Oh my baby girl is going out to destroy people!
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Kairi’s keyblade was established a thing though since she touched Aquas and unknowingly invoking a rite of passage for her to wield one.
This series keeps acting like a character getting a keyblade is a promotion for that character, that they've ascended in a sense. But in practice it's removing their unique qualities and making them yet another wielder.
-Kairi could've had a fighting style based on her PoH power, something akin to how Roxas fights when he's keyless in KH2FM.
-Riku's arc should've been him moving on from desiring a keyblade. Besides Soul Water was a cooler looking weapon anyway. RIP best sword.
-Axel/Lea had a unique weapon and fighting style. Now he doesn't. Plus his capture of Xion is Canon proof he didn't need a keyblade to defeat a wielder.
This series keeps acting like a character getting a keyblade is a promotion for that character, that they've ascended in a sense. But in practice it's removing their unique qualities and making them yet another wielder.
-Kairi could've had a fighting style based on her PoH power, something akin to how Roxas fights when he's keyless in KH2FM.
-Riku's arc should've been him moving on from desiring a keyblade. Besides Soul Water was a cooler looking weapon anyway. RIP best sword.
-Axel/Lea had a unique weapon and fighting style. Now he doesn't. Plus his capture of Xion is Canon proof he didn't need a keyblade to defeat a wielder.
I was grinning ear to ear upon noticing where Kairi got her fighting stance from. That's sweet; also noticed that her other render has Kairi using a certain (formerly) blue-head's magic casting stance. Really do hope Kairi's finally playable this time around; I don't even mind if Riku is playable again as long as the whole Destiny Island Trio is together. Come to think of it, she's the only prospective Guardian of Light who's never been playable in any form up until now (Axel and Mickey technically having been playable in Days).
There's nothing saying Kairi can't mix her Princess of Heart powers with her Keyblade, but receiving Destiny's Embrace symbolized the crystallization of her resolve to not just wait around for Sora and Riku to come back and take matters in her own hands...
...Mind you, it took 14 real-world years for her to really step into the ring, but the point still stands.
Reflecting on the examples of Riku and Axel/Lea, getting a Keyblade of their own seems to signify that a heroic character has completed a significant part of their hero's journey is ready to fight for the Light's future; those two transitioning from anti-hero/anti-villain to more straight-forward heroes. I do agree that Lea ditching his chakrams is disappointing, but the hard truth of the matter is that there are things he wants to accomplish that only a Keyblade can help him do... but maybe he'll have a Keyblade transformation that incorporates his old trademark weapons.
What the Keyblade symbolizes in-lore and what it represents irl can be two different things.
Obviously in the game Kairi and Lea didn't receive the Keyblade neither because Yen Sid took them to a corner and told them they would've been useless fodder without it, nor was Nomura EXPLICITLY thinking "and now let's drown their characters in averageness!" when he did so, but that doesn't necessary mean it wasn't part of the equation.
Of course you can find moving reasons behind this or that decision, you almost always can, but the truth is that as a matter of fact Kairi wasn't seeing even a glimmer of fighting and relevance before getting in the Keyblade Club, that I'll be very surprised if we'll see her using PoH powers again, and that I can think of many ways for Lea to still save Isa without a Keyblade, especially since all of his new friends now have one.
Like Aqua said, one Keyblade is enough for any friendship. 's not like Lea unlocked some secret powers unberknownst to anyone else.
In fact, exactly because one of the secondary lessons in BbS (and kinda in X/Ux as well) was that MAYBE there were too many people with doombringing keys roaming around and that's how shiz hit the fan and that in the bigger picture the entirety of KH1 and KH II is basically "here's what can happen if one wielder goes rogue" only strenghten my resolve that so many free keys could've been avoided and that it kinda goes against what the series is trying to teach.
"With the power of friendship and good heart even an ordinary boy can overcome anything! Oh, but anyone who's going to matter needs a Keyblade, otherwise is a no-no."
Certainly each of these characters getting a Keyblade is supposed to make you feel like it's a part of their arc and growth, and a big deal.
But to some of us it just seems cheap, makes the whole thing lose its magic, deprives characters of other possible uses killing off variety, and gives the impression that you now NEED one for the plot to even consider you.
It also makes the narrative universe feels less alive, should the 13 Norts also get Keyblades this final battle would become less of a big historical milestone and more of an internal affair between Keyblade wielders.
I am excited of having Kairi doing stuff and be relevant, but I wished she could've done it in a different way. Same with Lea.
I agree that the way in which certain characters have accessed their Keyblades (Kairi and Lea in particular), in terms of its presentation, have been poorly handled. To this day it's hard for fans to get a real grasp on how/when Kairi's Keyblade came to her, and while I don't dislike the (probable) explanation for how it works offered by Spockanort, the way in which the narrative evades the issue and then drops her from the story so that it doesn't get explored and possibly never will is just shabby-- not because everything has to be explained, but because Kairi's Keyblade needs to mean something to her, and to exist as a dramatic extension of her call to agency, just as Sora's and Riku's are for them. Lea's is even worse to me, because it practically satirizes the Keyblade's "legendary" qualities and symbolism in playing it off like a punchline. This is the same iconic weapon which has been so heavily dramatized for game after game and then DDD comes along and it just comes down to a flick of the wrist. Yeah, way to really get the audience invested in Lea's journey to the side of the heroes by taking the shortcut right through to Guardian of Light with no questions asked.This series keeps acting like a character getting a keyblade is a promotion for that character, that they've ascended in a sense. But in practice it's removing their unique qualities and making them yet another wielder.
-Kairi could've had a fighting style based on her PoH power, something akin to how Roxas fights when he's keyless in KH2FM.
-Riku's arc should've been him moving on from desiring a keyblade. Besides Soul Water was a cooler looking weapon anyway. RIP best sword.
-Axel/Lea had a unique weapon and fighting style. Now he doesn't. Plus his capture of Xion is Canon proof he didn't need a keyblade to defeat a wielder.
Riku's losing his Keyblade already.I dont see any real reason for Lea to lose his keyblade. If the other wielders get to keep theirs I doubt he would be the exception.
And he got a new one. Besides Way to Dawn was broken by Dark Aqua. I'm sure if that encounter never happened his keyblade wouldnt just suddenly leave him at the end of KH3.Riku's losing his Keyblade already.
You mean like it left him for Sora at the end of KH1?And he got a new one. Besides Way to Dawn was broken by Dark Aqua. I'm sure if that encounter never happened his keyblade wouldnt just suddenly leave him at the end of KH3.
That was only because Riku's heart was weak at the time. And it's not like that keyblade disappeared, it just chose a new wielder.You mean like it left him for Sora at the end of KH1?
It looks better in the new engine and with the floral details being in 3D than it has in the other games, but yeah, I too was hoping she'd get a new design.