Square Enix has shared new official Kingdom Hearts artwork via the franchise's official Twitter accounts (English & Japanese), commemorating the legendary Final Fantasy VII's 25th anniversary.
Sora is shown in Scala ad Caelum, mirroring a pose Cloud does in the key art for Final Fantasy VII Remake, with Midgar as the backdrop.
This isn't the first time the Kingdom Hearts media accounts have celebrated Final Fantasy VII this way, as it previously occurred in 2017 for Final Fantasy VII's 20th anniversary.
You can view the new Kingdom Hearts art featuring Sora to celebrate Final Fantasy VII's 25th anniversary via our gallery below:
Chapter 22 for the Kingdom Hearts III manga is now available in English from Yen Press. Toy Box Part 3 can be bought as a digital download from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Walker, ComiXology, Google Play, iBooks, and Kobo. The issue's price varies from $1.99 for the United States to $2.99 in Canada.
Chapter 22 was released in Japanese on Gangan Online back on January 13th Chapter 22 is planned to release on Gangan Online on February 10th.
You can also check out the articles for the previous chapters by clicking on the links below!
Chapter 0 Prologue Japanese English
Chapter 1 The New Departure Japanese English
Chapter 2 Olympus Coliseum Part 1 Japanese English
Chapter 3 Olympus Coliseum Part 2 Japanese English
Chapter 4 Olympus Coliseum Part 3 Japanese English
Chapter 5 Olympus Coliseum Part 4 Japanese English
Chapter 6 Olympus Coliseum Part 5 Japanese English
Chapter 7 Olympus Coliseum Part 6 Japanese English
Chapter 8 Olympus Coliseum Part 7 Japanese English
Chapter 9 The Dark World Japanese English
Chapter 10 Unbreakable Connection Japanese English
Chapter 11 The Self inside the Mirror Japanese English
Chapter 12 Reunion Japanese English
Chapter 13 Warmth Japanese English
Chapter 14 Destiny Island Japanese English
Chapter 15 Remaining Light Japanese English
Chapter 16 Tracking the Bond Japanese English
Chapter 17 Following the Heart's Guidance Japanese English
Chapter 18 Twilight Town [1] Japanese English
Chapter 19 Twilight Town [2] Japanese English
Chapter 20 Tox Box [1] Japanese English
Chapter 21 Toy Box [2] Japanese English
Chapter 22 Toy Box [3] Japanese
In addition, Volume 2 of the manga is now available for Japan. The English version is schedule to release on March 22nd.
Late last year, the official Tokyo Disney Resort announced the return of the Kingdom Hearts Disney ambassador hotel room. This room is now available for those who managed to reserve a spot, and there's one particularly intriguing facet about the room that potentially warrants discussion.
So, within this area is a treasure chest, and its contents are not allowed to be shown until April 28th, 2022, likely to not spoil future room reservers. However, a prominent translator in the Kingdom Hearts community, Audrey, who has been within the room, has stated the contents of the treasure chest since that isn't explicitly restricted.
She has been continually updating details regarding the contents on Twitter, but what is clear so far is that there is an Oathkeeper Keyblade with a differently depicted design than the norm. Apparently, the keychain is different, being entirely blue rather than half-blue.
With how meticulously crafted the Keyblade is, this could likely not be a production error. Audrey's following tweet further describes the keychain's appearance.
There could be no deep meaning to any of this, but there are still notable oddities about the difference in design. Regardless, we can add this as another point of speculation as we await the anniversary event on April 10th.
Kingdom Hearts content creator Bio-Roxas provided the following reasonable statements that could explain this design choice for the Oathkeeper keychain:
You can view the Twitter thread from Audrey detailing and showcasing the Kingdom Hearts Disney ambassador hotel room below:
Utada Hikaru, prominently known in the Kingdom Hearts community for performing the franchise's theme songs, has shared a live performance of the English version of "Face My Fears," the opening theme of Kingdom Hearts III.
You can view this extraordinary performance via Hikaru's official Youtube channel below:
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series, Square Enix e-STORE Japan will be giving away discount coupon codes that can be used when ordering new Kingdom Hearts-related products to anyone who orders and receives a product related to "Kingdom Hearts" from the Square Enix e-Store during the campaign period. The campaign will be active until the end of March 2023, only in Japan.
Campaign Notes:
*Coupons will expire when the campaign ends, and anyone with unused coupons will lose them.
*Certain Kingdom Hearts products are not eligible for the coupon code. For more details, check this link for a list of eligible items.
*If for some reason, your order ends up arriving later than the campaign's end date (March 31, 2023), you will not receive a coupon code. Coupon codes can only be received the moment your order is considered as "Received".
Square Enix has added silver and gold variants of Kingdom Hearts necklaces adorned with the iconic heart and crown imagery onto their Japanese digital storefront. The golden necklaces are ¥85,800 (approximately $746.66), while the silver ones are ¥19,800 (approximately $172.31). Each necklace is stated to release on June 11th, 2022.
Additionally, a character representative stone can be chosen alongside a single necklace, with the following characters being options:
Sora: Blue Topaz
Riku: Blue Sapphire
Kairi: Pink Tourmaline
Roxas: Orange Sapphire
Axel: Red Garnet
Xion: Black Diamond
Naminé: Diamond
Terra: Citrine
Aqua: Aquamarine
Ventus: Peridot
The necklaces' store pages have more info on the material of each stone. And, speaking of the store pages, each one is linked below alongside our own galleries depicting each product.
Kingdom Hearts Silver Crown Necklace
Kingdom Hearts Gold Crown Necklace
Kingdom Hearts Silver Heart Necklace
Kingdom Hearts Gold Heart Necklace
Do you intend on purchasing any of these necklaces to give your wardrobe some classy Kingdom Hearts flair? Let us know in the comments below!
UPDATE: Each of these necklaces are currently available to pre-order from the North American Square Enix store! The silver variants are $179.99 while the gold versions are $779.99. Additionally, each necklace has a July 2022 release window.
Their store pages are listed below:
Gold Crown Necklace
Gold Heart Necklace
Silver Crown Necklace
Silver Heart Necklace
Square Enix has added new celebratory Kingdom Hearts merchandise to their Japanese digital storefront; room fragrance mists based on Sora, Kairi, and Riku.
The following descriptors for each product are provided and were translated by our team's Ryuji.
Sora's fragrance is a fruity and refreshing citrus aroma of green apple, followed by the gentle sweetness of peach and jasmine. You can also smell a pleasant fragrance with a harmonious trace of violet and musk.
Riku's fragrance has a cool citrus scent of lime, which gives way to a powerful accord of petitgrain and geranium. Followed musk and tonka bean to give the scent a soapy, clean feeling.
Kairi's fragrance has a fresh scent of bergamot and lemon, followed by a lovely accord of peach and rose. You can also smell a sweet but crisp sweetness of vanilla and musk.
You can view images of each fragrance mist via our gallery below, as well as links to their respective store pages. All three items are ¥5,940 (approximately $51.72) and will release on March 26th, 2022.
Kingdom Hearts Room Fragrance Mist - Sora
Kingdom Hearts Room Fragrance Mist - Kairi
Kingdom Hearts Room Fragrance Mist - Riku
Do you plan on purchasing any or all of these room fragrance mists to, uh, smell like Sora, Kairi, and Riku, I guess? I don't know. Let us know in the comments below!
The official Kingdom Hearts social media accounts have announced that the franchise's 20th-anniversary event will be taking place on April 10th in Tokyo. Fans can look forward to a Q&A with the development team, a mini-concert, an exhibition, and other unspecified features.
A video of the event is stated to be provided at a later date. More details on this anniversary event will be provided soon. You can view the event's official website here.
The official Kingdom Hearts Twitter account has announced that the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece for Cloud collection containing Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind will be launching for Nintendo Switch via Cloud Gaming on February 10th, 2022.
Additionally, free demos of all three titles are currently available.
As stated on the 20th-anniversary website, customers who purchase Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece Collection or Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind will receive the Nintendo Switch Cloud version exclusive Advent Red Keyblade, useable in Kingdom Hearts III.
In a recent blog post, Square Enix has clarified that each title's demo is roughly 10 minutes long, with HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX's demo being 15 minutes. Additionally, the titles can only be launched twice. The purpose of these demos is for prospective purchasers to test their internet connection via Cloud.
The official Twitter account also announced the Advent Red Keyblade, which can be viewed in our gallery below:
The store pages for the collection and each individual title are listed below:
Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece for Cloud (Base Price - $89.99; Sale Price - $71.99)
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX (Base Price - $39.99; Sale Price - $31.99)
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (Base Price - $49.99; Sale Price - $39.99)
Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind (Base Price - $49.99; Sale Price - $39.99)
You can view the official English and Japanese trailers for this upcoming collection below:
You can view the tweet announcing this collection's release date and demo availability below:
UPDATE: Our Deputy News Editor, Orpheus Joshua, has shared Nintendo Switch Cloud demo gameplay footage of the following titles on our Youtube channel:
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix HD
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix HD
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passag
Kingdom Hearts III
An unexpected but welcome surprise struck Kingdom Hearts fans' timeline yesterday as voice actor Erika Harlacher released a short musical puppet show based on our favourite video game franchise Kingdom Hearts.
The Disney x Square Enix collaboration is no stranger to adaptations outside the video game world with it being adapted into novels, a Manga series, and at one point it was almost made into a cartoon series. Now, although not official, it has been adapted into a musical puppet show. Who could see that one coming?
The short was created by longtime voice actor Erika Harlacher. Harlacher is most known for voicing Ann in Persona 5. But she has also provided her voice to well over a hundred different projects, including additional voices in several Square Enix titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake, NEO: The World Ends with You, and of course Kingdom Hearts III.
The short, titled Puppet Kingdom: Musical Hearts was published on both Youtube and Twitter, and retells the first chapter of the original Kingdom Hearts game where Sora first meets Donald and Goofy in Traverse Town.
The song is titled The Trio Song, and according to Harlacher she has 5 more songs already written that she may publish later assuming Disney lawyers don't put a stop to it first.
Harlacher, who herself is an avid fan of the Kingdom Hearts series, states that she's been on and off working on this project for a year and a half.
With the project being so well made, it has received praise from other known members of the community and fellow voice actors. Including a shoutout from Goofy's official voice actor for 30+ years, Bill Farmer.
If you're a fan of Kingdom Hearts, or just appreciate great puppet artistry, we urge you to check out the project! With enough support, maybe we'll see more of it!
Gangan Online have posted Chapter 22 for the Kingdom Hearts III manga. You can check out the previews for the chapter in our gallery below. You can read the full chapter on their site by clicking here or on their online app.
Chapter 23 will be available on February 10th.
You can also check out the articles for the previous chapters by clicking on the links below!
Chapter 0 Prologue Japanese English
Chapter 1 A New Journey Japanese English
Chapter 2 Olympus Coliseum[1] Japanese English
Chapter 3 Olympus Coliseum[2] Japanese English
Chapter 4 Olympus Coliseum[3] Japanese English
Chapter 5 Olympus Coliseum[4] Japanese English
Chapter 6 Olympus Coliseum[5] Japanese English
Chapter 7 Olympus Coliseum[6] Japanese English
Chapter 8 Olympus Coliseum[7] Japanese English
Chapter 9 World of Darkness Japanese English
Chapter 10 Connected Japanese English
Chapter 11 The Self inside the Mirror Japanese English
Chapter 12 Reunion Japanese English
Chapter 13 Warmth Japanese English
Chapter 14 Destiny Island Japanese English
Chapter 15 Remaining Light Japanese English
Chapter 16 Tracking the Bond Japanese English
Chapter 17 Following the Heart's Guidance Japanese English
Chapter 18 Twilight Town [1] Japanese English
Chapter 19 Twilight Town [2] Japanese English
Chapter 20 Toy Box [1] Japanese English
Chapter 21 Toy Box [2] Japanese English
In addition, Volume 2 of the manga is now available for Japan. The English version is schedule to release on March 22nd.
Today, Microsoft revealed numerous titles that would be joining its ever-expanding Game Pass roster. However, alongside those revelations, the company also announced which titles would be leaving the service on January 15th, 2022, and Kingdom Hearts III is among those games.
It is worth noting that those currently subscribed to Game Pass can choose to purchase Kingdom Hearts III via a 20% discount.
Back in May 2021, both Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue were also removed from Game Pass.
In Japan today, the broadcaster TV Asahi hosted a special program called “50,000 people vote for it! Video game general election”. As its name implies, 50,000 individuals from across Japan voted on which games were their favorites of all time, with the results having been steadily rolling out from #100 to #1.
Aside from TV, the program's official Twitter account has also been sharing the announcements. As it turns out, the original Kingdom Hearts was voted the top 49th game of all time, and Kingdom Hearts II was voted to be the top 16th game of all time.
Several other Square Enix games also made notable placements, like Dragon Quest V being ranked #2, Final Fantasy VII being ranked third, and much more. Congratulations to Square Enix for these lofty voting rankings.
Following the announcement of 5 types of Kingdom Hearts III suitcases being in development to commemorate the franchise's 20th anniversary, Square Enix has now launched the store pages for each variation.
Each suitcase is priced at ¥52,800 (approximately $461.85), and they are based on Sora, Kairi, Riku, Axel, and King Mickey. Additionally, they all have a release date of June 25th, 2022.
Further, each suitcase can be viewed via our galleries below alongside links to their respective Square Enix E-store pages:
Kingdom Hearts III - Sora Suitcase
Kingdom Hearts III - Kairi Suitcase
Kingdom Hearts III - Riku Suitcase
Kingdom Hearts III - Axel Suitcase
Kingdom Hearts III - King Mickey Suitcase
Do you see yourself purchasing any of these suitcases for some fancy traveling? Let us know in the comments below!
UPDATE: Each of the aforementioned suitcases are currently available to pre-order via Square Enix's North American digital storefront for $549.99. Further, they all possess September 2022 release windows.
The suitcase store links are listed below:
King Mickey
Axel
Riku
Sora
Kairi
Sayaka Kanda, the Japanese voice actress of Anna in Disney's Frozen and Kingdom Hearts III, has passed away today following a fall from the 14th floor of her hotel in Sapporo. She was initially unconscious after the fall but then passed away in a hospital. Japanese authorities are still investigating the cause of death. She was 35 years old at the time of her passing.
Kanda was also known for her voice work as Kaede Akamatsu in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Mana Nagase in Idoly Pride, and much more.
Rest in peace, Sayaka Kanda, and your talented career will be forever remembered.
Credit to KH13 community member DisneyXPixarfan95 for sharing this news with us.
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