News ► Kingdom Hearts X[chi] 3rd Anniversary Key Art Released!

[gosoxtim]

can somebody sceneshot the d23 trailer of when kairi and riku in the side angle i want o compare it to these artwork

 

[Beamer]

Here ya go.

Riku is definitely wearing a new outfit, based on that T-shirt he's wearing & the fact that his DDD outfit doesn't have a hood. Kairi's a little harder to make out because of the fanciness, but I'd bet on a different outfit for her as well. The hoods being up likely won't be a thing in the actual game though.

(PS. Considering I'm still kinda new to the forums, does anyone know how to resize images?)

 

[gosoxtim]

yeah kairi outfit is definally new and i knew riku was kairi wanst sure yet thank you

 

[BlackOsprey]

Hoodie trio = yes

Spockanort approves. Hoodie Trio it is!

 

[VoidGear.]

Spockanort approves. Hoodie Trio it is!

I wonder if that is the compensation we get for them taking the capes from us in BBS.
(ANDDONTGIVEMETHATEDNAMEMEIWANTTHEMCAPES)

 

[Squood!]

After staring at the Kairi part of the pic for over five minutes I can come to the conclusion that her new outfit just barely resembles her KH2 outfit, especially since we can only see the top portion. Plus it seems like she got a haircut! :3 Also, I've seen a few people on another site saying that Riku and Kairi's new outfits are just their KH2 outfits with a different color and that they're "actual new outfits" aren't gonna be seen til KH3. Yeah...I'm pretty sure Riku's KH2 outfit didn't have a hood and a white shirt.....and sleeves kinda.....and buttons....and overall handsomeness.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

But if Riku's hair grows so much between 0.2 and III, does that mean that there's at least some time between the two games? More than people were thinking, anyway?

Either that, or we're just supposed to forget logic with this. LOL.

I wonder at what point during 0.2 or III Kairi (and maybe Sora also does this, despite what Nomura said before?) cuts her hair.

 

[gosoxtim]

After staring at the Kairi part of the pic for over five minutes I can come to the conclusion that her new outfit just barely resembles her KH2 outfit, especially since we can only see the top portion. Plus it seems like she got a haircut! :3 Also, I've seen a few people on another site saying that Riku and Kairi's new outfits are just their KH2 outfits with a different color and that they're "actual new outfits" aren't gonna be seen til KH3. Yeah...I'm pretty sure Riku's KH2 outfit didn't have a hood and a white shirt.....and buttons....and overall handsomeness.

yeah i dont think nomura would keep them in their old kh2 outfit if this anniversity supsoose repesent the third game

 

[Chuuya]

I want Riku's hair to grow out, I didn't like how his hair got shorter in DDD.

 

[VoidGear.]

Either that, or we're just supposed to forget logic with this. LOL.

Ugh I dunno but if ya ask me Sora's feet became smaller in KH2 than they had been in KH1 so yeah forget about logic in this fandom rly.

 

[Antifa Lockhart]

I want Riku's hair to grow out, I didn't like how his hair got shorter in DDD.

It didn't get shorter, he cut it. It's symbolic to represent his new start. III takes place immediately after, it might be styled differently but it's not gonna be like it was in II

like it's peeking out under that hood but I don't think it was supposed to be like lengthy

 

[BlackOsprey]

But if Riku's hair grows so much between 0.2 and III, does that mean that there's at least some time between the two games? More than people were thinking, anyway?

Either that, or we're just supposed to forget logic with this. LOL.

I wonder at what point during 0.2 or III Kairi (and maybe Sora also does this, despite what Nomura said before?) cuts her hair.

Eh, I don't think Riku's hair has grown very much at all. Look at the way his pose has his head angled down... I can tell you that if you do that if your hair is more than a few inches in length, it WILL obey the laws of gravity and get in your face if you look downwards.

... This is totally off-topic but I'm still kinda wondering how KH2 Riku managed to keep that scraggly mane of his behind his shoulders at all times. My hair's about that long and I have to tie it back all the time to keep it out of my face. *continues to grumble about anime hair physics*

I'm not sure where everyone's getting that Kairi got a haircut, though. Most of her head is covered by that hood, and the little I can see looks about the same length as KH2...?

 

[Antifa Lockhart]

I'm not sure where everyone's getting that Kairi got a haircut, though. Most of her head is covered by that hood, and the little I can see looks about the same length as KH2...?

Her bangs and sides are symmetrical now as opposed to being the grown out length they were in II

 

[gosoxtim]

I'm not sure where everyone's getting that Kairi got a haircut, though. Most of her head is covered by that hood, and the little I can see looks about the same length as KH2...?

i don't know it doesn't look it long like in this picture

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Third is Sora, Riku, Kairi, Skuld, Ephemer, and Chirithy.

You're missing one character there, are you omitting Ventus from the art piece on purpose now or what? >__<

I'm still really not over the matching buttons on Sora and Riku's outfits. Also Sora needs his hood on so they are all matching.

Nah, his hair actually looks shorter at the top like somebody took scissors to it and then ruffled it up to even it out. Guess we won't really know until we see him in X or in KH3.

That's because they're actually brofits. Outfits made for the biggest bros in the series. ;P

It might be because of Nomura's drawing style but on the other hand I remember that Cloud's "spikes" got also tamed from their more "animey" design once more advanced depictions like Advent Children came out.
As for the ruffling up, there are several characters confirmed who seem to really like ruffling Ven's hair up.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is being released around Kingdom Hearts X third year anniversary, plus, there’s also the fact that 2.8 contains Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover: a part of Kingdom Hearts X. That alone would be a validation for Aqua to be there. And yes, Ventus is still out of place with the rest of the characters. Sure, he’s connected to Sora but so is Roxas, Xion and Vanitas. Why is he randomly selected, when quite clearly, Roxas would be more ideal as he’s more popular and is Sora’s nobody?

So Ventus doesn't have a "validation" to be there or needs one? I'm not really sure I understand your reasoning at all, with the other artworks I don't remember anyone questioning the "validation" of the presence of Roxas and Naminé.
Uh nope? It was explicitly stated that Ventus' connection to Sora is apart and deeper than the others? Also Vanitas is NOT connected to Sora, he's only connected to Ventus. It is Ventus' connection with Sora that influences his appearance and thus Ventus is always between Sora and Vanitas as an intermediary.

Maybe because Nomura simply just wanted to include a different character for a change? Maybe because Ventus will actually play a more prominent role in KH III and this is foreshadowing?
And playing the "popularity" card is really not expedient because in that case Axel/Lea would have been needed to be featured in every single of those art pieces.
Roxas would be just as "out of place" or even more than Ven in this case.

I struggle to see what theme Ventus fits with beyond the association with Ephemera and Skuld. If we was to be positioned on the left side near Riku, or next to Kairi then I would have not associated him with Ephemera and Skuld, but because he’s clearly near them in the right hand side (a side that is all X characters so far for a Kingdom Hearts X anniversary artwork). And as far as Terra goes, I highly doubt… actually, I’d outright say that it’s unlikely that Terra would be featured “out of place” for artwork like Ventus is (at least, not until official Kingdom Hearts III promotional art comes). This isn’t artwork out of the blue, this is artwork celebrating Kingdom Hearts X. It has significance.

The question is though does Ventus NEED to fit a complicated theme at all? The second Artwork is also celebrating Kingdom Hearts X so according to your logic Roxas and Naminé would also have significance to that.
Really, so what would you have done if there actually was Terra on this art piece close to Ephemera instead of Ven? What if it would have been Xion? Would the argumentation remain the same in that case?

I never theorised that Ventus was outright evil, just that he had darkness harbouring in his heart. Ventus is a character prone to memory loss and a shattered heart, Xehanort wanted to train him: that much was certain. I can’t really speculate Master Xehanort and Ventus’ relationship from this picture, I just feel as though that Ventus being part of the X trio may have been an unbeknownst (or known) added bonus of Master Xehanort wanting to train Ventus under his wing.

Uh, everyone except the Princesses has Darkness in his/her heart so that's somehow a given. Yet when Vanitas was created and, according to MX, "took too much" of Ven's heart the chunk missing according to the broken awakening platform was less than a quarter.
"Prone to a shattered heart" is a nice wording, lol, when both known incidents so far were nowhere accidental nor initiated by Ven himself but by Master Xehanort and Vanitas abusing him for something.
We do not even know how long Ven actually did train under Xehanort before the whole "Vanitas-incident". What we do know is that by the time of that event Ven was either 11 or 12 years old and could at least already summon his own Keyblade as he had Wayward Wind out in the Heartless scene.
It is certainly not out of the realm of possibility, sure, but right now I even find the appearance of substantial hints to be rather thin since there is nothing beyond his placement on a single piece of art.

Of course, I’m not saying that what I said is outright facts. It’s theorising. I just feel as though that theoretical possibility is definitely there. Ventus has a mysterious past before Eraqus and his connection to that past through Skuld and Ephemera may be a clue to solving that mystery.

Heh, I know that. Make no mistake here, I just find the actual pieces and/or implications pointing to it very sparse, so I tried to poke the poodle a little to see if you have any more stuff that can possibly increase the theory's plausibility a little.
Well, BBS didn't give any hints towards that Ventus' past before being turned into an ingredient for a weapon of doom is anything special or important and yet still he's the only one of the BBS trio to actually get some hints about his further past.
Then there is the fact that even his first awakening platform does show the Badlands/Keyblade Graveyard as a background, hinting as a possible connection, but I am not yet really convinced on any concrete outline what form that connection might be.

The only connection I see between Ephemer, Skuld, and Ventus is that they could be considered the "Keyblade Graveyard trio".

Huh? Ven I can understand because of the awakening platform, but Ephemera and Skuld so far never set foot in that location and if they follow Ava's instructions (avoid the war) they also shouldn't in the future.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

So, looking at a better quality version of the art, I don't think Riku's hair has grown much at all. I take back everything that I said. Maybe just a little bit it's grown since DDD, but nothing substantial has changed.

KHIII probably takes place literally right after 0.2, then, and 0.2 is probably right after DDD (with very little time in between any of them).

I do still think Kairi's hair is shorter, though. Granted, we don't have a lot to go off of, but IIRC Kairi's hair in II was all one length (besides her bangs, and some strands that sort of became triangular shape and longer at the back of her head. But that just seemed like a few strands only did that?). And it looks like at least some of her locks in this new picture are shorter than their II counterpart.

So either she got a razor cut/layers (and has different lengths in her hair now), or it as a whole is shorter.

Her bangs have certainly been cut from what we saw in the II.8 trailer, that's for sure. Yay, for actually being able to see her face again now!

For the reason that we couldn't see her face in the second-to-last II.8 trailer, I do think her hair in II.8 might be longer than it was in II, though to be fair... that most recent render we saw of her might have just been the Osaka team trying to figure out the model, and might not be what the final product will look like at all.

So, I've given it some thought... and I'm not disappointed by Kairi's new outfit anymore. In fact, I like it a lot, and it might be my favorite design of hers now (and that's saying something, since we've seen so little of it!), but it's really cute and seems to suit her and how she'd mature, I think.

And it definitely has more going for it than the dress in KHII did, so I can dig it In fact, Kairi's really reminding me of Coco from TWEWY Solo Remix right now.

Or better yet, what Lightning would have looked like, if they'd kept Coco's outfit for her in LR, like they'd originally been intending=)

So, Kairi visiting Shibuya KHIII confirmed? LOL. (Note that I'm not serious about this. As cool as it would be, and as much as I want it, I'm not going to start feeding the rumor mill about this, just because Kairi's new outfit slightly reminds me of some of the fashion we see in TWEWY.)

 

[JR199913]

I was starting to think that Riku and Kairi weren't gonna get new duds, so I had little hope for anyone else... but could this mean Lea is gonna get an actual outfit too? How likely is that do you think? Not that we'll see it until the game releases probably.

I'm sure Lea will get a new outfit. It better be bright red, hopefully it has some resemblance to his outfit in BBS.

The first anniversary was Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Chirthy.

Second was Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Namine, and Chirithy.

Third is Sora, Riku, Kairi, Skuld, Ephemer, and Chirithy.

Each anniversary is connected to a numbered game. How I never saw this I don't know.

Holy cow, your right :O I didn't realize that (you forgot Ventus though ;_. But Chirithy is there too. Does that mean he followed Sora since KH1? Meh, he probably is there because of X Chi...

The only connection I see between Ephemer, Skuld, and Ventus is that they could be considered the "Keyblade Graveyard trio".

I like that name. It sounds more badass then the other trio names.

Hoodies rule. Join the Hoodie appreciation club.

I'm dissapointed to see that you didn't start a Fanclub yet in the Fanclub section.

Sorry to be that guy, but I really wish the intros would leave out anything story related that's not under a spoiler cut. I consider myself pretty far in the story, but I haven't met a Skuld character yet, and here we're referring to her in past tense, among other events in the plot. I realize we are talking about X and not Unchained X, but I just wanted to look at some art yo...

Anyways. NICE ART. NICE COSTUMES. <3

But you are in the Chi section, of course you are gonna get spoilers if you only play Uchained X. Also, the picture is pretty big, you could have skipped all the letters.

I wonder if that is the compensation we get for them taking the capes from us in BBS.
(ANDDONTGIVEMETHATEDNAMEMEIWANTTHEMCAPES)

I like capes too. Now that we are talking about it, it would be better if our new Armor in Chi had capes too.

Huh? Ven I can understand because of the awakening platform, but Ephemera and Skuld so far never set foot in that location and if they follow Ava's instructions (avoid the war) they also shouldn't in the future.

True, but they are friends with Player. And Skuld said she wanted to protect her friends. She does this by trying to prevent them from going to the war. But we already saw that Player ends up in the Keyblade Graveyard (where the war took place), so it's not out of the question that Skuld and Ephemera will come to save us. In wich case they still end up in the Keyblade Graveyard.

 

[Alpha Baymax]

So Ventus doesn't have a "validation" to be there or needs one? I'm not really sure I understand your reasoning at all, with the other artworks I don't remember anyone questioning the "validation" of the presence of Roxas and Naminé.

I’m saying that Ventus being on the final Kingdom Hearts X Anniversary Artwork is there for a purpose. And that purpose is my hypothetical theory of him being a Dandelion with Ephemera and Skuld. I didn’t question Roxas or Namine for the second year anniversary, because they were not beside human Kingdom Hearts X characters like Ventus was.

Uh nope? It was explicitly stated that Ventus' connection to Sora is apart and deeper than the others? Also Vanitas is NOT connected to Sora, he's only connected to Ventus. It is Ventus' connection with Sora that influences his appearance and thus Ventus is always between Sora and Vanitas as an intermediary.

An intermediary connection is still a connection regardless. Vanitas was melded after Sora through Ventus connection with Sora when Sora helped heal Ventus fractured heart.

Maybe because Nomura simply just wanted to include a different character for a change? Maybe because Ventus will actually play a more prominent role in KH III and this is foreshadowing?
And playing the "popularity" card is really not expedient because in that case Axel/Lea would have been needed to be featured in every single of those art pieces.

The characters included in the anniversary artwork are often associated with the Destiny Island trio directly. Sure, Ventus fits that bill because his heart is directly resting inside's Sora's, but then you wonder, why is he positioned near the Kingdom Hearts X characters? Had he been at the left hand side, the symbolism would have been interpreted differently. As the final piece of Kingdom Hearts X Anniversary art, it’s evident that this a dual Kingdom Hearts X and Kingdom Hearts III foreshadowing.

Roxas would be just as "out of place" or even more than Ven in this case.

Nope, he really wouldn’t. He’s Sora’s nobody. Ventus is a character that’s connected to Sora because his heart is resting inside of him. Roxas is Sora. Ventus is not Sora. He’s still an individual being. Sure he’s connected to Sora but he’s not Sora. And I’m not saying that Roxas is not a unique character in his own right, he most certainly is, however, a person’s nobody is the remains of those who have lost their heart. And Roxas will always be a nobody until Kingdom Hearts III makes him a somebody. Point being, if Roxas was to hypothetically be on this art, he would not be out of place at all.

The question is though does Ventus NEED to fit a complicated theme at all? The second Artwork is also celebrating Kingdom Hearts X so according to your logic Roxas and Naminé would also have significance to that.

My logic does not work like that because I am singling this anniversary artwork out because of its undeniable Kingdom Hearts III affiliation. In the second anniversary artwork of Kingdom Hearts X, the only X character is Chirithy. Chirithy is essentially the mascot character of Kingdom Hearts X. The Kingdom Hearts Moogle of the series. Chirithy isn’t as plot significant as Ephemera and Skuld in connection to Kingdom Hearts III. Plus, the third anniversary artwork has human Kingdom Hearts X characters for the first time. That immediately signifies a Kingdom Hearts X connection beyond the fact that it’s a simple Kingdom Hearts X anniversary celebration.

Really, so what would you have done if there actually was Terra on this art piece close to Ephemera instead of Ven? What if it would have been Xion? Would the argumentation remain the same in that case?

Fact of the matter is, Terra nor Xion is on this piece of art. Had Terra or Xion been on this piece of artwork, I wouldn’t have considered them as Dandelions. Xion is a clone of Roxas who was created by Vexen. It’d be too much of a retcon for Xion to be connected to the Keyblade War because she was created through Sora’s memories of Kairi. And as far as Terra goes, his past was training with Aqua under Eraqus. I’d personally find it too far-fetched for him to have been a Dandelion because his past didn’t seem to have as much ambiguity as Ventus. Fact of the matter is, Ventus has too much ambiguity with his past. His connection to Xehanort before the split with Vanitas has barely been touched upon. And I firmly believe that this anniversary picture is providing the subtle hint that his past was that of a Dandelion.

Uh, everyone except the Princesses has Darkness in his/her heart so that's somehow a given. Yet when Vanitas was created and, according to MX, "took too much" of Ven's heart the chunk missing according to the broken awakening platform was less than a quarter.
"Prone to a shattered heart" is a nice wording, lol, when both known incidents so far were nowhere accidental nor initiated by Ven himself but by Master Xehanort and Vanitas abusing him for something.
We do not even know how long Ven actually did train under Xehanort before the whole "Vanitas-incident". What we do know is that by the time of that event Ven was either 11 or 12 years old and could at least already summon his own Keyblade as he had Wayward Wind out in the Heartless scene.

I can’t elaborate on how Xehanort and Ventus trained together because I have nothing to back that on with or how long they trained together. All I theories is that, somehow, Ventus is a Dandelion that is eventually found by Master Xehanort and trains under him. Now the details of how that events occurs, again, I can’t say because the core of the theory is that Ventus is a Dandelion.

It is certainly not out of the realm of possibility, sure, but right now I even find the appearance of substantial hints to be rather thin since there is nothing beyond his placement on a single piece of art.

It’s still something. Sure, it doesn’t have the strongest of substance as a theory because it’s artwork as opposed to an interview translation or teaser, but that single placement of art in itself holds significance on its own merit. It’s a simultaneous means of symbolism for both Kingdom Hearts X and Kingdom Hearts III. Ventus being on the side of the Kingdom Hearts X character couldn’t simply be for ideal spacing of all the characters. It must mean something more (and I think it’s Kingdom Hearts X related, because again, the positioning of the X characters on the right side with Ventus is too organised to call it a coincidence).

Heh, I know that. Make no mistake here, I just find the actual pieces and/or implications pointing to it very sparse, so I tried to poke the poodle a little to see if you have any more stuff that can possibly increase the theory's plausibility a little.
Well, BBS didn't give any hints towards that Ventus' past before being turned into an ingredient for a weapon of doom is anything special or important and yet still he's the only one of the BBS trio to actually get some hints about his further past.
Then there is the fact that even his first awakening platform does show the Badlands/Keyblade Graveyard as a background, hinting as a possible connection, but I am not yet really convinced on any concrete outline what form that connection might be.

I’m not taking any disagreements personally. The Kingdom Hearts community would be a boring fandom if everyone agreed with every new theory at face value. I liked to be challenged for my theories to have substance. Now if you still don’t think that Ventus is a potential Dandelion, I’m okay with that. This is all theory work. I just honestly feel as though; the stars are really connection for this theory to actually happen (even more so than the Reincarnation theory). Heck, the reincarnation theory would be debunked if Ventus turns out to be a Dandelion because he’d have lived in the same lifetime as Master Gula lol.

 

[JR199913]

Care to explain how a Dandelion could have survived for millenia without ageing? Or barely ageing? Coz you guys need to realize one thing, this is the Keyblade War spoken of in the Ancient Fairy Tales. Do you know how long it takes for a war to become a Fairy Tale? It's not like it was a century ago or something. Or a thousand years ago. Irl we had a war last century, that hasn't changed into a Fairy Tale yet. A thousand years ago we had wars too, none of them are Fairy Tales yet. It takes a loooooooooooooooooooooong time for a war to become a Fairy Tale. So how would a Dandelion survive for so long without ageing?

As for the positions on the Anniversary Card. I think it represents the importance of the characters in futher installments. Of course SRK at the front, most important characters. Then there is ESC, they will be very important in 2.8 and possibly KH3. And then there is Ventus, Nomura wanted to make all of TAV playable in 2.8, but didn't succeed. So Ventus will mainly be featured in KH3. That's how I look at the art. It's not like he really stands beside them either. Ventus stands more behind Emphemera.

I would love to reply to the fact that you think Ventus is out of place on that Anniversary Card... But I just can't follow your logic ._.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

Xion is a clone of Roxas who was created by Vexen.

Just want to point out that Xion was a clone of Sora, not Roxas. I know you're probably aware of that--and that this was most likely just a simple mistake--but I just want to make this known, because this is a huge misconception that the fandom has (I blame the wiki for that), that has been known to hurt it at times.

It’s still something. Sure, it doesn’t have the strongest of substance as a theory because it’s artwork as opposed to an interview translation or teaser, but that single placement of art in itself holds significance on its own merit. It’s a simultaneous means of symbolism for both Kingdom Hearts X and Kingdom Hearts III. Ventus being on the side of the Kingdom Hearts X character couldn’t simply be for ideal spacing of all the characters. It must mean something more (and I think it’s Kingdom Hearts X related, because again, the positioning of the X characters on the right side with Ventus is too organised to call it a coincidence).

I agree with this. I agree with most of what you said in your last post, actually^_^ I think it's possible there have been subtle hints in all of the Chi artwork.

At least the last two, because the second-to-last key art gave us this theory... http://forums.khinsider.com/kingdom-hearts-iii/207949-identity-chirithys-master.html

And maybe I'm putting so much stock and hope into the above idea because I want it to be true (and I'll admit that I do), but no matter how you spin it... the fact that Chirithy's change purse changed for this one thing (from a symbol associated with Kairi to one associated with Naminé) is really suspicious to me.

So if that one's at all true, I think you're for sure right in thinking that Nomura's hoping that we might gather some intel from this most suspect anniversary tribute of all.

...Maybe that's just me wanting to get hyped over this (and I'll admit that that could be the case). But dangit, I live for theories in this community--and I need something to keep me going during this news drought--so I'll take what little I can get. LOL.

@JR199913 This response has spoilers for Kingdom Hearts X (not Unchained X) in it, so please only read ahead if you're caught up in that version of the game or you don't care about spoilers, but...

I think a lot of us believe the Dandelions were put into stasis, in order to relive everything that happened in X for training--like Ava wanted them to--and the biggest guess about how that was done is that they were put into the Realm of Sleep.

Maybe some (not all) of the Dandelions are in a sleeping Daybreak Town to this day, and haven't aged at all while being there? And when Xehanort learned about it, he simply plucked Ven from there?

Though I'll admit that this theory has a lot of holes in it=)