Spoilers ► LEAKS discussion - ENTER AT OWN RISK

[Cumguardian69]

Live action remake Maleficent vs Sora (or Yozora), Riku, and NS hype? Lol

 

[redcrown]

I have no problem with Kairi getting benched, and I'm not that shocked over it either, since she's essentially the Princess Peach of the series, and I've never really cared for her personally. I just feel bad for people that keep hoping Kairi will ever be plot relevant or have a playable arc since the marketing keeps hinting at it; they really should just own that it's never going to be. I said a long time ago Kairi shouldn't have been a keyblade wielder (neither should have Axel but that's a different story) since it wouldn't have really fit her character that much and set unnatural expectations for her. Since they have now the writing team/Nomura don't really know how to deal with her, and fan hopes just keep getting flushed away with every game.

Although now I can't recall if they ever claimed she would be playable in MoM, or if it was spread like gospel by hyped fans.

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Sora, Riku, and Mickey? Boring, uninteresting, overused, overdone. Riku has gotten so much bias and favor it's beyond ridiculous that there's this chance of a third game where he's playable. Good luck selling those games SE.

Nomura has always favored Riku so it's not that surprising; he's one of the most complex and fleshed out characters in the series who's been there since the beginning, all the other attempted redemption arcs so far in this series still don't really hold a candle compared to his. Calling it bias is a bit much since it implies his popularity and creator fondness is unearned.

If he is playable and heavily features in the Shibuya game, then I'm definitely going to buy that game, and probably break my promise of never preordering a KH game ever again.

 

[KeyToDestiny]

I have no problem with Kairi getting benched, and I'm not that shocked over it either, since she's essentially the Princess Peach of the series, and I've never really cared for her personally. I just feel bad for people that keep hoping Kairi will ever be plot relevant or have a playable arc since the marketing keeps hinting at it; they really should just own that it's never not going to be. I said a long time ago Kairi shouldn't have been a keyblade wielder (neither should have Axel but that's a different story) since it wouldn't have really fit her character that much. Since they have now the writing team/Nomura doesn't really know how to deal with her, and fan hopes just keep getting flushed away with every game.

Although now I can't recall if they ever claimed she would be playable in MoM, or if it was spread like gospel by hyped fans.



Nomura has always favored Riku so it's not that surprising; he's one of the most complex and fleshed out characters in the series who's been there since the beginning, all the other attempted redemption arcs so far in this still don't really hold a candle compared to his. Calling it bias is a bit much since it implies his popularity and creator fondness is unearned.

If he is playable and heavily features in the Shibuya game, then I'm definitely going to buy that game, and probably break my promise of never preordering a KH game ever again.

Yep. Kairi fans were basically....
"This new game coming sooner than expected will DEFINITELY be a Kairi game no questions asked."
Then it's revealed to be a rhythm game where Kairi isn't playable that much. So the goalposts get moved again.
"Melody of Memory will definitely be setting up a proper Kairi game no questions asked."
It's like they like setting themselves up over and over again then will get mad at Nomura for not catering to their unrealistic demands. Honestly if Kairi is literally the only thing in this series they care about, then perhaps they should just leave it and pursue something else. I myself am not that invested in the series as I used to be but I can atleast find something to appreciate about it. Seems a number of people's interest in this rhythm game was for one character and I find that pretty sad because the game has most of the series' most iconic soundtrack but nah let's get outraged over Kairi of all people. Especially in a game where it was said many times that story would not be the main focus.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

Yep. Kairi fans were basically....
"This new game coming sooner than expected will DEFINITELY be a Kairi game no questions asked."
Then it's revealed to be a rhythm game where Kairi isn't playable that much. So the goalposts get moved again.
"Melody of Memory will definitely be setting up a proper Kairi game no questions asked."
It's like they like setting themselves up over and over again then will get mad at Nomura for not catering to their unrealistic demands. Honestly if Kairi is literally the only thing in this series they care about, then perhaps they should just leave it and pursue something else. I myself am not that invested in the series as I used to be but I can atleast find something to appreciate about it. Seems a number of people's interest in this rhythm game was for one character and I find that pretty sad because the game has most of the series' most iconic soundtrack but nah let's get outraged over Kairi of all people. Especially in a game where it was said many times that story would not be the main focus.

To be fair, the reason everyone assumed that the next game would be a Kairi game was because Nomura said the Re:Mind artwork hinted at the next game, and the only thing that changed about it compared with the KHIII picture was Kairi.

And then this game Kairi baited. There's no way you can deny it didn't, with making her the focal point of the cover and sitting in a throne like Sora, showing us story stuff that all pertained to Kairi, giving us a Kairi medal in KHUX, and Nomura saying how he decided to make this game Kairi's story or whatever (he at least said he realized it was right for her to be the narrator over Chirithy). And coming off of Re:Mind, where Kairi finally did things, I can get why people thought like this. Yes, there were interviews about the story for this game being short (among other things), but that's hardly easily accessible to people.

I didn't think this game would be big for Kairi, because I learned my lesson after III, but I get why others did.

I'm still interested in this game because of the gameplay, as I greatly enjoyed the demo and I love the music in the series (I also knew that the story would be short, so I'm not surprised there). But it does suck that Nomura continues to treat all the girls in this series terribly, and not even just Kairi. But what do I expect at this point, from a man who clearly doesn't know how to write girls and can't be bothered too much to try?

 

[May-Jor]

If the leaks are true, then I really don't want to see another one of them Kairi-stans tell people that they're misogynistic/"angry about ships" when they point about how lame her character is.

 

[KeybladeLordSora]

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I think the one good thing that comes out of this is that Kairi actually acknowledges that she isn't ready yet and actually chooses to stay behind, and that an actual keyblade wielder is her mentor now.

 

[May-Jor]

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I think the one good thing that comes out of this is that Kairi actually acknowledges that she isn't ready yet and actually chooses to stay behind, and that an actual keyblade wielder is her mentor now.

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I want to see that as a good thing. But then why should Kairi have to stay out of the plot and train when, after first getting his keyblade, Sora could just jump right into action and gain experience along the way.

 

[palizinhas]

The thing that gets to me is that sidelining Kairi now also means sidelining Aqua because she will be training her, so it isn't just about Kairi, it's about the way the only characters that matter now are Riku, Sora and the Verum Rex gang. I was ready for my three favorite characters (Roxas, Xion and Naminé) to be sidelined after KH3, but everyone but these guys? I don't think I'm interested in seeing that.

I am genuinely more interested about the possibility of a Mickey tv show than I am about seeing Riku and Sora interact with Discount Versus XIII.

 

[Zettaflare]

Kairi IS ready. She proved herself. What more can she learn

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from Aqua?

 

[KeybladeLordSora]

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I was just trying to be a bit optimistic.

But compared to Tifa and Aerith, I'm just wondering why Kairi is treated like this while Ms. "Everyone Knows I Die" gets to kick Sephiroth in the balls and say "screw him", threaten to rip a guy's sack off, and smash a chair into a guy's face

 

[Luminary]

I kinda slightly understood it, but my conclusion might be stretching it to borderline mental gymnastics. The opposite of reality is fantasy, right (unless it's about books, in which case the opposite is "mystery")? A fictional world though.

I was surprised to learn just now that unreality is actually a real word relating to imagination and dreams. Lmao. So it sounds like Shibuya is a dream of TWEWY Shibuya, which I think has been theorized before based on previous comments from Nomura. That or it’s a dreamt up version of Verum Rex from Toy Box, which fits more with it being a dream of fictional world within the KH universe if that makes any sense. Just not sure if the Verum Rex world is the same as Shibuya or not yet.

So with that in mind, my guess is we’ll see other worlds that are dreams of other worlds like Wonderland, Enchanted Dominion, etc. that are based on the live action remakes.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

I want to put some positives here. Because as I talked to Palizinhas on Tumblr, I thought of some. Like, it could be cool that Kairi's going to chill with the Wayfinder Trio. Aqua can finally have a girl friend and not have to be jealous of "the friendship between boys", Kairi is, arguably, the Terra of her group, so it could be neat to see them bond. And since Kairi's a heavy-hitter, maybe Terra can also show her a thing or two. And Ven and Kairi are also pure-hearted babies, so that could be interesting. And if Kairi now has memory powers(?), maybe she can help him remember his time during the Age of Fairytales. All of this on paper sounds great, and like it may develop Kairi, even...

Except I just know from experience now, that it'll all amount to nothing. In some future game, we'll get maybe two cutscenes of Kairi talking to them (like we did her and Lea in KHIII) and that'll be it. Riveting.

The only way this at all works, is if people are right about us getting another game with the Wayfinder Trio, but Kairi's also involved. And I don't know what the chances of that happening are.

I'm also terrified of Kairi continuing to suck (because it's Nomura. She probably somehow will), and everyone then blaming Aqua for it

This could go GREAT. We could finally get some nice female interaction... the Bechdel Test being passed... or it could go horribly. Knowing KH's track record these days, it'll be the latter.

 

[the red monster]

Nomura is just being sexist at this point.
our last hope for a good female character other then aqua is ava.

 

[Zettaflare]

I was surprised to learn just now that unreality is actually a real word relating to imagination and dreams. Lmao. So it sounds like Shibuya is a dream of TWEWY Shibuya, which I think has been theorized before based on previous comments from Nomura. That or it’s a dreamt up version of Verum Rex from Toy Box, which fits more with it being a dream of fictional world within the KH universe if that makes any sense. Just not sure if the Verum Rex world is the same as Shibuya or not yet.

So with that in mind, my guess is we’ll see other worlds that are dreams of other worlds like Wonderland, Enchanted Dominion, etc. that are based on the live action remakes.

Well they managed to nail the look of Pirates of the Caribbean in KH3 so I'd be down with live action films in the next game. Maybe that's where we will get Mary Poppins

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

I actually would love some more live-action films. I was actually hoping that we'd have Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in KHIII, and that we'd go there to protect her from Xehanort... I had this thought before the New Seven Hearts were revealed. Haha. So count me in.

 

[Luminary]

Yeah I’ve said before that what while I don’t care for the live actions movies that much, I could get behind their aesthetic and concepts in a video game. I think it could be interesting to see Sora in a position where, like us in real life as these movies came out, is aware of the original versions of these stories but now gets to experience them in a new way. Though I’d also love to play them as Yozora or Riku.

 

[redcrown]

Nomura is just being sexist at this point.
our last hope for a good female character other then aqua is ava.

I mean, to be real here, wasn't that obvious from the get go of the series? Kairi embodied the damsel in distress trope with all of it's usual and outdated cliches since the beginning. Namine and Aqua somewhat having good stories and development were accidental exceptions to the female treatment in this series, not the norm; and even then those had disastrous tumbles in KH3. I couldn't say for the UX female characters since I've never been interested in it.
But to sum up, imo Kingdom Hearts just isn't the series for female characters that are well developed or strongly written. It just isn't, sad to say.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Spoiler Show

I was just trying to be a bit optimistic.

But compared to Tifa and Aerith, I'm just wondering why Kairi is treated like this while Ms. "Everyone Knows I Die" gets to kick Sephiroth in the balls and say "screw him", threaten to rip a guy's sack off, and smash a chair into a guy's face

That was actually a thing? I always thought it was a meme.

I was surprised to learn just now that unreality is actually a real word relating to imagination and dreams. Lmao. So it sounds like Shibuya is a dream of TWEWY Shibuya, which I think has been theorized before based on previous comments from Nomura. That or it’s a dreamt up version of Verum Rex from Toy Box, which fits more with it being a dream of fictional world within the KH universe if that makes any sense. Just not sure if the Verum Rex world is the same as Shibuya or not yet.

So with that in mind, my guess is we’ll see other worlds that are dreams of other worlds like Wonderland, Enchanted Dominion, etc. that are based on the live action remakes.

I don’t know…right now there’s too little we know. What sticks at my craw was the usage of the word “fictional.” Verum Rex is just a video game in the…game, but the way Yozora said how it wasn’t the real world and was aware of it keeps making me think like how the New Union Leaders spoke of GCS and that the people who lived there were aware that they were made of data at least in the sense as we understand it.

 

[kirabook]

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I don't think the "damsel in distress" trope is totally damning, especially if you use that moment of weakness to build their characters later or just to give the character a setback to work their way back up from.

I love seeing my favs suffer, so Sora getting darkness smacked, kidnapped, and nearly possessed in DDD and needing to be rescued was pretty awesome. He's always saving everyone else, a little bit of vice versa is nice.

To me, Kairi in KH1 felt like it was leading up to something. Yeah, she didn't get to do much in that game and was put on the back burner, but I don't know. At that point, it didn't feel like her character had nowhere to go. I never disliked her (still don't) and back in the day I thought for sure with a sequel Kairi would train and someday find her own adventure off the island to find her friends.

Then KH2 came along, I got a mixture of what I wanted. They went with the damsel thing... again... But hey, they also gave her a keyblade. Then they left her out of the final battle which was also silly... but you know what?? Kairi has a keyblade now. She's ready for action to fight with Sora and Riku. Doesn't matter if she's weak, if they go on an adventure together she can catch up!

Then DDD happened where she was just.... missing. "You must take this test and start from level 0 and relearn everything" Okkkkkkkkkk why wouldn't you include Kairi in that writers? Is that not the absolutely most perfect moment to catch her up with the boys? At this point we had BbS so her absence was just WEIRD.

But they tease at the end "Oh ho ho, we haven't forgotten about Kairi. She's totally our trump card and is finally getting in on the action!"

Great... I mean, really late in the game but I'm glad you're doing something?

Then came KH3 and well. "Training". Couldn't even let us look at the training. Or let us play some of the training Roxas KH2 style. We're just to assume it's happening.

Then comes the final battle and you fridge her pretty much immediately. Huh?

To me, it's like a downward spiral. At first you think, "Ok, they overlooked this once or twice. But surely they know now to do better next time." Now over and over again the message is clear. They don't care about Kairi. They never put any thought into ways they can include her despite reasonable suggestions over the years. We've had other female characters (who have had their ups and downs writing wise too) who seem perfectly able to "do stuff".

It's like they always intended her to be the third wheel (you can see it in concept art. Things change through game development, but it truly seems like she would've been a brawler) but lack of interest in keeping her plot thread (gaining strength to protect Sora and Riku like they did for her, classic story) just keeps her on the side lines.

We're not going to see Kairi and Aqua train most likely. Even though Aqua will be training her, I doubt we'll see any meaningful bonds form or good character interactions later.

They might as well have left her dead honestly. I'm tired of the yoyoing. I hope they really don't think people will be happy about this. I don't know how they thought this was a good idea. Did they think pandering to Sora would make people whoop and cheer? What purpose is there to paint Kairi over with Sora I just....

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

That was actually a thing? I always thought it was a meme.

The meme is because of Aerith beating the shit out of a guy with a metal chair.