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
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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.