Why Is Oath (Chikai) Used So Repeatedly?

[Fullmetal Keyblade 88]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but every single trailer since Utada revealed Chikai as the Theme has featured the song. I am a huge fan of Utada and while I like the song, I've always felt since it was revealed to be a little off for a KH opening, but the extent that it's been pushed I am finding myself enjoying it less and less. I find myself thinking that at various points in recent trailers that it would be nice to hear music original to the world, or even just a new KH score, but Chikai still blares in the background, as if pushing me to into a melancholy I don't feel.

I'm glad that Skrillex and Utada are working on something together, to say the least, I'll be able to hear something different for a change. Seeing as the game is less than 100 days from release, I'm not sure how big of a complaint this is, as I'm sure the game will have an amazing original score, which will allay my current concerns of not hearing world - specific music. But my overall question here is, why include the Theme song so much in trailers? Is the mood and tone of Chikai really what Nomura wants as the tone of KH3?

[Master Keeper 687]

My guess is that they are commercializing her song, another thing is that they are over protective and secretive when it comes to revealing new soundtracks, so they ended up bringing the same song over and over again.

[ocean's rage 774]

personally i like hearing it so often all the scenes sound good with it in the background 

[Merilly 438]

I never made it a secret that I detest the song and hearing it again and again made me loathe it even more. It wouldn't be quite so bad if it would fit all the scenes but quite frankly, it doesn't. They even excluded most gameplay sounds just so it could play.

I doubt this is the overall mood Nomura wants to set since he said that the game will have plenty of funny moments, even more so than in previous games. I agree with Master Keeper that they're probably commercializing the song and have some sort of contract to make it appear so often.

Still, it's getting annoying. They don't need to reveal something new but they could at least cycle through known tracks... I personally think the song doesn't do a good job advertising the game because it's so melancholic and often doesn't fit the visuals. If I didn't know the franchise, it wouldn't appeal to me at all to hear that song in almost every trailer.

[Fullmetal Keyblade 88]

Hopefully when Face My Fears releases they'll use that as the main promotional track, although by that point I'd say the damage is already done, for lack of a better word.

[ienzo628 548]

7 hours ago, Master Keeper said:

My guess is that they are commercializing her song, another thing is that they are over protective and secretive when it comes to revealing new soundtracks, so they ended up bringing the same song over and over again.

They could have probably re-used previous soundtracks from the past Kingdom Hearts games instead of rehashing Oath.  I am with Full Metal Keyblade on this.

[Merilly 438]

17 minutes ago, Fullmetal Keyblade said:

Hopefully when Face My Fears releases they'll use that as the main promotional track, although by that point I'd say the damage is already done, for lack of a better word.

Yeah, there probably won't be that much time left to advertise the game. And we don't know if Face my Fears will be any good either. Of course I hope it will be but no matter how much a person likes an artist, there will probably always be a song they dislike.

I'm not one for blind fanatism just because Utada Hikaru wrote the song. Of course it's fine if people like Oath, I just think it's fairly boring and the lyrics are also strange again. The problem I have with that kind of promotion is that she wrote 2 songs for the game from what we can tell. The majority will be done by Shimomura and some other people as well, so it doesn't really advertise what we will hear in the game most of the time.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Merilly

[Goyan-Tanuki 38]

I think it was alright that they used it in the many trailers. I would rather wait until I play the game to hear the soundtrack I think it'll still be worth it when Oath plays at the end of the game.

[Master Keeper 687]

9 hours ago, Merilly said:

Yeah, there probably won't be that much time left to advertise the game. And we don't know if Face my Fears will be any good either. Of course I hope it will be but no matter how much a person likes an artist, there will probably always be a song they dislike.

I'm not one for blind fanatism just because Utada Hikaru wrote the song. Of course it's fine if people like Oath, I just think it's fairly boring and the lyrics are also strange again. The problem I have with that kind of promotion is that she wrote 2 songs for the game from what we can tell. The majority will be done by Shimomura and some other people as well, so it doesn't really advertise what we will hear in the game most of the time.

"Oath" was meant to be an ending song and ending songs are usually slow-paced, which makes it a fitting choice for the ending. So I wouldn't call it as a boring song yet especially since we haven't heard the full English version (that usually have some changes on the lyrics) and we haven't even scene the cutscene in which this songs plays at. So who knows? Maybe this song would end up touching our hearts more than any of the previous songs if the cutscene were to be the most emotional of them all.

[Fullmetal Keyblade 88]

1 hour ago, Master Keeper said:

"Oath" was meant to be an ending song and ending songs are usually slow-paced, which makes it a fitting choice for the ending. So I wouldn't call it as a boring song yet especially since we haven't heard the full English version (that usually have some changes on the lyrics) and we haven't even scene the cutscene in which this songs plays at. So who knows? Maybe this song would end up touching our hearts more than any of the previous songs if the cutscene were to be the most emotional of them all.

I don't doubt that it'll be appropriate and moving once the game ends, I've even defended the song to that point, but that's the purpose for it, a ending song. The tone it sets when watching the trailers is not magical or exciting, and that's my complaint about it. I guess I'm just wishing for a song that makes me feel the same way I felt when I first popped in KH1 & 2, Simple and Clean and Sanctuary had me so ready to play and the feelings I experienced when hearing them every time after made me happy all over again. 

I suppose that since the theme of KH3 is resolution, Oath fits the bill perfectly, but the way it's been promoted and used in trailers makes me feel like "Oh it looks so good and exciting but it sounds like a bunch of sad s**t is going to happen". Maybe that's the intention. But I feel like it would of been more appropriate to add lighter tone and "hype-able" music after the initial reveal of the song to the trailers, unless, again, KH3 is going to be a lot sadder than we're expecting.

*Edit I'm in agreement now with the conclusion that there must be a contractual agreement to reuse the song, alternatively, if that isn't the case, then Nomura(Shimomura) is seriously becoming tone deaf, IMO..

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Fullmetal Keyblade
Adding to my comment

[KH4Real 749]

I actually wonder where the orchestra version of this song is. 
Yeah it is clearly that they won't spoil the music of the game.

[Merilly 438]

2 hours ago, Master Keeper said:

"Oath" was meant to be an ending song and ending songs are usually slow-paced, which makes it a fitting choice for the ending. So I wouldn't call it as a boring song yet especially since we haven't heard the full English version (that usually have some changes on the lyrics) and we haven't even scene the cutscene in which this songs plays at. So who knows? Maybe this song would end up touching our hearts more than any of the previous songs if the cutscene were to be the most emotional of them all.

I know it's meant to be an ending song, but even for that it's dull in my opinion. The rhythm, intonation and everything about it simply don't suit my taste and I do listen to some slow songs myself. But in this case, it just didn't manage to touch me at all. And quite frankly, I doubt it will do so at any point in the future because I just don't like it, regardless of the cutscene that plays with it. In fact, just because it has KH attached to it won't suddenly make it good for me.

I'm not saying others can't like it. I'm well aware it's an ending song. But this song has so little emotion in my opinion and just sounds boring to me. There are many slow and melancholic songs which sound great and very emotional but 'Oath' just doesn't do that for me. If a song needs a cutscene to be considered good for anyone, it's not a good song on its own to that person. And a cutscene won't magically turn it into one. I'll accept that it'll be there since there's nothing I can do about it, but I won't enjoy it.

No offense, but not every slow-paced song is automatically fitting for an ending. You can have the same genre from the same artist and still won't like every song made by that person. I see no reason to change that opinion just because it's in Kingdom Hearts. It's simply that - an opinion. I'm not trying to offend anyone by that but I think it's also okay to find something terrible, even if it's part of my favorite franchise. Utada Hikaru isn't some deity where everything she does is turned into gold for every single person on this planet, regardless of translation.

[Fullmetal Keyblade 88]

10 minutes ago, Merilly said:

I know it's meant to be an ending song, but even for that it's dull in my opinion. The rhythm, intonation and everything about it simply don't suit my taste and I do listen to some slow songs myself. But in this case, it just didn't manage to touch me at all. And quite frankly, I doubt it will do so at any point in the future because I just don't like it, regardless of the cutscene that plays with it. In fact, just because it has KH attached to it won't suddenly make it good for me.

I'm not saying others can't like it. I'm well aware it's an ending song. But this song has so little emotion in my opinion and just sounds boring to me. There are many slow and melancholic songs which sound great and very emotional but 'Oath' just doesn't do that for me. If a song needs a cutscene to be considered good for anyone, it's not a good song on its own to that person. And a cutscene won't magically turn it into one. I'll accept that it'll be there since there's nothing I can do about it, but I won't enjoy it.

No offense, but not every slow-paced song is automatically fitting for an ending. You can have the same genre from the same artist and still won't like every song made by that person. I see no reason to change that opinion just because it's in Kingdom Hearts. It's simply that - an opinion. I'm not trying to offend anyone by that but I think it's also okay to find something terrible, even if it's part of my favorite franchise. Utada Hikaru isn't some deity where everything she does is turned into gold for every single person on this planet, regardless of translation.

There's a feeling I have too that Nomura "pushed" for this specific sound, and that's backed up a bit by his request a couple years back after she released Fantomé , he sent her original artwork and a vague-ish outline of what he wanted in her next song. 

Again unless Nomura and Co. INTENTIONALLY marketed the game and song to be essentially inseparable, and the song being what sets the mood overall, which is incredibly tone deaf and almost completely counter-intutive, Square and Utada must have some kind of contract that requires the song be used. Otherwise it doesn't make much marketing sense and overall sense either..

[Merilly 438]

1 hour ago, Fullmetal Keyblade said:

There's a feeling I have too that Nomura "pushed" for this specific sound, and that's backed up a bit by his request a couple years back after she released Fantomé , he sent her original artwork and a vague-ish outline of what he wanted in her next song. 

Again unless Nomura and Co. INTENTIONALLY marketed the game and song to be essentially inseparable, and the song being what sets the mood overall, which is incredibly tone deaf and almost completely counter-intutive, Square and Utada must have some kind of contract that requires the song be used. Otherwise it doesn't make much marketing sense and overall sense either..

It sure doesn't make much sense to market it like this. For fans which are already invested in the series it can be overlooked but people new to the series will likely find this combination odd for some scenes, especially those related to action-based combat.

Though admittedly, I'm not sure how much influence Nomura has on the trailers. It feels like Disney/SE are deciding what will be shown in what manner, too and it feels more likely that it's simply a contractual thing.

If it was only setting the mood, they could do this much better by using a variety of songs and not the same one in so many trailers. This will not be the only melancholic song in the game or they could just reuse music from previous games, too.

Another thing is that, as you said, it doesn't make sense to set the tone like this but then proceed to show scenes which don't fit that feeling.

Though if we look back at the songs like Sanctuary -After the Battle- in KH2, it also sounds exceptionally sad without the ending being terrible at all. In fact, it is the happiest ending of the series in my opinion... 

I think it wouldn't be right either to try and set the entire tone with just one song. It sounds terribly restrictive to have only one feeling for an entire game, even if it's just underlying it.

[Fullmetal Keyblade 88]

6 minutes ago, Merilly said:

Though if we look back at the songs like Sanctuary -After the Battle- in KH2, it also sounds exceptionally sad without the ending being terrible at all. In fact, it is the happiest ending of the series in my opinion... 

I think it wouldn't be right either to try and set the entire tone with just one song. It sounds terribly restrictive to have only one feeling for an entire game, even if it's just underlying it.

Exactly. It's like they want the song to be synonymous with the game, and that just doesn't fit either way you look at it. 

If you want to end a series, a saga in this case, then don't send it out with a song that has a downer feel overall and contains lyrics like,

"I don't know about fate
But I've got no choice
But to accept its existence now

Am I really good enough like this?
Hey, am I good enough?
I don't want you to get my hopes up too much"

Rough translation or not, that's not what I want to think or feel when I finish KH3. But it's my opinion there. Regardless it's strange to exclusively use Oath as the theme song for most trailers, it's not so inspiring and like you said, a younger person who isn't familiar with KH would be confused seeing the juxtaposition.

[Merilly 438]

40 minutes ago, Fullmetal Keyblade said:

Exactly. It's like they want the song to be synonymous with the game, and that just doesn't fit either way you look at it. 

If you want to end a series, a saga in this case, then don't send it out with a song that has a downer feel overall and contains lyrics like,

"I don't know about fate
But I've got no choice
But to accept its existence now

Am I really good enough like this?
Hey, am I good enough?
I don't want you to get my hopes up too much"

Rough translation or not, that's not what I want to think or feel when I finish KH3. But it's my opinion there. Regardless it's strange to exclusively use Oath as the theme song for most trailers, it's not so inspiring and like you said, a younger person who isn't familiar with KH would be confused seeing the juxtaposition.

I agree whole-heartedly though to be fair, Utada's lyrics often did not fit the games. Simple and Clean didn't really fit too well either and Sanctuary only partly. Of course people can interpret a lot into them but both Oath and Simple and Clean sound more like songs about love and its negative aspects than something suiting the frendship trope of the games.

And I feel like the English and Japanese versions are fairly different from ehat we heard so far. Not only judging from the title but also the text itself. I understand they had to adjust the lyrics but it feels like the entire song is sometimes different.

In the end we can just wait and see... I don t want to interpret too much into it yet after the precedence of the other songs and the lyrics not really suiting the franchise somehow. While he did say the ending might be hard to take, that also can mean a lot and I personally hope it will be an ending which the series could be closed with if people so want it. KH will go on with Sora but I think it would also be nice to have a proper ending to the saga (with the obligatory secret ending hinting at the sequel eventually), so those who want to end it there can be satisfied. You know, just in case.

[Fullmetal Keyblade 88]

Very true Merilly, in the words of Utada herself,

Time will tell.