Nomura Talks About Mary Poppins and Unrevealed Favorite World in IGN Brazil Interview
- Details
- Published on July 29, 2018 @ 08:32 pm
- Written by PJ
IGN Brazil has posted their E3 2018 interview with series co-director, Tetsuya Nomura. Not a lot of new information on here, but we've posted a translation below for your reference!
It was at the end of the second day of E3 2018 when, breathlessly, I arrived at the Square Enix booth to do what I personally consider the most important interview I did during the event. The next step was to follow the press agent and two Latin American journalists into a room with four other people, the wall behind them had a picture of Kingdom Hearts 3. One of these people was Tetsuya Nomura, a veteran of Square Enix and co-creator of Kingdom Hearts.
This was the third time I've been in his presence, but our first face-to-face interview. In all the times I saw him, Nomura always seemed shy and reserved, like most Japanese developers. The first time was in 2017, at the Official Orchestra of Kingdom Hearts, where he took the stage quickly to thank the fans and soon left us. The second time was this year, during an event in Los Angeles where I was able to play the Kingdom Hearts 3 demo. At the time, Nomura made a press conference for the present journalists, which was a little disappointing because of the inexpressiveness of the director in the situation. To my relief, both as a fan and as a journalist, I found a friendly and willing Nomura during E3 2018.
At age 47, Tetsuya Nomura currently works as a director of Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy VII Remake, franchises that he's been involved in for much of his career. In fact, he seems to have adopted the aesthetics of the characters he created over the years - or was it the other way around? I've always seen Nomura in shorts with chains on the side, a black T-shirt, sometimes also in the same color jacket, and thick medium-bare boots. Almost like a Noctis cosplay. There's also a lot of zippers wrapped around his clothes, a detail present in the aesthetics of characters from Kingdom Hearts.
I have no idea what this means for Nomura's personality, but during our conversation he gave some clues as to how he sees and identifies with his own work. I was surprised when the director said that his favorite character from Kingdom Hearts is Ansem, the Heartless of (or for simplicities sake, a version of) the great villain of the franchise: Xehanort.
"When I wrote the story, I realized that I'm more on Ansem / Xehanort's side, because they say things I would probably say. On the other hand, Sora says things I would not personally say," said Nomura.Despite not identifying himself with the main hero of the franchise, the director explains that he prefers that the games in the series of JRPG do not have explicit moments of violence. At the same time, the struggle between light and darkness (and darkness itself) is one of the main themes of Kingdom Hearts, so that the representation of these two sides happens in ways not so brutal.
"We do not have a boundary set on dark themes, as long as it's not on the screen and the game does not have very violent scenes." This may change slightly in Kingdom Hearts 3, as Nomura has promised that the game will have "shocking scenes" .The director and his development team also invest a lot of time in choosing the worlds that will be in the games of Kingdom Hearts. He seems preoccupied with the details and especially with the fact that each setting makes sense with the gameplay."For each game and each world, I ask my team to bring ideas and create concepts. These documents include which worlds they would like to see in the game and what kind of gameplay we could develop in these worlds," he explained. "I take a look at all this and see which world or which gameplay is interesting enough for me, then I make a list of these and other worlds that should be in the game and in order of priority."
Speaking of the worlds, Nomura laughed when I asked which was his favorite in the franchise. In addition to stating that his favorite world has not yet been revealed, he also confirmed that there will be "some original worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3". Do not wait, however, for something from Mary Poppins, since the director has not yet found the ideal way to include it.
I questioned Nomura if he has any idea how great Kingdom Hearts is in the world and in Brazil, citing the fact that the franchise's official orchestra will finally arrive in September . Raising his eyebrows, the director admits that he was surprised when he discovered that there were Brazilian fans of the franchise. "We are developing this game in Japan, so when I come to events like this [E3] and I meet people from the press from different countries and regions, that's when I realize how big the franchise is, because it's not something I feel in practice. I know that all of this is real, but I don't realize it in my day-to-day. "
At the end of the interview, the press agent asked if we wanted to take pictures and autographs of Nomura, something extremely rare to happen in any interview. Unfortunately, I did not have any of my Kingdom Hearts items with me, but I took a picture next to Nomura, with Sora, Donald, Goofy and Riku in the background. Then the press agent said, "Just don't post the picture on social media, Nomura-san doesn't like to show up in them." I left the Square Enix booth with a confused smile, thinking how grateful I was to have gotten to know Nomura a little better, and for the image that will never leave my photo gallery.
We'll keep you posted on more news!
Thanks to forum user kingsoraful for letting us know about the article!
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"Mary Poppins has always been in our conversations about concepts and ideas, but we've always wondered how we can use that film in the franchise. There's a possibility, as long as there's a good idea for that."
COMMENTS
this soulds like lion king i mean lion king is nomura favorte movie
He already said no Lion King or Nightmare Before Christmas. I hope he's referring to The Jungle Book. God knows it's become the Ridley of Kingdom Hearts meme's at this point.
He already said no Lion King or Nightmare Before Christmas. I hope he's referring to The Jungle Book. God knows it's become the Ridley of Kingdom Hearts meme's at this point.
His favorite unrevealed world doesn't mean it'll necessary correlates with his favorite film. It could just be outta all the worlds, this one is his favorite and nothing more than that.
The question was asking about his favorite world in the franchise, so he wasn't talking about the Pride Lands
He might be referring to original. I don't think he every stated his favorite Disney world in the past.
The question was asking about his favorite world in the franchise, so he wasn't talking about the Pride Lands
This got me thinking about when Nomura said there'll be something in KH3 that he's wanted to do since the beginning and now I'm wondering if this favorite world has something to do with that.
It could be anything.
A Mary Poppins D-link perhaps?
"Just a spoon full of sugar, helps the medicine go down"
This got me thinking about when Nomura said there'll be something in KH3 that he's wanted to do since the beginning and now I'm wondering if this favorite world has something to do with that.
I’m speculating that it could be related to a Jungle Book world. He’s always wanted to include it since the original KH, so maybe we’re finally going to see it in KH3...
So I looked around and I couldn't find anything verifying if Jungle Book is one of Nomura's favorite Disney films. Wonder where kingsoraful got that from?
Sora, Donald, and Goofy as singing chimney sweepers. I want it. Need it.
I've always thought Mary could make a fun summon or something tbh.
This got me thinking about when Nomura said there'll be something in KH3 that he's wanted to do since the beginning and now I'm wondering if this favorite world has something to do with that.
This is what I thought as well, the interview jumps right into a statement about original worlds so it makes me think maybe they are related?
The interviewer never asked what Nomura’s favorite DISNEY world is and Nomura never said his favorite world is a Disney world, so I’m putting my bets on Nomura’s favorite world being an original. It’s pretty funny to hear he’s pretty much in Noctis cosplay 24/7 lol
This got me thinking about when Nomura said there'll be something in KH3 that he's wanted to do since the beginning and now I'm wondering if this favorite world has something to do with that.
I'm almost scared and curious to find out.
And it's funny about the mention of Mary Poppins and saw Michael Rooker playing Kingdom Hearts 3 at SDCC. xD
Yeah, I'm also under the notion that Nomura's favourite world is an original world.
You know, these paintings would be a smart integration to get Mary Poppins involved. They're like a mini-world of sorts.
Yeah, I'm also under the notion that Nomura's favourite world is an original world.
You know, these paintings would be a smart integration to get Mary Poppins involved. They're like a mini-world of sorts.
You’re right! Maybe a painting in Twilight Town or Radiant Garden depicting the cartoon world…that’s brilliant!
https://youtu.be/-ke87AhXxag
Frustrated Jacob has the best idea for a Marry Poppins world that I've, personally, ever seen--that he details at 11:59 - 13:04, in his "The Top 10 Things Kingdom Hearts 3 Needs" video--and I'd love to see something like that happen, honestly. So I'm glad that Nomura's been thinking about this film. And hopefully one day he'll figure out how to incorporate it into the franchise in the way that he most desires. And I know I'll be right there if/when that happens. I love Marry Poppins, and would adore seeing it utilized in KH some way.
Mary Poppins world needs a Sherry Bobbins cameo now.
I'll give you all a moment to Google it.
Mary Poppins world needs a Sherry Bobbins cameo now.
I'll give you all a moment to Google it.
Don’t need to Google it because of how iconic she is. She’s probably too wasted away again in margaritaville to make a cameo though :’(
Don’t need to Google it because of how iconic she is. She’s probably too wasted away again in margaritaville to make a cameo though :’(
Oh, that's not the reason...
[video=youtube;j5zxqMQi-PM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5zxqMQi-PM[/video]
This got me thinking about when Nomura said there'll be something in KH3 that he's wanted to do since the beginning and now I'm wondering if this favorite world has something to do with that.
Now I'm kinda of curious to know what previous interviews he's mentioned worlds he's particularly fond of. I always thought Nomura was fond of Tron. Any others?
Not a fan of the movie personally, but if a Mary Poppins gets in, it would be pretty cool to see how it would work. Would it be like Pooh and jumping into pictures? Would it be a musical? Would we need to save Mr. Banks from the heartless?
PotC seems a strange final reveal for a Disney film, so maybe we'll get one more at least.
I'm also suspecting there will be some appearance by Pooh. With the exception of DDD he's been in all the main titles: I, II, BBS.
I believe we'll get at least one mini game world, maybe it will focus on multiple movies instead of just the Hundred Acre Woods...a Mary Poppins world would make sense in that case.
If you could pick five, what would you want?
Mine would be
Hundred Acre Woods, something Oz related (maybe even the Mickey Mouse Club Oz episode), Mary Poppins, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks and finally a return to Wonderland.
PotC seems a strange final reveal for a Disney film, so maybe we'll get one more at least.
.
PotC wasn’t the final reveal for the Disney worlds. You can enjoy a few more surprises over the next few months, especially since the trailers after the next one, which will focus on Big Hero 6, should show new worlds.
I'm under the assumption that Nomura's favorite world is that one thing he's been meaning to do every since he got to work into a FINAL FANTASY game (which I presume is referrring to Versus XIII, seeing a show his first FF was FFV, and he was only monster designer for that game). I'm thinking that Nomura's has always wanted to create a very diverse world. I'm thinking this will be the game's true final world. The Guardians will fight the Seekers in the Keyblade Graveyard, but Xehanort will get his hands on the Xblade, open the way to Kingdom Hearts, and use its power to merge every Realm and World into one another, and create a singular Realm/World where "everything is in balance". This final world could very well be double the duration of the normal worlds: 3 hours x 2 = six hours of completion of the last world. And since Nomura said we can save Aqua from her fate, assuming she's a Darkness, she first needs to act as a Seeker in order to get the Xblade and then it would make sense to save her, only after Xehanort has finished using her. Which makes me wonder what the eff Xehanort will do with the Nobody'd Seekers.
I'm under the assumption that Nomura's favorite world is that one thing he's been meaning to do every since he got to work into a FINAL FANTASY game (which I presume is referrring to Versus XIII, seeing a show his first FF was FFV, and he was only monster designer for that game). I'm thinking that Nomura's has always wanted to create a very diverse world. I'm thinking this will be the game's true final world. The Guardians will fight the Seekers in the Keyblade Graveyard, but Xehanort will get his hands on the Xblade, open the way to Kingdom Hearts, and use its power to merge every Realm and World into one another, and create a singular Realm/World where "everything is in balance". This final world could very well be double the duration of the normal worlds: 3 hours x 2 = six hours of completion of the last world. And since Nomura said we can save Aqua from her fate, assuming she's a Darkness, she first needs to act as a Seeker in order to get the Xblade and then it would make sense to save her, only after Xehanort has finished using her. Which makes me wonder what the eff Xehanort will do with the Nobody'd Seekers.
It would also make a lot of sense considering his comments about him relating to Xehanort. Maybe the world Nomura wants most is the one Xehanort wants most. Lol
I'm now imagining if there will be a Mary Poppins world that there'll be the opportunity to get to ride a floating carousel horse in a race.
I'm now imagining if there will be a Mary Poppins world that there'll be the opportunity to get to ride a floating carousel horse in a race.
Not at all unlike the carousel attraction flow, amiright
It would also make a lot of sense considering his comments about him relating to Xehanort. Maybe the world Nomura wants most is the one Xehanort wants most. Lol
And speaking of Nomura's first FINAL FANTASY title, he worked as monster designer for FFV, and in one point, the plot in that game revolves the fusion of two worlds. It's possible that could serve as some sort of inspiration.
The more I think about it, Mary Poppins would actually be really fun (especially if Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke were voicing the characters), but I'm not holding out hope for that as a world. It would be a bit odd. Perhaps Xehanort and co. would see her as a possible candidate for PoH considering she's "practically perfect in every way"... lol
| Frustrated Jacob has the best idea for a Marry Poppins world that I've, personally, ever seen--that he details at 11:59 - 13:04, in his "The Top 10 Things Kingdom Hearts 3 Needs" |
I liked his idea for Marry Poppins, they being in radiant or twilight, where we can always visit them, and every time we do they story develops. We could even do side quests for them, would feel like dalmatas in KH1.
gosoxtim
July 29, 2018 @ 08:52 pmOffline