• Hello everybody! We have tons of new awards for the new year that can be requested through our Awards System thanks to Antifa Lockhart! Some are limited-time awards so go claim them before they are gone forever...

    CLICK HERE FOR AWARDS

Should Kingdom Hearts Take "The Author Is Dead" Approach?



REGISTER TO REMOVE ADS
Status
Not open for further replies.

Relix

A traveler
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Messages
4,902
Awards
1
I don't know. I guess what would be optimal is a balance to be struck. Though, I still think we would get by just fine if we never had anyone translating Nomura's interviews. Most of the things he says it more clarifying than it is outright answering. You can put a lot of the pieces together yourself just by playing the games and paying attention.

some people are way too dense and others like having things handed to them on a silver platter. even though it is possible to understand everything without Nomura's help, people still rely on it in a sense. they like the assurance. they like the convenience. and they love bitchin. sad to say, everyone around them has to hear the bitchin too.
 

HeartSeams

is back?
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Messages
3,758
Awards
1
Uhh.........no lol. There are fewer contradictions, yes. But there are still contradictions, nonetheless.
I can think of one true contradiction, and that's just because of a translation error. What contradictions do you see?
 

Relix

A traveler
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Messages
4,902
Awards
1
I personally didn't understand that post XIII Heartless
 

XIII Heartless

Head Mom In Charge
Joined
Feb 17, 2006
Messages
13,786
Awards
2
Location
Somewhere with headphones on d-_-b
Website
profile.myspace.com
I can think of one true contradiction, and that's just because of a translation error. What contradictions do you see?

For example, in the first KH, the Ansem Reports were actually written by Xehanort, with the exception of the very first one. The rest were Xehanort pretending to be Ansem. If this is the case, how does Xehanort speak in detail about Ansem's meeting with King Mickey?

That's one of the smaller ones. Anyways, all I'm saying is, while I don't bitch about "retcons" like most of the people on these forums do, don't act like Nomura is above making a few mistakes here and there. He doesn't plan every aspect of KH out, he operates partially as he goes along. For example, while he may know now (as he's stated in some of his more recent interviews), he wasn't sure until recently of exactly what direction he wanted to go in with KHIII.
 

Ralz

New member
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Messages
294
Age
32
Location
Somewhere...
This theory would definitely allow us to be more creative. Those willing to imagine, anyway. I have a friend who completely relies on Nomura's interview to get into the deeper aspect of the story. Actually, he must have things told to him, he doesn't want to try and speculate. Like Relix said, he needs the extra assurance. I've also seen plenty of debacles on this site based on Nomura's interviews.

Although, there's some contradictions that presented themselves even without Nomura confirming things. Besides Goofy and his mistranslation of "His Majesty" concerning Pete's banishment and there's also Donald and the Mysterious Tower. And possibly even Ansem being banished to the realm of nothingness or darkness. I'm not sure on that last one, has it been confirmed that is true or not? *is behind on Nomura interviews save the more recent ones*
 

HeartSeams

is back?
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Messages
3,758
Awards
1
For example, in the first KH, the Ansem Reports were actually written by Xehanort, with the exception of the very first one. The rest were Xehanort pretending to be Ansem. If this is the case, how does Xehanort speak in detail about Ansem's meeting with King Mickey?
If you read it, it's actually not very detailed. Everything he could have heard simply by eavesdropping and it actually adds up well when you consider that Mickey brought his Keyblade with him (since Xehanort was only eavesdropping, he didn't know this and only heard the legend as opposed to seeing the actual blade).

don't act like Nomura is above making a few mistakes here and there.
Er, I don't think I was actually ever acting like that, in fact, I listed him possibly making mistakes as one of the reasons why we shouldn't bother with interviews.
 

XIII Heartless

Head Mom In Charge
Joined
Feb 17, 2006
Messages
13,786
Awards
2
Location
Somewhere with headphones on d-_-b
Website
profile.myspace.com
If you read it, it's actually not very detailed. Everything he could have heard simply by eavesdropping and it actually adds up well when you consider that Mickey brought his Keyblade with him (since Xehanort was only eavesdropping, he didn't know this and only heard the legend as opposed to seeing the actual blade).


Er, I don't think I was actually ever acting like that, in fact, I listed him possibly making mistakes as one of the reasons why we shouldn't bother with interviews.

I'm not just talking about interviews, I'm talking about in-game as well. That's the bit you seem to be trying to disregard anyways.
 

siegleeagle

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
958
Location
Winchester, KY
yeah thats what most people are using them for but Nomura's intentions aren't to give people reason to bash others even if thats whats happening. he knows people want explanations for things. he delivers. people abuse it. and it could just be people on the translated side. i mean maybe the japanese audiences are using his words more productively but over here its just flame material.

Thats what I want to know. Do the japanese have the same sense of hate over KH2 and Days that we do or they have whole different views? Also do the japanese think the series is s complicated as us?
 

State

New member
Joined
Jun 28, 2008
Messages
11,805
Awards
3
This made me remisnence back when I made one of my very few theories; Vanitas is the Guardian Heartless and Xemnas' Dragon. It was when I connected Master Xehanort and Vanitas with Xehanort's Heartless with the Guardian and Xehanort's Nobody with the Dragon. This was way back when the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix ending was released, the scene where Vanitas comes out of Master Xehanort.

Also, when Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories was first released, I always thought that Marluxia wasn't dead. Sora defeated him, sure but, why did the close the door? I always thought this until Re: Chain of Memories was released and they added another battle with Marluxia where we see him fade away.

And I agree with you, Heart. The interviews are taking away the charms of theories and mysteries. Let's all rewind back to the SNES era, games like Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. Those game was filled with theories and mysteries.
 
H

happy wombat

Guest
This is my first post here but I have been here for a long time and I too remember those great and sometimes crazy theories. I think this would be a great rule to have in the forums, although i still like to see Mr. N's interviews, mainly because they enlighten me on a few things i may have missed or was previously confused on. anyways good idea i hope it might come to fruition here.
 

Ip Man

IIIIZAAAAAYAAAAA
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
3,126
With KH being an ever expanding series, it's hard for me to consider the "author is dead" approach since the creativity of the KH universe is still ongoing. When the games leave Nomura's hands, I wish I could make my own theories about those secret endings, but I cant because he's just gonna eventually debunk them.

The author is not dead.
 

HeartSeams

is back?
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Messages
3,758
Awards
1
With KH being an ever expanding series, it's hard for me to consider the "author is dead" approach since the creativity of the KH universe is still ongoing. When the games leave Nomura's hands, I wish I could make my own theories about those secret endings, but I cant because he's just gonna eventually debunk them.

The author is not dead.
I think you're kind of missing the point. It's not a bad thing to make theories around the games. I'm not saying that at all, I'm saying we shouldn't be so focused on his word. If a new game comes out and debunks your theory, then, that's okay because that's just adding more to the work. It's different from Nomura commenting on his work afterward to debunk a theory. Just because KH isn't finished doesn't mean we can't take the author is dead approach.
 

Sephiroth0812

Guardian of Light
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
10,531
Awards
37
Location
Germany
From the point I understand it, while we should not ignore Nomura's words, we also should not take all of Nomuras statements as carved in stone either.

If we have statements from Nomura which are provable by the games themselves or specifically stated by him to be fact (i.e. Roxas and Ven are not the same person, Vanitas looks like Sora because of Sora connecting to Ven's heart and repairing the part which once was Vanitas etc.) we can use them.
Nomura himself said repeatedly he likes the fandom to speculate and come to their own conclusions by using imagination...well, is it so hard to believe that Nomura is also theorizing in some aspects on his own series when giving answers in interviews?

I can remember some complaints about Nomura being a liar when a newer game comes out and some points from older interviews are proven either not meaning the thing all people believed or even outright wrong.
After all, Nomura is also just a human and when he and his team decide to change something in the story which was said otherwise in an earlier interview then they can do that...
 

Pratiko

New member
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
862
Awards
1
Location
Earth
I think it depends.
Wether it is good or bad to take this approach for the future installments depends on the games themselves. Sometimes the games aren't enough to explain everything, and the lack of concrete answers is disappointing. Sure, coming up with stuff by yourself and believing in them is cool, but what's the point when you still have to wait for years to find out? If games came out faster it'd be easier to understand, but it isn't that way. And, actually, everytime we get a little bit of new information for Nomura, it can be used as a little piece of a game for, guess what, theorizing.

If we use "the author is dead" approach, we can theorize once a year at most.
If we use Nomura's word as help to have a better understanding of Kingdom Hearts, we can get new conclucions each month.

You go ahead and choose. In a world where KH games come out every 1 and a half years, it isn't worth waiting that long. We'd have discussions like for the very first month. Then damned silence until a new game comes out <.<
 

HeartSeams

is back?
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Messages
3,758
Awards
1
Nomura's interviews are harming more theories than they are creating them, actually.
 

skyfoxx

Silver Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Messages
5,800
Awards
2
Age
29
Location
Robotnik Land - Home of Pingas
I know I am incredibly guilty of falling into the "But Nomura said so" trap but I do actually like "The Author Is Dead" approach. I was a member in the pre-KH2 days and I remember having fun reading a lot of theories/speculations, etc. I think that if we don't rely on what Nomura says, it makes the games less predictable. In the pre-KH2 days, almost NOBODY guessed what was going to happen in KH2 and actually thought the opposite thoughts and the story wasn't as obvious. But after KH2, people managed to immediately find out most of the plot to BBS (granted, I didn't believe most of the Terra is Xehanort speculation anyway, but in the end it turned out to be right). Perhaps if we stopped relying on Nomura's interviews that have him answer questions, then the plot wouldn't be as predictable. A perfect example is in the Re:Coded secret ending. Yen Sid reveals that Xehanort can come back when his Heartless and Nobody were destroyed. However Nomura already confirmed this years ago. Were it not for Nomura saying so, this had the potential to be a major shocking twist.

I doubt many members will follow this... but what the heck, I'll go with this approach.

You go ahead and choose. In a world where KH games come out every 1 and a half years, it isn't worth waiting that long. We'd have discussions like for the very first month. Then damned silence until a new game comes out <.<

I highly doubt that there would be dead silence after the first month. Because everyone's creativity and ideas are going to be different. I mean, in KH2 I never relied on Nomura's theories (I didn't even know who Nomura was back then lol) but there were still millions of theories going around despite having little knowledge on what he has said.
 

SQEXGAL

New member
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Messages
24
Website
sqex.wordpress.com
It's not really the interviews themselves really, it's the way people refer to them right?

I agree that Nomura's words shouldn't be treated as law, but ignoring the interviews entirely would just be silly. He gives interviews to help clear up mysteries and build excitement for fans. They should act as an aid, but there are other factors to consider. For instance, the time in which the interview was given. If he or other developers say one thing in the beginning of development, as it happens, by the time the game is finished their idea may not have made it in.

As far as depending on them for theories, it's unproductive and prevents creative ideas from being discussed to throw his words around just to knock it out of "conceivability". This forum in particular has a rather hostile environment when it comes to discussing ideas, it'd be nice to see people being more constructive.

The author isn't dead, but he isn't god either, we shouldn't worship him.
 

Hamster Lord

Atrocity Exhibition
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
5,665
Awards
4
Age
26
Location
Neo Kobe City
This is a very good blog post, and I agree with it. Quite frankly, I don't even know if I want to play KH3, seeing as the way the series is going. I never read the interviews, so yes, the author is dead.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top