#kh3d manga

[themattress]

I don’t dislike what the sea-salt trio added to the story, nor do I think it shouldn’t have been created in the first place.

I do! Well, sort of....the manga serves as a solid argument in its favor.

Nomura stated in a recent Q&A that he was very hesitant to revive Roxas and Xion, up until the very end. He originally had come up with a scenario where they did not return. But due to the fans’ opinions being so strong, he felt like he had no choice but to bring them back.

Bullshit. Nomura has ignored and even outright angered fans plenty of times, so if he really wanted to he could have just not revived them. But he knew that reviving them would play very well and he'd get all the adulation for it, so he deliberately chose the worse path.

The real Roxas was the boy in the data Twilight Town, not the boy in the black robe. 

YES. Thank you for this! You got it 100% right.

As soon as the sea-salt trio reunited, everything instantly went back to how it was in 358/2 Days, despite how much all the characters had changed since then. In fact, the Roxas and Xion in KH3 were literally time-travelling from the past. Xion was always a past version of Kairi anyways, so her presence clashed with the real Kairi. Roxas was back in the black coat again, implying that this Roxas was essentially the one from before the prologue of KH2. And Lea went back to being called “Axel”, a name he had left behind in KH3D, specifically in preparation for the reunification of the sea-salt trio. It was hard for me to feel happy because the trio felt like such a relic of the past.

Again, no arguments here.

Xion and Roxas (and Namine for that matter) staying as pieces of Sora and Kairi would be both heart wrenching and unique in how permanent it was. But why should they be the only ones to stay dead? Why should they only people for whom death is a consequence? Especially when their entire existence was spent being used, abused, and discarded when others saw fit?

OK, but here's the thing....Roxas and Namine weren't dead. At least, that wasn't how KH2 wrote their fates. KH2 said them going back to Sora and Kairi is what saved them from dying; that they can still exist as individuals from within their other selves' hearts. Idk what happened to get that retconned, but it really should not have been.

More importantly, how can you end a character arc about people desperately trying to carve out their own existence with depriving them of said existence? After countless sacrifices and machinations that forced them into painful ends.

Again, originally Roxas and Namine did not "cease to exist" like it was suddenly retconned, they were shown to still be alive inside of Sora and Kairi. While as for Xion, that was the opposite of her arc: her arc was that she took her existence for granted only to learn it was a fabricated existence that was causing others hurt, leading her to voluntarily end that existence. It's sad as Hell, yes, but it's also her own choice. And reversing it just cheapens her character, it makes it feel all the more shallow and pointless.

Clearly they implied in kh2 that Roxas and Namine were technically happy as their original selves, but it flies in the face of the assertion that they are unique beings who deserve to exist just as much as their original selves. I will always fight for the idea that Roxas, Xion, and Namine deserved their happy endings as much as any other character.

For the third time, they weren't happy as their original selves, they were happy in their original selves. It's where they came from and where they are meant to be. Given that all the time they had physical bodies was time spent in conflict and misery, this was supposed to be their happy ending. But of course, 358/2 Days fucked that up by going way too hard in painting Roxas' time in the Organization as something he mostly enjoyed, making way too many fans now view his happy ending as just going back to that, so that's what happened.

Why I Wish the Sea-Salt Trio Had Not Been Reformed

“Kingdom Hearts is not too realistic, but I do want my players to grasp a sense of reality from it as well. For example, I’m sure you had friends when you were young, a good group of friends, but as you grow older things change and it doesn’t always stay the same.” — Nomura

I don’t dislike what the sea-salt trio added to the story, nor do I think it shouldn’t have been created in the first place. But I do think that reuniting these three had a detrimental effect on the story. It felt very forced and it also took away a bit of the sense of realism that past KH titles had.

Nomura stated in a recent Q&A that he was very hesitant to revive Roxas and Xion, up until the very end. He originally had come up with a scenario where they did not return. But due to the fans’ opinions being so strong, he felt like he had no choice but to bring them back. Here is why I think he was so hesitant to resurrect them, and why I wish he had gone with his original story route instead.

“Kairi, who was a tomboy in KHI, became a little bit more mature in KHII. She changed a lot outwardly since at that age girls grow a lot faster than boys, but her lively personality didn’t fundamentally change. Enough that ‘with Riku and Sora gone, right now Kairi is the strongest person on Destiny Islands’ is an actual premise. I like the scene in KHI, when she watches the sunset with Sora, and tells him not to change. I thought it showed very well her anxiety and loneliness over how as we get older we find a distance growing between us and our close friends.” — Nomura

Xion was Kairi the way Sora remembered her. In essence, she was the young Kairi from KH1. But that girl doesn’t exist anymore. The real Kairi is different now. She’s matured physically as well as emotionally. With Sora and Riku gone, she became the strongest one in her friend group. She spent the last year waiting, worrying, and being lonely. Kairi gets a new outfit and cuts her hair in KH3, symbolizing that she has changed even more.

Lea has also changed. He may not have a new outfit, but (at first) he has reclaimed his old name. He is no longer “Axel” but fully human, and he is trying to go back to being the person he used to be before joining the Organization. It was interesting to see a more emotional Lea interact with an older Kairi, while still maintaining the same chemistry he had with Xion. Their relationship was the same in some ways, but it was also different. Kairi related to Lea on a more adult level and it felt like their relationship had evolved beyond 358/2 Days. 

“It’s a place of lies Naminé made from his own memories, but, maybe, that’s the real Roxas. Not clad in a black coat, but playing with friends his own age, laughing, eating ice-cream, wandering around—like Sora.”  — Axel

The interesting and realistic conflict between Axel and Roxas from KH2 was also completely swept under the rug and left unaddressed. As Roxas matured, he wanted to know who he was as a human and live his own life. And more than anything else, he wanted to be a normal kid with friends his own age. That was why he left Axel’s side. It was the entire premise behind his summer vacation prologue in KH2. 

The real Roxas was the boy in the data Twilight Town, not the boy in the black robe. And the real Roxas had forgotten about Axel and made other friends. The Roxas that Axel knew was long gone. A lot of fans saw Axel’s obsession with Roxas in KH2 as a display of close friendship or maybe even true love. But I don’t think it was ever Nomura’s intention to depict it that way. I think he viewed Axel as a broken person who was unable to cope with his loneliness. His emotional dependence on Roxas was a character flaw, not something we were meant to romanticize.

“I was afraid of that… Everyone grows up—and grown-ups always forget. First you’ll forget what it feels like to be young, and then you’ll forget about me.” — Peter Pan

In KH3, Lea assumed that Roxas was Ventus, the same person he met way back when he was a kid. In KH3D, he went looking for Isa, not Roxas. While he was training, he never mentioned anything about bringing Roxas back. He had apparently accepted that Roxas, his “best friend” in the black coat, wasn’t coming back. He was looking forward to reuniting with Ventus instead. 

“Way back when I was a kid, I met this other weird kid. Somehow we became fast friends. Never saw him again— nearly forgot about him, too. Then I met Roxas. Couldn’t believe it. The two of ’em were identical. Oh, I didn’t tell Roxas. Didn’t want him to go vanishing on me, too. The kid’s name was Ventus. He’s one of the lost Keyblade wielders we’re looking for. Think he’s still got me memorized?”  — Lea

Their friendship would be different from how it was before. Ventus had his own best friends from his human life. But that was okay. It didn’t mean he’d forget about him or that he’d disappear from his life for good.��Lea seemed like he had grown beyond his KH2 self in this scene, like he had faced some of his fears and become stronger and more mature. And that progress was undone later on, once he realized Ventus didn’t remember him and the whole “bring Roxas back” subplot became his sole focus once again.

“Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It’s a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don’t feel like it anymore. It’s strange, but I’m content with just missing what’s gone. I’m not the one who changed. You did.”  — Axel

In the next cutscene, Axel acted rather strangely. He made a point of telling Saix that he wanted to bring everyone back, but especially Roxas, even pointing his ice cream at him for additional emphasis. Then Saix mentions his lack of tear marks. Axel looks away, then claims he doesn’t need them anymore. But his response doesn’t sound very convincing. Why did Nomura write the scene this way?

I think it was the most subtle way he could depict it, but his intentions all along were to show that Axel’s obsession with Roxas in KH2 had less to do with how close they were, and more to do with his relationship with Isa. Axel wanted to prove to Saix, and also to himself, that he had a new best friend now and he didn’t need Isa as much as he did when he they were kids. He’s not a crybaby and he’s outgrown those upside-down tears. His behavior was very childish. As if to deliberately signify character regression.

As soon as the sea-salt trio reunited, everything instantly went back to how it was in 358/2 Days, despite how much all the characters had changed since then. In fact, the Roxas and Xion in KH3 were literally time-travelling from the past. Xion was always a past version of Kairi anyways, so her presence clashed with the real Kairi. Roxas was back in the black coat again, implying that this Roxas was essentially the one from before the prologue of KH2. And Lea went back to being called “Axel”, a name he had left behind in KH3D, specifically in preparation for the reunification of the sea-salt trio. It was hard for me to feel happy because the trio felt like such a relic of the past. The resolution felt disingenuous and almost sickeningly sweet.

[ultraericthered]

KH Canon OCs - How I See Them

Any followers of mine I have on this hellsite are likely aware that I am and remain a Kingdom Hearts fan who personally considers only the core narratives of Birth By Sleep, Kingdom Hearts (1), Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II (plus some Appendix content from the UX fairy tale, BBS 0.2 and 358/2 Days), all chronologically, to be the canonical narrative of the true and pure Kingdom Hearts, the epic Disney saga before it was all remade in the image of director Tetsuya Nomura’s demented shonen mangaka brain. Or to put it differently, only the first decade of the franchise (the 2002 release of KH1 up to right before the 2012 release of KH3D) matters to me on any deep level (though the second decade up to Sora joining Smash in 2021 has some shining gems of merit to take from even while the rest of it is all hot flaming garbage that’s being doubled down on and continuing going forward and I want absolutely no part of it, bye.)

As such, the KH original characters I would consider canonical to any worthwhile work of Kingdom Hearts are all those introduced in that first decade, with one exception I’ll bring up at the very end. And these characters, like many franchise characters, have been written and portrayed in differing ways between different entries, whether they be games, manga, novels, web original/fanon material, or even just the basic rough draft concepts. So...where does that leave me and how I view these characters? I thought it’d be fun to not only answer that, but to compare with actual officially liscenced depictions of the characters and see which ones best match what I consider the ideal for the “baseline”/”template” these characters ought to follow.

Sora

Sora is a free-spirited, mostly easygoing and cheerful young boy from Destiny Islands who finds himself the chosen wielder of the Keyblade one fateful night when the Heartless invade his home. He’s best friends with Riku and Kairi, and also with Donald and Goofy, his travel companions across the worlds. Generally positive, upbeat, bold to the point of cockiness, and with a steadfast belief in the heart and in his friends that are his power, Sora can also be very deeply contemplative, surprisingly considerate, and prone to becoming moody and melancholic whenever something really gets him down. Despite this his agility, abilities, and willpower are exceedingly strong.

The Sora who best matches this characterization would be...

Somewhere right between both games in the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ package - Re: Chain of Memories and KHII. As great as KH1 Sora is, his character arc, growth and maturity through the course of that game’s story sort of ends at a narrative wall, as it was clearly developed like a standalone with the continuation of the storyline afterwards being uncertain. So Sora’s whole ordeal in Castle Oblivion was designed to break him down and the following story of KHII was likewise designed to build him back up again ‘til he reached Peak Sora, slicing through skyscrapers with his Key and everything. In between these portrayals, if we took the best of Sora from Re:CoM and added it to the best of Sora from KHII, we’d have my Sora.

Kairi

Kairi is the seventh Princess of Heart, a pure-hearted girl who comes from the world of the Radiant Garden Hollow Bastion but now lives on Destiny Islands due to being sent there by Xehanort when she was very young and small. Though appearing scrawny and fragile, Kairi is a spunky, cheeky, outgoing and good-natured tomboy with an endless supply of willpower and inner strength in addition to her athleticism. Unlike her best friend Sora, though, Kairi isn’t exactly carefree and is prone to anxiety and fear of change beyond her control due to her traumatic childhood experiences, and is also very impatient and fidgety, but tries to conceal all this beneath a sunny disposition. But put her in a situation of action and danger, and she will go fucking feral. Over the course of the saga, Kairi matures and grows braver, stronger, more proactive, more aware of all that’s around her, and more accepting of great changes, even temporary separation from her friends. Oh, and she and Sora might be in love.

The Kairi who best matches this characterization would be...

Yeah, you all saw this coming. Shiro Amano’s Kairi from his manga. Admittedly, his KH1 Kairi was not very good in the KH1 manga - the scripting for Kairi’s character in KH1 the game remains superior. Everything else, though, he nails for Kairi. We see more of her 14 year old self in flashbacks, we get her KHII character expanded upon so that her personality and dvelopment arc is better fleshed out and she gets more badass achievements to her name, and even the currently running KHIII manga improved her content. She’s perfect.

Riku

Riku is Sora and Kairi’s best friend from Destiny Islands and was to be the Keyblade’s chosen wielder. Cool, cocky, competitive, a bit aloof and tough on others, and prone to snark and joking around, Riku was also very inquisitive and yearned to explore bigger and better places outside his small backwater home, which paralleled his desire to be mature and regarded like a strong and capable adult. These qualities made him susceptible to giving into the darkness in his heart and calling the Heartless to invade his world, which lost him his claim on the Keyblade. His stint with Disney villains and turn to exploiting the powers of darkness for his purposes set his future course, as even when he realizes his errors and repents, he’s stuck with dark powers and a natural pull towards the Dark Realm. From here, Riku becomes first and foremost the “Good Disney Bad Guy” who uses what he gained from villainy towards the cause of good, to help others rather than himself, and to ultimately turn his Darkness into Light. This is symbolized in how he hangs around with Mickey Mouse, the epitome of a Good Guy. Ultimately Riku matures for real and becomes a watchful guardian with his own “twilight” power.

The Riku who best matches this characterization would be...

Like Sora, the ideal depiction of Riku lies somewhere between two games - his KH1 character and the parts of his story mode in CoM that worked and pushed him towards a unique and special path of redemption and heroism that wouldn’t require he wholly sacrifice his Disney Villain-ish aesthetic and edge that he makes work so well. He should never have become the Vegeta of KH, not when he could’ve been the Piccolo of KH, a role his character fits far more naturally.

Xehanort/Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Xehanort (yeah I know *officially* he’s “Terra-Xehanort”, but that’s not spoken aloud in canon, so he’ll always be “Xehanort” to me) was an amnesiac young man heavily implied to have been a Keyblade wielder who was taken in by Ansem the Wise and made his chief apprentice. Growing envious, arrogant, and apathetic to ethics and emotion, spurred by feelings of inadequacy and his desire to know all that there is to know, Xehanort betrayed his master, banishing him to oblivion and stealing his research, his other followers, and even his name. Allowing the Heartless to overrun his world and sending Kairi adrift in his search for the Keyblade Master, Xehanort became a Heartless himself and masterminded a widespread invasion of the worlds for the purpose of cultivating the Heart Of All Worlds so that he may claim the power of Kingdom Hearts and blanket the universe in everlasting Darkness, which his research had concluded was the true essence of the heart and the stabilizing force of everything. 

The Xehanort/Ansem who best matches this characterization is...

There was never any realistic chance than any other depiction of this character was going to top Billy Zanenort in the original KH game + its Final Mix. Everything about him there was so perfectly realized.

Xemnas

Xemnas is the Nobody of Xehanort who was born after Xehanort became a Heartless, who formed Organization XIII and leads it as its Superior. Devoid of feelings and with a vast emptiness where his sense of self once was due to lacking a heart, and now recognizing how pitiful his old self truly was, Xemnas refuses to sink back into Darkness and be rendered nothing of significance, so he desires to enhance and assert his own non-existence by not only gaining a heart of his own through his own Kingdom Hearts, but by claiming its power for himself, tainting the hearts of all life in the universe with his Nothingness so that everything is reduced to nothing and all hearts be enslaved in the thrall of his own, as the deified ruler of the worlds. Completely cold, calculating, philosophical, utterly ruthless, devoid of pity or mercy and with a grandiose sense of self-importance, Xemnas schemed to make the power of the Keyblade serve his own uses.

The Xemnas who best matches this characterization is...

Much like his Heartless counterpart, Xemnas was never better than he was in his debut game, but particularly KHII:FM, which added so much to his on-screen appearances and role as the overarching villain at the head of the Organization, fully selling how complex, tragic, and frightening a character he is. He was great in the other special edition games (KH1:FM and Re:CoM), but those were simply teases at him. Character-wise, KHII:FM remains his definitive outing.

Namine

The special Nobody of Kairi, born when Kairi’s heart departed the body of someone who was not her (Sora). Due to being a product of the connection between Sora and Kairi’s hearts, Namine posesses mystical powers and abilities to look into the hearts of others and tamper with the chains of their memories, which can create certain effects on their minds. At first Namine was a captive of Organization XIII and exploited in Marluxia’s conspiracy at Castle Oblivion, which she let happen due to her loneliness, fear of being left alone and abandoned, and desire to matter in the hearts of Sora and his pals. Initially timid and withdrawn, Namine grew to be more assertive and proactive thanks to her experience with Sora, which allows her to act with more confidence and let her more rebellious and mischievous sides show more openly. She forms a special bond with Roxas, Sora’s Nobody, and eventually with her own other half, Kairi, who she re-assimilates into so that now she has a home inside her heart.

The Namine who best matches this characterization is...

Yes, technically Namine had her strongest showing in terms of character development and story relevance in CoM/Re:CoM, but as a personality with longer lasting value to the series, KHII, the initial game, the FM edition, and also Shiro Amano’s manga adaptation, had Namine at her most appealing by far. She’s sweet, intelligent, helpful, lively, and as strange and awkward as you’d expect someone of her conditions to be, but I think it’s really all brought together in just that sly grin and pose she does in both that game image above and in her official character model art, and how she now fully embraces herself as a “witch” despite that having been just what others called her to start with. The girl’s a naughty little troll and she knows it.

Marluxia

Number 11 in Organization XIII. Marluxia was made lord of Castle Oblivion and from within it concocted a very diabolical and ellaborate scheme to brainwash Sora and bend him to his will so that he could turn the Keyblade against Xemnas, which would allow Marluxia and his co-conspirators to take over the Organization. While seeming elegant and refined, Marluxia is very authoritarian, cruel and without scruples when looking to claim the power he craves. In combat, Marluxia’s a graceful assassin who fights with a sickle and flowers.

The Marluxia who best matches this characterization is...

For reals, Marluxia’s never been gotten quite perfect in anything to feature him, but he was indisputedly at his best in the Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ package, containing Re:CoM and KHII:FM. Re:CoM made his character a lot cooler and more intimidating than he was in the original GBA game (his confrontation with Axel and the fights with him alone prove as much), and his fight in KHII just really runs with the whole “reaper” aesthetic, making you truly fear him.

Axel

Number 8 within Organization XIII. Axel is quite the complicated character, being primarily an assassin with a mercenary sense of values and who does the work of others within the Organization only when he can be sure that it’ll benefit himself to do so. Despite acting like a snide, aggressive and largely blase punk, Axel is not only charming but very perceptive and good at reading a room, making deeply thought cost-benefit analyses of any situation and having a knack for manipulation of both people and events so that things go his preferred way. Selfish and scheming as he is, Axel also harbors deep vulnerability that only his oldest friend and senior member Saix has seen, and when he comes to value something or someone, he is unwilling to let go no matter what he has to do to keep them around. In combat, Axel is very flexible, and fights with chakrams and fire.

The Axel who best matches this characterization is...

It’s Shiro Amano for the win once again! The one constant for Axel is that his debut showing in CoM, whether on GBA, the PS2 specially remade edition, the novels, or even the manga (he’s literally the sole positive in that entire manga adaptation!), goes great for him. It’s everything that follows that I had to consider when weighing them against each other. Then it became no contest - not only is Axel’s portrayal in the 358/2 Days manga stronger, better written and better handled than the game version, but in the KHII manga I am actually very glad he survived past the prologue and can see the value in his role the whole way through. I have never been able to say that regarding KHII the game and especially the novels, but the manga actually got it right. So Amano’s Axel is the best, got it memorized?

Larxene

Number 12 within Organization XIII. Larxene moreso than other Nobodies is particularly agitated by the emptiness within her, so she seeks to fill the void by amusing herself and has found no better way to do so than to cruelly bring others down and toy with them even to a breaking point without any mercy or misgivings. A prideful sadist who cares little for others, Larxene became Marluxia’s co-conspirator in the Castle Oblivion plot to brainwash/recruit Sora so that they may overthrow Xemnas and take over the Organization, and she got an affinity for teasing both her colleagues and Namine. While normally easygoing, playful and snarky, in combat Larxene shows why she’s called a “savage nymph”, fighting with kunai knives and electricity.

The Larxene who best matches this characterization is...

In both versions of CoM, Larxene is a standout. Re:CoM removed a handful of her dialogue for some reason, but otherwise got to portray her personality in even greater detail, with her sauntering movement, skeevy flirtiness, and irritated gestures adding a lot to how enjoyable she is, her facial animation and voice acting emphasizing her malicious sadism, and even her death feeling sadder than just an abrupt tantrum fadeout. What both versions share in common is how uncompromisingly brutal she is to fight. “Savage Nymph” indeed!

Vexen

Number 4 within Organization XIII. As his human self Even was, Vexen is a very dedicated scientist, looking at everything as an opportunity for research and turning any exploitable situation into an experiment to conduct. Feeling like science lends itself not to heartfelt emotion or compassion, he is ice cold and even cruel in how he pursues his agenda. Vexen is also incredibly pompous and elitist, believing in the seniority that numbers within the Organization give and looking his nose down at those of “limited signifigance”. His claim to fame is the creation of Replicas, beings that duplicate the bodies of others but, much like Nobodies, are incomplete due to having fabricated hearts and minds. In combat, Vexen is meticulous, and fights with a shield and ice powers to match his personality.

The Vexen who best matches this characterization is...

As great as Vexen always was in CoM, Re:CoM made him just a teensy bit even better. Part of it is due to the voice acting, which is spot on in both languages. Part of it is due to him coming off as less of a dirty coward than before, thus easier to feel for. And finally, a big part of it is how he dies, a death far more grisly than in the original!

Lexaeus

Number 5 within Organization XIII. The Nobody of Alaeus, one of Ansem’s royal guards and scientific assistants, Lexaeus is the brute force within the Organization who doubles as one of the deepest thinkers of the bunch. Well composed, taciturn, and with a sense of honor, Lexaeus channels his mind through his muscle and is a force to be reckoned with as a result. In Castle Oblivion, he worked in the basement level along with Zexion and Vexen. In combat Lexaeus fights with a tomahawk and earth powers, and can also raise his chi so that he becomes a nigh-unstoppable rampaging monstrosity!

The Lexaeus who best matches this characterization is...

In CoM/Re:CoM he was a bland, forgettable, ultimately throwaway character who is laughably easy to beat despite his professed strength, and in KHII:FM, he’s is much less a character than he is a boss fight (though at least a really strong and difficult opponent now!). 358/2 Days got him down just right, with him being calm, gracious, and intelligent while also being brutal (poor Roxas!) and one of the strongest characters to play as. The only thing missing is his fondness for mind games and puzzles, I think Shiro Amano actually did that really well and it added to his character, but oh well.

Zexion/Ienzo

Number 6 within Organization XIII. The Nobody of Ienzo, youngest of Ansem’s apprentices, Zexion is an analyst and a tactician by nature, always observing, always thinking, and always deciding to act on what he believes to be the best recourse for disadvantaging his foes. Very deadpan, smug and assertive with others, Zexion owes the Organization a great deal and wishes to succeed Xemnas as its leader one day. But as he’s still young and impetuous, he’s not the successful schemer he’d like to be and cracks under pressure. In Castle Oblivion, he worked in the basement level along with Vexen and Lexaeus. In combat Zexion’s not the best physical fighter, so he prefers to cast illusions and mental tricks using a magic spellbook.

The Zexion who best matches this characterization is...

Re:CoM is the best Zexion is going to get in terms of character and combat, and I quite like Ienzo whenever he appears in later games. He’s the only counterpart to an Organization member other than Xehanort and Braig who feels like he warrants the expansion.

Riku Replica (Repliku)

A replica of Riku created by Vexen in Castle Oblivion, designed to reflect Riku’s full dark potential. Was brainwashed by Namine into being obsessed with protecting her and fighting off Sora, but he eventually regained knowledge of what he really was and it got him grappling with his sense of identity all the way to his tragic demise.

The Repliku who best matches that characterization is...

I mean, he’s pretty much the same in Re:CoM as he is in CoM, but with two added benefits: voice acting to actually sell his comically inflated intensity, and not being so ridiculously too difficult to fight.

Ansem the Wise/DiZ

The ruler of the Radiant Garden with an affinity for science and the aquisition of knowledge and wisdom. In trying to better understand the heart, Ansem ended up drawing beings born of the heart’s darkness to his world, and his efforts to keep them at bay were thwarted when his apprentice Xehanort betrayed him and banished him to the Realm of Nothingness. Consumed by dark thoughts, negative emotions and a desire for vengeance, Ansem went by the identity of “DiZ” (Darkness in Zero) as he sought a way to strike back at the Heartless and the Nobodies, the latter whom he particularly despised due to their very non-being serving as a reminder of his failures and the traumatic tragedy he’d been made to endure. While proud, callous, disdainful and patronizing to others, sometimes even downright cruel, Ansem has a wry sense of humor, enjoys peculiar interests such as computer games and ice cream, and can be civil when need be. He recognizes deep in his heart what’s right and wrong, but stubbornly refuses to heed his heart in favor of his mind. Suffice to say, this man’s story doesn’t have a very happy ending.

The Ansem/DiZ who best fits this characterization is...

When you get down to it, Ansem is really not that terribly interesting or invaluable a character in anything other than KHII. It’s the story with the role he was literally made to play, and in it we don’t only get his Ansem Reports and legendarily great voice acting by the late Sir Christopher Lee, but Final Mix even adds the one scene from 358/2 Days featuring him that was best fit to be shown in this story.

Roxas

Roxas is the Nobody of Sora, born when Sora’s heart left his body and he became a Heartless. Made the 13th member of Organization XIII, the solemn, moody and ill-tempered Roxas grew dissatisfied and at odds with himself, beginning to question his purpose and his very identity, which led to him leaving the Organization. He was then captured and mind-wiped by DiZ, who placed him in a simulation of Twilight Town where Roxas developed another identity, a bright, kind, considerate, humble and skeptical “boy scout” type who hung out with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. During this time his memories were scanned and extracted by Namine, and one identity crisis and fight to the death with his former friend Axel later, Roxas was made to re-assimilate back into Sora’s heart, where over the course of Sora’s next journey Roxas made peace with himself and his new home.

The Roxas who best fits this characterization is...

For a third time, Shiro Amano pulls through on not just doing justice to but actually perfecting a character from the games. While his Organization XIII persona in 358/2 Days still isn’t quite what I’d imagined, Amano’s writing for Roxas makes him so engaging the whole time that I barely care, and in the KHII manga he steals the show from Sora in a way Roxas in the game never could. I really like him - he’s way better than the black-coated turd of the later entries.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette

Three friends who live in Twilight Town and who were Roxas’ best friends in the simulation. Hayner is brash and energetic with a take charge attitude. Pence is chipper, laid back and good humored, and has an interest in stuff like machinery and truth-seeking. And Olette is sociable, willful, a bit bossy and snarky, and a shopaholic.

The Hayner, Pence, and Olette who best fit this characterization is...

Yeah, they’re pretty much the same in every single work they appear in, making it impossible to choose (though in Olette’s case I have to give her manga incarnation as shout out for the spiked baseball bat!)

Xaldin

Number 3 within Organization XIII. The Nobody of Dilan, one of Ansem’s guards and scholars, Xaldin is a naturally gifted warrior in the fields of both strength and strategic thinking. Viewing himself and his fellow Nobodies as abominations devoid of feelings, Xaldin views the Beast of Beast’s Castle with contempt and jealousy over him being a literal monster who possesses a heart, feelings, and humanity to reclaim, so Xaldin makes it his priorty to gradually take the Beast’s life apart and utterly break him in both body and spirit so that he may become a Heartless and create a Nobody that Xaldin may then enslave. Moreso than his colleagues, Xaldin is spiteful, malicious, verbally abusive to others, and devoid of any civility or decency, as it’s “not in his nature to hold back.” In combat, Xaldin is relentless, wielding six deadly lances and the power of wind.

The Xaldin who best fits this characterization is...

You really can’t do Xaldin any better than KHII:FM.

Demyx

Number 9 within Organization XIII. Demyx is a lazy, undisciplined, largely apathetic wastrel and a coward who prefers not to fight or apply himself to any tough situations. He likes lounging around, playing music, gaming with his colleagues, and generally taking advantage of others. Though he seems scatter-brained, silly, and even quite friendly at times, Demyx’s empty self makes him insecure about his place in the World, and when that button is pushed, he will throw caution and the pretense of feeling anything to the wind as he becomes a ferocious assailant, fighting with water and his sitar.

The Demyx who best fits this characterization is...

Again, KHII:FM got Demyx down the best. While 358/2 Days and even its manga adaptation fleshed him out a bit more, it lacks the spectacle of his boss fight that has made Demyx such a legend.

Luxord

Number 10 within Organization XIII. Luxord is a gentleman first, a gambler second, and an Organization agent last, so he’s not always the most effective when on a mission. However, he is also shrewd of mind, nefarious in means, and utterly fearless in face of a challenge. He generally gets along with his colleagues, respects a worthy opponent, relishes a good game, and prides himself on being keen and seeing through to the end anything he takes on, and he gets rather frustrated when things fail to match up with his perceptions and risk/reward analysis. In combat, Luxord fights with cards and dice, the gambler’s arsenal, and utilizes the power of time itself.

The Luxord who best fits this characterization is...

Fourth hit for Shiro Amano. While Luxord as an Organization operative in the Caribbean is enjoyable in KHII and even KHIII, Luxord as a character was better realized in the manga, which made him so much fun and notably goofier, meaning he has a much better chance to avoid the utterly asinine bullshit Nomura is now set on.

Saix

Number 7 within Organization XIII. Saix is a Nobody who both fully embraces being a Nobody and curses his fate as a Nobody, yearning for a heart of his own. He is so cold, so efficient, so faithful to the cause, and so uncompromising in his cruelty that he got himself the role of Xemnas’ second-in-command. Normally very deadpan and detached from any semblence of emotion, Saix always hides an undercurrent of intense rage, displeasure, venom and instability that only comes out when a full moon drives him into utter lunacy. He’s been friends with Axel since the start, as their human counterparts were friends too, but lately the two have drifted apart. In combat, Saix wields a broadsword and powers of moon, stars, and space.

The Saix who best fits this characterization is...

358/2 Days just gives Saix all the character focus, meaty role in the plot, and truly villainous deeds that you could ask for. He’s great in Shiro Amano’s manga adaptation too, but his darker presence and actual fighting in the game gives that portrayal of him the edge here.

Xigbar/Braig

Number 2 within Organization XIII, and the Nobody of Braig, one of Ansem’s guards and apprentices who always had a greed for higher status and power that could elevate his self worth. Wanting to wield a Keyblade of his own, Braig gladly accepted Master Xehanort’s offer to collude with him in his scheme to set off a new Keyblade War, and ended up exploiting Xehanort’s trajectory when he became Ansem’s apprentice. Becoming the founding member of Organization XIII along with Xemnas, Xigbar retains Braig’s laid back, gruff, rude and talkative personality and seemingly flighty and unserious attitude, but actually knows many secrets and holds many cards close to his chest, always thinking opportunistically about what can gain him the best advantages and put him several more steps ahead of others he disdains. In combat, Xigbar fights with sniper rfiles and gravity power.

The Xigbar/Braig who best fits this characterization is...

To put it plainly, Xigbar was initially one of the weakest characters in the Organization, and everything about his character in KHII:FM and 358/2 Days only works with the context given with Braig in BBS. (Also, he’s not Luxu. If Luxu were to exist, he’d not be this character.)

Xion

The suddenly added Number 14 of Organization XIII and the centerpiece of much of what happened in the time gap between CoM and KHII. She turns out to be an imperfect Sora replica made by Vexen who absorbed the memories of Sora that Roxas could not recall, leading to the puppet taking on an appearance and personality reminiscent of Kairi. But wheareas Kairi is sweet (albeit sassy and teasing), light-hearted and acts like she’s got her shit together, Xion has no such chill - she’s manic, edgy, feisty, stubborn to a fault, quite prone to angst or anxiety-inducing emotional turmoil, and very open about her insecurities. Despite this, she is fiercely dedicated to being a hard worker and applying herself on missions, giving it her all to earn her keep and putting on her best brave face for her friends  ‘cause she loves them so deeply. Even when her screws come more loose and she has her very identity and continued existence in question, her desire to do right and look out for what’s best for her friends wins through. Due to her connection to Sora and Roxas, Xion too can wield the Keyblade. Was ultimately wiped from all memory.

The Xion who best fits this characterization is....

To the surprise of no one, Xion from Shiro Amano’s 358/2 Days manga adaptation IS the character for me and many others - in fact, she’s probably Amano’s crowning achievement, fully realizing the potential in such a bizarre and fanficcy character concept that was thought up by Tomoco Kanemaki and screwed with by Nomura.

Terra

The young Keyblade wielder who, years ago, fell prey to the darkness in his own heart and from Master Xehanort, becoming Xehanort’s vessel and a crucial component of who Xehaort was as Ansem’s apprentice. Having a soured relationship with his mentor and father figure, Master Eraqus, Terra’s heart burned with the desire to prove himself strong and to be a hero to others in need. While rather overconfident, willful, dense, brooding, short-sighted and with a fixation on power, Terra was also good natured, compassionate and vulnerable, wanting to see the best in others and so convicted to ideals of heroism and moral values that his will to do good and protect what mattered most to him outlived him and his own failings.

The Terra who best fits this description is...

Say what you will about Terra in BBS, good and bad, but he was easily the most fully realized character with the fullest realized story arc out of the leads in the game, plus his combat style holds up best.

Aqua

The young Keyblade wielder who, years ago, played a key (pun intended) part in saving the worlds from a plot by Master Xehanort to lay waste to everything, even sacrificing her physical existence to the Darkness in order to give her two friends, Terra and Ventus, their best shot at survival. Aqua was kind-hearted, keen and insightful, strong-willed, stubborn, and hyper-focused on her tasks due to the seriousness of her position and the ideals of peacekeeping and justice that Master Eraqus instilled in her. Having shown the Mark of Mastery, she was also a bit showy, standoffish, and judgmental, wanting to believe she knew best and that her heart wouldn’t lead her astray only to constantly second-guess herself and expose her more awkward side. She cherishes light and is constantly pushing back against the darkness in others and in herself. Above all else, Aqua values her friends as family and will do anything to help them.

The Aqua who most fits this characterization is...

The reason I hold a deep appreciation for what we got in BBS:FM’s bonus episode and in BBS 0.2 even when I don’t like either of those as products is that their contents helped really define who Aqua is and needs to be as not merely a strong heroine, but as a character who stands on her own apart from her two male friends. Shiro Amano’s recent adapting of the material did it one better by restoring Aqua’s adorkable side from BBS to give us bits of levity here and there. Plus, she’s just beautiful and such a damn badass in Keyblade combat, making Nomura’s ever sexist treatment of her in KHIII afterwards a legit crime of bad writing and character assasination.

Ventus

The young Keyblade wielder who, years ago, played a key (pun intended) part in saving the worlds from a plot by Master Xehanort to lay waste to everything, even sacrificing his very heart to vanquish the threat of the Unversed. Initially brought into the secret Keyblade Master order by Master Xehanort, while not of age to become a Master, Ven trained hard and looked up to his older friends/surrogate siblings, Terra and Aqua. A positive, confident, good natured, helpful and spirited youth, but one prone to uncertainty, melancholy, and impertinence when faced with conflict he found himself ill equipped to deal with. While not too strong or magically gifted, he was very agile.

The Ventus who most fits this characterization is...

Yes, just the basic concept of Ventus. He was never too well realized in any officially liscened work, and was most effective when asleep.

Master Eraqus

The old master of Terra, Aqua, and Ven, who in his own younger days was a colleague of Yen Sid and Xehanort in their Keyblade training. He meant well, but was overly strict with his surrogate children and zealous about safeguarding the light by stamping out darkness whereever, whenever, believing in absolutes such as the need to ultimately erase darkness from all hearts in existence and guide the worlds to a new age of prosperity in secret. He was struck down by Xehanort, the man he’d looked to as an elder brother.

The Eraqus who most fits this characterization is....

Once again, a character is never executed too well beyond his rough draft concept and design. And what a cool concept and design, too!

Vanitas

A being of pure darkness who spawned the Unversed years ago and who may have had some influence in the darklings’ evolution into Heartless. Vanitas trained under Master Xehanort as his secret apprentice and wielded his own dark Keyblade. He relished being cruel and channeling the pain of his own negative emotions into the pleasure of hurting others, and he was also very arrogant, viewing himself as the most supreme warrior who could even usurp and outlive Xehanort himself. While seemingly destroyed by Ventus, Vanitas never fully went away - we see traces of him in Riku’s dark mode and soul-eater, and in Sora’s own positivty turning to negativity and obsessive desire during his trek through Castle Oblivion. So long as darkness holds great power, Vanitas will linger as its embodiment.

The Vanitas who most fits this characterization is...

This was bar none the biggest shock to me. I didn’t think KHIII would get anywhere here beyond a shout out to Ienzo, but Vanitas in that game is honestly even better than in BBS, and for mainly one reason - he redefined what I thought of the character and his potential.  ‘Cause beforehand I wasn’t sure I even wanted to see Vanitas again since he seemed to have no lasting value beyond that dumb ying-yang X-Blade plot with Ventus. KHIII showed he didn’t need to be just that. He could be his own brand of menace, the “Darkness” he chose to be. He didn’t even need to go around looking or sounding much like Sora - he could have far stronger “repeatedly comes back taking on a different shape and form” potential than Xehanort! And naturally, I don’t care one bit about whatever Nomura might have in mind for Vanitas and tying him to 12 other “Darknesses”, that’s BS. Leave me with my proud, gleefully evil solitary Darkness Incarnate!

Master Xehanort

The old Keyblade Master who set in motion the events that led to the story of Kingdom Hearts and whose heart became the canvas for the creation of the story’s overarching villain, Terra-Xehanort. Hailing from a small, constraining world before being chosen by the Keyblade, Xehanort finally got to explore the larger World only to, like Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, find it so... disappointing. Being a naturally born sociopath with an inquisitive soul who always sought knowledge and yearned for the answers to all his heart’s most burning questions, Xehanort researched deeply into the old Keyblade War legends all while arrogantly intaking and exploiting Darkness in hopes of chanelling it as power. His ambition became to initiate another Keyblade War-sparked apocalypse where Darkness would ravage the World and he could then set foot inside Kingdom Hearts to harness its light and recreate the World anew in his own image, partially out of sheer curiosity to see the results such a grand cosmic experiement would yield and partly out of a desire to trascend his own humanity and play God. By the time he got around to it, Master Xehanort was little more than a self-interested, callous, maniacal old crackpot who did evil for evil’s sake and shamelessly reveled in it. Even after he, from inside Terra’s body, got amnesia and faded from consciousness, his dark legacy lived on in Terranort and his Nobody.

The Master Xehanort who most fits this characterization is...

OBVIOUSLY. In both Birth By Sleep the secret ending FMV and Birth By Sleep the game story, Master Xehanort was easily the most interesting, enjoyable, and best realized character, particularly when his on-screen portrayal firmly followed the Watanabe vision for him. A fantastic villain even with a dumb plan and incoherent motivations; were only those issues fixed, we’d have the ideal Master Xehanort who’d be by leaps and bounds superior to Nomura’s pet Villain Sue.

And last, and unfortunately least, we have....

Strelitzia & the Chirithy

Strelitiza is a girl who lived in the same world and village as Lauriam and Elrena, to whom she was a blood-related sister and surrogate sister respectively. The three of them belonged to a guild inspired by folk legends of the Keyblade, though they were not wielders of the fabled blade themselves. She was a rather quiet and shy girl who looked to others to give her courage and resolve, holding the highest opinion of her brother and best friend while undervaluing herself. Met with an unknown tragic fate, which effected Lauriam and Elrena deeply. The Chirithy, meanwhile, were local critters who were said to have been around since ancient times and could gague a hearts connection to the Keyblade. Chirithy also exists in the Final World.

The Strelitzia & Chirithy who most fit this characterization is....

As with Ventus and Eraqus, the basic concept and design outdoes the actual implementation of the character we got in the series. Don’t care to see these characters anywhere outside of my headcanon.

[asiryn]

Hi, FFN anon here again. KHMOM is out and I'm losing my mind because I just want to be able to complain about Kairi being written misogynistically without So/Kai fans coming onto my posts and telling me to "stay positive." It's driving me nuts.

Hello again!! Well, KHMoM isn’t out yet everywhere, as at least in America we have to wait until tomorrow. But we shall see how that goes. (I want to be optimistic, but frankly, I have been burned by this series too many times to hold out much hope.)

As I’ve stated quite a few times, the thing is, while at this point any improvement in the way they write for Kairi would be much appreciated, it’s impossible for them to completely fix everything. Even if MoM delivered us the absolute best, most mind-blowing story for Kairi ever, packed end to end with character development and agency, it still wouldn’t be enough to undo the years upon years of terrible and shallow writing. One game alone cannot fill the deficit of seven other games completely and utterly failing to deliver even halfway decent writing, and that instead seemed to almost go out of their way to shaft Kairi as much as possible. Even if MoM is full to the brim with incredible awesomesauce for Kairi, it will not retroactively fix the, as you’ve said, misogynistic writing of KH1, KH2, KH3, Re:CoM, Days, Re:coded, or KH3D. 

I really, truly, honestly hope that Melody of Memory doesn’t disappoint. But either way, whether it’s bad or good, it will not be a magic wand that’ll wave away the need for much-deserved criticism. Even at its best, all it can ever truly be is a band-aid slapped onto the gaping open wound left by the rest of the series. 

All this to say: I see and hear you, Anon. While at least a part of me can understand where the S*Kai fans are coming from, I wish they could understand that “staying positive” is not a tenable solution or mindset that a lot of us can have. Because, really, when have these writers ever demonstrated any kind of respect for Kairi as a character? When have they ever shown any kind of respect for her agency, or treated her as anything more than a hollow prop for the stories that they seemingly actually cared about? Why on earth should I have any faith in them, given that they’ve failed to deliver in every single game Kairi’s ever been in thus far, and have squandered every opportunity to improve for eighteen goddamn years?! I’m sorry, but you’ll have to excuse me if I find it a bit difficult to drum up any trust, at this point. 

So, yeah....I’m sorry that I have to say it. But while I hope MoM is good, it will not be a magic fix-it button for the criminal mistreatment of Kairi and S*Kai. If we’re still getting an anime, then maybe if they’re willing to stray away from the game canon and add in all the missing connective tissue and improve things, then maybe we can wipe the slate clean and they could have the opportunity to do right by Kairi this time. Hire the manga writer(s) to handle Kairi across all the KH mediums from now on, and maybe then we’ll talk. 

[bluerosesburnblue]

Oh i have another question I don't know if u have answered this before. But this is something that confuses me and i want to hear your take When riku says "to protect what matters" who is do you think he is referring to? A part of me believes he is referring to only sora and it pains me

Well, you’ll probably be relieved to hear that I don’t think he’s just talking about Sora. For starters, there’s no reason for him to be so damn vague if he’s talking about Sora. Riku isn’t shy about how much he cares for Sora. If he wanted to say Sora, he could easily say “the strength to protect what matters, like my friend Sora,” or even just “the strength to protect Sora.” The only reason to keep it vague is if he’s thinking of several people

And, personally, I think it does a disservice to Riku’s character to ignore all of the other bonds he has. Riku has several people that he cares about

Like Kairi.

Riku loves Kairi. The fandom (and, unfortunately, the games) may undersell their relationship, but to say that Riku doesn’t love Kairi just means that you don’t understand Riku

Riku, the guy who turned on Sora in KH1 when he thought that Sora had replaced him and Kairi, and didn’t care enough about waking Kairi up for his tastes

And who literally joined the side of Darkness to get her heart back

Who, if the manga is any indication, spared Xion because he saw her as Kairi

Who instantly falls back into a teasing pattern with her when they have actual speaking lines together for the first time in games

(And, personally, I think that when he says it in KH3D that he’s talking about Kairi because he’s directly comparing himself to Beat and Rhyme, and his arc in KH1 when trying to save Kairi almost perfectly mirror’s Beat’s own arc to save Rhyme in TWEWY)

So, I think to say that he isn’t at least also thinking of Kairi completely ignores one of Riku’s most central and important relationships. Personally, I subscribe to the opposite idea of the SRT. That Riku’s “things that matter” doesn’t “grow to become love for one person” (which actually feels regressive in characterization to me) but that it expands to include more and more people as he grows older because his sense of empathy develops more and more. And I think that’s what Kairi was teasing him about in the screenshots above, too! Sora’s power is that he’s able to bond strongly with anyone. If Riku’s becoming more Sora-like, then it’s safe to say that he’s gone from having a single-minded determination to protect only a select few people and throw out anyone “unworthy” (KH1) to an encompassing love that extends even to Aqua, who he only met briefly but holds in high regard due to what she’s done for him in his life, and Terra, who he knew for even less time but who he recognizes unintentionally went further down a path that Riku was able to escape and he wants to lend support back since he knows what it was like

So I really do think that Riku’s thinking of multiple people. Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Terra, Aqua… and maybe even everyone else who went to the Graveyard with them, but those five especially are people that he cares deeply for and has grown to be able to protect the way all of them have protected him in the past

[Edit: And Namine. Can’t forget the fact that Namine saved him in CoM and part of his story in KH3 involved getting her a replica body. So six people, minimum]

[sammilimyy]

Just me kind of complaining about KH

I think it’s okay to like something but also not like some parts of it at the same time. I started playing the Kingdom Hearts games in Oct 2019. That’s really fuckin late but my friends were happy for me finally experiencing the games they grew up with and I can experience them after going through a strict no video game life in my house for 18 years. I highly enjoyed KH1 and KH2 (I tried to play Re:Com but I gave up like halfway cause I couldn’t stand the card deck system it just didn’t work for me and yes I know the story) and then BBS happened and honestly that game was preeetty frustrating in terms of floaty. Combat. But I still enjoyed it cause I love Ven and Aqua I just felt the end bosses were pretty BS cause I melded all these awesome commands like Firaga Burst and watevs and I can’t use them without getting hit and cancelling my command. And instead I just used commands like thunder surge and sliding dash so I felt all that grinding and work I put into before the final battles was wasted... (I play on Proud mode btw) So now I’m play KH3D andddddddd it’s kind of like BBS but getting commands is different now and I have to bake dream eaters and pet them and that’s when I started missing the combat in KH2. Also I roughly know the whole story for KH cause I’ve read it and had it explained to me by my friend but playing DDD now I realise this story is very messy. Like I like messy and complicated stories (hell Tsubasa Chronicles is one of my all time favourite manga) but I feel like they’re going too far for this alr messy story. I’m like 8 years too late but I wanna like say something about this game that I’ve invested a lot of my time on and got scolded at several times by my family members for never ending playing these “childish games”. I’m still gunna finish it frick no I’m not playing KHUX cause I’m done with Gacha games I’ve played way too many and they can get not fun. I’ll also finish 0.2 cause I love Aqua and I just want some classic normal KH combat

[flamereign]

🔥 - no one axes axel

come get your salt / @enigmatias

deep breath, i’m just hhhh 

alright listen, i’m not gonna say i hate kh3 because despite everything there were so many things i loved about it, but the amount of character potential they squandered with so many characters will never stop grinding my gears.  now with lea in particular there were aspects i really loved abt his part in the game.  the resolution he got with saix.  the fact that they showed he was struggling with internal guilt ( no matter how short that was ).  his face crumpling and his tears when he hugged roxas and xion?? beautiful.  his tears when he remembered xion in that scene with kairi? gosh my heart.  but fuck if it couldn’t have been so much more than we were given. this is a character that started out as an antagonist. his storyline as axel throughout com, days and kh2 (both in game and manga) was one of my favourites because it really showed his progression and change in who he was as a person, that slow turn about from antagonist to anti-hero which culminated into that final act of sacrificing himself to help sora as the first step on his path to redemption. now i’m someone who doesn’t really like the whole ‘killing a character as way of redeeming them’ because that just makes it way too easy on that character so you can imagine my excitement when i heard they were bringing him back as lea. at that point i honestly thought that as with riku, we would get another character where we saw them actively working on fixing past mistakes and becoming a better person in the course of it. like i really wanted that further redemption for him.  and despite my many gripes with kh3d’s gameplay and story,  it did set it up further by giving him a purpose and a possibility for that redemption by having him fight alongside sora et al. and have him train with kairi in wanting to fulfill his promise to get his friends back. 

and then we get kh3.  kh3 where he is basically reduced to nothing but the comic relief, despite those few moments i talked about above. kh3 which kept on pressing our noses on the fact that the only reason they apparently brought him back was because he was a fan favorite. all he is good for is breaking the fourth wall and shooting off sassy one liners – and nowhere was this as apparent as in that scene where he says that line. aside from the fact that i believe they made him keep axel as a name despite the way he kept insisting on everyone calling him lea in kh3d just so they could put in that one dumb ass pun, his entire interaction with xemnas just felt so jarring. it made him look stupid. not just that, but it made him look weak.  instead of taking this opportunity to show his inner anger and desperation, instead of taking this opportunity to give us a fight where we got to control lea and have him take on xemnas, even if he did lose in the end, no he sasses off like a dumbass to someone who’s been basically the cause of a lot of his traumatic experiences and then gets his ass kicked 0.10 seconds later and i, frankly, hated it.  it just felt like the writers being smug. it felt ooc to me. i wish i could yeet that dialogue straight into the sun. 

[darkestfearsriku-blog]

— 8 PEOPLE I’D LIKE TO KNOW BETTER !!

(repost, don’t reblog)

ONE ( NAME / ALIAS ) Kamon TWO ( BIRTHDAY ) June 11th, 1996 THREE ( ZODIAC SIGN ) Gemini FOUR ( HEIGHT ) 5'7" FIVE ( HOBBIES ) Video games, reading (mostly manga & webcomics tbh), daydreaming about the OTP, and I mean I don't have to say writing because you're reading this on my rp blog... SIX ( FAVOURITE COLOUR(S) ) so is it too cliché to say I really like the color of Riku's hair bc-- SEVEN ( FAVOURITE BOOKS ) The Ephemeral Prince duology EIGHT ( LAST SONG LISTENED TO ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf6tyUHuDE8 NINE ( LAST FILM WATCHED ) Uh.... Incredibles 2? lol I don't really... watch films that much TEN ( INSPIRATION FOR MUSE ) You ever just sit down and binge an entire series over the course of a month, then have too much love for a character to just move in with your life? 'cuz yeah, that's what happened to me. ELEVEN  ( THERE IS NONE??? ) <insert a highly original Nobody/Xion joke here> TWELVE ( MEANING BEHIND YOUR URL ) idk I just used Darkest Fears a lot while playing as Riku in KH3D and I needed an url so I just. darkestfearsriku Tagging: @vibraea @tribblsrp @cxnsumethedarkness @dearlybelovedhearts @f1ghtlikeagirl @cagedmemories @chosen-boy @slccpingheart You don’t gotta do it if you don’t wanna, though!

Tagged by: @vxstexrth and @clavemauream !! Thank you!

[jeffcrafts]

What's PaperJams?? Ok well.. as I'm writing this I am pretty sick.. so no videos till I recover. And that also means no PaperJams yet.. gah, I hate being sick. Anyway, let's talk about PaperJams; I have been hinting at it on Twitter. PaperJams is a vlog series, a more behind the scenes series. Not vlogs in terms of my Buddy LordPigSteve, but more like camera on the tripod and me just chatting with you. I've wanted to do this for a while, but now that I have a little traction with current projects, I have something to talk about. I've been writing a lot more in terms of animatics (like DBuddy skits, and the Flowey skit, or fnafcraft) so maybe we can talk about that. Might also do stuff that doesn't have enough content for a video, like manga review or something.. I dunno. I might also show off the papercrafts that don't make it into videos. We'll see. I was thinking about making a second channel.. but then I'm like. What's the point? I mean, I throw everything on my channel, and it's not like I have a figurative brand dedicated to one thing or the other. I mean, yes it's called "Jeffcrafts" but I do gaming as well as papercrafts. Why not also updates? The other reason is that the more complex videos get means less video frequency. By doing this I can tell you "hey I'm not dead, look forward to a video". So these are the tentative plans for that, and onto the next subject! Kingdom Hearts. Ok. So with KH I first need to finish of KH1.5, and we are almost done! I'm at the final world, and I just need to grind and level up a tad more before I'm ready. If you saw on Instagram I bought a PS4, for the upcoming KH 2.8 (1/24/17). I preordered it and everything! The next games would be Re:Chain and 358/2 days which I want to play side by side. And then KH2, and KH3D is in 2.8, and then we got Re:Coded. I think that's it, lol. Well. That's everything; for now! Thanks for reading :) stay tuned for PaperJams. Make sure to follow my twitter for even the smallest updates because that's where I'll be. Jeffcrafts,

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Even though I like Rokushi and Namiku, I'm hesitant to say that Nomura regrets Rokunami or that he's dropped it. Mostly because a lot of people used to say that about Sokai, especially after Coded and KH3D, but of course that wasn't the case at all.

I mean... there are days I definitely feel that, that I’m being a bit of a hypocrite for saying that R*okuNami is dead when I never felt that way about my beloved S*oKai. But at the same time... I’m going to sound like a bitch here and like I don’t ship R*okuNami or sympathize with any R*okuNami fans’ pain at all (I do like R*okuNami and feel for their fans, as I’m partly one of them), but some days I think R*okuNami fans are reaching in still believing it. And I’m just saying that so people don’t get their points up again and are disappointed (but, hey. Maybe the reverse will happen. Maybe I’ll convince myself R*okuNami is dead--and R*okuShi and N*amiku are canon--and I’ll be the one to lose out when the reverse happens).

Like, with S*oKai... K*airi was referenced in every single game--usually by S*ora thinking of her in some way, even if it was moreso friendship-esque than romantic--you can’t say the same about R*okuNami.

The closest they got in D*ays, was R*oxas saying that the person who told him the truth would be the person he trusts--probably eluding to N*aminé, yes--but this still isn’t a lot? Better than stuff we’ve gotten since, sure (this actually made me ship R*okuNami more than the whole of K*HII did). But just because R*oxas says he’ll trust her, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s going to fall in love with her forever and marry her. I know people says D*ays was limited by K*HII having N*aminé say she “wanted to meet R*oxas just once”--indicating that that was their first time meeting--and that since D*ays was a prequel, they couldn’t have done much with them. But IDK. If he’d wanted, N*omura could have had N*aminé meet R*oxas in D*ays and later wipe his memory of it and lie to keep up the illusion when she “met him for the first time” in K*HII, but I know that would have opened a whole other can of worms. He also could have had N*aminé mean her “I wanted to meet you at least once” line loosely, like she wanted to meet him/see him in the Digital version of T*wilight Town--or that version of him--at least once, but had met him before. That’s what people used to do in their fanfics.

And then in the metaphorical, B*bS secret ending--where everyone is wishing for S*ora to save them--R*oxas and N*aminé aren’t together, but rather N*aminé is by herself and R*oxas is with A*xel and X*ion... Which seems pretty telling to me after their whole “wanting to be together everyday” thing (telling of R*oxas’ heart to me, not necessarily N*aminé’s, because she never wanted to be alone). I know it’s metaphorical, but still.

Everyone says that Data R*oxas was protecting D*ata N*aminé in R*e:Coded, but that’s just a headcanon (one that I think I was the first to come up with, in trying to still find some R*okuNami for their fans in these games). Nothing came out and said that, though. You could just as easily argue that D*ata N*aminé had D*ata R*iku as part of her plan, but neither is canon as far as we know. I also don’t think it shows R*oxas and N*aminé together, when D*ata S*ora is seeing everyone he needs to save? Not that that would necessarily matter, though.

There was no R*okuNami in D*DD, even when S*ora’s seeing visions of R*oxas, X*ion, and N*aminé... R*oxas and N*aminé are not together there, and R*oxas doesn’t react from within S*ora to seeing N*aminé. But R*oxas, through S*ora, cries when he sees X*ion. I know it’s a different situation... because X*ion was someone he cared about deeply, who died and who he forgot, and that was him first starting to remember her. But IDK.

Chi and 0.2 had no R*okuNami, but that’s understandable because neither of them are in these games. But interestingly, during this time, we were getting things like “K*airi” being able to get girl versions of S*ora’s clothes in KH Chi, and “N*aminé” being able to get girl versions of R*iku��s.

Before I*I.8 showed R*okuNami in their shipping credits, I thought it was dead for sure. But when it was there, I assumed K*HIII was going to do stuff with them and make them fully canon, after all... but it didn’t. The most we get of R*okuNami in K*HIII is S*ora turning into R*oxas when he looks at N*aminé (that isn’t necessarily romantic). And R*oxas seeing R*iku pick N*aminé up in the Gummi Ship, but he doesn’t pick her up himself (and yes, S*ora tells N*aminé that R*oxas misses her... but he says that with other people who miss her platonically, and R*oxas isn’t the “special certain someone that S*ora knows won’t let her down”). R*iku being the one to pick her up may have been him fulfilling R*epliku’s dying wish... but if R*oxas was in love with her, or whatever, you’d think he would have been there, too. You could argue that R*iku didn’t tell R*oxas he was going to get her, but I feel like that’s reaching (...and I’m even the one who started this next idea--as a way to say R*okuNami might not be dead--but I think the idea that R*oxas and N*aminé sharing the paopus when S*ora and K*airi did is also reaching, because literally nothing once hints at this). They also don’t interact at all in the happy K*HIII ending. And I know that ending is moreso people interacting who we really hadn’t seen do so before (but not even entirely), but meh. 

People want to believe that R*okuNami might come back in the next games... because N*omura said he wanted to do more with N*aminé in III and just couldn’t fit her into the plot, but will probably try to get whatever his plans were for her into the next games--and now that it seems like N*aminé is living with the gang in T*wilight Town, too (but it’s also interesting that we don’t see that in the games yet)--but I just don’t buy it. That’s just me. And if you want to, that’s fine... but I think if N*omura really still cared about R*okuNami, he would show them interacting or talking or really seeming to care about each other... especially after K*HII acted like they were already in love with each other and had them saying they want to be together every day... but he hasn’t. But meanwhile, R*okuShi gets all the content and N*amiku is starting to get a lot of it, too.

Like, after K*HIII, I think Square Enix gave Y*oko S*himomura flowers after one of her concert performances... and it had a picture of R*iku and N*aminé holding hands on it, not something R*oxas and N*aminé related. And... N*aminé is on R*iku’s heart station, but not R*oxas’. X*ion is on his, though... I know they recycled assets, but I feel like if Nomura cared about R*okuNami at all he’d make some kind of effort with them... but he doesn’t. Re:Mind also added at least one R*okuShi and N*amiku scene, but no new R*okuNami anything.

The novels--that people argue aren’t canon (I see them as third-tier canon, as N*omura gets the final say in everything there, but whatever)--also strongly hints at R*okuShi and N*amiku over R*okuNami. There may be some bias here, since the novel writer helped come up with X*ion and that whole story, but it is what it is. 

I also feel like the manga favors R*okuShi more... and that isn’t canon at all. But I still feel A*mano clearly got his ideas from somewhere.

[nadziejastar]

Imo Kingdom Hearts could have been a lot different if Disney was never involved or if it was it's entire own francise with no crossover with FF or Disney, imo that would have been great. Since KH1, the Disney-worlds had barely to no connection or revelance to the main-plot anymore, Sora just travels to the worlds because he can, in KH1 there was more at stake in those worlds too, now they just feel like filler, as much as SE has tried up untill KH3.

Well, “Quadratum” means “Square”. It’s possible that Nomura wants to move away from Disney worlds and focus more on Square worlds. Although I like the Disney worlds, and think they help give the series a unique identity, I can understand that Disney is a is large, powerful, greedy corporation. And Nomura’s relationship with them has changed over time.

It’s telling that instead of coming up with a new plot that gives us a good reason to travel to the Disney worlds again (the real ones, not data worlds, memory worlds, dream worlds, etc.) he’s sending Sora and Riku off to a new alternate dimension based on Versus XIII—a Square property. It may indicate that he’s tired of Disney worlds and they will be getting less focus from now on.

KH1

As the series has gone on, the implementation of the Disney worlds has become worse and worse as Nomura has struggled to come up with reasons to travel to them. I think you’re right that KH1 did the best with incorporating the worlds into the plot. Sora was trying to seal all the Keyholes, giving him a good reason to be in each one. He was looking for Riku and Kairi, which was a more personal goal. And then you had the seven princesses and the villain alliance. And each world contributed to the overall theme of the story.

KH CoM

Pinocchio: Gee, Riku, don’t you have a Jiminy like I do? He’s my conscience. He’s taught me all kinds of important stuff. Maybe you just need somebody to show you what’s right and wrong.

Jiminy: Sure. You can’t shoulder all your problems alone, ya know. You must have somebody–a friend you can talk to?

In CoM, the Disney worlds were pure filler. Only existed for gameplay. On Sora’s side, the story within them was almost the exact same as it was in KH1. Even on Riku’s side, the Disney worlds were pointless. For instance, the whole Monstro level in KH3D could have happened in Re:CoM, since it’s basically reliving Riku’s memories from KH1, but having him make a different choice that time.

KH2

Iago: I wanna be a good friend, like Genie, but I can't do anything to help you. What kind of a friend is that?

Sora: Oh, no---it's not like that, Iago. Friends don't have to "do" stuff. As long as you have fun hanging out together, that's all that matters.

In KH2, the worlds are a mix of new and old. But they’re not really important to the plot. Sora’s just looking for Riku and the King, they’re not there, you participate in the movie’s plot, then move onto the next one. All the actual story happens in Twilight Town, Hollow Bastion, or TWTNW. Each world usually has a theme and a moral lesson, but it doesn’t always relate to Sora that much, so they feel filler-ish. In the second half, the organization appears in the worlds, which makes them a little more relevant to the story. But not much. They were still fun levels, though.

358/2 Days

Roxas had a good reason to go to the worlds, to collect hearts for the organization. I don’t mind if the Disney worlds aren’t directly plot-related, as long as there’s character development in them. I like that they took certain worlds from KH2 that felt like filler and expanded on the main theme of them, contributing to character development, particularly for Axel. For instance, in KH2′s Agrabah, the moral lesson was: best friends don’t have to be “useful”. This idea doesn’t have much to do with Sora, though, so it felt kinda pointless to his quest.

If you didn’t need me, then I no longer held meaning. However, reality is different. It wasn’t about whether I was needed or not. If I could just connect to others’ hearts, that would be enough.

But it was implied that this idea was very relevant to Axel’s memories of his past and his best friend. 

“Because they copied my powers, the Keyblade’s power, and then they didn’t need me anymore— is that it?” Roxas spat. 

He couldn’t bring himself to confirm it. 

“I guess you felt the same way, huh, Axel?” 

At those words, something wrenched in his chest, and he could hardly breathe. No, not me. I wasn’t thinking like that. I would never. “That’s not true. You—you’re my best friend.” The words spilled out of him.

The story of Days was all about how Roxas and Xion help Axel remember his past and what it felt like to have a best friend (an idea that connects to CoM). And the Disney worlds at least contributed to that idea in a meaningful way.

“Set in a circus and playing off the story of Pinocchio, a puppet with a heart, and the Nobodies who possess no heart, we planned for a sad episode with Roxas and Xion looking for hope for themselves”.

I would have preferred Prankster’s Paradise as a world, though, instead of, say, Halloween Town. It sounds like Roxas and Xion would have developed more in that world and it would have been more relevant to the story. Plus, it would have been new. But I think Days did a decent enough job with the Disney worlds. At least Roxas learned something new when he went to them, spurring on interesting discussions with Axel about friendship, love, the heart, etc.

KHBBS

Bagheera: It was bound to happen. Mowgli is where he belongs now.

Three new characters. In each world, the character learned something new and developed slightly. The worlds were mostly new, too. I don’t have a problem with BBS’s Disney worlds. I do wish they would have kept the Jungle Book worlds in, though.

“Riku… Do you think Nobodies have a home? Somewhere we belong?” Naminé wondered.

Having a home, somewhere to belong, was one of the main themes of the Xehanort Saga.

Master Xehanort: Darkness that you channeled.

Terra: No, I succumbed to it. Just like when I stole Princess Aurora’s heart of light. I can never return home now. I’m a failure.

Terra felt like a failure, and that he could never return home. And Aqua was tasked with bringing Ven home. This world could have been really good in BBS.

Coded

Mickey: Yen Sid… I think we’re finally close to figuring out where Ven’s heart is.

Here’s where things start going off the rails. In Coded, Disney worlds are yet again retreads of KH1, only this time they’re data instead of memories. The whole purpose of the plot was to explain why Mickey sent Sora, Riku, and Kairi that letter at the end of KH2. But you didn’t really need a whole game of travelling through virtual Disney worlds for that, especially involving convoluted ideas like data Namine implanting bug blocks in the journal or Jiminy’s Journal embodying itself as Riku (WTF?). You could have just added a scene into KH2FM+ like the above one from the manga. When Mickey saw the photo of Roxas, he recognized him as Ventus. Then he tells Master Yen Sid about it later, leading to Coded’s ending and him writing the letter. 

KHUX

Ephemer: The worlds we visit—the worlds of fairy tales—are nothing more than holograms. You know, projections. The light we collect there is actually this world’s light. To put it simply: There are lots of worlds, right? And they’re all connected by land. But it’s impossible to go around all of them. That’s why there’s a mechanism that projects those worlds here and allows us to collect Lux from faraway lands. I’m gathering information, trying to figure out how the whole thing works. My hunch is that the Book of Prophecies held by the Foretellers is what’s creating these holograms.

The Disney worlds were extremely boring to play through. More than any other KH game, they have scenes that are just copy/pasted straight from the movies. Your main character, since they are mute, has little involvement. They do not grow, change, or develop, after any of these worlds. They have nothing interesting to say and they can barely interact with anyone (Chirithy does it for you). 

And all, except for Wreck-It-Ralph, are just retreads of plots that we already experienced in other games. The worlds are digital holograms of the future generated from the Book of Prophecies. It’s all a VERY convoluted excuse to have you play through the same old plots from the Disney worlds. AGAIN. Only with a FAR less interesting main character. Since this was supposed to be just a F2P gacha with little story, it could have been excused. But since KHUX has become so important to the main story, it is inexcusable how poor of a game it is.

KH3D

Sora: I get it now. After this, Pinocchio and Jiminy’s world gets dragged into darkness, and they end up cast into the sea between worlds, along with Monstro. And then…they end up in Traverse Town, and the belly of the whale. That’s when we meet for real. It’s like Master Yen Sid said–I’m in the dream Pinocchio’s world is dreaming. And that world will never be right again until it wakes from sleep.

I don’t have any real issue with a game focusing on the mark of mastery exam, where Sora and Riku travel through Disney worlds. Riku develops along the way in a satisfying way. It’s the first time you actually go to new worlds as him. The test was for Sora and Riku to acquire the power of waking, so they had to go to dream worlds. Fantasia was perfect for this idea.

But the concept of Sleeping Worlds is convoluted and confusing. They’re dream versions of the worlds? Who is dreaming them? The Dandelions? They’re stuck in a time loop of the past? But visiting the Sleeping Worlds doesn’t rewrite the present. So, are they connected to the datascape? Again, it’s so convoluted, because there really is no reason that Sora and Riku would have to go on another adventure in the REAL world. Again, I would have preferred Prankster’s Paradise in Days. Pinocchio would be a human, it’d be set in the present timeline so no awkward dialogue, and Honest John and Gideon would be involved, giving it more of a plot.

KH3

The game’s worlds could have been okay if Sora wasn’t just wandering about aimlessly. And if they had developed the power of waking better. The power of waking is essentially the power to wake a sleeping heart by connecting with it. It’s the power of love, basically. Most of the Disney worlds are about love. And also, a member of the organization appears in each one.

Dark Road

In BBS, it’s revealed that Xehanort wants to open KH to create a new world. But in KH3, he wants to reset the world. How is this different?

Nomura: The most essential part is that he thinks the current world is a failure, and wants to remake it.

I’m interested to know why Xehanort came to think that way (that the world should be remade).

Nomura: Initially, I wanted to dive deeper into the naive, untainted Xehanort who we see playing chess in the next installment (before KH3 was made), but if I did that, the dark seeker arc wouldn’t have ended (lol), so I decided to shelve it for now.

Wonderland is the only Disney world that has had a plot so far. But this was still the most interesting usage of Wonderland in the series, IMO.

Envy (Latin, invidia): Invi Gluttony (Latin, gula): Gula Lust (Latin, luxuria): Luxu. Anger, or Wrath (Latin, ira): Ira Greed, or Avarice (Latin, avaritia): Ava Sloth, or Laziness (Latin, acedia): Aced

The Foretellers are named after the seven deadly sins.

Nomura: As I was writing the scenario for Kingdom Hearts Back Cover, I was careful so as to make each character look neither like a hero nor a villain, however in the end it seems that only Ava was received as a good girl (laughs). At any rate, if you think of the story progression as a gun, where Ava is the only one with the capacity to pull that gun’s trigger, I’m not so sure about how devoid of sin she really is…

I think there were a lot of parallels between the age of fairytales and the Book of Genesis.

Pride (Latin: superbia) is considered, on almost every list, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins. Out of the seven, it is the most angelical, or demonic. It is also thought to be the source of the other capital sins.

The MoM is probably really Darkness, the original sin, Superbia. And Xehanort has his Keyblade, becoming his successor. Pride was his deadly sin. He could never admit that he lost to Eraqus at chess because of his pride. In the Bible, the source of sin was the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. After acquiring knowledge of good and evil, he developed a god complex. Pride is the ultimate sin, where all the other sins originate from.

I need only play the role of a fool desirous of the Keyblade’s power.

Luxu is lust and Braig lusted for Xehanort’s power (as Luxu probably did with the MoM). The story in Dark Road is actually interesting. Xehanort is a FAR more interesting protagonist that the Avatar in Union X. As a wielder in training, he actually has a good reason to travel the worlds, and develops as a character along the way. I think Dark Road deserved to be its own real KH game, released on the Vita or 3DS a long time ago. It’s a shame it’s only a mobile game.

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.

Pride is excessive belief in one’s own abilities, that interferes with the individual’s recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.

Envy is the desire for others’ traits, status, abilities, or situation.

Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.

The story of Dark Road will likely be Xehanort encountering the seven deadly sins as manifested in Disney villains and coming to the conclusion that the world is too corrupt and needs to be reset. That is actually a decent enough plot and good justification for travelling through the Disney worlds. It’d be cool if they added new worlds. Maybe like Pocahontas, and Governor Radcliffe could be Greed, etc.

[beselectivethistime]

Tags: zexion is like these things don't bother me because i don't have any friends or any heart but damn if they would otherwise their parallels get me every time riku zexion terrible tag analysis welcome to my tiny one person crack ship conoe

Tags: THEY ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE FUTURE BABIES i'm so concerned for baby nort like this could be taken so many ways like is he haunted by his dreams of his future at what point does he accept it?does he wish he had another destiny? is this him hoping the future can change? i have so many feels already ymx babynort kh3 trailer hypeterrible tag analysis

Tags: KAIRI IS SO IMPORTANT you guys don't get it without herand her ability to see riku for who he really is EVERYTHING WOULD HAVE GONE TO SHIT kairi's ability to get through to sora and riku is so important please do not ignore it terrible tag analysis kairi actual princess

Tags: Kairi's early life is so tragic like she just lost the first four/five years of her life and everyone she knew a heart without darkness can still know fear i wonder if she used to be terrified of the dark or tall men with deep voices or the ocean kairi has so much character details to work withbut they never get used even if fic give me complex kairi or give me deathactual princess kairi terrible tag analysis

Tags: the stuff axel says in this game especially about what it means to be a nobody is so interesting because it's basically snippets of xemnas's indoctrination as parsed through axel's desperation terrible tag analysis axel roxas xion

Tags: may have already reblogged but this is kind of my favorite thing ever? akusai where both of them feel broken and empty and raw without a heart but they experience it so differently and they can't communicate across that gap and axel gets clingy and sharp and wildly desperate while saix gets blunt and cold and distant it really breaks my heart fave terrible tag analysis

Tags: aqua keeps faith in terra far longer than sora keeps faith in riku in kh1 both of them end up playing right into xehanort's hand thoughdude's just too good at predicting people poor aqua though master aquaterrible tag analysis

Tags: SORA IS THE MOST COMPASSIONATE KID I really love sora's thought processes he thinks entirely with his heart and its so wonderful he just doesn't understand how people can be mean and i love him so much for that terrible tag analysis shiny hearted boy manga

Tags: rikai is so important he cares so much and he really is just trying to get kairi's heart back the whole game and from his point of viewsora isn't doing shit and because he's already predisposed to it he naturally assumes the task is all his to shoulder the moral of the story is never try to take it all on yourself that's what friends are for terrible tag analysis

Tags: omg i wish there was more of their interactions because xigbar is actually knows more of whats going on that anyone but he doesn't call attention to that possibly because he is helping make sure saix is successfully norted but there are these nort meetings that are only attended by xemnas xigbar and saix and xigbar is super rude to saix in them now i really want to know more about this dynamic terrible tag analysis I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS

Tags: Ansem the Wise is such a complex character and his arc really serves as a good example of where the darkness acts as motivatorbut also in how easy it is for even the wisest people to lose themselves in darkness-laden motivations like darkness isn't inherintly bad but it is kind of self perpetuating and it becomes very easy to lose sight of other things when so seeped and riku only surivies as well as he does because he never loses sight of positive connections terrible tag analysis also lexaeus and zexion probably ended up saving eachother from norting by the same priniciple

zexion: your hopes are nothing nothing but a mere illusion Tags: zexion everything zexion says is so tragic like i wonder where he gets this idea from could it be the death of his parents the fact that he was manipulated into betraying one father figure and had his heart ripped out by a mentor? that he's spent most of his life without a heart god his story just makes me want to cry terrible tag analysis

Tags: axel roxas he can't even look roxas in the eyes so adorableaxel confused by emotions after 10 years is the most tragically adorable thing ever terrible tag analysis

Tags: it's funny because in the scene zexion is being a smart ass i have a lot of thoughts about zexion in this scene and how he never says anything straight out and says often the exact oppoiste of what he meansso used to getting his way through underhand he's the only one to use boku instead of ore terrible tag analysis

Tags: ilu hades hades is my favorite can we talk about hades about how hs stakes are so different than everyone elses because he's a fucking god and the darkness is not a threat to him at all just another tool its all a game to hades worst case: status quo terrible tag analysis I have so many stupid hades headcanons

Tags: Kingdom Hearts KH KH:3D KH3d TWEWY joshua kiryuYoshiya Kiryu whiny mopey lonely god joshua it's almost as if he isn't human or something but seriously the use of the term human in KH is weird because there are a lot of sentient non-humans like xemnas says it in Days as well and I think it is a mistranslation or just bad wordingbecause i am pretty sure mickey mouse could have dream eaters PS Joshua dreams of genocide so this is less sad than is seems YOU MURDEROUS SCUM BAG terrible tag analysis my gifs

[katsuy-s]

Nombre: Kazuya

Apellido:Shion

Edad:16

Apariencia:Mide 1,70. Tiene el cabello marron oscuro, tiene heterocromía, su ojo derecho es verde y su izquierdo es amarillo. Suele llevar una camiseta blanca con gorro y unos vaqueros(la vestimenta es la misma, solo que en verano es de manga corta y en invierno de manga larga)

Personalidad:Es simpatico siempre, solamente que cuando le hacen de rabiar se molesta un poco, pero nada mas. Es algo timido con las personas que no conoce, pero cuando te conoce, te trata muy bien

Historia: El día del nacimiento todo él mundo estaba feliz, había nacido él príncipe y todo aquello era motivo de celebración. Sin embargo, mientras él pueblo celebraba a lo lejos había alguien quien ya planeaba como deshacerse del heredero. Un año después del nacimiento, Maléfica volvió a intentar realizar su plan por sexta vez, aunque en esta ocasión tuvo éxito. Consiguió entrar en la ciudad disfrazada y llegar hasta él castillo, donde comenzó a destrozarlo todo, gritando a voces que quería al heredero. Los reyes, al ver a su hijo en peligro, decidieron hechizarle para que se viera como un humano y mandarle a la tierra, donde vivió con una familia sin recordar nada de sus verdaderos padres. Cuando creció y entro en él colegio, algunos niños comenzaron a meterse con él debido a sus ojos. El era heterocromático. Además uno de sus ojos, en concreto él izquierdo, cambiaba de color según su estado de ánimo. Sin embargo, quitando a los niños que se metían con él por eso, vivió una infancia feliz, con un pequeño grupo de amigos en él que admiraban sus ojos. En su catorceavo cumpleaños, en un día normal de instituto, todo él mundo comenzó a gritar, todos estaban asustados y gritando “¿¡Pero que son esos bichos negros!?”, Kazuya, como todos, estaba asustado y comenzó a correr buscando un lugar donde esconderse, sin embargo tan solo encontró un pasillo sin salida en él que no había nada. Un grupo de esos pequeños bichos lo acorraló, y él asustado cerró los ojos esperando lo peor. Varios segundos después abrió los ojos extrañado de que no le hubieran hecho nada aún y encontró a los “animales” mirando hacia dos de ellos, los cuales habían sido agujereados por trozos de hielo, que estaban clavados justo detrás de estos. Kazuya aprovechó él momento para huir de ahí, corriendo hacia su casa. Cuando llegó sus “padres” le contaron la verdad, él no era un niño humano normal. Él era él hijo de los reyes de otro mundo y ahora que lo habían encontrado, debía volver a este. Kazuya, sin creerlo todo al cien por cien y pensando que sus padres querían hacerle una sorpresa por su cumpleaños, recogió todas sus cosas y fue junto a sus padres, que le dieron algo de beber que lo dejó dormido. Cuando despertó, Mickey y Minnie le estaban mirando y al verle abrir los ojos, lo abrazaron ambos con cariño. Su hijo al fin había vuelto, ahora deberían hacer su trabajo. Tras dos años de entrenar su magia y de haber conocido a Sora, con él cual sus sentimientos no estaban aún definidos.

Datos adicionales: Como bien se ha leido antes, su ojo de color amarillo cambia segun su estado de animo/expresion/sentimiento. Puede conjurar espiritus de KH3D y puede conjurar como una especie de espiritu de lobo, al cual le da ordenes como si fuera un pokemon. Tambien puede realizar hechizos Es homosexual

No le gusta, ni que le despeinen, ni que le traten como a un principe. Su llave espada (cuando la invoca), la suele invocar en la izquierda, mienntras que los hechizos, los realiza, o con las dos manos, o con la derecha. No trata mal a nadie, ni le cae mal nadie, su corazon puro de luz no se lo permite. No quiere que ninguna persona salga dañada por su culpa. Se sonroja si un chico(guapo) le dice que tenga cuidado (sí, es así de idiota)

[nadziejastar]

– Considering the conversation between Sora and Ventus in the ending of the Last Episode, is this saying that the “just-born heart” that Ventus connects with in the opening is Sora’s?

Nomura: Yes. At first we supposed that it could be Sora before he was born, but because of opinions from overseas that “the heart doesn’t exist until after birth”, we discarded that portrayal.

Interesting post. I actually do remember when they were referred to as Unbirths in the promotional material. I think the theory from that post is a lot more interesting than the canon explanation where they just come from the negativity in Vanitas after he was split from Ventus. I always thought that was kinda lame, honestly. I didn’t even know that the Magic Mirror was supposed to be an Unversed originally.

BBS and the Dark Seeker Saga is all about the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. So it makes total sense that unversed involved the concept of death/anti-life. Ventus was originally supposed to connect to Sora’s heart before he was born, which probably was supposed to be important. It makes sense for Vanitas and the Unversed/Unbirths to be connected to that. I wish they had kept that idea in. I honestly don’t know why it’s so hard to believe that the heart could exist before birth.

There’s also the unexplored concept of the Void. When Nomura said there’s more to the Unversed than we know, perhaps that was what he meant. Vanitas’s Keylade is called “Void Gear” and the song that plays during his Lingering Will boss fight is called “Enter the Void”. And the way Xemnas says “those who have returned to the void” in the manga does make it sound like the void is where hearts originate from, maybe before birth. And that was probably what Master Xehanort was referring to when he got into that argument with Eraqus.

It was darkness. Just darkness. Well, no, not even darkness.

If Aqua sank into the Realm of Darkness, then where had I been? Did I even exist? I’m sure I… Yeah, I know I existed. But I have no idea where I was. I was imprisoned behind Xehanort, but my consciousness—my heart—was sealed away. So, where was my heart? It wasn’t in the darkness, so maybe it was just in a world of “nothingness”. A world without Darkness or Light. You can’t have light without darkness and you can’t have darkness without light. It was somewhere like that.

I wasn’t asleep like Ven was. It wasn’t the Realm of Sleep—I wasn’t dreaming, I was just in a world of nothingness. And that void became pain and sorrow and anger that rushed over me. All I could do is writhe in its grasp. Maybe that place was like the world where Unversed came from. A void that only takes in grief and suffering. A world where hope and joy could never exist.

The void was like the darkness, but also not. Nothing could spring forth from there. And all I could do in that world is wait. I can no longer remember what I thought, what I did, in that world; I just waited. No, that’s not quite right. I believed. In our promise.

Like Vanitas, Terra has a Lingering Will, too. In Terra’s character file story he talks about how he was in the void and how that was like the world where the Unversed came from. It was not a world of darkness, just a world of nothingness.

“You know, right, because you all have hearts!” Sora said, testing Xigbar. “Axel and Roxas and Naminé, and that other girl. I felt what Roxas felt and…they laughed together, got mad, and they grieved.” The ache in his heart belonged to everyone. “You have to have a heart to cry.”

Xigbar snorted derisively. “It’s about time you noticed.”

All the organization members had hearts. Xigbar took that fact for granted, like it was just obvious.

“Oh, the things you hear from a guy with no heart,” Xigbar said through his hilarity.

“Don’t let us down now, kiddo. Shouldn’t be too much trouble without a heart,” Xigbar told Saïx.

The exception to that was always Saïx. Xigbar knew some secret about him. If Isa’s heart was in the void like Terra’s, that might explain it. Saïx could only feel negative emotions like rage, but he didn’t have a heart. If it’s in the void, the world of nothingness. 

When he was recompleted in KH3D, it seemed like MX was controlling him like a puppet, unlike with Xigbar. And then in KH3, it didn’t seem like he had any self-awareness while he was in his berserk state fighting Lea. The only other one who had that blank look was Terra. So, I think those two were probably the only ones who became vessels without any choice or free will. Their hearts weren’t merged with Xehanort’s, it was sent to the void. And unlike with the others, the power of waking would need to be used on them.

Then there’s the Lich. The word “lich” is from Old English meaning “corpse”. It carried the hearts of Sora’s friends through the Sleeping Worlds and its purpose was to usher hearts down to the deepest abyss. Is the abyss the same thing as the void? Is the Lich taking people’s hearts into the void, making it so that they have “died”, giving them an “un-birth” so to speak? Then they can possess the “corpse” that is left behind? The “X” put into the organization’s names means “death” and Nobodies are empty shells, or corpses.

We Keyblade Masters have a special gift. We can extract a heart, be it our own or that of another. By continuing this cycle, it is possible to remain in the world of the living forever.

Master Xehanort adopted a very Lich-like technique.

It seems this body, this name will be my last. The lives I have lived over the ages could fill volumes, but for now, I must focus on what matters most.The Keyblade has been successfully passed down, generation to generation, and it seems a Keyblade Master devoted to the darkness may finally arise. Until now, I have watched over the course of events from a distance. Perhaps the time has come to intervene.

There’s also Luxu and the Master of Masters. We know Luxu has been body hopping, effectively remaining immortal since the time of the Keyblade War. This is very Lich-like behavior, too. I doubt the Master or Master or even Luxu are human.

Saïx: Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade releases those hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free…until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist.

I still think Saïx was speaking as some kind of non-human entity here, even if he wasn’t aware of it. Whatever entity was possessing him wanted to “truly, finally exist”. Is that what Luxu and/or the MoM were really after?

[nadziejastar]

In your opinion, how could Xenmas have been a better villain/antagonist? (since well...DDD kinda watered his character down).

異端の印 (Itan no shirushi, lit. “Mark of heresy”) is a symbol designed by Xehanort to represent the rejection of a Nobody from his original persona. It is incorporated into the new names of each of the original members of Organization XIII, and is derived from Xehanort’s sleeping memories of the χ-blade.

— Where did the Organization’s coat and mark come from?

Xemnas remembering his human years. One year after BbS, Xehanort as well as five other apprentices toss aside their hearts. Then the Nobody Xemnas was born, and the Organization which he creates takes a lot of things from his memories as a human. But as Xemnas had two people who he was, Terra and Master Xehanort, he takes from both of their memories. The coat used by the Organization was something that Master Xehanort originally wore. The Nobody mark used by the Organization is a similar shape to the mark Terra used. Xemnas gives Organization members names with an X in them. This has something to do with Master Xehanort’s interest in the χ-Blade.

Well, I think he would have been a lot more interesting if we’d gotten to see his whole past. Did Xemnas consciously know about the Recusant’s Sigil? Or were those subconscious “sleeping” memories that compelled him to create the Nobody symbol and put the “X” in everyone’s names? No idea.

Why is Xemnas searching for The Chamber of Waking?

To find Ventus. The Chamber of Waking is the room where Aqua leaves Ventus sleeping in Last Episode, and is a part of Castle Oblivion. As you can see from Xemnas calling Aqua’s armor his “friend”, it seems Xemnas has Terra’s memories and he is searching for Ventus, making the other Organization members look for the Chamber of Waking. The only one who can solve the mysteries of Castle Oblivion is Aqua, though, so the Organization was never able to find it.

Also, one of the things about Xemnas I always found interesting was the fact that he was influenced not just by Xehanort’s memories, but by Terra’s. And that was something that was never fully explored. In canon, it didn’t feel like Terra’s memories had any emotional impact on Xemnas at all. It barely mattered.

But it seemed like having Terra’s memories was supposed to be a major reason why Xemnas was obsessed with finding the Chamber of Waking. The TERRA side of Xemnas wanted to find his friend. Of course, now the whole reason Xemnas wanted to find the chamber has been retconned to be about KHUX. But it obviously was not always the case.

In the manga (as well as the game), Xemnas tells Roxas sleep has taken him yet again, an obvious reference to Ventus. Then, as a response, he immediately started drawing on his face. 

Like, it’s just so out-of-character for Xemnas to act that way and Xigbar and Demyx found it hilarious.

It was obviously Xemnas being influenced by Terra’s memories. Terra saw Ventus as a little brother and those memories influenced Xemnas to play pranks on Roxas. Xemnas wouldn’t really act that way in canon. But it’s a bit of exaggerated comedy to emphasize the inner conflict Xemnas had due to having Terra’s memories. 

It was a lot like how Saix acted when he let Xion keep Pluto as a pet. He acted out-of-character, but it showed what Isa was like as a human. He had a soft spot for dogs, similar to how Terra had a playful side where he’d play pranks on Ventus. And Saix had a lot of inner conflict over his memories of being a human, and how he was as a Nobody. 

Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, Larxene, Demyx. And Roxas. All the fallen ones—do they bear a grudge against me? But they were Nobodies. They had no hearts with which to hold any ill will. They couldn’t even understand what the heart is.

In canon, Xemnas felt like a flat and boring 2-dimensional evil guy, instead of a sad and tragic figure KH3 wanted to paint him as. He did have depth, just like Saix did. I’m sure that his loneliness over losing his companions was influenced by Terra’s memories. I really wish that Xemnas’s complex feelings for Roxas/Ventus were able to be developed. Of course, if Roxas and Ventus were retconned to be two totally separate characters that wouldn’t be possible.

In KH3D, the Xemnas that followed Sora around existed outside of time. So, he knew that Nobodies didn’t have hearts and had full knowledge of Master Xehanort’s plan to start another Keyblade War. But I don’t even know if the Xemnas in KH2 knew all of that. I’m not exactly sure what KH2 Xemnas was trying to accomplish. We never really learned what Xemnas was actually trying to do or how much he knew.

[nadziejastar]

How do you think they would have balanced Kairi's hatred of Lea with Xion liking him?

The KH series always has a secret movie at the end, but this time there was a secret event called “Blank Points”. Does the name express the empty parts of the story?

It does have that meaning, but usually I give the secret movie a title that reflects the meaning of the movie. For example, the KH secret movie was “Another side, Another story”, and that was about Roxas. And of course the KHIIFM secret movie was “Birth by Sleep”. But this time, “Blank Points” isn’t necessarily the title. Even though the meaning fits.

Well, I think Kairi getting over her hatred/distrust of Lea was supposed to be a process that happened on-screen. In KH0.2, she still is wary of him. But KH0.2 was only created after KH0.5 aka “Blank Points” was cancelled. KH0.5 was supposed to show all the missing parts of the story.

Kairi sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, and Pluto licked her face. “Do you think Axel’s okay…?” she wondered. 

Pluto’s reply was a whimper. 

She hid her face in her knees. They are coming to help me. Axel… Sora and Riku… All of them. But why are they keeping me here?

I’ve seen Axel get hurt twice, for my sake. And I couldn’t do anything. Axel’s saved me so many times, but I can’t help him… So many times? 

Kairi caught herself. She’d only met him twice. Once when that other man had kidnapped her, and just now. So why did she get the feeling that he’d helped her more times than that…?

And I’m certain that the Axel/Saix showdown was a VERY important scene that was supposed to be one of those blank portions, since this scene was included in both the manga and the novel. I think it was originally supposed to be canon that Axel tried to save Kairi in KH2 after Saix caught her. He fought with Saix in a duel leaving Axel mortally wounded by the time he ran into Sora. And Kairi was watching the whole time. And she was actually worried about him.

Axel's always helping me out, so I just assumed he would again. How long has he known about me? Maybe since long before we met in Castle Oblivion. But he told me to think for myself. I was so happy. But now, as I get stronger, Roxas keeps getting weaker.I shouldn't exist anymore. They say that Nobodies were never meant to exist, but I'm the real affront. But before I'm gone, I want to help Roxas and Axel. Even just a little.

She knew he wasn’t a bad guy and got the feeling that he had saved her before, too. Kairi didn’t have Xion’s memories at this point, but she had some of her feelings. So, even before KH3 started, I think Kairi was supposed to not really hate Lea. She didn’t fully trust him yet, but she would have been open to giving him a chance. And since Xion really loved Lea, that would influence her subconsciously.

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...

By the time KH3 rolls around, Kairi already is over whatever animosity she had for Lea. But it happened completely off-screen, which was weird. It happened because they got to know each other better while training and Kairi learned that Lea had a best friend he wanted to save.

Even TGJ said that Lea was referring to Isa in that scene, though I’m not sure if that was just his speculation or if he was referring to something Nomura said. Without an actual backstory many people assumed he meant Roxas, I guess. But I think it was fairly obvious after KH3D that Lea was meant to be referring to Isa. That was Axel’s big secret. And it’s such a shame that it was a secret that never got revealed and most people had no idea how important Isa was to Lea and thought that Lea didn’t care about him.

“Look…” Tidus pointed to someone perched at the end of the islet—a girl with bright-red hair. 

“Kairi hasn’t been doing too well…,” the first girl said with a worried sigh.

 “Eh, she’ll cheer up soon,” the older boy replied, brushing off her anxiety. 

Xion crept away before they could notice her.

I think another “blank point” was seeing Xion go to Destiny Islands to get the shells. That happened in the novel and manga. Xion picked up the shells on Destiny Island while Roxas was asleep. She saw Kairi staring at the sea all lonely and sad. 

Xion took a single tiny shell from the sand. “There’s no one here today…” 

The beach was empty. All she could hear was the sound of the Destiny Island surf. The sun was sinking, turning the sea crimson. 

She looked toward the edge of the islet, where the girl had just been sitting the other day. “I wonder if she’s feeling better now,” she murmured.

 She had no way of knowing the girl would not be coming back.

Then she stopped coming back to the island, because she didn’t wanna return until she remembered her promise to Sora.

Xion: You know how you were talking the other day about how we all have pasts? When I sit here with you guys, it's weird... I get the strangest feeling I used to watch the sun set with somebody else. Or when I'm by the sea... When I look at the water, and hear the waves lapping against the shore... it's almost like I can hear another voice.

Axel: So...you mean you remembered something?

Xion: No... It's not quite like that. Well, I dunno. Maybe these ARE memories... It just seems weird that they're mine.

Axel: Hey, don't ask me.

Xion: But you have memories, don't you?

Axel: Yeah. Not that they've ever done me any good.

On Day 117 Secrets, Xion looked at her shell told Axel that she got the feeling that she used to watch the sunset with somebody else. And it was referring to her and Sora, when she told him to never change. And then she asked Axel about his memories. He has them, too (hint hint). Axel used to watch the sunset with someone else in his past, too. And he has a special keepsake that reminds him of that time. But now he’s all lonely and sad like Kairi and can’t do anything except stare at the sunset. That’s his secret that he keeps for the whole game. 

Axel: We've got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about. Hey, I feel like we're friends already.

Xion/Axel was just a stepping stone. Kairi/Lea was meant to be the real important relationship in KH3 because of how much they had in common. Kairi and Lea were supposed to bond after Lea told her about Isa while they trained together. That was the idea ever since KH2FM. That’s how they become so close. But we never got to see that.

[nadziejastar]

If BbS V2 really was such a vital part of the story Nomura should have tried to include as much of it as possible in KH3 instead of giving up on the story. KH3 barely has a plot as is and I'd much rather see a narrative that's trying to do too much over one that isn't trying at all. Or make it a book, or a manga, or a movie, or an audio drama, or literally anything but breaking the story by leaving out such an important part.

— 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. —Another Report KH2FM+ December 2005

I agree completely. I have no idea why Nomura just decided to give up on the Dark Seeker Saga completely instead of pushing for more content. Anything would have helped. He at least decided to not leave Xehanort’s past completely blank. It’s a shame that the King and Riku’s blank period during KH1 will likely never be shown. Since Nomura wanted to show these things ever since KH2FM+, I’m sure not being able to show them played an enormous role in why KH3 had barely any story.

— 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.  —Days Ultimania June 2009

Ever since the Days Ultimania came out, Nomura said that BBSV2 was supposed to be more official than a side story. So, it obviously was not negligible to the plot.

— Now that BbS is finished, we can’t help but think about the next game in the KH series…

For now while FF Versus XIII is still being worked on, there isn’t much I can do on KHIII, but we’ve already begun work on the next game in the series. There is one that we are hoping to be able to release within this year. Then the next year there is one more game we are planning on releasing. I think it will probably make the main characters more complicated. Also, the end of “Blank Points” with Sora leaving on a new adventure connects to KHIII. —BBS Ultimania March 2010

This was supposed to be the game to make the main characters more complicated. Aqua certainly became more complicated in 0.2. Everyone should have gotten that same treatment. That’s why everyone in KH3 felt so flat and underdeveloped. KH3 simply couldn’t do it all. It couldn’t resolve all the subplots and develop everyone at the same time. BBSV2 game was supposed to provide the characters depth and KH3 was supposed to conclude everything.

— When we were discussing in the Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania, you mentioned that there were 2 new Kingdom Hearts titles other than Kingdom Hearts III coming up. One coming out in 2010, and one more being announced in 2011. It seems the title releasing in 2010 was Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, but what about the other one? Were you referring to Kingdom Hearts 3D or Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix?

No, at the time of that interview I intended to hint toward a different project. However, focusing my energy on Kingdom Hearts 3D and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix comes first. Since a new Secret Episode is revealed in the Birth By Sleep Final Mix, I definitely want it to be seen. I think when you see it you’ll be excited for future developments.  —Re:Coded Ultimania November 2010

Nomura was excited to show this game off back when Re:Coded’s Ultimania came out. That’s why Blank Points was playable. It was essentially a teaser for BBSV2.

— At the end of the secret movie for KHBBSFM, an interesting message that said ‘Birth by Sleep -Volume Two’ appeared. Is there a chance that a KHBBS2 will be appearing?It seems that many people thought that, but during that movie there were the words ‘A fragmentary passage’, weren’t there? That means a ‘bits and pieces of something whole’. In short, a story for ‘Volume Two’ exists that ought to be told, but the story cuts off with those scenes. Because of that, I won’t say there is absolutely no chance that we will produce a title to follow KHBBS , but there are no plans as of now. —3D Ultimania

Nomura even said that the story of BBSV2 ought to be told. But he hadn’t given up on telling it completely at the time the 3D Ultimania came out.

— 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. —3D Ultimania May 2012

He was disappointed that the project got cancelled.

— What about in the secret movie of Birth by Sleep Final Mix…?Well… (Laughs.) Now that you mention it, that secret movie was referred to as “A fragmentary passage”, meaning bits and pieces of something whole. A story connected to Kingdom Hearts exists out of that, but I don’t know whether or not it’ll be told hereafter.—Famitsu May 2012

We only got bits and pieces of the real story. He kept mentioning it in his interviews. You can just tell how frustrated he was.

— Among everything that was included in the Final Mix version, what would you recommend?

The Secret Episode. It’s an evolution of all the Secret Movies I’ve put in the games so far, because it’s playable. You can feel the pace of the story and the battle, so I’m glad I made it like that. By the way, the indication for Birth By Sleep -Volume 2- is still there. It shows the existence of Aqua’s story in the Realm of Darkness. It means that she didn’t just wander about in the Darkness for ten years, but that she passed through many experiences. However, it is a “Fragmentary Passage”, as the same suggests– that story was severed and wasn’t told. I hope I can tell it when given the opportunity. – —Famitsu October 2014

Even in October 2014, he still hadn’t completely given up on BBSV2. I really think Square Enix was just greedy. They didn’t care about the story of KH. They just wanted it out quick and didn’t want to waste any more time or $$ on “side” games.

— Many of our fans are excited to see the Birth by Sleep Final Mix secret ending, which mentions Birth by Sleep Volume 2. What were your thoughts behind including this?

I suppose you could say that the ideas are “floating”. See, Birth by Sleep Volume 2 was never meant to be the second chapter of Birth by Sleep. Rather, it was intended to be a separate piece. The ideas are still there, but they are not currently being pursued. Perhaps in the future we will have the opportunity to touch back upon this subject. —KHInsider Interview December 2014

December 2014, and the ideas were still “floating”. Nomura would just not let them go. He mentions it so much. That’s why I had a hard time blaming him for KH3′s disaster of a plot. I think he fought really hard to tell the story he originally wanted. But, like with Versus XIII, he was not able to.

— Please tell us more about the details and aim of the brand-new supplement based on [BbS], which is different than any of the HD remasters so far.

Actually, this was what I worried about the most. We showed this for a bit in the secret episode of KHBbS FM, but the concept for two chapters of BbS is something we’ve had for a while, and because of problems with time, it’s become just a piece. That concept itself is living on as a setup, so it was our plan to show it at the beginning of KHIII, but since the volume of material in KHIII has increased, I was thinking it was something we just touched on a little. Just as I explained in your previous question, we won’t show the whole thing of the initial concept, but we decided to show it ahead of KHIII as a short episode. —Dengeki Playstation September 2015

In July 2015, he still wasn’t sure of the direction of the series. In September 2015, he was STILL worried about the missing content from BBSV2. He said the problem was with “time”. The concept of BBSV2 was living on as a set-up, but the volume of KH3 increased, so they had to change their plans. This, I think, was the main issue of why the story in KH3 went in such a vastly different direction. 

— Can you tell us about the meaning of 0.2’s title, “Fragmentary Passage?As far as content goes, we can’t include a full volume of content to play with like the second chapter of KHBbS, so it’s just a “fragment,” and we left that part of the subtitle. 0.5 is one of the letters and numbers that appeared in the secret episode of KHBbS FM, and that meant full volume, so we decided on 0.2 this time, to indicate that there will be more content to come. However, the remaining passage will be told in KHIII, so we wanted to show that this production is closely related to KHIII. —Dengeki Playstation September 2015

He said the remaining passage was going to be told in KH3. That’s no doubt what KH2.9 was supposed to be. Of course, it didn’t. Some time after this interview, Nomura just decided to give up on the DSS and rewrite KH3 entirely. It was probably closer to 2016 than 2015. I’m pissed that we only got the story we did in KH3 because Nomura couldn’t really finish the Dark Seeker Saga the way he wanted to. It’s why I barely consider KH3′s story “canon”. It is canon. But it really doesn’t feel like it.