Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 3

キングダム ハーツ [Kingdom Hearts] #3

by Shiro Amano

When Monstro the whale swallows Sora and crew, the world of Kingdom Hearts plunges into an underwater adventure! Deep within the ocean depths, Sora lends Geppetto and Pinocchio a helping hand to fend off the Heartless. Our heroes then dive even deeper under the sea to face Ursula the Sea Witch. But Sora and Riku better surface fast because they have to rescue Kairi from the clutches of Captain Hook! When it comes to dealing with the Heartless, let your conscience be your guide, and don't forget the pixie dust!

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

167 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

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]

This is probably my favorite in the series so far. I really liked the worlds that were explored in this volume, especially The Little Mermaid world as it was fun to see the main trio turn into sea creatures.

I find Riku to be a really fascinating character. It’s clear that he’s being manipulated, but at the same time, his heart is in the right place and I’d even go as far as to say that when it comes to morals, I’d actually side with Riku over Sora.

One thing that I wish would be different about this manga series though is the fighting. It skims over the fight scenes, which leaves the story feeling really disjointed. If you’ve played any of the games, you would know how important fighting the heartless is in the story, so cutting those fight scenes makes it so that this manga series can never live up to the video games.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love how cute they all look as sea creatures. My thoughts on the two previous volumes stand pretty much unchanged here, but I am having fun with this little recap of the game. It's helping me piece things together as I replay Birth By Sleep and urgently try to remember who became which Heartless/Nobody/whatever.

[asmaa☁️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kingdom Bites pages are everything (^ц^ )

[KSena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t really know what to say. This one though keeps the same level as the previous one. It isn’t good, it isn’t bad.

I do really like the tour we do through Hercules' world though! That they run into Phil and how he tries to teach them how to be a hero. Especially Donald and Goofy especially need to hear this, I think. Even though they are loyal to King Mickey and really want to try and help him, they are very much supporting characters to Sora. So they needed a bit of an uplift.

Sora gets the hero-talk by Phil as well. And they get to train with Hercules, which was a bit fun, honestly! So there’s some humor here for sure.

I did also like the run they had in Ariel's watery world. (Goofy as a sea-turtle is the best, honestly!) And I did like Ariel's dad, King Triton here too. Who, apparently, KNOWS about the keyholes in each world that needs to be locked?!??!?!? He is possibly the first character in a world that knows about these! What the heck?

So yeah, even though there are good parts in this volume, there’s still a lot of confusing things going on. Apparently if you don’t lock the keyholes in each world with the keyblade, the bad guys can take over the worlds? WHY DID NOONE LOCK THEM EARLIER?!??!

Ansem is still a mystery, we don’t know anything about him. BUT! We get to know more about the heartless from his notes that Sora, Goofy and Donald keep finding. Some heartless are created naturally. But those that keep coming after Sora and crew are created… by Ansem. And those have that special mark on their chest and look just barely humanoid. Why he did this though is the big question now.

Riku is still our emo-guy. And Kairi is… catatonic? Like a living doll? Apparently she has lost her heart. But isn’t she a heartless then? And Riku has somehow caught her? Or did he get her from Maleficent, since he now works for Maleficent? And thinks SHE’LL help him restore Kairi? If he does, well he's an idiot.

Questions keep piling up. And considering how small the last book is, I doubt we’ll get all the answers. But having gotten this far, I’ll of course read the last one too.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 2 out of 5]

El tercer volumen sigue siendo una adaptación fiel al source material. Si nunca pudiste jugar KH pero quieres jugar la tercera entrega, podrías leer los mangas de las dos primeras entregas y listo. Lo interesante es que los dos volúmenes anteriores tenían algo que el tercero no tiene:
*El primer volumen tenía la ventaja de la sorpresa, uno no sabía qué esperar. Si el arte sería bueno, si sería una adaptación apegada o si se tomarían muchas libertades, si tendría mucho relleno o no. Es realmente interesante darse cuenta que es una buena adaptación.
*El segundo sigue retratando momentos claves, con buena interacción de los personajes y un arte apegado.
*El tercero sigue con eso pero sin momentos claves que retratar (este volumen sólo nos muestra a los protagonistas viajando a través de distintos mundos). Se torna cansado.
Lo único que me interesó del volumen fue el capítulo dedicado a los reportes de investigación de Ansem. Incluso Amano cambia sus técnicas narrativas para mostrarnos el reporte de investigación junto con los pensamientos de Aerith.
Las apariciones de Riku en este volumen no le llegaron a sus contrapartes del videojuego. La aparición de Riku dentro de Mostro es un momento clave del videojuego, aquí se reduce a un par de líneas entre Sora y Riku en dos páginas y eso es todo. El combate de Sora contra su sombra en el barco pirata, nuevamente es reducido a una viñeta nada más. Esos momentos de haber sido abordados en su totalidad o con más profundidad hubieran elevado la calidad del volumen.
La edición mexicana de panini de este manga incluye un separador.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is really starting to pick up in this one. I think I would enjoy it more if it was done as a graphic novel, rather than a manga--but it's still clear that a ton of creativity and heart (no pun intended) went into tying classic, beloved Disney tales into this larger, anime-style story of world-hopping and battling monsters. This is truly a unique tale told by very imaginative people. Again, I'm not sure if manga is really my style--it almost moves a little bit too quickly. Graphic novels feel a little more "paced," and the art styles tend to be a bit more "sweeping." (If that makes any sense.) Manga seems to be a bit more "short, sweet, and to-the-point." The story also tends to rely more on caricaturish expressions and situations--which is fine. (At least, this particular manga does; I'm certainly no expert in genre.) Those are my personal takeaways (comparing manga and graphic novels), and between the two, I still prefer the more "grounded" (for lack of a better word) style of graphic novels. That's not to say I'll never read a manga or that I'm not enjoying this one. It's just a personal preference. Above all, I'm just glad there's a way for non-gamers to still enjoy the story of "Kingdom Hearts." I'm looking forward to the next volume, which I believe is the conclusion.

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sora, Donald, and Goofy find themselves in the belly of a huge whale with Pinocchio and his father, swim through the ocean kingdom of Ariel’s, and find themselves battling of Captain Hook’s pirate ship, all the while looking for keyholes. They make new friends, yet are confronted by new enemies, including Riku, who has allied himself with Maleficent and the Heartless.

I was a bit disappointed in where the overall story was going, in Riku’s motivations, and the story felt like it derailed from the ongoing plot several times. It was interesting to see which Disney girls were part of the villains’s ‘plan’ and which weren’t, plus the hints and clues Ansem left behind were intriguing. The character development got disjointed and chaotic here and there. Still the story continues to interest and the artwork is quite attractive, synthesizing several Disney styles. I’m hoping the story will get more in synch with the ongoing arc later.

[Soobie is expired · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il volume migliore di questa prima serie.

A parte i primi capitoli ambientati nel mondo di Hercules, gli altri mi son piaciuti moltissimo. Si passa dalla Sirenetta a Peter Pan e la storia ha comunque senso. Ed è questa la cosa che mi colpisce di più.

E poi, lo ammetto, il Peter Pan della Disney è una personcina molto più a modo di quello originale. Era così tenero a preoccuparsi di Wendy.

Vediamo cosa ci riserva l'ultimo volume.

[Alis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo penso sia il mio volume preferito fino ad ora (insieme al primo che seppur molto semplice ho apprezzato tabtissimo)
Ho amato soprattutto la parte di storia dedicata a Peter Pan e ho bisogno subito del seguito per capire come andrà avanti!
(Chi ha giocato Kingdom Hearts è ovviamente avvantaggiato ahah mannaggia)

[Kayuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Welten wurden recht schnell abgearbeitet. Dabei konnte ich mich im Manga nicht so ganz auf die Welt einlassen. Das finde ich recht schade, da so Potenzial verschenkt wurde. Auch wenn es Spaß macht, und es auch durchaus sinnvoll ist sich auf das wesentliche zu fokussieren, fehlt doch was. Ich bin gespannt wie der letzte Teil umgesetzt ist.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate playing through Atlantica in both KH1 AND KH2, but reading about the game's events in that world are so much more interesting, I'll say that. Or it could be my nostalgia for The Little Mermaid. Just nostalgia on top of nostalgia.

[Kimberlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are surprisingly funny, even though the humor can be a bit . . . odd. It's not as expansive as the actual game play by any means, but if you need a quick refresher on the series before Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out, this is great.

[Lizzie RoseShine · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fav funny villain Captain Hook from Peter Pan...fighting with Peter Pan n he scared of crocodile n scream smith....n made me laugh n my little mermaid - triton is really hard on Ariel because Ariel was desperately wanted to go outside world.

[. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. More grammar mistakes and pictures where it was hard to tell what it was supposed to be again. This may be the cutest one so far though. By the way, the Kingdom Bites in the back of the book are just… so funny… hilarious…

[GrainneS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third volume of four in the "Kingdom Hearts" series. I've been told that these Manga adaptations are not as expansive as the game (boyfriend had played), but they are wholesome and cute, and surprisingly funny. The stories are very well blended together. A very enjoyable read!

[Lori CucVig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le avventure continuano, nel mondo di Pinocchio, della Sirenetta e di Peter Pan. I nostri eroi scoprono sempre più informazioni ma devono stare in guardia perché gli antagonisti sono ancora in vantaggio. Vedremo...

[locafortoko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellissimo ma leggere Campanellino al posto di Trilli mi ha fatto venire voglia di cavarmi gli occhi
O peggio… leggere Tempesta al posto di Thunder (immagino, anche se in realtà è tuono ma vabbè)… non è che bisogna tradurre proprio tutto

[orpheuus · Rating 3 out of 5]

another enjoyable read. i found this volume to be a bit more enjoyable than the last and i do think my childhood love for sora and disney is getting me through the pages. donald is a lot more annoying than what i remembered and goofy is a good laugh.

[Jared Suarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artwork is so precious in his book

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe not the best story but love kingdom hearts for all the Disney characters 😻😻😻😁👌💕💕

[Yuki Ark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un poco rapido pero es aceptable, usaran el ultimo tomo para los ultimos sucesos asi que está bien

[Lorena Martínez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nos aventamos tres mundos en este pequeño manga. Está lo suficientemente bien como para que me interese el que sigue, pero creo que la adaptación no es tan buena. Les reporto como avanza.

[Maddi Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was good book I love the Disney story in the book

[Loyda Ventura]

I like the way that instead of fighting Riku uses portals to retreat which makes Sora somewhat upset.

[Kiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thickest volume with all the water related things. Also I still ship Peter and Wendy.

[Francine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in the manga are a little different than the game: they take a bit more from the Disney movies they're based on, so that's fun.
Still a really great adaptation. One more volume to go!

[Catie Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

These manga interpretations are so cute and so wholesome. Such a fun way to relive my absolute favorite fictional series.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Las aventuras continuan pero ahora se volvieron submarinas, cuando la ballena se traga a Sora y los chicos estos se encuentran con un simpatico niño de madera y su papá

[★ Dreamfyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5💫 because the manga added in Figaro when the game failed to do so.

[Graham Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar thoughts as the last time volumes, fine adaptation but could be better.