#kh re:mind

[feralcringeman]

My toxic kh fan trait is that I’m a Mickey apologist 😔

[star-shapedfruit]

[starfiresky]

Why Kairi is the way she is

The title of “Re:Mind” is SUPER MEANINGFUL

|| My personal thoughts ||

STICK AROUND TILL THE END OKAY? So Kairi day happened recently, and I see a lot of people talking about her… either in defense of her or against her. It’s gotten to the point where I start getting angry when I see Kairi in KH3, and I’m starting to wonder if feeling angry is supposed to be the point. Maybe we’re supposed to get frustrated with the way she is right now.

I’ve been trying to put myself in Kairi’s shoes. You see how she’s so spunky in kh1 and 2, right? And suddenly in kh3 she’s kind of withdrawn and desperate. Just look at her face at the end of 2 and you’ll see when I think the personality switch occurred:

This is the moment when she realizes Sora is leaving her AGAIN.

Kairi’s character in 1 felt very infused with independence and “Sora needs me 😤” energy. Then, in 2 she’s like: “I remember Sora now, and heck— he needs me more than ever! 😤 He can’t do anything without me!”

Then she proceeded to be reckless trying to reach him— and I genuinely believe that she ACTUALLY believes Sora needs her to succeed. She escapes prison, and gets shut out of the final battle and left behind. We as the players are SUPPOSED to get frustrated, because SHE’S undoubtedly angry, too!

When her letter brings Sora back, she realizes that he survived and he’s actually grown a lot!

But I personally feel like when Sora gets Mickey’s letter, she starts to feel less and less important. Especially with this line from the letter: “Sora, you are who you are because of those people, but they’re hurting. And you’re the only one who can end their sadness. They need you.”

Like, Kairi’s got to be looking at Sora thinking; “Wow. He’s grown so much, saving lives, saving everyone— and what have I been doing? School. I thought Sora needed me— but look at all of his accomplishments… look at all the things he’s done without me. And when I’m around, I just distract him. I don’t help him.” 💔💔

So in kh3, she’s depressed, she’s sad, maybe she even feels a little worthless. Kh1 Kairi would’ve sent those letters to Sora during Merlin’s training, but it’s my belief that kh3 Kairi doesn’t think Sora needs her anymore. She’s lost her drive.

I heard that in the novels, Kairi cuts her hair short because “Sora likes it that way”! But what if she cut her hair because she’s trying to embrace the younger, more confident version of herself who felt needed by Sora? Maybe that’s what she meant by “he likes it that way”.

I’m pretty confident that Sora becomes AWARE of Kairi feeling useless in the paopu fruit scene! He looks disappointed when Kairi gives him the paopu fruit not because he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings, but because he sees through the gesture! This is her cry for help, and he doesn’t know how to help her. To me, this is the face of a guy who’s just realized: “I thought she already knew I want her to be apart of my life forever. What’s going on here? What happened to the Kairi who already knows I need her and we’ll be a part of each other’s lives forever?”

His awkward reaction is literally him wondering where the Kairi he knows ran off to? This is the “crap, I must’ve screwed up” face.

Then there’s the scene where Kairi is kidnapped by Xemnas and she barely even fights or tries to get away from him. This is a Kairi who’s lost her drive and her knowledge of being NEEDED, it makes perfect sense to me why she didn’t fight. What if she’s reached the point where she wonders if Sora even cares enough to save her? Of course, it’s not canon, but this moment is kind of like a representation of not feeling like she’s worth very much, and therefore won’t be missed!

To me, this just looks like an extremely depressed girl who’s been reading too many comment sections.

Then of course, Re:Mind happens and obviously, Sora demonstrates that YES, Kairi, you are important to him! Maybe a little too important. Its my belief that the paopu scene was a huge wake up call to him. When she dies, and everyone’s like; “okay, time to go back”, this really explains why Sora says so adamantly “No. My whole journey began the day I lost her, and now that I’ve found her she’s slipped away again”.

That’s him realizing that he forgot the sole reason he was going on all of these adventures. He did them for her, and got so lost in the noise of all his quests that he neglected her and didn’t realize until she called out for help with the paopu fruit. Re:Mind is literally his quest to saving her self-esteem and RE:MINDING her how much she means to him!!!!! THATS WHY ITS CALLED RE:MIND.

And you see how desperate he is to get her back? How he’s hugging her, holding her hand, taking her places during the ending? He’s trying to let her know that he still needs her!

We’re supposed to get mad about how she’s being treated, BECAUSE ITS NOT RIGHT AND BOTH KAIRI AND SORA KNOW IT!

Sora finally understands that he needs to remind her that he cares about her!!!!

If Sora is like any guy I know, he isn’t clueless, he just assumed Kairi already knew.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

In Kingdom Hearts II, Sora dreams about dancing with Kairi. And I realized that in Kingdom Hearts III, he somewhat does twice. He spends her around twice, anyway. And tbh, in his dream of dancing with her, they really were just kind of just holding hands and spinning around, anyway. LOL

[luxustextbox]

xehanort addressing himselves

source (i've seen a few of these and kind of synthesized them but here are two of the ones i've seen floating around)

[madasthyhatter]

How to rise from the floor, When it's not you I'm rising for, Just do the next right thing

Inprnt | Twitter | DeviantArt

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

i know ive already posted multiple times about this parallel, but i realized these scenes use almost the exact same wording

auroras dreams led her to prince phillip. fairy godmother believes rikus dreams will lead him to sora.

like. its so one-to-one that if this isnt intentional, WOW. thats a hell of a coincidence!

(hint: its not a coincidence)

[mythicalartistx]

KH Japanese Translations Part 6

Part 5

Series where I discuss fantranslations and this time it's on Vanitas

Ever since seeing Vanitas backstory in the novels I became more interested in him, I already loved him as a character but the novels really increased that. So I'm going to look at some of the fantranslated kh3 scenes

Everyone knows how the translations can be off, now translations aren't perfect in general but its kinda odd when there are entirely new meanings or censored in the localization.

I'm glad I looked up translations for his death because it's so much more. It's more about freedom to choose and it's not even about darkness that much.

Sora: That face is—

Vanitas: I am Ventus' missing piece. You made up for the missing part of Ventus' heart. That's why my appearance came from you. I am made from you both, Ventus and Sora. We're brothers who make up for what the other lacks.

Sora: If you think that, why are you fighting us? We should be working together

Vanitas: It's my reason for being born. It is because I am darkness, that you both belong to the light, able to exist there. If that isn't 'working together' I don't know what is.

Sora: But I never—

Ventus: But I never asked for that.

Ventus: There's no need to divide which one is the light and which one is the darkness. I am me and you are you, just live freely the way we want.

Vanitas: Freedom? Ah, I am living freely... like this.

Ventus: Is living trapped in darkness freedom to you?

Vanitas: That's the way I chose to live

Ventus: I see

Sora: Is that really okay? Vanitas!

And it's just great, it's bittersweet. I like it a lot more. It shows that Vanitas decides to be trapped with darkness and is working with them so they could live and exist in the light. And it makes me wonder if he wasn't, would Sora and Ventus be unable to exist or live in the light. That's just something. All three of them affect the others. And these FT explains the appearance better and how they relate to the other.

I spent time looking at fan translations through various websites, people's comments, old posts, YouTube videos comments— and especially content relating to SR because those are the people who tend to care more.

Eng:

Sora: Your face!

Vanitas: I am the piece of Ventus that was taken away. And you're the piece Ventus needed to be whole again. So why shouldn't you and I look exactly the same? You define me Sora, the same way Ventus does. We are brothers who together, make a greater whole.

Sora: Then why don't you stand by our side instead with darkness?

Vanitas: Because I am darkness. And I do stand by your side. I'm the shadow that you cast. How much closer could I be?

Sora: But I didn't —

Ventus: But I didn't ask for this. To be sifted apart nice and neat. We should be free to choose. Not just light, not just darkness. We decide what we are.

Vanitas: But Ventus, I did decide who I am. You see?

Ventus: And what you are is darkness ?

Vanitas: What I am is darkness

Ventus: Okay

Sora: How is that okay? Vanitas?

And there's differences and it's honestly moreso the whole concept about freedom to choose is left out. The official translation focuses on darkness and him being darkness because that's what he is when it's honestly not just that. I feel like he's more than just darkness but that's my take. The JPN also explains how Vanitas appearance is better and the separation between Ven and Vanitas as well was stated better as well.

And I bring it up because I once was talking about how I thought the ships were odd because he calls them his brothers and someone mentioned that it was just an English translation thing, people can ship whatever they want I'm not here to stop that but does that mean the person say something incorrect?

Now I'm going through the monster's inc where Vanitas realizes where Ven is and he says this line.

JPN:

Vanitas: Ventus! So you were hiding in such a place all along, remnant of my heart.

ENG:

Vanitas: Ventus. What a strange place to slither off to... you insignificant speck

Now I want to point out how the phrasing in such a place is said as an insult. It is stated that somewhere like that is worthless as if Sora is worthless. Then he insults him by saying you are little of his heart. Like he isn't worth much. The changes here make sense and it kinda flows better. Like insignificant speck is an insult that clearly from the way the original statement was said.

Final Words:

As much as it would be interesting to have Roxas also there, it wouldn't really fit. The only relation he has to Vanitas is through Sora by looking the same as Ventus. Roxas is a great character but for that scene in particular it made sense that he wasn't present. Now it be cool if we got a reaction to seeing him in another scene.

Sora is the one that helped both Ven and Vanitas. He saved both of their hearts. Vanitas gained his form and appearance by Sora ability to connect with them. Sora saved Ven's heart from being destroyed and Vanitas—a being that was with Ven so long merged with his heart that when he was taken out it affected Ven. This is stated in re: mind, speaking of remind someone said something that I honestly think is interesting:

Post Notes:

I once heard that Vanitas referring to them as brothers was only a localization thing so I wanted to look into that, but I couldn't find anything through all the sources I used. I even listen to jpn audio and he still says kyōdai which means brother. Not sure why someone once said that

And I bring it up because It was about how I thought the ships were odd because he calls them his brothers and someone mentioned that it was just an English translation thing, and they aren't like that in the JPN version people can ship whatever they want I'm not here to stop that but it seems like they still do so why did that person say it?

Unless they're referring the the remind scene when Ven is like we're not brothers we're the same but Vanitas tells him you're naïve for believing that I've been with you for a long time and is another being entirely. But that's all the English version and I didn't really look at any translations for that scene... If anyone does know more about that scene....

Also Vanitas is my second favorite character now 😌

[spammynegrutou]

As much as I, um, dislike Lea, I think it's so cute how Saïx brought Roxas and Xion back specifically for him.

He made sure that Lea still had friends just in case he perished indefinitely. He was willing to lose himself into darkness forever for Lea, but before that, he hatched a plan with Vexen and Demyx to make sure Roxas and Xion got their bodies back. Like wow babe you really brought back my favs.

And in the Re:mind DLC, he kept reminding (😏) Xion who she was which ultimately made her lose it. Probably made her gain back all those memories she had, and forced her to remember who she was and what her purpose was. Even when he didn't get the whole deal about Xion, he still wanted her around Lea.

He had the most subtle redemption arc in KH3, and his shit was more believable than what the fuck Xehanort had going on 😒

I still feel like they should've shot that nigga Xehanort dead in his face.

But yeah, like sure he didn't apologize (apologies in Japanese games are like,, non-existent), but he did it in his own way.

Like "Hey, I was mean to y'all before and you hated me, but I need you to be there for Lea... So he doesn't cry like a bitch. K thanks. Here's y'all's bodies back."

And Roxas saying something along the lines of "I owe my return to many" and "The people's hearts you think you've won over aren't really on your side" to Xemnas, like sure he could've been talking about the BULK of the real OG13, but his keyblade was pointed DIRECTLY at Saïx.

Ugh it was so subtle.

Anyways, love KH3. Good game :)

Also I love my husband 🥰🥰😘😘

[kairizine]

The test print for the standee has arrived! The full batch of @apticho's gorgeous standees will be on the way soon 🌺

[demispark]

Xion's theme being called "Musique pour la tristesse de Xion" will never not just gut me emotionally

[thetrashthatsmilesback]

Whenever people try to say kh4 or kh5 will be the last entry in the series is start tearing up and I have to remind myself what regularpat said about how theres enough people working below nomura who have helped with writing over the years that its very unlikely these will be the last entries in the series.

Like, he's right. Kh has a fiercely loyal fanbase and even the more disliked games (3D and kh3) have almost perfect ratings (8.5/10 and 9/10 respectively) from reviews so i highly doubt either Square Enix or Disney would be willing to let that revenue go even after Nomura retires but fuck man, kh3 kept me alive waiting for re:mind. I can't imagine a world without kh because kh got me through a lot of personal shit.

[catboygirljoker]

rip luxu you would've loved watching "real housetoons of disney town" or whatever

oh 100% xigbar would be into trashy reality TV. the trashier the better. yells at the screen like he's watching sports. hear him all the way across the castle that never was yelling "OH that BITCH"

i think there might be some soap operas he'd like, too. theyd have to be REALLY dramatic though. ive thought about drawing him watching general hospital and reacting to his own va's character on that show but that would require watching his va act in a live action thing and for some reason i get really bad secondhand embarrassment from anything involving james patrick stuart outside of xigbar, so . there are dreams that cannot be

[rhythmmortis]

ok hehe another headcanon: i want lea & aqua to be friends solely because of the fire / water thing and cuz their little brothers look the exact same lmao

I WANT THIS SO BADLY TOO although when re:mind came out i remember people actually had the OPPOSITE hc because there's a line during that fight as a group with the guardians of light vs the xehanort replicas where axel says something and aqua replies along the lines of 'don't talk, fight!' and he says 'you don't have to say it like that..' and. i will admit it was kinda funny but i think they would still have a fun dynamic (and if not friends then rivals somewhat?), the water and fire thing could be very fun and they have fun opposing personalities that would make their interactions genuinely interesting. and i would love a parent swap situation (despite neither aqua nor lea being parents but more along the lines of the twins swapping places and seeing how well they can blend in)

[oveliagirlhaditright]

You know... it might not have been Neverland, but Sora and Kairi did actually fly together in Kingdom Hearts III.

[nyctoheart]

Literally one of the funnest times of being a tumblr KH fan is when a new title comes out, and the asks I personally get and see other people get— about moments, reactions, theories, characters. Like fuckkkk its the BEST.