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Should Nomura Have Telephoned Hayden?



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Antifa Lockhart

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Wasn’t a good chunk of that coming from fangirls who thought she was getting in the way of their favorite gay ship?

Kairi, Naminé, and Xion have all gotten their fair share of hate over the years. None of which seems particularly warranted to me personally but whatever. People have opinions! So many...
 

Face My Fears

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Kairi, Naminé, and Xion have all gotten their fair share of hate over the years. None of which seems particularly warranted to me personally but whatever. People have opinions! So many...
I've been around the KH fandom since post-KHCoM. I don't remember people hating on Kairi until after BbS/Days. I think it had something to do with Aqua/Xion getting quality time to shine while Kairi didn't do anything in the games that she was a "main character" in. Then as the games post-KH2 (storywise) were released and Kairi kept doing nothing except looking listlessly out into the ocean, that's when the hate got piled on (not sure why it's her fault though).
 

Oracle Spockanort

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Can this thread not turn into a Kairi discourse thread? Y’all can’t control yourselves and it almost always turns into a shipping discussion even though we are literally discussing voice acting.
 

Idreamaboutcats

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That may have partially been my fault. Sorry. I tried to downplay the VA debate by excusing it for asking for better writing around page 2 of this thread.

I'm actually of the opinion that they're indirectly related though. Better writing might result in better deliverance and weight of lines.

However, I also agree with what Audo said; sharing VAs between two characters usually results in one of the characters falling short of the mark (no, this doesn't mean I support the idea of Kairi and Xion being voiced by two different people; it goes against canon). It would've been easier for the VAs if the connection between the two shared characters were trivial, as there have been cases in other media where two characters shared VAs and pulled off the deliverance of each character well due to not having connections (South Park is a glaring example, but there's a lot more), but as it is, that's not the case; the connections run deep, for Sora and Vanitas, Riku and his replica, Kairi and Xion, Ven and Roxas, etc.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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That may have partially been my fault. Sorry. I tried to downplay the VA debate by excusing it for asking for better writing around page 2 of this thread.

I'm actually of the opinion that they're indirectly related though. Better writing might result in better deliverance and weight of lines. However, I also agree with what Audo said; sharing VAs between two characters usually results in one of the characters falling short of the mark (no, this doesn't mean I support the idea of Kairi and Xion being voiced by two different people; it goes against canon). It would've been easier for the VAs if the connection between the two shared characters were trivial, as there have been cases in other media where two characters shared VAs and pulled off the deliverance of each character well due to not having connections (I'm looking at South Park here, but there's a lot more), but as it is, that's not the case; the connections run deep, for Sora and Vanitas, Riku and his replica, Kairi and Xion, Ven and Roxas, etc.

There is definitely something to the idea that the dialogue and relationships Kairi has with other characters does play a role in character portrayal, but I don’t think her role plays much of a...role in how the actors deliver these lines. It’s the director’s job to provide context or at least guide the delivery into something that can bring life to—and perhaps even transcend—the script regardless of that character’s role in the story.

I think that is partially what a lot of the Alyson vs Hayden arguments are getting to. Despite the script, one voice actor portrayed Kairi better than the other to certain people.
 

The_Echo

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I brought it up because a big part of this toxic gamer culture seems to be this way of thinking "this thing is slightly different, I hate it and want this person to die for it and I'll tell them that." I wasn't saying you were doing this or were going to do that, I just don't want people to see this thread and then decide "you know what, I'm going to harass Alyson / Hayden on Twitter / Instagram."
Just seems like a bit of a leap since nobody in this thread is getting that heated, nor is the Kingdom Hearts fanbase known for abusive behavior. We're just having a discussion and some opinions therein are negative. It happens.
I understand wanting to nip it in the bud, but I don't think there was actually a bud to nip here.
 

Launchpad

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Don't wanna let this thread die without bringing up how good Alyson sounded delivering the narration at the beginning of the Melody of Memory Final Trailer. She sounds a lot nicer in a more mature, adult register. Haley Joel Osment and David Gallagher are continuing to do character voices for Sora and Riku, sure, but they're not really straining to sound like teens, at least not in terms of register. Haley definitely brings Sora up a bit, but there's also not a lot of hesitation to let his voice deepen if its needed for an emotion.
 
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Don't wanna let this thread die without bringing up how good Alyson sounded delivering the narration at the beginning of the Melody of Memory Final Trailer.
I agree and am glad that she's the narrator for the game and not Chirithy, whose squeaky voice would become tiring pretty fast, I think.
 
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