Okay, so I'm going to be a bit philosophical so forgive me for the next few paragraphs. Also, it is rather hard to express abstract concepts since we all seem to keep trying to impress set belief and concrete words to the concept of Sleep.
So all begins and ends with Sleep, correct?
Humans would call the period of time before birth something like "non-existence". I suppose the closest thing to compare "non-existence" to is "death", although I'm only trying to recognize that there is a point before "life". In Kingdom Hearts, that is probably also considered Sleep, since even humans fail to acknowledge what "non-existence" is before life with any concrete term (or at least in the English language I have not seen one.)
Some religions would say during that time the spirit exists in a state of limbo, or that the spirit has yet to be created. Also, some religions would say that the spirit goes to this limbo to be reincarnated, or that it goes to an afterlife. This seems like what the Realm of Sleep is. I wouldn't call it a limbo or an afterlife. It seems more liminal than what most views on an afterlife are. In the RoS there is existence, even though we can assume that it is a place where things not existing in the RoL (or even the RoD) go. Nomura has also stated that it is the closest thing to an afterlife.
Ansem the Wise stated that "So many are still waiting for their new beginning. Their Birth by Sleep. Even me, and even you." which, from one reading, could mean that while it is possible to "begin" anew, many can't or just have yet to.
Even if with all of that, it does not exactly mean it is an afterlife and all things that "die" in the RoL (and RoD) go to the RoS. It just means that there is no "death" in Kingdom Hearts and there is only this liminal state of existence within the RoS. Things are just as easily created within the RoS as they are destroyed, so there is no way to call it an afterlife.
TL;DR? While Nomura said the RoS is the close to being an afterlife, he did not say it was one.
So all begins and ends with Sleep, correct?
Humans would call the period of time before birth something like "non-existence". I suppose the closest thing to compare "non-existence" to is "death", although I'm only trying to recognize that there is a point before "life". In Kingdom Hearts, that is probably also considered Sleep, since even humans fail to acknowledge what "non-existence" is before life with any concrete term (or at least in the English language I have not seen one.)
Some religions would say during that time the spirit exists in a state of limbo, or that the spirit has yet to be created. Also, some religions would say that the spirit goes to this limbo to be reincarnated, or that it goes to an afterlife. This seems like what the Realm of Sleep is. I wouldn't call it a limbo or an afterlife. It seems more liminal than what most views on an afterlife are. In the RoS there is existence, even though we can assume that it is a place where things not existing in the RoL (or even the RoD) go. Nomura has also stated that it is the closest thing to an afterlife.
Ansem the Wise stated that "So many are still waiting for their new beginning. Their Birth by Sleep. Even me, and even you." which, from one reading, could mean that while it is possible to "begin" anew, many can't or just have yet to.
Even if with all of that, it does not exactly mean it is an afterlife and all things that "die" in the RoL (and RoD) go to the RoS. It just means that there is no "death" in Kingdom Hearts and there is only this liminal state of existence within the RoS. Things are just as easily created within the RoS as they are destroyed, so there is no way to call it an afterlife.
TL;DR? While Nomura said the RoS is the close to being an afterlife, he did not say it was one.
