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Will The Queen Be In Future Games?



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Face My Fears

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And by The Queen, I mean Utada Hikaru. There was enough time between KH2 and KH3 that Utada was able to go on indefinite hiatus and return. But what if she goes on hiatus again?

Can we have a KH game without Utada singing the theme? Should she do the themes for Phase 2 games or should someone else? Should the artist for the theme change with each game?

I personally think that if Utada is not able to do it, then no more KH games.
 

Zettaflare

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If she can continue to do new themes for Phase 2 then that's great. But if not then I say bring in a new singer. I want new songs more then i want Utada to be the sole singer of the series
 

Cumguardian69

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fmf and dtt/chikai weren't all that great OR fitting for KH3, so I personally don't care if she's gone for KH saga 2.8 final remix prologue. It's time for something new
 

Sign

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I feel like most of us figured she only returned for KH3 out of obligation and doesn't want to continue with the series, which is fine. If that's the case, I hope they'd be willing to just choose a new artist instead of trying to brute force their way with endless remixes until Utada agrees to do another song lol
 

okhi12

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When I read the title I thought you were going to ask if Minnie would return, hahaha.

I'd like Utada to sing new songs for future games, but if she doesn't and there's a new singer I'd be fine with that.

Not wanting any more KH games if there's not Utada's songs in them seems a bit extreme to me, specially if she retires on her own will and it's not Square Enix's fault. But I know Utada is a very important part of KH to many players who are huge fans of her and it's ok if you feel that way, I can understand it.

I'm a huge fan of Yoko Shimomura, and if she were to leave the KH series... that would be terrible news for me. That's why I understand your point.

Maybe Yoko Shimomura is much more important to me than Utada Hikaru because I hear Yoko's music all the time while playing the game and Utada is just there in the opening and ending. And because I tend to prefer videogame soundtracks (without lyrics) than singers.
 

legacier

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If they follow the tradition of only having new theme songs for numbered titles, the next chance for her to appear would be KH4, so it's hard to say because not even the Master of Masters can see that far into the future.

But seriously, she turned down Square's requests to record new songs for side games, so I think her main reason for working on the numbered titles is publicity, not because she has any particular love for Kingdom Hearts. Perhaps it's a question of how popular future titles will be.

But of course I'd love to see her return to KH for future games. If she doesn't, KH4 should still have its own theme song, even if it's performed by someone else. I think it would be kind of weird for KH4 to not have a song of its own.
 

AmaryllisMoth

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mf and dtt/chikai weren't all that great OR fitting for KH3, so I personally don't care if she's gone for KH saga 2.8 final remix prologue. It's time for something new

While I agree that the English versions of all the themes tend to not fit in terms of lyricism (a point which tends to frustrate me considering how great the Japanese lyrics are) I am curious why you believe Chikai in particular doesn't fit KH3.

Totally understand Don't Think Twice (an entire verse of lyrics was cut out for heaven's sake) but Chikai is great imo. Thematically it focuses on the emotions of tiny, particular moments of closeness with someone you care about, being exactly in that moment, and appreciating the person right next to you and wishing for those moments to continue forever. It's about a promise to be together, forever and fully understanding what that means and the emotions behind it. Considering that one of the main quotes that keeps popping up between Sora and Kairi was "I'll always be with you" that seems to fit quite perfectly. There was also the aspect of "even if there isn't a lot of time, try to make the moments you have together count" that Sora was trying to do in the ending. (Let's also not forget that the final line in the song is literally talking about sitting shoulder-to-shoulder watching a sunrise together).

The lyrics of Don't Think Twice kind of drop that nuance entirely and go for a different vibe of "oh thank goodness we are committed now!" which I like a lot less and feels far less connected to the series.

In regards to Face my Fears there are fewer lyrics to speak of since most of it is synth stuff but the lyrics in Japanese again feel a bit less...I dunno cliche-ish? The English uses a lot of more cliche stuff like "I got nothing to lose, how about you walk a mile in my shoes" kinda thing but the Japanese lyrics are about forging a new path, even if you have to start at the beginning and being excited to meet the new you at the end of the road. Uses quite a lot of "map" imagery in its metaphors as well. I also found it particularly poetic with her choosing to use lyrics like (in translation) "the ocean...is not far off" considering how the ocean/Destiny Islands is often used as a goal to reach in the series. (But also, literally ocean = Kairi if we want to go that far).

Also just the closing line: 私の知らない私に早く会いたい (I can't wait to meet the me I don't know) feels almost like a subtle nod towards Sora wanting to help out the other sides of "himself" aka Roxas/Xion (and in part, Ven). Far more beautiful imo than the simple "watch me cry all my tears" in English.

But yeah, just my opinion that the Japanese versions at least have always fit very nicely.

That being said I'm personally still miffed the most about Passion vs Sanctuary. Passion's lyrics are an absolutely beautiful take on nostalgia and things changing as we grow up but Sanctuary always came across as a bit of a shallow generic love song. Hikari also is the far superior song between that and Simple and Clean even just from the title of the song itself, not to mention just the pure symbolism in the lyrics in regards to the game theme. (Though I will say the music video of her just cleaning dishes in her kitchen in relation to 'simple and clean' is straight up amazing).

I love Utada to bits, I really do, but I have always felt like her English lyrics are far less poetic and tend to miss the mark compared to her Japanese ones. I'm not sure if that's because she feels like English-speaking audiences like having the same words repeated back over and over more often or something but she tends to kind of pare her words down and loop them far more frequently in the translated versions which is sad because lots of meaning is left on the cutting room floor.

I hope she continues making songs in the series because her voice is beautiful and I love the themes and lyrics of her music in Japanese, but at the same time it would be nice to have both versions actually feel comparable in meaning. I feel like people who only know the English versions of the songs are missing out on quite a lot.

I do think it would be nice to possibly see other artists featured, though, as that potentially may open up more western interest in more Japanese artists?
 
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Chie

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But seriously, she turned down Square's requests to record new songs for side games
We don't really know the circumstances of this though (Nomura just said it didn't come to fruition, not that she didn't want to do it) and it was her idea to record two songs for 3.
 
D

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We don't really know the circumstances of this though (Nomura just said it didn't come to fruition, not that she didn't want to do it) and it was her idea to record two songs for 3.
I thought that she asked for Skrillex to do a remix of Chikai/Dtt but Skrillex suggested they do a new song instead.
 

Chie

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That might be it, I'm just going on what I've read Nomura say, which sounds like they asked her for one song and she said "how about two?". That could be why she came up with doing two though.
 
D

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Yeah, on Utada's website it says that it was Skrillex's idea to do a new song but I guess she told Nomura about it herself.
 

SweetYetSalty

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I remember during the long wait to KH3, I heard Utada would not return for KH3 due to money or something like that. So I was happy to hear she was back for KH3 with her new songs. Utada is a important part of Kingdom Hearts for me. I don't want her to go, but if she didn't return or retired on her own, I would accept it and still go into the future of the series.
 

Elysium

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I hope she continues to return. That said, I won't be as bothered by her leaving the series and being replace by a new voice now the first saga is over with. I'm just grateful we got her back for KH3 for two great songs
 

SuperNova

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If Utada decides not to return for KH4 then I am happy enough that she left us with two great songs from KH3. Seriously Face my Fears is a BOP and right behind Sanctuary for me in the line of theme songs. Until KH4 releases I am pretty sure the newer games will use remixes of FMF (please no more remixes of S&C) so we won't know for awhile.
 

SuperSaiyanSora

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Recording artists are a very unpredictable bunch, so you really never know. (Speaking as one myself, hi, yes, hello there.) In 2024, if a KH4 is ready to go, there's no telling if Utada is even going to still be in the industry by that point in time. There's so many things that can happen in her personal life that brings her to the conclusion of "Y'know what? I think it's time to hang it up." Whether it's on a happy note or it's a sad note, there will come a time when she's going to not record anymore, at least not for the public listeners.

Something also to consider is that Utada herself has never played the games, so she's not a fan in the traditional sense -- even though she plays a huge role in the series from a presentation standpoint. So making a new song for the next main entry could be strictly business and it depends on what she's being paid. Or, she has a soft-spot for this whole franchise and comes back because of how much it means to people. We don't know. It all depends on what was agreed on with Square, and all sorts of music business stuff. Until she says it herself (unless she actually did explain the situation for KH3 in that livestream a while ago), it's up in the air.

So with that being said, I do think people should start getting used to the idea of her not returning at some point. Expecting her to be there until the series end is extremely unlikely (and honestly unfair on her end), especially when you consider that Nomura doesn't seem to have any plans for ending the franchise any time soon (in fact, you almost get the sense that he's just beginning). If she's willing to, then that's great news, but if she isn't, then that's okay too. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if KH4 didn't have her returning this time.
 
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