KH13.com's gallery aims to provide the community with the largest collection of articles and screenshots, as well as other images, related to the Kingdom Hearts series. This is an ongoing effort, and more content is continuously being added. This week, we have in particular focused on articles from 2009. Below is a list of what we have updated.
Articles → Chinese Famitsu Articles → CLOUD Message Articles → Dengeki DS & Wii Articles → Dengeki PlayStation Articles → Famitsu Articles → Famitsu DS+Wii Articles → Famitsu PSP+PS3 Articles → Famitsu Weekly Articles → Game Informer Articles → Nintendo Power Articles → Role Playing Game Articles → V Jump Articles → Weekly Shōnen Jump Books → Re:coded Ultimania Screenshots → Birth by Sleep, European Facebook page Screenshots → GameSpy Screenshots → Kingdom Hearts, Facebook page Screenshots → Re:coded, European Facebook page
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Ultimania, the official companion book for Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, released last week. The book contains many interviews concerning Re:coded and the future of the Kingdom Hearts series, and in particular, a six page interview with the director of the series, Tetsuya Nomura, is featured. Nomura reveals details concerning Kingdom Hearts 3D and the tenth anniversary of the Kingdom Hearts series. Thanks to HEARTSTATION.ORG, the interview can be read at our forum.
The November 20, 2010 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine has included an article on Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix. This article reveals new artwork, which will most likely appear on the cover of the game, as well as shows screenshots and renders never before seen. The article, thanks to FF-Reunion, can be seen below in our gallery.
Weekly Shōnen Jump (November 20, 2010)
The Holiday 2010 issue of Nintendo Power magazine has included an article on Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. This article, ten pages long, contains information, screenshots, and an interview with the series' director, Tetsuya Nomura. Thanks to HEARTSTATION.ORG, it can be seen below, in our gallery.
Nintendo Power (Holiday 2010)
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Ultimania, the official guidebook for Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, released last week. This book contained many interviews with various members of the development team, concerning Re:coded and the future of the Kingdom Hearts series. The "Scenario Mysteries" interview with the director of the series, Tetsuya Nomura, has been translated by HEARTSTATION.ORG. It can be read below.
Data Sora can newly obtain a legitimate Keyblade during his adventure, but are there changes to the real Keyblade when that happens?
Nomura: No, it’s a data version the entire time. However like with the first Keyblade, it wasn’t created by someone else. It comes from the heart’s connections with the data, hinting towards the story theme, “Can a heart be born in an existence made of data?”
During Re:Coded, Namine seems to have explained the reason for the “pain” mentioned in the journal to Sora and company, but why does she take the roundabout method of accessing the data in the Jiminy Journal and adding to it?
Nomura: At the point of time when Namine explained Sora’s secret in the real world, she already knew that by the time Sora and company woke up she would be gone. She thought she wouldn’t be able to speak to them directly. Thus she left a note in Jiminy’s Journal, however she didn’t presume what sort of form the meaning of the message would take when presented to Sora and company. Therefore Jiminy’s Journal was made into data according to the King and co.’s assumptions.
Was the message presented in Jiminy’s Journal prepared entirely by Namine herself?
Nomura: The very first message, “We must return to free them from their torment,” was the only one by Namine, however the messages “Their torment has been lessened” etc. were transmitted by the data itself when Sora eliminated the bugs, implying that restoring the data would bring him closer to understanding the mystery of the message.
As for the outbreak of bugs in Jiminy’s Journal, did they accidentally appear as a result of Namine adding data? Or did Namine intentionally devise the bugs in order to make Sora triumph over the “pain”?
Nomura: That occurring wasn’t part of Namine’s intentions. She couldn’t predict that Sora Heartless would take charge and bring about a crisis like that.
I see… Roxas appears dressed in the black coat in Castle Oblivion among other worlds too. Was that something else that Namine had not added intentionally?
Nomura: Right. Since Roxas and Sora together make up one existence, if there is a Sora made of Kingdom Hearts I data, then data of Roxas must exist too. Roxas says, “It’s my personal duty to check whether or not Sora is ready to take the pain.” However that role was not assigned by Namine, Roxas personally decided that goal and acted upon it accordingly.
Who was the person taken from the data of Jiminy’s Journal that took the form of Riku in the data world?
Nomura: That wasn’t someone from the real world’s data, more like that was the data itself taking on the body of Riku in order to avoid being eroded by the bugs.
When each world is completely debugged, a scene is shown that was not seen in Kingdom Hearts I. Did those scenes occur at the same point in time as Kingdom Hearts I?
Nomura: Yes, they were memories deep in the data of the worlds recorded in Jiminy’s Journal, however as a result of Data Riku searching after the worlds were debugged, they were tangible to the King and company.
In the final chapter of Hollow Bastion, it happens in the story that if the Jiminy Journal is completely debugged, then the existence recorded in the data will be erased. Then why is it even if Data Sora doesn’t remember, Data Riku’s memories remain?
Nomura: Data Sora became an existence whose purpose was to go about debugging, so at the point in time when he had completely debugged the data his memories were gone. In Data Riku’s case, it existed in the main data even without the Jiminy Journal itself being erased, and since its purpose was to solve the mystery first written in the journal, it couldn’t fulfill it until the debugging was complete. Once the mystery was solved, it too would lose its memories.
Throughout playing the lines “Restoration Rate X%” appears a few times, when it reaches 100% Sora Heartless begins to run amok. Does that number represent the growth condition of Sora Heartless?
Nomura: In Kingdom Hearts II, Sora’s memory restoration rate was expressed that way. In this case it’s basically showing how much of the data world was restored thanks to Sora. However it’s also like an indicator of Sora Heartless’ growth since it grew at the same time as Sora exterminated the bugs.
After debugging Traverse Town, the King says to Sora, “That day, your travels began here. Also on that day, I was here too.” Does that mean that the King was in the same place at the same time as Sora adventured into Traverse Town in Kingdom Hearts I?
Nomura: Seems so. What he was actually doing becomes the previously mentioned “blank time period”, but in this title, it’s implying that the two crossed paths in the same place.
As for the story, the curtain has closed on Sora finally saying “thank you” to Namine. In your Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix Ultimania interview, you mentioned that Sora not having yet thanked Namine was foreshadowing the future. Is that matter considered settled now?
Nomura: Although it can’t really be said that it’s completely settled since they haven’t exchanged words in the real world, there’s naturally that implication. This time it’s the data of Sora from before Chain of Memories saying thanks, however it shows there was a special connection beyond the passage of time between Sora and Namine. Additionally, it gives a contradictory answer to the implication that data existences don’t have hearts shown in the story.
I’m going to ask about the Secret Movie now. Yen Sid tells, “With Ansem and Xemnas defeated, it means Master Xehanort will be revived.” When Yen Sid explained about Organization XIII in Kingdom Hearts II, did he know this at that point in time?
Nomura: He knew, but it couldn’t be avoided. At that time Xemnas existed as the main threat, so nothing could be done until he was defeated.
“If you release the heart of the Heartless and annihilate the body of the Nobody, then the real form will be revived.” If those conditions are met, can others outside of Xehanort be revived too?
Nomura: It can be considered a possibility. Although it’s what-if speaking, I think that if the members of Organization XIII were restored, they would become there true form.
Though he’s a member of Organization XIII, Axel is shown in the end of Re:Coded in the memories of “pain”…
Nomura: Since healing the necessary “pain” of Axel’s is different than with other people, if he is revived he will take a form like Xehanort’s. In the end of the story, Namine says, “Those whose memories are sleeping inside Sora need relief.” In the Birth by Sleep secret cutscene “Blank Points”, certain characters call out to Sora, however in that scene Axel is the only one who appears and doesn’t say Sora’s name out loud.
Speaking of the Birth by Sleep secret cutscene, Ansem the Wise says that he hid his research results in Sora. This complies with what happens in Re:Coded when Namine says DiZ (Ansem the Wise) has hid something inside Sora. Is that mystery remaining unsolved?
Nomura: Yes. Namine added data to the Jiminy Journal in order to convey that the “pain” of those connected to Sora must be healed, but at the point in time Ansem hid the research results inside Sora, he didn’t know that. Accordingly, Ansem’s research results will become the key to healing the “pain” in the future of the story.
So even though Namine and Ansem acted independently, as a result of what the two did, it leads to one thing. And speaking of those details…
Nomura: Since that will likely become the story for Kingdom Hearts III, please look forward to that until then.
The latest issue of Famitsu Weekly has included an interview with the director of the Kingdom Hearts series, Tetsuya Nomura, where he discusses Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts 3D. Most importantly, Nomura reveals that Sora and Riku are in fact in their original clothing for 3D, and that every Disney world in the game will be new. FF-Reunion have uploaded a scan of this article, which can be seen below in our gallery. HEARTSTATION.ORG have translated the interview, which can be read below.
Famitsu Weekly (November 17, 2010)
“The events written in the Ansem Reports took place between Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts.”
Data Sora had a heart, didn’t he?
Nomura: Theoretically he doesn’t, but I entrust the answer to the imaginations of those who’ve seen the ending.
In the Secret Movie, it’s said they seem to know the location of Ven’s heart, leaving only Terra left. If we may assume, those two know that Aqua is located in the World of Darkness.
Nomura: That is what’s being hinted at.
Is it possible that the King met with her in the World of Darkness during Kingdom Hearts I?
Nomura: About that, I can’t yet say.
Yen Sid asks what if the revived Xehanort isn’t alone. What is the meaning behind that?
Nomura: Its meaning is literal. What would you do if there was more than just Xehanort? I get a bad feeling just thinking about it. (Laughs.)
So it’s possible that other members of Organization XIII can be revived?
Nomura: If their Heartless has been defeated then it’s possible.
At what point were Ansem and Xemnas separated from Xehanort? When did they lose their memories?
Nomura: Sometime between Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts I. It happened during the events in the Ansem Reports from Kingdom Hearts I. Was it really memory loss? In the Birth by Sleep Secret Movie, Braig doubted it.
Additionally, there is only one master right now, and that’s the King. When did the King become a master?
Nomura: During Birth by Sleep, the King is in the middle of his Mark of Mastery exam. Therefore, by the time of Kingdom Hearts, he has become a Keyblade Master. Yen Sid is a retired master and he can proctor the Mark of Mastery exam. Thus, this time, he will administer the test to Sora and Riku.
So the letter Sora receives in the ending has to do with the Mark of Mastery?
Nomura: Well, how about that. Incidentally, even though Kairi can wield a Keyblade, she won’t be a testing candidate.
So will Kingdom Hearts 3D be the telling of their Mark of Mastery exam?
Nomura: Kingdom Hearts 3D will be the platform for it. We’ve completed the axis for the system, right now we are testing how things are implemented, continuing in the trial and error process. In 3D you will be able to play as Sora and Riku, but we are considering making their main operation systems different. In Chain of Memories they both used cards but they used them differently. We’re thinking about having two types of play styles like that.
Sora and Riku appear in their Kingdom Hearts I outfits, why is that?
Nomura: That’s still a secret. I can only say that for the story it is necessary.
Then the worlds will be the same as in the first Kingdom Hearts?
Nomura: No, except for the original worlds like Traverse Town, we plan on using all new Disney worlds. Right now we are selecting worlds, though I have a lot of ideas I want to include.
Will it use the solid 3D display that is distinctive of the Nintendo 3DS?
Nomura: There’s that, but not just that. Kingdom Hearts 3D connects to Kingdom Hearts III; I plan on showing how they evolutionarily progress.
Connected to Kingdom Hearts III?!
Nomura: Yes, both the system and the story are tied to Kingdom Hearts III. It’s likely that the ending of 3D will continue into the story of KH3.
So, how is the system progressing?
Nomura: The Kingdom Hearts series has fundamentally been a single player game. Since it’s different than the Final Fantasy series which is founded on party play, the way the characters level up is different. Because there are various things that can and can’t be done, the things I can’t do in Final Fantasy Versus XIII I’m doing in Kingdom Hearts. Still I think those sorts of differences are there.
Is Birth by Sleep Final Mix taking center stage at the moment?
Nomura: The manufacturing of Birth by Sleep Final Mix is just about finished. Since the new ‘Secret Episode’ is being included, those fans who pay close attention to the mysteries of the story will want to play it by all means.
This Secret Episode, will it be different than the Secret Movies shown so far?
Nomura: In the Secret Episode, you’ll be able to virtually move as the character. I think it’ll be a different surprise fans can savor compared to just watching a movie.
Will fans be able to play a Birth by Sleep Final Mix demo at Jump Festa this December?
Nomura: Yeah, you’ll be able to. A single player and a multiplayer mode are being prepared. In the multiplayer mode you will be able to enjoy battling against Monstro.
What other things titles will be exhibited?
Nomura: The demos for The 3rd Birthday and Dissidia 012 [duodecim] will be available. One part of the promotional figure display from the Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded launch will also be there. I figured it’d be a good chance for Re:Coded players to cross paths, so please attend if you can.
The conference relating to Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII is occuring in January 2011, how is that coming along?
Nomura: We are in the midst of preparing for it. Please wait for a detailed follow up report.
Finally, a message for the fans.
Nomura: Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep’s release date is January 20th. Since I’m thinking there will be a long wait before I can send a follow up report about Kingdom Hearts 3D, please look forward to it.
KH13.com's gallery aims to provide the community with all articles, screenshots and photos concerning the Kingdom Hearts series. As you can imagine, this is a huge amount of content, so images are continuously being added. Below is a list of content we have added or updated in the past week.
Screenshots → 4Gamer.net Screenshots → GAME Watch Screenshots → Kingdom Hearts, Facebook page Screenshots → Kotaku Screenshots → Message from the KINGDOM Photos → IKSPIARI Tokyo Disney Resort
Please enjoy, and keep checking back for more.
Square Enix have announced via their online calendar that a Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep novel is in production. This novel, titled Birth by Sleep Vol.1 Something Strange, will be available in Japan on December 24, 2010.
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Ultimania, the official guidebook for Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, was released earlier in the week. This book, scans of which can be seen in our gallery, contains interviews with various people involved in the creation of Re:coded. HEARTSTATION.ORG have translated some of these interviews, and as there is a very large amount, they can be read at our forum.
Square Enix have announced on their Facebook page for Kingdom Hearts that a pre-order bonus will exist for Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. The bonus apparently, if you pre-order at GameStop or Amazon.com, consists of a free "icon decal set" before the January 11, 2011 release date. A picture of this set can be seen on the Facebook page.
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Ultimania has released in Japan. Ultimania is a guidebook for Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, including information and strategy regarding the game, as well as interviews that concern the development of the game, and the future of the series. HEARTSTATION.ORG have purchased a copy of the book, and uploaded scans of it. These can be seen below. Furthermore, they have stated that 19 interviews are included in the book, including a 6-page interview with the director of the series, Tetsuya Nomura. Please look forward to these.
Re:coded Ultimania
When E3 2010 occured in June 2010, a trailer for the English version of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded was shown. This trailer is the only available trailer for the English version, and can now be seen below in high quality thanks to TheDogonfire. It can also be downloaded from our video archive.
Square Enix have updated their online store with a page for Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix. This page announces the price, 6,090円, and more importantly gives a more official indication of the release date, January 20, 2011. Lastly, new screenshots of the game have surfaced from this update, which can be seen in our gallery.
The latest issue of Nintendo Dream magazine has included an interview with the director of the Kingdom Hearts series, Tetsuya Nomura. Here, Nomura discusses the development of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, and also reveals details concerning Kingdom Hearts 3D. Thanks to HEARTSTATION.ORG and Key to Truth, as well as ReBirth Wings who originally posted the interview, it can be read at our forum.
As the Kingdom Hearts Re:coded hype has now finished, we will go back to focusing on the future of the Kingdom Hearts series. Firstly and of the greatest importance, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix has been given a release date of January 27, 2011. This information, as well as various other details, such as more on the inclusion of Monstro and other extras, can be seen in various articles which are available on our gallery.
Secondly, Square Enix have announced the Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Ultimania. This book, available on November 4, 2010 for a price of 1,680円, will reveal secrets about Re:coded, and the future of the Kingdom Hearts series.
Please continue to visit KH13.com in the near future as we cover the Ultimania, and the upcoming release of Re:coded in English, as well as Birth by Sleep Final Mix. In around December 2010, we will unveil a complete website redesign, so we hope you look forward to this and the new functionality it will bring. Enjoy.
