I think it's worth noting that Kairi is basically the archetype of stagnancy/complacency. She doesn't really have much struggles or issues - she's a pure heart, she's literally perfect. No she's not the most skilled in every way, but she basically coasts on without really having to work hard for anything really. She's a derogatory form of a Princess, someone who just has to sit by and look pretty, which is something you could argue Disney films have been guilty of. But it's through this complacency/stagnancy and no real drive to do anything or go anywhere (never growing up, never obtaining skills til later, but still holding others together) that her main weakness is shown. I've known people like Kairi in my life and really other lives - people who refuse to grow up, try to coast by with quick easy solutions, cons, or scams. And don't really get any other skills aside from their inherent charisma - AMAB and AFAB alike. That's why it's intriguing that she's finally finding her spark - not as late as many I've known, but the point is she is indeed PUSHING herself to not only grow up, but also find her own passion, her own reason for being. And while that passion is she wants to stop being taken care of because she sees her two friends actively putting themselves in harm's way to see new sights and make the world around them a better place instead of staying on the idyllic Destiny Islands, and instead take care of them - particularly Sora, not just hold his heart together but actually protect him - it's the beginnings of her finding a real, ACTUAL passion that doesn't depend on others to exist. Similar to Sora inevitably realizing that his friends are his power, and he is theirs. Riku realizing that he's a protective force for others but he should not protect out of obligation to repent for a debt, but instead to do it because he's passionate about fighting and growing as a person, as well as protecting others and making the world a better place. And now, Kairi, inevitably realizing that she needs to find her own passions in life that don't revolve around these two boys, in order to grow for herself, for her own sake, not for their sake. Because it's once she lets go of them as her driving force that she will truly be able to flourish in her OWN way.
another fun Kairi/Ven parallel: Childhood Amnesia courtesy of Magical Mad Scientists & constantly being put into "Naptime" by the Narrative. definitely something to bond over. (:
Ha... ha... ha. That element of Kairi passing on her Princess of Heart title to someone else and letting darkness into her heart couldn't at ALL be experimental bullshit that Xehanort traumatized her with that she'll remember under Aqua... Ha... ha... oh shit. :^)
The fact that Kairi didn't want to grow up could be why she's still a Princess of Heart. As a heart of pure light could just mean the innocence of childhood. So for Kairi to give up the position of a Princess of Heart will make her face darkness, the reality that nothing is truly pure and the fact she has to grow up. Plus we could see her using the stance she takes in both the Opening of KHDDD and the scene where Sora faces Xemnas in his dreams. Since that could be the stance she's meant to take as her own stance. So when she takes it she would have finally changed, having finally grown up to be her own person. Also, watching the video, i realized that Riku rushing to leave Destiny Island could be the same as rushing towards the future. While Sora is happy livig in the present, waiting for what comes next. Which works well with how Kairi wanted to cling to her childhood. Staying in the past.
That bit about a heart of pure light meaning the innocence of childhood actually makes a lot of sense. Of the original Princesses of Heart in KH1, Kairi, Alice, and Snow White are children (Snow White is only 14 in the Disney film, same as Kairi). The oldest is in fact Cinderella, who is only 19. While the age of majority is 18 in a number of countries, there is documented evidence that human maturation ends at around 25, so 19 would still technically count as childhood. So would 21, the age of Elsa, who is noted to be a Princess of Heart in KH3 despite being crowned as Queen shortly before Sora's arrival. Adding to this is that Minnie used to be a Princess of Heart herself, but no longer is. She is also established as being a fully grown adult, as well as a married woman. Meanwhile, each of the original Seven, with the exception of Kairi and possibly Alice, are visually shown to be on the verge of leaving Childhood behind in KH1; Cinderella, Aurora, and Belle are in their ballgowns, and they plus Jasmin and Snow White are all soon to be engaged to their respective Princes, and taking on responsibilities reflecting their status as Princesses. And while some might argue that Cinderella was already being a responsible woman before meeting her Prince, I will remind you all that those "responsibilities" were forced upon her by her abusive stepmother, rather than ones she took upon herself of her own volition.
@@leshyaedawnfire This may also be Why Ariel was never a Princess of Heart. She was so eager to grow up and she other worlds that despite only being 16, she’d left childhood behind. She still has the nativity of someone her age, but she’s set on maturing and doing more adult-oriented things.
I would kill for Kairi to have her own game training with the Wayfinder trio. I think it would be a fantastic opportunity to place her arc and the themes surrounding it out in the open, without it being overshadowed by whatever Sora and Riku are doing.
Without a doubt, based on what I know of people with Kairi's mindset, Kairi's not gonna become stronger JUST by training under Aqua. It'll help a ton and is a big step forward, but it won't be what actually solves it. It's quite likely due to her trauma and general reliance on others that Kairi doesn't much trust herself to make decisions that'll pan out in any triumphant way, and it's quite possible that what Sora said in the underground caverns stuck with her - but even outside of that it stuck with her FURTHER because of how events played out in KH2. Inevitably while Kairi will have to learn the basics from Aqua, Kairi is going to have to extrapolate on those basics and what she has learned by watching others (Lea, Sora, Riku, etc.) and inevitably make her own style that works for her based on how she finds it most comfortable to hold herself in a fight. I for one am looking forward to it, if it goes that direction. :) I like how deep and thoughtful you are with your analyses, always touching on these things.
I don't know why it wasn't mentioned or perhaps i missed it. Namine's main fear was being forgotten. That checks a lot of the boxes in this video... namine is really like a stranded kairi without a sora and riku to help her. i can lengthily prescribe an analogy, though i won't. this was a lovely analysis
Glad you enjoyed my analysis. Your point about Namine's fear of being forgotten also lines up pretty well with the analysis of Namine I'm working on as part of my next season.
This video gave me hope for Kairi's future as a character. I'm really hoping she'll get the focus and screentime she needs to really explore this arc. The themes of not wanting to grow up and living for others expectations rather than yourself are concepts that really touch me on a personal level. Honestly, thank you for this video.
This is perhaps the most brilliant and thoughtful interpretation of Kairi's character I've ever seen. It never sat right with me that she was so written off as a character, but you've made it make sense. That her lack of development is actually, possibly, part of her own story. She /is/ a character with agency, but the way she's been expressing that agency so far doesn't feel real or genuine, because as you said, she's making decisions with the hope of clinging to the past. People tend to cry 'sexism' at the mention of Kairi's character, and yeah there aren't that many lady characters in KH, but it makes sense that Nomura would have bigger plans for Kairi than what we've seen so far.
I hate it when people say Kairi's lack of character development is cause of sexism. There are plenty of great female characters in this series. Aqua is a strong, but still kind person with a very compelling story. Xion is also a very compelling character. Her personality is nice and has probably the most tragic story in the series. Larxene is one of the most memorable villains in the series and has a fun sadistic personality that really makes her feel like a genuine threat. Namine is also very present throughout the series. Her powers and her situation make her very interesting. Loneliness is a very relatable subject. Skuld is a great girl and a capable warrior like Aqua. The fact that Kairi isn't used in the same way as them obviously has a reason. Like Howler said.
I love watching your videos. You always provide evidence from the games rather than only giving conjecture. I feel like my mind is blown with each episode that comes out. "Even if we're apart, I'll always be with you." I can't believe what Sora said to Kairi almost completely mirrors what Christopher said to Pooh in a movie about Pooh accepting that Christopher won't always be with him and that sometimes friends drift apart. I admit I was a bit skeptical about the parallel between Pooh and Kairi even after seeing the similarities on twitter of Pooh's book missing Sora and the ending shot of KH3 with Sora disappearing, but you've helped convince me. I did notice that Kairi's battle stance from DDD was changed to mirror Sora's in KH3, but I didn't notice that those flashbacks of child Sora and child Riku sparring has them use the exact same battle stances that they do now. They really were training since little.
Good video. Personally i think it was a really good idea to have her go to aqua bc terra's likely going to be there too. They could not only take care of her and help her level up but also ask her personal questions and have her open up
When you put Kairi’s characterization/ arc that way. She reminds me of how I felt in high school with my childhood best friend. We were very close since the 3rd grade. But in high school noticed that we didn’t hang out as much. We were still on good term but it hurt that our relationship wasn’t the same anymore. It wasn’t until after college that I saw her again. We randomly bumped into each other in a store. It was comforting to know that even though our paths tuck us in different directions, we were still important to each other. I can see something similar happening to Kairi and her friendships to Sora and Riku. Side note: it seems the trio grows the most when they have some time to themselves to reflect on their own lives. Riku has already done it and Sora and Kairi are kinda avoiding it
This proves how much intressting Kairi's character is, even tho she doesn't get as much screentime as the boys she's still a really consistent character. It's sad that people only want to see her become badass and kick butts and compare her to Sora and Riku, especially that it's unfair for her to be compared to them as they're the two main protagonists while she's a secondary character I also find it intressting that Sora, Riku and Kairi can be seen as going threw the Heroine's journey. I'm kinda hopeful about her and think that she will get some devlopement to discover herself again and understand that her friendship with Sora and Riku will change but that it doesn't mean that it's a bad thing (eventhought it will most likely be off screen that she'll grow)
I can't even express how much I love this episode its all so fucking perfect. I really hope Kairis training under aqua really helps her figure out who she is and grow
Adding onto a previous comment, but in this comment. It's pretty accurate that it's TRAUMA that caused her passion to be unable to fuel her and basically just stayed complacent and stagnant. Most people who end up in her state, end up that way due to trauma. Often due to insecurity in what they're capable of, or too much fear about what lays outside because they still haven't resolved what hurt them. Xehanort's treatment of Kairi could easily be allegorized as an assault trauma or even parental abuse trauma, or even more literally: kidnapping and abuse trauma. Coupled with gaslighting trauma. Given how it affected her.
Kairi over here telling Sora not to change and stay happy, meanwhile Sora over here constantly misunderstanding peoples' intentions and actively forsaking his negative emotions which strains his heart as his light and darkness grow bigger and bigger - especially as he's a constant sponge and conduit for others'. Honestly makes sense he's a King at the end of the day. In the end he's easily a conduit for everyone's light and darkness, while also having a giant ass light and darkness of his own. He just needs to resolve it so his heart can stop being tatters.
Aaah a kairi episode as well!!! 🤩😁 Lovely summary of everything we know about kairi, basically, and god I want this so bad. If the aqua training ends up offscreen like the Axel one.... I don't know how much more hope we can have for her.... Pls Nomura....
I've been watching all your videos multiple times for days now, and wow! I absolutely adore them! Not only do you make and incredible job at summarizing and explaining in simple but efective way the themes and the direction the series is taking, it's also just, such a delight to hear you talk about it, because you clearly love and appreciate all the effort and thought that goes into creating the story for this games! And that is something that I feel a lot of the other youtubers and videos explaining or theorizing about the franchise lack. I adore this series with all my heart, and the story and it's themes is one of the main reasons why. It makes me so happy that another person feels the same way!
Loved the video. Even if Kairi is far from being my favorite character or even the best written, she always seems to get the most interesting analysis'. I always wondered why people hated this interpretation of her character. One, there's a lot of evidence behind it, and two, it's interesting to see a character learn to be able to drift a little and breathe in a series all about friendship. Kairi, Riku, and Sora can still be friends. I'm confident they always will be. However, I feel like for Kairi to come into herself, she has to spend time with them, and other keyblade wielders to let her look at things from a new *light*. Also, I loved how you contrasted Riku and Kairi from each other. That was a comparison I never made. I've been thinking of Sora and Kairi as very similar characters for a long time, but I never realized that Kairi and Riku could be inversions of each other's arcs.
Man, it's no wonder my subconscious chose to name myself Kairi, I really am a lot more like her then I thought. 😅 And my friendship with my best friend is a lot like Sora and Kairi's friendship. Pretty strange... but that's just a coincidence based on logic and reason. 😁 I like the weird timing that she's finally starting to do things just like I'm trying to do things... Nice discussion.
Loved this video! I’ve been thinking a lot about Kairi’s lack of agency lately. MoM actually ended up being, despite some disappointment in the narrative direction from fans, one of the most interesting and promising things to happen to Kairi.
Thank you so much for these videos! I always had a bitter taste in my mouth (as I assume a lot of people do) about Kairi in general, and I really hope that they will allow her time to grow into her own person and face her fears about growing up and losing the same type of connection you have with your friends when you're young.
I certainly feel more confident about where Kairi’s going post-MoM, than I did post 0.2 that’s for sure. *whispers* Also because they got the scenario writer of Neo:TWEWY, which is an excellent game with really good characterization across the board.
Another nice one! You gave me hope for her, thank you Howler! I really didn't like how they treated her in KH3, but your analysis gave me some perspective at least. It's always a pleasure to watch your videos 😍
Reobtaining old abandoned links of information is very similar to remembering past life experiences. Going fishing and occasionally having a burst of stimulus that causes a shit ton of things connected back. The worst is when it's nothing but trauma links that are all connected to each other that all come up with the pull of a fishing line in one shot. :^)
This was a fantastic video! While I do think it would have been nice if she could have done more instead of always being the damsel in distress and being playable much sooner while also keeping this idea of Nomura basically doing 20 years of set up for Kairi arc you raise some excellent points. I never realized how much Kairi latches herself onto Sora and Riku which explains a lot about how she acts and even how she fights as you pointed out. I really do hope you're right about Kairi training under Aqua being a step forward in Kairi character development because it has a lot of potential.
I note both that Memories can be used to resurrect things, and connect things. Now, on to Kairi, I believe Kairi is a Attractor Light in most of the Series. By this I mean Kairi's Light shapes everyone around her, except her. Most of Sora's goals have her in it. Namine, the Shadow of her, unwinds his whole existence. And Riku spends all of KH1 trying to be worthy of Sora and Kairi. Darkness is drawn in and shifts around her. However, Kairi's help is more like the Miracle of Light directly then her own determination. Like you said, she refuse to move to the Future and stays in the past. It reminds me of Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
@@slateoffate9812 well i thought Aqua and Xion got great character development and they are capable keyblade wielders. If it can happen to them why not Kairi? Maybe it's wishful thinking but i just like to remain positive.
Thanks for the good work, CK! I might give your KH videos a go later! Here are some notes I made during your video: 10:45 I am SO GLAD that someone else saw this! In the lore of Star Wars (Disney property as well), that particular stance can be linked to both Form II Makashi (Count Dooku) and Form VI Niman (a jack-of-all-trades style, yet the opening stance is similar). Notable points of interest include: - Makashi: EXTREME focus, elegant and critical-strike oriented bladework. Has a high special-attack stat (we see Kairi in the KH3 DLC having powerful magic and AOE attacks) - Practitioners of Form VI had more focus on scholarly pursuits rather than combat. Kairi LOVES stories (and probably books). In other words: A Form II and VI hybrid that emphasizes the (cool of) mind, whereas her friends Sora and Riku are prone to be reckless and/or stubborn. 12:15 SMART move to have a female write/interpret a female character Women have a tendency to not have/lose a CLEAR image of who they are, so they imitate others. *Makashi especially: without inner strength/resolution, this Form/mindset is USELESS in practice 13:14 Kairi has mostly been portrayed as a (faux, in my opinion) tomboy. Having female companions - along with Namine, Xion, Olette and Aqua - might help her 'realize' herself fully. As we know, *most women rely/depend/need/want a social network. This, in turn, might help Namine and Xion grow as well 14:22 I wonder how Kairi would handle one-on-one conversations with Terra... Also, I wonder if Terra has glimpses of his imprisonment? 14:48 Namine has the power to manipulate Sora and those connected to him (she's SCARY powerful in that sense). Surely, she could alter Kairi's as well? *Remember the trailer for *Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts?* Kairi is standing alongside the Twilight Gang in front of the Mansion. Foreshadowing? And/or it has something to do with Subject X, seeing as she, too, suffered from memory loss? 17:47 Good points. As M.Xehanort said in KH BbS: "... the *tyranny* of Light". Can also be compared to Star Wars: The Clone Wars *Mortis Arc* The Daughter (the Light) is selfless, but also arrogant, blinded to her immediate situation (ironically), and self-righteous. Something to ponder, indeed... 19:48 Clinging to the past, refusal to grow up... Sounds like a meta-journey for the old KH fans and players, yes? *Could aid in bringing back that OG KH1 'magic' of atmosphere and mystery 21:29 In line with her OG KH1 and manga personality
how interesting so nomura wanted her playable at the start 18 yrs later that moment finally came and i know phase 2 will focus alot on her even tho she doesn't physically contribute her keeping sora together did help him beat xehanort in the end
Capital “D” Darkness meddling with Kairi would be very fitting considering the form Darkness takes is a Dark reflection of Sora, Vanitas. Kairi giving up her power as a princess of heart would also symbolically be her letting go of her childhood and everyone’s expectations of her in one full swing. Also, in response to Kairi taking center stage, at least in the Disney world traveling, means she will be just like another protagonist of a set of trilogies. BBS was totally Nomura’s spin on the Star Wars Prequels, so if history repeats itself, Nomura might re-examine Kairi like Rey in the SW sequels. Maybe he’ll even push it as far as where The Last Jedi hinted at, but that’s just me speculating.
great analysis. With perspective I think she falls into a common trope of character, and I hope they do finish her off with some real character growth. I'm sort of seeing Kairi as the Childhood friend with a crush, I'm sure we all know the trope. I'm thinking Ginny Weasley, Orihime, Hinata, and so many more examples, where this character gets the most characterization from their feelings for the protagonist. What I'd love to see would be for Kairi to buck the trend of these characters just remaining static and honestly a little dull, by us being shown her moving past childhood feelings and growing up to appreciate their friend but not having their entire existence revolve around them. What typically happens is that writers somehow miss how toxic this narrative is and the characters are rewarded with the protagonists love, cause if you just love someone and makes them your entire existence they'll definitely love you back >.> It's really bad writing.
Oh gosh. I agree with this so much. It's like a reverse white knight scenario. Obviously if you're nice to a girl or help them once, that girl is obligated to like you back. Obviously if a girl makes their entire life about you then you have to like them back. Both approaches are bad but I've seen way too many authors and fans buy into this to the point of being outraged in series where the girl really does move on from the protag. I wish more series would address just how toxic it is.
I love this analysis, my only problem with it is that I feel like this arc could have been started in KH3, but they didn’t. It could have been more of the focus of MoM, but it wasn’t. So even though the building block of the Heroine’s journey are there, I can’t trust that it will actually happen. Video games are different from traditional narratives in that non-player characters have a lack of agency that makes it difficult to have an ensemble cast. You can’t have NPCs fighting the bad guys, the player has to do that. ReMind was a start to solving this problem, but I don’t think it’s a solution that works in the long term. Most of Riku’s biggest redemptions happen in games where he has long, playable campaigns like CoM and DDD. Kairi needs something like that if she really wants to feel like a main character. Otherwise she’ll be relegated to “love interest” forever, no matter how interesting her arc is. The fact is that people already love Kairi. Her character arc isn’t the problem.
@@indedgames4359 I do believe that Nomura wants to give her more focus, and my personal theory is that what he wants to do with Kairi’s arc is connected to his plans for the whole unreality plotline (given that Xehanort in MelMem implies that she might actually be able to make it there for some reason when he yeets her off to Destiny Islands), and that he was waiting until he could implement that storyline before he moved forward with her arc (since the whole Verum Rex/Quadratum stuff was first teased via Toy Story in KH3, and Nomura has been trying to get that movie into the series since KH1). That said, I’m not sure your idea that they’re life partners holds up in the face of Nomura’s consistent “friends drift apart as they get older and that’s okay” messaging with the Destiny Trio that I talked about in this video, along with the fact that Sora never expresses the desire to spend time with her when she’s not in danger (I talk about it more in Episode 9, but he’s perfectly fine spending the rest of his life in the realm of darkness at the end of KH2 and never seeing her again because he and Riku are together… we never see him try to text or call her in KH3 despite him constantly being shown trying to text or call Riku…. Heck, when Re:coded presents us with a virtual recreation of KH1, the focus is entirely on the digital versions of Sora and Riku, while Kairi isn’t even mentioned until towards the end).
Maaaaan, don't get me excited for Kairi's future again. We all know they'll fumble the bag. I really felt it when you mentioned the hype of the DDD secret ending and the letdown in KH3, and then again when Sora had to step in for MoM. I lost it when it just said she's been asleep for a year. This video at least gives her character a good throughline for the whole series that I've never really appreciated before. I still think they could've done a much better job showing her struggles with this stuff if that's what they were going for. Because as it is with the way it's told it's very easy to not even think about it enough to realize that it's at least consistent and makes sense. I think a big part of the issue is the story so far is so long and spread out that even though on paper her character arc of having to realize and make decisions for herself is good, the pacing is abysmal and has left fans disappointed for nearly 2 decades now. Honestly this series could've done with a lot more of just slice of life hanging out with friends, beyond the intro to KH1, you barely actually get to see the trio interact. And for a game that's so focused on friendship, you sure don't get to be friends with your friends very much. It's amazing it's made me care about their relationships as much as it does. But that's probably just childhood me filling in the gaps. But anyway if she really does finally glow up in the next installment I'm sure I'll be squealing with the rest of em. For now I shall remain, cautiously optimistic..
to be fair to kairi she's really new to the keyblade arts, so is tecnically fine that she' couldn't beat alone the freaking biggest bad guy of the game till now, one is going really good in the training and theory, the other is experience ofc sora and riku had more time than her to become better and stronger so is better that sora did help her out she probably gonna lose that fight sadly. but is still possible in the future that she's gonna make it ,she's alone with aqua, probably we play her when riku and sora have all the shenanigans in quadratum, if they do something with the light world
It's always nice when you bring up things I've already foolishly commented about. :^) But interacting is interacting and that's still fun. I wanted to bring up the fact that while Sora seems to enjoy combat, it's possible that part of that enjoyment just comes from the fact that Riku was always pushing for the sparring as well as his other friends. A masculine archetype of enjoying battle over any other kind of play, game, or skillset. And when you take into consideration (which you probably will in a later video, knowing you) things like how Riku admonished Sora for believing in Santa Claus, it becomes more and more clear that Riku was kind of a Goddamn bully to Sora even more than it seemed. Riku loved the SHIT out of Sora, even if he didn't know how to show it in a positive way (possibly due to parental circumstances or not having any good role models), and ultimately kind of acted like an ass to Sora unintentionally like other characters have as well. Taking that into consideration, it makes more and more sense how the empathic and open Sora became more and more reclusive and repressed over the years, starting with spending most of his time around Riku who probably made him feel like shit whenever he acted like a kid. You said yourself Riku is constantly in a rush to grow up and make a difference, up until he fucking realizes it's not so great. Riku clearly knows that he did a pretty shitty thing to Sora throughout childhood, and likely feels obligated to make up for that - with the narrative lens of how he betrayed Sora in KH1 being the meat of it so they don't have to dabble too much on what they were like as kids. Taking this into account it makes far more sense why Riku was scared of hurting Sora even more, and why he cherished the fact that Sora forgave him so readily even if he hadn't fully resolved all of the emotions and pain Riku had put him through yet. And it's why Riku believes in him so much. Sora kept his heart open to everyone no matter what, he shares their burdens - far more than even Ven does. Sora rages and cries for others, and tends to not have much to say about his own problems. And Riku sees that strength to endure anything and everything, sponge in everything no matter how bad it is, and still come out on top even if he needs to do it alone. Which is why he encourages Sora, even though he doesn't know explicitly how to tell Sora that he needs to resolve what has happened to him before he keeps going. Riku so desperately wants to reach out to Sora in a meanignful way, but again (possibly how his parents raised him) his own emotional inadequacies hold him back. Whereas Sora is CONSTANTLY emotional and filled to the brim with soft skills, not just combat skills at this point.
I really like this idea I would really love for kairi to be the bad ass she needs to be I really liked her as a tomboy But now she's been meh I think her getting a personality and getting her own fighting stance will help Plus now that Sora is trapped in the kwadra something is the good chance for her to save Sora Plus I really like how namine, xion and kairi have the memory thing in common Pretty nice
Aqua training Kairi isn’t a bad idea, it just makes the training she did in KH3 feel pointless and like filler. I wasn’t one of those people who expected Kairi to show up in KH3 and be a badass fighter, because that was too unrealistic. She has never even shown an interest in combat until recently unlike Sora and Riku who were sparring on the islands since they were little kids. But I was hoping KH3 was setting Kairi up for her own future adventure. This is why I really wanted Kairi to go to Quadratum with Riku. I wanted this to be a DDD style game where Riku and Kairi travel together to find and save Sora, expressing their feelings about Sora and the bond between them. Just how we got a Wayfinder Trio game in BBS, a Sea-Salt Trio game in Days, I wanted a Quadratum game to be the Destiny Trio game that leads into KH4 where Sora finally returns.
Got sidetracked and took a while to reply to this, but I completely understand that frustration with how KH3 makes her training feel pointless. I felt the same way when I actually played the game. But with the benefit of hindsight I think it was necessary. Looking back, she wasn’t doing the training because she wanted to do it for its own sake, but because she saw it as a way to hold onto her friendship with Sora and Riku by doing what they were doing. And because she was focused on trying to be more like them in the hopes that they’d stay friends, she wasn’t approaching her training with consideration for what methods and fighting styles were a good fit for her own strengths and weaknesses. So having her first go at training metaphorically blow up in her face like that is ultimately a crucial step in helping her step outside of Sora+Riku’s shadows and figure out what works for her. Trying to copy them and failing spectacularly demonstrates the consequences of her giving up so much of herself in order to try and please others and (along with the events of MoM) help force her to confront the fact that this pattern is holding her back as both a Keyblade wielder and as a person. I do believe that the Destiny Trio will reunite and get their time to shine fighting side by side one day, but I don’t think that will happen in the Quadratum game. Because before the bond between the three of them can be reaffirmed, like I said in the video she has to figure out who she is outside of that bond first. Because having her team up with the boys before she completes that journey of self-discovery would only serve to keep her stuck in that mindset of copying others for validation. Only by taking that step back at the end of MoM can she force herself to break out of that pattern and find a healthier way of maintaining friendships.
I'm personally of the opinion that she's from Quadratum, since her flashback to Apprenticenort sending her off in MoM implies that there’s something about her that made AX think that the ark would send her to “The Other Side” instead of Destiny Islands
I definitely agree she admires him. But that admiration is _not_ the reason she’s imitating him. And that’s _why_ that imitation is a bad thing. She’s not imitating Sora because of her admiration of him, but because she’s afraid he (and Riku) won’t be her friend anymore if she can’t squeeze herself into a metaphorical box in order to constantly remain by his side. And by doing so, whether conscious of it or not, she’s neglecting, if not outright rejecting, aspects of her psyche/personality that don’t fit within the limits of said box.
I think it's worth noting that Kairi is basically the archetype of stagnancy/complacency. She doesn't really have much struggles or issues - she's a pure heart, she's literally perfect. No she's not the most skilled in every way, but she basically coasts on without really having to work hard for anything really. She's a derogatory form of a Princess, someone who just has to sit by and look pretty, which is something you could argue Disney films have been guilty of. But it's through this complacency/stagnancy and no real drive to do anything or go anywhere (never growing up, never obtaining skills til later, but still holding others together) that her main weakness is shown. I've known people like Kairi in my life and really other lives - people who refuse to grow up, try to coast by with quick easy solutions, cons, or scams. And don't really get any other skills aside from their inherent charisma - AMAB and AFAB alike.
That's why it's intriguing that she's finally finding her spark - not as late as many I've known, but the point is she is indeed PUSHING herself to not only grow up, but also find her own passion, her own reason for being. And while that passion is she wants to stop being taken care of because she sees her two friends actively putting themselves in harm's way to see new sights and make the world around them a better place instead of staying on the idyllic Destiny Islands, and instead take care of them - particularly Sora, not just hold his heart together but actually protect him - it's the beginnings of her finding a real, ACTUAL passion that doesn't depend on others to exist.
Similar to Sora inevitably realizing that his friends are his power, and he is theirs. Riku realizing that he's a protective force for others but he should not protect out of obligation to repent for a debt, but instead to do it because he's passionate about fighting and growing as a person, as well as protecting others and making the world a better place. And now, Kairi, inevitably realizing that she needs to find her own passions in life that don't revolve around these two boys, in order to grow for herself, for her own sake, not for their sake. Because it's once she lets go of them as her driving force that she will truly be able to flourish in her OWN way.
another fun Kairi/Ven parallel: Childhood Amnesia courtesy of Magical Mad Scientists & constantly being put into "Naptime" by the Narrative. definitely something to bond over. (:
Ha... ha... ha.
That element of Kairi passing on her Princess of Heart title to someone else and letting darkness into her heart couldn't at ALL be experimental bullshit that Xehanort traumatized her with that she'll remember under Aqua...
Ha... ha... oh shit. :^)
The fact that Kairi didn't want to grow up could be why she's still a Princess of Heart. As a heart of pure light could just mean the innocence of childhood. So for Kairi to give up the position of a Princess of Heart will make her face darkness, the reality that nothing is truly pure and the fact she has to grow up.
Plus we could see her using the stance she takes in both the Opening of KHDDD and the scene where Sora faces Xemnas in his dreams. Since that could be the stance she's meant to take as her own stance. So when she takes it she would have finally changed, having finally grown up to be her own person.
Also, watching the video, i realized that Riku rushing to leave Destiny Island could be the same as rushing towards the future. While Sora is happy livig in the present, waiting for what comes next. Which works well with how Kairi wanted to cling to her childhood. Staying in the past.
That bit about a heart of pure light meaning the innocence of childhood actually makes a lot of sense. Of the original Princesses of Heart in KH1, Kairi, Alice, and Snow White are children (Snow White is only 14 in the Disney film, same as Kairi). The oldest is in fact Cinderella, who is only 19. While the age of majority is 18 in a number of countries, there is documented evidence that human maturation ends at around 25, so 19 would still technically count as childhood. So would 21, the age of Elsa, who is noted to be a Princess of Heart in KH3 despite being crowned as Queen shortly before Sora's arrival.
Adding to this is that Minnie used to be a Princess of Heart herself, but no longer is. She is also established as being a fully grown adult, as well as a married woman. Meanwhile, each of the original Seven, with the exception of Kairi and possibly Alice, are visually shown to be on the verge of leaving Childhood behind in KH1; Cinderella, Aurora, and Belle are in their ballgowns, and they plus Jasmin and Snow White are all soon to be engaged to their respective Princes, and taking on responsibilities reflecting their status as Princesses. And while some might argue that Cinderella was already being a responsible woman before meeting her Prince, I will remind you all that those "responsibilities" were forced upon her by her abusive stepmother, rather than ones she took upon herself of her own volition.
@@leshyaedawnfire This may also be Why Ariel was never a Princess of Heart. She was so eager to grow up and she other worlds that despite only being 16, she’d left childhood behind. She still has the nativity of someone her age, but she’s set on maturing and doing more adult-oriented things.
I would kill for Kairi to have her own game training with the Wayfinder trio. I think it would be a fantastic opportunity to place her arc and the themes surrounding it out in the open, without it being overshadowed by whatever Sora and Riku are doing.
Without a doubt, based on what I know of people with Kairi's mindset, Kairi's not gonna become stronger JUST by training under Aqua. It'll help a ton and is a big step forward, but it won't be what actually solves it. It's quite likely due to her trauma and general reliance on others that Kairi doesn't much trust herself to make decisions that'll pan out in any triumphant way, and it's quite possible that what Sora said in the underground caverns stuck with her - but even outside of that it stuck with her FURTHER because of how events played out in KH2.
Inevitably while Kairi will have to learn the basics from Aqua, Kairi is going to have to extrapolate on those basics and what she has learned by watching others (Lea, Sora, Riku, etc.) and inevitably make her own style that works for her based on how she finds it most comfortable to hold herself in a fight.
I for one am looking forward to it, if it goes that direction. :)
I like how deep and thoughtful you are with your analyses, always touching on these things.
Thank you. I enjoy going into this level of detail with my analyses, so i'm glad others enjoy watching them.
@@The_Violet_Howler It's been a blast mate. :D And it's always fun discussing!
I don't know why it wasn't mentioned or perhaps i missed it. Namine's main fear was being forgotten. That checks a lot of the boxes in this video... namine is really like a stranded kairi without a sora and riku to help her. i can lengthily prescribe an analogy, though i won't. this was a lovely analysis
Glad you enjoyed my analysis. Your point about Namine's fear of being forgotten also lines up pretty well with the analysis of Namine I'm working on as part of my next season.
This video gave me hope for Kairi's future as a character. I'm really hoping she'll get the focus and screentime she needs to really explore this arc.
The themes of not wanting to grow up and living for others expectations rather than yourself are concepts that really touch me on a personal level. Honestly, thank you for this video.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I'm glad it gave you hope!
This is perhaps the most brilliant and thoughtful interpretation of Kairi's character I've ever seen. It never sat right with me that she was so written off as a character, but you've made it make sense. That her lack of development is actually, possibly, part of her own story. She /is/ a character with agency, but the way she's been expressing that agency so far doesn't feel real or genuine, because as you said, she's making decisions with the hope of clinging to the past. People tend to cry 'sexism' at the mention of Kairi's character, and yeah there aren't that many lady characters in KH, but it makes sense that Nomura would have bigger plans for Kairi than what we've seen so far.
I hate it when people say Kairi's lack of character development is cause of sexism. There are plenty of great female characters in this series. Aqua is a strong, but still kind person with a very compelling story. Xion is also a very compelling character. Her personality is nice and has probably the most tragic story in the series. Larxene is one of the most memorable villains in the series and has a fun sadistic personality that really makes her feel like a genuine threat. Namine is also very present throughout the series. Her powers and her situation make her very interesting. Loneliness is a very relatable subject. Skuld is a great girl and a capable warrior like Aqua. The fact that Kairi isn't used in the same way as them obviously has a reason. Like Howler said.
I love watching your videos. You always provide evidence from the games rather than only giving conjecture. I feel like my mind is blown with each episode that comes out.
"Even if we're apart, I'll always be with you." I can't believe what Sora said to Kairi almost completely mirrors what Christopher said to Pooh in a movie about Pooh accepting that Christopher won't always be with him and that sometimes friends drift apart. I admit I was a bit skeptical about the parallel between Pooh and Kairi even after seeing the similarities on twitter of Pooh's book missing Sora and the ending shot of KH3 with Sora disappearing, but you've helped convince me.
I did notice that Kairi's battle stance from DDD was changed to mirror Sora's in KH3, but I didn't notice that those flashbacks of child Sora and child Riku sparring has them use the exact same battle stances that they do now. They really were training since little.
Good video. Personally i think it was a really good idea to have her go to aqua bc terra's likely going to be there too. They could not only take care of her and help her level up but also ask her personal questions and have her open up
I’ve always loved the idea of Kairi and Terra becoming friends and training to become masters.
When you put Kairi’s characterization/ arc that way. She reminds me of how I felt in high school with my childhood best friend. We were very close since the 3rd grade. But in high school noticed that we didn’t hang out as much. We were still on good term but it hurt that our relationship wasn’t the same anymore. It wasn’t until after college that I saw her again. We randomly bumped into each other in a store. It was comforting to know that even though our paths tuck us in different directions, we were still important to each other. I can see something similar happening to Kairi and her friendships to Sora and Riku. Side note: it seems the trio grows the most when they have some time to themselves to reflect on their own lives. Riku has already done it and Sora and Kairi are kinda avoiding it
This proves how much intressting Kairi's character is, even tho she doesn't get as much screentime as the boys she's still a really consistent character. It's sad that people only want to see her become badass and kick butts and compare her to Sora and Riku, especially that it's unfair for her to be compared to them as they're the two main protagonists while she's a secondary character
I also find it intressting that Sora, Riku and Kairi can be seen as going threw the Heroine's journey. I'm kinda hopeful about her and think that she will get some devlopement to discover herself again and understand that her friendship with Sora and Riku will change but that it doesn't mean that it's a bad thing (eventhought it will most likely be off screen that she'll grow)
I can't even express how much I love this episode its all so fucking perfect. I really hope Kairis training under aqua really helps her figure out who she is and grow
Adding onto a previous comment, but in this comment. It's pretty accurate that it's TRAUMA that caused her passion to be unable to fuel her and basically just stayed complacent and stagnant. Most people who end up in her state, end up that way due to trauma. Often due to insecurity in what they're capable of, or too much fear about what lays outside because they still haven't resolved what hurt them.
Xehanort's treatment of Kairi could easily be allegorized as an assault trauma or even parental abuse trauma, or even more literally: kidnapping and abuse trauma. Coupled with gaslighting trauma. Given how it affected her.
Kairi over here telling Sora not to change and stay happy, meanwhile Sora over here constantly misunderstanding peoples' intentions and actively forsaking his negative emotions which strains his heart as his light and darkness grow bigger and bigger - especially as he's a constant sponge and conduit for others'.
Honestly makes sense he's a King at the end of the day. In the end he's easily a conduit for everyone's light and darkness, while also having a giant ass light and darkness of his own. He just needs to resolve it so his heart can stop being tatters.
Aaah a kairi episode as well!!! 🤩😁 Lovely summary of everything we know about kairi, basically, and god I want this so bad. If the aqua training ends up offscreen like the Axel one.... I don't know how much more hope we can have for her.... Pls Nomura....
I've been watching all your videos multiple times for days now, and wow! I absolutely adore them! Not only do you make and incredible job at summarizing and explaining in simple but efective way the themes and the direction the series is taking, it's also just, such a delight to hear you talk about it, because you clearly love and appreciate all the effort and thought that goes into creating the story for this games! And that is something that I feel a lot of the other youtubers and videos explaining or theorizing about the franchise lack. I adore this series with all my heart, and the story and it's themes is one of the main reasons why. It makes me so happy that another person feels the same way!
Loved the video. Even if Kairi is far from being my favorite character or even the best written, she always seems to get the most interesting analysis'. I always wondered why people hated this interpretation of her character. One, there's a lot of evidence behind it, and two, it's interesting to see a character learn to be able to drift a little and breathe in a series all about friendship. Kairi, Riku, and Sora can still be friends. I'm confident they always will be. However, I feel like for Kairi to come into herself, she has to spend time with them, and other keyblade wielders to let her look at things from a new *light*.
Also, I loved how you contrasted Riku and Kairi from each other. That was a comparison I never made. I've been thinking of Sora and Kairi as very similar characters for a long time, but I never realized that Kairi and Riku could be inversions of each other's arcs.
Man, it's no wonder my subconscious chose to name myself Kairi, I really am a lot more like her then I thought. 😅 And my friendship with my best friend is a lot like Sora and Kairi's friendship. Pretty strange... but that's just a coincidence based on logic and reason. 😁 I like the weird timing that she's finally starting to do things just like I'm trying to do things...
Nice discussion.
i liked the one heart attack symbolizing there bond
Loved this video! I’ve been thinking a lot about Kairi’s lack of agency lately. MoM actually ended up being, despite some disappointment in the narrative direction from fans, one of the most interesting and promising things to happen to Kairi.
Thank you so much for these videos! I always had a bitter taste in my mouth (as I assume a lot of people do) about Kairi in general, and I really hope that they will allow her time to grow into her own person and face her fears about growing up and losing the same type of connection you have with your friends when you're young.
I certainly feel more confident about where Kairi’s going post-MoM, than I did post 0.2 that’s for sure.
*whispers* Also because they got the scenario writer of Neo:TWEWY, which is an excellent game with really good characterization across the board.
Another nice one! You gave me hope for her, thank you Howler! I really didn't like how they treated her in KH3, but your analysis gave me some perspective at least. It's always a pleasure to watch your videos 😍
Reobtaining old abandoned links of information is very similar to remembering past life experiences. Going fishing and occasionally having a burst of stimulus that causes a shit ton of things connected back. The worst is when it's nothing but trauma links that are all connected to each other that all come up with the pull of a fishing line in one shot. :^)
This was a fantastic video! While I do think it would have been nice if she could have done more instead of always being the damsel in distress and being playable much sooner while also keeping this idea of Nomura basically doing 20 years of set up for Kairi arc you raise some excellent points. I never realized how much Kairi latches herself onto Sora and Riku which explains a lot about how she acts and even how she fights as you pointed out. I really do hope you're right about Kairi training under Aqua being a step forward in Kairi character development because it has a lot of potential.
I note both that Memories can be used to resurrect things, and connect things.
Now, on to Kairi, I believe Kairi is a Attractor Light in most of the Series. By this I mean Kairi's Light shapes everyone around her, except her.
Most of Sora's goals have her in it. Namine, the Shadow of her, unwinds his whole existence. And Riku spends all of KH1 trying to be worthy of Sora and Kairi.
Darkness is drawn in and shifts around her.
However, Kairi's help is more like the Miracle of Light directly then her own determination. Like you said, she refuse to move to the Future and stays in the past.
It reminds me of Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
I really, really hope you're right.
But(can't believe I forgot the write this earlier) the treatments of Aqua and Xion in the story aren't much better, especially in KH3.
@@slateoffate9812 well i thought Aqua and Xion got great character development and they are capable keyblade wielders. If it can happen to them why not Kairi? Maybe it's wishful thinking but i just like to remain positive.
Thanks for the good work, CK! I might give your KH videos a go later!
Here are some notes I made during your video:
10:45 I am SO GLAD that someone else saw this! In the lore of Star Wars (Disney property as well), that particular stance can be linked to both Form II Makashi (Count Dooku) and Form VI Niman (a jack-of-all-trades style, yet the opening stance is similar). Notable points of interest include:
- Makashi: EXTREME focus, elegant and critical-strike oriented bladework. Has a high special-attack stat (we see Kairi in the KH3 DLC having powerful magic and AOE attacks)
- Practitioners of Form VI had more focus on scholarly pursuits rather than combat. Kairi LOVES stories (and probably books).
In other words: A Form II and VI hybrid that emphasizes the (cool of) mind, whereas her friends Sora and Riku are prone to be reckless and/or stubborn.
12:15 SMART move to have a female write/interpret a female character
Women have a tendency to not have/lose a CLEAR image of who they are, so they imitate others.
*Makashi especially: without inner strength/resolution, this Form/mindset is USELESS in practice
13:14 Kairi has mostly been portrayed as a (faux, in my opinion) tomboy. Having female companions - along with Namine, Xion, Olette and Aqua - might help her 'realize' herself fully. As we know, *most women rely/depend/need/want a social network. This, in turn, might help Namine and Xion grow as well
14:22 I wonder how Kairi would handle one-on-one conversations with Terra... Also, I wonder if Terra has glimpses of his imprisonment?
14:48 Namine has the power to manipulate Sora and those connected to him (she's SCARY powerful in that sense). Surely, she could alter Kairi's as well?
*Remember the trailer for *Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts?* Kairi is standing alongside the Twilight Gang in front of the Mansion. Foreshadowing? And/or it has something to do with Subject X, seeing as she, too, suffered from memory loss?
17:47 Good points. As M.Xehanort said in KH BbS: "... the *tyranny* of Light". Can also be compared to Star Wars: The Clone Wars *Mortis Arc* The Daughter (the Light) is selfless, but also arrogant, blinded to her immediate situation (ironically), and self-righteous. Something to ponder, indeed...
19:48 Clinging to the past, refusal to grow up... Sounds like a meta-journey for the old KH fans and players, yes?
*Could aid in bringing back that OG KH1 'magic' of atmosphere and mystery
21:29 In line with her OG KH1 and manga personality
how interesting so nomura wanted her playable at the start 18 yrs later that moment finally came and i know phase 2 will focus alot on her even tho she doesn't physically contribute her keeping sora together did help him beat xehanort in the end
Capital “D” Darkness meddling with Kairi would be very fitting considering the form Darkness takes is a Dark reflection of Sora, Vanitas. Kairi giving up her power as a princess of heart would also symbolically be her letting go of her childhood and everyone’s expectations of her in one full swing. Also, in response to Kairi taking center stage, at least in the Disney world traveling, means she will be just like another protagonist of a set of trilogies. BBS was totally Nomura’s spin on the Star Wars Prequels, so if history repeats itself, Nomura might re-examine Kairi like Rey in the SW sequels. Maybe he’ll even push it as far as where The Last Jedi hinted at, but that’s just me speculating.
I really hope we get a whole game for Kairi. I hate the idea of her whole arc being done off screen
great analysis.
With perspective I think she falls into a common trope of character, and I hope they do finish her off with some real character growth. I'm sort of seeing Kairi as the Childhood friend with a crush, I'm sure we all know the trope. I'm thinking Ginny Weasley, Orihime, Hinata, and so many more examples, where this character gets the most characterization from their feelings for the protagonist. What I'd love to see would be for Kairi to buck the trend of these characters just remaining static and honestly a little dull, by us being shown her moving past childhood feelings and growing up to appreciate their friend but not having their entire existence revolve around them.
What typically happens is that writers somehow miss how toxic this narrative is and the characters are rewarded with the protagonists love, cause if you just love someone and makes them your entire existence they'll definitely love you back >.> It's really bad writing.
Oh gosh. I agree with this so much. It's like a reverse white knight scenario. Obviously if you're nice to a girl or help them once, that girl is obligated to like you back. Obviously if a girl makes their entire life about you then you have to like them back. Both approaches are bad but I've seen way too many authors and fans buy into this to the point of being outraged in series where the girl really does move on from the protag. I wish more series would address just how toxic it is.
I love this analysis, my only problem with it is that I feel like this arc could have been started in KH3, but they didn’t. It could have been more of the focus of MoM, but it wasn’t. So even though the building block of the Heroine’s journey are there, I can’t trust that it will actually happen.
Video games are different from traditional narratives in that non-player characters have a lack of agency that makes it difficult to have an ensemble cast. You can’t have NPCs fighting the bad guys, the player has to do that. ReMind was a start to solving this problem, but I don’t think it’s a solution that works in the long term.
Most of Riku’s biggest redemptions happen in games where he has long, playable campaigns like CoM and DDD. Kairi needs something like that if she really wants to feel like a main character. Otherwise she’ll be relegated to “love interest” forever, no matter how interesting her arc is. The fact is that people already love Kairi. Her character arc isn’t the problem.
@@indedgames4359 I do believe that Nomura wants to give her more focus, and my personal theory is that what he wants to do with Kairi’s arc is connected to his plans for the whole unreality plotline (given that Xehanort in MelMem implies that she might actually be able to make it there for some reason when he yeets her off to Destiny Islands), and that he was waiting until he could implement that storyline before he moved forward with her arc (since the whole Verum Rex/Quadratum stuff was first teased via Toy Story in KH3, and Nomura has been trying to get that movie into the series since KH1).
That said, I’m not sure your idea that they’re life partners holds up in the face of Nomura’s consistent “friends drift apart as they get older and that’s okay” messaging with the Destiny Trio that I talked about in this video, along with the fact that Sora never expresses the desire to spend time with her when she’s not in danger (I talk about it more in Episode 9, but he’s perfectly fine spending the rest of his life in the realm of darkness at the end of KH2 and never seeing her again because he and Riku are together… we never see him try to text or call her in KH3 despite him constantly being shown trying to text or call Riku…. Heck, when Re:coded presents us with a virtual recreation of KH1, the focus is entirely on the digital versions of Sora and Riku, while Kairi isn’t even mentioned until towards the end).
Maaaaan, don't get me excited for Kairi's future again. We all know they'll fumble the bag.
I really felt it when you mentioned the hype of the DDD secret ending and the letdown in KH3, and then again when Sora had to step in for MoM. I lost it when it just said she's been asleep for a year.
This video at least gives her character a good throughline for the whole series that I've never really appreciated before. I still think they could've done a much better job showing her struggles with this stuff if that's what they were going for. Because as it is with the way it's told it's very easy to not even think about it enough to realize that it's at least consistent and makes sense.
I think a big part of the issue is the story so far is so long and spread out that even though on paper her character arc of having to realize and make decisions for herself is good, the pacing is abysmal and has left fans disappointed for nearly 2 decades now.
Honestly this series could've done with a lot more of just slice of life hanging out with friends, beyond the intro to KH1, you barely actually get to see the trio interact. And for a game that's so focused on friendship, you sure don't get to be friends with your friends very much. It's amazing it's made me care about their relationships as much as it does. But that's probably just childhood me filling in the gaps.
But anyway if she really does finally glow up in the next installment I'm sure I'll be squealing with the rest of em.
For now I shall remain, cautiously optimistic..
to be fair to kairi she's really new to the keyblade arts,
so is tecnically fine that she' couldn't beat alone the freaking biggest bad guy of the game till now, one is going really good in the training and theory, the other is experience ofc sora and riku had more time than her to become better and stronger
so is better that sora did help her out she probably gonna lose that fight sadly.
but is still possible in the future that she's gonna make it ,she's alone with aqua, probably we play her when riku and sora have all the shenanigans in quadratum, if they do something with the light world
It's always nice when you bring up things I've already foolishly commented about. :^) But interacting is interacting and that's still fun.
I wanted to bring up the fact that while Sora seems to enjoy combat, it's possible that part of that enjoyment just comes from the fact that Riku was always pushing for the sparring as well as his other friends. A masculine archetype of enjoying battle over any other kind of play, game, or skillset. And when you take into consideration (which you probably will in a later video, knowing you) things like how Riku admonished Sora for believing in Santa Claus, it becomes more and more clear that Riku was kind of a Goddamn bully to Sora even more than it seemed. Riku loved the SHIT out of Sora, even if he didn't know how to show it in a positive way (possibly due to parental circumstances or not having any good role models), and ultimately kind of acted like an ass to Sora unintentionally like other characters have as well.
Taking that into consideration, it makes more and more sense how the empathic and open Sora became more and more reclusive and repressed over the years, starting with spending most of his time around Riku who probably made him feel like shit whenever he acted like a kid. You said yourself Riku is constantly in a rush to grow up and make a difference, up until he fucking realizes it's not so great.
Riku clearly knows that he did a pretty shitty thing to Sora throughout childhood, and likely feels obligated to make up for that - with the narrative lens of how he betrayed Sora in KH1 being the meat of it so they don't have to dabble too much on what they were like as kids. Taking this into account it makes far more sense why Riku was scared of hurting Sora even more, and why he cherished the fact that Sora forgave him so readily even if he hadn't fully resolved all of the emotions and pain Riku had put him through yet. And it's why Riku believes in him so much. Sora kept his heart open to everyone no matter what, he shares their burdens - far more than even Ven does. Sora rages and cries for others, and tends to not have much to say about his own problems. And Riku sees that strength to endure anything and everything, sponge in everything no matter how bad it is, and still come out on top even if he needs to do it alone. Which is why he encourages Sora, even though he doesn't know explicitly how to tell Sora that he needs to resolve what has happened to him before he keeps going. Riku so desperately wants to reach out to Sora in a meanignful way, but again (possibly how his parents raised him) his own emotional inadequacies hold him back. Whereas Sora is CONSTANTLY emotional and filled to the brim with soft skills, not just combat skills at this point.
I really like this idea
I would really love for kairi to be the bad ass she needs to be
I really liked her as a tomboy
But now she's been meh
I think her getting a personality and getting her own fighting stance will help
Plus now that Sora is trapped in the kwadra something is the good chance for her to save Sora
Plus I really like how namine, xion and kairi have the memory thing in common
Pretty nice
Aqua training Kairi isn’t a bad idea, it just makes the training she did in KH3 feel pointless and like filler. I wasn’t one of those people who expected Kairi to show up in KH3 and be a badass fighter, because that was too unrealistic. She has never even shown an interest in combat until recently unlike Sora and Riku who were sparring on the islands since they were little kids.
But I was hoping KH3 was setting Kairi up for her own future adventure. This is why I really wanted Kairi to go to Quadratum with Riku. I wanted this to be a DDD style game where Riku and Kairi travel together to find and save Sora, expressing their feelings about Sora and the bond between them. Just how we got a Wayfinder Trio game in BBS, a Sea-Salt Trio game in Days, I wanted a Quadratum game to be the Destiny Trio game that leads into KH4 where Sora finally returns.
Got sidetracked and took a while to reply to this, but I completely understand that frustration with how KH3 makes her training feel pointless. I felt the same way when I actually played the game. But with the benefit of hindsight I think it was necessary. Looking back, she wasn’t doing the training because she wanted to do it for its own sake, but because she saw it as a way to hold onto her friendship with Sora and Riku by doing what they were doing. And because she was focused on trying to be more like them in the hopes that they’d stay friends, she wasn’t approaching her training with consideration for what methods and fighting styles were a good fit for her own strengths and weaknesses.
So having her first go at training metaphorically blow up in her face like that is ultimately a crucial step in helping her step outside of Sora+Riku’s shadows and figure out what works for her. Trying to copy them and failing spectacularly demonstrates the consequences of her giving up so much of herself in order to try and please others and (along with the events of MoM) help force her to confront the fact that this pattern is holding her back as both a Keyblade wielder and as a person.
I do believe that the Destiny Trio will reunite and get their time to shine fighting side by side one day, but I don’t think that will happen in the Quadratum game. Because before the bond between the three of them can be reaffirmed, like I said in the video she has to figure out who she is outside of that bond first. Because having her team up with the boys before she completes that journey of self-discovery would only serve to keep her stuck in that mindset of copying others for validation. Only by taking that step back at the end of MoM can she force herself to break out of that pattern and find a healthier way of maintaining friendships.
@@The_Violet_Howler damn that was well said.😳
When you think about sora has 0 intamacy and has 2 kids. Like an organism
there's a theory that kairi is from scala ad calum
I'm personally of the opinion that she's from Quadratum, since her flashback to Apprenticenort sending her off in MoM implies that there’s something about her that made AX think that the ark would send her to “The Other Side” instead of Destiny Islands
i don't think mimicking sora is a bad thing she admires him
I definitely agree she admires him. But that admiration is _not_ the reason she’s imitating him. And that’s _why_ that imitation is a bad thing.
She’s not imitating Sora because of her admiration of him, but because she’s afraid he (and Riku) won’t be her friend anymore if she can’t squeeze herself into a metaphorical box in order to constantly remain by his side. And by doing so, whether conscious of it or not, she’s neglecting, if not outright rejecting, aspects of her psyche/personality that don’t fit within the limits of said box.
@@The_Violet_Howler i see well hopefully she will have that battle stance we saw in ddd
How tf do u have 597 Subs while also having 2k+ views on every episode?
not everyone who will watch a vid will sub, & some of us are rewatching these vids a lot lol
Thanks for another great video!! Become an online boss = Promo-SM !