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So, Apparently Kairi CHOSE For Her Heart to Go to Sora, Because She Sensed that ASOD Would Steal it Otherwise



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LightUpTheSky452

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I got a KH Ultimania for my birthday yesterday (the one that's supposed to catch everyone up before KHIII), and there was some really interesting Kairi stuff there. Including this little nugget.

tumblr_3815cc294474807715d291797f64ae72_405e6816_500.jpg

And, I may be reading into this here... but I remember TV Tropes used to say that her kidnapping in KHII really wasn't all that bad, since she escaped her imprisonment through Namine, who WAS her at the time. And this image below might actually be agreeing with that sentiment:

Kairi and Namine.jpg

But everything they have about her in this Ultimania is SUPER intriguing and as one commenter said on it, maybe even does her better justice than some of the games do. XD So, I recommend reading it, if anyone's interested:)

Here's a link to my Tumblr post with all the pictures I took: https://oveliagirlhaditright.tumblr.com/page/2:)
 

MATGSY

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"A battle princess who won't just wait around anymore!"

giphy.gif
 

AR829038

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Sounds similar to what Riku did diving into Sora's dreams subconsciously at the beginning of DDD.
There's so much lore in this series that would serve the storytelling so much better if they were actually clarified IN the games rather than in these erstwhile Japanese-only ultimania guides. Hopefully Phase 2 won't need so much of its story explained through supplementary material.
 

KingdomKurdistan

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Sounds similar to what Riku did diving into Sora's dreams subconsciously at the beginning of DDD.
There's so much lore in this series that would serve the storytelling so much better if they were actually clarified IN the games rather than in these erstwhile Japanese-only ultimania guides. Hopefully Phase 2 won't need so much of its story explained through supplementary material.

I don't think they need to be clarified and should be left open to interpret if they insist on this form of fuzzy storytelling.

The issue is the games are too scared to commit to this and end up in this weird halfway house where there's both too much and too little explanation that obfuscates far more than it illuminates.

Worst of both worlds.
 

LightUpTheSky452

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@MATGSY Right? I love Kairi (I'm sure you all know I do) and will defend her until my death, but that would have been so much more believable if she suddenly hadn't been okay with Sora and Riku leaving her in DDD (when her text bubbles contradicted this idea in KHII) and let them have that game without her... And if MoM hadn't ended the way it did. Yes, she's training with Aqua so she can finally stand with Sora and Riku that way... Let's just hope it actually ends up that way, and Nomura doesn't pull the rug out from under us once again with her.

@AR829038 @KingdomKurdistan And yeah, if these things were canon (and of course they are by this), I wish it was actually spelled out for us in the games. One of the problems with the Ultimanias, is that they have key information that aren't in the games at all. And it's like, Nomura, my dude: if these are important things, why aren't they told in the games and left to something most will never see? It's one of his faults in storytelling, for sure.
 

Sorarocks93

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@MATGSY Right? I love Kairi (I'm sure you all know I do) and will defend her until my death, but that would have been so much more believable if she suddenly hadn't been okay with Sora and Riku leaving her in DDD (when her text bubbles contradicted this idea in KHII) and let them have that game without her... And if MoM hadn't ended the way it did. Yes, she's training with Aqua so she can finally stand with Sora and Riku that way... Let's just hope it actually ends up that way, and Nomura doesn't pull the rug out from under us once again with her.
Why would she go with Sora and Riku though? They didn't go to another adventure, they just went for a test. None of them knew they'd be thrown into the jaws of danger by Xehanort, not even Yen Sid knew that. So if she was to go, she'd go with the intention of just sitting around in the tower waiting for Sora and Riku to finish their test.

As for the Ultimania info itself. First of all, the first part, I don't feel it changes much. She sensed that Ansem was targeting her, but it feels more instinctual than anything. She didn't know she was a PoH at the time. Nice little detail but it doesn't change anything...

The second part however.
they went on adventures together with neither one of them aware of this fact.
I thought Kairi knew at the end? This is a bit confusing. Did she actually experience all that, but didn't know Sora was with her? Wouldn't that imply she's just as familiar with Donald and Goofy as Sora is by the end of KH1?
 

AdrianXXII

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"A battle princess who won't just wait around anymore!"

giphy.gif
It's what they want us to believe and what many of us would like her to be, but it's sadly not reality.

Why would she go with Sora and Riku though? They didn't go to another adventure, they just went for a test. None of them knew they'd be thrown into the jaws of danger by Xehanort, not even Yen Sid knew that. So if she was to go, she'd go with the intention of just sitting around in the tower waiting for Sora and Riku to finish their test.
I mean even for that it'd have made sense for her to be there. Like if you're best friends are being asked to go to a wizard for a test after you've been separated for a year, wouldn't you tag along to be able to spend more time with them and lend them emotional support?

But honestly it would have made more sense for Yen Sid to have asked all three of them to do the test seeing he was resetting Riku and Sora anyways to start over, so Kairi would have been on even footing, excepts for previous experience. I get that with the mechanic and story they wanted to tell it didn't work, but logically speaking in-universe there wasn't much of a reason to exclude her.
 

LightUpTheSky452

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@Sorarocks93 Yeah, I agree with Adrian XXII. Since Yen Sid ended up resetting Sora and Riku for the test, it would have been the perfect time for Kairi to get some training--and learn properly--beside them, instead of waiting until KHIII. And even without that... she could have been there for moral support for her two best friends. Especially since they didn't think there was any danger at the time (so Sora and Riku wouldn't have had to worry about that), and she'd expressed a desire to not be left behind anymore... And since this series started out with the three of them wanting to see different worlds together. Them going to The Mysterious Tower together could have been part of that.

Anywho... I'm down with Kairi purposefully having her heart go to Sora, even if it was somewhat subconsciously, just because it gives her a bit more agency. Since everyone always complains she doesn't have that.

Yeah, I'm kind of confused about that, too. Because other parts of the Ultimania make it seem like she did know. Like, there was a quote that was like, "...Kairi's heart hid within Sora, and then from then on, they were together," which I thought was making sense of Kairi's line to Sora, "We made it this far by sticking together. You can't go alone!" But IDK.
 

Zackarix

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Anywho... I'm down with Kairi purposefully having her heart go to Sora, even if it was somewhat subconsciously, just because it gives her a bit more agency. Since everyone always complains she doesn't have that.

Yeah, I'm kind of confused about that, too. Because other parts of the Ultimania make it seem like she did know. Like, there was a quote that was like, "...Kairi's heart hid within Sora, and then from then on, they were together," which I thought was making sense of Kairi's line to Sora, "We made it this far by sticking together. You can't go alone!" But IDK.
I think this is one of the big things people miss about KH1 Kairi. Her body may have been in a coma, but her heart (the most important part of her) was with Sora for most of the journey.

KH has had a problem with communicating information for a while. It's clear that the writers don't know what information needs to be unambiguous in a normal playthrough, what information should still be in the game but it's okay if the player has to do a bit of digging to find it, and what information can relegated to Ultimanias and interviews that might never have official translations. Stuff like heights and birthdays is fun to know but not important, so it's fine to just mention it in an interview. Stuff like character motivations should absolutely be in the game even if it's tucked away in a secret report.

Of course, the good thing (from a writer's perspective) about not putting seemingly important information in the game itself is that it's much easier to retcon it if you change your mind later.
 

AdrianXXII

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I think this is one of the big things people miss about KH1 Kairi. Her body may have been in a coma, but her heart (the most important part of her) was with Sora for most of the journey.
To be fair that's partly because the series seems to forget or ignore it. I feel like they kind of missed the opportunity to use that to justify why Kairi would be strong enough for the final world, after all she'd have grown and learned along with Sora. Instead they decided to separate the two, which is basically where Kairi being left behind started.

KH has had a problem with communicating information for a while. It's clear that the writers don't know what information needs to be unambiguous in a normal playthrough, what information should still be in the game but it's okay if the player has to do a bit of digging to find it, and what information can relegated to Ultimanias and interviews that might never have official translations. Stuff like heights and birthdays is fun to know but not important, so it's fine to just mention it in an interview. Stuff like character motivations should absolutely be in the game even if it's tucked away in a secret report.
Yeah, there's a lot of information missing. The series likes it's ambiguity. I'd love to see secret reports like in days returning, where we'd learn more about the inner workings of both allies and enemies.
That said I doubt they'll ever change that the ambiguity provides a lot of wiggle room and lets them return to stuff to re-contextualize it later.
 
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