Writing Tips and Reviews

Let's Look at Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts is the biggest self insert story I've ever seen. It's a Disney fan fiction that's so bad and so good at the same time.

Everyone at least knows the word "fan fiction" and "OCs". It's impossible not to with the internet society we have. Which I why I'm a loner. A fan fiction is basically a retelling of a story the way the writer wants it to be while and OC is the self insert, a character redone, the child of character not canon. I don't care, they are a character who is made for a series that the writer didn't make.

It's Better Than Your OC Fan Fiction:

Go get pissy all you like, but when I say your OC fan fiction can't reach levels of Kingdom Hearts, I damn straight mean it. I have never seen a story with so much Disney be so serious and so beloved for its mixture of light hearted fun and serious tone. There is no story like it. It's unique in its own right.

I've seen stories about mixing Disney worlds, but none have done it so well as Kingdom Hearts. Because what KH does right that others do wrong, is have it's own story that makes sense (somewhat) and mixes with the Disney worlds. It's not even fan fiction material with how unique it is, erase all the Disney fluff and you'd still have the same emotion, story, and love for the characters.

Original Characters:

The original characters are just so above any Disney OC a person can make. One part being that they don't rely on Disney logic but still aren't Mary Sues since they follow the rules of a Disney world. Sora, Riku, Kairi (to an extent), Aqua, Ven, Terra. Go on and tell me they're all unoriginal and just copies of existing characters (looking at you badly done OCs). Oh wait, you can't. They're so unique and so lovable. Even characters from Union Cross are special, don't touch my girl Ava, she's too cute to be hurt.

What separates KH from typical fan fiction self inserts is the interactions between existing characters and new ones. Sure the events of the Disney world play out the same with difference of the existing characters interacting with the new ones and boss fights. But no one cares. The parts that hint to things to come and the slow progress of the main story are what matter. It's not all fun and games. And...

Because Organization 13 Needs It's Own Part: 

Organization 13 love! This organization is so confusing and its members are really infuriating sometimes. Except for Axel, who can't die because he's too popular. It's tricky to figure them all out, who they used to be, who they are now, why Larxene is such a bitch, who the hell are their somebodies, why does Roxas look like Ventus?! That one is actually revealed later on.

Here's the thing. While many OCs are rehashes of an existing character or literally use a design canon to the story. KH's characters are far from OCs. They don't need a Disney world to relate to. If they were just hanging around in some random place, oh I don't know, CASTLE OBLIVION, then you wouldn't even know they were from a Disney game. I don't look at any of the original characters and think "this person is a (insert disney movie here) OC".

Story:

The story is a garbled mess that takes hours of research and time just trying to wrap everything in your head. Trust me, I spent four hours on the KH wikia. I know how long it takes to figure out this series. But that doesn't stop it from being beloved. Tetsuya Nomura is a genius. Someone who can make up whatever idea and put it into a story then try to relate it to existing information and still make it a good story, has my praise. And only one person has that type of praise.

The games feel made up as they go, which goes into the random info dumps and completely dislodged story telling. It's confusing, my brain hurts, and good lord, thank you the people who take time out of their day to create story summaries. I've watched like five.

Despite how badly written the script seems, its still better than someone who just, sorry "spits out ideas". I had to. Because what Nomura does right that they do wrong, is tie it back in. At least in a somewhat comprehensible way. Why do Chain of Memories and Re:Coded exist?

Why Is It Better Than Your OC Fan Fictions?:

To put everything I've said into a simple form. It just is. KH is a grouping of foreign elements that create a rainbow. It's all the colors that shouldn't be put together, put together and looks good. I don't care how good that OC fan fiction is, it's not as good as KH. I'm not even brave enough to be as disorganized yet orderly at the same time. I didn't know you could do contradictions and still make it good. Except for character contradictions, it doesn't apply there.

Conclusion:

KH is a series that people love and hate for all it's lovable and hatable aspects. Tetsuya Nomura is the god of writing and we should all bow down to him and his weird ideas that literally make no sense but do make sense.

Anyways. Is KH original? No, not in the slightest. Like I said, the idea of a character traveling through Disney worlds has been done before. But if you hate KH for that reason, the get out of my house. I love KH because of just how unique and strange it is. I love the characters, I love the story, I love Ava, I love Aqua, I love Ventus, I love Sora, I love Riku, I love Axel. I just love KH despite of its flaws. And if you ask my sister, knowing of flaws and accepting them is true love.

KH just has this vibe to it that pulls people in and keeps them wondering what's going to happen next. There's nothing I love more than a story that brings in the audience. And KH does just that.