PseudoFanboy

I think for me it might have been finishing KH2 for the first time. It came at a time when I was just beginning to learn appreciation for story and emotional narrative in media, and looking back the series might have even been one of the first things I engaged with on that level. The transition between actively playing a video game (fighting Xemnas) and watching a story cutscene took its time 'getting to the point' enough that I was settled into the experience to actually experience it when the events of the ending really started to compile in emotional meaning - Sora and Riku burying their rivalry hatchet, Kairi's letter that bookended the beginning of the game (another early instance of learning a narrative tool to evoke meaning and emotion), finding their way back to light and the ocean, I guess - and then hearing Kairi call out to them. That moment. That moment where I realised where they were, and the cut to Destiny Islands as a new arrangement of the opening song started playing - instantly recognizable but completely different in tone - another, arguably the strongest bookend to an experience. As I'm typing this I'm getting emotional - after all these years, the emotional flow of the scene is baked into my mind not just because I love the story and the characters' happy ending, but because of how effectively it worked on me. It's difficult for media to "make" the audience think or feel anything at all, you need to structure it to guide and almost trick them into experiencing it 'right'. The comedy of Donald and Goofy's sprinting in is there but not only isn't funny enough to take you out of the heartwarming emotion - which the music helps immensely to keep with - but along with some other beats like Mickey and Riku's hug they let you acclimatise to the feeling of the reunion long enough that the Wayfinder moment - again, along with timing it to the song's segment transition - really drives and delivers it with compounded magnitude. It's a callback I'd almost forgotten about, a promise fulfilled after so much time and struggle. Roxas and Namine briefly appear to fulfill theirs. Sora and Kairi find that they're finally home and clasp hands as they cut to credits on the note the chorus kicks in. It's a scene that uses everything it has and needs with a timing and pacing that works with the emotional journey of the audience to guide it through the right ups and downs to feel something about it. I'm not saying it's the best (or most effective) scene ever put to screen, but it's important to me. I grew up to be an (amateur) playwright and actor and dissecting stories became what I do, and one of the first experiences I can remember being so affected and carried by the choices made in developing a piece of media is this ending sequence. It's something I genuinely keep thinking about when I consider emotional beats. It's really hard to get right because audiences - people - are too different and unreliably invested in journeys to cater an experience for. No matter what you do, you can't reach everyone with art and you can't make everyone feel the way you need them to feel to. That's why I feel so lucky and grateful that this scene did to me. I feel it every time. I cry about it every time, it's almost embarrassing. Kingdom Hearts isn't for everyone - but it's for me. This scene was for me. I love feeling things so much.

i made my account for this joke and nomura does This un firetrucking believable

me