General Kingdom Hearts Manga Discussion

[KudoTsurugi]

Welp, it’s official , we’re making a beeline for the Keyblade Graveyard

https://twitter.com/x/status/1707051115341381984

Next chapter is Ven waking up.
Also, manga Vanitas:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1707051336502829260

 

[Squood!]

I managed to read the raw chapter and I can only assume Sora acts like he already met Vanitas.

 

[WaltK]

On the English front: I can no longer find any trace of the series on Yen Press's website…

 

[KudoTsurugi]

On the English front: I can no longer find any trace of the series on Yen Press's website…

I’m guessing that means one thing: the license is moving back to Square-Enix for a re-release in either Square-Enix Books or Disney Books.

I don’t know which they’ll go for, but I doubt they’d go back to Tokyopop. The only other potential distributor would be Dark Horse Comics, since they’re still selling the Ultimania and Character File books

EDIT: Okay, it looks like the deal between Disney and Yen Press may have expired, according to this Reddit user:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GuardiansOftheVeil/comments/16pov4u

So not only is KH gone, but also every other Disney property Yen Press licensed, including W.I.T.C.H. and the Big Hero 6 manga. Unless they can renegotiate a deal, it looks like we’ll be waiting a while for KH manga in the English West

 

[WaltK]

In the meantime, if you can speak and/or read French:

Amazon.fr

 

[KudoTsurugi]

You know what’s really annoying about this? This is the second time this happened to the manga in the English West: The latest KH manga being cancelled at the 2nd physical volume because of a licensing issue.

First time was Tokyopop with KH2, now it’s Yen Press with KH3. I don’t lay blame on either company for a contract going out, but I’d at least hope there’d be some room to renegotiate it for a few more years.

Whoever gets the license next, I hope they get permission from Yen Press to carry over their translations for the most recent chapters into their next volume releases. Save them the trouble of starting from scratch for the third time.

 

[maryadavies]

Me as well, geez! This is why people resort to scantilations.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

Say what?! I go on vacation for a time and come back to find the KH3 manga in darkness? I had worries and cocerns for this manga but none like this. Skipping Monstropolis and San Fransokyo? I knew Pirates would be skipped, no surprise there but those two worlds? That's a massive bummer, especially Monstropolis. And apparently skipping the Anti-Aqua fight? Hmm, I have thoughts on that. But it sounds like we're rushing to the Keyblade Graveyard battles.

It's my incorrect headcanon that Amano doesn't care about any of the material that wasn't already written in the previous KH mangas and we're just getting to the stuff he does want to write. Those reunions. Unless you played the games (and I'm betting 90% of the readers did) there is no real emotional attachment to manga Aqua and her story via the manga alone, which was always going to be a uphill battle with the absence of a BBS manga. The attachment comes from the games not the manga itself unlike the other characters who are so different from their game counterparts they are counted as different variants altogether. Manga Kairi being the most famous. BBS desperately needed that manga.

Another blow is Yen Press apparently not making any more KH volumes? That sucks. I have the first two volumes of KH3 on my shelf and was planning to get them all. Such bad news during this infamous Kingdom Hearts drought. I thought the manga's biggest problem would be the limitations to do things differently as shown by how straight forward (and kind of boring) the KH3 novel was.

Overall this all sucks. Like 2 Quid is Good, I preferred Amano's take on the KH characters and story over the games. The KH2 manga fixed nearly all of my problems with the KH2 storytelling and I consider it the superior version. Likewise the novels, while not always canon, made many characters I was indifferent towards among the most endearing. It's sad seeing the state of the manga and novels fall like this.

 

[WaltK]

Really random thing to ask, but have we had any more of the Pete and Maleficent scenes since the KoC one?

 

[PikaPal]

Oh wow, we're heading off to the Keyblade Graveyard and potentially the climax already!

Also sucks to hear that Disney's parted ways with Yen Press as well. They were superb with bringing the mangas and light novels over so here's hoping they can find a new publisher to continue with the KH3 manga.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

Really random thing to ask, but have we had any more of the Pete and Maleficent scenes since the KoC one?

Not that I’ve seen in recent chapters, plus they skipped San Fransokyo so no Dark Riku scene. Though with our current pace, we might see their Twilight Town scene soon

 

[PikaPal]

Amano's really on speedrun mode with this one.

Sure he's skipped stuff before with the previous games but not this much, that's basically almost half of the game gone.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

The real question is if this speedrun is at the request of the editor or of Amano’s own choice. I’m starting to think it’s the former.

 

[WaltK]

I mean, the way his tweet on the matter was worded would imply to me that this was not his decision.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1684450129313693696

 

[2 quid is good]

So not only is KH gone, but also every other Disney property Yen Press licensed, including W.I.T.C.H. and the Big Hero 6 manga. Unless they can renegotiate a deal, it looks like we’ll be waiting a while for KH manga in the English West

Cri

 

[KudoTsurugi]

I mean, the way his tweet on the matter was worded would imply to me that this was not his decision.

I know, and it’s a real shame too.
But I mean, how much pressure is Amano being put under to wrap this up?
Is the editor that bored of the Disney visits that they’re saying “Get to the big fight already!!” ? With this much being skipped, it almost feels like it.
I’m honestly hoping that the story gets time to breathe once we get to the Keyblade Graveyard, because it definitely needs it.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

Okay, chapter 32 is up on Gangan Online to read, and it’s apt titled too, 目覚め(me-za-me) or ‘Awakening’:

ガンガンONLINE

完全無料で連載中！　ガンガンONLINE／キングダム ハーツIII(原案／野村哲也　作／天野シロ)／ソラ、ドナルド、グーフィーの新たなる旅立ち。 ダークシーカー編、ついに完結!　物語はクライマックスへ!!

www.ganganonline.com

We open with Aqua returning Castle Oblivion to its former state of the Land of Departure, and it happens just as quickly as Sora’s outfit change back in chapter 17, done in 2 pages.
Also, it looks like Sora doesn’t know who Vanitas is. He reacts to Aqua’s reaction to seeing Vanitas with “え？誰？”, 誰(da-re) meaning “who” in Japanese. Also, love the touch of Sora’s face being reflected on Vanitas’ helmet, nice bit of visual foreshadowing for those who haven’t played the games.

And while brief, we do see the battle between Aqua and Vanitas, and the events thereafter play out as you’d expect, with Sora waking Ven with the Power of Waking, Ven charging at Vanitas and ending on “Good morning, Ven”.

Supposedly, we should get the next chapter out by November 9th, so hopefully no delays happen before then

 

[Phoenix]

It's a damning indictment on the pacing of KH3, if Amano really was under pressure to wrap it up.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

Fingers crossed we get enough time in the Keyblade Graveyard to make up for it. I imagine we could get at least 2-3 volumes for that, if TWTNW in KH2’s manga is any indication

 

[Squood!]

Fingers crossed we get enough time in the Keyblade Graveyard to make up for it. I imagine we could get at least 2-3 volumes for that, if TWTNW in KH2’s manga is any indication

Ah yes, 2-3 volumes of Keyblade Graveyard in a manga that is currently skipping three whole worlds just to get to the end faster.