired rehashes. KHUX Disney worlds were also very strange, too. Even 3D was weird since it used sleeping worlds. Stuff like that is why the series gets lambasted as being too confusing/convoluted.

— What about the missing 0.3?

We thought to tell the story of 0.5 with all three characters, but instead we decided on 0.2 with a focus on Aqua.

Honestly, I can’t even think of how Disney worlds would be incorporated into a lot of the “blank points” story. Nomura said KH0.5 was supposed to feature all of the wayfinder trio. Does that mean they would be playable? I dunno. Aqua was in the Dark Realm. That was a very unconventional world. It had Disney-themed locations, but it’s still not technically a Disney world. Story-wise, it was also unconventional, since she just spent all that time talking to herself until she briefly teamed up with Mickey.

I have no idea what Nomura planned to do with Ventus. Dream world? Or flashbacks to how he met Xehanort? Or he just wasn’t gonna be playable? Then there’s Terra, who was living as apprentice Xehanort and possessed. I don’t see how that functions gameplay-wise, unless it was something weird like you playing as the Lingering Will or something. There was the whole subplot of Namine communicating to the Lingering Will, which was poorly handled.

— Which worlds did Pluto travel when he had that letter?

I can say that he appeared in worlds that do not appear in the game [KH1]…. well, other than the current worlds, there are other worlds that the Heartless erased. The End of the World did not exist at first and is a world that is made up of erased worlds put together. Also, there is that place the door to Kingdom Hearts appears. At first that was another world, so that means that Sora and the others are now residing in that world which returned to what it once was.

— After debugging Traverse Town, the King says to Sora, “That day, your travels began here. Also on that day, I was here too.” Does that mean that the King was in the same place at the same time as Sora adventured into Traverse Town in Kingdom Hearts I?Seems so. What he was actually doing becomes the previously mentioned “blank time period”, but in this title, it’s implying that the two crossed paths in the same place.

Mickey probably would have been playable. In Blank Points, we saw him in the Dark Realm, and his blank period in Traverse Town was something Nomura specifically said he wanted to show. I guess he might have visited Disney worlds with Pluto and we could have played in those? I don’t know if that world that was shown in the end of KH1, the grassy place with the crossroads, was supposed to be important. It sounded like Nomura wanted to explain why Pluto was there with Mickey’s letter, though.

— About the World of Darkness and such, you haven’t gone into detail. Could you possibly talk about some of these things? Does the beach at the beginning and end of KH II have some connection to the World of Darkness?

Presently there are 4 main untold stories to consider: “the period of the King’s absence”, “the period of Riku’s absence”, “Roxas’s time in Organization XIII” and “Xehanort’s past”. In this case, the story of “the period of the King’s absence” is set in the realm of darkness. I am examining a way to tell these 4 stories so I might be able to find a way to tell them soon.

Young Xehanort’s past was another blank period. Him visiting Disney worlds is…possible, I guess. The best candidate for visiting Disney worlds is Riku, though. Nomura said he wanted to cover Riku’s period of absence, which probably includes KH1-2. In KH1, he was a bad guy and in Blank Points, he was shown in Neverland. Monstro is another possibility and that might have been intended to connect to the Monstro subplot in KH3D with Dark Riku. We also saw Riku in Twilight Town watching Roxas and Xion, so his Days period is open. Then there’s his period of absence in KH2, which opens up those worlds. In the novels, we know Riku spent most of his time in KH2 with Namine and Axel, and he also kept an eye on Sora, like during The Land of Dragons and the Beast’s Castle.

I didn’t notify you but you might’ve already heard from Yen Sid-sama. I’ve come to train to become a Keyblade wielder. Until now, I’ve only been waiting for you guys to come back from your journey. Maybe with this I can at least help out a little.

The magician Merlin-sama can use magic that surpasses time. Here, we can forget about the flow of time. Isn’t it great? Lea’s training with me. He apologized to me over and over again. It’s alright, I’d say, but he’d keep on apologizing…

At first I was a bit scared but as we trained together we started talking to each other. I found out Lea also has a best friend he wants to save. I felt like, he’s not a person that I can bring myself to hate…

Sometimes….. He’d stare at my face, so I’d ask him, what’s wrong? “I don’t know, but I feel like it’s something I must recall”, he’d say…

Your journey is a journey that will help many people and the people you’ll meet from now on. I have a feeling these people you meet will also need your help. The journey might be hard but please stay as the cheerful and bright Sora I know. Because your smile, will save many hearts…..

Then there’s Lea and Kairi. I guess we could have played through their training and the world could be based on The Sword in the Stone? I figured that was what the forest area in KH3 was supposed to be, but I dunno. Then they could have flashbacks during their training. I think we were definitely supposed to get more scenes of Lea and Kairi talking to each other, where she learns that he has a best friend he wants to save. It was obviously referring to Isa. KH3D was all about Lea looking for him, and he summoned his Keyblade immediately after learning that Isa was a vessel.

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see where that subplot was going. Lea was training to rescue Isa. Roxas being Axel’s “best friend” in KH2 was supposed to be a red herring—a pretty well-written one at that. People just didn’t pick up on it due to Roxas’s popularity bias. I doubt Lea would have told Kairi all the details of him and Isa being human test subjects. Like, she still didn’t understand why he didn’t wanna take off his black coat in KH3. But he’d tell her enough to know that he has a best friend who is a vessel and we’d learn what happened. It would have made their closeness in KH3 a lot more understandable if Kairi knew about his past. In his heart, he could tell that Kairi was Xion, too. And that’s how I’m gonna do it in my fanfic. :)

After KHBBSV2 was cancelled, Lea had no backstory anymore, so I guess we were just supposed to conclude that Lea was referring to Roxas in Kairi’s letter when he said he wanted to save his best friend. Which is just…dumb and insulting to the audience’s intelligence. Lea knew even in 358/2 Days that Roxas looked like Ventus. He said he kept it a secret from Roxas, so he obviously knew for a long time. It sounded like he realized it as soon as he met him, which is why he got so nostalgic for his childhood right after meeting Roxas.

Before he started his training with Kairi, he also knew that Ventus was one of the lost Keyblade wielders they were all looking for. Up until Yen Sid’s tower, Lea thought that Ventus was going to remember him as Axel. That’s how he was going to reunite with “Roxas”. He had no reason to think he needed to rescue “Roxas”, since that was Sora’s job and he was handling that. Of course he was referring to Isa in that letter.

Eh, I dunno. It’s possible we’d get to play as young Lea during his flashbacks in Radiant Garden. During the experiments, maybe he was tasked with Heartless clean-up duty inside the castle. He doesn’t have a Keyblade, though. Just his frisbees. It’d be unusual to have him be playable, but not impossible. If so, that opens up the castle, like the Hollow Bastion areas from KH1. All in all, the gameplay part of BBSV2 seemed pretty strange and the Disney worlds didn’t seem completely necessary, either. I think a series of animated shorts could have worked phenomenally well.

[nadziejastar]

Well, first of all I loved his outfit. It’s similar enough to what he wore in BBS to make it feel like Isa, but still felt fresh. It looked like something a fashionable young person would wear. It’s based on a Roen-Gackt collaboration design. Nomura sure loves Gackt, lol. So Isa was considered important enough to get a lot of care put into his new outfit. This collaboration was probably done a long time in advance, like with FFVersus XIII. I’m sure Isa’s backstory was supposed to be WAY more fleshed out so that his character would make a MUCH stronger impression on the player by the end of KH3. So, the outfit was kinda wasted in a way. Isa’s whole character was just wasted potential, though.

In a room made of white marble, a large mirror reflected Demyx as he prepared to leave for the mission. He took particular care with his hairstyle, painstakingly manipulating the brown strands with a comb to make them stand straight up. Saïx observed him from behind with what appeared to be distaste. In stark contrast to Demyx, Saïx left his long blue hair unstyled. The X-shaped scar on his forehead was all the style he needed.

Having an outfit based on a J-pop star might tell us something about how Nomura originally viewed Isa’s personality. He actually seemed like a rather fashionable young man who took pride in his appearance. He even wore stud earrings. His style was different from other kids like Hayner, Pence, or Lea. Saïx didn’t have any interest in his appearance. But Isa certainly seemed like the type to style his hair and then some. For some reason, I picture him ironically spending even MORE time in front of the mirror than Demyx. Especially post-KH3. Isa was already shy. I think he would probably struggle with insecurity over having a scar covering most of his face. So, he would try even harder to compensate with nice clothes and accessories.

The KH3 ending outfit really doesn’t fit someone like Saïx, who had such a harsh and dreary personality. I can’t see Saïx choosing to wear anything like that outfit. Way too youthful and trendy. And definitely not the star and moon accessory, either. He’d throw up at the cute little moon on Isa’s BBS outfit. Isa obviously was supposed to have such a different personality than Saïx. I bet Isa is going to be SUCH an awkward character going forward, because they’ll feel obligated to keep his Saïx personality traits, which will clash so badly with the rest of his character. He’ll be this pseudo-villain/quasi-good guy that just will feel so out of place in a series like this. It breaks my heart.

A great number of Nobodies have lost human form, as have the Heartless. Yet the Nobody born of someone with a strong heart retains its shape, with but the faintest visible changes.

As far as the rest of his design goes, I thought it was pretty lazy. In my opinion, Isa’s character design needed much more of an update than what he got. Kairi looked more different after her haircut than Isa did in the ending. If anyone deserved to look different for KH3, it was him. But…he still looked almost exactly like Saïx to me. He has a bit more color to his hair and face, and his scar is faded. But that’s about it. Which I guess was intentional. Why bother changing his look? It seems like they gave up on whatever plan they originally had for Isa to be his own character who was totally distinct from Saïx. They’re gonna just pretend that he wasn’t Norted and treat him like he was the same as Axel. Which sucks. 

Axel and Riku get along very well somehow. Since Riku has become a figure of Ansem, I don’t speak much with him, but he laughs like a different person when he eats Ice cream with Axel. Axel says he “Laughs to face bad feelings”, but it seems that Riku isn’t a bad person. At that Axel said ‘don’t laugh when you’ve got a gross face’, but Riku didn’t seem all that annoyed.

Also, Axel really liked sea-salt ice cream. You’ve eaten sea salt ice cream ever since you moved to that house. I wonder how you don’t break your stomach! It felt like he ate them to an unthinkable extent. Axel ate so much ice cream that the freezer in the computer room emptied every day.

Now as a villain, Saïx had a very cool design. He was handsome and had long hair, but...he looked mean and scary. He was supposed to. He WAS mean and scary. He was Xemnas’ right-hand man, after all. And if he was Norted, this makes sense. He was envisioned as a sociopathic guy who has bouts of uncontrollable bloodlust when exposed to moonlight. I like Saïx’s design. He was pale and almost vampire-looking? Or maybe Addam’s family. He was created as a bad guy. The whole idea was that he was a scary, unapproachable dude. He was sinister and creepy. Yet ironically his original self was the polar opposite. It made for a pretty cool twist, IMO.

“…Aw, is it good?” Axel teased. “Seriously, you’re like a little kid. Even though you look like a mean old man.” Riku made no response, keeping his gaze fixed on the computer screen. The comment did rub him the wrong way. But mentally, Axel was definitely older than him by at least a little. Not that you could tell from looking.

They were clearly going for a VERY different vibe with Isa. When I first played BBS, I thought that the visual difference between Isa and Saïx was extremely noticable. Isa looked a lot softer, sweeter and more friendly. The idea behind Saïx's design was: harsh and scary. The idea of a cute bunny rabbit representing his personality was supposed to be absurd. Saïx would be utterly disgusted if he was seen as “cute”. But the idea behind Isa's design was: cute and innocent. And Isa was indeed a little cutie. And he was innocent, too.

Saïx: We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment.

Axel: Okay, since you worked really hard today, you get a reward. 

Saïx’s Casual Gear is called “Dessert Time,” but the localization named it “Just Desserts", and I thought that was very clever. To get one’s just desserts means to receive the appropriate punishment for one's actions. But sea-salt ice cream is supposed to be a treat to reward someone who did a good job.

Saïx gave him a cruel grin. “You will lose everything!” And then the Claymore pierced Axel’s chest.

Saïx rarely smiles because he is cold and cruel. But he would smile when he’s giving Axel his just desserts.

“But sweet!” Lea added, and Isa smiled a bit. That was rare for him. Well, eating ice cream together, talking about silly stuff, laughing together—it was just what friends did.

Isa rarely smiles because he’s shy. But he would smile when he’s eating ice cream with Lea because he has a sweet tooth and loves dessert. It was such a cool idea. I loved it.

dichotomy

1. a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.

2. the phase of the moon in which half its disk appears illuminated

Saïx’s Pandora Gear is called “Dichotomy” in the localization. Saïx had weapons called Lunatic, Berserker and Werewolf. The weapon representing his real personality is a bunny rabbit. The HUGE difference between Isa and Saïx was the whole point. My impression was that BBS wanted to emphasize as much as possible that Isa and Saïx were two very different people. And character design was one way they chose to do that. That dichotomy is what made Isa so interesting to me. If you want to make Isa his own character, you should go with a different character design, in my opinion.

“You’re in a pretty good mood,” Axel remarked. Riku glanced up.

“Seeing Sora just made you that happy, huh?”

“I don’t feel like telling you.” A little smile crossed Riku’s lips as he took another bite.

“Y’know, it’s creepy when you smile with that guy’s face,” Axel said dryly, following suit and nibbling on his own ice cream.

Silence fell over the room. He paused in his munching to stare hard at Riku, then finally asked, “What is Sora to you?”

The question caught Riku off guard. He groped for words. On the sofa opposite him, Naminé spoke up instead. “Sora and Riku are best friends.”

Like Terra, Isa was supposed to be cursed. Being Norted is no joke. That’s what a lot of the Beauty and the Beast parallels were about. Axel started teasing Riku for his ugly ass face the same time they were trying to figure out the organization’s next move. They were going to target those with strong hearts, and the Beast was one of those targets. 

Belle nodded and silently walked out of the room. The trio went after her. The Beast was left alone with no company but the moonlight.

“You’re really just going to give up on everything now?” Sora said all at once. But the Beast only stared up at the moon.

Isa was supposed to be just as cursed as Riku was in KH2. And Riku changing his appearance fit perfectly with Lea and Isa’s story. Axel said Riku was creepy when he smiled with that face, and unfortunately that’s kind of how “Isa” made me feel in the KH3 ending. Since they took away the possession angle, I didn’t really see him as Isa. He still felt like Saïx to me. And seeing Saïx play and smile like that was kinda unsettling. And weird.

Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.

“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”

“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.

“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku.

Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.

Probably for this very reason, I could tell that Nomura wanted to take a different direction with Isa’s character design after he decided to make him a good guy and Lea’s best friend. You can see what Nomura had in mind for an adult Isa based on his illustrations of Saïx for 358/2 Days and KH2FM+. He looks different than he did in his vanilla KH2 concept art. His features lean a lot more heavily toward Isa in BBS. I really wished KH3 went in this direction with his updated character design. He looks much more youthful here, like Axel does. Also, I loved the fact that his scar was gigantic. It went all the way from the top of his forehead to the bottom of his nose. In KH3, they stuck with the old Saïx design, so his scar was a lot smaller. I like the bigger scar because it really shows that he was treated like a human lab rat (of course that idea was scrapped, anyways). 

Beside the Beast, who had once been a handsome prince, stood a man in a black cloak. “It’s time you dealt with the girl. She’s scheming to take everything you have,” said Xaldin, his hood pulled low to hide his face. “Your castle, your treasures…and then your very life.” The Beast hung his head. His castle was a desolate place, ruled by a monster.

“Trust no one. Feed your anger. Only rage will keep you strong!”

“I’ve had enough of strength. There’s only one thing I want…” The Beast gazed, unmoving, at the glass bell jar around a single red rose.

What he wanted was—

“Hah,” Xaldin spat. “To love and be loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?” The Beast whirled again, his cape rippling. He glared and let out a roar of fury.

“Good. Let your anger rise!” With that, Xaldin vanished.

Axel didn’t really see his best friend when he looked at Saïx. He felt like Isa went away and Saïx took his place. His relationship with Saïx was based on his memories of the past. He self-medicated with ice cream to cope. It was heartbreaking. After the scene where Axel was sad about his best friend going away, the chapter about the Beast’s Castle begins, describing him as a formerly handsome prince. So on that basis, I wish there was more visual differentiation between Isa and Saïx. Most of the fandom is just going to see Isa as the same mean old Saïx since there was no attempt to differentiate Isa’s personality from Saïx’s personality and they look exactly the same, too. 

“I don’t trust you,” Saïx replied flatly, the enormous Claymore in his hand.

“Traitors like you deserve to lose everything,” Saïx said.

Saïx gave him a cruel grin. “You will lose everything!”

They originally wanted Isa to have a distinct personality and appearance from Saïx—a lot more than just a new outfit. Isa was supposed to be a beautiful love interest cursed into being a beast. In the novel you can tell that Xigbar and Xaldin were pressuring Saïx to eliminate Axel. He was reluctant to do so on his own. Xigbar doubted whether he was even looking for Axel. Just like with the Beast, they were manipulating him to think Axel had been plotting to take everything from him. Deep down Saïx probably felt similar to the Beast. Like nobody could ever love him in his condition. I think that’s why he was so furious. Axel grew a heart, and then left him. But the only reason Axel grew a heart was because he remembered his feelings for Isa. It was a really cool idea. It's just a shame it never came to fruition.