What message is the Kingdom Hearts series trying to convey?

Typically, most forms of art (assuming video games are a form art due to their story-telling elements) have a message behind it that can be applied to life, or have some sort of social commentary.

Now, of course the KH series was made with entertainment purposes in mind, but what messages does it try to get across? The importance of friendship? The darkness within all of us? The connection of the body, mind and spirit?

And what does the KH series try to tell us about the topics that it brings up?

 

To me, it's the balance between light and dark inside all of us. That balance is needed to be a functional human being; too much or too little one one side is just setting up for failure.

 

I am certain it is supposed to be a message about friendship and how powerful it can be and how it can affect people's actions and their lives. And it counterbalances itself too. While originally they liked to shove "friendship is my power" friendship is obviously shown as a weakness too in the series. Look at BBS for instance. How many of those events could have been prevented if they put logic before friendship?

I don't think Kingdom Hearts is supposed to have a big broad topic it is trying to cover throughout. But I feel like the friendship message is the closest one. The darkness-light balance isn't really... mentioned... officially. We don't hear int he stories about people too consumed by light, we only hear about the darkness. And remember since it is disney oriented, they like to shove "light is good dark is bad" down out throats... all the time.

 

Kingdom Hearts has a million and one morals to take home with you.
Trust your elders, a little fear is a good thing, protect the things you cherish, it's good to have faith, help those in need, commit suicide to help your friends, treat others with respect, don't meddle in other people's affairs, don't be afraid of the dark, you can atone for your mistakes, sea salt ice cream is the best thing ever, revenge is a futile path, you can't predict the future, don't trust every stranger you meet, good communication will save you heartache, ice cream towers under 10 metres tall is 'bad', don't get cocky, being a pirate is cool, Santa is real, don't do something you don't understand, even fake memories are good memories, put a little bit of your heart into everybody you meet

 

err....

especially your elder strangers.

although this is a moral taught... I personally don't find it a very good moral.

...ooo I like this one I never really... wow that one was a bit more obvious too....

 

kingdom hearts is light .



Seriously though, I think that line sums up the basic theme of the series. Kingdom Hearts is light. People are good. Kingdom Hearts is nothing if not optimistic. Ignoring how convoluted it can be at times, it has remained a story about peoples ability to overcome through friendship and good will. Yeah, KH is incredibly hokey, and I do have a lot of problems with it, but its optimism and endearing characters are something to be observed and appreciated.

(Though I do have to say that this theme is a staple in so much Japanese fiction that it has become very stale.)

 

Although there could be many messages as is evident by what everyone has said thus far - I think, to me, it seems like the importance of friendship more than anything. As corny as that is.

Striving to protect your friends, the drive to move forward and overcome various obstacles for them, keeping them safe...

I am literally vomiting as I type this, mind you. But that's what I get from it.

 

It's basically the usual Good vs. Evil gig. Light vs. Dark. Considering how it has Disney, it's no wonder why you'd have the whole, "MY friends are my power!", and "No matter where we are, we'll always find each other!" I'm pretty sure there is a deeper message to it as stated by some people in this thread already. Even in the deepest of darkness, there will always be a light. <---

 

"Even if you’re not a special existence, by forming a variety of connections, you have the ability to achieve many things." which also boils down to "Friends. Yaaay.".
The way Sora does it is anything but ordinary, so it kind of loses some value, but it's still a good aesop.

 

In my personal opinion, the message they try to convey is that no matter the distance, you're never truly alone. Either that or something like "Your friends will never be forgotten". Either way, I really like the general message they try to get across. It's a really touching thing, now that I think about it.

 

There is kinda an unnerving theme of suicide to solve your problems, the more I think about it.
Sora kills himself to save Kairi, Axel kills himself to save Sora. Xion kills herself to save Sora. Roxas... kinda kills himself to save Sora. Xehanort's plan relies partially on him being killed MULTIPLE times.

 

Wow, I never really thought about it like that. That's kind of creepy, but it's also kinda true..I doubt it was intentional to have it like that though. I thought of another theme though. It may have been said, it may not have been, my internet refuses to load majority of the posts on here for some reason (surprised it lets me post honestly), but one of the themes I like about it is also the whole message of caring about your friends. I love how Sora is willing to risk everything to protect and save his friends and those connected to them.

 

The real message of KH is: never trust an old psychopatic man with yellow eyes and a pedophile's face

 

I never really thought about a message that KH was trying to convey..but KH has a variety of plot elements it uses for most of it's games; Such as Kingdom hearts 1; Darkness. RE:COM; Memories KH2; Nothingness CODED: virtual 3D; Dreams and BBS; Emotions , most of these base around the plot but also form the enemies we have today that's the furthest I've ever thought about into KH in the sense of ambiguity

 

True. Sacrificial suicide is considered honorable in Japan (see: seppuku) even in this modern age. For example, let's say a man has accrued a copious amount of debt for his family and wants to get them out of debt. So, he kills himself so that his family gets the insurance money & gets out of debt. A suicide like this isn't necessarily honorable, but is to some extent acceptable.

So, I guess you gotta forgive Square Enix for taking the sacrificial suicide motif a bit too far.

 

Granted, if we lived in that country we probably wouldn't think so. Half of their art/media is bright and optimistic, but the other half is aggressively fatalistic. Think of the classics like Akira, Grave of the Fireflies, and Evangelion. It's part and parcel of a culture rocked by nuclear strikes and devastating natural disasters.

Or maybe they're even more inclined to think so, since it comes off as detached from reality. :v Who knows.

It's not meant to be seen as suicide, but as an intense self-sacrifice. None of those incidents have the character of suicide, and only one has the form. If anything, they are more about emphasizing transience of the body and courage in the face of the unknown. Physical form is fragile, yet ultimately irrelevant, for the spirit persists.

 

Sora stabs himself. Axel burns himself alive
Pretty suicide to me

 

...Arright, come back when you've contemplated it and we'll talk about what you know.

Very few sane people are going to stab themselves or burn themselves alive this century. Those incidents take the form of self-harm to increase dramatic tension and make it clear what it takes for the character to save whoever they're trying to save.

Please stop making me spam and actually respond to what I'm saying next time instead of just reiterating your point well past its expiration date.

 

Well I'll give you one thing, that DOES look like Spam because I have no idea what you're trying to say.
This century? What?
Anyways, if you're going to ask me to think I'm going to turn that to you. The point of my post is that this is direct suicide. There's no transcendence with Sora or Axel in mind. Sora ends up fine and Axel does transcend, but their intent was to kill themselves to make someone else better.
The reason I ever even thought of this is because a friend of mine was reading a summary of the KH story, and she gave me a weird look at the part where it says "Sora commits altruistic suicide while Donald Duck screams his name"
And that's the word of the day, altruistic suicide. That's what KH characters do. Kill themselves for the greater good. Well, besides the villains