So, let's get right down to it. Kairi got screwed.
She got screwed hard.
And I think it's time we as a community address our expectations for her going forward.
A while ago, shortly after KH3 came out and we were all disappointed by Kairi's pathetic display in that game, I predicted that Nomura would never be able to actually allow Kairi to be the fighter we want her to be because of some irreconcilability between the vision we have of her and the vision he has of her. I think Nomura knows all of us want Kairi to fight and become her own character apart from Sora, and I think he makes steps to try and inch her toward that for our sake, but he can never actually bring himself to fully realize her as a fighting character, because the image he has of her is of this sweet, pure, innocent, ideal little girl, and I think he may be hesitant to actually make her grow up, similar to how some fathers often want their daughters to stay young and sweet forever and never mature. I think some sentiment like that is blocking Nomura from going all in with maturing Kairi's character, and I think he's terrified deep down to separate her from Sora and allow her to be independent.
What we've seen in Melody of Memory is further evidence of this to me.
This title was advertised as HER game. She was the one on the cover; she was the one in the trailers; it all takes place within her memories. This was an entry that was supposed to be all about her character. And after the end of ReMIND where she finally got to strut her stuff against Xehanort, she was all primed to take the stage and kick some ass.
And she got completely tossed aside on every count.
The story had almost nothing to do with her. I don't even know how they managed to screw this up as hard as they did. This whole concept was primed for a deep dive (no pun intended) into Kairi's backstory, an area of her character that we've only ever lightly touched upon and that everybody wanted to see more of. We wanted to see her childhood; we wanted to see her relationship with her grandmother; we wanted to see aspects of her as a person that had NOTHING to do with Sora or Riku. And yet, even though this whole game takes place inside HER memories, inside HER mind, and from HER perspective, it's still all just a trip through the experiences of every other character BESIDES Kairi, and the little, microscopic bit of insight that we DO get into her past is only for the sake of advancing the plot and focused exclusively on getting Sora back. We learned absolutely nothing new about Kairi as an individual. In a game that literally takes place entirely inside her own damn mind.
But perhaps the most insulting thing about MoM's climax is how the final fight is handled. Yes, Kairi did put up something of a fight, although it's clear that Xehanort wasn't even taking her seriously the whole time, only bringing out his Keyblade at the last minute once he started getting sick of it. So, for all the flash and gumption she showed during those cutscenes, it's all undercut by the fact that her opponent was basically just toying with her and she wasn't even posing a threat. Not to mention, the Xehanort she was fighting wasn't even the real deal—it was just a projection of her memories of him. She literally couldn't even best her own memories, which is extra sad. And the grand topper of course is Sora somehow stepping in to save her at the last minute. Now, this part rubbed me all the wrong ways for three main reasons: 1) It doesn't make any sense; how is Sora suddenly possessing Kairi if he's in another reality, and if there's some way that he can, why does Xehanort say "your voice can't reach us here" when his soul very clearly is? 2) It added absolutely nothing. Sora possessing Kairi was utterly irrelevant to determining that he was stuck in some fictional realm, as Kairi's flashback and Xehanort's apparition already hinted at that fact. In a better written version of these events, Kairi would have only experienced the flashback AFTER beating Xehanort as means of unlocking a repressed memory, and that would have given her the answer she needed. And finally, 3) it is beyond abysmal that Kairi can't even fight the final boss in her own game. They went through the trouble of making a gameplay model for her, they gave her two memory dive sections, and at the end, they stop short of actually giving her the fight THAT SHOULD BE HERS AND HERS ALONE TO OWN! And to add salt to the wound, she's the ONLY playable character in the game that doesn't show up with everyone at the end credits. Like, are you serious, Nomura? Are you just trolling us at this point? And on top of that, instead of actually stepping up to go on a real adventure, Nomura just decides to hold her back to train more. Granted, I think her training under Aqua will be pretty cool, but that's not the point. The girl can't stop getting benched. She's a more neglected character than Xion, honestly. And Xion literally got FORGOTTEN BY EVERYONE for the majority of this series. Yet even SHE does more with what little time she had than Kairi has done through this whole series.
So, I think, now that we've all been burned once again, it's time we all take stock of where we are in the story, and where we're likely to be going with Kairi's character.
I think this game has made it clear that Nomura has no intention of actually letting Kairi grow into her own character. She exists purely and exclusively to be Sora's girl, nothing more. Now, some might think I'm being harsh considering this is only the first game we've ever gotten with Kairi as the centerpiece, but let's take a look at Riku: he's only ever gotten two games where he's been a significant playable character (CoM and DDD), and both of those games made ample use of building his character. In fact, Riku went through more character development in those two games alone than Sora has throughout most of the series. Even in KH2, for which Riku was absent for most of the plot, he STILL got more character development than Kairi has in this game.
So, given what we've seen and given the roundabouts we've gone through with Kairi thus far, I think it's appropriate to keep our expectations for her future in this series in check. Because based on what we've seen, I have serious doubts that she will ever be made a fully independent character. Sora has had five games to be the hero (six if you count Data-Sora in Re: Coded). Three games (KH1, KH2, and KH3) he's had completely to himself. And if you count Roxas as an extension of Sora in 358/2 Days (which heavily revolves around Sora anyway), then that brings his total to seven games in which either Sora or some extension of him is the main protagonist. Riku has had two games alongside Sora to be the hero as well, and served as the main antagonist for most of KH1 AND 358/2 Days, along with being a playable supporting character in KH3. In all that time, Kairi has had diddly squat under her belt. She was nothing but a damsel in KH1; literally got forgotten in CoM; wasn't even mentioned I don't think in Days, or if she was, then she wasn't important whatsoever; again, nothing but a damsel in KH2; completely absent from Coded and DDD; and finally, in KH3, she gets sidelined for training the whole game, and then gets TWO fights under her belt—one against Xion and Saïx, which she gets trounced in even with having Lea and Sora as partners; and one battle against Armored Xehanort, which she handled well, but still needed Sora as an assist. Now, in MoM, she doesn't get a single fight outside of a cutscene. She doesn't even fight any Heartless.
So, don't be fooled, everybody. Even though the story is setting her up for more training, it won't lead anywhere meaningful. Best case scenario we're looking at down the line is that Kairi does learn how to actually take care of herself for minor skirmishes, but then when an actual important battle comes along, she may hold her own at first, but she'll eventually get beaten down and have to be saved by Sora yet again at the end of the day. And on top of that, the story will NEVER be about her. If it wasn't about her in a game that literally takes place entirely inside her own memories, then it never will be. The story will always be about Sora, and somewhat about Riku, but Kairi is only there to serve either as a guardian angel or a damsel to be saved depending on convenience. She has no existence beyond Sora and Riku. She has nothing that is uniquely her own. She has no ambitions for herself, she has no long-term goals, and tbh, she doesn't even have a real trio to be part of anymore. The Destiny Islands trio hasn't been a trio since KH2. Sora is closer with Donald and Goofy and Riku is closer with Mickey at this point than Kairi is with either of them anymore.
I just don't see a way that they redeem her character after this point, because I'm really not sure Nomura actually wants to. It's clear that he only sees Kairi as an assist for Sora and Riku, mainly Sora, and even if she does one day learn how to actually hold her own against a strong opponent, it'll only ever be with the assistance of somebody else, and it will only ever be in service of saving/protecting Sora or Riku.
Sorry this comment was so long and sorry about the pessimistic tone, but I just really needed to get this off my chest after playing MoM. I liked it fine enough as a game (although I have a whole different slew of criticisms about that), but the way they handled Kairi and the story to me was just unacceptable, especially after all the backlash Nomura got about her involvement in KH3. I expected him to learn how to handle her more from that, but considering how this game was marketed and the central conceit, this actually felt like a step BACKWARDS for her character in all honesty.
She got screwed hard.
And I think it's time we as a community address our expectations for her going forward.
A while ago, shortly after KH3 came out and we were all disappointed by Kairi's pathetic display in that game, I predicted that Nomura would never be able to actually allow Kairi to be the fighter we want her to be because of some irreconcilability between the vision we have of her and the vision he has of her. I think Nomura knows all of us want Kairi to fight and become her own character apart from Sora, and I think he makes steps to try and inch her toward that for our sake, but he can never actually bring himself to fully realize her as a fighting character, because the image he has of her is of this sweet, pure, innocent, ideal little girl, and I think he may be hesitant to actually make her grow up, similar to how some fathers often want their daughters to stay young and sweet forever and never mature. I think some sentiment like that is blocking Nomura from going all in with maturing Kairi's character, and I think he's terrified deep down to separate her from Sora and allow her to be independent.
What we've seen in Melody of Memory is further evidence of this to me.
This title was advertised as HER game. She was the one on the cover; she was the one in the trailers; it all takes place within her memories. This was an entry that was supposed to be all about her character. And after the end of ReMIND where she finally got to strut her stuff against Xehanort, she was all primed to take the stage and kick some ass.
And she got completely tossed aside on every count.
The story had almost nothing to do with her. I don't even know how they managed to screw this up as hard as they did. This whole concept was primed for a deep dive (no pun intended) into Kairi's backstory, an area of her character that we've only ever lightly touched upon and that everybody wanted to see more of. We wanted to see her childhood; we wanted to see her relationship with her grandmother; we wanted to see aspects of her as a person that had NOTHING to do with Sora or Riku. And yet, even though this whole game takes place inside HER memories, inside HER mind, and from HER perspective, it's still all just a trip through the experiences of every other character BESIDES Kairi, and the little, microscopic bit of insight that we DO get into her past is only for the sake of advancing the plot and focused exclusively on getting Sora back. We learned absolutely nothing new about Kairi as an individual. In a game that literally takes place entirely inside her own damn mind.
But perhaps the most insulting thing about MoM's climax is how the final fight is handled. Yes, Kairi did put up something of a fight, although it's clear that Xehanort wasn't even taking her seriously the whole time, only bringing out his Keyblade at the last minute once he started getting sick of it. So, for all the flash and gumption she showed during those cutscenes, it's all undercut by the fact that her opponent was basically just toying with her and she wasn't even posing a threat. Not to mention, the Xehanort she was fighting wasn't even the real deal—it was just a projection of her memories of him. She literally couldn't even best her own memories, which is extra sad. And the grand topper of course is Sora somehow stepping in to save her at the last minute. Now, this part rubbed me all the wrong ways for three main reasons: 1) It doesn't make any sense; how is Sora suddenly possessing Kairi if he's in another reality, and if there's some way that he can, why does Xehanort say "your voice can't reach us here" when his soul very clearly is? 2) It added absolutely nothing. Sora possessing Kairi was utterly irrelevant to determining that he was stuck in some fictional realm, as Kairi's flashback and Xehanort's apparition already hinted at that fact. In a better written version of these events, Kairi would have only experienced the flashback AFTER beating Xehanort as means of unlocking a repressed memory, and that would have given her the answer she needed. And finally, 3) it is beyond abysmal that Kairi can't even fight the final boss in her own game. They went through the trouble of making a gameplay model for her, they gave her two memory dive sections, and at the end, they stop short of actually giving her the fight THAT SHOULD BE HERS AND HERS ALONE TO OWN! And to add salt to the wound, she's the ONLY playable character in the game that doesn't show up with everyone at the end credits. Like, are you serious, Nomura? Are you just trolling us at this point? And on top of that, instead of actually stepping up to go on a real adventure, Nomura just decides to hold her back to train more. Granted, I think her training under Aqua will be pretty cool, but that's not the point. The girl can't stop getting benched. She's a more neglected character than Xion, honestly. And Xion literally got FORGOTTEN BY EVERYONE for the majority of this series. Yet even SHE does more with what little time she had than Kairi has done through this whole series.
So, I think, now that we've all been burned once again, it's time we all take stock of where we are in the story, and where we're likely to be going with Kairi's character.
I think this game has made it clear that Nomura has no intention of actually letting Kairi grow into her own character. She exists purely and exclusively to be Sora's girl, nothing more. Now, some might think I'm being harsh considering this is only the first game we've ever gotten with Kairi as the centerpiece, but let's take a look at Riku: he's only ever gotten two games where he's been a significant playable character (CoM and DDD), and both of those games made ample use of building his character. In fact, Riku went through more character development in those two games alone than Sora has throughout most of the series. Even in KH2, for which Riku was absent for most of the plot, he STILL got more character development than Kairi has in this game.
So, given what we've seen and given the roundabouts we've gone through with Kairi thus far, I think it's appropriate to keep our expectations for her future in this series in check. Because based on what we've seen, I have serious doubts that she will ever be made a fully independent character. Sora has had five games to be the hero (six if you count Data-Sora in Re: Coded). Three games (KH1, KH2, and KH3) he's had completely to himself. And if you count Roxas as an extension of Sora in 358/2 Days (which heavily revolves around Sora anyway), then that brings his total to seven games in which either Sora or some extension of him is the main protagonist. Riku has had two games alongside Sora to be the hero as well, and served as the main antagonist for most of KH1 AND 358/2 Days, along with being a playable supporting character in KH3. In all that time, Kairi has had diddly squat under her belt. She was nothing but a damsel in KH1; literally got forgotten in CoM; wasn't even mentioned I don't think in Days, or if she was, then she wasn't important whatsoever; again, nothing but a damsel in KH2; completely absent from Coded and DDD; and finally, in KH3, she gets sidelined for training the whole game, and then gets TWO fights under her belt—one against Xion and Saïx, which she gets trounced in even with having Lea and Sora as partners; and one battle against Armored Xehanort, which she handled well, but still needed Sora as an assist. Now, in MoM, she doesn't get a single fight outside of a cutscene. She doesn't even fight any Heartless.
So, don't be fooled, everybody. Even though the story is setting her up for more training, it won't lead anywhere meaningful. Best case scenario we're looking at down the line is that Kairi does learn how to actually take care of herself for minor skirmishes, but then when an actual important battle comes along, she may hold her own at first, but she'll eventually get beaten down and have to be saved by Sora yet again at the end of the day. And on top of that, the story will NEVER be about her. If it wasn't about her in a game that literally takes place entirely inside her own memories, then it never will be. The story will always be about Sora, and somewhat about Riku, but Kairi is only there to serve either as a guardian angel or a damsel to be saved depending on convenience. She has no existence beyond Sora and Riku. She has nothing that is uniquely her own. She has no ambitions for herself, she has no long-term goals, and tbh, she doesn't even have a real trio to be part of anymore. The Destiny Islands trio hasn't been a trio since KH2. Sora is closer with Donald and Goofy and Riku is closer with Mickey at this point than Kairi is with either of them anymore.
I just don't see a way that they redeem her character after this point, because I'm really not sure Nomura actually wants to. It's clear that he only sees Kairi as an assist for Sora and Riku, mainly Sora, and even if she does one day learn how to actually hold her own against a strong opponent, it'll only ever be with the assistance of somebody else, and it will only ever be in service of saving/protecting Sora or Riku.
Sorry this comment was so long and sorry about the pessimistic tone, but I just really needed to get this off my chest after playing MoM. I liked it fine enough as a game (although I have a whole different slew of criticisms about that), but the way they handled Kairi and the story to me was just unacceptable, especially after all the backlash Nomura got about her involvement in KH3. I expected him to learn how to handle her more from that, but considering how this game was marketed and the central conceit, this actually felt like a step BACKWARDS for her character in all honesty.
