On July 8th, the Official Twitter account for the Square Enix e-Store announced that a lottery will soon be getting underway, with the prizes being revealed to be a series of Acrylic stands. These stands will take the form of the logos of the various Kingdom Hearts titles, including two separate ones featuring Sora, and Kairi upon their thrones!
Furthermore, pre-orders for these various potential prizes are available now, and will be so all the way until August 8th, with shipments making their way on September 30th. No indication has been given, or discovered so far which, if any prizes have a higher, or lesser chance of acquisition.
Below is a thorough translation by KH13.com staff member and translator, Ryuji:
e-Store Kuji presents the Kingdom Hearts Series / Logo Acrylic Collection.
Each kuji costs 500 yen, and the prizes are as follows:
Prize A: Kingdom Hearts
Prize B: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Prize C : Kingdom Hearts II
Prize D : Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Prize E: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Prize F: Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded
Prize G: Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
Prize H: Kingdom Hearts: Union Cross
Prize I: Kingdom Hearts III
Prize J: Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
Prize K: Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link
Prize L: Throne Sora
Prize M: Throne Kairi
All of these look very nice, and with possibly an equal chance getting any of them, pre-orders are certain to go quickly. Will you try your hand at pre-ordering? Let us know which of these you'd like the most!
You can take a closer look in our gallery, here:
Square Enix has listed numerous new Kingdom Hearts-themed products on its Japanese online store, comprising Apple Watch Bands and Earphone Case Covers.
The Watch Bands are based on Roxas, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and a Monogram color scheme, each costing ¥4,950. Similarly, the Earphone Case Covers are based on the same characters sans Roxas, as well as a Treasure Chest and the Monogram color scheme for the same prices.
Moreover, each of these products is planned to be shipped on September 28, 2024.
You can view each of these items' store pages below, alongside images via our galleries below:
Monogram Apple Watch Band
Roxas Apple Watch Band
Sora Apple Watch Band
Riku Apple Watch Band
Kairi Apple Watch Band
Sora Earphone Case Cover
Riku Earphone Case Cover
Kairi Earphone Case Cover
Monogram Earphone Case Cover
Treasure Chest AirPods Pro Cover
Square Enix has announced that the Kingdom Hearts series will be arriving on Steam from June 13th, 2024.
The games will be available either as separate purchases or as one, single bundle called the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece bundle, which includes the following:
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
Kingdom Hearts III + ReMind DLC
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX will feature textural updates to its graphics and players who purchase Kingdom Hearts III + ReMind DLC or the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece will receive a platform exclusive keyblade "Dead of Night", which can be viewed below:
Additionally, to celebrate the announcement, a trailer will be releasing tomorrow on Youtube featuring Utada Hikaru's Simple & Clean (Re-Recording), which will also be releasing as a single on May 22 at midnight JST. The song's Japanese language counterpart, Hikari (Re-Recording) was previously released in April as part of Utada Hikaru's newly released Science Fiction album.
What do you think about the Kingdom Hearts series coming to Steam? Let us know in the comments below!
UPDATE: The Steam store page links are listed below. Wishlisting is also available.
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
Kingdom Hearts III + ReMind DLC
Official screenshots can be viewed via our gallery below:
Square Enix, Disney, and Sega have revealed a new plush of Sora in his Kingdom Hearts II attire. This item will be part of the Srag Plaza crame game lineup starting June 21, 2024.
The online retailer Aitai Kuji usually has these Kingdom Hearts items available for pre-order, so it's worth keeping an eye out if you're interested.
Other Kingdom Hearts Sega Plaza plushes include Halloween Town Sora, King Mickey, and Roxas.
You can view the new Kingdom Hearts II Sora plush below:
The Kingdom Hearts -Linking Hearts- Ichiban Kuji official website has revealed images of each of the prizes available for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts themed prize lottery, which include Kingdom Hearts themed character statues, plates, towels, cushions, and a Keyblade charm collection, releasing May 31st, 2024. MSRP for the prizes is expected to be ¥790, and stores handling the products include 7-Eleven Ito-Yokado, and Yume Town stores in Japan.
View our prior coverage of the Kingdom Hearts -Linking Hearts- Ichiban Kuji here.
You can take a closer look at each of the prizes in our gallery below
Which one of these new items would you like to add to your merchandise collection? Let us know in the comments below!
Sqaure Enix have announced on the Japanese Twitter/X account that the Android Closed Beta Test for Kingdom Hearts Missing Link will be pushed back a week. The CBT will now been conducted between May 2nd and May 10th. Players will be notified on or around April 26th.
In addition, a second iOS CBT will be happening during the same time as the Android CBT. This means the next CBT will be running on both Android and iOS systems, so this might mean that Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is within the last part of testing.
UPDATE (April 22, 2024): Sign up for the second iOS closed beta test has begun for Australia and United Kingdom. The sign up period will be from Apr 22nd to Apr 26th. You can apply by clicking here.
A newly re-recorded version of Hikari has released on Utada Hikaru's latest album, Science Fiction. The album, which released today features 26 tracks including newly mixed and re-recorded songs from across the singer's discography. Hikari, and its English language counterpart, Simple and Clean, have of course featured prominently as opening and ending themes throughout various games in the Kingdom Hearts series.
Back in January the tracklist for Science Fiction revealed Hikari, as one of the many songs on the album receiving a re-recording.
You can check out Hikari (Re-Recording) on the singer's official YouTube channel below
In the lead up to Science Fiction's release Utada Hikaru's official YouTube channel was also uploading 4K versions of previous music videos, including those for Hikari and Passion.
You can also listen to the full Science Fiction album on various music streaming platforms now.
What do you think of the newly re-recorded version of Hikari? Let us know in the comments below!
Square Enix has announced the launch of their new pet goods brand SQEX PETS, which will feature various merchandise for pets such as leashes, bandanas, clothing, beds and toys based on the Kingdom Hearts series as well as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
With the exception of the Dragon Quest items, the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts items were supervised by Tetsuya Nomura, who also serves as character designer, game designer, and director for Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. He also designed and drew the logo for FINAL FANTASY & PETs.
The Kingdom Hearts & Pets merchandise line contains six items
Cafe Monogram Mat
Sora dog wear
Monogram Pet Bandana
Monogram Pet Bed
Monogram Pet Leash
Paopu Fruit Rope Toy
You can take a closer look at the items in our gallery below
It should be noted that the products are currently listed as coming soon, and there is currently no release date or pricing information available for them as they are still under development and may not be sold depending on their development status.
Would you purchase Kingdom Hearts merchandise for your pets? Let us know in the comments below!
Thanks to our team's Ryuji for the translations.
Both the Japanese and Global accounts on X for Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link have announced that closed beta testing for Android devices will take place from April 25th through May 2nd. Players selected for the Android closed beta test will be notified through email around April 19th.
You can view the full announcement below
Previously Square Enix had announced that the Android closed beta test, originally scheduled to take place in January 2024, would instead be delayed into Spring 2024, due to the need for further adjustments to be made to ensure the game ran comfortably on a wide range of devices.
The iOS closed beta test for Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was previously held in November of 2023. KH13's very own Kimpchuu shared his impressions of the closed beta test which you can view here.
The official YouTube channel of Utada Hikaru has been uploading several 4K versions of previous music videos, with one of the most recent being "Hikari."
For those unaware, "Hikari" is the Japanese theme song of the first Kingdom Hearts, with the English version being "Simple and Clean."
“Hikari” was first released in Utada’s 2002 album "Deep River" before being used for several Kingdom Hearts entries. This iconic song has also been remixed multiple times, namely PLANiTb and -Ray of Hope MIX-.
A 4K version of the “Passion” music video is scheduled to be uploaded on March 30, 2024, at 8 AM ET/ 5 AM PT.
You can view the 4K music video of "Hikari" below:
Five new Kingdom Hearts II Ultra Detail Figures are now available for pre-order on AmiAmi. The figures feature Sora, Riku, Mickey, Pete, and Chip n Dale as they appear in Kingdom Hearts II. Currently, the Sora, Riku, Mickey, and Chip n Dale figures are available for ¥1,570 (approx. $10.37 USD) and the Pete figure is available for ¥1,870 (approx. $12.35 USD). Each figure is set to release November 2024.
Previously, figures of Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey have been revealed as part of the Ultra Detail Figure lineup.
You can take a closer look at each figure in our gallery below, alongside their pre-order links
Ultra Detail Figure Kingdom Hearts II Sora
Ultra Detail Figure Kingdom Hearts II Riku
Ultra Detail Figure Kingdom Hearts II Mickey Mouse
Ultra Detail Figure Kingdom Hearts II Pete
Ultra Detail Figure Kingdom Hearts II Chip n Dale
Will you be picking up any of these figures? Let us know in the comments below!
In a recent interview with IGN, Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura discusses about her previous work not only in the Kingdom Hearts series, but with many other series including Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Live A Live, and more as she is the recipient of this year's Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards.
In addition, Shimomura has begun work on the soundtrack for Kingdom Hearts IV. You can read the entirity of the interview here.
UPDATE: IGN's story was updated to say the following:
Correction: A previous version of this story said Shimomura was working on several songs for Kingdom Hearts 4. That was a misunderstanding, and this article has been updated to reflect that Shimomura instead meant she's working on various tracks for several different games.
The official Disney Pins Blog has announced that a new Kingdom Hearts pin is now available at Disney Theme Parks via Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and the Disney Store.
Fans can purchase this item and several other recently launched premium pins for $21.99. However, only 3,000 of these pins were produced.
You can view the new Kingdom Hearts pin below. It features Mickey with the Kingdom Key D, which has one of his end quotes from the original game stating, "There will always be a door to the light."
You can view the other newly made available pins via the official Disney Pins Blog.
The Japanese Kingdom Hearts Twitter account tweeted a new piece of artwork commemorating the launch of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. This artwork depicts Sora in Quadratum watching Sephiroth, who is wearing his Kingdom Hearts attire, on multiple screens, similar to the advertising Square Enix did in Shibuya over the past couple of days. You can view the artwork in the gallery below.
Congratuations on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on their release launch!
The Square Enix North America Store has revealed nine new Kingdom Hearts Acrylic Stands now available for pre-order, releasing in August 2024. Three of the stands featuring the key art for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts II, and Kingdom Hearts will cost $34.99 each, while the other six stands featuring Sora, Kairi, and Roxas will cost $14.99 each.
You can take a closer look at each of the Acrylic Stands in our gallery below, alongside their product links:
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Acrylic Stand - Boundary - $34.99
Kingdom Hearts II Acrylic Stand - Heart - $34.99
Kingdom Hearts Acrylic Stand - Premonition - $34.99
Kingdom Hearts III Acrylic Stand - Kairi - Promise - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts III Acrylic Stand - Sora - Promise - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts II Acrylic Stand - Late Summer - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts II Acrylic Stand - Ocean - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts Acrylic Stand - Wind - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts Acrylic Stand - Beach - $14.99
Will you be picking up any of these acrylic stands? Let us know in the comments below!
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