Well! As you can see, Our beloved Nomura has revealed some savvy new art to commemorate the international release of 1.5+2.5 for the PS4! As per usual, the art is gorgeous, however, there are some rather interesting things to note about this new picture:
The first, and most obvious observation, is the reference to previous pictures of our beloved Sora on a throne. His posture has remained similar throughout the years, featuring Sora with his legs crossed, his right hand supporting his cheek in a carefree manner, and a crown placed on his head. The only major differences seem to be that Sora is now in his KH3 outfit, rather than his KH1 clothes, and his smile is slightly more mischievous. I guess you could say that it's a subtle combination of his....*ahem* rather pissed disposition in picture one, and a more content expression in picture two.
But of course, I wouldn't have made this post if I didn't have some speculations about this seemingly innocent art. What kind of speculations, you ask? Well, it's no secret that the creative Nomura will sometimes give his works bits of "extra" detail to baffle the observer, or give a hint of things to come, such as in the Unchained Key: 1st Anniversary sketch, in which he hinted at future involvement from BBS's Ventus. He strategically placed Ventus next to Ephemera and Skuld, but to tease the fans even more, he very loosely sketched two other individuals, whom he later stated will have relevance in Unchained Key's/ Union X's story.
He's done the same in another Unchained-related drawing, in which he featured old Kingdom Hearts characters along with Ephemera and Skuld. Two of the characters, Riku and Kairi, were drawn with outfits unseen in the currently released games, which were later confirmed to be their upcoming KH3 garments. Its not quite as subtle as other hints, but the rest of their outfits (from the waist down) have yet too be seen, due to being cut off by the picture's small size. This was, without a doubt, also intentional.
Now, lets take a look at the newest work once more:
I think it's safe to say that this just may be Nomura's most baffling sketch yet. There's little bits of mystery woven all throughout this picture, starting with Sora's lap. If you look closely, you can see that there is an animal of some kind in his lap, the face of the animal is hidden by the giant "15th" but the pointed ears would suggest that it is a canine of some sort. Possibly a fox. If this is true, then it is most likely a reference to Vulpes, the animal of Foreteller Ava from KH Chi. If that weren't all, there is the background. If you look at the other throne pictures of the past , backgrounds or objects surrounding the thrones were very easy to make out and see, but in this picture, everything has been intentionally blurred, not by pencil, but by a program after the picture was drawn. It's as if Nomura intentionally wanted to obscure the images...but why? Upon zooming in, the only images that can be slightly made out are the top left, which features the portrait of a person, and the bottom right, which features some kind of musical note. I can only guess that this drawing as a whole is somehow connecting Unchained Key/ Union X to KH3, but unless Nomura reveals the entire picture, I'm afraid it's just guesswork for now.
Stay Uncanny~
