What do you think about Namine / Riku shipping?

[*TwilightNight*]

Do you have a link to the Japanese scene with that "missed the most" quote? I'd love to see if that's true.

As for that window-gazing scene, I felt the same - it felt like, at the very least, Nomura hadn't forgotten what he seemed to have been setting up in II between the two of them. But then, I thought, throughout the game, that we'd get more on SoKai too, considering what seemed to be building, and then it was ignored through 90% of the game and still not given an actual conclusion in the end.

It feels like Nomura either A) doesn't know what he wants to do with any ship even though he's setting a number of romances up, B) is saving things for future releases, but ignoring what we have right now, C) is confused in his feelings on trios and romances or D) something of all of the above.

The actual video of the scene or the cleared up translation?

Regardless: https://fusetter.com/tw/sIVnc#all

But that's the thing. You see, if Riku and Naminè is his future intent [now], then at least throw in some semblance of basis, like he did with Roxas and Kairi, to cement it or to actually show she's even a concern in his mind in KHIII. We got nothing. On top of that, if that's the intent, then close the only other relationship she has with the other boy aside from Sora she has a tie with. Instead we get Roxas thinking about her through Sora (like what happened with the HPO scene in San Fransokyo), which implies that not only does he care about her, Naminè is obviously important to him. Cue Sora's little down face after. The star scene just adds context.

Common sense says, that's something that should be buried (or start to be buried), not kept. Especially when you have the 2.8. credits throw them into couple montage galore and have Days continue what occurred in KHII with Roxas' unique psychic link with Naminè where he sees her in his dreams, both which are within installments after KHII and with Xion's existence already there.

Doing any of the above is not difficult. For someone who can actually write anyway.

And I am officially triggered because that scene alone with Riku picking her up overshadowed her awaited return to being a person. That's all that's being talked about concerning her one moment to shine. We already got scraps with her. This adds insult to injury. To say I'm upset right now will be utterly correct.

All I needed for Nomura to do is provide closure to the characters I care for and their relationships. So I can officially leave this conundrum of a series behind. It's why I'm even here after years of inactivity with the intent to spoil myself. I was expecting something ala KHII.

The guy couldn't even deliver on that, leaving me unsatisfied and shaking my head at the possible uncertainty of Naminè's (and Larxene's) treatment.

My only fave who escaped not just the shipping mess but walked out of this game unscathed in general was Roxas, limited screen time and all. Bless his lucky soul.

 

[Deleted member]

I mean personally I didn't think Nami and Roxas had much real build-up either. It felt shoehorned in just because of their connection to Sora and Kairi and even came with a weird kind of implication where Roxas was just like "second best Sora" for Nami, the person she really wanted to be with. And to me the scene in Twilight Town in KH3 was more about Sora feeling like he was in Roxas' shoes at that moment, than it was something suggesting Roxas/Nami thoughts. In the end a lot of this is subjective and down to personal feelings.

As for why the discussion is on Namiku and not on Nami being a person again, it's because Namiku is something to discuss and debate and is subjective as to what it means, if anything, where Nami being a person is just a thing that happened in the same way that there isn't a whole lot of discussion on Xion being a person, on Roxas being a person and so on. The "what now, now that they are people" is more the realm of fanfic and wishful thinking than it is forum debate

 

[*TwilightNight*]

I mean personally I didn't think Nami and Roxas had much real build-up either. It felt shoehorned in just because of their connection to Sora and Kairi and even came with a weird kind of implication where Roxas was just like "second best Sora" for Nami, the person she really wanted to be with. In the end a lot of this is subjective and down to personal feelings.

As for why the discussion is on Namiku and not on Nami being a person again, it's because Namiku is something to discuss and debate and is subjective as to what it means, if anything, where Nami being a person is just a thing that happened in the same way that there isn't a whole lot of discussion on Xion being a person, on Roxas being a person and so on. The "what now, now that they are people" is more the realm of fanfic than it is debate

I don't want to get to deeply into it but since this is somehow undermining the characters' own authority...

Roxas and Naminè had their chance to interact with one another as individuals separate from Sora and Kairi in the prologue. Whatever budding relationship (however one took it as) they were creating were theirs and theirs alone, cause you know, they were people with their own agency. Roxas is definitely no Sora for Naminè to see a replacement goldfish for, if anything, Ventus should be more serving of that role. This is IF Naminè's feelings were romantically inclined towards Sora or she just wanted a friend with so much fervor in caring for somebody else as a result of her loneliness. In the short amount of time that they had in KHII, without adding in the ship teases littering around, they discussed their doubts, feelings, and sentiments about their own existence. Naminè felt comfortable enough to reveal her own uncertainties about her powers. She said something unknowingly cruel based on how she views her own self due to the verbal abuse conditioned into her? Call her shit out, which he did, and that's great. That's what's supposed to happen to grow. Make her reevaluate. Heck, we got Roxas being flustered when he first encountered her with the whole scratching the back of his head thing.

The conversations were personal with an effort to get to know each other. That's bonding. A lot better than say, business meetings and offers.

Naminè, despite her position between a rock and a hard place, did her best to help both Roxas and Xion to come to terms with a choice they are at least aware of out of compassion. And to complete it themselves, no matter what may come of leaving such a decision to other people. But she risked it.

The point of TWTNW scene is that within Sora and Kairi, despite the relation to them, Roxas and Naminè continue to exist. When Naminè is in front of Sora, it's not Sora she sees, but Roxas, and vice-versa. They are seemingly content with this fate in that they are in it together, and that in itself was a silver lining [at the time]. It's not that they have feelings for each other because their other selves' do. They don't. The original line is even "we can meet each other again!". Goes back to the localization issues dealing with Sora and Kairi in III as well.

So to me, that is build up, it's there, and it's been present as I've mentioned even when it doesn't need to be. There's substance from previous entries to fall back on. Riku and Naminè? Even in KHIII, there was no foundation made that doesn't involve Riku Replica? They did it for Roxas and Kairi, no way they couldn't do it with Riku.

I'm not talking about this thread only, I'm talking in general. What was supposed to show Naminè cinematically finally making her appearance and what should be a good moment that the game made us wait for, is now tied to her possible relationship with Riku and that's what caused a ruckus. When it shouldn't be. No other character got this treatment in their turn.

 

[alexis.anagram]

I agree with *TwilightNight*. The reason that Namine's reveal is squandered on potential shipping fuel with Riku is because of how Nomura et al. chose to frame the sequence, shoving it off until the very end of the game and coding Riku with this conventionally chivalrous affect as the lone main character waiting for her when she awoke. That was a...I hesitate to use the word "deliberate," because I think it was infinitely more thoughtless than that, but it was an explicit decision to shaft Namine of a real character arc that could have given the audience something more to consider than a will they/won't they scenario with Riku. The story makes poor use of her character which centers the main points of interest referencing her on the 1 out of 3 appearances she gets that actually shed some sort of light on the circumstances of her potential future within the series. That is to say, there's nothing of actual substance to speak of with regards to how she develops in KH3, and that's the whole problem.

It's not as if there aren't a dozen or more ways she could have been reintegrated into the narrative at an earlier point in a way that might have highlighted her rapport with Kairi, or Axel, or allowed her to forge new bonds with other characters like Aqua and Ven-- or even set up a potential romance with Riku if that was the game plan. Even as a basic plot device (and we know how Nomura loves his girl-shaped plot devices!) her utility goes way beyond anything that KH3 manages to deliver, making her only contribution to the culmination of this saga, which she has been a part of for longer than TAV or Xion or most of the True Organization, skippable. But hey, in place of all that potential she maybe gets to be a girlfriend to a dude and that's super cute and inoffensive, haha.

 

[Alja]

I personally don't mind Rikunami. They look cute.
I wish however Nomura didn't go there. While technically they were able to spend a lot of time during Days, nearly all of it was off-screen and with the blatant Versus 2.0 advertisement they sadly do feel like a cheap Noct/Stella 2.0. Not to mention that we had the Rokunami setup and I'd rather had seen them together. They've been done dirty. Whether you ship them or not, they clearly had chemistry and liked each other and Roxas did miss her (as seen in Twilight Town and mentioned by Sora) and then they don't even speak or interact during the beach party. Seriously.

It would have helped if we got hints for them in the past games or at least during KH3, with Riku bringing up Naminé needing to return (although it was nice that Kairi remembered her) and not with Repliku setting Riku up to it.
Also, since Sora knows about Riku caring for Naminé (apparently?) - rofl, our boys are confirmed to talk about girl trouble because there is no way Sora is perceptive enough to otherwise have found that out.

 

[*TwilightNight*]

It's not even offscreen. We know what Riku did within that year - it's in 358/2 Days, with one scene of him and Naminè basically cultivating in reminding her about her promise to take care of Sora (i.e. don't falter and why is it taking long) and to fill him in about the issues concerning his recovery. That's it.

The novels, as non canon(?) as they are considered to be (but the only way we can make sense of this), explores their friendship slightly more but it comes off as platonic with zero romantic interest. It's hampered further by the incredible amount of SoRiku subtext, which wasn't even subtext but text. Wasn't there a scene where Riku gets asked what is Sora to him and he just chokes only for Naminè to come to his rescue and answer for him that they're best friends? Legit.

I agree with *TwilightNight*. The reason that Namine's reveal is squandered on potential shipping fuel with Riku is because of how Nomura et al. chose to frame the sequence, shoving it off until the very end of the game and coding Riku with this conventionally chivalrous affect as the lone main character waiting for her when she awoke. That was a...I hesitate to use the word "deliberate," because I think it was infinitely more thoughtless than that, but it was an explicit decision to shaft Namine of a real character arc that could have given the audience something more to consider than a will they/won't they scenario with Riku. The story makes poor use of her character which centers the main points of interest referencing her on the 1 out of 3 appearances she gets that actually shed some sort of light on the circumstances of her potential future within the series. That is to say, there's nothing of actual substance to speak of with regards to how she develops in KH3, and that's the whole problem.

It's not as if there aren't a dozen or more ways she could have been reintegrated into the narrative at an earlier point in a way that might have highlighted her rapport with Kairi, or Axel, or allowed her to forge new bonds with other characters like Aqua and Ven-- or even set up a potential romance with Riku if that was the game plan. Even as a basic plot device (and we know how Nomura loves his girl-shaped plot devices!) her utility goes way beyond anything that KH3 manages to deliver, making her only contribution to the culmination of this saga, which she has been a part of for longer than TAV or Xion or most of the True Organization, skippable. But hey, in place of all that potential she maybe gets to be a girlfriend to a dude and that's super cute and inoffensive, haha.

Beautifully explained. Better than I ever could.

 

[kaseykockroach]

Sora: I promise to thank you, Namine! For real! In person! Properly!
Namine: Dude, Sora, that was, like, ten years ago. I've moved on with my life.

 

[Elysium]

Sora: I promise to thank you, Namine! For real! In person! Properly!
Namine: Dude, Sora, that was, like, ten years ago. I've moved on with my life.

LOL I had the same thought during the game. And then he STILL didn't get to say it.

 

[kaseykockroach]

I doubt Namine cares. She's got her own life now.
Sora, you idiot. She's more than just that one favor she did you a decade ago. You know what she'd appreciate more than a 'thank you' for that? Getting to know her! Ask her questions about herself! I bet she'd love it if you listened to her talk about her artwork!