*MoM SPOILERS!* We really need to talk about Kairi...

[OrionGold]

It really doesn't help that Kairi's current treatment is a reversal of a previous positive trend. Kairi may have been a damsel in distress in the original games, but Namine was a great damsel subversion and Aqua and Xion were active participants in the story. That combined with some other teasing (giving her a Keyblade and being the focus of DDD's secret ending) made it feel like Kairi's role in the story was going to change. Then KH3 came out and fridged her, but ReMind seemed to be a course correction. Then MoM teased Kairi development but ended up being another excuse to bench her. Turns out that ReMind was an outlier.

So I actually agree that fans would benefit from managing their expectations, but they still have every right to be disappointed. "Kairi has always been treated badly!" may be true, but that doesn't excuse it.

So move into the subcellar from the cellar? I mean i now know not to expect anything even if it's hinted at.

That said I wouldn't say our expectations were unbased.

KH2: Gives Kairi a Keyblade
Days: Shows us how Kairi with a Keyblade could look and tells us how important Kairi and Sora's bond is.
BBS: Shows us how Kairi got the power to wield
Coded: Mentiones how all three are conected and will need to help
DDD: Emphasises her becoming a weilder

Like her moments where short, but to fans of the character it could seem like it was a slow build up and KH3 would be the pay off. KH3 failed to deliver, but as Zackarix said ReMind did some work to fix it, only for MoM to kind of tease her to have a central role and pull the curtain to reveal nope, she's still benched.

It doesn't help that in this day and age, you can get in trouble and be perceived as sexist if you do shit like this.

 

[Alpha Baymax]

If there's a silver lining to the development of Kairi, being the apprentice to Aqua has strong storytelling potential.

 

[AdrianXXII]

If there's a silver lining to the development of Kairi, being the apprentice to Aqua has strong storytelling potential.

Now we just have to hope they make something out of it. There's a lot of potential there.

 

[kirabook]

There was potential with her being with Axel too. Instead of being pushed into the forefront of the story more like Axel was, Axel got backseated even further.

I still don't have high hopes that they won't just bench Aqua/TAV for Kairi.

 

[AdrianXXII]

There was potential with her being with Axel too. Instead of being pushed into the forefront of the story more like Axel was, Axel got backseated even further.

I still don't have high hopes that they won't just bench Aqua/TAV for Kairi.

Yeah, there was a lot of interesting story potential with her and Axel's training we just glossed over. I could have liked to have seen him try and make amends for kidnapping her, them talk about Radiant Garden, Kairi asking Axel about Roxas and etc. Axel and Kairi seemed to have grown closer after their training, but we barely saw how they became friends.

 

[Elysium]

KH2: Gives Kairi a Keyblade

To be fair, this happens with all the fanfare of Kairi being passed the salt.

 

[Zackarix]

If there's a silver lining to the development of Kairi, being the apprentice to Aqua has strong storytelling potential.

This is the best possible outcome.

The worst possible outcome is it becoming an excuse to bench Aqua as well. "Aqua can't help Ventus and Terra discover the secrets behind Ven's past because she's too busy training Kairi." I wouldn't put it past them at this point.

 

[Alpha Baymax]

There was potential with her being with Axel too. Instead of being pushed into the forefront of the story more like Axel was, Axel got backseated even further.

I still don't have high hopes that they won't just bench Aqua/TAV for Kairi.

The skepticism is justified, but I think the issue with the Lea and Kairi dynamic was that Kairi was the placeholder character for Lea to interact with until Xion and Roxas returned. Now that it's a new saga, I think the trio dynamics can be remixed.

 

[Launchpad]

Hate what they've done with her. The concept of 'training' is such a hilarious blight on the character development in Kingdom Hearts. When, exactly, did this happen? Characters used to be rewarded for being headstrong and relying on their earnest emotions to make it through. In old KH, Kairi would have smiled and believed in herself, and dove in with Riku to try and find Sora, no matter the risk, and she would have been rewarded with becoming stronger and making new connections.

But now she's just going to fuck around and train some more while Riku and Sora do more interesting things. What a tremendous letdown. It feels like we've really gone into shounen hell with this one.

 

[MasterOfMasterOfMasters]

eveyr non villain character is a jobber in the cutscenes

 

[Dreq the Dreck]

This is the best possible outcome.

The worst possible outcome is it becoming an excuse to bench Aqua as well. "Aqua can't help Ventus and Terra discover the secrets behind Ven's past because she's too busy training Kairi." I wouldn't put it past them at this point.

Oh, this is just evil

 

[Xx_HS_xX]

Hate what they've done with her. The concept of 'training' is such a hilarious blight on the character development in Kingdom Hearts. When, exactly, did this happen?.....But now she's just going to fuck around and train some more while Riku and Sora do more interesting things. What a tremendous letdown. It feels like we've really gone into shounen hell with this one.

It's even worse when you realize Kairi could've went on the journey with Riku as she could've easily chosen to continuously alter between training in the timeless forest and sleeping during that entire year. (though I bet they would've come up with some bs excuse as to why she couldn't do that if the fans asked why they didn't do that)

I also feel like they're going to bench her till they let her join the end of whatever the next final battle/story will be and go "look, see we fixed Kairi's character now! She can fight better now and she's doing 'big moments' at the battle just like last time - that's all we needed to do!"