Re: Kairi's Revelation in the Series & Future
You're not the only one, it won't help Kairi's character if she's romantically involved or Sora and Kairi are a thing. I know people want that and I've seen it, multiple times, but no, unless their interaction is strong, their relationship would just be be forced and make Kairi even more hated, and we're not just talking about how people viewed her character, but the pairings.
And I don't know why, but the idea of Sora thinking of Kairi's body just kills the relationship because Sora isn't like that at all. And Kairi might like Sora but as a friend or as a brother.
At least it won't help when looking at the current overall status of Kairi's character.
Even if it would not be forced and executed well, the rabid shippers who do not ship Sora/Kairi would still spew hate around, be it because it isn't their favorite pairing or maybe because they go again with the totally cliché and done to death variant of main male hero and main female heroine being officially put together.
On the flip side, rabid Sora/Kairi shippers would get even more obnoxious and condescending because their ship became "canon" and look down on the other proposed pairings in one way or another.
No matter what, the shipping wars are something that apparently cannot be prevented in a work with any sizeable fandom.
Even the current situation in which everything is open to interpretation, which for me personally is the best solution, people can't shut up about all the shipping stuff because they want
their pairing validated and apparently cannot bear that things are left open for personal interpretations.
It may just be personal observation, but I noticed that
especially Sora/Kairi-shippers are often prominent in this group.
(sarcasm mode ON)
Nope, Kairi and Sora obviously cannot like each other like friends or siblings because they're of different genders, it MUST be romantic!
Riku and Sora though, obviously MUST be friends or sibling-like because they're the same gender.
(sarcasm mode OFF)
Now I really want to see Vanitas and Kairi interact. Kairi getting her feathers ruffled over him taunting her with her best friend's face would be interesting to see.
I agree with everyone so far who has said she has not been utilized properly but has potential. It would certainly feel forced if she suddenly gained major plot relevance/was in a romantic relationship without prior development. If she could get some sort of character development through interactions with Lea or the villains or whoever it is, her being much more important in these aspects might not feel so unnatural. Of course that's assuming any interactions with her are done right from the get-go, which I wouldn't put any money on. But I'm going to be optimistic and hope they push her character along before she does anything that has a large impact on the story. Her helping with (but not being the main instigator of) the saving that needs to be done could be beneficial to her, though unless it's a part of her training I don't know how she'll train at the same time.
Actually, her training with Lea could kill two birds with one stone. We could see how she reacts to an ex-Nobody and kidnapper and see her maybe better understand the plight of the "hurting," along with the fact that she looks like Xion. If Lea doesn't remember already, that could jumpstart his memory of her.
I really don't see however why Vanitas would have any interest in Kairi whatever except maybe delivering her to Xehanort on given orders, considering how fixated he is on Ventus in general.
People also tend to put way too much emphasis on Vanitas' appearance being similar to Sora. That case isn't like Roxas and Ventus where only the eyebrows differ, Vanitas can easily be distinguished from Sora with one quick glance not only by hair- and eye-color, but also by his much paler skin and more muscular physique.
So Kairi would have no problem to decide: brown hair/blue eyes = hug, black hair/golden eyes = punch to the face.
Kairi certainly has potential, the primary issue with her is definitely that she needs to be
properly included with the main
group of the other major characters
and in the overall storyline in a role that isn't just a trophy or plot device for Sora.
Right now, Kairi is better integrated with Selphie and the Twilight Town trio than her supposed two main best friends, the main Disney characters and the other two trios.
Yea, she has some brief interactions with Naminé and Riku during KH 2, but that is far cry from a true inclusion in the core cast.
Lea would be indeed a good starting point, especially due to their personal experiences and the facts that Kairi did have contact with Roxas and Naminé personally.
As for memories of Xion though, if jumpstarting people's memories of her would be
that easy, I doubt they would have made such a big deal about everyone forgetting her.
^ Never going to happen.
Kairi can still be developed as a character regardless of what happens with Sora. To automatically write her off because she and Sora become an item is a little baseless, especially since the story has already had a few hints at the prospect (which is why people are clamoring for it).
More people would be upset if they left Sora/Kairi hanging than people who are upset with shipping them together.
There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Of course if they force it, it will not be as good, but they could also do it correctly. KH3 will be a long game.
Yea, because the hints at
that prospect obviously cannot be interpreted just as the ones Sora had with Kairi because of incompatible genders, right?
Err, it's not really about writing Kairi off but about that doing it like that would just relegate her to another cliché role in the greater context of the series as a whole.
Much critic towards her as a character besides being underutilized also pertain to the fact that so far she only filled out typical cliché roles for female lead characters in fictional works in general.
Making her and Sora a thing would just lead to reviews like "I knew it, she's just there to be the obligatory love interest of the main male lead".
Lol, yea, people are clamoring for multitudes of different pairings where there can be quite a few hints for inside the story depending on how you interpret it. Some may be more blatant and "in-your-face" than others, but that doesn't make one claim more legit than another.
Just to make it clear though in case there's a misunderstanding: I am not fundamentally against Sora and Kairi as a pairing, I do however not understand why it HAS to be made explicit and official. The arguments brought forth for Sora/Kairi do not really differ in essence to those that can be made for any other pairing among the cast regardless of gender-combination.
I personally certainly would prefer if ALL romance-related things between original characters remain open to interpretation of the audience. I don't see why Sora and Kairi need to be an exception to that.
That statement is really interchangeable for every shipper out under the sun, that more people would be upset if pairing XY isn't addressed as there are people who are upset with pairing XY
being addressed.
I'll take a wild guess that regardless of what KH III ultimatively shows, there will be rage from all parts of the shipping fandom for whatever pairing didn't get enough hints or "fluffy/heartwarming etc." scenes together to fuel more shipping fantasies.
They could, you know, also simply keep things as they are and spare themselves the trouble even if that upsets some rabid shippers.
If the Kairi/Sora relationship is not handled in KH3, people will be upset and expect something in the next saga. The only exception to that is if KH3 comes out and says there is no romantic feelings between the two, just friends (I dont see that happening). People will still be upset, but they will not expect anything in the next saga.
You make it sound like that KH III has some obligation to explicitly state that the feelings between Sora and Kairi are
not something romantic. So far KH has done that with
none of its major original characters. The relationships between
all the main original characters have been left open to interpretation throughout the whole series, so why is it that this has to be changed
just in the case of Sora and Kairi?
Because for some people the hints regarding their relationship have been more "intense" than for other pairings?
Because some people cannot break out from the usual main male + main female = love story line of thought?
Because every series/work has to have a normal romance between main characters somewhere?
Or is it because people want to see any possible
non-heteronormative ships for the main protagonist canonically squashed because it irks them that Sora might not be the usual white, straight male?
What if they decide to go a totally different route and let Sora get together with a totally different female, like i.e. one of the female Foretellers or someone introduced in the new saga (regardless which gender), invalidating all the hints from previous games for ALL Sora ships, those with Kairi being explained away by just Sora having a childhood crush?
Shippers explode in rage and boycot KH because the protagonist didn't get together with the person they wanted?
While we're at it, relating to the example of Sora being asexual given above, what if it would really be that way? What if Sora doesn't need/want to be in a monogamous romantic relationship with anyone or to place one person above the others he loves?
Heck, what if Sora is actually secretly a bisexual or asexual
and polyamorous person who doesn't want to decide between Kairi and Riku but wants them both equally?
Or going back to the character the topic is about, what if these things would all apply to Kairi? What if, for example, the thing Kairi actually
loves so much about Sora is his heart? And, thinking further, during the course of KH III Kairi comes to learn and experience that i.e. Ventus has a heart very similar and she develops
also intense feelings for this one?
Or, riding on the Kairi/Vanitas wave, what if out of all the good original characters, Kairi is the
only one to realize that (maybe) Vanitas is on the inside more than just a violent monster who enjoys inflicting pain on others and over the course of KH III's plot she eventually develops a liking to him?
Contemplating about
these things can also be part of the charm of having
not any official and definitive statements regarding the issue of relationships between characters.
Goddamnit...no, did I really write a whole paragraph just about all this shipping stuff and derailed the thread...argh
