Hi, Im Kaci. I play too much Kingdom Hearts. If you've got questions, I've got answers.

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KH:358/2 Days Manga

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*Spoiler Free

I’ve been collecting a lot of KH manga recently, and I finally managed to get the last book I needed for the 358/2 Days series.  As an avid lover of the game, I am aware of its many weaknesses.  It is very stagnant, drawn out, and lonely.  A lot of what you do is busy work, which makes sense in context but it makes for a very boring game.  So I’m always eager to find alternate ways to tell this game’s amazing, beautiful story.

In 2013, when KH 1.5 was released, I was more excited for the 358 movie than anything else.  Though the HD cutscenes were gorgeous, it really fell short in terms of storytelling.  Boss fights were alluded to at best.  Scenes were strung together with on-screen text blocks.  Side-characters were practically nonexistent (no pun intended!).  It took my favorite thing about the game and trivialized it.  A recent patch in KH 1.5+2.5 on PS4 added a more elaborate scene with the final boss, so that the final moments of the movie have context.  But I still don’t think the 358/2 Days movie is a good medium for the emotion and impact of the game.  It just isn’t… right.  It’s just not all there.

So I went into the five-book manga with skepticism.  I had already read the KH1 and Chain of Memories manga, so I knew what to expect; they are silly and over the top. I came out of them thinking: “These were fun to read, but they definitely don’t replace the games.” They were supplemental.  And with how dramatic and desperate the 358 game is compared to the upbeat optimism of KH1 and CoM, I didn’t think it would translate well to manga.

But wow.  I was wrong.

These books were great.  They were impactful and suspenseful and dramatic, but they were also silly and funny and they had the cutest non-canon art on the opening page!  It addresses things you didn’t even know you wanted.  And I know that it’s technically not canon, but it fills in gaps in the series in such casual, unobtrusive ways.  For example, one of the end-of-book comics is about a dusk that cleans up the castle, and… ugh, it’s just great.

My first point of comparison is the Disney worlds.  As a member of the Organization, you aren’t supposed to be seen or influence the worlds.  In the game, they handle this by dropping you in a Disney world with an objective that doesn’t really culminate in anything.  A means to an end.  In the manga, you spend a few chapters in each world only once.  Roxas always has another Organization member with him and their interactions help shape Roxas’s beliefs and identity.  It’s a much better way of handling the “can’t impact the Disney worlds” trope.

Next is the characters.  One of the things I really loved about the game was how it fleshed out all the Organization members through small interactions and missions.  It made them side-characters instead of background noise.  The movie really failed at highlighting this, but the manga took it above and beyond. Each organization member had quirks and personality, from Xaldin’s interest in nutritional health to Saïx’s irritation when people know words he doesn’t.  Demyx is my favorite!  And though these traits aren’t exactly “canon”, they fill in the characters in interesting and believable ways.  Like in Chain of Memories manga, we learned that Lexaeus likes to solve puzzles.  In the game, we don’t learn anything about him or Zexion at all!  It’s nice to be able to imagine these characters as real people, and the manga nails that perfectly.

My biggest worry that the manga would be too silly to address serious issues, and I wasn’t completely wrong.  The manga is very silly.  But they had this weird way of interweaving silly happy scenes with a panel of a character’s expression that really brings gravity and tone to the moment.  There are a lot of “secrets” being kept and you can plainly see the weight of those secrets.  But even more surprisingly, I found that the silly moments made me enjoy this story even more!  358 has always been about friendship and belonging, but in the game most of what you see is eating ice cream and some nice gestures.  In the manga, the characters joke around.  They do stupid stuff together.  Their friendship is so much richer because of the silly stuff.  You know what’s at risk.  You know how important it is.

The end was very impactful.  I couldn’t put the fifth book down.  I knew what was going to happen and I had to keep reading anyway.  There is very little humor in that last volume.  They sort of “simplify” the final battle the same way the CoM manga did, but I didn’t mind it as much in this.  It really changes the tone of the fight.  In the game, the final battle is about survival, but in the manga it’s almost… a plea.  Begging.  I don’t know which version I like more, but I definitely appreciate the manga’s portrayal.  I can’t even explain this in words.

There were a couple non-canon things that I loved.  Oathkeeper happening was amazing.  The Moogle shop was great!  Roxas going to “level up” was funny.  They really play into it being a video game and I like that.  Chain of Memories did the same thing with the vending machine at the end.  I’m also glad that the manga not only used the “memorable quotes” from 358, but kept them mostly word for word.

One big difference between the manga and the game: the manga really focuses on Axel’s perspective.  You learn things a lot earlier than you do in the game.  I thought this sort of ruined the suspense and mystery, but at the same time I like that they tell you this big “secret” even before the main characters learn about it.  It builds a lot of tension and you really appreciate Axel in a way that you don’t in the game.

There was one omission from the manga that I thought was very important: what Xigbar sees.  This is a lead in for a later game.  The cutscene is in Day 353 and can be watched here.

As I’ve said in my Beginner’s Guide, I wholeheartedly recommend this manga.  Actually, it’s the only manga I consider a suitable replacement for the game.  It isn’t entirely canon - especially the more silly parts - but it covers everything important that you need to know (with one exception).  If the game is too much for you, please consider the KH:358/2 Days manga required reading for the series.

<3 KCM

xkeybladewielder:

All of Kingdom Hearts  385/2 days Volumes

((does it hurt anyone else that 3 and 2 are out of order??))

Someone on Reddit was asking about keyblades:

The way I always saw it…

THIS IS ALL SPECULATION AND OH MY DAYS SO MANY SPOILERS!!

The Kingdom Key and Kingdom Key D are two unique blades the way that the x-blade was. They aren’t a representation of one’s heart, but constants that need to exist. This is probably because the x-blade was shattered or something. When the worlds became a realm of darkness and a realm of light, the KK was the light’s half of the x-blade and the KKD was the darkness’s half. They probably weren’t made from the x-blade themselves, but came to exist because of the state of the universe, much the way the x-blade did.

Anyway, KK and KKD are special. They reside in their respective realms to protect it. They have their own “consciousness” as it is, where they can choose their wielders. In my head, I always thought that they wouldn’t choose a wielder unless their realm was in peril. So when all the worlds start vanishing in KH1, the KK is like “woah hey what? damnit I better find myself a wielder”. It found Riku - one of few already anointed with using a keyblade - and I was like “sure this kid seems legit”. Then Riku went all darkness and the key was like “damnit, and I came all the way out here”. But he sees Sora, who has the heart of a keyblade wielder (Ven) and is like “actually this kid might work instead”. Then in Hallow Bastion it sees Riku again and is like “you’re that kid!” and goes with him. Then KK is like “actually you’re a dick and I like the other kid more” and goes back to Sora. And that’s the story of the KK.

So then there’s the KKD, chillin’ in darkness like “yeah man lovin’ this darkness gonna stay here forever” and then a mouse comes and picks it up. And the KKD is like “well, I mean, it’s been a while since like. I’ve done anything. Might as well.” and sticks with Mickey. But if it ever wanted to leave it probably could. Though I think the KKD and KK are both in this for the same reason: they want balance. Neither wants to see Light or Darkness consume everything. That’s why KKD stays with Mickey.

So, now let’s delve into keyblades as a whole. They were said to be “forged in reverence of the x-blade”, which is sort of weird since the x-blade looks dumb as hell and the keyblades look pretty rad most of the time. Maybe it’s like how an artist sees someone’s work and thinks “ha, I could do that, but better”. Anyway. “Forged” here is a pretty loose term, since hearts forge keyblades, but also like… you could just forge them out of metal, right? For the sake of simplicity and in the continuity of the franchise, let’s just define “forged” as “created with one’s heart”. This materializes a keyblade for the use of its owner. BUT it seems like whenever the owner dies, the keyblade can continue to exist. Since you know. The graveyard. This basically defies everything I know about creating and destroying matter but whatever.

So anyway. Wielders make keyblades with strong hearts. Are they blessed or something? IMO, it seems sort of like “forging a keyblade” was pretty damn easy before the world fell apart (KHUX). Maybe this is like a defense mechanism? Kingdom Hearts is like “well shit, I see what you guys do when keyblades are dime a dozen - you start wars! So you know what. New universe, new rules. No keyblades for anybody. Except these two new ones, KKL and KKD. No more wars. Stop it.” To which the very few keyblade wielders who survived the sundering were like “right, but how about we make a ceremony that lets us pass on the keyblade powers to new people, since like, we totally learned our lesson and won’t start another war”. So then the Ceremony came to be (which is just touching a keyblade apparently?? I think here’s more to it, but I’ll get to that in a minute).

So here we are in the new universe and we’ve got a few keys. The x-blade is broke, but that doesn’t matter until it becomes an essential and awkwardly convenient plot point. The KK and KKD are newly born. And I guess No Name (Xehanort’s blade in BBS and Master of Masters’ blade in Back Cover) survived, because why not. And then there’s the Dandelions. And that’s it. All the other keyblades are inert, since their wielders are dead. So someone passes the power of the keyblades onto Eraqus, Xehanort, and Yen Sid. Hopefully this gets revealed in KH3 since we got that awesome chess scene with chubby baby Eraqus. Yen Sid trains Mickey, then retires. Xehanort trains Ven, then fucks up literally everything. Eraqus trains Terra and Aqua, then dies. So we’ve gone from three to four wielders in one generation, since Eraqus thinks he’s special. I don’t know what “retiring” means in terms of using a keyblade, but it’s pretty safe to assume Yen Sid isn’t going to do anything but talk for the whole franchise. Xehanort takes over Terra. So we’re sitting at four wielders and six keyblades (since Terra/Xehanort each have one, and Aqua has Eraqus’s).

This brings about a whole other argument. Though the wielders die (Eraqus & in theory, No Name) the keyblades retain their power. Which is sort of in conflict with the keyblade graveyard. I think this has a lot to do with intent. Eraqus had always intended his keyblade to be passed down to Aqua in case he fell. MoM had always intended No Name to move forward through time. Each served their master’s purpose even after the master’s demise, so… in a way, they still had the heart of their master. I think this also explains why Aqua can’t summon her own keyblade anymore after the end of BBS. Her intent for her keyblade was to watch over Terra. It’s still doing that, in the Chamber of Repose. Then again, maybe keyblades can’t be summoned into the Realm of Darkness if they preside in the Realm of Light? Who knows.

Keeping the theme of intent, I think it has a lot to do with the Keyblade Ceremony. In every instance of the ceremony, the master intends to give the power away (Terra to Riku, for instance). So I think there’s more to it than just “touching the blade”. The only circumstance that defies this rule is Aqua to Kairi, but Kairi is a Princess of Heart so she can do whatever the hell she wants. So by the end of BBS, we’re sitting at six (potential) keyblade wielders and eight keyblades. Cue KK and KKD, makes ten. Actually, if we want to get technical, Xehanort might have been able to summon his own keyblade before being given No Name. So maybe eleven? At this point, the original Kingdom Hearts must be pretty pissed off.

So then there’s Sora. Who never had his own keyblade. Which I think is pretty cool. KK is Sora’s bro after KH1, so he never really needs one. And he was never given the ceremony officially. Though it could be argued that by housing Ven’s heart, it gave Sora the ability to have his own keyblade, but just the same it could be argued that once Ven’s heart is gone Sora might not be able to hold a keyblade at all. (I doubt that’ll be the case, but it’s funny to think about.) What are we at? Seven wielders, ten (possibly 11) blades?

Sora goes all sleepy time, so Roxas steals his Kingdom Key. KK is probably like “this is Sora! Feels like Sora. Probably Sora. I wish I had a glowing blue eye so I could be sure, but hey, whatever”. Xion “copies” Roxas’s key, explaining the two KKs at the same time. This is probably Ven’s keyblade since she’s siphoning parts of Sora out of Roxas, and the KK appearance is an illusion created from copying Roxas.

Xion dies. Roxas gets her keyblade (which was Ven’s). Dual wielding ass kicking ensues. Then when Sora wakes up, he can dual wield because Roxas - who is a part of him - unlocked that power for him. I think this is a really cool plot point actually, because it means when Ven gets his heart back, Sora will need to learn to manifest a keyblade of his own (not the KK) in order to dual wield again!! :D I’m all about Sora learning how to forge his own keyblade.

Let’s see. Lea gets a keyblade from Yen Sid’s ceremony. Bringing our total wielder count to eight: Destiny trio, Wayfinder trio, Mickey, Lea. Eleven keyblades: listed above (including KK for Sora), KKD (which means Mickey can probably dual wield), Master Defender (hopefully dual wielding Aqua in the future?!), and No Name (Terranort can officially dual wield..?).

Then keychains. Don’t worry, I’m almost done. “Keychains” modify the appearance of an existing keyblade. I actually don’t think keychains are actual keychains in most cases. It’s just that certain memories and experiences can color your heart, changing the appearance of your keyblade. The exception to this could possibly be Oathkeeper, since Kairi actually gives Sora a charm. But I don’t think he clips that thing on the end of his keyblade - I think just the memories of her and stuff bring about the transformation. Or maybe they are real keychains, but they are made when the heart remembers those memories? Because honestly, obtaining actual magical keychains seems absurd to me. This really isn’t elaborated on in any way.

Importantly, however! there are no keychains on the keyblades in the Graveyard. So maybe keychains are tied to a wielder’s heart, and when the wielder dies, the keyblade can be left behind but not the keychain itself. Again, there are exceptions with Master Defender (Eraqus) and No Name, since there is still intent in these blades. It’s interesting to think about. Also the Keyblade of Heart (forged from the seven princesses) doesn’t have a keychain. Maybe because it has no wielder? It’s a combination of seven hearts, rather than one? I don’t know.

ANYWAY. This was a lot longer than I wanted it to be, but I think about keyblades a lot. If anyone has anything to add or correct me on, PLEASE tell me because I LOVE TALKING ABOUT THIS STUFF!!! :D

<3 KCM