New D23 Trailer and Brief Analysis!! Pixar?? The Best Reaction?? A Master of Masters Conspiracy??

 

        

        Well ladies and gents, the  new Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer has officially dropped!! And as expected, Tetsuya Nomura has brought the goods. Not only was the new World revealed to be Pixar's Toy Story, a World that was previously assumed to be impossible due to property rights, but we also have been given an official release window for the release of the game! We still don't have a precise date, but we now have confirmation that 2018 is officially the big year! Also, in celebration of this surprising new world, Bring Arts has confirmed that official "Toy Story World" figures will be available soon in the Square Enix Merchandise Store, and also the mobile game KHX has announced a medal in the image of KH3's Sora!!

 

       My personal thoughts on this trailer are positives ones. I grew up absolutely adoring Toy Story (who didn't?) So my excitement truly escalated upon seeing Sora all decked out in full action-figure articulation and polish. I think it was an excellent idea having the team from the actual films help work on this World, because not only is the design, animation, and environment AS good as the movies themselves, but some would even argue that it might even be better. The game play is also nearly flawless with an array of various combos and weapon transformations, and we can also see that Sora will now have up to 4 partners assisting him in his adventures throughout the game.

        Of course, it wouldn't be a true reveal if it didn't have epic reactions from the fans. There were many contenders within the folds of Youtube, but the trophy goes to none other than Skywardwing, a beloved herald of the KH fandom. Just listen to that raw energy!

 

    

     Unfortunately, with praise must also come some criticism. While everything else in this trailer was stellar to the core, one thing that really didn't sit well with me is the current design update for Young Xehanort. Now, I'm well aware that this might not be the final draft regarding his appearance, but right now, he's looking rather....how do I say it? Caricature-ish.

        I'm becoming a little more comfortable the more I look at the picture, but it's the obvious over-scale of the eyes and non-existent eyebrows that constantly turns me back off. His DDD model is indisputably handsome, and I think it's quite unfortunate that this new engine has downplayed his features. Again, this is something that can be easily tweaked, and with KH3 still in the works until 2018, we might get our Handsome Young Intellectual looking more like himself.

       Alright! Now on to the good stuff. Many things have been noted and discussed after this trailer's drop, but perhaps the most interesting of these is the mysterious new Zipper that has appeared on Young Xehanort's coat. For those who don't know,  despite all looking very similar, technically speaking, there are two kinds of Organization Coats. The kind seen worn by KH2's Organization 13, that have round Zippers, and the kind seen worn by the Masters of Masters and Luxu that have a more complex Zipper. Before the Orchestra and D23 trailer, it was believed that only Luxu and MoM bore these "special Zippers" on their coats, but now we see that the Xehanorts are wearing them as well.

Ordinary Coats:

Special Coats:

      Now at first in DDD, the Xehnort's did NOT have this special Coat, but were wearing ordinary ones as seen here:

       

        But now with these new trailers dropping, we see that they do in fact, possess the special  Zipper now:

        What could this mean for the plot of KH3? Will ALL of the members have them? Does it point back to the Master of Masters or/and Luxu's involvement with Xehanort and his plans? Nomura has said that the MoM won't appear in KH3, but could be mentioned...is this further proof?

        Also, as we have seen Xehanorts in each trailer so far, does that mean that there shall be trailers featuring ALL of the known Xehanorts? Will we even be shown some new members within the coming trailers? Will the final game have 13 Worlds for each member?

        Well, I shall leave you all with this! Keep your Keyblades sharp, your hype high, and May Our Hearts Lead to Another Trailer Soon!!

Stay uncanny~

New 15th Anniversary Art!

        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~

Secrets in the Secret Place- Destiny Islands Ties to Union X?

        So as of this year, it's been announced that new extension for Kingdom Hearts: Unchained X is coming out soon, and that the game's name shall be changed to Union X [Cross]. There's also a teaser trailer that shows new information regarding the future of the Dandelions after the War. That can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMp6O1iEfHE

        Alright, so in this teaser, we see a flashback of MoM telling Forteller Ava that she has to choose five specific members of the Dandelions to be the new union leaders after the War is over. He also gives her a piece of paper that has all of these names written down, as well as one named circled. This person is to inherit the Book of Prophecies once MoM disappears. He said that this was top secret, and that bad things would happen if anyone except this chosen child saw the Book . Alright, sounds fair enough... but then I made this discovery in the "Secret Place" of Destiny Islands:

        SOMEONE has clearly drawn 5 figures, each with X's, save for one chosen figure who has a circle drawn above them. Seems strange to just be a coincidence doesn't it? I find it curious how this secret info just so happens to end up exactly where our Main Hero and Villain are from. What could it all really mean? I, The UncannyVillager hope to know the answer soon...

Stay Uncanny~