Kingdom Hearts 01

キングダム ハーツ [Kingdom Hearts] #1

by Shiro Amano

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. When a storm hits his island, fourteen-year-old Sora is swept into a mysterious land where he meets Court Wizard Donald and Captain Goofy, who are on a mission to find King Mickey and return him to his throne at Disney Castle.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Video Games, Young Adult, Adventure

96 pages, Library Binding

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Shiro Amano (天野 シロ, born January 4, 1976) is a Japanese manga artist who has worked on several projects, including his adaptation on the popular Kingdom Hearts series.

Reviews

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never finished the first Kingdom Hearts game as I tried to play it when I was six and I got frustrated with games really easily when I was that young, but from what I remember of the game, this volume seems to follow pretty close to the original video game. Kingdom Hearts definitely works better as a video game as opposed to a manga, but this is still a fun read exploring the first part of the Kingdom Hearts story.

The Disney parts were the best parts of this manga, so it took a while to get into this story since Sora is only plopped into a Disney world toward the latter half of the book. I really liked the twist on the Cheshire Cat in this manga and I’m curious to see how the rest of the Wonderland story arc will be completed.

[Mir]

So, there are some kind of basic shonen manga characters, and they interact with Disney characters and travel to different Disney setting, plus some other places, looking for a key and missing characters? And this is really popular, apparently? I don't get it.

[Jim Ef · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.1/10

A nice mix of manga + Disney.

Όταν το φως γίνεται σκοτάδι και η γαλήνη μετατρέπεται σε καταιγίδα...
Όταν η πραγματικότητα δεν ξεχωρίζει απο το όνειρο και το Καλό πρέπει να παλέψει με το Κακό...
Την δύναμη θα σου την δώσει το Κλειδί... Ελευθέρωσε το πεπρωμένο σου

Ο Σορα , η Καϊρι και ο Ρικου ζούνε σε ενα νησί απο το οποίο αποφασίζουν να φύγουν, όμως Κάποια σκοτεινή δύναμη θα τους χωρίσει. Σε ένα άλλο μέρος ο βασιλιάς Μικυ έφυγε αφήνοντας οδηγίες στους Ντοναλντ και Γκουφυ να βρούνε αυτόν που έχει το Κλειδοσπαθο, ετσι ο δρόμος του Σορα θα ενωθεί με αυτον των Ντοναλντ και Γκουφυ. Μαζί θα ψάξουν τους φίλους του Σορα, τον βασιλιά Μικυ καί θα πολεμησουνε τις δυναμεις του κακού.

[Ashley Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels really disjointed for a manga but I'm a Disney nut so I'll finish the other three. Also reads front-to-back, which I'm not used to for these books.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since this manga series was only four volumes long, I decided to read them all at once and review them at the same time. I first heard about Kingdom Hearts from the popular game and loved the idea of anime coming together with my beloved Disney characters. When I realized that there was a manga as well, I've been wanting to read it for the longest time ever. With the Manga Challenge, it gave me my excuse to get into it.
The storylines are great. It brings readers on this wonderful adventure through different Disney stories that we know of.. Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, Hercules, Pinocchio, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast... and also other anime characters.. like Final Fantasy. It's a wonderful integration and a great manga series for readers of any age.
Sora is a wonderful character in that he is young and still childish.. but he has a pure heart and chooses good over evil. Through his actions, morals are taught to readers. I loved that Sora inspires you to believe in good and that sometimes there is evil in the world... but everyone can choose good and make things better.
I absolutely loved it and will be reading and reviewing Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and hopefully Kingdom Hearts 2 one day. But I figured I should space out my manga as well.

[Eli Pruitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm approaching this as someone who has played the game (many many years ago) and loves all things Disney.

To be frank, if I didn't have the background knowledge of the game, in all its convoluted nonsensical wonder, this would be utterly confusing. Instead, I was left with what felt like rather disjointed highlights of the plot, never really allowing for any nuance or emotional impact. The core 3 (Sora, Kairi, and Riku) this story revolves around is so incredibly integral to investing in, again, what is an overly complicated story that weaves in on itself more than any story should. So for this manga to not focus on that relationship and flesh it out properly leaves you with what appears to be random anime/manga characters sharing the page with random Disney characters. The threads, which are already loose, don't connect in these pages.

All that said, I can't help giving this a few stars because I love the world so much. Take that for what it's worth.

[Margaryta · Rating 5 out of 5]

After hearing about how good the Kingdom Hearts video game series was and finding out that the games were only on PS2/PS3 consols or one of the pther consols you hook up to the TV (none of which I own, sadly), I really wanted to find out more about this, so I picked up the manga.

The storyline is original and refreshing, something I could easily enjoy without focusing too much but had a gripping plotline and packed action in just the right places so I wouldn't go snoozing off.

The art is really good, I found, and the characters are enjoyable. I'll wait to read on of what happens to this series, but don't guarantee any further reviews.

Finally, I was also glad to have Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days come out on Nintendo DS, and by far it has been mind-blowing. The graphics, the plot, EVERYTHING has been splendid in the game. Really amazing and woth playing.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical Readathon Charms Extra Credit!Created by Book Roast.
Rictusempra: a book that tickles you
#charmsextracredit

[Evie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright. I adore this series. The games have touched my heart in ways nothing else has. With that being said, I had a lot of expectations for the manga; consider this a very sorry 2-star rating. It really hurts, but if I'm honest with myself, I can't give it more.


Like many reviewers have said, I wondered if the manga would reveal anything we didn't see in the games, or address plot points or characters we didn't know enough about from playing. I can't fault the people who created this manga for not including any kind of supplementary material. Sometimes, you just have to work with what you have. What you should expect: everything you already know, and not much else.

The art is cutesy. Don't get me wrong, I can love me a good sugary-sweet manga and style to match, but it didn't feel... appropriate. Maybe this is because it puts into immediate context just how young Sora and friends are when this adventure begins. Looking at the official art of the characters, though, they still had a maturity and edge to them that is lost in this illustrative style. When we meet FF characters, however, we see a bit more of what I'm guessing other reviewers (myself included) felt they'd lost. Had Sora not been portrayed as a wide-eyed kawaii youth, I could have been more visually receptive to this series. The FF team are by far the best-represented characters, and the Disney style is very accurate as well. Sora, Kairi, and Riku, though... You get the point.

Art style aside, the manga has some serious pacing issues and is just... not that good. In the beginning, panels were juxtaposed in such a way that, first time around, I had no idea what kind of timeline we were following; events are extremely short, too fast-paced, not to mention the dialogue has been cut down significantly. If you played the games, you know that much more was said between Riku and Sora when they find each other in the midst of chaos. There's a revealed psychology between the two friends. This... just makes it seem like Riku is a twisty-mustached rotten kid trying to lure Sora into the dark. Friendships aren't really explored. Sora's acting much too goofy, while Riku's not given much character at all other than being a giant snot. Kairi's pretty spot-on, but again, no one's given enough time to establish themselves. Aaaaaand then they're split up.

Upon Sora's arrival in Traverse Town, there's this random pretty-much-faceless lady who only exists to reveal the Heartless' ability to steal hearts. Kinda seems like a prostitute, but who knows because she's gone within a moment. Aeris also is mysteriously missing, I just realized? Gosh, there's just so much that isn't here.

I do have to say, though, that the cheshire Cat giving Sora magic was pretty cool, and there are some tidbits that reveal some things we never got to see before, like Riku standing on the balcony of what we can presume is his home and Kairi having a moment to herself with her shoes off in the sand. Little insights and illustrations like that can be sweet reminders of their humanity and an entire way of life we never got to see... but it still remains that if you are a very avid fan of the series, you're going to have to either forgive the manga for what it is, enjoying it out of pure fun, or pay it no mind at all. It's not a perfect representation of the games and you will lose many story elements.

Sorry, Kingdom Hearts manga. ; _; I can't be anything but honest here. I guess my ending disappointment is that this manga could have been something extraordinarily gorgeous and well-written, something that truly does the series justice, but... it's a cute adventure that doesn't make me feel the same sense of purity and connection to something truly amazing that the games did.

also I'm probably not the target demographic for this manga, so. There's also that.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot going on in this volume, and I definitely need to read the next one in order to get a better understanding of what is going on.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little slow at the beginning, but fast paced once the Disney characters got on to it. Can’t wait for vol 2!

[Ptitelfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A la base, je suis très fan des jeux vidéos, crées par les studios Disney et Square Enix! J'ai eu l'occasion de jouer aux deux premières versions sur PS2 et je m'étais régalée! Du coup, je ne pouvais résister aux jolis graphisme de ce court manga!

La série est composée de 4 tomes.


J'ai adoré retrouver les dessins des personnages Disney (Donald, Dingo, Tic et Tac, Alice, le lapin blanc, la Reine rouge, Maléfique...) et de certains personnages de Final Fantasy (Squall, Yuffie, Cid...) même si dans ce premier tome, il en manque pas mal par rapport au jeu vidéo.

Cependant, en dehors de la beauté des dessins, j'ai trouvé l'histoire décousue, et pour une personne qui découvre l'univers, je pense qu'elle peut rapidement être perdue dans la compréhension de l'intrigue.. Le mangaka passe rapidement d'une scène à une autre sans forcément de cohésion.

Enfin, dernier petit point négatif sur les scènes de combats qui sont très brouillons et donc visuellement moins jolie (mais ce n'est que mon avis personnel)

En conclusion, ce petit manga fera plaisir aux fans de Disney et Square Enix, même si le prix peut rebuter certain (environ 7€) pour le peu de pages et surtout la rapidité à laquelle il se lit puisqu'il y a au final peu de bulles de discussions.

[José · Rating 2 out of 5]

No está mal, pero deja fuera y simplifica demasiados elementos de la historia. Es comprensible, pero me quedo con el formato del videojuego.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is NOT for people who don't like visual irony and stupid jokes. There are a lot of things that made me laugh until I couldn't breathe, but those who are so serious they can't take a joke shouldn't read this.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is cute, but it doesn't add anything to the game, and it feels so scanty. Obviously you don't get to explore the worlds or figure things out yourself in the same way as you do in the game, so especially if you've played the game, it comes up lacking.

But it is cute.

[Lesincele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adoro este juego desde hace muchos años así que ya iba siendo hora de leer estos mangas. En general me ha gustado aunque en ocasiones los dibujos no eran muy claros y no se veía bien lo que ocurría a no ser que hayas jugado al juego. Pero es que la historia me gusta tanto....😍

[Nico Cerceo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A manga designed to enrapture Kingdom Hearts fans.

[little free lib-rei-ry (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ · Rating 5 out of 5]

IN YOU AND I THERE'S A NEW LAAAAAAAND

[Kamiab Ghorbanpour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald heals Sora TWICE in this volume, which is more than he has ever done in the hundreds of hours I’ve spent playing Kingdom Hearts.

[Cel · Rating 5 out of 5]

sora you will always be my goat

[Sandra Nieto Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solo poder saltarse todos los combates hace que la historia mejore considerablemente

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book in a series of graphic novelizations of the popular game, Kingdom Hearts, which is the ultimate Disney cross-over with characters from Final Fantasy thrown in, and a few originals designed in a Final Fantasy-esque style with Disney feet. The story has quite the interesting premise; light existing before darkness, but the darkness swallows the light. Some light is gathered together by children, but the universe is shattered into pieces, divided into different worlds. Living on an island together on one of those worlds, Sora and Riku had no idea there were other worlds out there, until Kairi washed up on their shore from the outside. The three of them were building a raft, preparing to set out and explore those worlds, when darkness invaded the island. Sora found himself separated from Riku and Kairi, guided by a mysterious voice, and a weapon called a Keyblade appearing in his hand. In a place called Traverse Town, peopled by many a Final Fantasy character, Sora meets Disney classic cartoon characters; Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto in search for their king and the bearer of the Keyblade, who turned out to be Sora. The three of them decide to team up with Sora, so they can all search for their lost friends together, but their journey crosses the path of the Heartless, strange creatures who’ve lost their hearts to the darkness, along with the Heartless’s masters, many of which appear to be Disney villains. These masters have a plan of their own for the growing darkness, one that crosses over multiple worlds, and the protagonists are already starting to interfere in that plan…

The story was direct, engrossing, and easy to follow, yet some of the action panels (which I’m guessing were spectacular in the game were hard to follow. It was interesting seeing Donald Duck, whom I grew up watching in cartoons, acting as a cleric, healer, and a mentor, while maintaining enough of his frustrated tendency toward mishap to be recognized as the Donald I remembered. Goofy and Pluto were more supporting characters in this volume, taking second place to Sora and Donald. Sora was a combination of bishounen cuteness driven by his own heroism and a sense of silly fun to be a bridge between the Final Fantasy characters and the Disney worlds, while playing the part of the main character in this ongoing story. The mysterious set up of Riku, Kairi, and their disappearances were quite interesting, particularly Riku’s. The way Squall and others from Final Fantasy behave as mentors and guides to Sora and his new friends was intriguing, entertaining, and a lot of fun. The premise of the overall arc was set up well, allowing travel from Disney world to Disney world, and interaction with characters from various Disney movies. We began with Alice in Wonderland, hints of the overall arc with Maleficent and the other Disney villains revealing themselves from time to time, in a way which was true to each Disney story, yet linked to the overall arc. For all these qualities, I give this four stars.

[DAQUARI · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to pick a coming home present for the kids and found the "kid's manga" section at Dragon's Lair (one of the larger local comic shops). I remember really loving playing Kingdom Hearts, so I thought the kids might like reading the manga. I honestly don't know if they'll like it or not because I have no concept of how coherent it is if you don't know the story from the videogame. I definitely got the sense sometimes that there were scenes that were unnecessary to the narrative that were there because they were in the videogame. For example, Sora and gang go to Merlin's house to give him the Whinnie The Pooh book and the whole thing is resolved resolved in five panels like this.

1. Merlin: He asked me to train you in the art of magic. Especially you, Sora.
2. Sora: Me?
3. Merlin: You're still using the power of the keyblade instinctively. But you must learn to control your power and us it consciously.
4. Panel of star flaring. "Never forget that."
5. Merlin: Come back anytime you need advice. I'm here to help.

Done. No training, just, "I'm supposed to train you, anywho, bring me stuff if you find it." Great for a videogame so that you know you need to come back here from time to time and that this is the turn-in point for a collection question. Not so good for a manga. But I understand the challenge of translating from one medium to another and this one gets credit for a couple of fun moments that were not in the videogame.

So, uh, maybe good for the kids? They won't know what Kingdom Hearts really is until they've spent two hours wandering around Traverse Town trying to figure out what to do.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por mucho tiempo fui muy fan de Kingdom Hearts, tenía unos 8 años cuando pude jugar el primer juego y desde ahí no he abandonado la saga. Todos los juegos los he disfrutado mucho, me compré un PSP y sólo tenía el birth by sleep. Esperé tanto por KH III que ahora que todo parece indicar que si se estrenará en enero, no me emociona tanto como debería.
Pero mientras se acerca la fecha, me voy emocionando poco a poco. El manga sólo abonó a que sintiera nostalgia y añoranza. Mientras leía estas páginas no podía evitar transportarme a mi infancia y recordar todos los buenos momentos que pasé con esta historia.
El manga es una versión muy condensada, recortan toda la parte jugable y todo se mueve de manera rápida. Para alguien que está familiarizado con la historia no creo que haya ningún problema con la velocidad; pero para alguien que sólo ha escuchado del juego y este es su primer acercamiento con la historia, le parecerá todo demasiado apresurado.
Algo que me gustó mucho de este manga es que es una fiel adaptación del juego. Muchas de las escenas están exactamente igual ilustradas que las cinemáticas del juego, eso me parece muy bien porque si de por sí la historia es muy compleja. A diferencia del manga de Zelda por ejemplo, donde se toman muchas libertades y añaden personajes de soporte, este manga es muy fiel a la obra original.
El arte me pareció muy bonito, son casi idénticos a los personajes del juego pero con el añadido del estilo manga: ojos grandes y expresiones muy marcadas.
Leer este libro me regresó a mi infancia y para mí eso fue muy valioso.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 2 out of 5]

2020.05.05

Beh, mi son decisa a rileggerlo. Visto che son quattro volumi, potrei sbrigarmela alla svelta.

Direi che confermo quasi tutto quello che ho scritto qua sotto: troppe informazioni rovesciate addosso al lettore in poco spazio. Alla fin fine, leggerò tutti e quattro i volumi di questa prima serie.

Vediamo come procede.

-----

2014.11.17

Premessa, non ho mai giocato al videogioco di Kingdom hearts.

Questo me l'ha regalato la mia mamma, che sa che son sempre alla ricerca di numeri uno da leggere. Però non mi ha convinto. Da un lato era molto bello vedere i personaggi Disney impegnati in un ruolo un po' diverso dal solito, ma che - al tempo stesso - richiamava le storie che conosco da quando ero bambina. Ma dall'altro la storia era troppo semplice forse. E mancavano un sacco di risposte.

Non so, era come se la storia procedesse troppo velocemente, lasciando un sacco di interrogativi aperti.

Peccato però, i personaggi Disney sono disegnati benissimo, anche se vederli in bianco e nero fa un certo che. Le tavole introduttive di ogni capitolo sono bellissime. Cip e Ciop risvegliano i miei ricordi d'infanzia. Però le scene d'azione sono molte confuse.

Direi che non leggerò oltre. Ma non si sa mai.

[Pokemon Master · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this Manga to be very interesting. This is a Manga, written by Shiro Amano, that is based around the life of a boy named Sora. He, and his friends, had grown a desire to set sail from their island and travel to other worlds. After a strange meeting with an organization member(a group of individuals with the desire to kill the Keyblade Master) and a night of darkness Sora was chosen as the Keyblade Master. He was destined to leave the island and restore the worlds that had been blinking out. To do this he must defeat the Darkness itself with the help of his friends, Donald and Goofey.

I would recommend this book to anyone that has a taste for Manga or Anime. The main reason I have for liking this book is because it is based on my most favorite game in the world. Overall, I really took an interest in this Manga because it is short, funny, and the plot is devious and amusing. Threfore, I gave this book a 5 out of 5.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Spoilers*

You don't know how much I love this series. Sora, Riku and Kairi are best-friends who become separated from each other during the destruction of their island by 'The Heartless'. It follows Sora's search for Kairi and coming to terms with being 'The Keyblade Master' and Riku's turn to darkness and his struggle to find Kairi's heart. The ending is ever so sad, and although the book does it justice, i urge you to look up the ending to Kingdom Hearts the video game on youtube as well. This is such an amazing series that never fails to leave me with less the dry eyes :)

[stevie jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this series (game and manga)! I grew up playing (and still play daily) the Kingdom Hearts series and rereading the manga just opened my heart (ha!).

The art is so amazing and lovely and I laughed on more than one occasion of the facial expressions. I love the little details in the manga that the game doesn’t explore, like Sora first stepping into the gummi ship or Chesire Cat turning down the villain’s offer (insert surprised emoji face here). This series means everything to me.

[Gemma Swan · Rating 4 out of 5]

No puedo ser objetiva... Me ha encantado. Cierto es que el dibujo puede ser un poco infantil, pero va perfectamente con la trama y los acontecimientos que suceden a lo largo de la historia. Los personajes son todos conocidos y aparecen unos cuantos también de los Final Fantasy, así que el factor nostalgia es enorme. Seguir leyendo>>