Toominator

March 28th, 2016 marks the 14th anniversary of the release of Kingdom Hearts in Japan. In order to commemorate this anniversary, the Japanese Kingdom Hearts Twitter account posted a short "Thank You" message from series director Tetsuya Nomura. Along with the message comes a brand new screenshot of Daybreak Town from Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. You can view the screenshot and a translation of the tweet thanks to Aru Akise below: What do you think of the new screenshot? What are some of your favorite Kingdom Hearts memories from the past 14 years? Let us know in the comments below!

Update 1: On April, 3rd 2016, a new theme song for a Japanese TV show called Toto Nee-chan was uploaded to YouTube. This theme song, titled "Hanataba o Kimi ni", was performed by Utada Hikaru, thus officially putting Hikaru back on the music scene! You can view the video and hear the song below thanks to YouTube user halkichi sakamoto: Update 2: Utada Hikaru has officially updated her YouTube channel with two songs, Manatsu no Toriame and Hanataba wo kimi ni. None of the songs are related to Kingdom Hearts. You can listen to both songs below: Manatsu no Toriame https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASl2cluuyIU Hanataba wo kimi ni https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VyKWWb46oQ Update 3: On July 8th 2016, Hikaru's website was updated with news of the release date for her new album set for September 28th of this year. This is her first original full album since her last Japanese-language album Heart Station released 8 years ago. The new album, title unannounced, will include previously-released tracks such as "Hanataba o Kimi ni","Manatsu no Toriame", and "Sakura Nagashi." The original article follows. <3 Utada Hikaru, known for performing the opening songs "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary" for the Kingdom Hearts series, has officially announced her return to music. Hikaru has been on a 5-year hiatus that is now officially over. Via Hikaru's website, she is currently working on two projects: The first song she announced is the opening song titled "Hantaba wo Kibi ni" for the NHK drama Toto Nee-chan and the second is going to serve as the ending song for NTV's news program News Zero. This song's title will be released later on. Both of these songs are scheduled to be used by April 4th, so look forward to hearing Hikaru's new songs then. In celebration of the musician's return, she has launched a new website that features an animated Cherry Blossom tree. As fans use a special hashtag on Twitter (#おかえりHIKKI or #WelcomebackHIKKI) or as fans buy her new songs, the animated tree will grow more and more flowers. This is a charity event called the "New-Turn" project. Money raised as part of this project will go toward planting cherry blossom trees in areas affected by the 2011 Tohaku earthquake and tsunami. Of course, this does not confirm Hikaru's involvement in Kingdom Hearts III, but her official return to music is certainly a good sign. Now that Utada Hikaru has officially returned to music, what are your hopes for her involvement in Kingdom Hearts III? Would you like to see her return, or would you rather have someone else? Let us know in the comments below!

In response to a fan on Twitter, voice actor Steve Burton, the voice of Cloud in the Kingdom Hearts series, claims he will be recording for Kingdom Hearts III "in a few weeks". This would obviously mark the return of Cloud in Kingdom Hearts III, and seems to validate recent remarks from Jim Cummings and Bill Farmer, who both also claim they have done some recording for Kingdom Hearts III. You can view the tweet itself below: What do you make of all these English voice actors claiming to be recording for Kingdom Hearts III? Are you taking this all with a grain of salt, or is Kingdom Hearts III closer to releasing than we think? Feel free to discuss in the comments below!

The latest Kingdom Hearts χ[chi] story update introduces a new character named Skuld, who happens to be a female Keyblade wielder with connections to Ephemera. Also in this story update is the continuation of the clash between the foretellers. You can view the lastest story clip thanks to Everglow, with translations provided by Kayla Copeland ([email protected]).

Bill Farmer, the voice actor for Goofy in the Kingdom Hearts series, was recently interviewed on an episode of the "2 Men and The Mouse" podcast. The host asks Bill about his experience with the Kingdom Hearts series, and Bill explains the process and why he thinks Kingdom Hearts is so popular. Bill is then asked about recording for Kingdom Hearts III. He confirms that he has been recording for Kingdom Hearts III off and on for "years, now", thus solidifying his questionable tweet made last year in which he claimed he was finished recording for Kingdom Hearts III and that it would release in 2015. In this podcast, he again clarifies it was Kingdom Hearts III he was referencing in his tweet, and not one of the side games. According to Bill, since he was done recording, he figured the game would be released relatively soon. He is now unsure when the game will release, and is also unsure if he will be recording for Kingdom Hearts III again soon. You can listen to the entire podcast here. The questions regarding Kingdom Hearts begin at 57:54, and the question regarding Kingdom Hearts III begins at 1:03:00.

From February 24th until March 3rd, people currently playing the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ can participate in a survey being conducted by Square Enix. The survey asks questions about your experience playing the game, what you feel could be improved, and what medals you would like to see in the future. Upon completion of the survey, players will receive 600 jewels to be used in-game. Also during this time, all AP costs for missions will be halved. You can fill out the survey here. If you plan on completing the survey, you can find a translation of the questions/responses below thanks to News Team member Katie Armstrong. Feel free to discuss your answers in the comments below!

In 2014, storyboards from a cancelled Kingdom Hearts TV series surfaced online by the director of the project, Seth Kearsley. The storyboard only showed Sora, Riku, and Kairi, along with a few villains and enemies, in Destiny Islands and Agrabah. Recently, Kevin Munroe, currently the director of the Ratchet & Clank movie, revealed his contribution to the cancelled Kingdom Hearts TV show via Twitter. In a conversation with KHInsider, Munroe posted a picture of the title page for an episode called "Man's Red Fire" which apparently took place in the world of The Jungle Book. This is not the first time we've heard of The Jungle Book playing a part in the Kingdom Hearts series, as . Do you think The Jungle Book will finally make an appearance in Kingdom Hearts III? Would you have watched this Kingdom Hearts TV show had it not been cancelled? Let us know in the comments!

Classic FM is holding their annual Hall of Fame poll where people from all over the world can vote for their favorite classical composers and musical pieces. Among these composers and musical pieces is Yoko Shimomura and her work from the Kingdom Hearts series. You can cast your vote here. If you wish to vote for Shimomura, simply type "Yoko Shimomura" in the search bar, and click on "Kingdom Hearts". A dialog box will appear confirming your vote has been cast. You have three votes total, so feel free to vote for other favorites as well! Last year, Kingdom Hearts finished at an impressive 30th place in the top 300 classical works collected that year. Let's help Kingdom Hearts rank even better this year!

After the release of the new trailer featuring Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III, many fans had questions circling around in their heads. The folks over at KHInsider had the incredible opportunity to formally relay fan questions to Tetsuya Nomura himself. His answers to some of the questions can be read below, and you can read the blog post in its entirety here. What intrigues you most about this surprise interview? Let us know in the comments below, and have a wonderful holiday season!

As promised, Square Enix have released a brand new trailer for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue during Jump Festa 2016. In addition to new footage from Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, the trailer also includes brand new footage from Kingdom Hearts III. You can view the trailer below: English <3 Japanese <3 Check out some screens from the trailer below:

Update: According to an update to Utada Hikaru's official website, the news reported by Yahoo! Japan was false. The update claims that, although Hikaru's new album is continuing production, a release date has not been set. You can read the full message below thanks to News Team member Kayla Copeland ([email protected]). The original article follows: Japanese vocal/recording artist Utada Hikaru, known to most Kingdom Hearts fans as the performer of the songs "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary", has been taking time off from her music career since July to raise a newborn baby and to, essentially, prioritize. However, according to Yahoo! News Japan, it seems as though she may be set to return to her music career in Spring of 2016 with the release of a new album. You can read a translation of the article below, thanks to News Team member Katie Armstrong: To be clear, this does not confirm Utada's involvement with Kingdom Hearts III, but it does raise a few eyebrows. Could Utada's return to music this Spring signify that she is ready to work on the next Kingdom Hearts theme? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

After the Kingdom Hearts Premium Theater event, held on November 3rd, 2015, Famitsu Weekly published an article detailing almost every aspect of the special D23 event. Take the time to read about the new details from Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and read special messages from the Japanese voice actors of the series! Thanks to News Team member Rin for the translations! What did you think about what the voice actors had to say? Let us know in the comments!