Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2024-02-01 10:46 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2024-02-01 10:46 am
Entry tags:
I'm Kairi! I'm Every Girl!
I'm still introducing Tem to the Kingdom Hearts series! We've now finished Birth by Sleep.
Ginger cracked up at Mickey zooming off into the sky when his Star Shard activated.
Ginger: I'd forgotten that Mickey just blasted off like a firework.
Tem: Looks like King Mickey's blasting off again!
There's one point in Birth by Sleep where Queen Minnie arrests Pete just for being a bit of a dick. This is the problem with an absolute monarchy.
And then Pete meets Maleficent while imprisoned, meaning, as Tem pointed out, that all the trouble they caused in Kingdom Hearts II was ultimately Minnie Mouse's fault for abusing her power. You can't throw your subjects into an inescapable void whenever they show insufficient appreciation!
'You know,' Tem said, as Aqua was presented with her own custom ice cream flavour, 'these games are a lot more ice cream focused than I was expecting.'
The Kingdom Hearts version of Zack is clearly designed to look like a Hercules character, and he has goals that are tied to the Olympus Coliseum. In some respects, this is a bit disconcerting; are we expected to understand that Final Fantasy VII character Zack Fair is originally from Ancient Greece? That raises a lot of questions, particularly as the other Final Fantasy VII characters don't mimic the style of Hercules. But, ultimately, he feels more integrated into the world of Kingdom Hearts than most Final Fantasy characters do; a lot of the cameos feel a little out-of-place. Maybe the developers should make more effort to tie the Final Fantasy characters to specific Disney worlds.
Tem: We still haven't learnt why Mickey Mouse was shirtless in the first game. You keep saying that'll be explained.
Riona: Oh, yes. That will be explained in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-, and not in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, which is a completely different game.
And then we watched the film version of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded! I considered skipping Re:coded, which is not one of the stronger games in terms of plot, but it does have some really nice interactions between Sora and Riku. And between Sora and Roxas, actually! I really like that Roxas is allowed to be bitter about his situation; he's got good cause!
Tem is very concerned about the ethics of Mickey Mouse creating a thinking artificial replica of Sora without his knowledge or consent.
'It's weird,' Tem commented, 'because Mickey and Riku are married, but now there is a Sora who's Mickey's son.'
We've been watching Severance (of which more later), and so, in Castle Oblivion:
Tem: It's just occurred to me that Mickey has created a version of Sora who's only to work, and then has his memories wiped.
Riona: Oh, God. Oh, no. And now he's in featureless white corridors.
It's so strange, in retrospect, that the theme of memory is only introduced in Chain of Memories. Memory isn't a theme in the first Kingdom Hearts at all! And yet it's so central to the rest of the series.
Tem: I can't wait to see my boy Roxas. (pause) I can't believe I have multiple boys in Kingdom Hearts. I've watched good things in which I don't have any boys.
Riona: Are you saying Kingdom Hearts isn't good?
Tem: That's exactly what I'm saying. Don't give me that look.
Riona: It's good for obtaining boys.
Tem: That's true.
Ginger cracked up at Mickey zooming off into the sky when his Star Shard activated.
Ginger: I'd forgotten that Mickey just blasted off like a firework.
Tem: Looks like King Mickey's blasting off again!
There's one point in Birth by Sleep where Queen Minnie arrests Pete just for being a bit of a dick. This is the problem with an absolute monarchy.
And then Pete meets Maleficent while imprisoned, meaning, as Tem pointed out, that all the trouble they caused in Kingdom Hearts II was ultimately Minnie Mouse's fault for abusing her power. You can't throw your subjects into an inescapable void whenever they show insufficient appreciation!
'You know,' Tem said, as Aqua was presented with her own custom ice cream flavour, 'these games are a lot more ice cream focused than I was expecting.'
The Kingdom Hearts version of Zack is clearly designed to look like a Hercules character, and he has goals that are tied to the Olympus Coliseum. In some respects, this is a bit disconcerting; are we expected to understand that Final Fantasy VII character Zack Fair is originally from Ancient Greece? That raises a lot of questions, particularly as the other Final Fantasy VII characters don't mimic the style of Hercules. But, ultimately, he feels more integrated into the world of Kingdom Hearts than most Final Fantasy characters do; a lot of the cameos feel a little out-of-place. Maybe the developers should make more effort to tie the Final Fantasy characters to specific Disney worlds.
Tem: We still haven't learnt why Mickey Mouse was shirtless in the first game. You keep saying that'll be explained.
Riona: Oh, yes. That will be explained in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-, and not in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, which is a completely different game.
And then we watched the film version of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded! I considered skipping Re:coded, which is not one of the stronger games in terms of plot, but it does have some really nice interactions between Sora and Riku. And between Sora and Roxas, actually! I really like that Roxas is allowed to be bitter about his situation; he's got good cause!
Tem is very concerned about the ethics of Mickey Mouse creating a thinking artificial replica of Sora without his knowledge or consent.
'It's weird,' Tem commented, 'because Mickey and Riku are married, but now there is a Sora who's Mickey's son.'
We've been watching Severance (of which more later), and so, in Castle Oblivion:
Tem: It's just occurred to me that Mickey has created a version of Sora who's only to work, and then has his memories wiped.
Riona: Oh, God. Oh, no. And now he's in featureless white corridors.
It's so strange, in retrospect, that the theme of memory is only introduced in Chain of Memories. Memory isn't a theme in the first Kingdom Hearts at all! And yet it's so central to the rest of the series.
Tem: I can't wait to see my boy Roxas. (pause) I can't believe I have multiple boys in Kingdom Hearts. I've watched good things in which I don't have any boys.
Riona: Are you saying Kingdom Hearts isn't good?
Tem: That's exactly what I'm saying. Don't give me that look.
Riona: It's good for obtaining boys.
Tem: That's true.
no subject
The problems are monarchy and a carceral system that increases criminality, taking someone from "a bit of a dick" to "actual villain" territory? Weirdly realistic.
I love how ludicrously weird this is.
Oh no! I've seen Severance, and Mickey, that's not good!
no subject
Definitely! I don't think that's the message that these games intended to convey through their use of Minnie Mouse, but that's what we've got.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-: completely different games that came out seven years apart for completely different consoles. The latter is part of the collection Kingdom Hearts HD II.8 Final Chapter Prologue. I don't understand why Square can't name anything normally.
I'm glad to hear you've seen Severance; I was thinking it was something that might interest you! I've now read and enjoyed your posts about it up to the point I've reached ('Defiant Jazz'), and I'll have to come back for your post on the finale once I've seen that.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Severance, on the other hand, I have seen, and I loved it so much! I'm curious to hear what you think about the show.
no subject
We finished Severance last night, and I absolutely loved it! I just posted an entry about it over here.
no subject
no subject
The star fruit thingy is a little different; there's a legend that sharing a paopu fruit with someone means your destinies become intertwined. Ice cream is just ice cream, but, as you say, it's an important token of friendship!
no subject
no subject