[Partially Translated] Famitsu Interview with Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue

Today, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has released a brand-new interview with Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue. The interview focuses on a lot of things, from the size of Kingdom Hearts IV's script to some of the things that were shown in the trailer.

Together with KH13 translator corfidbizna, we've summarized some of the more important points of the interview, and will update this article as our translation progresses. *Note: Some translations are subject to change, as we dive deeper into the interview.

1. Japanese voice-overs have already been recorded, with English recordings still ongoing. Tai Yasue mentions they're about 60 to 70% done. According to Nomura, Kingdom Hearts IV’s script is nearly double the size of Kingdom Hearts III.

Interviewer: [During the D23 panel], we saw pictures of [David Gallagher and Haley Joel Osment] recording the voiceover for the original Kingdom Hearts. I could feel the history from that picture alone. (laughs). How has been the process of recording the voice-over for Kingdom Hearts IV? [...]

Tai Yasue: The English voices are currently being recorded. There are a lot of lines to go through, and due to the time difference between overseas and Japan, it's been quite hectic. (laughs). However, I would say about 60 to 70% of the overseas recordings are done.

Nomura: Incidentally, all the Japanese voice over has been recorded.

Interviewer: Ohhh! Sounds like you’re making great progress!

Nomura: However, the volume of the script for Kingdom Hearts IV is nearly double* that of Kingdom Hearts III, so the recording schedule was truly brutal. There were things I wanted to add, but we had already exceeded our limits…

*Translator's note: Nomura uses the word 2倍弱, which is an expression commonly used for when something is nearly double, but not quite (like 1.8-1.9...? He's being vague... again.)

2. Kingdom Hearts IV’s worlds are some of the biggest we’ve ever seen in the series yet, but Nomura also seems to imply that they're shorter in length.

Interviewer: [In the Coco world,] it also seems to feature a team-up attack with Héctor, which feels very Kingdom Hearts.

Yasue: Yes. You aren't just swinging a Keyblade; you use a guitar, and we've incorporated musical elements into the battles. There are also many other mysteries... but well, I can't say any more about the elements we have in store (laughs).

Nomura: The level of detail poured into each world in Kingdom Hearts IV is the highest in the series. Because of that, the total number of worlds isn't large. Since we revealed the Coco world at the Showcase the day before the panel, I saw some people expecting, "Maybe they'll announce another world at the panel?" But if we announce things at such a rapid pace, we'll run out of information long before the release date (laughs). However, what we showed this time is truly just a small fraction of the game. Since D23 was such a great opportunity, we decided to give a sneak peek of the Coco world a bit earlier than we originally planned. We will have opportunities to showcase it in detail later, so please look forward to future updates.

3. The Dandelions and their involvement in Kingdom Hearts IV

Interviewer: Besides that, the trailer included a section that implied Sora belonged to the Dandelions, and we also have a Xigbar-ish black coated figure showing up with Young Xehanort... To borrow King Mickey's phrasing [from the trailer], this is a lot of new information! (laughs). What exactly are the Dandelions in this game? Is Sora trying to return to his original world as a member of the Dandelions?

*Interviewer's Note: In Kingdom Hearts Union X[Cross], the Dandelions were a secret group of Keyblade Wielders chosen by Master Ava to carry the torch after the Keyblade War. They were very prominent in the mobile game.

Nomura: This will obviously be new to players starting with this game, and probably to those who only follow the numbered titles, but the Dandelions are an organization of elite Keyblade wielders from the χ series. In this game, the Dandelions exist in a form where they cooperate with the Quadratum government, and basically, all Keyblade wielders who have come to this world, including Sora, have joined them. We'll reveal more details about them at a later date.

4. Sigurd is becoming quite popular with the development team

Interviewer: The scenes in Quadratum also had several intriguing new additions. First, the masked Keyblade wielder's name is Vali. The other was called Sigurd. Vali appeared in the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Union χ Dark Road, and Sigurd briefly appeared in Kingdom Hearts Union χ, but...

Nomura: Kingdom Hearts IV is, in a way, a story that exists within the flow of the "χ (chi) series" (refers to the mobile game, Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, which got later rebranded to Union X Dark Road). Those who played the mobile games to the end might recognize Vali and Sigurd, but please don't worry—even if you haven't played them, the game will depict exactly what kind of people they are.

Interviewer: To begin with, their appearances in the mobile games were so sparse, that we didn't really know what kind of characters they were (laughs). They feel almost like brand-new characters. However, Sigurd's name also appeared in your hidden 20th-anniversary message, so he certainly seems suspicious (laughs).

Nomura: I'm actually quite fond of Sigurd.

Yasue: Sigurd is definitely great (laughs). He adds a lot of flavor. I like him too.

Interviewer: Wait, why are both of you praising him all of a sudden!?

Nomura: It's kind of an "Oh, is that what you meant by 'keep an eye on him'?" situation (laughs).

Interviewer: Huh!? I thought he was going to be a character with some hidden agenda. Is he more of an endearing, hard-to-hate type of character…?

Yasue: He's probably a character type we haven't seen in Kingdom Hearts before. His fanbase is rapidly growing internally among the staff, too (laughs).

Nomura: We haven't announced it yet, but the voice actor's performance plays a huge role. He has fantastic intuition and delivered acting that exceeded our expectations*.

*Translator's note: I’m not sure whether he’s talking about the Japanese or the English voiceover.

Interviewer: It sounds like we really need to keep an eye on Sigurd in more ways than one (laughs). I'm also very curious about who his voice actor is. Also, Riku appeared in the extended version of the trailer, and the crowd went completely wild.

Nomura: They got so hyped that Kairi's subsequent line was completely drowned out (laughs).

Famitsu: Ah, so that line was Kairi! I’ll be honest, I couldn't hear it over the cheering of the audience (laughs).

Nomura: During the trailer premiere at the panel, it seemed like the video was cut off before the title appeared at the very end. We actually recorded the English voice lines specifically for this trailer in advance (laughs). I hope the people who were at the venue watch it again on YouTube to hear it.

5. A “real-life Jiminy’s Journal”

Interviewer: I see...

Nomura: As you know, as the Kingdom Hearts series has continued, the cast of characters has inevitably grown, and the story has become incredibly complex. For example, with the newly announced animated series, there are more external partners involved in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and explaining the lore and scenario to them every time has become quite a heavy burden.

Interviewer: To be honest, even having played the games myself, there are parts I forget sometimes (laughs).

Nomura: Fortunately, there is a staff member from the "χ series" team who has been meticulously organizing and summarizing the past lore of the Kingdom Hearts series into an easy-to-understand format. They were also in charge of explaining the scenario and lore to Disney. Actually, early in the development of Kingdom Hearts IV, Disney specifically requested them to compile reference documents, so I officially had them join the Kingdom Hearts IV team as our designated proofreader.

Interviewer: Oh, is that the person you mentioned during the panel?

Nomura: Correct. They used to come to me to confirm extremely minor details every time they had to explain something to Disney. They incorporate diagrams and such to explain things as clearly as possible, which Disney has received very well. Their internal role is scenario proofing. In other words, their job is to check and ensure there are no discrepancies between the past lore and the current scenario. They were an especially perfect fit this time since the "χ series" is heavily involved. Some people might mistakenly hear their title and think they're in charge of the story composition, but his role is proofreading.*

*Nomura makes a pun here because story composition and proofreading in Japanese are both read as “kousei”, but have different kanji associated with them: 構成 and 校正.

Yasue: The development team is very grateful for them, too (laughs). We actually joined the company at the same time.

Famitsu: So basically, the team is compiling something like a real-life Jiminy's Journal that organizes the Kingdom Hearts universe so that third parties can easily understand it. I would love it if you published that as a book (laughs). [...]

6. When can we expect more information about Kingdom Hearts IV

Interviewer: First the trailer at the June Nintendo Direct, and now another trailer at D23...does that mean we will see more information about the game at Tokyo Game Show?

Nomura: Because the release date is still set to be later next year, the development team will now be focusing on that. Therefore, it might take a while before we can reveal any further information.

Interviewer: I see. To end things off, anything you wish to say to all fans who are eagerly awaiting Kingdom Hearts IV?

Yasue: The fans and their cheers were amazing. It really renewed my motivation to push hard through this final stretch of development!

Nomura Initially, I had planned to leave this D23 to Yasue and wasn't going to come, but I was moved by the voices of those around me to attend. To be able to directly feel everyone's wild excitement during the trailer, and how I had some valuable experiences and nostalgic reunions... it makes me feel glad I came. Regarding Kingdom Hearts IV news, we will continue to release details gradually, so please wait for further updates. Also, there will be something for the 25th anniversary next year*, so please look forward to those announcements as well.

*Note: He is referring to the Kingdom Hearts art exhibit in Roppongi, as the Famitsu interviewer includes that at the end as a footnote.