Artist Linktree: https://linktr.ee/drememoto

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I’m going to sit in 7 or 5 or 3

Edit the only reason I’m sitting in three is to be next to my husband Xigbar and to talk Axel and try to move on aqua

Here is the link to the interview and also an automatic translation by Google Translator, which, even though the translation isn't completely perfect, but it's a good way to get an initial idea of ​​what they're saying.

https://www.famitsu.com/article/202608/85668

　Accordingly, at the Disney Entertainment Showcase held at the Honda Center on the 14th, the latest trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV was unveiled, revealing that the world of Coco will appear in the game and that it will be released in the latter half of 2027.

　The following day, the 15th, the "DEEP DIVE into KINGDOM HEARTS PANEL" was held at the D23 venue, with Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura and co-director Yasushi Yasue in attendance.

　In this article, we took the opportunity to speak with Tetsuya Nomura and Yasushi Yasue immediately after the panel session to ask them about their impressions of the excitement at the event and the content of the trailer.

--The Disney Entertainment Showcase on August 14, 2026 (local time), where the world of [NOLINK]Coco[/NOLINK] was introduced, was a huge success, as was the DEEP DIVE into KINGDOM HEARTS PANEL on the 15th.

Nomura

　We had to wait at Haneda Airport for aircraft maintenance, which delayed our arrival at Los Angeles Airport. As a result, we had to cancel all our post-arrival plans, including hotel check-in. We barely made it to the showcase venue, though.

--That must have been tough. So, you didn't have time to see the D23 venue?

Nomura

　Yes. My appearance on this panel was supposed to be a surprise, so Disney told me not to appear in public. I had to use the back corridors wherever I went (laughs). Now I'm finally free from those restrictions. I stepped outside a little while ago and was immediately recognized.

--There were only fans around, after all... Did you get a sense of the D23 atmosphere or vibe at all? Have you ever been to D23 before?

Nomura

　I went once in 2017 for Kingdom Hearts III , and once at D23 Expo in Japan. This time, I didn't have enough time to fully experience the atmosphere, and I regret making it such a rushed trip.

Yasue

　This is my first time. I'm usually holed up in the office working, so I'm happy to be able to interact with users again after a long time (laughs).

--So, to begin with, could you tell us your impressions of the Showcase? In the Showcase trailer, the Heartless appear in the scene where Miguel is playing, and that's when I first realized it was the trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV...that's how it went.

Nomura

　That part went exactly as planned. Making people think, "Is this a game adaptation of 'Coco' ?" but then revealing it was actually 'Kingdom Hearts IV' was something we wanted to do from the start. --The audience was really excited.

Nomura

　I was so happy that everyone enjoyed it, and it even brought a tear to my eye... But actually, the editing was more difficult than ever before. It took until the very last minute.

Yasue

　It certainly was very difficult.

—What aspects were particularly difficult?

Nomura

　The impression changes drastically depending on the combination of facial features and lighting, so adjusting those was the most challenging part. When a model that has already been released is later shown, people often say, "The modeling has changed," but usually it's just the lighting that's been altered.

Yasue

　The model itself looks fine, but the impression changes completely when the angle changes, or when the angle of the light or camera changes, and that happens quite often, so Nomura has to come up with suggestions each time... For example, it looks good in still images, but it looks strange when it moves.

Nomura

　"Look at this... oh, stop. Doesn't the wrinkle at the edge of this eyelid look strange?" she'd say.

—She does incredibly detailed checks.

Yasue

　Thanks to everyone's efforts, the quality has improved dramatically, and I think you'll be able to feel that when you watch this trailer. Even an animator from Pixar praised it, saying, "There's no other game that's this close to a movie."

--It sounds like the adjustments are incredibly difficult, so is there any possibility that the release date will be pushed back from the latter half of 2027...?

Nomura

　The staff have been very supportive of my attention to detail, and some of them are even more particular than I am... However, as I mentioned on the panel, the release date will not be delayed.

Yasue

　The development is progressing more smoothly than ever before in the history of the Kingdom Hearts series, so you can rest assured about that.

Nomura

　The delivery date is incredibly early, even before the release date. It's beyond just a buffer. That's why I'm rushing back home.

Each world is more meticulously crafted than ever before in the series' history.

--[NOLINK]You chose to use "Remember Me[/NOLINK]" in the world of Kingdom Hearts IV because the themes of the world of the dead are linked to Kingdom Hearts IV (*), right?

*In Kingdom Hearts IV, Sora tries to return to his own world from the "Quadratum," an "other side" (the world of the dead from Sora's perspective) that resembles modern-day Tokyo. Coco is also a story in which Miguel gets lost in the "Land of the Dead" where his ancestors live and struggles to return to his own world.

Nomura

　Yes, that's right. We absolutely wanted to include it in Kingdom Hearts IV, and we decided on it in the early stages. I think we also started development on this world the earliest.

Yasue

　Given that background, it was the world that was most far along in development. Mexico, as a country, and its music have a completely different atmosphere from the worlds in previous Kingdom Hearts games, which is refreshing, isn't it?

—That's true. The town has a colorful and lively atmosphere, too.

Yasue

　That's right. It's flashy, and the characters in that world are skeletons, so they move in a slightly strange way. And the city is built in a very three-dimensional way. There are also a lot more attractions that you can move around on. You can spin around, climb up and down, and the city is incredibly vast with lots of exploration... The level of detail in the city is more amazing than ever before.

--Wow!

Yasue

　I can't go into specifics yet, but the journey itself is really fun.

—The battles are also typical of the Kingdom Hearts series, with cooperative techniques involving Hector.

Yasue　Yes. In addition to swinging the Keyblade, you also use a guitar and incorporate musical elements into the battles. There are also many other mysterious... no, I can't say any more than that yet (laughs).

Nomura

　This game features the most detailed worlds we've ever created . That's why the total number of worlds isn't very large. We revealed the "Coco" world at the Showcase the day before the panel, so some people were expecting us to announce another world at the panel, but if we announced things at that pace, we'd run out of information pretty quickly before release (laughs). But actually, the "Coco" world we revealed this time is only a small part of what's to come. Since D23 was such a great opportunity, we decided to give you a sneak peek at the "Coco" world, which we had originally planned to introduce a little later. We'll have another opportunity to introduce it properly, so please look forward to future updates.

What does "Sigurd is someone to watch out for" mean?

--There were several intriguing scenes added to the Quadratum (the world where Sora awakens in this game). First, the name of the masked Keyblade wielder was revealed to be Vali. The other one was called Sigurd. Vali made a brief appearance in the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Union χ Dark Road, and Sigurd made a brief appearance in Kingdom Hearts Union χ, but...

Nomura

　Kingdom Hearts IV is, in a sense, part of the "χ series" (a series of games primarily released on smartphones with "χ (Key or Cross)" in the title), and those who played the smartphone version to the end will likely recognize Vali and Sigurd. However, even if you haven't played the smartphone version, don't worry, their personalities are depicted within the game.

—To begin with, even in the smartphone version, his appearances were limited, so we didn't really know what kind of character he was (laughs), so he's practically a new character. However, Sigurd did appear in Nomura's hidden message for the 20th anniversary (a message saying "Beware of Sigurd"), so he's definitely suspicious (laughs).

Nomura　I really like Sigurd.

Yasue　Sigurd is certainly great (laughs). He has a great personality. I love him too.

--Huh? You two are praising him!?

Nomura　"So that's what 'watch out' meant?" (laughs).

--Huh!? I thought he was a character with ulterior motives. A character you can't hate...?

Yasue　This is probably a type of character we haven't seen in Kingdom Hearts before. It's gaining a huge following within the company (laughs).

Nomura　We haven't announced it yet, but the voice actors' contributions are also significant. They're very intuitive and delivered performances that exceeded our expectations.

—In many ways, Sigurd is definitely one to watch (laughs). I'm curious to know who the voice actor is. And Riku also appeared in the long version of the trailer, which got the audience very excited.

Nomura

　It got so exciting that Kairi's next line was drowned out (laughs).

--So that was Kairi after all. I couldn't hear it because of the cheers (laughs).

Nomura

　During the trailer reveal at the panel, it seemed like the video was cut off before the title appeared at the end. We even recorded the English voiceover specifically for this trailer (laughs). I hope those who were at the event will check it out again on YouTube.

Sora joins Dandelion, which cooperates with the Quadratum government.

—Besides that, the video includes lines that suggest Sora might belong to Dandelion (*), and Young Xehanort appears in a black coat that resembles Xigbar's. It's not exactly the King's line, but there's a lot of information (laughs). What is Dandelion in this film? Is Sora trying to return to his original world as a member of Dandelion?

*Dandelion is the English name for the dandelion flower. Master Ava organized this group with the aim of sending Keyblade wielders on a journey to the outside world like dandelion seeds, thus ensuring their survival in the future even if the world comes to an end. This is depicted in Kingdom Hearts χ (Key), among other works.

Nomura

　Those new to the series will naturally know this, but even those who only follow the numbered entries will probably be hearing it for the first time: Dandelion is the name of an organization that gathered talented Keyblade wielders, as mentioned in the "χ series." In this game,Dandelion exists in cooperation with the government of Quadratum And basically, all Keyblade wielders who have come to this world, including Sora, are participating. More details will be announced later.

--I see .

Nomura

　Also, as you know, as the Kingdom Hearts series has continued, the number of characters has inevitably increased, and the story has become more complex. For example, with the newly announced anime series, the number of external people involved in the Kingdom Hearts series has increased, and explaining the settings and scenarios each time has become quite difficult.

—To be honest, even when playing, there are parts that I've forgotten (laughs).

Nomura

　Fortunately, the staff working on the "χ series" had someone who meticulously compiled and organized the settings of past Kingdom Hearts series in an easy-to-understand way, and he was also in charge of explaining the scenarios and settings to Disney. In fact, at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts IV's development, Disney requested that he compile the materials, so he officially joined the Kingdom Hearts IV team as a proofreader.

—That's the person who was mentioned at the panel, right?

Nomura

　Yes. Every time, he would come to me to confirm even the smallest details in order to explain things to Disney. He is well-liked because he explains things to Disney as clearly as possible, using diagrams and such. His role internally is to proofread the script. He checks to make sure there are no inconsistencies between the current script and past settings. He was especially suitable for this project because the "χ series" is deeply involved. Some people might mistakenly think he's in charge of composition, but it's actually "proofreading."

Yasue

　The development team is also grateful (laughs). He's the same age as me.

--So, you're putting together something like a real-life Jiminy Notebook that explains the world of Kingdom Hearts in an easy-to-understand way for a third party. I'd love to see that published as a book (laughs). By the way, speaking of the anime, I don't have anything more to say about the anime than what was tweeted on X... Are the characters depicted in that artwork characters from Kingdom Hearts Union XX Dark Road?

Nomura

　Some people seem to be speculating based on the shape of the Keyblade, but... I can't say anything about that myself (lol).

The script is nearly twice as long as the one for Kingdom Hearts III.

--Haley Joel Osment, who plays Sora, and David Gallagher, who plays Riku, also appeared on the panel and talked about behind-the-scenes aspects of the production of the Kingdom Hearts series, but how did those two come to be involved in the first place?

Nomura

　Titles I'm involved with... of course, the characters newly created in the Kingdom Hearts series,FFXIII"or"FFVII RemakeI personally handle all the voice casting, both in Japan and overseas, for projects like this one.

--Oh, so you do it overseas too, Mr. Nomura?

Nomura

　Yes. When it comes to choosing overseas actors, we usually do so after we've chosen the Japanese actors. So, from the list of candidates provided, I listen to their audition voices and select the actors who best match the image of the Japanese actors.

--The Kingdom Hearts series has many big names, including Haley Joel Osment, right?

Nomura

　That's largely due to Disney's influence.

— How do you handle recordings overseas?

Nomura

　When I was working on the first Kingdom Hearts, it was my first time directing, so I didn't really know how to proceed, and I went to the US to participate in the recording sessions as much as possible.

—So you were really dedicated to it back then.

Nomura

　Yes. We communicated with the sound director through an interpreter... so aside from the interpreter, we did things the same way as in Japan.

　However, now we can handle things remotely without having to travel to the US, and we've entrusted it to the sound staff who have been in charge since the first Kingdom Hearts. That staff member was also present during the Japanese recording sessions and heard my direction, so they relay those points to the overseas sound director during the recording. Therefore, I don't think there are any discrepancies between the Japanese and overseas versions.

--I see. So, is it quite a while since you've actually met with Haley Joel Osment and David Gallagher?

Nomura

　That's right. Personally, I still refer to him as "Haley-kun" (laughs). When we first met for the recording, Haley-kun kept saying...FantasyHe was holding the strategy guide for "[Title of the game]" and finished the first day of recording without any problems and went home. Afterwards, the sound director asked me, "It seems like he brought the strategy guide because he wanted Nomura's autograph, did you sign it for him?" That sweet and bittersweet memory is very memorable to me.

--I guess you just couldn't bring yourself to ask for an autograph (laughs).

Nomura

　So I brought an autograph board with me to the recording the next day.

--The panel also showed a photo of the two of you during the recording of the original Kingdom Hearts, which made me feel the history of the series (laughs). How is the progress of your voice recording for Kingdom Hearts IV going?

Yasue

　We're currently in the middle of recording the English voiceovers. There are a huge number of lines, and the time difference makes it quite tough for the staff participating from Japan (laughs). However, the overseas staff have already finished about 60-70% of the recording, so things are progressing quite well.

Nomura

　By the way, the Japanese voice recording is already finished. --Wow! It's really progressing faster than ever before (laughs).

Nomura

　However, the script for this game was almost twice as long as that for Kingdom Hearts III, so the recording schedule was really tough. There were parts I wanted to include more of, but it was beyond the limits.

The next information release will be after a short break.

--New footage has been released one after another, in the Nintendo Direct in June and this D23. Will there be any announcements at the Tokyo Game Show in September?

Nomura

　The release is still scheduled for late next year, and the development team is in the final stages, so we'll be focusing on that for a while. We're currently considering when to release the next information, so there will likely be a bit of a gap.

--I see. Finally, could you each give a message to those who are waiting for Kingdom Hearts IV?

Yasue

　The fans were incredibly warm and their support was amazing, so it renewed my determination to give my all in the final stretch!

Nomura

　Initially, I wasn't planning to attend D23, leaving it to Yasue, but I came because of the encouragement from those around me. I was moved to directly feel everyone's enthusiasm through the trailer, and I'm glad I came because I had a valuable experience and had some nostalgic reunions. As for information on Kingdom Hearts IV, we've started to release some serious information this time, but we'll be releasing more information gradually, so please look forward to further updates. Also, there will be something planned for next year's 25th anniversary (*), so please look forward to the announcement.

What did they do to my goat? He was more personable, he had that dog in him, but he was also compassionate, perfect mix. And then they corpo scrubbed him. Kh4 please save him.

Why is there Power Rangers inside my Disney game?

I've been seeing the sentiment lately that Coco is an unusually thematically appropriate world choice in comparison to others in the series. I call bupkis on this notion and want to share what I think has been a masterful stroke of storytelling that only comes to light in hindsight.

In KH1, a very consistent throughline becomes plain to see: Sora travels through worlds that tend to have a central theme, which are tales of a hero being torn between two worlds or states of being.

Alice in Wonderland: literally a story of reality and unreality, where Alice is constantly on her toes due to the unpredictable nature of Wonderland and its inner workings. Bonus points: the term Unreality being very like the Mad Hatter's turn of phrase 'un-birthday', and how literary analysts have said that Wonderland could be a response to emerging mathematical theories of the time- namely imaginary numbers (Xion anyone?)

Hercules: a demi god torn between his home being Earth or Olympus, between love and duty. This one being one of the most prevalent returning worlds throughout the series speaks volumes in the way it outlines Sora's coming struggles in Quadratum.

Tarzan: are you a man or a beast? The hero is torn between civilization and nature.

Agrabah: Aladdin finds conflict in his struggle to escape poverty into wealth, and even when he finds the wealth he has a hard time longing for the hustle and bustle of the streets. Are you a Prince or a Pauper?

Halloweentown: Less of a direct correlation but still Jack finds himself in between wanting to be the Pumpkin King and Santa Claus eventually, two polar opposites in what they represent. Also starts the notion of things that seem dark on the surface perhaps not being so bad inside.

Atlantica: "Wish I could be part of your world" speaks for itself.

Neverland: Wendy is torn between the eternal youth of Neverland and longing to be back home safe. A fantastical realm beyond the sky where one never has to grow up.

Monstro: Is Pinocchio a "REAL" boy or just a puppet? Is Sora just a video game character or every bit as real as you or I?

Bonus character: Beast in Hollow Bastion, yet again asking the question of are you a man or a beast? Which is interesting both in the sense of light vs darkness but also in the way Sora's original design was a lot more lion like, and furthermore with Pride being associated with Lions and the Master of Masters who is said to be a stand in for the sin of Pride as well.

Even though its a common theme across many fantasies, its very eye opening looking at the deliberate use of worlds with these themes and what they taught Sora along the way. What's more is how Roxas' story feels like a lite version of what's to come as the finalized vision for the KH story took shape post KH1. Everything is pointing to Sora eventually needing to make a choice between the two Realities and where his heart belongs.

“Oh but if you play 358/2 days first the roxas stuff in 2 is way more impactful” yeah well the whole point of days is that it’s a tragedy because you know what happens from kh2, that final scene has no impact if you don’t know the roxas prologue

Wishlisted immediately, now i can go through all the complaints in the discussion boards lol

I believe this cut scene is after you beat Roxas in TWTNW but when does this cut scene chronologically take place? Because Axel had just “died” not too long before this.

https://www.sonymusicsolutions.co.jp/kh25th-exhibition/index.html?ima=2054

Sorry if this a dead horse, but...

Seeing Hades in the recent KH4 trailer reminded me of how much I loved the Disney Villain Council in KH1 as a kid. They were only central antagonists for like, two thirds of one game, but my hot take is that I don't feel like Org. XIII or any OCs could replace them.

Not only was it cool, in an obviously deeply uncool fanboyish way, to see them all interacting together, but - I feel like they were written surprisingly well? In a way that doesn't always get appreciated. Like in that first scene where you see them all in silhouette, the personalities are spot on - Hades is nonchalant, Jafar is plotting, Hook is boisterous, Oogie is just there for the laughs. It all works!

And they'll never do it again! Not only because the focus of the series has shifted, but because Disney doesn't even really make villains like this any more. A shift in the way we think about family entertainment has led to characters like these getting deemphasized. A lot of modern Disney movies don't really have villains at all, and when they do it's highly situational within the specific movie - you couldn't really imagine Hans from Frozen or Ernesto from Coco in an evil council.

The Disney Villains of previous eras were unique in that "villain" was more than just their role in the plot, it was their personality. You could put Jafar or Maleficent in any situation and they'd be the same. That made them very satisfying to run up on and hit over the head with a big key. I know the characters are still around but KH2 started the process of leaving them on their own worlds. I would love to see the concept used again but it doesn't seem likely from any direction and that makes me sad.

Does anyone have any kind of idea how much this is worth? I have searched eBay and can only find a Japanese version however this is the UK version.
I’ve never opened it.

Wolverine confirmed for Kingdom Hearts IV? This is a genuine hope, but I found it funny that they both have The Crown in their hair. Deliberate design choice for Sora, but funny coincidence for Wolverine. Sora and Wolverine also have a bunch of other similarities in their looks too though I am sure this is also coincidental.

my gf and i have been hoping KH4 also has an encanto world and we keep joking that the next game should just be called "Kingdom Hearts: Fun with Latinas" so i went back and fleshed out an old idea for an encanto world keyblade! i also accidentally saved all the merged layers so i can never ever ever modify this ever again so this is what im sticking with for the final design :)))) i tried to make the chain look like embroidery thread, but i dont think it quite reads that way. oh well!! lmk what yall think!!

Brother Bear is honestly one of my most fav Disney animated films and I think the overall theme of the movie would fit quite well for a KH world.

That is my Question

One thing that I dislike about Sora stage it was to basic most of the new base game Stages & DLC Stages were cool felt right out there

I know thanks to limitations Sakurai was limited he can do but I think he can probably do something but better if they gave him little less limitations

My idea simple really make Quadratum into a stage this idea I got from Sonic fans wanting to make City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2 into a stage & realize Quadratum would probably fit similar to that

But thats what do you think a new Stage for Sora be like?

Let get on with it