Welcome to KH13.com’s coverage of D23 Expo Japan 2018, which returns to Tokyo Disney Resort on February 10-12, 2018, for a third time to celebrate all things Disney!

 

This time, a Kingdom Hearts Fan Event is taking place as part of its Disney Magical Theatre program on Saturday, February 10, at 4:00 PM to 5:20 PM JST. This is:

· Friday, February 9 at 11:00 PM - 12:20 AM PST;

· Saturday, February 10 at 1:00 AM - 2:20 AM CST, 2:00 AM - 3:20 AM EST, and 7:00 AM – 8:20 AM GMT.

 

There is no indication that this event will be livestreamed; rather, it was said that the program will be giving “an amazing experience exclusive to this event”. It is currently unknown what the Kingdom Hearts Fan Event will be about, what will be shown, and if Kingdom Hearts III will be shown or not.

 

In 2015, Kingdom Hearts had made an appearance at D23 Expo Japan in 2015 during the Kingdom Hearts Premium Theatre, showing off an exclusive Kingdom Hearts III trailer, a “Making of Kingdom Hearts III” video, and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, among other things. The event was not broadcast live at the time, and its contents were exclusive to the lucky attendees; only some screenshots were released to the public at the time, and a month later, a small part of the footage shown at the event was later included in a recap of the Expo on Japanese TV channel DLife.

 

During this coverage, we will be collecting all the information available from the attendees of the D23 Expo Japan 2018 and the Kingdom Hearts Fan Event, and keep you up to date with all available news. So stay tuned!

 

Follow our Twitter live coverage here.

 

Follow our other social media for news: Facebook, Tumblr, Google+.

 

Kingdom Hearts III – D23 2018 Trailer

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Kingdom Hearts III Theme Song Trailer – “Don’t Think Twice” by Utada Hikaru

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Kingdom Hearts III Theme Song Trailer – “Oath” by Utada Hikaru

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Articles

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• Exclusive Kingdom Hearts merchandise sighted at D23 Expo Japan 2018
• New Kingdom Hearts III world, Monsters, Inc. revealed at D23 Expo Japan 2018
• Sora and Riku appear in Final Fantasy Record Keeper
• Two Kingdom Hearts III trailers revealed at D23 Expo Japan 2018
• Kingdom Hearts III theme song, "Oath"/"Don't Think Twice", revealed at D23 Expo Japan 2018
• King Mickey's Kingdom Hearts III outfit revealed as a Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] medal
• Gummi Ship gameplay in Kingdom Hearts III will feature open world-like exploration and augmented combat style; customization will be richer than previous games
• Exclusive "Making of Kingdom Hearts III" video was shown; includes footage of Tangled, emphasizes worlds in KH3 to be more lively

Updates

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Pre-event

 

July 19, 2017: Kingdom Hearts Fan Event confirmed for D23 Expo Japan 2018!

January 15, 2018: Kingdom Hearts III Sora (Second Form Ver.) Bring Arts figure will be available to purchase at D23 Expo Japan 2018!

January 26, 2018: Limited numbers of Kingdom Hearts Tsum Tsum sets were sold in the occasion of the upcoming D23 Expo!

January 27, 2018: A Stamp Rally and Digital Photo Frame featuring Kingdom Hearts will be available at D23 Expo Japan 2018!

January 27, 2018: Kingdom Hearts III Sora (Second Form) Bring Arts signed by Tetsuya Nomura to be included in the D23 Expo Japan 2018 commemorative auction!

February 8, 2018: The official Kingdom Hearts Twitter account sent a cryptic tweet hinting at a potential appearance of Kingdom Hearts III at D23 Expo Japan 2018!

 

Day 1 [February 9, 2018]:

 

6:06PM (USA EST): "Within the Disney Magical Theater, displayed contents can not be filmed/photographed. However, the Kingdom Hearts Fan %5BEvent%5D [...] stage portion at D23 can be filmed/photographed."

6:25PM (USA EST): The official Kingdom Hearts Union Cross twitter account announced a twitter challenge to celebrate the D23 Japan Expo happening!

6:30PM (USA EST): D23 Expo Japan 2018 has officially begun!

6:30PM (USA EST): Kingdom Hearts Proplica Keyblade and Kingdom Hearts SH Figuarts including cloaked Mickey can be seen on display at the D23 Expo Japan 2018!

7:10PM (USA EST): The two new Kingdom Hearts-themed watches are now available to purchase only at the D23 Expo Japan 2018!

7:55PM (USA EST): Exclusive Kingdom Hearts merchandise sighted at D23 Expo Japan 2018!

8:00PM (USA EST): A Sora (Second Form) Bring Arts figure has been spotted and it is signed by Tetsuya Nomura! The figure will be auctioned off later this month!

9:30PM (USA EST): "Booty-ful" Kingdom Hearts rubber clips have been spotted at D23 Expo Japan 2018!

10:07PM (USA EST): Check out this Kingdom Hearts Tape!

10:28PM (USA EST): Rubber clips are selling left and right, and they're gone.

11:46PM (USA EST) Kingdom Hearts keychains have been spotted at D23 Expo Japan 2018!

2:00 AM (USA EST) The Kingdom Hearts Fan Event has begun!

2:44 AM (USA EST) Monsters Inc. reported for Kingdom Hearts III; release date still 2018 (@aibo_ac7)

2:45 AM (USA EST) Marluxia and Vanitas were reported to return! (@aibo_ac7)

3:12 AM (USA EST) New song for Kingdom Hearts III, sung by Utada Hikaru, titled "Oath"!

3:13 AM (USA EST) New clothing for Riku and King Mickey were revealed!

3:20 AM (USA EST)

3:25 AM (USA EST)

3:37 AM (USA EST)

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3:40 AM (USA EST)

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D23 Expo Japan 2018 Gallery

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Kingdom Hearts Fan Event Gallery

 

Trailer Screenshots

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I really hope it's the release date if KH3 appears:)

D23 is here after quite the wait, we'll see if KH3 shows up or not.

hope we get something

The time has come. Let’s hope something good comes out of this

I really hope it's the release date if KH3 appears:)

me to we waited long enough

I hope we get story details.

I'll be sure to get some sleep for this! 

Leamax, thank you, and I thank everyone on the News Team who will be keeping us up to date with what happens over at D23! We shall all be anxiously and happily awaiting any epic news that comes out of the event!

 

Gahhh, I'm so excited! I can't believe we've already reached this moment! I'm getting a very strong good vibe that we're definitely in for a special treat!

Please let Kairi or Riku to finally make an appearance in a new outfit

Man...official d23 Twitter confirmed no live stream. But I'm still hoping we get some news.

my only hope is that they don't drop a release date with multiple editions and have the sale go on right after like they did FFXV. FFXV's initial preorders were so poorly handled, those UCEs just vanished in seconds... yet that was prly SE's best UCE to date. I am almost 99.9% sure theyre gonna release multiple editions of KH3 given the almost equal in length hype to FFXV that KH3 has had.

 

but this is all provided we even get a confirmed release date aside from "2018" lol

We did it! We got our big trailers.

Man! Finally some more Tangled gameplay and Monsters Inc! So good!

That yoyo keyblade tranformation is epic

I expected some Big Hero 6 gameplay. I guess they are not done with it. Hope it will be at E3 with the release date.

I love the trailers!!! The theme song is quite refreshing (as it is using my favourite time signature) and I love it (both English and Japanese versions)!

 

Oh man, I can feel my mind turning mush from creating some delicious theories... yum.

 

We did it! We got our big trailers.

Can't stop replaying it again and again for now.

Shibuya leak is officially fake.

Thank you KH13 team so much for the constant updates and all of the effort you guys put into delivering news and information for us fans during this event and in general. You are appreciated

I saw Rapunzel & Flynn Rider in one of the trailers.

I saw Rapunzel & Flynn Rider in one of the trailers.

 

And they were fantastic! I can't wait to fight alongside them already! :')

And they were fantastic! I can't wait to fight alongside them already! :')

Well, I'm pointing this out because I don't like Tangled. But, unfortunately, I probably might have to play that world to progress through the storyline, so KH3 will be a waste of money in my opinion, because they wasted the worlds with what I consider Disney's worse movies. They could have used the Black Cauldron! They could've used POTC: Dead Man's Chest! Heck, they could've even used the worlds from KH 3D: Dream Drop Distance, such as Tron Legacy, 3 Musketeers or The Hunchback of Notre Damme! But no! They decided to use Tangled & Monsters Inc. A bunch of preschool predates & chick flicks aren't KH World-worthy! They have to be childhood classics!

Well, I'm pointing this out because I don't like Tangled. But, unfortunately, I probably might have to play that world to progress through the storyline, so KH3 will be a waste of money in my opinion, because they wasted the worlds with what I consider Disney's worse movies. They could have used the Black Cauldron! They could've used POTC: Dead Man's Chest! Heck, they could've even used the worlds from KH 3D: Dream Drop Distance, such as Tron Legacy, 3 Musketeers or The Hunchback of Notre Damme! But no! They decided to use Tangled & Monsters Inc. A bunch of preschool predates & chick flicks aren't KH World-worthy! They have to be childhood classics!

 

Well, your opinion is your opinion, but really, when watching Tangled, Rapunzel and Eugene don't have it for each other until well almost into the final act of the film. Really, for most of the film, Rapunzel uses the crown of the kingdom as leverage to have Flynn/Eugene help her escape her tower so she can see the world. The feeling of discovery and wanting to see more of the world was her chief goal, falling for Flynn and him for her came as something that happened much later. And calling the film a chick flick is kinda farfetched, considering that most of Disney's animated films have women as their protagonists, ya know?

 

As for Monsters. Inc, the premise of monsters scaring children to power up their world is something that may be simple on the surface, but if you think about it, these kids end up having nightmares because of these monsters scaring them. When they tell their parents, their parents would simply rub it off as the child's active imagination, but the child is going through the trauma, so it's not as kiddish as you would think, ya know?

 

As for the reasons why these films were chosen to be worlds, I think I have a good idea! For Tangled, the Golden Flower is a source of power, which in the film, grants mother Gothel with eternal youth. Now, Xehanort would probably have the intention to use such a power to further his ambitions, to fuel his other selves with eternity, so even if they should fail in their goal, they can try again with no fear of dying. But if Marluxia is not a part of Xehanort's group, then Marluxia could be seeking the Golden Flower for his own purposes! As for Monstropolis, when you think about it, kids being scared by the monsters causes them to have fear, and fear is a negative emotion. Now, what do we associate with negative emotion? The Unversed! Which is why I think it's perfect to have Monstropolis in the game, since the theme of fear makes room for the Unversed, and therefore Vanitas's appearance in that world!

 

Sure, you don't have to like these worlds, but calling the game a waste of money just because those two worlds are going to be in the game is a bit much, ya know? The game will have many worlds, and odds are you'll love the rest of the ones that Nomura has in store! I agree that Pirates should return, and although I've never seen The Black Cauldron, I've heard enough about it that I'd be very interested if it appeared in Kingdom Hearts. There's also films like Treasure Planet and Atlantis, which I have been dying to see in the KH series. But if the game doesn't have the worlds I want, I'm not gonna feel bad about it, ya know?

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, if it sounds like I'm writing in a hostile manner, I apologize most sincerely! I'm just discussing, not ranting, ya know? I hope you forgive me if this post seems hostile towards you, but let me reassure you that it's not. It's just that I love discussing the worlds in the series and ones that will appear in the series, and I just love going on about how the worlds would work and whatnot, ya know?