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Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura was recently interviewed by Japanese magazine Young Jump. In the interview, Nomura was asked mostly about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth but did answer a couple of questions pertaining to the Kingdom Hearts series, including keeping managing lore in his team, what we may expect in Kingdom Hearts Missing Link and Kingdom Hearts IV, and when he may retire. You can read the Kingdom Hearts portion of the article below. Special thanks to KH13 translator Ryuji for the translations. What did you think of the interview? Let us know in the comments below!

Following the release of the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Vinyl LP Box, a video interview was conducted with the franchise's composer, Yoko Shimomura. Our team's Ryuji has translated this interview in full, quoted below:

Alongside the launch of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road's final update, Square Enix released a Q&A with Tetsuya Nomura regarding specific parts of the game's narrative and correlative material to the series as a whole. Our team's Ryuji translated the entirety of the interview, viewable below. However, note that the interview contains spoilers for pivotal Dark Road plot points. We will have also have edited images containing the translations shortly. Additionally, the Q&A images revealed new Tetsuya Nomura artwork of Young Xehanort, viewable below:

Game Informer recently interviewed Tetsuya Nomura regarding Kingdom Hearts IV, the series' future, and other related aspects. Firstly, Nomura states how some of his favorite fan reactions are to the original Kingdom Hearts' ending, primarily due to how players at the time weren't sure if the story would continue beyond the first entry. The Luxu reveal reactions in Kingdom Hearts III are another of his collective favorites simply because of its severe implications. Regarding Kingdom Hearts IV, Nomura states that the story is focused more on Sora's disappearance and that there's uncertainty about whether the team will be able to include more of the original cast, notably the Birth by Sleep and Days crews. Still, he desires to explore them more at later points. Interestingly, Nomura states how he was the one being picky about Sora's recent inclusion into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, not Disney. The latter party was actually quite eager, while Nomura thought it would clash with the "established lore in Kingdom Hearts and the Disney worlds." The end result ended up being qualitative, though. Moving on to antagonists, Nomura says he's quite happy with their handling of Xehanort's character, citing it as a slow burn that tackled each facet of his character with genuine depth. So now, the Foretellers will be the following antagonists, and Back Cover has already shown the types of characters they are. Moreover, "there will be more new characters as well," though specifics have not been mentioned yet. Sora is reiterated as the only possible main character for the franchise, to the extent that the numbered entries would conclude if he were to stop being the protagonist. Moreover, there will be a "few Disney worlds," so fans won't have to worry about them potentially being absent, even if their inclusion has "slightly" differed from previous entries. Reaction Commands' return was reiterated due to fan demand after their removal in Kingdom Hearts III. They were initially taken out because Nomura didn't find the mechanic's debut reception in Kingdom Hearts II particularly positive. Quadratum is reiterated as the game's initial base, with players returning there as the narrative progresses. Sora's daily life will be approached more, such as seeing him go in and out of his room. Realism is a challenging factor the team has been pursuing to see just how far they can take it. Final Fantasy characters' lacking presence was discussed next, with Nomura stating that their inclusion is not at the core of Kingdom Hearts' identity. Their presence in the first game was a collective device for players to get to know the at-the-time limited original cast. Now, it's difficult to continually include Final Fantasy characters because of how vast the original cast is. There is no word on how Final Fantasy balance incorporation will work in Kingdom Hearts IV. Finally, Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link is brought up as an entry fans should look forward to, as it sheds light on several mysteries throughout the series. It will even have hints and new information pertaining to Kingdom Hearts IV. UPDATE: Notable quotes from Nomura; "As far as the graphic qualities ... since with each new title, the specs have been really increasing and there's so much more we can do in terms of graphics, it kind of limits the number of worlds that we can create in a sense." "Also, some figures that appear in Missing-Link are tied to Kingdom Hearts IV." You can read the full interview via Game Informer's website. You can also read the full interview below: View our Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Recap & Breakdown article.

I recently had the opportunity to speak to Kieron Sampson, the individual behind the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza advertisement rap that overtly mentioned Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series. Throughout this interview, Kieron provided personal insight regarding his history with the franchise, the personal impact it has had on him, and how this unexpected reference came about. He also discussed the internet's reactions to his rap, noting how he did not expect it to blow in popularity like how it ended up doing. You can view the full interview with Kieron Sampson via our Youtube channel below:

Famitsu recently published an early look at an interview they conducted with Tetsuya Nomura regarding Kingdom Hearts IV and Kingdom Hearts Missing - Link. Prominent community translator, Audrey, translated significant information from this interview pertaining to Kingdom Hearts IV, so immense credit to her. We will be updating this article when the information surrounding Missing - Link is translated, and when the full interview releases on April 28th, 2022. For now, the summations of Audrey's work are listed below: Quadratum is entirely unrelated to the Shibuya found in The World Ends with You. There are no connections to speak of. Further, this is a new world unrelated to any we've seen before. Sora's apartment is located in Aoyama, Tokyo, and it will act as the base/hub for the game's early stages. The Reaction Command mechanic from Kingdom Hearts II will be returning. The fourth option of the command menu says "Build," relating to the concept of the "Scrap and Rebuild system" that will be discussed more at a later date. Translator Xenosaga states this to be the concept of destruction and reconstruction. One of the central story ideas will be exploring how Sora's home realm is fictitious to Quadratum natives and vice versa. The message Nomura left at the Anniversary Event venue containing the "x" symbol has not been fully deciphered yet. Our team's Ryuji has translated the currently available Kingdom Hearts Missing - Link segment of the Famitsu interview, viewable below: UPDATE: The anniversary message riddle has been solved by user @kh_skrvat and several other Japanese fans. Our translator, Ryuji, provided the following image for visualization. This means that the narrator for the Kingdom Hearts IV and Kingdom Hearts Missing - Link trailers is Sigurd, a character introduced in the epilogue of Kingdom Hearts Union χ. The explanation for how this was solved is below, via our team's Ryuji.

The well known composer for the Kingdom Hearts series, Yoko Shimomura, recently chatted with Square Enix about the iconic track 'Dearly Beloved' and how it has evolved throughout the course of several years and several games. Shimomura had several notable comments regarding the initial composing of the track. Shimomura delves into several aspects of this song such as the technology that was used to compose it across its various iterations as well as the inspirations and ideas she had for purposeful theming. There are also some interesting and unexpected comments, such as her thoughts on fans reacting so emotionally to the 'Dearly Beloved' iteration present in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Kingdom Hearts II was when Shimomura began to realize that Kingdom Hearts would become a truly long-lasting series which is why she was quite emotionally invested and put quite a bit of effort into that iteration of 'Dearly Beloved'. Shimomura has a difficult time choosing her favorite version of the track and believes that wanting to change prior tracks would be denying the efforts she took when she initially composed them. Also of note, she comments on the version of 'Dearly Beloved' present in the recently released Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory. She states that it was a delight for her since she got to tackle the iconic track from a whole new angle. This was something she wanted to do for years. Additionally, she makes a curious comment about a scrapped version of the song. Lastly, Shimomura closed off her thoughts by saying: You can view the entirety of the article at Square Enix's blog, here. What are your thoughts on these compelling pieces of trivia regarding one of the franchise's most well known tracks? Let us know in the comments below!

Dengeki recently conducted an interview with Tetsuya Nomura on Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory and what to expect from the series in the near future. You can read the interview below, courtesy of translations from our team's Ryuji. What are your thoughts on this interview? Let us know in the comments below!

TheGamer recently sat down with Final Fantasy XIV creative director Naoki Yoshida, who revealed that a Final Fantasy XIV crossover with Kingdom Hearts is just highly improbable. This has long since been a source of speculation, and seeing remarks like this from a Final Fantasy XIV staff member just serve to reinforce those speculations. You can read important bits from the TheGamer article with Naoki Yoshida below:

The Facebook Live Q&A with Kingdom Hearts series composer, Yoko Shimomura took place on October 23rd! We have chronicled the questions and answers here for convenience. Keep in mind that these answers were given in English by a live translator during the event. You can take a look at each question and answer below: Did any of Shimomura's responses stand out to you, and if so, which one(s)? Let us know in the comments below!

Nintendolife has recently conducted an interview with Kingdom Hearts series director, Tetsuya Nomura, as well as the co-director of Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory, Masanobu Suzui! This interview segment released by Nintendolife is more of a compilation of info rather than the standard fare of questions and answers being shown. A major takeaway from this interview is how the team hopes this title will be a way for both potential fans to "dip their toes" into the vast ocean of the Kingdom Hearts series and get introduced while also acting as a celebration and overview of the series up to this point for fans who are caught up. An unexpected snag for the development team was how they would incorporate 3D into this title since Kingdom Hearts is known for being a 3D series, while the Theatrhytm titles are all 2D. A surprising source of inspiration for how this would work came from the Kingdom Hearts 15th anniversary jukebox website which showed Sora running atop a musical score. Camera kinks were difficult to iron out and several prototypes had to be made but, this general perspective in the animation is what the team ultimately went with, for Melody of Memory. A series of questions regarding Square Enix's working relationship with Disney was also discussed. The one constant that Nomura stated was that things were always changing. Policy changes, personnel changes and the increased recognition with Kingdom Hearts as a brand have all merged to make certain things easier to do, and other things not possible anymore. The unusual events of 2020 were also brought up. Nomura stated that while developmental schedule changes were not drastic, they did impact voice recording most significantly, especially for overseas voice actors. There are a total of four main parties with three characters each that Suzui confirms. Lastly, the team chose to implement mostly original Kingdom Hearts tracks rather than Disney ones in order to better represent and celebrate the Kingdom Hearts series as a whole. Once again, you can read this interview in full, here. What are your thoughts on these comments by Tetsuya Nomura and Masanobu Suzui? Let us know in the comments below!

French news gaming outlet, Gamekult, recently interviewed Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory co-director Masanobu Suzui, and series executive producer Ichiro Hazama! You can read a summary of the interview's important points below. Huge thanks to KH13 community member, Epheymer, for providing translations of this interview! What are your thoughts regarding these more concrete bits of information for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory? Let us know in the comments below!

Dualshockers has recently conducted an interview with Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory co-director Masanobu Suzui and series executive producer Ichirou Hazama! You can the interview in full, below. There are several aspects of this interview that are already covered in many of the other interviews that have released today but there are some new, exclusive bits of info! First of which is confirmation that no version of the game will be receiving dual-language audio. Japanese players will be receiving a Japanese dub while western players will be receiving an English dub. Other notable tidbits of info are that the team hopes this title is replayable for fans to the same extent that other Theatrhythm have been and there will be a mix of serious and light hearted moments throughout the game's story. There will another big element to the plot that the team is avoiding spoiling. Kairi is the narrator for when you view memorable scenes. The team finds this title to be a good introduction to the Kingdom Hearts series, and lastly, they find the 'World Tour' (Story) mode to be robust. What are your thoughts on this batch of info for Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory? Let us know in the comments below!

Famitsu has recently released an interview they conducted with series director Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory co-director Masanobu Suzui, and series executive producer Ichiro Hazama! You can read translated excerpts relevant to Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory below, thanks to our team's Ryuji! What are your thoughts on this enlightening interview involving some of the integral development staff behind Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory? Let us know in the comments below!

PlayStation Blog Japan recently interviewed Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura, series producer Ichiro Hazama, and Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory co-director Masanobu Suzui on the development of Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory. You can read some excerpts from this interview below thanks to @aitaikimochi Other interesting points from the interview include: Hazama and Suzui had submitted a proposal to Nomura for a Kingdom Hearts Rhythm action game about five years ago There are over 140 songs within the game, each evenly spread out throughout all games in the series, however since production was parallel to Kingdom Hearts III there are fewer songs from Kingdom Hearts III The difficulty levels include Beginner/Standard/Proud but there is an additional "Performer Style" which seems to take the place of Critical difficulty. It is not possible to change keyblades A great deal of detail was dedicated to ensuring the sound effects of the game were unique to Kingdom Hearts Kairi is referred to as a narrator in Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory Nomura wanted the rhythm aspect of the game to connect with the story Development is almost over and is in the final stages Nomura says the development period was short, but the game's development period was the longest for Indie Zero What do you think of these highlights from this interview? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for updates on translations of the full interview!