RE: Kairi's letter to Sora

[Auxia]

RE: Kairi's letter to Sora

Hi there, I haven't posted in a while. I just noticed something in the first Kingdom Hearts that confused me.

I'm not sure what the technical term for it is, but when you first get onto the Kingdom Hearts menu screen (where it says New Game or Load Game) and you let it sit there for a minute or two it starts playing a little movie. Pretty basic so far. The movie is comprised of various cutscenes from the game set to the orchestral arrangement of "Simple and Clean".

Now here's the part I don't understand: the movie starts off with the wording of Kairi's bottled letter to Sora circa KHII in gold text. If Kairi wrote this to Sora in KHII, why is it in the first game? Did Nomura have that much already planned out? I doubt that, but it really is making me think.

Note: we know for a fact that Kairi "mailed" the letter to Sora in KHII, because in KHII there is a cutscene showing her putting the bottled letter into the water. And her hair is long in said scene, so one would deduce it was at least a year since the events of the original Kingdom Hearts.

Sorry if this has already been touched on (and it probably has in the four years since the release of KHII) but I couldn't find any mention of it in this forum.

 

[Antiquity]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

I think the poem was already "there" and didn't serve much of a purpose in the first game, but they made it into being Kairi's letter for the second game. That's kind of what I had in mind anyway.

 

[Auxia]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

I think the poem was already "there" and didn't serve much of a purpose in the first game, but they made it into being Kairi's letter for the second game. That's kind of what I had in mind anyway.

That's a strong possibility, thanks for pointing that out. I could see that... but still, it just fits so perfectly with Kairi's disposition in the second Kingdom Hearts that it's hard for me to believe it might just be coincidence. Maybe it was intended to be written right after the first Kingdom Hearts, when Sora refused to let Kairi go to The End of the World with him because it was too dangerous, and then he left to find Riku and King Mickey.

 

[Antiquity]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

That's a strong possibility, thanks for pointing that out. I could see that... but still, it just fits so perfectly with Kairi's disposition in the second Kingdom Hearts that it's hard for me to believe it might just be coincidence. Maybe it was intended to be written right after the first Kingdom Hearts, when Sora refused to let Kairi go to The End of the World with him because it was too dangerous, and then he left to find Riku and King Mickey.

They probably did have Kairi in mind when they first made it so it sort of fits her character. Sora and Kairi's parting does seem like a good place for its root, so you've got a nice idea there. In the second game, they do make it into something sort of being on Kairi's part. I can't explain it XD but I was looking at this (in case you haven't looked at it)...

What does this poem from Kingdom Hearts mean?

The person may be over analyzing it a bit, but they do kind of match things up. Sort of makes it seem that they did have the second game in mind...

 

[>>Kairi]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

well they probably already had started working on the story line for the kh2 while they made that thingie because ive seen other stuff kinda like that heres an example in KH2 in the files Seifer's page it says that he is from Final Fantisy 13 the thing is that Kingdom Hearts2 was relesed in Amarican in like 2005 or 06 and FF13 was relesed in 2010 wierd right

 

[Auxia]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

well they probably already had started working on the story line for the kh2 while they made that thingie because ive seen other stuff kinda like that heres an example in KH2 in the files Seifer's page it says that he is from Final Fantisy 13 the thing is that Kingdom Hearts2 was relesed in Amarican in like 2005 or 06 and FF13 was relesed in 2010 wierd right

Yeah, that is really weird... isn't Seifer from FF8?

 

[Reika]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

well they probably already had started working on the story line for the kh2 while they made that thingie because ive seen other stuff kinda like that heres an example in KH2 in the files Seifer's page it says that he is from Final Fantisy 13 the thing is that Kingdom Hearts2 was relesed in Amarican in like 2005 or 06 and FF13 was relesed in 2010 wierd right

It actually says he's from Final Fantasy 8, not 13. VIII = 8. And FF8 has been out for a while now.

 

[Sign]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

It actually says he's from Final Fantasy 8, not 13. VIII = 8. And FF8 has been out for a while now.

Almost 11 years last I checked ^^

 

[Smile]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

well they probably already had started working on the story line for the kh2 while they made that thingie because ive seen other stuff kinda like that

Nomura admitted numerous times he's making the series as he goes, so I have to go with Antiquity here. They already had the text at hand and decided to use it for something other than its original meaning.
Much like how the Heart shaped moon from the KH1 cover ended up being retconned into being Kingdom Hearts when they were writing KH2. It's the most likely option that when it was time to write Kairi's letter, the scenario writer just asked Nomura if he could use it or something along those lines.

 

[BriFTW]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

What does "retconned" mean?

 

[Smile]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

Retroactively connected. It means that something originally had a certain purpose, or no purpose at all but was later given either another or a different meaning.
See the heart shaped moon on the KH1 cover. It originally was there for the sake of design but ended up becoming the true form of Kingdom Hearts.

 

[Auxia]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

Retroactively connected. It means that something originally had a certain purpose, or no purpose at all but was later given either another or a different meaning.
See the heart shaped moon on the KH1 cover. It originally was there for the sake of design but ended up becoming the true form of Kingdom Hearts.

That's where Kingdom Hearts II confused me. I thought the heart-shaped moon version of Kingdom Hearts that the Organization manipulated Sora into creating was an artificial Kingdom Hearts, and the real one had been sealed away by Sora and The King in the first game.

 

[Smile]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

That's where Kingdom Hearts II confused me. I thought the heart-shaped moon version of Kingdom Hearts that the Organization manipulated Sora into creating was an artificial Kingdom Hearts, and the real one had been sealed away by Sora and The King in the first game.

But that's exactly what happened. xD;
It doesn't change the fact that the Heart shape was retconned into being a universal shape for Kingdom Hearts everywhere, as can also be seen from the KH2/FM+ secret endings when MX summons yet another Heart shaped Kingdom Hearts.

 

[BriFTW]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

Oh. I see TOO MCH retconning in Kingdom Hearts.

 

[Smile]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

Pfft. That's the harmless stuff

 

[BriFTW]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

Weren't Heartless always there? Now all of a sudden Xehanort created them(or was it vice-versa?)

 

[Smile]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

Actually, Xehanort creating the Heartless was established as early on as KH1. That's one of the bits that weren't retconned.

 

[BriFTW]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

Okay, but I don't know any other series with more retconning.

 

[Smile]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

I think KH just has it rough because Nomura's stupid enough to admit that sort of thing in interviews.

 

[Auxia]

Re: Kairi's letter to Sora

I'd rather Nomura be honest. KH is still my favorite game and series, though it's much bigger now than it was in 2002.

Also I believe the retconning was born out of necessity, like Smile said perhaps the scenario writers' needed to write Kairi's letter and found a use for the poem in the first Kingdom Hearts (though, to be honest, I prefer it in a way - it gives everything that "connected" feel).

My burning question is still the same: WHY was it even in Kingdom Hearts I in the first place? It makes so much more sense in the context of KHII and the circumstances surrounding Sora and Riku and Kairi, in KHI it didn't mean nearly as much, if anything at all.