#kairi deserves better

[inkmoose]

I believe in the potential of a purple-coded Kairi

[tomboyjessie13-artblog]

I finished this last night, but I didn't upload it until today because I got tired and distracted. Anyway, have you seen this comic yet?: Link

Apparently, someone found this comic and redrew it, now all of the sudden I started to see everyone and their grandmother on Tumblr remaking this meme with their OCs and/or favorite characters(or Blurbos they call them), mostly from two different series' instead of one.

Peanuts and Silent Hill, Evangelion and Garfield, Sonic the Hedgehog and JJBA, and so on.

Speaking of the latter, I'm throwing my hat into the ring by featuring Noriaki Kakyoin from JJBA and Kairi from Kingdom Hearts, they're not only my favorite characters but they're also a pair of fictional redheads who deserve better because got done dirty by canon writing.

In most memes, the second person would say "damn" in disappointment, but in some rare variations(at least from experience) they just accepted it either excitedly or angrily.

This drawing is the latter because no more Mrs. Nice girl, Kairi's been done dirty by canon long enough(except for Re:Mind) so now our girl's out for blood. As for Kakyoin, his profile Jojo encyclopedia says he's cruel to his enemies so he's just himself here lol 

[evaundertale]

So dropped that Kairi Au fic I mentioned probably will draw art for it soon.

This fanfic will have some shipping here and there but mainly focuses on the friendship and Kairi relationship with other characters for the most part.

[lucemferto]

12 and/or 22. About KH

🎤

12 - the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

That one is pretty hard for Kingdom Hearts, I feel, because the fandom is so old and varied that there isn't really like an "unpopular" character per se? In its 20 year history a lot of characters were at one point "the unpopular one" and have since made a recovery.

So I will go with Kairi. Now, today, she is mostly hugely beloved by a large part of the fanbase - thank God! - but back in the 2000's the treatment she received was horrendous.

And, unfortunately, even now there are parts of the fandom that are super keen at minimising her already meagre contributions to the narrative in favour of their special little boy characters.

I think people should like Kairi because despite the difficulties she faces being a female character in Kingdom Hearts, the writers somehow stumbled into creating a super engaging interesting character, that has HEAPS of potential just waiting to be explored.

Her play style in ReMind was super cool, I love her dynamic with Sora, I especially love her beginning sections in Kingdom Hearts 2 - "Maybe waiting isn't good enough" - and the fact that she has been put on the backburner CONTINUOUSLY for 20 years is criminal.

From Sora telling her she should stay behind in KH1 all way to its natural culmination - spending "her" game explaining other people's stories, having Sora save her from heartbeaming into the fight from another realm and then having been told that she still sucks ass and needs to "train more"

She deserves better. And if the writers aren't going to treat her better, then we the fans absolutely should.

[greetings-inferiors]

Kingdom hearts is one of the most unique narratives (for better and for worse) that I’ve ever experienced, and it’s an absolute treat from start to finish.

I will never recommend it to anyone though. I don’t see how someone could do the honest grind that the series can be, without already being passionate about it

Nobody understands Kingdom Hearts that well cause everybody compares it to shonen anime when it's actually a magical girl anime because it has:

-A protagonist who is an ordinary lad who got given a special power that could save the universe

Teammates that the protagonist can lean on and who help the protagonist with said special power

A love interest heavily involved in the plot that both motivates the protagonist and is motivated by the protagonist

A monster of the week format that has its own standalone conflict that eventually leads to the next major plot point in the story

Overarching themes about love and friendships and connections and identity

[pkrockinon]

[themattress]

Untitled Kairi Post

Y'know what? In a way, Kairi was tragically doomed as a character from the very beginning.

"Oh, because she was a love interest and damsel in distress!"

No. Myths, fairy tales and, well, Disney movies have used those tropes for ages, and if you're doing a story where a huge point is the influence of those things, it's kind of a given that the leading lady be a love interest and damsel in distress. And the writing is smart enough to put a twist on the trope given that Kairi's distress is much less than it appeared to be because she's Sora's love interest and he's her's, and after Sora saves her she saves him right back.

"Oh, because she wasn't a playable character or party member!"

No. It would have been nice to have the playable puzzle solving-based Kairi sequence they initially planned at Hollow Bastion, but I can understand why it was removed given how it would slow down the pace following what is perhaps the signature sequence of the game. And in any case it doesn't have any bearing on how things went for the rest of the series, given that Riku also was not a playable character or party member (he just had a crappy AI when pretending to help you fight Parasite Cage all so that he could kidnap Pinocchio).

"Oh, because she was stuck in a coma the whole game!"

NO! God damn it, how much must the game beat the point into your stupid head!?

And who could forget?

Stop laughing right now.

Kairi. Not just "her heart". KAIRI. Since the heart = the person.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it exposes some serious sexism if one goes with the "Kairi was in a coma" line for KH1 and yet says "Ventus was inside of Sora" post BBS, since it's literally the exact same situation except that Kairi was always awake within Sora's heart as opposed to Ventus only waking up at the end of 3D. It's why Sora felt things regarding Hollow Bastion, why he experienced the memory of Kairi and her grandfather, and why he saw and heard Kairi multiple times. He wasn't hallucinating; that was always really her.

So, enough beating around the bush. What did I actually mean, then?

Well....let's start at the beginning.

Kairi's arc in the original Kingdom Hearts is not just told through the writing. Utilizing a video game as a visual/audible medium, it is also told through animation, voicework and music. During her introductory cutscene, we see Kairi asked by Sora if she remembers the world she was born in before being sent to Destiny Islands. "I told you before. I don't remember." She answers this sincerely. "Nothing at all?" Sora responds. That's when we see this detail.

"Nothing." Kairi is lying. She doesn't remember everything given the trauma caused by being forced out of her old home, but she does remember just enough to understand why it was traumatic. She had a comfortable life there, and a family. She was happy. And then it was all gone in an instant. Now, on Destiny Islands, she is similarly content ("Well, I'm happy here.") and fears risking that same loss. And yet a small part of her still yearns for the past. She loved what she can recall of her past, as she loves her present. She fears only the future.

Riku's fixation on his existential woes and the mysteries of the universe, while also putting her up on some sort of pedestal like she's something special, is not helping at all. Something about it feels wrong to Kairi...wrong and uncomfortably familiar. It's making her very anxious.

But Kairi has someone to lean on and help her keep up an optimistic, cheerful front, perhaps enough to talk herself into believing it: Sora. And during this scene, we hear the track "Kairi I":

This track reflects Kairi's character in this moment. While there is a subtle undercurrent of worry, her heart is strong enough to not let it get to her and look on the bright side as she looks out to the sun setting over the ocean. With Sora's reassurance, she is able to feel as though her home and friends won't change or go away no matter what happens on her, Sora and Riku's planned voyage, which allows her to feel anticipation for it. All finally feels right.

Of course, things were not right, and Kairi ended up in heart form as her body and soul were lost to darkness along with Destiny Islands. From Kairi's POV, she is now in the Station of Awakening (aka Dive to the Heart) and can do little but watch Sora's adventures as she can see them through his eyes, not fully putting it together why she can and where she truly is.

In the scene at Merlin's House, we get to hear "Kairi II".

While it's similar to "Kairi I", there is now a more somber and mysterious feel to it given the present circumstances. While she doesn't know if Sora can hear her, Kairi wistfully waxes nostalgic over how Merlin's House reminds her of the Secret Place on Destiny Islands. And while Kairi feels sad over missing that place, she's also happy that there are places like it elsewhere in the universe. She's clearly learning as much from Sora's journey as Sora is.

Finally, we hear "Kairi III" in the flashback with little Kairi and her grandmother.

And while it starts out reflecting Kairi's childhood innocence, it ends up turning...almost sad. The reason why being one of the most overlooked details of the scene: at the end of the grandmother's story, she disappears, and little Kairi is shown moving her head all around looking for her. This isn't actually part of the memory, but a reflection of Kairi's heart. She knows that she had a grandmother and that her grandmother isn't here anymore, but she can't remember how her grandmother "left". But she at least still exists...within her heart.

Speaking of which, once Kairi's heart returns to her body and Sora loses his heart in the process, Kairi puts her foot down. She may have learned how to better deal with and accept change and loss, but a line still has to be drawn somewhere and Sora is that line for her.

Thus is she able to save him. Later, we see her worry about the future and things changing again when she questions whether anything can be the same between her, Sora and Riku again after the corruption Riku had underwent. Once again, Sora boosts her optimism.

More importantly, he helps her learn, as he does, that even when separated you can take strength in keeping your loved ones (metaphorically) in your heart, and that even if things change and Kairi is cut off from the people and things she loves, they will always exist within her heart, just as with her grandmother and the story she told her about light and darkness.

This is why, in the end, Kairi is able to let Sora go and yet still feel content.

From "Hikari" (JP):

I'll stop doing pointless things like thinking about the future. Today I'll eat delicious things. The future is always before us, Even if I don't know it.

From "Simple and Clean" (EN):

 Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all.  Nothing's like before.

This is a really good, really well done character arc.

It's also a very human character arc.

Yes, there are a lot of fantastical things going on, but when you put all of that aside, what are you left with? A young girl moves away from her old home and everything that she ever knew and loved, which gives her anxiety about the same thing happening with the new home and everything that she's come to know and love from it, which now includes a certain boy. She fears the future; she fears change. In the end, she ends up staying in her new home - but the boy moves away! However, through her time spent with him she's learned to accept this because he'll always be a part of her heart, which is something that won't ever change.

When put that way, it sounds positively mundane, and by and large the KH fandom - and Tetsuya Nomura himself for that matter - don't want or like mundane stuff like that. They want the crazy, the overdramatic, the angsty, the flashy, the anime tropeyness they're familiar with. This is why they were unreceptive to Kairi's arc to the fullest degree, as in many of them are literally unaware it even happened because they were too busy fixating on the archetypal Japanese media-style dick measuring contest between Sora and Riku (which is also far deeper than they tend to give it credit for, btw, but I digress). And if that's the case, then the question gets raised: why bother focusing on or expanding Kairi at all? She doesn't "sell".

THIS is why Kairi was doomed from the start. It's not her fault. But it's sadly the truth.

[sorikufeels]

you know what’s a pretty cool moment of growth for kairi that i haven’t actually thought about until now? the fact that kairi went from “sora let’s take the raft, just the two of us!” in kh1 to literally running and physically stopping riku from leaving when he tried to in kh2.

i believe that riku and kairi were jealous of each other and worried about sora leaving them for the other. they never had the chance to resolve that between kh1 and kh2 with everything that happened, so it would’ve made sense for them to feel the same way. or at least for kairi to since she had forgotten about sora and probably hadn’t processed those feelings with him gone. so it would make sense for those feelings to resurface once she was able to remember him again. riku, on the other hand, had convinced himself he couldn’t even face sora anymore so it makes sense for him to have let go of those feelings for the most part.

riku was walking away, letting kairi and sora be together. it could be like kairi wanted on the pier that day, just the two of them with riku out of the picture. he was holding that reality out to her on a silver platter and she could’ve taken it. but she didn’t. in fact, she physically grabbed him to make sure he didn’t leave and that kept him from isolating himself again. if kairi wasn’t there, riku would’ve left and maybe we would’ve never seen him again. a far cry from her attitude in kh1.

she matured and i think it was shown in a good and significant way. i wish kairi had more moments where she develops as a character that aren’t inherently tied to sora and riku and she was allowed to grow more as a character, but i like this moment a lot

[supernightboy08]

Characters that deserve better:

1. Katsuki Bakugo

2. Ochaco Uraraka

3. Roxy

4. Chelsea Van Der Zee

5. Lucy Heartfilla

6. Amy Rose

7. Krillin

8. Yamcha

9. Kairi

10. Asha

[blue-eli]

Thinking about Kairi & Sora but mainly Kairi and going insane. Girl you have so many issues

[petrolstationflowers]

Lea misses the blazing heat of midsummer. He wonders if he puts his hands around Sora’s neck, he’ll feel that white hot light underneath the teenager's skin, waiting to burst free.

(or, before the events of 3, Lea looks at Sora and sees the negative space instead)

[aitsuheart]

i just got jump scared by this riku edit with kairi

who gonna tell them that's a gay man and a lesbian

[evaundertale]

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Naminé/Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé/Xion (Kingdom Hearts) Characters: Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé (Kingdom Hearts), Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Axel (Kingdom Hearts), Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Isa (Kingdom Hearts), Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts), Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts), Ansem the Wise | DiZ, Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts), Ansem Seeker of Darkness | Xehanort's Heartless, Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Mickey Mouse (Kingdom Hearts), Selphie (Kingdom Hearts), Olette (Kingdom Hearts), Pence (Kingdom Hearts), Hayner (Kingdom Hearts) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon, The Power of Waking (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi Deserves Better (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi-centric (Kingdom Hearts), Fluff and Angst, Kairi & Riku & Sora Friendship (Kingdom Hearts), Canonical Character Death, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet Ending, Bittersweet, Epilogue, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers Summary:

With Sora gone and Riku going off to save him Kairi is left behind once again. Leaving her to thoughts full of what if's and nightmares from the past. With finishing her training with Aqua and not having anything to keep her from the thoughts she been trying to ignore. Kairi makes a choice that sends her spiraling into the past. With memories of future events fresh in her mind and the thoughts of this as a second chance to change events. Will Kairi end up succeeding or will everything end up causing more problems for the future.

[goldenchocobo]

So- I’ve decided to redraw my KH-Daemon AU drawings from 2019/2020, since I look back on them and see how far I’ve improved.

I’ve only re-done the Destiny Trio atm, but plan on doing all Trios + Org and extras. There’s not going to be changes to any one’s Daemon other than the redraw, and maybe a very small redesign to simplify them.

The only exception to this is Xigbar/Braig who- due to being Luxu will have a different Daemon- I’m thinking Kookaburra or Heron (though leaning to Kookaburra).

Just for comparison, here’s Riku:

2019 Left, 2023 Right

[transrikuu]

I judge kingdom hearts fans by how they treat Kairi

[leeyanyanyaaan]

so im looking at the kh va cast (for oc reasons)

and ive been thinking...

while i do agree w everyone that i prefer hayden's performance for kairi (mostly bc of kh1 nostalgia), i don't think alyson's performance herself wasn't actually that bad, ESPECIALLY in the earlier games!

ultimately, what i think makes everyone prefer hayden is less of alyson's delivery as kairi, but rather how she was directed to play the role...

as i continue putting the voicelines on repeat, its rather clear that there's a difference between the characterization as a whole of the previous kairis to kh3. in the older games, kairi still has her playfulness that kh3 just doesn't have anymore.

and why is that? the poor character writing of kairi in kh3. i already was disappointed with the way kairis character turned out in the last game, but just listening to the voice clips from older games all the more points it out. it really just shows the injustice of kairis characterization, where she's now become a gentle-mannered damsel in distress, or rather, a plot device for sora, and i really hate how they did that to her. while in the DLC and MoM there was a slight improvement due to seeing kairi more in action, i just wished they at least showed more of this in the title game.

kairi truly deserved better than what happened to her in kh3. i hope she'll get a redemption in kh4 now that shes training under aqua, but honestly, i don't trust the team w writing her character anymore.