Manga Review: Kingdom Hearts 2

kingdom-hearts-2 Name: Kingdom Hearts 2
Genre: Action, adventure
Artist: Shiro Amano
Publisher: Pika Edition (France), TokyoPop (US)
Original Release Date: October 11th, 2003 (US), January 2nd, 2013 (France)

Roxas has been going through a few bizarre experiences lately as his summer vacation is coming to an end. Strange occurrences involving slippery white creatures and hooded strangers causing troubles in his town, and dreams revolving around a boy and his best friends lead Roxas to discover his ties with these events and also, the unavoidable and sad truth behind his past.

The Kingdom Hearts series, created by the company behind the never-ending Final Fantasy series, Square Enix, is one of my absolute favorite video game series to date. Unlike older fans who have come to like Kingdom Hearts for being one of the strangest crossovers and involving Final Fantasy characters from different games all together in one game, I came to like the series since day one because of all the various Disney characters and worlds available in the game. Around the time Kingdom Hearts came out, I wasn’t much of a gamer and was more into watching cartoons (and in some way, this is still the same case today).

Sora and his closest friends, Riku and Kairi, are pretty bored of their mundane life on Destiny Islands. So they decide to build a raft and swim far away, where they believe a grand adventure is waiting for them. However, the night before the depart, the island is attacked by these dark creatures and Sora’s friends disappear. After awakening a strange power which allows him to use a weapon called the Keyblade, Sora manages to fight against the dark creatures (called the Heartless), but after the battle finds himself in a world called Traverse Town, where he will be assisted by famous Final Fantasy characters whom seem to understand the grave situation which caused the disappearance of his friends and Destiny Worlds. Being the RPG hero he is, Sora embarks on a long journey with Donald and Goofy in order to find those dear to them – Riku and Kairi for Sora, and King Mickey for Donald and Goofy.

Kingdom Hearts 2 takes place one year after the end of Sora’s journey (in Chain of Memories, the short game just after Kingdom Hearts) and strangely, does not begin with Sora, but a calm and gentle boy who goes by the name of Roxas.

Apart from the typical sense of justice trait seen in many characters, there isn’t much to say about Roxas without giving out major spoilers. But from a first glance, he’s seen as the opposite of the energetic Sora without thankfully being too bland in the eyes of readers. As for the other characters who are relevant until the end of the second volume, their case is less fortunate; the manga counterparts are much more interesting and seem to have more depth than their video game ones.

Story-wise, the Kingdom Hearts 2 manga is a bit complicated to get into, regardless of whether or not you’ve played the first two games. Since there are many characters with very different backgrounds (and let’s not talk about the FF characters living lives radically different from in their original games), the story can get all over the place and the fact that the sequel begins with brand-new character Roxas doesn’t help one bit.

Besides the story being messy, what I personally believed was interesting with Roxas may seem disconcerting for others – while the series’ true main character remains MIA, we follow Roxas’s slightly bizarre everyday life with his friends. That is, until we learn of his relation with Sora and the current situation he’s facing.

Regarding the art in general, while it does respect the character designs in the game, it lacks originality and doesn’t stand out in particular. There are cases where it does, for example in comedy scenes, or whenever a character makes a silly face, but that’s about it.

For those who are fans of the Kingdom Hearts series, this manga is a nice addition to one’s collection. Even for those who haven’t played the games, it’s a nice read and efficiently explains the important elements of the story. However, it would be a great idea to also read the first Kingdom Hearts manga.

The following two tabs change content below.