This is my first time ever getting in to the Kingdom Hearts series and I just started reading book one of the Kingdom Hearts 2 manga. I was wondering if this would be an ok place to start the series or if I really need to go back and read the books before this one in order to understand the story.

because of normura logic there is no "understanding the story"

however KH1 would be a good place to start, but thats just me 

Hmm... Since this is your first time with the entire Kingdom Hearts series, I would say that the KH2 manga is not the optimal starting point. I would recommend starting with KH1, as KH2 will be a bit confusing (and spoil some KH1 plot points). However, I started with the KH2 game and ended up just fine, so it's not impossible to start where you are.

I don't think it matters. The Kingdom Hearts manga kind of makes up its own rules, that's why it's so great! 

Start with KH1 the game. Save the manga for later. They're just adaptations.

Kingdom Hearts was probably about the one thing I did do in order.  The last book series I read, Kings of the Boardroom, I read the last book first so I knew everything when I read the first book. If that's how you want to read them then that's cool.

While the manga is an adaption of the games, it's not exactly like the games, so odds are that if you see something in the manga that you don't end up seeing in the games, you'll probably be confused.  But still, if you choose to start with the manga, then go ahead and start reading from Kingdom Hearts I!  And be sure to play the games!  Trust me, you'll love the heck out of them!

It's better if you probably play the games in order of release first, specifically KH1, KH2, BBS, DDD, and get some cutscenes from Days in cause you're gonna need that. CoM is good, but it really isn't necessary for Sora's part, considering none of it is memorized and all of it is explained in KH2 by Namine. 

As for understanding the story, that's pretty simple but it requires the knowledge of the chronological plot from each title in the series.

In my opinion Kingdom Hearts 1 is a good start to get into the Kingdom Hearts series and then you play the rest of the games. I never read the manga because I don't see the point and they're not canon to the video games.

It's better if you probably play the games in order of release first, specifically KH1, KH2, BBS, DDD, and get some cutscenes from Days in cause you're gonna need that. CoM is good, but it really isn't necessary for Sora's part, considering none of it is memorized and all of it is explained in KH2 by Namine. 

As for understanding the story, that's pretty simple but it requires the knowledge of the chronological plot from each title in the series.

Why cutscenes?

In my opinion Kingdom Hearts 1 is a good start to get into the Kingdom Hearts series and then you play the rest of the games. I never read the manga because I don't see the point and they're not canon to the video games.

Why cutscenes?

Because the gameplay isn't really important in the case for days, as much as I love that title myself.

Gotta agree with the others. If you're just reading the manga for the heck of it, it's best to start with the first. It won't kill you if you don't, but it will save you the trouble of having to go back later.The books also aren't canon to the game series, so if you see some strange events, don't freak out.

 

 

The 358/2 Days manga is the best. I say just skip One and Two, an read THAT one instead.

Because the gameplay isn't really important in the case for days, as much as I love that title myself.

I guess some people are different because I can't just watch cutscenes of a game i'm really interested in to understand the story. I rather play the whole game to understand the story.

So you're reading the manga instead of playing the games... alright, I don't want to insult your intelligence but, uh, Kingdom Hearts is a video game franchise. Not a manga series. The manga is a adaption of the games (and a very poor adaption at best).

 

You should save the manga for when you've played the games, or at least, a majority of them.