The Future of Kingdom Hearts & What Kingdom Hearts Has Always Been About

People often ask why Kingdom Hearts uses terms like "hurt" instead of "pain" or "unreality" instead of "alternate dimension." Or why they use the terms "light" and "darkness" so much.

The in-universe explanation for this is that the Kingdom Hearts World works very differently than our universe and has its own set of labels and rules for many things. The real world meta explanation for this though is that Tetsuya Nomura seems to like Kingdom Hearts to sort of establish its own labels and rules for things. And there's a reason why.

For example, they're now calling the other side of the World that Yozora comes from "unreality" and "fiction" rather than just saying its another dimension or something. Getting used to these terms and the way they're used can be odd and jarring at times, however that's kind of the point as these unique terms sort of make you think and wonder more about these concepts. Something more mainstream such as Marvel uses more common terms such as other "dimensions" and the "multiverse" to bring characters and worlds together that usually wouldn't make much sense to bring together to make it make more sense and easy to understand for the audience so they can just focus on the characters and worlds that are being brought together instead of focusing on how weird and incomprehensible the concepts of other realities and universes really are. Kingdom Hearts likes to use words such as "unreality" and "fictional worlds" to put more focus on what these concepts actually mean and how weird and incomprehensible these concepts truly are. Instead of shying away from how philosophically weird and trippy some concepts are in order to make things easier for the audience to understand, Kingdom Hearts fully leans into it.

So, if they were to just use the term "pain" instead of "hurt," you would think you understand what they're talking about completely and not take a closer look at the concept being talked about, while using the term "hurt" makes you take a closer look and examine what the concept of pain/hurt truly means and makes you wonder if you even do understand what it really means. There are concepts in life that we take for granted and think we know what they truly mean just because we've heard the words and the definitions of the words our entire lives, so we don't really take the moment to really think about it philosophically. If they used the word "pain" it would've just become another sentence that passes by and gets replaced by the next sentence without you taking a deeper look into what's being said.

I remember as a young kid playing Kingdom Hearts and some of these odd terms would really make me think more about the underlying philosophy and existentialism of it all rather than just focusing on the more generic aspects that overlie it all. People often make fun of Kingdom Hearts for these odd terms and how often some terms like light or darkness are used, but I really do think there's a point to it. The way these terms are used might seem silly in a conventional way, but Kingdom Hearts has never been about thinking conventionally and has always been about establishing and following its own rules.

The stuff with Yozora and Quadratum has made me the most interested in the series' future than I have been in a while. The mystique and intrigue of it is on par with after I saw KH1's secret ending for the first time. It's got the same vibes of what got me so hooked on the series so much as a young kid in the first place. It even brings back the same KH1 opening quote, bringing it back to the roots of what made the series so interesting and stand out. The theme of existential confusion that underlies the whole series.

"I've been having these weird thoughts lately, like is any of this for real, or not?"

"None of this... makes sense to me."

Nomura has even said that the KH1 opening quote is what got KH approved in the first place.

Q9: What can you say about the secret boss & episode?

Nomura: "The secrets contain my thoughts about the future of the series, but with the information out at present I don't think you'll be able to guess any of it. Some parts of the battle ended up very different from what I requested. But it surprised me in a good way, so take it as it is."

Q10: Why did lines from KH1 appear in the final trailer?

Nomura: "Those were lines I'd long wanted to put together if I ever got the chance. You may not understand, but the inclusion of those lines is what got the world of Kingdom Hearts approved. There is no mystery to solve this time, they stand at the doorway."

While many aspects of the story weren't planned by Nomura in advance, I definitely believe there has always been underlying themes and meanings that Nomura has rooted in the series and stayed consistent with and has had plans for ever since the first game. And now that the main story that has been going on with Xehanort is finally complete, it seems like he will finally bring out those underlying themes and meanings in full force and bring them to the forefront rather than in the background. Things are going to start getting really existential, meta, and trippy going forward. And I think this is what Nomura has planned for, hoped for, and always wanted to do since the first game. And I think those quotes of his prove that. The ongoing story has concluded. The ongoing mysteries have now been concluded. The time has come for the underlying themes of existential confusion, hearts, fake worlds, data worlds, dreams, other versions of yourself, not knowing what is real, etc. that have been built up and built up to finally explode and to get what Kingdom Hearts has always truly been about.

"There is no mystery to solve this time, they stand at the doorway."