#heart no chikai

[nightrae13]

“If you see Arisa, tell her…!”  “If I come to like myself just a little more… I’ll come to see you!” - Otome Domo-yo: Change 3

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I know this post is kinda late, but I figured someone seriously needs to point this out.

This scene of Ken smiling at Karen and Arisa is just so freakin’ significant to me, especially bc I just recently cried while reading Karen’s request to Ken (and the build-up prior to that which is eerily similar to Arisa’s narrative in the rooftop scene of Heart no Shucho that made me cry as well) a day before the mv’s release. Seeing the mv acknowledge Karen and Ken’s interaction just makes this reconciliation even more emotional especially when the feelings of the chapter were still very fresh to me.

Like, Ken isn’t just smiling at Arisa bc he knew she dreamt of this moment. He’s also smiling at Karen because he witnessed first-hand how important this moment is to her as well! He saw the same longing Arisa had for her in Karen’s eyes when she confronted him and requested to tell Arisa that she’ll see her when she’ll finally learns to love herself. He was glad because he knew that Karen finally learned to love herself and is now fulfilling her promise to the woman he loved.

Prior to the girls’ reconciliation and with the exemption of the audience itself, Ken was the only one who knew the feelings of both sides towards one another. He knew very well that Karen and Arisa love each other, but they weren’t able to sort things out. He witnessed it through both of them. Now, he’s there smiling because the day when they could finally tell each other what they’ve held back for years finally came.

For just a few seconds in its opening, this mv was already perfect. I could say that I’m so blessed to just finished reading the emotional chapter that was majorly addressed in this music video before it was released. The experience is just so much more special actually. (If you want to cry, give yourself a favor and read that chapter then watch the mv lol.)

Perhaps I’m overstating things, but I just loved that chapter, and I’m really happy to be reminded of it through Ken so much! 

[arachnits]

chikai makes me irrationally angry at riku

[hollypollly]

What I say now isn't second-hand

It's not a promise, but an oath

I can't return to when I was a liar

Let's go with rings with colors of the morning sun

Happy Sokai Day💗

[dizzybevvie]

We have talked about Sora's "kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me three times, cross the line" but pray tell WHEN are we going to talk about Riku's "kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me three times, please"

[sokai]

Chirithy: Look for the light in the darkness!

Sora (to Kairi): The light in the darkness. It was you! You’re the one who kept me from fading away.

Don’t Think Twice official theater mode from Melody of Memory concludes with Kairi and Sora.

[mythicalartistx]

"It's so annoying that I want to fall asleep clinging to you every day"

I need more needy Riku like PLEASE GIVE ME Riku just wanting Sora so much and he feels annoyed that he wants that

I'd literally go insane if in game he references Chikai

I honestly don't get how people think it's not from his POV??

And it doesn't even have to be inherently romantic.... Well some lines are

Actually yeah it's kinda gay

Like a LOT. His whole character is after all

Discussing the meaning of Chikai again but this time on how it is about Riku

Starting with these stanzas,

He never cared for destiny. Destiny tried to screw him over. He lost the kingdom key something he was supposed to have.

But we come to the next stanzas where he ask if you're happy with me?

All his fears and doubts and insecurities throughout the series are shown here. In the second game he couldn't believe Sora wanted him to come back.

He had this understanding with Sora in the dark realm and when he says don't get my hopes up too much.

He just can't believe he would still want to be his friend/remain with him.

Eternal vow, he made a promise to protect his precious friend or it could be relating to necklace theory.

He mentions rings of same color. Man he wants to kiss him. I love you Riku you're so silly

And he wants to fall asleep clinging to him.

He doesn't make promises because they can be broken and wants a vow something eternal.

Then we have the line rings will be the color of sunrise. Riku walks the road of dawn, he is the light.

And finally we have these lines. "Lay your heartbeat on mine" More needy Riku. I love it, so cute.

Then let's celebrate we live in the moment could honestly be any time where Riku is with Sora. Like when they're okay because they're together such as in the dark realm.

Now we will talk about this stanza. It shows him crying of the past.

Like he regrets the past and what he did. He's crying because of it. These stanzas I cannot see who else would ever believe that besides Riku.

A light stream from open door, he's literally the light. It could also refer to him walking by Sora's side to the door of light.

Riku often worried about Sora and wants him as his friend or even something more.

Finally we have the final stanzas.

Riku wants Sora to kiss him. And once isn't enough. He says please give me you, he wants him. Chikai translated lyrics are just so much.

And the last line sound of sunrise, could also be him referencing the dawn again. Side to Side they're together laying on the beach. They've done it in the past and they done in several times.

Like several lines is just cute lines, but some of the line is about him. Especially the one about the past. Like that's not about Sora it's not about Kairi. Some people think it's her POV.

Like she doesn't remember the past and doesn't have feelings towards it.

[marcirose]

Something something #promise something something promise vs oath

[hitinmiss]

Dearly beloved

~ An Eternal Oath ~

BONUS:

Proud Dads and Happy Friends

[hollowwhisperings]

Heart Stations (KH spec)

after realising how much Foreshadowing and Sneaky Plot Points were lurking about in KH3's "demo" section, i finally remembered that a LOT of KH3 is done in parallel with KH1: which means that ITS "demo" is ALSO subtly plotty!

The first thing I remembered about Sora's heart station in KH1 is it being able to connect DIRECTLY to the heart stations of Princesses.

despite Sora never having met these princesses before.

except... VENTUS has!

the heart stations that Sora visits in the first Heart Dive belong to Snow White, Cinderella & Aurora: the order of their stations is in the same order as Ven's meeting them in BBS. Ventus befriended Cinderella personally, becoming friendly enough with Snow White & Aurora to have [link] attacks based on them (mostly through his friendship to the dwarves & Aurora's non-evil fairy godmothers).

There is also, in KH1's tutorial, a heart station depicting the three "free" princesses: Alice, Jasmine & Kairi. I had forgotten about this one. It's... interesting that, despite SORA being best friends with Kairi, Sora's heart instead connects to the "idea" of these three princesses altogether rather than individually (if only in the background, given the lack of need for a player to have 7 stages in a tutorial rather than 5). Sora knows Kairi personally but only Ventus could have known Alice or Jasmine, even THEN, his meeting them would have been during KHUX (a time he does not remember in BBS but treasures enough to enable his reunion with Chirithy in KH3).

The last heart station Sora visits in KH1's tutorial heart dive is Belle's: Belle is the princess who Sora ultimately ends up reasonating with most, in his heart at least, and she notably takes on the role of "Riku" to Beast's "Sora" in CoM.

it is EXTREMELY odd that Sora, well before Riku's heart gave him Kingdom Key, was able to directly walk from his heart station to those of the Princesses of Heart: Ventus did not have this ability nor any personal connection with Kairi. There are two plausible explanations as to why Sora's heart was ALREADY connected to that of the Princesses, prior to personally meeting them: Ventus might have joined their hearts by his being an 'artificial' Princess of Light courtesy of Xehanort & Vanitas; RIKU was connected to the princesses and, when Riku gave his crown necklace to Sora, Sora inherited that connection.

Ventus: Artificial Princess of Heart?

this theory is technically canon, working with the definition of princesses as "beings whose hearts are made entirely of light". it seems unlikely that this technicality would result in a metaphysical stairway between Sora's heart station and those of the Prinxesses': if it was THAT easy, Xehanort would have noticed the connection while he had Ven all comatose. Ven's heart being sheltered in Sora's MIGHT, however, explain why the heart stations of Snow White & Cinderella & Aurora were so much closer than the other stations (though the Sleeper/Dreaming connection is a stronger factor shared by Sora & these three).

Riku as Kingmaker?

Sora's first keyblade, Kingdom Key, gets him specifically scouted as Special by Donald & Goofy: Kingdom Key has narrative significance to it, tying it to Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Key was also, originally, an existence dormant in RIKU'S heart: when Riku['s heart] was consumed by darkness in KH1, Sora was able to reach the light within Riku and receive its protection.

the ease with which Sora inherited Riku's keyblade betrays A Lot about Riku's Heart but it ALSO hints that this is not the ONLY example of Riku's Heart being considered interchangeable with Sora's. in later games, Riku and Sora are able to wield each other's keyblades without hesitation and are even capable of merging: other than SoRiku & Sora's Heart Roommates, Aqua is the only instance of someone summoning & wielding another's keyblade.

The keyblade of a deceased Eraqus came to Aqua in her time of need: this makes sense, the keyblade of a teacher coming to protect its student. Eraqus taught Aqua how to call and use a keyblade; Eraqus [knighted] Aqua with this keyblade; Eraqus died with this keyblade, died realising that he had failed his students and that original duty of protecting them.

Sora, meanwhile, began wielding a keyblade because Riku's Heart knew Sora could use it when Riku could not.

So what makes Riku so special, to keyblades and Princesses of Heart specifically?

It seems increasingly likely that Riku is the "Child of Destiny" that Xehanort believed himself to be: Riku's resemblance to Ephemer makes it likely that, just like Xehanort, Riku is his descendant; additionally, the light of Riku's heart was strong enough to catch the attention of both Terra AND Aqua in BBS. Both Terra & Aqua had, by then, met three Princesses of Heart AND lived alongside the artificially-light Ventus: nevertheless, Terra and Aqua only note that Riku's light is "strong" but not in the same way as any heart they'd encountered before.

Riku also, just "incidentally", happens to have had a Crown since infancy (if we quote Sora in CoM but correctly attribute to Riku what he says of Naminé's charm)... that Riku GAVE to SORA, who now wears it as a necklace. A crown necklace that Sora subconsciously gestures to when speaking from "the heart". *insert Necklace Theory here*

so, even before receiving Kingdom Key, Sora had been given a kind of "kingdom's key" through Riku, in symbol & oath.

this leads me to conclude that the CROWN must have connected Sora's heart (which, in DDD, appears a hop skip & a jump away from Riku's) to the Seven Princesses of Heart, the Seven Lights.

which, in turn, leads me to believe that Riku's gift & oath to Sora was significant enough to be recognised as a form of "Coronation": Riku CROWNED Sora, even without knowing it, and did so while meaning it with "all his heart". Riku's Heart recognising & accepting Sora as its "[king?]" (partner? equivalent?) seems to have continued from that Fateful Meteor Shower, throughout Riku's Entire Villain Arc & Redemption, continuing past Sora's failing to exist: Riku has pulled at LEAST two True Love's Sacrifices for Sora, not counting repeats across timelines, just within DDD & KH3. Riku's sacrificing himself has never lasted long enough to learn any repurcussions beyond Sora.exe going offline. SORA'S nonexistence has not significantly affected the integrity of his universe at large, beyond Riku.exe presumably shortcircuiting, which leads me to believe that so long as ONE of the two has a heart where it should be, the potentially disaatrous ramifications of "oh, btw, this one kid's heart has direct access to our universe's suns? should we be worried about that" has been prevented.

(Riku launching himself OUT of said universe to follow Sora? UH. let's just hope Kairi's still in touch with the other Original 7 and can lead the New Lights when it potentially/inevitably becomes necessary?)

Speaking of Kairi...

interestingly, Kairi never really indicates feeling "connected" to Riku.

Kairi feels connected to SORA and HIS heart, something many characters share in common (often very literally). Another product of Riku (& thus Destiny) sharing his role with Sora, when not designating him [his] King absolutely?

Speaking of Kings...

Riku ends up manifesting ANOTHER keyblade, just casually, despite Sora's having Kingdom Key being a Big Deal.

we could dismiss Riku's having Soul Eater in KH1 as "that's Xehanort/Terra/Ansem SoD's heart at work"... but we can't dismiss Riku's STILL having a keyblade post-KH2, Sora wielding the original Kingdom Key while Riku so happens to summon a second keyblade from his heart without any fuss at all??

it is... interesting, that Donald & Goofy never ended up explaining [to the audience] why Kingdom Key SPECIFICALLY was something King Mickey was looking for in the first place.

if it was due to Mickey's searching for the Wayfinder Trio, Donald & Goofy would have been searching for multiple "keyblade WIELDERS" instead of one "KEYBLADE": we can only assume that Xehanort's repeated efforts at starting another ragnarok have sufficiently distracted everyone from Kingdom Key's origins.

I personally find it very heartwarming/plot-foreshadow-y that Kingdom Key has STAYED with Sora, even upon reuniting with a Riku whose heart is at peace again: consciously or otherwise, Riku's heart continues to choose "Sora".

(which, given how likely it is that Riku is the foretold Child of Destiny... means that RIKU'S choosing Sora makes DESTINY choose Sora... for better of for worse, right? plz just let them be married already, Disney: Nomura & Utada have Riku's vows all written and everything)

[ok4ru]

“I can’t go back to my old, liar self...”

OH, RIKU HONEY!!!

[deus-ex-mona]

me rn

[freckledhylian]

Lying on the floor remembering how chikai mention wedding and we all know who’s that coming from and to who it’s directed

[justkingdomheartsthings]

Chikai

[mythicalartistx]

KH opening Songs are about Soriku -Chikai Translation

KH Utada songs are sung and written in thought of Riku and Sora, Nomura told Hikaru Utada and they went along with it.

The difference between the English and Japanese versions of the songs is that the lyrics are completely different, but for a purpose. It's not like a translation issue.

There is an absolute reason for it. They're two separate songs with different but similar meanings.

Like Chikai doesn't translate close to Don't Think Twice except for the Kiss me Once lines.

We're going to take a look at Chikai since it's the one I'm most familiar with and break it down on how it relates to Riku.

I don’t care much about destiny, but at this point, I cannot but acknowledge its existence

Are you really sure you’re happy with me? Really?

I wish you wouldn’t raise my hopes up too much

The fire line refers to he doesn't like destiny but is forced to acknowledge it chose certain things from events.

It shows that Riku is insecure and shown that through how he acted in KH1. He thought his best friend was going to leave him and he did bad stuff.

In return it made him feel worse about his friendship and he went to castle oblivion and dealt out his insecurities along with the darkness and fear. Then he had to be one with the darkness in 358/2 days.

The line where is stated to not raise his hopes, I think refers to his emotions towards Sora and hope Sora didn't care about his appearance he was still his friend.

It could also refer to he papou fruit.

But it's gay.

Today is the perfect day for a truthful, eternal vow

We don’t need beautiful flowers or witnesses

Let’s wear rings of the same color

The narrator wants to PROPOSE. I assume the narrator is Riku here, he wants to be with Sora and then get married. There doesn't have to be an audience or witness, they can just wear rings of the same color. And then the vow line is just 👌

It probably refers to the promise Riku made to want to protect him/ his friends.

It’s so dang annoying, that I want to fall asleep clinging to you every day

I will not make promises anymore, those things are for pleasing somebody

What I am about to say is not a second hand line, nor a promise; it's a vow

He is shy and embarrassed that he likes him and that he wants to fall asleep next to Sora. This is so cute 🥺

Like he clearly wants affection but is embarrassed like in DDD when Sora hugs him.

Then he says he wants a vow since those are seen as eternal while promises can be broken.

I can’t go back to being the liar I used to be

Our rings shall be the color of the sunrise

Lay your heartbeat on top of mine and let’s dance

Let’s celebrate the fact that we live in this moment

The liar is probably referring to not telling his feelings and how he acted against Sora in KH1 and then felt ashamed for his jealousy. Then he talks about the RINGS AGAIN the color of sunshine. Like dawn and he wants the road of dawn.

This section is just him being gay and wanting to lay with him again. He wants to lay together where Sora's heartbeat is on top of his so he'll hear and feel it. This is a bit too much for me to handle. Then the last line I think probably is Kh2 ending where they are content with each other 😊 😆

The tears that I can’t hold back sometimes, there’s no deep meaning to them

It’s just that I recall the past unexpectedly (Ah, I want to cry)

A light streams in from the opened door

This part breaks my heart. He sometimes cry because of the past and what he did in KH1 and probably insecure about that and feels like Sora deserves better.

The light streams refers to KH2 ending where the door opens from the darkness. And how he is also shown to be light, also Sora being his light.

I want to be with you, for a very long time

Other options have long been gone

Today is the perfect day, for an unprecedented vow, our vow

He wants to be with him for a long time and how he doesn't want to loose him. However that ends up happening in KH3 ending.

Other options are gone refers probably him realizing he might have a chance. Then the line is about their gay little vow.

Like in the games they are into each other and these lines are just so fitting and so cute.

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Once is not enough

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Please give me you

You know how I said he's too shy, well he's too shy to do anything and wants Sora to make the first move.

Like he secretly wants to be kissed, hug, touched, ect.. He wants affection from him. Here he wants to be kissed but once isn't enough and he is giving his connected permission to be kissed and wants to make sure he's okay with it too. He's like more needy here since this line pretty similar to the DTW counterpart song.

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Kiss me three times

Please

The please here adds everything like he really wants it and he is asking for it so much.

Kiss me once,

kiss me twice

Give me you

Repeated line so we're moving on..

Let’s listen to the sound of the sunrise, side by side

Let’s vow to live our lives together

Okay so basically he in turn says let's live vow to live our lives together. It could refer to marriage or just a vow to live together because they like each other. And they'll be by the sunrise referring to Riku like the DAWN he walks the road of dawn.

And that is it.

It's pretty gay and like if you don't ship them fine.

And if you don't see how it relates to them that's okay, however Nomura did mention to Utada to keep them in mind when writing the songs.

And if you ship Sorkai tell me how you think it relates to them instead.

I'm just curious.

DTW and Chikai are vastly different but they are different songs with the same instrumental and beat.

[theophagie]

Don't think twice/Chikai is a beautiful song but I really disagree with lots of people on its meaning, mainly because its two versions themselves really don't come together in harmony to me... Don't think twice's story sounds anything but happy or hopeful to me

[yume-fanfare]

because. do you understand it.

their final actual fall out was most likely, as tsukasa said in requiem, after tori started to get interested in idols and tsukasa sided with the adults who criticized them - and when tori bit back for that. "since that day—no, since even before then, i have always hated and envied you"

and then tsukasa actually became an idol too, and his family allowed him to without too much trouble

like you get it right. that tori was indeed right all along.