The Psychology of Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2024
- If you haven’t seen it yet, I was featured in ‘The Psychology of Sora’ on BioRoxas’ channel which you can watch here: • Is Sora Really Happy? ...
In honor of yesterday being the 15th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts 2, I wanted to honor the franchise by taking a look at one of its most prominent, yet under utilized characters, Kairi. Today I want to look at the psychology of Kairi from the perspective of a clinical mental health counseling student and how many of her childhood experiences, and the trauma surrounding them likely shaped in large part who her character was to become by the time that we meet her. We explore how she was able to develop resilience throughout the course of her life through her relationships with characters like Sora, Riku, and Selphie. And the lasting impact that her encounters with Xehanort have had on her. So join me as I explore the psychology of everyone's favorite princess of heart, Kairi, and all of her traumas and triumphs throughout the course of the franchise.
I also want to note that all counselors will come at situations from different theoretical orientations, backgrounds, and belief systems. My opinions correlate with my own education and professional experience up to this point in my education as a Master's level counseling student.
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Melody of Memory Summary:
Following Sora's disappearance, Kairi enters a deep sleep under Ansem the Wise's observation, creating a dream world from her memories of Sora to search for clues to his whereabouts within her own heart. Towards the end of her dream, Kairi confronts an illusion of Xehanort, who nearly overpowers her until Sora remotely takes control of her body and defeats him. Before Kairi reawakens, Xehanort reminds her of the time in her childhood when he sent her away from Radiant Garden, during which he mentioned a world on the "other side"; Kairi reports her findings to Ansem, who reasons the "other side" to mean a fictional world beyond their reality. Kairi is then approached by the Fairy Godmother, who sends her and Riku to the Final World to meet the heart of a girl from the other reality.[b] Riku explains his dream of a modern metropolis to the girl, who recognizes it as a city in her world called Quadratum, allowing Riku to open a portal to the other reality and begin his search for Sora, while Kairi remains behind to resume her Keyblade training. In a post-credits scene, Kairi decides to study under Aqua, while Yen Sid sends Donald and Goofy to inform the rest of their comrades of their progress, and Mickey to Scala ad Caelum to investigate ancient Keyblade Masters and how they may be connected to the other reality. - บันเทิง
I hope you all enjoyed this in depth look at Kairi's character! Would you like me to look at more characters form Kingdom Hearts? And if so, who?
I think I asked on the Axel video too but Roxas, Saïx/Isa or the Foretellers maybe? I was recently thinking about Aced but they're all interesting... or Vanitas?
Xion might be interesting.
@@xoderota I think a Xion analysis video would be great! Any of the KH Days crew really since the game gives us so much story and good moments with them. I also love Vanitas so that would be great too.
Namine! She's such an underrated character.
I think Namine could be intresting. After being coherst by marluxia into hurting Sora, wanting to replace Kairi to become her own person, and being scolded by Diz a lot that nobodies are beings that shouldn't exist. She also just feels guilty for what she did to Sora. There is just a lot of emotional events happening to her.
Her abduction as a child makes her freezing up in the Keyblade Graveyard against their initial encounter with Terranort make a lot more sense besides “she got scared”
He towered over her, looking exactly like the man who did so when she was young (and he IS that man), she didn’t just get scared, her fight-flight-freeze kicked in, she had an *episode*, just like Aqua did when she saw the storm of heartless swirling above them.
It gave her flashbacks
Which makes me wonder what the hell were Riku and Mickey doing
I love her, and she is so underrated.
Don't worry meng, next game she'll get her moment, and everyone will respect her.
@@OskarReyAllen agreed
I feel like Kairi fans tend to not understand her of her as a character so it's nice to see people talking about and trying to understand her as a character now.
I generally feel most of her character got lost in the fandom or people wanting her to be a badass instantly but that's not how she was written. Because they don't understand that one she didn't have training, two she fears change cause she was taken and shipped off as a kid.
Also her insecurities stem from being left behind all the time reasons why she tried to develop a fighting style like Sora. She wants to be close to both Sora and Riku and why she strives to catch up.
It's such an interesting side of her that people say is a negative and "ruins" her character which it doesn't.
Kairi is one of my favorite characters, I wasn't expecting this video but I'm happy ^.^
I really love Kairi as a character! I hope the video did her justice!
kairi’s growth throughout the series is a good portrayal of why i have massive love for the kh series
Can't help but want to root for her. Love her slow development; she fills the role of the novice well. I don't mind her becoming more feminine and sounding more princess-like as she matures. Stoner gets a bad rap. Her soothing delivery in 3 won me over as the preffered voice for KH2/KH3 Kairi. And I like that she maintains a dainty appearance while increasingly becoming more of a threat. But you gotta love the spunky KH1 side of her flashing through like when she's waving her ice cream around saying "you and me in the ring." She also clearly has Sora's resiliency, friendliness and positivity. She's a great character robbed of her screentime and she needs a full fledged game. Her controls in Remind? So good. Roxas and Xion had no problem adventuring as noobies, so Sora and Kairi could do the same at some point at least.
when i got to the end of re mind i said one heart has jian wings its almost like a dyad in the kh verse and now the power of two kill the one true seeker of darkness
Definitely a very welcome video. I always felt that Kairi was one of the more misunderstood characters in Kingdom Hearts. Too many people in the KH community have this shallow "she sucks at fighting, so bad character" way of thinking, so it's very refreshing to see a video where someone just GETS her, and not only goes over her struggles, but her strengths as well.
Something else about Kairi's character I really admire besides her resilience is her compassion. You mentioned some good moments like her recognizing Riku in Ansem's form, but probably one of my favorite scenes in KH3 is when Kairi talks about why she wants Namine to return. There was something very beautiful about how she viewed the experience of just being alive as something to be treasured and that Namine's current state (at the time of that scene) was not something to be content with.
yeah i watched someone beat remind 2 days ago and she kept saying useless to kairi and like oh she finally uses her keyblade after a decade blah blah you get the idea anyway that person in particular just flat out hates her which is why shes most likely gonna get triggered when kairi gets her proper own game which something i can't wait to see regardless of how fans feel towards her she was honestly the biggest mvp in 3 cuz by holding sora together she gave him another chance to beat xehanort
For real. Some don't even know that she's had character arcs. Seriously, it's like they just listened to Just a Pancake talking about the story and just regurgitated everything they said because they're too lazy/insecure to sincerely look into things and form their own opinions on the matter.
Get yourself a man who looks at your character and tries to understand it as Jon looks at Kairi
✅
I don’t want kh4 until we get a proper kairi game
I can agree with that.
@@ThoughtBubbleYT the whole fandom can agree with that
I only play KH only for, Aqua, Kiri, future she's I like
Kairi is done such little service it’s nice to see some respect given to the girl.
I loved the video, Kairi is such an underrated character, I think that the new saga is going to give her more development, they made her playable in Re:Mind and MoM help her to focus more in her past and her struggles. I can't wait to the next game because I see her in the future visiting disney worlds to growth more as a character and also her training with Aqua to develop more her relationship with her.
I was just thinking of Kairi...what timing!
I hope you enjoyed the video!
THANK YOU! PLEASE DO ANOTHER DEEP DIVE INTO A KINGDOM HEARTS CHARACTER. Possibly Aqua next
I definitely plan on making more Kingdom Hearts content because I love the series so much.
In particular; Aqua seems to have some bad PTSD from her time in the Realm of Darkness.... which as this video details, Kairi may actually be perfectly equipped to help Aqua overcome.
You forgot to tell us that we shouldnt use the dsm-5 to diagnose ourselves
I mean, I figured that dissociative amnesia is a bit more situational than most and it felt implied. lol
I don't want to be that guy but I might have something similar to that going on.
Also, Kairi saved both Riku and Sora in KH2. Good thing they near the beach.
17:50
Literally stepping out from someone's shadow. That's subtle as I've ever seen.
Hey Jon, I just wanted to express my appreciation for your videos, this one included. I really enjoy your passion and deep thoughts towards these different series. It’s wonderful to hear the expressions of an individual who truly cares for what they speak about and for the health and safety of others. These videos bring me joy and I look forward to their releases.
My thoughts on Kairi are as follows: I love Kairi. So many people don’t give her enough credit. Of course, I can’t deny that she could do more, but so often I see that her achievements and accomplishments are not respected. My favorite moment of Kairi’s is in KHII where she leaps off of a balcony with no hesitation to attempt to reach Sora. Riku appears and bequeaths her Keyblade and Kairi immediately begins to fight. Untrained, unprepared, Kairi fights for Sora’s sake, even joking with Riku that their friend can’t do anything without them. It’s such a defining moment that shows that Kairi always jumps at the first chance she gets to help when she can. I wonder who might have influenced and/or inspired her to do so. Either way, I think Kairi is way better than people say and I really look forward to the future installments with her. The ending of III, Re:Mind, and Melody of Memory have made tremendous strides to grow her character and I have faith she’ll silence all the naysayers.
Thanks again for the video!
Kairi was my fashion icon ❤️. Great analysis btw! I only ever played kH1 and 2. Kairi was so mysterious
Thank you so much. She will forever be an icon.
Whenever I hear anyone asking people to name Disney Princesses, I immediately shout out "Kairi!" I doubt many game shows have that on their approved list of answers but it's technically true.
There's been a lot of talk lately on Kairi's treatment in recent entries. I never took the story of KH that seriously to begin with, but if I'd hazard a guess I'd say she was a victim of the sheer number of important characters that got dropped into the series after the first game. With 13 new antagonists all directly connected to the story, plus the prequel characters and the series Big Bad getting tons of separate incarnations, some people were going to get left behind in terms of development. I wish they'd done more with her, but she still has her moments.
Kairi wanted to explore other worlds. She has so much depth, and so much heart, likely *because* of her trauma. We talk about her potential like its wasted and gone but we're either impatient or uninvested in the long term saga. Her time is a slow build. She is continuously growing which means she isn't just going to throw a keyblade around carelessly like Sora. In the end she will have grown with so much thoughtfulness that she will realize the keyblade was the wrong approach for her the whole time. She will shine her heart's light into the heartless and they will become hearts again. This is the true power of Kairi, the Princess of Heart.
having been fairly young when i was first introduced to kingdom hearts, i immediately dismissed kairi as this useless, not very compelling or important character. this conclusion i had made about her was further driven into me by the community agreeing on her inaction or lack of screen time ,,, until i saw this video. seriously seeing this really set in motion this astronomical shift in the way i perceived her character. seeing someone break down the psychological parts in relation to the story liquidized that solid belief of mine and formed it into something completely new, something a lot more emotional. i don't think i've ever cried over an upload of this manner.
in other words, thank you for making this video, i hope it and your work grows and is seen by others.
I don’t know, my understanding of feminist criticism made me a little uncomfortable when I saw the conclusion of MoM. We know Kairi can be awesome; we saw a glimpse of what she learned in Remind. Yet when the option to take a more active role, she pulls back and becomes more passive for really no reason. I do think the game is trying to keep her in a damsel in distress role; it’s like they can’t decide if they want her to be a hero or not, and when she becomes too much of a hero, she retreats. However, I do think her decision to train with Aqua is a good call because Aqua is probably who she could become.
If I were writing a Kairi-centric game, I would have her learning from the other new princesses of light and understanding more of what that role means. Many of Disney and Pixar’s recent princesses are more proactive, and I think she would resonate and become close to them. So we know that Rapunzel is one and Anna and/or Elsa. I think the others should be Moana, Tiana, and Merida. Even though that’s seven, counting Kairi, I think there should be a wild card, someone you would not expect, like Alice and Kairi are. I’m a little torn on who that would be. Vanellope von Schweets from Wreck it Ralph, Riley Anderson from Inside Out, and Emma Swan from Once Upon a Time I think would all be interesting choices.
Interesting! Cool ideas.
They are princesses of heart, not princesses of light. Also, I think Kida could be a good choice for one of the new princesses.
Yeah, well, you know what I meant. Maybe so.
Oh and Sophie the first! o:
That would be cute.
This is such a cool video! I feel like a lot of people overlook how amazing Kairi is so thank you for doing an in-depth analysis of her character.
Somebody get this man an ice cream for doing proper justice for kairi and she is my most favorite character in all of reality (evangelyne from wakfu coming in the same position and Emma from the promised Neverland as well these 3 girls are my top most favorite characters ever) and I myself had also thought deeply about her character...most people wouldn't be able to notice all of her traumas and problems and how even after all of that she's still standing strong since kingdom hearts is a really light hearted game so most people would be used to taking everything so lightly that the never thought deeply how most of these things may be taken lightly by them but there far deeper then they think I don't even want kingdom hearts 4 until we get a proper kairi game cause until she gets that people won't stop calling her useless no matter how hard we try they won't stop I spent 4yrs telling people about that and yet no matter how hard I try they don't get it so it feels good when people finally stand up for her thanks for showing some justice for our baby girl!
About that moment from kh1 where she says she doesnt remember anything: i don’t remember where, but i think Nomura implied in an interview that she DID remember. Probably not everything. Maybe not even anything good. Something tho
Whoa, Kairi and I have a similar thing going on with our memories. I find it hard to remember most of my life, probably because of some bad things that have happened. Still an interesting connection regardless
What? You went through traumatic stuff if not personal what exactly?
@@amiksa8789 Well it's kind of a long story, and it honestly might not be that bad compared to other people's experiences. I spent most of my childhood ignored like I didn't even exist, and when I was acknowledge it was to be bullied. I remember being chased into a bathroom by some bullies at recreation. My family would constantly fight at home, my dad would get drunk a lot and my brother would insult me. I was forced into oral sex when I was young, and even though it didn't last long, the person who did it would make fun of me for it for years. I was harassed by a couple guys I went to school with. I eventually became depressed, cynical and nihilistic. Recently my dad passed away, and I sorta blame myself for it. That's all I can really remember right now
@@cryguy0000 oh my...I'm so sorry for asking i didn't think it was that bad...you really did go through a lot in your childhood may god bless you with a happy life from now on!
@@amiksa8789 it's okay, it's not that big of a deal. I'm sure there are plenty of people going through worse, I'd rather have someone else be blessed with a better life rather than myself.
@@cryguy0000 I'm actually 12 and I feel bad about asking and sure other people may have gone through worse but that still sounds like A LOT for someone to go through in there childhood I'm glad I never faced any hardships in my life but that just makes me wonder how much others suffer from things I never did....and all I can do is pray for that person to have a better life and you sound like someone who definitely deserves a better life!
You didn’t have to make me cry at the end, jeez 🤧
THANK YOU FOR POINTING THAT OUT! That's so beautiful, and showcases how amazing their relationship is
Excellent video! I look forward to Kairi's future development as well
I genuinely really love Kairi! I think you really nailed it~
I like her too. She was the reason Sora did not fall to the abyss, and the reason Riku did not isolate himself again, encouraging Sora to look beyond the Ansem skin...just like she was.
Some people theorized that her arc back at "KH 1" was to accept darkness as part of the world, even if she was a princess of the heart. The reason they believe that was because at the begining of the first game, she suggested running away with Sora from Riku. But later, she became determined to find both.
It's such a shame Nomura disrespects her. She's such a good character with the few writing she has. We all know with her age, we would hardly consider other points of view other than our own. And during the first game, it was established she was a headstrong person.
Thank you for this video! I have been playing kingdom heart from the beginning and I felt like I had a connection to her from the beginning; probably because of us being similar ages. But I have been through lots of trauma and your explanations also helped me see other trauma in my life. But I have always been a resilient person because no matter how many times I have cried, said I would give up on a project/task or even fighting suicidal thoughts I have always pushed through. Just like Kairi I feel the most happy, most secure and confident when I am helping others. That was the greatest motivation to become a nurse (1.5 years of nursing now). And similar to Kairi I faced the greatest trauma/ multiple traumatic events during my nursing education. But I did it! I became a nurse, and I have fighting through the COVID pandemic since the beginning and in Los Angeles CA!
I still have the same color of red hair as Kairi and can’t give it up since I changed my color to it back in 2013!
It's interesting that Kairi is defined by her ability to connect with others, and Namine is defined by her lack thereof (Through no fault of her own.) There's likely a parallel with Roxas and Sora, but I don't have the insight to articulate it.
A year late, but I'm surprised you didn't mention the anxiety of change that Nomura has mentioned in an interview before. The vid didn't have much in it but it was still a good listen!
I've never played Kingdom Hearts, but it was a very interesting video. Thank you as always!
While I admit there is more here than I was expecting, what this analysis really did was make me go from thinking she has little potential but is instead mostly used as a plot devise to thinking she has A LOT of potential but is instead mostly used as a plot device. That's almost more disappointing, but maybe we'll see more of her in the future.
thanks so much for this video! always happy for discussion and appreciation for kairi
Bruh, you need more followers! This was amazing. I didn't notice half of this when I played kingdom hearts growing up
Great video. It gave me more appreciation for Kairi than I had before.
Dang man! You had me tearing up at the end there
something tells me that IF they really plan to make Kairi a PROPER playable character then they are likely going to wait until the start of the next Saga. IF they really do plan to give Kairi a proper active role in the story at all.
Your analysis was so well-done and thought-provoking! 🤩 How did that pesky algorithm DARE to hide this channel from me until today?
9:53 okay but Riku video when? XD
Oh, I intend to do one someday. I LOVE Riku.
Please do a video about Riku. He's my favourite character. And this video gave me great insight about Kairi.
I’ve been depressed so treating myself to your videos I missed while I was in that mental funk. I think Kairi is more useful than people give her credit for. But that’s an essay and PowerPoint all on it’s own lol. I’d love to see an analysis on Riku. Especially his comment from Dream Drop Distance doubting if he’s worthy of wielding a keyblade. It always kinda stuck with me because I was like “You yourself have stated you walk the road to dawn. You have proven yourself several times by now. How are you unsure?”
....Do you have an essay and power point prepared?
@@laststrike4411 I have to find my flash drive
"... How are you unsure?"
Some wounds take long to heal. Some never will.
Killed it, my guy 👍
your right she held sora together she was his second chance to fight xehanort not only that but she was the only one to break xemnas's guard in the remind cutscene
Finally, some good food. Great video dude!
THANK YOU,and I adore Kairi.
me to sakura hugs for you
Good video 👍
I came here from the psychology of Sora but I'm not done with Melody of Memory yet so I'm going to come back in a few days! This is just to add it into my history.
That’s fair!! I hope you enjoyed The Psychology of Sora!!
I was 2 seconds away from spoilers so glad I waited. Everything was great!
React also on the game: AI: The Somnium Files. A murder mystery game with interesting characters
Even in the darkest darkness there will always be a light to guide you....
Believe in the light and the darkness will never defeat you.
Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away....
❤Kingdom Hearts❤
Where my little kairi bug got her name ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I love kairi ! It pains me to see all of the hate she gets because while I agree she’s a bit underdeveloped, I think she had so much potential and isn’t as horrible of a character as people like to make her out to be
Love the video, you should do Phoenix Wright ace attorney series
kairi is someone of still so much mystery
could you do a video on the reasons found in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne I think you could have a lot of fun going over the reasons of Musubi, Shijima and Yosuga (stillness, isolation and survival of the fittest) along with the side characters such as Yuko Takao and even the Demi-Fiend himself if you could
very interesting channel
The end words abt Blooming were so accurate to her
yeah kairi has been important to the series and i think she will bring him back after all they are one heart
If we don’t get an announcement for a Kairi KH game next year for the 20th anniversary, IM GONNA FLIP OUT!!!!! Wouldn’t mind if it was called Kingdom Hearts: Full Bloom, after that last statement of yours
I had no idea there were different types of amnesia
Yeah, there are even several different variations on amnesia that I didn't mention in this video.
@@ThoughtBubbleYT interesting
Poor kairi...
I think Terranort Device took her to Riku which was the Established Keyblade Weider but Aqua’s spell let her heart go into Sora
that makes sense considering he was gonna use riku as a vessel first
WHY. ISN'T. THERE. ANY. MORE. *VIEWS?!?!?!*
Sharing the video on Twitter and Reddit helps a lot!! This video deserves more views, Jon did a great job. 😊
@@BashfulRosesASMR I don't have reddit because of logical reasons. As for Twitter, I don't have an account. But yes, this video needs to be shared more.
Amnesia is a recurring element in this series, for better or for worse.
Do one on roxas please 🙏
9:30 or indeed in any game
True facts.
Wow if anyone should do therapy for kairi it's him!
this is great and dont take this in the wrong way but I think you could genuinely benefit from being more concise
I genuinely appreciate the feedback! This is how I enjoy presenting the content though because it helps me study and apply the concepts!
Kairi may not remember about her childhood at Radiant Garden and her grandmother. In Melody of Memory, Kairi seem almost remember about her past and how she ended up in Destiny Island. She has gone though a lot, like being left behind from Sora and Riku, get killed by Xehanort and watching Sora disappear in front of her, but now Riku searching Sora by himself without her and Kairi has to stay to train with Aqua
Huh...I still think the third game sucks...but now I must watch "Melody of Memory". I did not see it earlier because I consideres giving up on the saga.