Willa Holland Returns As Aqua in Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD

[Chaser]

After her debut in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Willa Holland stunned Kingdom Hearts fans with her subtle yet powerful performance as Aqua, one of three friends who's destinies changed forever 10 years prior to Sora beginning his journey to save the Worlds.

Since then, it's been tricky to figure out if Willa Holland would commit to returning as Aqua for future instalments. With Hayden Panettiere rising to stardom on Heroes and Nashville and therefore unable to voice Kairi and Xion in a few entries, things were looking doubtful that the Arrow star would return. In 2014, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX was released and Willa returned to voice Aqua once more, this time in the Secret Episode that was making it's way to International shores for the first time since it's release in Japan in 2011.

With the recent trailer for KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, we are excited to find that Willa has returned as Aqua for the special entry KINGDOM HEARTS 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage –!

KINGDOM HEARTS 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage – is a completely new playable episode that links to the story of KINGDOM HEARTS III, taking place after the storyline of KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep played from the perspective of Aqua. It features Mickey Mouse recounting his meeting with Aqua, who has been left in the Realm of Sleep since sending Terra back to the Realm of Light. This takes place before her meeting with DiZ on the shores of the Realm of Darkness.

Making her way to the Castle of Dreams (Cinderella), Aqua must find a way to get back to the ones she loves as she investigates strange events occuring in the destroyed world. 

Also featured in the trailer was English dialogue for KINGDOM HEARTS χ [chi] Back Cover. This is a movie that tells the mysterious story of the Foretellers, connecting the earliest parts of the series’ history, showcased in the upcoming mobile title KINGDOM HEARTS Unchained χ[chi] and is narrated by the Player's guide Chirithy as 5 of the 6 Foretellers try to find the missing page from the Tome of Prophecies while dealing with a traitor in their Organisation.

It is currently unknown who voices each character, but hopefully Square Enix or the voice actors themselves come forward to reveal their roles in this exciting entry into the Kingdom Hearts series.

KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is scheduled to release on the Playstation 4 systems in December this year.

 

[Muke]

KH3 UPCOMING ANNOUNCES THIS WINTER!!

 

[gosoxtim]

back ocer was hype yeah the voices souned different

 

[VoidGear.]

She already sounds a lot better again than back in BBS. I'm telling you she'll be great.

 

[Chaser]

I wasn't sure if Terra was going to turn up so I didn't write him in!

 

[Launchpad]

The day Chaser worked himself to death. RIP in piece you were a hard working just okay guy

 

[VoidGear.]

I wasn't sure if Terra was going to turn up so I didn't write him in!

Figured as much
Thanks for your hard work!! I hope you had the time to watch the trailer as well, now

 

[Chaser]

Figured as much
Thanks for your hard work!! I hope you had the time to watch the trailer as well, now

Just finished watching it mere moments ago

 

[Xagzan]

She already sounds a lot better again than back in BBS. I'm telling you she'll be great.

I thought she sounded much better even in the Secret Chapter of BBS 2.5, so it's nice to hear it was genuine improvement rather than an aberration.

 

[ShardofTruth]

I always liked her voice, just her voice-acting was off at times. I'm glad she returns.

 

[Grizzly]

You're doing some great work all over the forums, Luna. I'm really stoked Willa Holland is returning, as I thought she did a pretty nice job in BBS, and she already sounds much better in the 2.8 trailer.

 

[VoidGear.]

I thought she sounded much better even in the Secret Chapter of BBS 2.5, so it's nice to hear it was genuine improvement rather than an aberration.

Yeah, that's what I meant with "again".
BBS was a dark time, but this is gonna be awesome.

 

[Rydgea]

I've always been 100% behind Willa's work on the series. I'm so glad she's returned.

 

[alexis.anagram]

This is pretty much all I wanted from E3.

She sounds as fantastic as always. I love how distinctive she's made the role: for me, Aqua is really differentiated and in some ways elevated from the rest of the cast by Willa's performance.

It sounds like maybe we'll get to explore some of the consequences of being stuck in the Realm of Darkness, isolated from the light, for so long. That surprise Terra appearance may or may not bode well.

 

[Patricier21]

For fellow fans of Willa as Aqua, here is a video project that I made to help support her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSOZrUmM9Mo

While she may apparently be coming back for 2.8, you never know about Kingdom Hearts III/other potential games. After all, Hayden Panettiere returned for most of the main games but got recasted for others. Same with some of the original Disney character actors who returned for the video games and sequels/ TV series/other spin offs but did not for Kingdom Hearts, such as Tate Donovan who has ALWAYS played Disney's animated Hercules in EVERY single appearance of the character, except for Kingdom Hearts 1. As well, it was originally reported that Christopher Lee would be returning as DiZ for Re:Chain of Memories, but ended up not.

Regardless, no matter what happens, I am eternally grateful for her returning for 2.8

 

[Alpha Baymax]

On a slightly related note, it's her birthday today (18th). Happy Birthday to Willa Holland. May she continue to voice Aqua!

 

[gosoxtim]

On a slightly related note, it's her birthday today (18th). Happy Birthday to Willa Holland. May she continue to voice Aqua!

holy crap i'm orader then her and she voicing and actiing wow

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

holy crap i'm orader then her and she voicing and actiing wow

She's 25. Not that big of a gap.

 

[gosoxtim]

She's 25. Not that big of a gap.

still im still in college while she acting and vocing that inculble

 

[TheAuronSavior]

I don't see who else could voice Aqua, to be honest. Her returning (in my opinion) isn't really that big of a deal to me. But, it's still good to see that Willa nails it.