#kingdom hearts analysis

[starrieisdelusional]

An In-depth Look on the Day of the Meteor Shower (The Necklace and The Sword)

a soriku endgame deep dive: part 2

This is part of my soriku endgame deep dive series, a series where i'll try to dissect everything and anything related to soriku.

Part 2 is going to be more of an analysis rather than a prediction. Specifically about the necklace theory, about Sora's and Riku's meteor shower memory. More specifically, my variation of the memory, and why I think it was Sora who made the promise first (with toy sword), then Riku made his vow back (necklace).

I'm not saying that other interpretations are invalid, this is just one other way to look at it. I will also be writing my opinions and thoughts on the matter, and how this version impacts sora and riku's relationship.

Start of Analysis

What actually happened

To start off, I want to say that I'm not a certified KH fan (a lot of things under my assumptions could be wrong), since I'm still considered to be somewhat a new fan (i got introduced to KH in 2019) and i haven’t actually played any game except 1/3 COM GBA. So take this with the grain of salt.

I assume that most fans believe the necklace theory memory goes as follows: Sora got scared of the meteor, Riku made his vow with his toy sword, Riku gave the necklace to Sora.

And I thought so too for a while because of Riku's heavy association with the word 'protect' and 'vow', but after reading multiple posts and thinking about it for a while, i think it goes more like this: Riku is upset (for reasons that is not the meteor shower), Sora cheers him with his toy sword (sora did not chew onto the actual matter, opting instead to make a promise, to be together with riku), Riku gave the necklace to Sora (riku then made his vow to protect sora).

For the longer version:

Riku got jealous when Sora's started to hang out with his new friends (Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie) and stormed off. Sora noticed that something is off and the FF gang sent him off to go catch after THAT GUY (aitsu). Sora and Riku argues, coincidentally a meteor shower started happening.

It’s probably a pretty scary experience for a 5 YO and a 6 YO who were standing alone on the islands at night at that time, and this situation might be more frightening than your usual meteor shower (given that it is chunks of a world being destroyed near the islands).

But even if he's scare to the point of tears, Sora still forces himself to put on a brave front for riku. He shakily assures Riku not to worry with the toy sword that he's holding. Sora promises to always be together (issho ni 一緒に) with him, to fight alongside him and to protect him.

In that moment Riku was probably really stunned at this kid, who’s such a crybaby at his core and stupid but brave at the same time and somehow managed to spark weird feelings inside of him. So Riku muttered a thanks, and gave his necklace to Sora, vowing to protect him and never let him go.

Why this version?

another disclaimer that my version could be wrong, but even with variations of details my key points are still: sora's promise is symbolized by his sword, riku by his necklace.

now let's actually get into the analysis!! (tbh this is just my reasoning on why i chose this, why i chose that etc)

AITSU: Destiny Islands

i based my interpretation on the aitsu scene of card destiny islands that happened in COM

Yes this infamous scene.

Every world on COM is a manifestation of Sora’s heart, so i believe the actual memory played out in a similar fashion with how this scene goes 

🔽 selphie wakka tidus urging sora to go meet THAT GUY (aitsu)

🔽 riku banter of "oh sora ur so pathetic without me"

🔽 sora finding namine here (in literal chaos -> meteor shower), “i finally found you!!”, namine (riku) clenches fist. And here sora brings his keyblade (sword) 

*and this is probably the closest thing we've ever got to a real life action scene of the necklace theory

riku’s psychology (pre-ddd)

a.k.a. why i think riku's promise is symbolized as sora's necklace, not sora's necklace + sword

Riku’s main flaw that I’m focusing here is his drive to be ‘the best’ which manifests in the form of his tendency to be possessive and being dishonest about his feelings

Via BBS, from a young age riku has already stated that he wants to ‘protect the things that matters’ (daiji na mono), hinting at his obsession for things (necklace and sora) that he holds dear to him. 

Sora recalls that namine had her paopu charm since she was a baby, which made sense that the necklace holds great importance to riku as a family heirloom, one of the ‘important stuff’ (daiji na mono) that he wants to protect.

This later aligns with how ‘things that matters’ evolved with riku’s character because at the night of the meteor shower:

riku’s ‘important stuff’ (daiji na mono), turns into -> ‘precious stuff’ (taisetsu na mono) referencing to sora / riku's heirloom that sora is holding onto, because now that object has multiplied the value of worth

and later to -> ‘precious person’ (taisetsu na hito), because riku finally realized 'the things that matters' or precious person is Sora, and by realizing that his love became more unconditional, because he is discarding himself (the necklace) in the process

(Beautiful no? I think so too)

And to add, this possessiveness is what caused him to go ballistic in the first place when he saw that 

Sora has the Kingdom Key (Riku is the original owner of said key; via nomura interview, riku is the light) 

Sora has discarded him AGAIN for his NEW friends: donald and goofy 

Riku thinks sora discarded him for real this time because other than new companions, for once Sora is better and stronger than Riku so he won’t need Riku anymore to protect him

Second, in KH1, Riku is described more as a cool, older guy, who teases sora a lot, and is better at everything than sora.

It is important to note that soriku dynamic KH1 is a bit different in comparison to it's KH3 counterpart. Although they both might look the same at front value, if you squint, KH3 riku became more of a reliable figure, giving guidance, protection, admiration, and a safe-space for sora

Unlike KH1 where it’s sora who’s more of a safe-space for riku because atp because riku masks his dislike and true feelings behind playful teasing and bantering, the most damning example: riku’s paopu scene, riku putting up a ‘cool guy’ front 24/7 non stop no break, and sanctuary is written for soriku renunion (yes this is true, you can search it up) which had reverse lyrics how cool is that.

*lyrics of sanctuary (KH2 Opening)

In KH3 you can see that both Riku’s actions and words are more genuine, he is actually honest about what he felt, and give honest encouragement to Sora, example his sacrifice scene at KB Graveyard (in english there's a slight mistranslation)

“Sora, I believe in you, you won’t give up”

Opposed to this which was previously used by Riku to motivate Sora in KH1 (example scene is sora's fight againts ansem in KH1 & roxas riku Days fight):

“Giving up already? Come on Sora, I thought you were stronger than that!”

*this is riku talking on screen

So following all of this, i’d say it’s more fitting if riku's vow is symbolized by necklace not sword because by this action:

The necklace is a way of saying that Riku entrust his heart / identity to Sora without explicitly saying it

A reminder for Riku for the precious vow that he made 

An implicit bind that Riku unconsciously forced on Sora that says together means TOGETHER FOREVER and that you can never escape from me EVER

Which: if riku is the one who first raised his sword to made his promise, it would be more of a ddd/kh3 riku thing and riku would not gave his necklace to sora because he would not want to bind sora to be forever with him as that is a selfish thing to do

Yes, Riku may also raise his sword to offer protection in that scene, but it was done after the necklace / vow is made on sora.

Sora’s association with the sword

Okay but does that actually changes anything?

Yes, because the promise is now mutual because its no longer just riku being unhealthily obsessed with Sora, it also goes the other way, via FF kids convo:

It also fits Sora’s character to dashingly comforts Riku with his words and assurance because if he doesn’t exactly understand what’s going on, Sora always managed to find his way around people’s heart

And, it also fits with Sora’s character issue, the tendency to mask and ignore things that really needed to be discussed with a happier, cheerful front in order to distract them from the actual problem.

Now for Sora = Toy Sword relation

Reminder that I don't play Kingdom Hearts so this is based on what I know, in Kingdom Hearts dive to the heart, there are 3 weapon types or path that you can choose to manipulate your stat, the dream shield, path of the guardian (goofy or riku), dream rod, path of the mystic (donald or kairi), or dream sword, path of the warrior (sora or mickey)

And then there’s also this panel during COM Riku Boss Fight II, when Sora reminisced about sparring with Riku. The sequence is Sora fades to his memories, an image of child sora with the toy sword is conjured, then sora spare with riku.

There is also the previously mentioned keyblade (sword) that Sora is holding when coming into contact with namine on card destiny island, when everything is surrounded by chaos (view AITSU: Destiny Island panel 1)

And now I'm going to take parts from Kingdom Key & Kingdom Hearts analysis which help me conjured this whole post in the first place. In KH1, Riku's light touches Sora, bestowing him with his keyblade (crown)

And how Sora had also entrusted his sword (heart) to riku

What I'm saying is, at the night of the meteor shower, sora and riku had exchanged symbols (the heart and the crown) to eachother at the night of the meteor shower when sora gave protection with his sword (heart) and riku with his necklace (crown)

THIS IS GOING BASED ON THE FACT THAT THEIR SYMBOL IS SORA = CROWN, RIKU = HEART

*these are the chess pieces of sora (crown), riku (heart), kairi (star) in kh3 (there are still more, but mainly these symbols is always used in sora and riku's visuals)

Moreso if crown = sora, heart = riku from the beginning it would not make sense with their character origin because crown can be meant as chosen one, special one, royalty, which sora has been stated multiple times to be just an ordinary boy despite the bajillion crown symbolism on him while the heart means to connect with people which is more associated with sora rather than riku who's whole theme is isolation and hidden truths

alternatively, sora has given his heart to riku, while riku has given his throne to sora on the night of the meteor shower which also aligns with the boys character issues: need of validation (sora) and need of affection (riku)

Scene Analysis

now with the assumption that sora -> sword, riku -> necklace, a few scenes started to hit a little deeper

KH1 Hollow Bastion

here riku is basically saying "i don't want your heart anymore, you can have it back" but he can't directly took the necklace so the kingdom key will have to do

COM Riku Boss Fight II

the line "you always try to warm your way into my heart!" and "it never mattered to you" from repliku makes so much sense because the real riku probably feels manipulated by sora's false promises and empty words, that it tricked him to gave up his precious family heirloom and essentially his heart that he trusted to sora

**in addition, repliku started tweaking after sora implies that they should work together (issho ni) instead of fighting

and many more.... (we've hit the image limit)

there's probably a lot more scene that can be seen in a different perspective with this mindset in mind especially in kingdom hearts I and chain of memories, but those are the MAIN examples that i've listed (i might do more in the future, i'll put a link when i do!!)

THE ENDD!!!!!!

that being said, this analysis had come to an end!!!! tysm for reading!!

other parts

part 1 (the paopu fruit)

[lucemferto]

It is finally time! After entirely way too long, I am proud to release the full analysis-playthrough of KINGDOM HEARTS RE:CHAIN OF MEMORIES - this time as one 4 hour video.

As always Xeph @considermygenderminecrafted @thatreallyminecraftsmygender does an excellent job taking in the Kingdom Hearts story for the first time while also analysing it! I am also there.

Special thanks to my friends Fletch @lazyliars for our floating heads, Dogin @dogin8 for providing the voice of Goofy and helping out with the thumbnail and an especially big thank you to Days @days358 for the incredible end screen art which you can find below the cut!

I hope you will all enjoy this video and are looking forward to our playthrough of Kingdom Hearts II - which is already completed and currently in the edit!

See you soon!

[megaderping]

Yen Sid’s depiction in the Kingdom Hearts series is divisive, to say the least. While on one hand, he’s a creative throwback to Disney’s Fantasia, but on the other hand, is often criticized for doing little beyond infodumping and sitting in his chair. I have my share of thoughts and critiques with the character, and in this video I give a thorough analysis of Yen Sid, his pros, his cons, and how emblematic he is of problems when writing a wise old mentor archetype.

Kingdom Hearts content on my channel is still only a secondary form of content, so every reblog would be SUPER appreciated to ensure it can get a wider reach!

[holleighgram]

So, this is Sleeping Realm Theory related, but you know about the speculation regarding the Logo for KHIII and the lack of gradient on the on the third "I" ?

What if doesn't represent Kairi, but Sora's memories of Riku beginning to fade?

[cecil2311413]

Speaking of kh missing link new character called Remus, I just want to tell you something you should keep in mind:

When Aeneas ran away from Troy with his father and his son, he arrived nearby the river Tiber in Italy, where later on his son founded the city of Alba Longa. Generations passed, and Numitore was the king of Alba Longa until his brother, Amulio, took the throne from the brother and forced Rea Silvia, daughter of Numitore, to stay virgin so that no one would have took the throne from him. However, the god Mars got her pregnant, and she gave birth to two twins, Romolus and Remus, and the king ordered to kill them. But his soldiers didn’t kill the two boys, they throw them in the river Tiber and managed to survive thanks to a she wolf. They grew up and took revenge on Amulio. They decided to found a new city, so they worked together, but they didn’t get along well, they started fighting and Romolus killed Remus, becoming the first of the 7 kings of the city that Romolus called Rome.

Ahhh sometimes I’m just glad to be Italian.

[mythicalartistx]

Endless possibilities for Kairi

Nomura once said the keyblade Riku gives to Kairi and where he gets it will be answered in a future installment.

As he does when he doesn't want to answer something because it will be no point in ever showing it if he just tells people.

He did it when people asked about Demyx's backstory and where he came from. He didn't say anything and he most likely will be in Missing Link and probably 4?

But so much about Kairi is a mystery and at first I thought oh they're not going to do much with her, I don't think in KH4 we'll see much but then I was looking at MOM scenes and KH2 the games where people genuinely think she shines the most.

(personally her in mom doesn't do it for me because she ends up using Sora's form)

Mom is just giving people bread crumbs and it's kinda overpraised. Like you control her for a bit until Sora takes over and then you eventually control Riku. I'll admit the backstory parts were nice. It helped confirm more about the Ansem reports. But it's not really much.

Her entire backstory is so mysterious.

She— a child of Radiant Garden who happens to be one of the princesses with a pure heart was seen by Xehanort and studied on through experiments until she was sent to Destiny Islands through one of the time capsules used in Union x.

Because of Xehanort and the others apprentices were doing unsupervised experiments (not sure if this was before or after they became nobodies), sending her there caused the meteor shower— the same one that happens on destiny islands where Riku makes a promise to Sora to protect him and probably have his signature necklace to him. (Though this is necklace theory it is implied this happens through various scenes in KH and the novels, and manga)

Through this revelation, they can discover and discuss where she came from and how she got to Destiny Islands, by discovering the time capsules they can figure out Union X events. The Wayfinder Trio + Kairi can figure out this information together.

Why the Wayfinders? Because Ven was from the era and it could help get his memories back. Kairi is also going to be training with Aqua after MOM.

But by looking into that stuff they can find out more about her and then come across what happened to experiment X and if she really is Skuld or not (a lot of people think she is Skuld).

And Lea/Axel and Isa/Saïx come in for that part.

But she has so much potential. Like KH is obviously about Sora and Riku's friendship and I think the reason why we seen so little of her is probably because Nomura might just be waiting for a good moment or game to put some backstory for Kairi.

We only got crumbs through the reports, a dialogue here and there, and then the scene in mom. And maybe just maybe we'll get an installment that tells us something extraordinary as KH does.

This is like the fourth analysis post I've done about her. She can be so interesting and so much potential and I'm thinking about another one relating to her. It's involving how the English version of KH makes her worse of a character... You'll see why soon

Post note: before anyone mentions kh3 I discussed in previous posts I didn't like her in that one because she was just training a lot and not really doing much. Then during the battle she eventually dies, well that's the shortened version

[dreamsy990]

you know i used to think it was weird how sora and roxas have such different personalities for supposedly being 'the same person' but after playing a few games i sort of realized that they do have similar personalities, because roxas acts how sora does when he's under extreme stress.

compare roxas to sora in, say, kh1. that's where a lot of peoples idea of sora's personality comes from. sora is generally very upbeat and optimistic in that game. not very similar to roxas, right?

but let's switch the game and talk about a game where sora is ABSOLUTELY GOING THROUGH IT. chain of memories.

sora's resting state is melancholy in com. he only ever cheers up in short bursts, usually when he's joking around with friends. just like roxas.

he's quick to anger, and tends to lash out at the organization members. best example of this is when larxene makes him 'remember' namine, and he swings at her repeatedly, even after she's gone. he only stops when jiminy is able to snap him out of it.

you know what scene that resembles?

sora, while a bit more on the angry side and less sad, continues to act like this in kh2 when he's in stressful situations. (he also has a tendancy to insult people which, while it's not very related to the point, is very funny and sora saying 'gonna cry?' to xigbar is great.) i cant comment any further than that about kh2 off the top of my head.

so, roxas acts like sora does when he's stressed, right? but why is roxas always acting like that? to which i say, he isnt!

he only ever acts like that when he's also in fucked up and stressful situations, which happens to be a CONSTANT in his life. but when he's hanging out with axel and xion, a decidedly NOT stressful situation, he's a lot more like sora. he's teasing his friends and insulting his coworkers and joking around and acting like a normal kid. not really important, but unless i misremembered some sora lines which is VERY possible, both roxas and sora respond to friendly insults with "oh thanks!" a lot. just a funny little detail that felt relevant.

the biggest differences between roxas and sora boil down to environment and... i dont know how to put it besides volume? roxas is very quiet and tends to keep most of his thoughts to himself, while sora is very loud and expressive in comparison.

there is one other huge difference i noticed, which is less character based and more story. sora wanted to get off destiny islands and explore with his friends, but roxas just wanted routine. sora wants adventure, and roxas wants things to stay the same, for days where he gets off work and eats ice cream with his friends to last forever, to keep having conversations about nothing and watching the sunset. roxas wants normalcy, sora wants excitement. it's just interesting seeing their contrast.

not sure if this is very well said or anything i just wanted to talk about my boys

[matenr0u]

While deep sea diving in the web archive I stumbled upon some neat bits of Kingdom Hearts fandom history, like this— what may be the first ever “Riku is Gay” essay (in English).

The first snapshot of the page is from 26th November 2002, just after the international release of KH. Soriku really been out here since day 1…

The purple prose dates it a lot but I didn’t notice any blatant Kairi bashing, which is impressive. It’s interesting that Riku’s complicated feelings for Sora have been documented even as early as 2002, pointing to the same subtext fans discuss even 20 years later.

Here’s a link to the essay: Dissertation on Riku x Sora by Ruaki

“In the end, Riku fell into the 'as long as he's happy' mentality. A much needed noble gesture on his part, but who can say what the future holds for him?“

[twistmusings]

Character Analysis of the Twisted Wonderland Dorm Rooms - Octavinelle

Dorm Room Character Analysis Series

Heartslabyul | Savanaclaw | Octavinelle | Scarabia | Pomefiore | Ignihyde | Diasomnia

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul actually has a lot of little touches in his room that are very cute. For one thing, his general decor lends itself to the idea that Azul likes the finer things in life. Truthfully, all of the dorm rooms are have shown a lot of attention to the character's actual stylistic preferences in the Guest room and Azul is no exception.

Rather than having a bedside table, Azul has a second safe in his room in addition to the large one he has in his office. This is interesting because, well, that means that there's things that are likely more important to him than the contracts he kept in his vault in his office. I'm certainly curious about what sort of thing Azul would choose to keep in a personal vault - are they especially important contracts to him? Money? Or, perhaps, just other things that are especially special to him. I know the kneejerk reaction for a lot of folks is to be that it's where he stores his coin collection, however...

Azul actually displays his coin collection in a frame! He has them mounted in velvet.

Several of the other characters have featured a feather pen and ink bottles in their room, however a cute touch is that Azul's pen is actually fish bones. This is a cute little insight into what they may use for pens underneath the Coral Sea. Or, perhaps, Azul just has a flare for the dramatic.

Azul has a trunk and several potion bottles on top of his wardrobe. The fact that Azul has these out in the open on top of the trunk likely means that all of the items in the trunk were potion bottles, and then because they were stored up so high, he placed the ones he commonly uses on top, rather than storing them back inside the trunk. Azul is otherwise very organized, so it would make logical sense that if he's not putting these away, they're likely out because he knows he's going to reach for them again.

This is honestly probably my favorite detail in Azul's room because these are terrariums. Azul never mentions having any interest in Terrariums, but Jade does, meaning that these are likely terrariums that Jade made for Azul and gave him as gifts. This is actually really cute, because though the Leech twins joke about leaving Azul as soon as he becomes boring in canon, this shows that Jade at the very least thinks of Azul in his free time when he's not at work or around Azul by obligation, enough to have given him gifts. it's also worth noting that Azul has these displayed, which means that they aren't a gift that's rotting away in a drawer or stowed away somewhere. It's also worth mentioning that the ones that have plants in them are alive, which requires at least some level of attention to them in order to maintain the environment inside. Little things like this show how much the characters actually care about each other.

Azul's hidden Mickey is next to his shelf of terrariums.

Jade Leech

Jade is an interesting case because he, like Ruggie and Trey, doesn't actually have much displayed in his room in terms of decoration. That being said, what he does have displayed are his terrariums. Jade being the sole member of the Mountain Lover's club, it seems like he probably spends a lot of his free time out and tending to either his plants in the greenhouse or actually hiking.

This isn't likely directly because of Jade, however it seems like Octavinelle as a whole have coat hangers and hat racks that are themed around octopi, which is possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Jade is notably organized - he has his shoes on his shoe rack, his hat and scarf hung up, and his bed made. This will become more important when you see Floyd's half of the room.

There is also this object. While I'm not certain and it doesn't seem to be mentioned in any of Jade's vignettes outright, I suspect this may be a jewelry box. It's a little hard to tell in comparison to a lot of the items in the student rooms, though, so if anyone has any additional input, please let me know! Neither of the other two from Octavinelle have an object like this one in their rooms.

Jade's Hidden Mickey is on one of his terrariums.

Fun fact, Jade AND Floyd both have errors in their Night 2 versions of their backgrounds, as they are both missing the hidden Mickey.

Floyd Leech

Oh, Floyd, sweetheart, you live like this?

Jokes aside, Floyd actually has some things of note! While his side of his and Jade's room (canonically they share a room) is messy, he's messy in a different fashion than someone like Leona. Where Leona doesn't hang his clothes - Floyd does. Or at the very least, it seems like someone does it for him. (Given the haphazard hanging of his jacket, though, I would guess that he probably does it himself.) What does that tell us? Well, more than likely, Floyd gets small bursts of motivation to clean certain aspects of his room, and then grows bored and gives them up. To be quite honest, for those who know of or experience it, Floyd's organization style reminds me a lot of how ADHD folks tend to struggle with forming sustainable cleaning habits, as it's often easier to put something down rather than to put it away.

Snacks, literally everywhere. Floyd has snacks on his desk as well as on the shelf above his bed. It would seem that Floyd has a serious sweet-tooth, given the amount of sweets that we see in his room.

For the life of me, I could not tell you if this is a trash bin or not, but if it is, it looks like whatever Floyd put in there has teeth marks on it.

Another thing of note about Floyd's room, while there's a lot of things that are strewn around, there's not actually all that much trash around. He has a single empty container on his desk, but otherwise his floors are clean, and it seems like things that need to end up disposed are. Again, whether or not that's Jade intervening because they share a room, it's hard to say.

Floyd's hidden Mickey is on his pillow.

As was mentioned in Jade's section, both Floyd and Jade's Night 2 versions of their backgrounds are missing the hidden Mickey. Floyd's background has an additional error however!

Floyd's box of cookies is actually missing the box in his Night 2 artwork. If I had to guess, since I have experience with digital art, more than likely, the layer containing these details was accidentally deleted when making the edits for the Night 2 cards, resulting in these things disappearing when the background were published. It's a minor error, all things considered, and gave me a little giggle because now it just looks like Floyd has haunted cookies floating in his room.

Addendum

Excellent catch by @twistedminutia that Azul's fish bone pen is likely in reference to the pen Ariel signs her contract with in the original movie! (To be quite honest, and I know this is ironic given that this blog has such a heavy octavinelle theming, but the little mermaid was my least favorite Disney movie growing up, so I never would have caught this myself!)

[starrieisdelusional]

why kairi might be the one who manipulated sora's memory

yes you read that right, and no i did not mis-type this (if you're thinking hey that should be namine!)

i was going back a few times to kh3 and i found many patterns and cutscenes in 3 that can be compared to previous installments of the game, even side by side, this one particularly caught my eye:

crazy am i right

so remember that scene in 3 where sora falsely exclaimed "the light in the darkness" to be kairi? (it's actually riku) where sora and kairi goes enters the light to made it back to the real world

previous clip in link because tumblr isn't working with me ("riku, answer me!!" comparison with "okay! i have to protect them (aitsu)! Namine can you hear me?")

as you've seen in the comparison i realized it probably a direct paralell to namine's fake meteor shower scene back in COM Sora's side. And these lines of dialogue in particular interest me

it got me thinking, and i think that kairi purposely did something to sora's memory at some point in their lives. The exact when i'm not too sure, but she had inserted herself into some of riku's part in sora's life as sora's taisetsu na hito (special someone)

i know this sounds crazy, but i think there's a valid reason to this theory

Why??

the motive is clear: that kairi is lonely. i personally relate to her character struggle, loneliness can be suffocating, just like how namine portrayed hers that resulted to the events in COM

kairi's main theme has always been about 'seperation' and being left behind by sora and riku. so it would make sense for her to crave attention

kairi might feel sad that sora and riku doesn't pay attention to her unlike how they pay attention to each-other, so i don't see it as off character for her to insert herself into a fake picture if she had the chance, especially as the love interest of her crush

she even said this back in KH1 which sora responded with "Huh!? What's gotten into you?"

or is it done out of malicious intentions? there might be a possibility for that, but i don't think it is as it goes against kingdom hearts thematic story that stays consistent over the years, that portrays every character struggle in a sympathetic way that honestly you can relate too

(xehanort is even a subject to this in dark road)

i think that kairi felt really guilty about it and didn't realized the impact that she had done to sora and riku's relationship. or maybe she thrived for it, because even if the affection is not real, kairi is still loved and remembered by someone as their precious person, and it feels nice especially with someone like sora

snippet from kh3 novel

in the novels, there's a strong hint that kairi cut her hair because riku cut his, which contributes a lot to the theory of kairi wanting to be sora's precious person (riku) where she somewhat mimics his behavior (she probably realized deep down sora cares more about riku than her)

Passing Memories

i think this also made sense lore wise, because why else would sora suddenly lost his memory of riku? and i don't think sora's sort-of infatuation with kairi is caused by comphet alone

forgotten promises is a recurring theme in sora and riku's relationship, everything up to this point has always leads to hidden thoughts and burried memories, you have to dig deeper if you want to find a connection between sora and riku, the examples currently are:

whatever is happening between soriku

passing memories jp name of oblivion keyblade that is owned by roxas

riku is the TRUE light

necklace theory: the fact that THE necklace is everywhere in the game but is never brought up like ever

aitsu (check full discussion on the internet)

COM the game (just everything related to COM, the only game with riku and sora beside DDD? it's sus if you ask me)

compared to sora and kairi who's relationship always seems shallow and on the surface. i think it made more sense with the 'why' factor answered, because every time sora is thinking of riku, kairi would replace herself in his position, just like the light-tunnel scene in kh3

the 'oathkeeper' (promise charm) and 'oblivion' (passing memories) also reflected sora keeping his promise to kairi, but forgetting about his to riku, riku might not be affected in the same way that sora does, so this happens:

+ the multiple and many instances, riku is straight up covered by kairi

some of those instances:

kairi is true darkness (ex: sea is metaphor for darkness)

xion (is said to be kairi but proven also to also be riku)

the final world

Power?

honestly, i think kairi is more than she lets on (like LUXU), let's talk about her nobody:

i think it's already suspicious that namine has the power to mess with sora's memories (because she's from kairi's body and sora's heart?) when existing nobodies like roxas and xion for example has powers directly tied to their somebodies (kingdom key), xehanort doing xehanort things, marluxia possessing the same rose petals as his somebody counterpart, (and a lot more...)

so, with a game like kingdom hearts, does namine's powers really came out of no where? we know that sora doesn't have the ability to manipulate people's memories, so who else could it be?? kairi's powers might even be more powerful

this would also aligns with the theory 'riku is light-kairi is darkness' because even at front value the game is telling you 'hey kairi is LIGHT and riku is DARKNESS' time and time again its always the reverse in certain situations, but you never got to wonder what it actually mean

yes riku is the light, but why is kairi the darkness?? yes she sort-of brings demise as xehanort's pawn, but is it really just that?

lastly, kairi is a princess of heart, and might even came from the lost masters era as it is decorated and spammed with stars (every symbol is replaced by stars i'm not joking)

it's very on-theme with the 'traitor' plot point that has been consistent in every khux game, so... (i have a theory that kairi is master ava, or master ava is her grandma, OR kairi is mom... or skuld)

in addition to all of this, i also think that kairi can also be a creature, maybe she's actually a chirithy:

however i do think as opposed to riku as a dreameater (spirit), kairi is a nightmare chirithy, as seen in their color pallet (might be a coincidence but who knows)

[lucemferto]

In the today's episode, we get to A LOT of iconic Kingdom Hearts moments, and Xeph and I have A LOT to say! It was so fun recording this, I hope it's just as much fun watching it as well!

Big thanks to:

Xeph @considermygenderminecrafted @thatreallyminecraftsmygender Dogin @dogin8 Fletch @lazyliars

As always subs, likes, reblogs and comments are so very, very much appreciated!

[azurajae]

I find it really interesting that as the games go on, Riku becomes more confident and secure with himself while Sora gets more insecure and depressesed.

Riku kinda started at a low point in the beginning by giving into the darkness. He was ridden with guilt and depression over the pain he caused by his mistakes and spent CoM, Days, and KH2 trying to make up for it all. He finally manages to get some closure in KH3D and manages to find a healthy way to move on from his guilt and sadness. While the scars might still be there and might creep up sometimes, Riku has grown into someone strong and dependable. There are always new ways for Riku to grow as a person, but I can't say enough about how proud I am of him of the progress he's made so far.

Meanwhile, on a surface level, Sora has remained stagnant personality-wise for most of the series. He is happy-go-lucky, kind, and selfless, someone you'd appreciate as a friend. However, in small moments throughout the games, he shows shades of his anger, sadness, and darkness, which seem to intensify each game. He has been told 'no frowning, no sad faces' and to 'never change', so while he seems the 'same', Sora's actually repressing himself. He's thoughtful and introspective, smarter than he looks, but acts foolish and silly because that's how he believes his friends expect of him. KH3 was really prevelent with him hiding his true feelings behind humor, both his friends and enemies belittling him, and the stress/pressure causing him to snap in the final battle. When Xehanort strips all his light away in the final battle, what's underneath? Rage.

It's also pretty interesting that Riku and Sora both precieve(d) themselves as worthless. In Riku's case it's stemming from the guilt of his mistakes and feeling he should isolate himself as punishment, while Sora is so incredibly selfless and blessed/cursed with the 'friends are my power' motto, he believes that he is nothing without his friends.

Makes me wonder what's going to be happening with Sora now that we are in Stage 2 of KH and the tonal shift with the realistic graphics. He is all alone in a totally different reality with a (possibly) dwindling hope of ever returning home. He doesn't even have anymore people in his heart apartment, it's empty now. How will this new enviroment and situation affect him? And how much will he change by the time Riku meets up with him (if/when he does)? It feels like Sora's character arc is finally beginning.

"The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes."

We seem to be calling back to some early quotes from the series. Makes me wonder if this statement is now foreshadowing.

[holleighgram]

You mean to tell me, that they took the time to redesign the Heart Station for Dream Drop Distance for no REAL significant reason, but they couldn't be bothered to change any of the stations for ReMind to have them make sense????

They JUST used old promotion material. That is the real tragedy here. The miss opportunity to give subtle character insight for each of those 6.

( @tharkflark1 there is also a deeper analysis I could do about light being in the hearts of children, and losing sight of that light as they grow up. If, going forward, Sora struggles with the darkness of growing up, his memories of his childhood best friend might be the light he needs to hold onto. Also plays into the Kairi= light of childhood fading and desperatly clinging to it.

Riku= growing up, accepting adulthood, but following the light to let it guide your heart.

Hello. It's me with more Soriku BrainRot ™️

When Riku dives into Sora's heart at the end of DDD, here are all of the platforms he passes while diving.

MOST of them include Riku, and at first I attributed this to "following the connection," however... there are a few memories that don't include Riku at all: Sora facing Darkside, Sora meeting Donald and Goofy, Sora with Hanger, Pants, and Omlette, Sora hold Kairis Lucky Charm, Sora fighting and merging with Roxas, etc.

Kairi isn't shown at all unless Riku is also there.

Oh... and I do have to mention the cardiac arrest inducing poetry that is the first platform being the two of them on the beach staring at the sky as kids, and the last one being them doing the same on the Dark Margin.

[etrosgate]

discussing soriku endgame actually with fellow believers

[mythicalartistx]

Strelitzia is actually Experiment X and it's not hard to see why

Since Skuld being Experiment X is almost disproved because of the time stamps relating to Missing Link... I have another theory

Who X truly is that nobody else have ever thought of—

It's Strelitzia

But first I'm going to discuss why Skuld theory no longer works

Spoilers for Melody of Memory, Union X, and Luxu's identity

There is a theory that Skuld is X, the person that was founded by Ansem and experimented on. X is also what drove Isa (Saïx) and Lea (Axel) to do what they did. They often talked to her and planned to help her escape but before they could she was moved. they planned to infiltrate the organization to save her, however they soon lost sight of what their goal was.

In Missing Link it is noted it is place full of Ephemer's descendants. However, in Dark Road, Xehanort has a "dream" vision when talking to (Player) of the adventures Player had and refers that a girl with dark hair (Skuld) looking like his mom.

It is noted that X had amnesia and it seems many people after going through the time travel pods loose memories. Kairi who was experimented and forced to travel to destiny Islands forgot her memories as well. Ven forgot his memories (though it could be from abuse from Xehanort and being separated from Vanitas). But Player also loses their memories in KHML

Which is why it makes the most sense that Strelitzia is X.

It's probably implied they get together. Now his mother is implied to be Skuld meaning they had kids and then she has Xehanort awhile afterwards. This means after their time something happens for her and the others to come back. It wouldn't make sense for her to be X and then go back to Ephemer.

But what if he also took her to Ansem and he did experiments on her. After all, Luxu helped showed where Terra—Xehanort was so how come he couldn't do the same for Experiment X. Ansem then did experiments on her. After that Luxu eventually took her and brought her to Quadratum where she stays.

Strelitzia dies but after the dandelions go off, many of the characters see Strelitzia. It is even shown that Luxu or maybe even MOM might have taken Strelitzia somewhere else such as the Quadratum... Where we do end up seeing her in the KH4 trailer

It adds up the most and there's little reason why it can't work.

[goldensunset]

noooo don’t advocate to get rid of one of the main character’s two best friends who narratively and symbolically has always represented home safety and stability in contrast to the one associated with change and risk that ultimately form a nice narrative balance between the things that change and the things that don’t because both are important in life when growing up she’s so cute ahahaha