168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Kingdom Hearts has always done Kairi dirty. The potential heroine has often been relegated to a damsel in distress or treated as a weak character who can't possibly fend for herself. Melody of Memory and ReMind gave her some additional agency, choosing to focus on her training as a Keyblade wielder and goal of saving Sora, making it clear she was the only one capable of reaching him and restoring balance to the world. He’s still missing though, a narrative conundrum that will inevitably usher in a new era of convoluted adventures.
For once, she had a purpose that went beyond delivering expository dialogue or acting as a feminine plot device for Sora and his friends. She was more than that, gender norms being reversed to such an extent that the damsel became the saviour. She is still stereotypically feminine, but expresses a confidence that proves she can fight for herself and forge a path forward that is all her own. No longer is Kairi the inevitable love interest, she's a master in the making with so much potential that needs to be realized. She’s more like her manga counterpart, a girl who isn’t afraid to kick ass and take names whenever possible.
The final moments of Melody of Memory show Riku beginning his pilgrimage into other realities in search of Sora, while Kairi decides to continue her training under the guidance of Aqua. At the time of writing, Sora is out of the picture and is the one who now needs saving. Donald and Goofy are with King Mickey as they investigate Scala ad Caelum as they🐓 seek to uncover more clues behind its⛎ mysterious existence. The crew is broken up, setting the stage for an entirely new saga that will change the face of Kingdom Hearts forever. We have no idea whether the new story will take place in games, books, shows, or another medium, but one of them needs to focus entirely on Kairi. The girl deserves her own game.
My first instinct is to say this will come in the form of Dream Drop Distance 2. The first game featured Sora and Riku as dual protagonists, each with their own distinct abilities and narrative journeys which slowly began to intertwine throughout. Many weren’t big fans of the dropping mech🤡anic, which saw you forcibly switch between characters regardless of whether you happened to be in the midst of an epic boss encounter or simply exploring to satiate your own curiosity. But despite its issues, it’s still a great game, and one which is perfect for a sequel that improves upon its shortcomings.
Kairi and Aqua are both very different characters, sporting personalities with years of development that for so long have been begging for some independence. Aqua was the undeniable highlight of Birth By Sleep, hence her presence as a mainstay in the games that would follow, while Kairi has been a fan favourite ever since her inception while continually b🍃eing relegated to the background. Perhaps Tetsuya Nomura just isn’t a fan of writing strong, capable female characters - but I feel it’s time for this series to leave the boys behind and give the girls a chance to shine without the need to be propped up time and time again.
Imagine a game where Kairi is given the same level of development as Sora or Riku, with the story and world taking into account her years of development and growing maturity as a Keyblade master. She isn’t a plot device anymore, she’s a living, breathing person who has been present for every major event in the series’ history. For goodness sake, the final battle in Kingdom Hearts 3 is going swimmingly until Xehanort decides to be an asshole and take Kairi hostage, stealing her soul for funsies and once again making her a helpless damsel who couldn’t possibly exist without the help of Sora and company. It’s tiresome, even more so in a world where modern renditions of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Tifa and Aerith exist. I’m shocked we haven’t seen a modern retelling of Birth By Sleep with Sora, Riku, and Kai🐟ri all being playable, especially since they are all🍎 now trained in wielding keyblades and have something to gain.
Melody of Memory felt like an apology of sorts, but it still isn’t enough, and Kairi continues to feel wasted in the grand scheme of things if future games aren’t willing to give her a starring role. Square Enix needs to give us the goods. The series’ 20th anniversary is set to dominate Tokyo this April and will likely be far more than a lighthearted celebration. It’s already being promoted with the teasing of major announcements. ReMind ended with an epic confrontation between Sora and Yozora on a Shinjuku rooftop which, according to supplemental materials, the canonical ending results in Sora losing this battle as he’s frozen in some form of weird crystal. He’s trapped and helpless, with ReMind’s secret ending all but replicating one of the earliest trailers for Final Fantasy Versus 13 in a way that is so batshit and self-indulgent that we have no idea what Nomura has planned for the future. The anniversary event is taking place within brick-throwing distance of the rooftop I mentioned earlie🎶r, so some real nefarious shenanigans are ✃going down right now.
Chances are we’ll end up with games focusing on Sora, Riku, and Yozora - but I sincerely hope there’s also a smaller title, perhaps even a spin-off, centred around the coming adventures of Kairi and Aqua in which they are brought into the spotlight. With the exception of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy X-2, which came out almost 20 years ago, JRPGs need more female protagonists, and given how Kingdom Hearts has done them so wrong in the past, it could be the perfect series to begin such a trend. Or knowing our luck, Ka🎐iri will just be kidnapped again.
