News Update Review The past couple of days have been busy with updates on the new installments in the Kingdom Hearts series. We first have Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road confirmed to be released on June 22, 2020 as a mobile game. We will finally know what happened in the past to have Xehanort become a Keyblade Master of Darkness, not light. With five new characters confirmed to be present in the game in addition to Eqarues and Xehanort, we're super excited for the story. The second news has everyone on the edge with Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, especially as it's confirmed to be a rhythm game. Before the confirmation on June 16, a lot of people and myself included were curious yet dreading if it was going to a rhythm game using the same or similar mechanics like in Atlantica (KH2) and/or the Melody Catcher Reality Shift in Symphony of Sorcery (KH: DDD). I looked on the brighter side of things and thought of how the game would work involving interacting with music. The use of Unreal Engines for the graphics, Yoko Shimomura compositions as either classics or varied renditions of the classics, including the Kingdom Hearts: Orchestra Concert music, and the story revolving (mostly) around Kairi on her journey to find Sora. The 2020 Trailer showcased what Melody of Memory will look like and how it will function, better - maybe beyond better- than I and other fans initially theorized. [All images are found on Google Image] When I first read the word "melody" in the title, I thought it had relations to music; thus a rhythm game. It reminds me the Fantasia (1940) world called "Symphony of Sorcery" in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. The concept of "Sound Idea" to "dispel the darkness" (Mickey, KH:DDD) from the tainted musical score inspired another idea that I will explain later in the post. [Idea 4] The mechanics are vastly different than the previous games, which makes it more exciting! The story of the game remained unknown until the trailer released today. Fans theorized Kairi would finally get her own game where she traverses inside her Heart to find any clue on how and where to find Sora. That seems to be the case as she has more screen time in the trailer. [Source: YouTube SQUARE ENIX] Flashbacks This brings up the next and most important news. After confirming Melody of Memory as a rhythm game, it transitions into a static disruption that leads to cinematic cutscenes of what to expect and flashbacks. Fans already guessed the flashbacks belong to Kairi because her memories of Radiant Garden in Birth by Sleep were hazy. [Source: Screenshots from YouTube SQUARE ENIX] [Images found on Google Images] Supports "Personal Note" The following 4 screenshots are most talked about because it visualizes what both the Kingdom Hearts Light Novel and Ansem Report 11 talked about. In the Light Novel, there's a few pages where Apprentice Xehanort (really Terranort) asked where "the girl" was. Aeleus, one of the Apprentices of Ansem the Wise and a Palace Guard, told him she's sleeping in the "pod". Personal Note: I thought the "pod" was referred to the Memory Pods in The Old Mansion in Twilight Town. The same pods that Sora. Donald, and Goofy slept for a year for Namine to completely restore the damage she caused in their memories in Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. Sora's pod was bigger, resembling a white flower that when open, it's a blossomed flower. Since Terranort was examining her, I thought they used a pod like Sora's. Donald and Goofy pods are simpler and smaller. That would make sense for them to use since she was a child at the time of these experiments. In the Report: “I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But, there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is… I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds.” [source: Kingdom Hearts Wiki - Ansem Reports] Kairi was a child, 4 years old in Birth by Sleep. One year later after Terranort was given refuge in Radiant Garden under the Answem the Wise's apprenticeship, Darkness took over the world. Kairi, 5 years old, was sent to Destiny Islands. There was a meteor shower happening and Kairi fell from the sky onto the shores, where she was discovered by Sora [depicted in Kingdom Hearts Manga]. When she awoke, she had amnesia. With only her name remember, she didn't know where she came from, how she arrived on the Islands, what happened to her home and family. Five years worth of memory were "gone". In the KH universe, the memories are hidden than forgotten. Kairi claims to not know about her past in the original Kingdom Hearts game, but later states those memories are hazy for her when Aqua brought up their meeting in the Radiant Garden. My personal thought is that Kairi did have amnesia for awhile with the exception of her name. It's likely that over time she has flashbacks or visions or dreams so muddled and hazy that she can't find the truth. Another personal thought revolves around the ability of her Nobody, Namine, aka "The Witch". She's a unique Nobody born from both Sora and Kairi's Hearts after the events of the original Kingdom Hearts game. She has the ability to alter, destroy, and restore memories of Sora and those around him. Considering her abilities, I suspect she could uncover hidden memories buried deep within one's Heart. In Re:Mind, Riku states she's currently with the Twilight Gang - Lea, Isa, Roxas, Xion, Hayner, Pence, and Olette - looking for clues in Roxas's and Xion's memories. If given a chance, perhaps she can work with Kairi to fully unlock her hidden memories even though the latter is experiencing some flashbacks. The Ark Speaking of flashbacks, the picture below is also the talk in the fandom [Sceenshot taken from YouTube SQUARE ENIX] It's machine that has made its appearance before. [Image found on Google Images] This is the machine Sora and gang finds in a room in Hollow Bastion. At the time, we couldn't interact with it. We just entered this room and see this machine, fight enemies that appeared, and get a chest. [Image found on Google Images] Later in Kingdom Hearts Union X (KHUx), we see Malificent in a room where the machine is. The name of machine is called The Ark. Next, we see Lauriam, who is the original person of Marluxio (Nobody), enter and tells her to leave. When she refused, he summons his keyblade and proceeds to attack her. In a different cutscene, Lauriam wakes up in a now damaged room, including the machine. Injured, he proceeds to exit the room with a limp. Given The Ark was damaged and later made its appearance in Kingdom Hearts and in the Trailer, I wonder if they're exactly the same machine? If so, that means that Radiant Garden is a section of the once Daybreak Town. Scala ad Caelum was built on top of Daybreak Town, as seen when Sora and the gang fought Armored Xehanort underwater. Or were two machines made - 1 in Daybreak Town (KHUx) and 1 in Radiant Garden (KH, Trailer)? Could it have been the Master of Masters who built them? Who knows? Stars and Ideas [Screenshots taken from YouTube SQUARE ENIX] The following photos bring up other ideas I have. Here we see Kairi and Riku in The Final World. Idea 1: What if this portion is at the start of Melody of Memory like in KH3 as the opening cinematic cutscenes? Tetsuya Nomura told the public the Final World and Dive to the Heart takes place at the end of the game's plot. So what if these screenshot are actually scenes that happen at the end or towards the end of the game, but are brought to the start of the game as an opening? Idea 2: What if Kairi and Riku go to The Final World in the middle of the game because it's the hardest place to reach? Chirithy explained in KH3 that in order for someone to reach this place, they would have to either enter a very deep sleep that's near Death or actually die. Since Kairi has been sleeping for a year an Riku has been having strange dreams, they both enter the world by going under a very deep slumber that it takes there. Sora has done it countless times before, but he didn't realize it until Chirithy explained it to him. Idea 3: After the duo arrives, they're encountered by a group of Stars I have two options for this idea:
Kairi's Heart Fragments [Screenshots from YouTube SQUARE ENIX] [Mentioned on my tumblr@katukutataka and @khhcfi] In KH3 Re:Mind, Sora had to find Kairi’s fragments of Heart in Scala ad Caelum in order to undo what Master Xehanort did in the story. He manages to gather 5 Fragments from all of Scala ad Caelum. When put together, it creates a 5-petal flower. Also serves a reference to the Paopu Fruit they shared on Destiny Islands. Master Xehanort broke her Heart into 7 Fragments, so Sora was short of 2. He had to search someplace else because he ran out of time before the Other Sora and his companions arrived to fight against Master Xehanort. Through the connection of Hearts, he found the 6th Fragment in Riku. [Destiny Trio for life!] The 7th Fragment is found in King Mickey’s Heart, which I thought was surprising. I thought it’d be found in Aqua’s Heart since she saved Kairi in Birth by Sleep from the Unversed in Radiant Garden. However, I think because King Mickey was in trouble during the heat of the moment that Sora just went into his Heart. The mouse king also encountered Kairi the same time as Aqua and have interacted with her on numerous occasions throughout the games. Once Sora had all 7 Fragments, it formed the 5-petal flower with a base at the bottom serving as leafs. Her Heart Flower glowed to reveal the Keyhole that Kairi passed though. In the Kingdom Hearts 2020 Trailer, we see the same Flower appear before Kairi. It spins then glows and breaks apart once more into single Fragment. The photos shows 7 Pink Lights. The Lights seem to be heading in various directions. Sora is seen holding a pink light. I suspect that it’s one of Kairi’s that somehow found its way to him. Perhaps the purpose of scattering her Heart Flower was to find Sora. That way, she can sense where the Fragments are and travel the distance to meet him. I’m not sure if the remaining Fragments will either go to Sora or return to Kairi with the exception of the one that found him. You can see in the last photo (bottom right) that Sora has the smallest smile as he's holding Kairi's Pink Light. I suppose is nostalgic of his brief quest in KH3 to find all 7 Fragments and/or he's comforted by the familiar presence. Other Observations Something struck me when I looked back at The Secret Reports in Kingdom Hearts 3. KH3 secret report 3: Experiments of the Heart Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 1-- Subject was found in the central square shortly after dawn. Female, approximately fifteen years old. After seven days' observation, she spoke her first words, but could not provide a name. Subject exhibits signs of profound amnesia, and displays concern about which world this is. Her words suggest that she departed her home world with others, though she cannot recall the names of her erstwhile companions. All efforts to explore those memories have met with a rejection response. After his initial experiments on me, Ansem the Wise ceased his research into the heart, his hand stayed by some fear I cannot fathom. Yet this new subject is like me: devoid of memories. She is the perfect sample upon which to continue my master's work. She, too, could benefit from it: by traversing the heart, we have a direct path into memory. I myself have begun to reclaim my lost past thanks to these very experiments. Who is she? Whence has she come? These are questions no scientist could ignore. And the words she muttered, "May your heart be your guiding key"... —Xehanort [Source: Kingdom Hearts Wiki - The Secret Reports (KH3)] Yes, I'm very aware that Xehanort is referring to Subject X - Skuld. However, the bolded section of the report really struck me odd in an interesting way.
Thank you for reading this long and dense post! It's a lot to process with the amount of information that's being released everyday for Melody of Memory and Dark Road's release in a few days.
Always welcomed to share it on other sites but please give me FULL CREDIT. I worked really hard for this and I don't want people sharing my ideas without giving proper credit. Let me know what you think by commenting on my website or sending a comment/ask on either or both of my tumblr pages: https://katukutataka.tumblr.com/ https://khhcfi.tumblr.com/ [if links don't work, copy and paste it your search bar] Thanks and stay tuned for more to come!
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