#soriku video

[candyriku]

Sorry bro, I love you

[separatethingy]

Happy Pride y'all

[starhoodies]

kingdom shopping carts i dunno man

[oliverbluebug]

you want to watch me and @hydrategea 's video essay on comphet in kingdom hearts SO BADLY

[etrosgate]

hollow bastion+floors 7+8 repliku interludes compilation

[featuring my chain of memories retranslation mod. which you can download right now. btw.]

[theophagie]

Looking at Sora ♡

+ honorary addition

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

Do you remember before? We stood facing each other on opposite sides of that door. Now we stand side-by-side. Let's go home together this time.

[akolnoix]

Chain of Pronouns

A Partial Re-Translation Patch for Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA)

Kingdom Hearts is a tricky series, where the details really matter. As such, it’s a shame that some interesting elements of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories did not make it into the official English release (and, from what I know, none of the other language versions). So here we are!

So What’s Changed?

The most important changes in this patch are, as you might’ve guessed from the title, pronoun related.

There is a section of the game, from the beginning of Twilight Town to a certain point in Destiny Islands, where Sora (and the NPCs in Destiny Islands) inexplicably change what pronouns are used to refer to Naminé. The official English release does not convey this element at all despite how much emphasis the game puts on this aspect, and thus loses any potentially significant implications of it.

As there’s no perfect English equivalent for あいつ aitsu, (a very informal/rough pronoun that is technically gender-neutral but leans toward masculine connotations, and is a strange way for Sora to refer to Naminé or Kairi), there are two versions of the patch.

“they” version. This is the one I recommend , as I believe it best conveys the intended experience; where there is a noticeably strange shift in language, but in such as way as to be fairly easy to write off as unimportant to the casual player.

“he” version. This one tosses all subtlety and ambiguity out the window and feels less natural, but conveys the masculine possibilities of the original that the other version can’t. Pick it if you’re feeling very daring.

Then, in the final stretch of the game, jp Naminé uses gender neutral terms in a way that seems potentially relevant, due to the pronouns situation stated in the previous section, and she is talking about two distinct people in her final conversation w/Sora, not just one. Both elements were lost in the official release.

Other Changes

Tweaked some word choice/phrasing for dialogue to more clearly convey repeated motifs (if you’re familiar with the jp terms used, 大切な / に taisetsuna/ni is generally denoted with “precious,” and 大切な人 taisetsuna hito with “dear”) as well as references to other parts of the game (primarily between Hollow Bastion and the floor 6+7 interludes)

They don’t call Sora the Keyblade master anymore, as this was sort of an impossible to predict localization misstep with the original release. (How were they supposed to know that jp script would start using the English phrase "Keyblade Master" as a distinct concept like 10 years later?) I did this just for fun.

This project was primarily built upon the contents of the essay “‘That Person’ How a Pronoun Revealed the Heart of a Story”, and would not exist without it. Read it after you finish the game (or before, if you want), it’s fantastic work.

Special thanks to this gba khcom quote generator and this transcript (both of which saved me SO much time and effort) as well as all my friends, whose excitement and input were invaluable.

Don’t want to actually play the game? Once I’ve settled on a final version, I’ll be putting up a cutscene compilation (for both versions) on youtube.

[sorikufeels]

they are,,, they are watching a meteor shower,,, 🥹

[starrieisdelusional]

i love how kh fandom in collectively agrees that the six hour riku is gay video is the best….riku is gay video

[starfiresky]

I never should’ve discovered video editing

[candyriku]

My partner and I are rewatching Fruits Basket and when we got to this opening I was struck by how Soriku the lyrics felt to me, so I had to make something for the end of Soriku week!

[separatethingy]

I straight up forgot I had this in my files...

From like February.

(It's a ref from Sailor Moon. I'd add the clip but it won't let me)

[pineapplebread]

Happy New Year! Wishing you a warm and prosperous 2023 full of joy and love ✨

[do-you-ship-it-polls]

Do you ship it?

reason: Riku is gay and in love with Sora it's so obvious (it might not be requited but like... that part is obvious)

[ddlert]

self recognition through the other