Ephemera

Roxas is indeed Sora's nobody as he is made up of Sora's body, soul, and also retains Sora's memories. One of the famous scenes is in KH2 FM and KH 358/2 Days where Riku says "Come on Sora, i thought you were stronger than that" Roxas instinctively reacts by saying "Get real, look which one us is winning". However, with some help with Tetsuya Nomura. He confirmed that when Roxas dual wields, he isn't wielding Xion's fake keyblade, in reality he is wielding a keyblade that was awakened from inside him. Which is suggested to be Ventus. Another confirmation was that the reason why Roxas fainted was that the heart inside him was getting to close to Ventus's body and soul. So lets just be clear: Roxas is clearly Sora's nobody. however due to Ventus heart inside Roxas, it affected his appearance and also allowed him to dual wield (and in turn Sora in kh2).

I want to say that how keyblades have been treated so far in the series is anyone incredibly important into anyone who is relevant has to have a keyblade. Which now seals the fate of everyone else who has been a supportive role. Sora's keyblade isn't special but Keyblades so far have been this mysterious conscious weapon that chooses its master. And yet, they are limited by how created by man, how they are just an image of the X-blade. the keyblade choosing Sora is suppose to be special, and as much as the story tries to push it that he is just an ordinary person and that he is special, there's a lot more convincing us that's not the case. Another problem i find that the series now relies on multiple keyblade wielders. It starts to be less and less about Sora's story and how he's unique. Axel could've been useful being a supportive role. but the idea of how X-blade made up of 13 darkness and 7 lights (and these can be interchangeable). The story is forcing every intersting character to devolve into having keyblades. Saix will wield a keyblade just like the others. Back then the story didn't rely on enemies having keyblades.

i doubt that the graphics aren't set in stone. however i'm still worried about it. And clarifying that it is Mount Olympus doesn't really help me if they completely re-invented it from the film. I'm concerned about faithfulness.

I've seen a lot of people hate on Kairi, and while many people hate on her, not everyone is in 100% agreement on "why" she's hated on. I do know one thing from being in the background of the KH fanbase, and that is that the hate for Kairi never really stemmed from Kingdom Hearts or Chain of Memories, her hate was loud and clear in Kingdom Hearts 2. And after fully looking into it, i think i found out why the hate is so strong. Lets start off with what we were introduced with Kairi. Whether she was important in the story or not, it was irrelevant. From what we were introduced early in Kingdom Hearts was that she was Sora's friend (and possibly love interest). Now with that said, as Sora's friend/potential love interest, she showed a lot of it. Kingdom Hearts http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdom-hearts/images/8/86/Kairi_HD_1.5_ReMIX.png/revision/latest?cb=20130426200338&path-prefix=de First, i want to talk about her design. Kairi's looks pretty interesting in the first game. She has very bright blue eyes, short bright red hair and has a specific smile you dont see the other characters have. Her choice of clothes are also pretty interesting. She wears white spagetti strap top with purple straps, her shoes match her top which are also white with purple linen and wears a purple skirt. Looking at Kairi you don't get the sense of someone being heroic or incredibly relevant character, but has a lot of personality. One of the first comments we hear from her is "Sora, you lazy bum. I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here." which really tells us a lot. She is comfortable and finds Sora approachable. In the first few scenes she was already showing off her character as Sora's friend. However, the beginning of Kingdom hearts was one of the most ethereal scenes. We also learn that she changed Sora and Riku's perspective by being someone from another world. What makes her interesting how she plays her jokes. At one point she says, "Sora, let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!" which some may suggest this was a shot against Riku, but i personally believe it speaks more on how she views Sora. With that being said, we all know what happens. Destiny's Island is no more, Kairi disappears and becomes a search party for her. So its hard to judge her character from this point on when she doesn't have a heart. But that doesn't mean she stops shining. After regaining her heart, she immediately becomes aware of the situation when she says "Sora, are you really— No. It can't be! I won’t let him go!" She continues to show off more of her connection with Sora by being able to identify Sora even after turning into a Heartless. Once returning to safety, she continues to wanting to help. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Kairi wasn't seen from most of the game, but her importance to Sora was clear when he fought so hard to find Namine only to realize she was replacing Kairi (and in some part, Riku) with him. Kingdom Hearts II Lets now compare Kairi's design with her new design. She is now slightly more tan, her eyes have become darker, and her hair although is still red, is only bright in certain CGI cutscenes such as the opening. I dont know if anyone else noticed, but her facial expressions are dull and she is no longer as expressive as she was in Kingdom Hearts. She now wears a white top (similar to Namine's) and a pink dress full of zippers and straps (something Nomura is often criticized for). Its definitely flashier for Kairi but given her personality traits, the two just dont combine and making her look like an inconsistent character. Also to contrast her lacking design, Sora and Riku's gets better. Riku still retains his bright eyes, spiky hair and has received a more punkish outfit. Kingdom Hearts II is where the hate begins. I hear a lot of times is because she's irrelevant or that she doesn't hold a more important role (i'll explain why those two aren't exactly synonymous). Personally, i believe its how her character was treated. Compared to the fun, interesting, and dare i say "funny" version of Kairi that we experienced in Kingdom Hearts, KH2 shows a completely different side, she is dull, and no longer fun. The voice actor behind her seems to sound tired the majority of the time. She was mostly irrelevant and only starting to remember Sora (despite everyone else forgetting for the sake of plot). She decided not to go on the island until she reunited with this mysterious person.She mummers later on that maybe waiting isn't good enough. So here's where things really get irritating. She conveniently gets an opportunity by the enemy, Axel in which she willingly goes into the corridor. Hardly any development or positive aspects being shown about her character. She seems to do it mostly to get away from Axel, but also Sora didn't come in mind (or she didn't make it clear that was her goal). She inevitably gets captured anyways without much of a fight only to be rescued again by her Nobody, Namine. One of the things i want to point out as well is when she gets to wield a keyblade and fights off a couple of heartless. That scene isn't exactly bad but after a reunion and the fact that she was being a burdon most of the time, the comment she says "This time... I'LL fight. You know Sora's completely hopeless without us! C'mon, Riku!". Kairi then fades back into the background. One of the other aspects i think fuels her hate among fans is how she conveniently was waiting for Sora and Riku in Destiny's Island. Sure, no fan ever mentions that as one of the reasons, but its a piece to the bigger issue. So in turn i dont think Kairi si a bad character because she's not useful, or relevant. To me, Kairi has always been important enough to Sora, and that was enough. But since KH2, Kairi's character seemed more blank, yet it was trying to tell players that she was relevant and that may have pissed players off when she wasn't all that useful (unlike KH1 where she wasn't trying to say she was useful and what little she did still stuck). Now that Kairi has a keyblade, i dont really mind, but it seems like they are trying to masquerade her character with a more relevant role in the plot. Since Riku and Sora got redesigned (with Riku having a design closer to Kh1) i hope that kairi regains a design closer to kh1 including eye color, hair color, and facial expressions back. Well thats my analysis.......this is just what i can understand as to why fans can hate her and how i can see the hate, but reasoning is bigger.

My personal issue is that some of the greatest themes are labeled as character's themes. I really like Kairi's theme, but it hardly gets used because so little scenes regarding Kairi. Not only that, but the song is more of a lullaby, it can fit other scenes not involving Kairi. And i dont mind Sora's theme, but it doesn't really feel like a song that fits Sora exclusively. And then there's RIku's theme, which seemed more of an excuse as its low and not that captivating.

Actually, before the concept was finalized, Square Enix staff wanted Mickey Mouse to be the main protagonist while Disney wanted Donald Duck. Tetsuya Nomura was the third opinion and opted out for neither and wanted a completely original character. But, back then, i can see why Disney wanted Donald to be the main character, he was getting some attention as he had his own game (Donald gone quackers), And was a key character in Mickey's house of mouse along with the others. Not to forget the duck tales. But it seemed that Disney was aiming for an even more light-hearted game than what Square Enix anticipated.

I normally don't have a problem with better graphics, but when i looked at the Hercules world, i got worried. Despite it looking great, the point should be that we feel like we're in the "Hercules" film. Birth by Sleep came really close but didn't expand on the city. Now we get to see more, but that land seems to be far more vast than necessary. I understand also that some additions were added in for the sake of making the game more immersive an fun, but i still think they missed the point. For example: because of all these high-poly, extra shadow, and extra details. Sora, and his keyblade look like plastic. they have the right amount of shadow, but he doesn't naturally blend in 100%. I think the look that was shown in the original teaser looked better. It had that shaded look that can fit into any world.

It was explained in Kingdom Hearts II that Namine was able to be born when Sora became a heartless and it was his darkness that caused her to become. Originally, when Nobodies were introduced, it wasn't explicitly said that they had to look "exactly" like their counterpart. Which made it acceptable in Kingdom Hearts II that Roxas and Namine only somewhat resembled Sora. This was expanded in Days when although some characters were able to distinguish Roxas as a separate person, some felt he resembled someone they knew (and they were not hinting Ventus).Due to Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep however, Nobodies are meant to look "exactly" like their original counterpart. Still, Namine is a complicated character. The only way i can understand her is if she is a emulation of Kairi's body and soul (just like how Sora's body, Roxas, was still around even though Sora apparently had a body of his own). The reason why she can control Sora's memories is because the memories are linked between light and darkness.

I hope so. if you're familiar with other forums such as Legend of Zelda, it gets a little hectic how to handle things.

I"m new. However followed the series since the beginning. I've been a follower of KH back since the first trailer of KH1.