Let's talk about Kairi in a different perspective?

[Audo]

I mean, to be fair, I wouldn't say they did nothing with her. It's just a lot of it is in that somewhat frustrating "off-screen/vague" kind of thing. She gets the most screentime she has in a long time. She gets multiple scenes that get into her character more. Her scene talking about Naminé is really touching and is the best in-game argument made for why saving these people is necessary morally and not just in a utility way (as Yen Sid explains it). She develops a friendship with a character outside of Sora and Riku. She finally becomes an actual wielder. She holds her own in the battles in the KG. Without her, Xehanort would have won, as she is the one who saves Sora, who guides him to save the others and leads to the reversal of fate. Like these things aren't nothing. They just aren't big flashy on-screen fighting moments. I wish she had been showcased fighting a bit more in the scenes prior to Xemnas, but story-wise we are meant to understand she fought in the 1,000+ Heartless thing, that she fought against Demon Tower/Tides, the swarm of shadows etc etc.

 

[Absent]

I was going to add something but then I remembered I'm just repeating myself in these Kairi threads. Of course Nomura is setting something up, but if the secret ending and the previous games are anything to go by, they're not Kairi-centric.

Here's my take: A KH forum in 10 years discussing the end of the 2nd saga, hoping and theorizing that kairi will still play a role in the next game/saga. Add a few years, the cycle continues.
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, well seems like we're looking at a pattern here."

 

[Phoenix]

I'm going to say this right now: it'll turn out that Kairi was Ava all along. It would make no sense and I have absolutely no evidence for it, but if it happens, I'm going to feel like a genius.

 

[allenleonardo]

2) The fact that many people want something does not mean that it should be done. In terms of writing and consistency, it would be weird to give such a positive surprise to a character that until now has only been used to motivate the protagonist character and disappointed us again with its uselessness. Also, why in the last chapter of this saga would Kairi start becoming more important? Wouldn't make much more sense to start a new saga and develop this character throughout the next one?

Because imo he had more than enough time to develop her now. He could have made DDD about Riku, Sora and Kairi, since Riku and Sora were sent into the sleeping realm to train in the right way and thus they could have used Kairi there too. Kinda like another BBS game. Or he could have given her, her own game between KH2 and KH3 maybe even with showing her training. In the end he decided to still let her be the plot device. The one that next to that deus ex machina save was the weakest of them all.

(I mean we got Xion introduced in just days and that was seemingly more than enough to make her into her own character)

Still for example her JP VA loved how she was in KH3 so maybe this is the prime Kairi and we just had too high expectations on what they would do to her.

Exactly. Why, tho? I think it was because he is seeing some future in this event (Kairi getting killed and Sora dying later to save her) just like in KH1, when he used the event of Sora turning into a Heartless to create a lot of other plotlines involving Roxas and his friends, and his story.

It isn't hard to imagine Naminé having some kind of great importance in the future titles for example, just because she is connected to Kairi. Also, Sora didn't say 'Thank You' to Naminé. Why do you think that is? I think it was because Naminé/Kairi's story are connected . And if Kairi and Sora doesn't get a 100% happy ending, Naminé also wouldn't get her Thank you from Sora.

Well I am honestly not even sure if Sora just died for her or if his time was up anyway (since Nomura stated that he was kinda rewriting reality with his powers thus chaning the fate of all people, which should have been enough to let him fade away.) but I am not a fan if that is the reason on why she is suddenly better. Death can be a motivation but honestly it should not be the one for her, especially since this is about Sora again and honestly she is already way too focused on Sora.

Namine does not even need some great importance in the story for Sora to thank her. It could be just one cutscene where they meet and he thanks her. Nothing more nothing less. And Namine and the other nobodies are their own person now, so I honestly see no reason on why Kairi would be in the picture just because it has Namine in her.

In the end it all depends on the rest of the story that Nomura wants to write. Does it even have enough space to give Sora and Kairi stories together? Would it even be good for Kairi to have just another story with Sora instead of truly becoming her own character independent from Sora?

 

[AdrianXXII]

While i agree that with how KH3 ended Kairi is placed perfectly for her own story arc, she has been before. KH2's ending was also a good place to start out an adventure staring all three of them, but instead we got another few games where she was completely pushed aside. Even one where he inclusion would be logical, she doesn't get to show up until the secret ending.

Even in KH3 we had a great opportunity to highlight and focus on her more, by having her be the tutorial character, but instead Sora was depowered once more.

Persinally, I'd love her short comings in KH3 to be a driving motivating factor moving forward, but I'm not sure we'll ever get a focus on Kairi outside of fan fiction.

 

[Zettaflare]

. Even one where he inclusion would be logical, she doesn't get to show up until the secret ending.

For the life of me I will never understand why Kairi didnt take the MoM exam alongside the boys. It's not like she would be outclassed since they were starting out at zero as well. Such a missed opportunity Nomura.

 

[Elysium]

Here's my take: A KH forum in 10 years discussing the end of the 2nd saga, hoping and theorizing that kairi will still play a role in the next game/saga. Add a few years, the cycle continues.

This is exactly what I expect, too. Although 10 yrs for the end of the next saga is being very optimistic, lol.

 

[AdrianXXII]

For the life of me I will never understand why Kairi didnt take the MoM exam alongside the boys. It's not like she would be outclassed since they were starting out at zero as well. Such a missed opportunity Nomura.

It really is. It also makes no sense that she's not at the tower. I'm guessing she's not there so they could do that reveal in the secret ending.

 

[DarkosOverlord]

For the life of me I will never understand why Kairi didnt take the MoM exam alongside the boys. It's not like she would be outclassed since they were starting out at zero as well. Such a missed opportunity Nomura.

Absolutely, that's the best example about how no one cares about Kairi where it matters.
You had a game where Sora and Riku were going on an adventure starting from the very bottom, and didn't include Kairi despite having plans of her being in the final clash, what else could this mean aside from the fact that the idea didn't even nudge your brain.

The only "issue" I can see with that is dividing DDD into three parts, which wouldn't even be an issue if you just erased the Drop Gauge mechanic and made another BbS.
Or even better, ditched the whole premise of Sora and Riku being separated since I've never liked it. For being a saga about friendship, Kingdom Hearts has way too many solo adventures.

 

[SuperSaiyanSora]

In a perfect world, the next game would deal with Kairi having survivor's guilt over Sora fading away, and that would be the final thing that pushes Kairi to be stronger. But whether that's actually going to happen or not, it's really up in the air. I mean, she was crying in the ending while Sora just fades away with a smile, there should be no way she should be taking that sitting down. Riku would hop in a Gummi Ship immediately to Yen Sid (and that's probably what he's actually gonna do), and we all know just how far TAV and RAX would go for each other. Mickey too. So there shouldn't be any reason why Kairi would be just hanging around on the islands while everyone else is looking for Sora. If Nomura doesn't like Kairi, then that's fine, but people expected more from her for a reason.

I think if Kairi's moments were more shown on-screen though, I think it wouldn't feel as bad, because a lot of her battle moments happened off-screen or for a quick moment. Surely Nomura and the developers know how they feel about it, Kairi is probably the biggest complaint about KH3 itself, not even the difficulty. An interview where he could clarify some things would be great, so we know where he's going with this, but they have to know how fans feel about it.

 

[AdrianXXII]

The only "issue" I can see with that is dividing DDD into three parts, which wouldn't even be an issue if you just erased the Drop Gauge mechanic and made another BbS.
Or even better, ditched the whole premise of Sora and Riku being separated since I've never liked it. For being a saga about friendship, Kingdom Hearts has way too many solo adventures.

Another minor problem I could imagine would be that they might not have known what to do with Kairi had she already finished her training, seeing her training was her task for KH3. Though I'd think with the Power of Waking in her arsenal she could have joined Riku in his search for Aqua, so that'd be kind of a non-issue.

Yeah I do find it odd. I guess the reason we haven't had any games with all 3 of them is because then you wouldn't get to play as all of them? Though most likely it's because their separation and desire to get back together is often what drives the plot.

In a perfect world, the next game would deal with Kairi having survivor's guilt over Sora fading away, and that would be the final thing that pushes Kairi to be stronger. But whether that's actually going to happen or not, it's really up in the air. I mean, she was crying in the ending while Sora just fades away with a smile, there should be no way she should be taking that sitting down. Riku would hop in a Gummi Ship immediately to Yen Sid (and that's probably what he's actually gonna do), and we all know just how far TAV and RAX would go for each other. Mickey too. So there shouldn't be any reason why Kairi would be just hanging around on the islands while everyone else is looking for Sora. If Nomura doesn't like Kairi, then that's fine, but people expected more from her for a reason.

Considering how the friendships have been portrayed in the series and how she talked about no longer sitting at the side lines and just waiting in this game, her getting completely benched and remaining on the island again would seem illogical and out of character, but sadly still very possible given her history.

I think if Kairi's moments were more shown on-screen though, I think it wouldn't feel as bad, because a lot of her battle moments happened off-screen or for a quick moment. Surely Nomura and the developers know how they feel about it, Kairi is probably the biggest complaint about KH3 itself, not even the difficulty. An interview where he could clarify some things would be great, so we know where he's going with this, but they have to know how fans feel about it.

I feel like with the KG being expanded on in the DLC they could very well try and give Kairi more action scenes. Especially. if they've taken note of peoples disappointment. They wouldn't probably change the main story beats, yet still they might expand on it in away to give her and Lea some more spotlight.

 

[allenleonardo]

I think two other problems with her which imo makes her an not so interesting character is first, that she does not really earn her powers and that second she uses them mostly passive.

Sora only got the keyblade because Riku fell to darkness. He had to earn the right to summon it through its journey and is still the only one right now that got it without a ritual. Him losing the blade and then getting it back through is own will and belief was a great moment. Riku is kinda the same, just that he got the blade through the ritual, lost it through is actions and then worked to regain his right to wield a keyblade and redeem himself through that. Them being where they are right now feels earned.

Kairi somehow has the PoH power. She did not work with it, she just got born with that (?). On top of that she just got her keyblade handed to her by Riku who was at that time not even a master. Of course she was still training for the battle with it and probably got the right to wield it but for me it just not felt earned. She just got it because of plot.

And she uses most of her power that she just got handed passive too. She is not actively training to use her PoH power for the battle. She probably does not even know what it can do. In all KH games where she uses it, she just believes and the power makes the stuff happen. Her hug turns Sora back (and she seemingly did not know that it would happen), her letter somehow turned up in the RoD and her belief that Sora was going to be fine somehow let him keep his form. (Bur Rikus belief in him was the first reason he even got into the final world at all - so both saved him there) The problem is that the thing that she finally trained for, battling with a keyblade, is something she utterly fails at. She kills a shadow and maybe some smaller heartless in the unseen battle and is able to defend herself against Xion for a time. Thats it. The position where she finally could have shined and be her own person and not some deus ex machina plot device, was the thing where she was the worst.

Of course a game about her could change that but they would really need a storyline where she at least starts to earn some of her powers. Not get them handed to her and we just have to accept it. She would need to be a human character with character traits and mistakes (and not writing mistakes but truly her having faults) Otherwise I will just continue seeing her as a plot device and I have a hard time seeing how I would enjoy such a game at all. Maybe a small part like the Roxas tutorial but not a whole game.

But thats just all my opinion on her.

I feel like with the KG being expanded on in the DLC they could very well try and give Kairi more action scenes. Especially. if they've taken note of peoples disappointment. They wouldn't probably change the main story beats, yet still they might expand on it in away to give her and Lea some more spotlight.

I am just not sure how they would expand that. They cant just go around and change scenes so imo the only way to do that without changing canon is to give her scenes when she fights against Xion. (And maybe in the heartless battles) I am not sure if they suddenly would make her playable (because if they do that to her people would also just like to have other character playable too and I am not sure when this would fit into the current story) so it would still be imo cutscenes only. And if a short fighting scene with her and xion would really make up for the things that happen before and after that? I mean Aqua and the others are awesome fighters too and people are disappointed that they got a back seat. So I am not really sure if her character is repairable in this game and if Nomura even wants that. Heck even her JP VA was quite fine with her fighting in this game so maybe they see the disappointment but disagree with it, because its their vision on how they wanted to show her.

 

[DarkosOverlord]

I mean, to be fair I could make the argument that 95% of anything related to the Keyblade, especially in KH III, is just "hold the key in front of you and hope really hard something will happen". Visually and even spiritually nothing changes from sealing Randall's door to using the Power of Waking to sealing a Keyhole to opening Lanes for new worlds. You point, you pray, beam of light comes out. It might open a path or kill Xemnas. We don't know.

It's not like Sora or Riku have any more insight on what they're doing beyond being able to interact with keyholes, and even Aqua or Terra who are supposedly wielders with years of scholarly teachings about the subject don't seem to be that much more sure about how Keyblades do things.
Let's not forget whatever goes with Ventus and Vanitas and their capability to forge the X-Blade.

I don't feel like faulting Kairi for being born with PoH powers, or I should also fault Xehanort for being born with outstanding talent.
We all start at different checkpoints in life and we do our best with what we have.
Now, on Sora and Riku proving their worthiness aside from "you were born right so here's a magic key" I agree with, but that's the whole crux: they can flaunt good character arcs because they had the chance to do so. Kairi was always either kidnapped or relegated on an island. Or in a training we couldn't ever see.

I was always amongst the first on saying that a Keyblade for Kairi and Lea was unnecessary and would only cheapen the whole concept of having one since both of them had their own powers and fighting style, and this feeling of mine only grew stronger after KH III and how useless their roles and Keyblades were.
So I get your points and perplexities, but at the same time I don't think Kairi is lacking so far behind other characters that she's unsalvageable. Meaning, it's not like every other character but her is a dedicated and knowledgeable scholar of their own powers and has tested their mettle at every turn.

 

[AdrianXXII]

I think two other problems with her which imo makes her an not so interesting character is first, that she does not really earn her powers and that second she uses them mostly passive.



Sora only got the keyblade because Riku fell to darkness. He had to earn the right to summon it through its journey and is still the only one right now that got it without a ritual. Him losing the blade and then getting it back through is own will and belief was a great moment. Riku is kinda the same, just that he got the blade through the ritual, lost it through is actions and then worked to regain his right to wield a keyblade and redeem himself through that. Them being where they are right now feels earned.



Kairi somehow has the PoH power. She did not work with it, she just got born with that (?). On top of that she just got her keyblade handed to her by Riku who was at that time not even a master. Of course she was still training for the battle with it and probably got the right to wield it but for me it just not felt earned. She just got it because of plot.



And she uses most of her power that she just got handed passive too. She is not actively training to use her PoH power for the battle. She probably does not even know what it can do. In all KH games where she uses it, she just believes and the power makes the stuff happen. Her hug turns Sora back (and she seemingly did not know that it would happen), her letter somehow turned up in the RoD and her belief that Sora was going to be fine somehow let him keep his form. (Bur Rikus belief in him was the first reason he even got into the final world at all - so both saved him there) The problem is that the thing that she finally trained for, battling with a keyblade, is something she utterly fails at. She kills a shadow and maybe some smaller heartless in the unseen battle and is able to defend herself against Xion for a time. Thats it. The position where she finally could have shined and be her own person and not some deus ex machina plot device, was the thing where she was the worst.



Of course a game about her could change that but they would really need a storyline where she at least starts to earn some of her powers. Not get them handed to her and we just have to accept it. She would need to be a human character with character traits and mistakes (and not writing mistakes but truly her having faults) Otherwise I will just continue seeing her as a plot device and I have a hard time seeing how I would enjoy such a game at all. Maybe a small part like the Roxas tutorial but not a whole game.



But thats just all my opinion on her.

Your main problems seem to basically boil down to you finding her less interesting because she has yet to go on a journey and show us how she earned her powers and gained mastery over them.
Her development of her powers haven't been to different from Sora and Riku's just most of it happened off-screen or has yet to happen in her character arc.

I don't see how Kairi optained the keyblade being much different from how Sora and Riku did. Kairi had to undergo (intense?) training to be able to summon the keyblade, just that once again happened off-screen. I assume Aqua, Terra and Mickey had to start out with similar training.

Riku didn't have to work for his dark powers, they were just given to him by Maleficent, so I don't see that being all that different from Kairi getting her PoH powers from birth. The difference here is Riku got a chance to horn his skill and master his powers, Kairi has been benched and hasn't gotten any guidence or chance to learn to properly harness them outside of the more passive acts she's done so far.
Considiering one of her attacks in KH3 looked like a type of Perl attack she might have started learning to harness her light powers.

I am just not sure how they would expand that. They cant just go around and change scenes so imo the only way to do that without changing canon is to give her scenes when she fights against Xion. (And maybe in the heartless battles) I am not sure if they suddenly would make her playable (because if they do that to her people would also just like to have other character playable too and I am not sure when this would fit into the current story) so it would still be imo cutscenes only. And if a short fighting scene with her and xion would really make up for the things that happen before and after that? I mean Aqua and the others are awesome fighters too and people are disappointed that they got a back seat. So I am not really sure if her character is repairable in this game and if Nomura even wants that. Heck even her JP VA was quite fine with her fighting in this game so maybe they see the disappointment but disagree with it, because its their vision on how they wanted to show her.

Yeah, I think most of it would just be added cutscenes showing her take out more heartless and look like a compitent fighter. I'd also like them to add a mob or mini boss-fight with her and Lea, to make up for their turn to partner up with Sora being cut so short.
They could also add scenes of Kairi and Axel sparing in the forest, showing us some of their training. Could be an optional scene you'd get while asking Merlin how Kairi is doing.

They might have been satified with it initially, but after this reception they also might think that the audiance didn't really get what they had intended and want to tweak it. Who knows what we'll get but I don't see it out of the realm of possibilities.

I mean, to be fair I could make the argument that 95% of anything related to the Keyblade, especially in KH III, is just "hold the key in front of you and hope really hard something will happen". Visually and even spiritually nothing changes from sealing Randall's door to using the Power of Waking to sealing a Keyhole to opening Lanes for new worlds. You point, you pray, beam of light comes out. It might open a path or kill Xemnas. We don't know.



It's not like Sora or Riku have any more insight on what they're doing beyond being able to interact with keyholes, and even Aqua or Terra who are supposedly wielders with years of scholarly teachings about the subject don't seem to be that much more sure about how Keyblades do things.

Let's not forget whatever goes with Ventus and Vanitas and their capability to forge the X-Blade.



I don't feel like faulting Kairi for being born with PoH powers, or I should also fault Xehanort for being born with outstanding talent.

We all start at different checkpoints in life and we do our best with what we have.

Now, on Sora and Riku proving their worthiness aside from "you were born right so here's a magic key" I agree with, but that's the whole crux: they can flaunt good character arcs because they had the chance to do so. Kairi was always either kidnapped or relegated on an island. Or in a training we couldn't ever see.



I was always amongst the first on saying that a Keyblade for Kairi and Lea was unnecessary and would only cheapen the whole concept of having one since both of them had their own powers and fighting style, and this feeling of mine only grew stronger after KH III and how useless their roles and Keyblades were.

So I get your points and perplexities, but at the same time I don't think Kairi is lacking so far behind other characters that she's unsalvageable. Meaning, it's not like every other character but her is a dedicated and knowledgeable scholar of their own powers and has tested their mettle at every turn.

Agreed a lot of KH is I want this and believe in it with all my heart so now it'll happen.

While I agree that Axel getting a Keyblade was unnecessary and Kairi could have joined the fight with something else, they now have keyblades and SE needs to find away to make that matter in future games. With Keyblade Transformations there's still ways to spice things up. Like Axel transforming his blade into his chakrams and occasionally throwing some sword strickes into the mix.

 

[SuperSaiyanSora]

Considering how the friendships have been portrayed in the series and how she talked about no longer sitting at the side lines and just waiting in this game, her getting completely benched and remaining on the island again would seem illogical and out of character, but sadly still very possible given her history.

Yeah, that's how I feel. After they pretty much made it abundantly clear that hey, Sora and Kairi have romantic feelings for each other, it makes absolutely no sense for her to be sitting down collecting seashells again while Sora is who knows where.

We've seen just how far Riku will go for Sora, and we've obviously seen how far Sora would go for Riku (literally most of KH2's plot was "let's find Riku!") It's been made perfectly clear just how far Sora would go for Kairi, but you don't see many instances of Kairi going far for Sora in the same way.

I mean it's not like she was useless, because had she not been clinging onto Sora when he got sent to The Final World, and was also there to bring him back, Xehanort would've won. So her role is crucial. But, it's not really conveyed well enough and I think what we need is to see her actually fight more. Actually, I would've loved for her to be playable and take on the 10k Heartless battle, that would be a great way to show her might.

I feel like with the KG being expanded on in the DLC they could very well try and give Kairi more action scenes. Especially. if they've taken note of peoples disappointment. They wouldn't probably change the main story beats, yet still they might expand on it in away to give her and Lea some more spotlight.

Which would be for the best, I don't think they need to drastically change anything. All they really need to do is toss in a few more cutscenes of her training with Lea and make that playable, maybe give the player the option to play as Kairi during some of the Keyblade Graveyard, and maybe even as a Final Mix addition they could touch on where exactly Kairi ended up and have her go through that experience, kinda like Aqua's journey in 0.2. Xion tells Sora that Kairi will be okay right before he goes to take on Xehanort, that should be touched on more.

Actually, since apparently the tutorial (I think that's what Nomura says? Unless he means just the opening video or BOTH tutorial AND the opening video) happens AFTER KH3, that very well could be part of it. Sora gets to the Final World and has to fight a Darkside, like we always do. But this time, the Darkside is made up of water or something transparent, and when you look in the glossary about the Darkside, it says something to the effect of it being an "unexplained mystery". I may be wrong, but that definitely is something they'd need to address in-game at some point.

 

[allenleonardo]

I don't feel like faulting Kairi for being born with PoH powers, or I should also fault Xehanort for being born with outstanding talent.
We all start at different checkpoints in life and we do our best with what we have.
Now, on Sora and Riku proving their worthiness aside from "you were born right so here's a magic key" I agree with, but that's the whole crux: they can flaunt good character arcs because they had the chance to do so. Kairi was always either kidnapped or relegated on an island. Or in a training we couldn't ever see.

I was always amongst the first on saying that a Keyblade for Kairi and Lea was unnecessary and would only cheapen the whole concept of having one since both of them had their own powers and fighting style, and this feeling of mine only grew stronger after KH III and how useless their roles and Keyblades were.
So I get your points and perplexities, but at the same time I don't think Kairi is lacking so far behind other characters that she's unsalvageable. Meaning, it's not like every other character but her is a dedicated and knowledgeable scholar of their own powers and has tested their mettle at every turn.

Oh I am not really faulting her for her PoH powers on itself but I am just sad that she got two powers without doing much to earn them. If she only had her PoH powers and trained specifically to use them and then using it actively to save Sora I would be fine. That would have been her part in the story. Yet as you pointed out, both her and Lea suddenly needed keyblades too. And seemingly she can wield one because she touched something with Aqua..at least Riku got a direct ritual to get the skill to use it and Sora worked through KH1 to have the right too. She just happens to touch something. (So I am like you in that regards that I just dont like that so "many" people have Keyblades right now)

In theory she is not far behind others thats true but unlike a lot of characters she has been around since first game and yet her role is still passive deus ex machina device and damsel in distress but now with a keyblade too. Roxas, Xion, the TAV trio, all of them had like around one game to shine yet somehow feel like they have done more and have more character than her, who was around since KH1. The others had at least reasons to not be part of the stories until now but not she. They could have easily given her the journey just like Sora and Riku yet she remained behind or with a small passive (but often still important) role. Of course that can be changed but for me at least, it just feels like its a bit too late. But that is just my personal opinion of course. I am not going to hate them or something if they decided to give her a game, I would have just used it to give the other better written characters something to do and let her just be on the island.

Your main problems seem to basically boil down to you finding her less interesting because she has yet to go on a journey and show us how she earned her powers and gained mastery over them.
Her development of her powers haven't been to different from Sora and Riku's just most of it happened off-screen or has yet to happen in her character arc.

Riku didn't have to work for his dark powers, they were just given to him by Maleficent, so I don't see that being all that different from Kairi getting her PoH powers from birth. The difference here is Riku got a chance to horn his skill and master his powers, Kairi has been benched and hasn't gotten any guidence or chance to learn to properly harness them outside of the more passive acts she's done so far.

My main problem with her is, that she has been in the story from the beginning, is one of the most important person in Soras life, one of the princesses of light and now a keyblade wielder too. Yet one power was something she had from the beginning and never tried to learn to control it and uses it completely passively and the other was just given her by Riku and as you said the training was done off screen and seemingly did not do much because she was still the worst of them all. At least let her defend herself even if she fails. So unlike Riku and Sora who we saw fail, learn, get better, fail again and so on, we never got that with her. And now she should be already at a level where Yen Sid and Merlin at least considered her to be good enough to go against Xehanort and his organisation..so her starting at lvl 1 for no reason would seem bad and I would wonder why Yen Sid even allowed for them to stop their training and her being really strong would make me wonder why she never used that at the graveyard. At least with Lea and the other we knew of their strenght and they already had fights in other games.

I just feel like they wasted her so long already that they should just leave her be.

Riku got his dark powers which overpowered him, nearly got his friends killed, destroyed the island with his decision and nearly brought the end of the universe with it. CoM was a great way toward his redemption and finding his own way to use light and dark. And in the end after countless of games and character development he is now a master and wields his own keyblade that he has worked for to get it again after losing the right on the island. So the start of his powers were from someone else (and I dont fault Kairi for having the PoH from the start, I fault her character for never really being able to use them actively) but he failed and had to work hard to redeem himself.

 

[Raz]

I don't see her getting development until she's playable. She will be forced to have a character arc at that point.

 

[Elysium]

My main problem with her is, that she has been in the story from the beginning, is one of the most important person in Soras life, one of the princesses of light and now a keyblade wielder too. Yet one power was something she had from the beginning and never tried to learn to control it and uses it completely passively and the other was just given her by Riku and as you said the training was done off screen and seemingly did not do much because she was still the worst of them all. At least let her defend herself even if she fails. So unlike Riku and Sora who we saw fail, learn, get better, fail again and so on, we never got that with her. And now she should be already at a level where Yen Sid and Merlin at least considered her to be good enough to go against Xehanort and his organisation..so her starting at lvl 1 for no reason would seem bad and I would wonder why Yen Sid even allowed for them to stop their training and her being really strong would make me wonder why she never used that at the graveyard. At least with Lea and the other we knew of their strenght and they already had fights in other games.

I just feel like they wasted her so long already that they should just leave her be.

This is true. I think the inherent problem with Kairi is that her introduction in this series was as a MacGuffin that Riku, Sora, and Maleficent were chasing after. She wasn’t given much of any personality the way Riku and Sora were because she was literally an object for 90% of the game. Maybe this is why Nomura’s writing seems bored where it concerns her, because he has a hard time thinking of her as a character when he probably created the character in KH1 thinking of her only as an object and spent most of his time character-building with Riku and Sora.

I doubt Kairi will become playable and I definitely don't believe she's going to get a game where she's the main. Lea hasn't been playable and he's much more popular than she is, for example. Playing as Aqua, Riku, or Roxas again would probably happen before Kairi, too. There are few openings for another character to be in the driver's seat instead of Sora, and Nomura's general lack of interest in her makes me believe she wouldn't get picked over the others (or a new character, for that matter).

I don't think Nomura would even know how to write a game with her as the main considering, as allenleonardo described above, even when he has tried to involve her in the plot, it's as passively as possible and never involves her doing anything outright. For example, her link that kept Sora from dying wasn't anything conscious or her diving in after Sora to keep him from dying like, say, Riku dives to save Sora at the end of 3D. Instead she's off somewhere believing he won't die and that's somehow responsible for it? Namine was more active than Kairi was despite the fact she wasn't even physically present, because she deliberately tried to reach out to Terra.

 

[allenleonardo]

Yeah she is mostly a plotdevice and not her own character (and what little spunky attitude she had in the first game kinda disappeared too.) Most of the things she has done even in KH3 has been done passively and on top of that Xehanort outright calls her "a motivation".

They could have easily given her more character too. Let Sora and her argue (which friends do from time to time), let her stay at least a bit angry at Axel. Let her be missed by more than just Sora...(and maybe Riku if that Xehanort shout was because of her death and not because of hurting Sora). We had emotional scenes for all the trios beforehand (where I cried all the time) and yet Kairi again felt mostly flat and I was more like: Well at least its not one of the boys.

I just have a hard time believing that after all of that Nomura really intents to use her and if he uses her as a playable character then I wonder if she truly will be a good written one with positive traits behind being nice and thinking about Sora so much..and maybe with some flaws too. (I mean Sora is also a nice guy but his faults are also quite clear with him being a bit naive or "dumb" and yet at the same time a bit cocky.) If we get a game with her I want to feel her suffering. I want to see her blaming herself (and maybe some hints that Riku also blames her a little bit) and work extra hard thanks to that. I want her to be first focused completely about Sora with a realisation later that she is so single minded on him and opens up more to others so that she can grow as someone more than "potential girlfriend for Sora". Because even if Sora can be focused on his best friends he also is always open and ready to help others and make new friends and often gets sidetracked thanks to that.

But i kinda doubt that we would get any deep characterisation out of her.

 

[Zettaflare]

Absolutely, that's the best example about how no one cares about Kairi where it matters.
You had a game where Sora and Riku were going on an adventure starting from the very bottom, and didn't include Kairi despite having plans of her being in the final clash, what else could this mean aside from the fact that the idea didn't even nudge your brain.

The only "issue" I can see with that is dividing DDD into three parts, which wouldn't even be an issue if you just erased the Drop Gauge mechanic and made another BbS.
Or even better, ditched the whole premise of Sora and Riku being separated since I've never liked it. For being a saga about friendship, Kingdom Hearts has way too many solo adventures.

Agreed. DDD volume 2 will have the same issue since from the look of it since Sora and Riku will start out from the bottom again. Yet Kairi is still denied the chance to journey with the boys. Who knows maybe she actually is in a different ward of Tokyo and Nomura just decided not to show it, lol