Month: November 2022

Kingdom Hearts by Shiro Amano
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Volumes: 4
Series Rating: 3/5
See my individual reviews here:
Volume 1 – volume 2 – volume 3 – volume 4
Get your own copies here:
1 – Amazon ThriftBooks
2 – Amazon ThriftBooks
3 – Amazon ThriftBooks
4 – Amazon ThriftBooks
Or get the newer duology versions (published by Yen Press) here:
1 – Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf
2 – Amazon Barnes&Noble

Description

Fourteen-year-old Sora and his friends want to see what is across the ocean and visit other worlds. Everything gets turned upside down when their island home is hit by a storm, ripping them from their home and separating them.

Sora finds himself in a new land where he meets Court Wizard Donald and Captain Goofy. Together they fight mysterious creatures called Heartless and travel the universe in search of King Mickey and Sora’s lost friends.

Throughout their travels, they make friends in every world, and quickly discover it’s up to them to save the universe from the Heartless, and whomever is pulling their strings. The power of Sora’s Keyblade and the strength of his heart are paramount to succeed.

About

This is a manga adaptation of the popular game Kingdom Hearts. These are the older editions that make it a four volume series. The newer editions are encompassed in two volumes for a duology set. I got these forever ago, so I don’t have the newer editions.

I can’t stress enough that this is an adaptation. Don’t expect it to be super accurate.

Personal

I’ve been a fan of Kingdom Hearts since back when the first game was still new. It’s one of my favorite franchises, so when the manga came out, I knew I wanted to have it.

There are more Kingdom Hearts manga out there for some of the other games, as well as light novels. I’m in the process of collecting and reading them all. I want to do this in tandem with replaying the games to spot the differences, though, so it may take a while to review them.

As far as the manga versions go, I consider each “game” to be its own series, because they are, at the very least, in sets of two or more.

Characters

Sora is the main character. He is exclusive to the Kingdom Hearts universe. Well, except for his Smash appearance. He’s basically your average joe with a heart of gold.

Donald and Goofy are popular Disney characters associated with Mickey mouse. All three of them have been around for several decades, and they’re kind of the face of Disney, so it makes sense they would be main characters for this kind of story.

Mickey is a king in this universe because he is the ever constant mascot of Disney. Donald is his court wizard, and Goofy is his head knight.

Riku and Kairi are also completely new characters specifically for this story. Riku is the cool edge lord loner type. Part of his relationship with Sora is Riku is always better than him at everything, but that changes a bit as the story progresses. Kairi is essentially the girl next door everyone is crushing on.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series. The number of Final Fantasy characters is small, but the Disney quantity is high since pretty much all the worlds are from Disney movies.

Story & Thoughts

Negatives

Honestly, I don’t think the manga does the story justice. There are so many cuts, and the story feels too fast.

The characters seem to have little to no development. You don’t even get to know the characters the same way you would in the game. In the game, you get time to see what Riku and Kairi are like before everything happens. That experience is missing here. The introduction is rushed, and the lack of proper introductions makes Riku come off as a jerk, instead of the cool loner type that actually cares. The rushed plot doesn’t help this later on either.

Entire levels are missing. Deep Jungle and Halloween Town are not in the manga. I have issue with this, because it goes along with the lack of character development. Donald and Sora are supposed to butt heads significantly at the start of the journey. That is barely portrayed at all. The entire point of Deep Jungle in the game is to sort out Sora and Donald’s differences, so they can actually be good friends. The story feels shallow without those experiences.

There is little action. For an adaptation of a game where you fight things constantly, there is hardly any action to be seen. I think this could have been a little better if it embraced more action scenes and showed off more of the epic boss fights. Show off some of Sora’s special techniques, too.

Positives

In the game, we’re under the impression Sora summons and dispels his key blade at will. The manga does things a little differently. I find this part a little amusing. This adaptation actually has Sora use his belt as a sheath. It does not look realistically stable for use at all, but it’s a detail I enjoy.

The cover art for the chapters in each volume are nice. I like seeing them.

Despite my complaints, the manga isn’t bad. It’s not entirely faithful as an adaptation, but it’s enjoyable. I like to think of it as an alternate retelling, because it’s accurate to a point. All the most important story events are there. The route to them and how they occur are just a little different.

I don’t recommend this as your primary Kingdom Hearts experience. But, if you’re just in the mood for some Kingdom Hearts and don’t want to boot up the game, it might scratch that itch. Or if you’ve never played the game, and you just want to see what the story is like, this is a generally accurate enough outline of it to get an idea.

Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 4 by Shiro Amano
Series Name: Kingdom Hearts
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 1-59816-220-9
Rating: 3/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble
If you are set on getting the same old four volume editions, you can check here:
Amazon ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Sora, Donald, and Goofy are forced to choose between duty and friendship. Our heroes must follow their hearts if they are to succeed and defeat the growing Heartless menace. But in the world of Kingdom Hearts, choices are never easy!

Personal & Info

This is the final volume of the old four volume edition Kingdom Hearts manga. As usual, I will primarily link the new duology editions, as well as some links to find these older versions if they are your preference.

Characters

Sora, Donald and Goofy are the primary characters in every volume.

Riku and Kairi obviously play big parts in the finale.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series.

Story & Thoughts

This book picks up after the group leaves Never Land. From there, it goes straight into the final two locations of Hollow Bastion and the End of the World. Unfortunately, my favorite level, Halloween Town, does not make it into the manga at all.

I’m surprised they managed to squeeze the whole ending into this one short book. They cut some things and rush others. For example, there is a Maleficent boss in the game here. That is cut entirely for the manga.

100 Acre Wood is missing from the main story, aside from Sora delivering the book, but it gets a chapter at the end of this volume instead of the usual four panel comics.

I don’t think the manga does the series justice. Obviously the game is going to be better. The manga speeds everything up, and doesn’t care as much about the action or character development. It feels like more of a for fun read. Like, if you are craving some Kingdom Hearts, but you don’t want to boot up the game, this might be a quick fix. It gets the most important parts right, and that’s what matters. But seriously, don’t let this be your only exposure to the series. The game is so much better.

Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 3 by Shiro Amano
Series Name: Kingdom Hearts
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 1-59816-219-5
Rating: 3/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble
If you’re set on getting the old four volume editions, you can check here:
Amazon ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

When Monstro the whale swallows Sora and crew, the world of Kingdom Hearts plunges into an underwater adventure! Deep within the ocean depths, Sora lends Geppetto and Pinocchio a helping hand to fend off the Heartless. Our heroes then dive even deeper under the sea to face Ursula the Sea Witch. But Sora and Riku better surface fast because they have to rescue Kairi from the clutches of Captain Hook! When it comes to dealing with the Heartless, let your conscience be your guide, and don’t forget the pixie dust!

Personal & Info

This is volume three of the four volume old editions of the Kingdom Hearts manga. I assume most, if not all, of this volume is probably included in volume two of the newer duology prints.

Characters

Sora, Donald and Goofy are the primary characters in every volume.

Riku and Kairi both appear in this one.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series.

Story & Characters

This volume starts where volume two ends, however, the resulting boss battle is anticlimactic. They kind of overdo the whole Herc weakening Cerberus thing. Aside from that, the volume covers the Monstro, Atlantica, and Neverland levels from the game.

Like the other volumes, this one is fast paced. It blends some events together, or changes them a bit to make the story progress faster. Monstro seems particularly short.

It’s at this point I notice the manga entirely skips over the Deep Jungle level. I highly doubt it would be in the last volume since it’s an early level. The way things are going, there might be one or two other levels missing from the manga by the time it’s done. I think those parts of the story are significant for character development, but the manga seems to try to keep a more cheerful and funny vibe, so the characters don’t have much development, or at least none that is blatantly obvious. I’d say the most character development I’ve seen so far is learning skills, and that’s not usually what people mean when they talk about character development.

There’s a part in this one where they finally get to read Ansem’s report. I often didn’t read that while playing the game, so I can’t say if it’s similar. I would have to turn on the game to check.

There are more four panel comics in the back of the book. The one titled Farewell Gift is my favorite out of this batch.

I still love the chapter cover art, and highly recommend playing the game or to watch someone play the game if you read this. It should not be your only exposure to the series.

Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 2 by Shiro Amano
Series Name: Kingdom Hearts
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 1-59816-218-7
Rating: 3/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf
If you are set on getting the same old four volume editions, you can check here:
Amazon ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Sora, Goofy and Donald Duck continue their magical journey. Along the way they discover new clues about Maleficent’s preparations to conquer all the worlds. The fate of all beings lies within the power of Sora’s Keyblade – and the strength of his heart!

Personal & Info

This is volume two of my old copies of the Kingdom Hearts manga. These can only be found used now a days, so I will be linking the newer duology reprints as the primary shop links. I believe this volume is part of volume one of the duology. I don’t know for sure if they end in the same spot, because I don’t have those editions, but it’s probably close.

Also, I said it in the review for the first volume, but I’ll say it again here. This series reads left to right instead of the usual right to left like the average manga.

Characters

Sora, Donald and Goofy are the primary characters in every volume.

Riku appears in this volume, but we do not see any of Kairi aside from a hallucination.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series.

Story & Thoughts

This volume covers Agraba, Traverse Town, and The Olympus Colosseum. Based on how I play the game, the manga does the levels out of order. One could play the levels in the order of the manga, but that’s not my preference.

The story is still mostly accurate. By mostly accurate I mean it’s kind of an alternate retelling. Events are usually blended together instead of separate instances to make the flow faster. Details or minor events that never happen in the game are added to help the flow and keep things going or make them make sense, while other things are cut entirely.

This volume has a cliff hanger. It ends at the start of a boss fight, so volume three is going to start with that.

There are some funny four panel bonus comics at the end of the book.

I still love the chapter cover art, and highly recommend playing the game or watching someone play the game if you read this. It should not be your only exposure to the series.