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Kingdom Hearts II #1
Kingdom Hearts II Vol. 1
A young boy named Roxas whiles away the last days of his summer vacation with his three best friends in their quiet little home of Twilight Town. But all is not as it should be in this hamlet nestled between night and day. Strange things keep happening around Roxas, which always seem to involve mysterious creatures...and he is plagued by dreams of a boy named Sora, whom he has never met. Bewildered, Roxas searches for answers . . . Will they lead him to Sora, Donald, and Goofy?
508 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 6, 2016
17 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
About the author
Shiro Amano
133 books239 followersShiro 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 9, 2017
Kingdom Hearts II is my fave of all the KH games (except for maybe Birth by Sleep) and so far, this volume of the manga is my fave of the manga that I have read so far. I loved that Roxas (my fave) was in this as much as he was, and my heart broke when he discovered the things about himself as the story progressed. I am looking forward to starting the next volume soon, and continuing with Sora on his journey!
August 1, 2018
Sora just makes me so freaking happy, the goofy little bean. He's too cute, too precious. We must protect him from this harsh world at any and all costs.
Kingdom Hearts 2 is my favorite game of all time, by the way. :) This was an adorable adaptation.
Kingdom Hearts 2 is my favorite game of all time, by the way. :) This was an adorable adaptation.
August 13, 2021
So good and edicting! Once I was reading it I couldn't put the book down!
October 23, 2018
Kingdom Hearts II, Volume 1, by Shiro Amano is a well-made manga that artfully captures the main ideas and hilarious yet dark tones of the original games. The book is a fantasy graphic novel based on the popular video game series Kingdom Hearts, and the volume that I read focus on the beginning of the second game in said series. The book takes place in the universe of Kingdom Hearts, which is different from our world. In this universe, there’s one large galaxy and many worlds, instead of just planets. For the books that I read of the series, the worlds that were visited were Twilight Town, Mysterious Tower, and Hollow Bastion, and The Land of Dragons. The main characters of the series would be Sora, Donald, and Goofy, however at the beginning of the first volume, Roxas is the main character. Sora is a happy-go-lucky, light-hearted, cheerful boy who just wants to see his friends again after searching for so long. Donald is the sterner one of the party, who, despite being a royal mage focused on his goal of finding King Mickey, still finds time to enjoy himself with his pals Sora and Goofy. Goofy is the royal knight who wants more than anything to find his King and serve him once more. Goofy is, not unlike Sora, very happy and cheerful. Roxas is a skeptical and very curious boy who just wants to know more about the world and himself, no matter the cost.
In the volume that I read, a lot took place in the plotline of Kingdom Hearts II. The first volume primarily focused on Roxas and his story. Roxas is a young boy who keeps having recurring dreams about some boy (Sora) while trying to enjoy his summer vacation with his friends Hayner, Pence, and Olette. When the story picks up, the group is upset because they are being blamed for committing a crime by a rival group. Shortly after this idea is introduced, we find out that someone has not only stolen certain objects, but also the name of said objects. To summarize what happened here, it turns out an entity called a Nobody, a Dusk to be exact, stole photos of Roxas under command of a higher ranking Nobody, Axel, because the Dusk thought the photos were actually Roxas. Once Roxas gets back the photos, everything kind of goes haywire as Axel tries to get Roxas to remember who he really is, to no avail, until Roxas meets up with a girl named Naminé that explains as much about him as possible before she is stopped by DiZ. She says that she’s a witch with powers over Sora’s memories and that Roxas was never supposed to exist and now that she’s put back together Sora enough, it’s time for Roxas to join up with him. Now, naturally, this pissed off Roxas so he left once DiZ came by. A short while later, after fighting Axel for the umpteenth time, DiZ freezes the entire world and summons Roxas to come to him, because it’s time for Roxas to become one with Sora again. Roxas goes to the mansion where DiZ is and learns that the world that he’s been living in was just a copy of a real one out in the universe. Everything he knew was fake and he was very upset about this so he destroyed the computers that DiZ was using to control the world. After this small meltdown, Roxas fights Axel once again, wins, and then goes to the room where Sora is being stored. Roxas, after speaking with DiZ, decides to go with Sora and so he fuses with him to completely restore Sora’s heart. Sora, Donald, and Goofy finally awake. They fight off hordes of Nobodies when they wake up and find the King, and have a rather short-lived reunion with him. Sora and the party, after saying their goodbyes to everyone, make their way to the Mysterious Tower where Yen Sid lives in order to learn more about their new quest to fight the Nobodies, and to get some well-needed upgrades to their clothes. Afterwards, the group sets out to Hollow Bastion and find a group of familiar faces, Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith, and help them to combat the Nobodies and Heartless around the town. After the events of Kingdom Hearts I, the town is in a bit of disrepair since Ansem and the Heartless took it over, and the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee (which Sora and the group are honorary members of) are trying to fix. After helping Leon fight through Nobodies and Heartless to get to the bridge, Sora has his first encounter with Organization XIII. After talking with these mysterious Nobodies, Sora realizes a pathway to another world has opened, and that world was the Land of Dragons. The volume leaves off there, on a not-so-nice cliffhanger.
All in all, I loved this book a lot. It’s based on my absolute favorite game series of all time, so perhaps I’m a bit biased. The book and the game are very complicated and it’s not easy to condense all that happens into a short and brief summary, but I did my best. This book cleverly showcased the glory of the second game while inputting even more humour that simply added to its charm. I would easily read this book a million times over if I could, as I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book is probably best for teenagers, as its concept is very complicated and younger ones might get lost easily. The art style is very fun and light-hearted though, which helps to distract from some of the sadness you see, like Naminé getting dragged off and being silenced forcibly by DiZ. Overall, I really loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves Kingdom Hearts. If you have never played the game series or read the preceding manga series to this one though, you won’t understand any of what is happening, so be cautious!
In the volume that I read, a lot took place in the plotline of Kingdom Hearts II. The first volume primarily focused on Roxas and his story. Roxas is a young boy who keeps having recurring dreams about some boy (Sora) while trying to enjoy his summer vacation with his friends Hayner, Pence, and Olette. When the story picks up, the group is upset because they are being blamed for committing a crime by a rival group. Shortly after this idea is introduced, we find out that someone has not only stolen certain objects, but also the name of said objects. To summarize what happened here, it turns out an entity called a Nobody, a Dusk to be exact, stole photos of Roxas under command of a higher ranking Nobody, Axel, because the Dusk thought the photos were actually Roxas. Once Roxas gets back the photos, everything kind of goes haywire as Axel tries to get Roxas to remember who he really is, to no avail, until Roxas meets up with a girl named Naminé that explains as much about him as possible before she is stopped by DiZ. She says that she’s a witch with powers over Sora’s memories and that Roxas was never supposed to exist and now that she’s put back together Sora enough, it’s time for Roxas to join up with him. Now, naturally, this pissed off Roxas so he left once DiZ came by. A short while later, after fighting Axel for the umpteenth time, DiZ freezes the entire world and summons Roxas to come to him, because it’s time for Roxas to become one with Sora again. Roxas goes to the mansion where DiZ is and learns that the world that he’s been living in was just a copy of a real one out in the universe. Everything he knew was fake and he was very upset about this so he destroyed the computers that DiZ was using to control the world. After this small meltdown, Roxas fights Axel once again, wins, and then goes to the room where Sora is being stored. Roxas, after speaking with DiZ, decides to go with Sora and so he fuses with him to completely restore Sora’s heart. Sora, Donald, and Goofy finally awake. They fight off hordes of Nobodies when they wake up and find the King, and have a rather short-lived reunion with him. Sora and the party, after saying their goodbyes to everyone, make their way to the Mysterious Tower where Yen Sid lives in order to learn more about their new quest to fight the Nobodies, and to get some well-needed upgrades to their clothes. Afterwards, the group sets out to Hollow Bastion and find a group of familiar faces, Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith, and help them to combat the Nobodies and Heartless around the town. After the events of Kingdom Hearts I, the town is in a bit of disrepair since Ansem and the Heartless took it over, and the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee (which Sora and the group are honorary members of) are trying to fix. After helping Leon fight through Nobodies and Heartless to get to the bridge, Sora has his first encounter with Organization XIII. After talking with these mysterious Nobodies, Sora realizes a pathway to another world has opened, and that world was the Land of Dragons. The volume leaves off there, on a not-so-nice cliffhanger.
All in all, I loved this book a lot. It’s based on my absolute favorite game series of all time, so perhaps I’m a bit biased. The book and the game are very complicated and it’s not easy to condense all that happens into a short and brief summary, but I did my best. This book cleverly showcased the glory of the second game while inputting even more humour that simply added to its charm. I would easily read this book a million times over if I could, as I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book is probably best for teenagers, as its concept is very complicated and younger ones might get lost easily. The art style is very fun and light-hearted though, which helps to distract from some of the sadness you see, like Naminé getting dragged off and being silenced forcibly by DiZ. Overall, I really loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves Kingdom Hearts. If you have never played the game series or read the preceding manga series to this one though, you won’t understand any of what is happening, so be cautious!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2018
I'd forgotten how much I love these games. The story strays from the original timeline set in the game, but just a little, and it's probably just to make the story more coherent in a reading format instead of playing format. I love the characters, and I can still hear their voices after all these years. I can't wait to pick up the other books and read them.
June 23, 2019
Genial reencontrarme con Sora de está manera, me ha encantado, la historia, personajes, ambiente... ❤ Soy fan de Kindom Hearts y tenía demasiada nostalgia, el juego es una pasada y este cómic no se queda atrás.
June 22, 2017
I love KHII, the artwork is amazing too!
March 6, 2019
**My star rating applies to this series as a whole, not just this one volume.
January 2, 2021
I LOVE this book! I am a huge fan of the Kingdom Hearts video game series, and this book made the story even better. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
October 4, 2023
😱🙈😂👀
My exact reactions whilst I read this Manga. Can't wait to start the next one! ❤️
My exact reactions whilst I read this Manga. Can't wait to start the next one! ❤️
December 29, 2023
Loved this so much. Still rips my heart out!
March 5, 2024
Roxas, buddy, I wish I could do something for you. Later friend!
March 7, 2024
Great way to organize your thoughts with the KH lore.
October 29, 2024
Me falta lore de Kingdom hearts para entenderlo pero bien
April 29, 2025
I like that I’m getting a better picture of the story.
January 7, 2026
4 stars. I would read this again if I’m in the right mood.
March 19, 2017
So much fun to get back to this story with Sora, Donald, and Goofy! Reading this manga series for preparation of Kingdom Hearts 3 coming out next year. It's great if you don't want to play the games and just get a refresher from the story by reading them instead.
July 7, 2014
While Sora sleeps, Namine rebuilds his memories, and Roxas lives the life of a normal boy. Roxas too, has lost his memories, but as the time of Sora's awakening approaches, they begin to return, even while his constructed world falls apart. Once Sora emerges, he and his friends discover that a new enemy threatens the worlds. Nobodies, and the purpose of the mysterious Organization XIII are finally revealed in the main canon.
Kingdom Hearts II is an excellent adaption of the game. It has all the excitement, and the heart of the story, and even incorporates some of the battle mechanics. As an additional touch, side characters get more face time. The art style is different, but works well because it can switch from its soft, heartfelt style, to a more wacky expressive one that fits the Disney comedy. The pacing is especially good, and the author has more space to explain some of the more confusing twists.
Like the game, the manga does a fair job of creating a standalone story, however because of all the connections, and complicated plot twists, it is highly recommended to read the series in order: Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts II. This is not only important for understanding the story and its symbolism, but to experience the powerful feelings from its themes about the heart, memory, connections, trust, etc. The Kingdom Hearts series is part Final Fantasy, and part Disney, and both are masters storytellers with these themes. Due to this collaboration, it will appeal to a broad range of ages.
Kingdom Hearts II is an excellent adaption of the game. It has all the excitement, and the heart of the story, and even incorporates some of the battle mechanics. As an additional touch, side characters get more face time. The art style is different, but works well because it can switch from its soft, heartfelt style, to a more wacky expressive one that fits the Disney comedy. The pacing is especially good, and the author has more space to explain some of the more confusing twists.
Like the game, the manga does a fair job of creating a standalone story, however because of all the connections, and complicated plot twists, it is highly recommended to read the series in order: Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts II. This is not only important for understanding the story and its symbolism, but to experience the powerful feelings from its themes about the heart, memory, connections, trust, etc. The Kingdom Hearts series is part Final Fantasy, and part Disney, and both are masters storytellers with these themes. Due to this collaboration, it will appeal to a broad range of ages.
April 16, 2014
Kingdom Hearts has been my favorite game series since a very young age, and so when I realized that there was a manga adaptation of some of the games I was very excited. I was especially excited for the KH II volumes and the KH 358/2 volumes, since I absolutely adore the stories of Roxas and the other nobodies. The manga follows along with the same plot as the game, beginning with Roxas' story and then later transitioning to Sora's.
(spoilers following) Like the game, I wish we had more time with Roxas and his story before moving on to Sora, and I wish that the manga had included some of the day in KH II where Roxas went to explore the 13 Wonders of their town with Hayner, Pence, and Olette.
I really like the art style of Shiro Amano, and I'm glad that he was the one who illustrated and created the manga. The characters are very expressive, even if that means their expression are sometimes really simplified and/or ridiculous, but the faces of some character made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.
Overall, I really enjoyed this manga, and it made me feel very nostalgic. I do not regret my decision to purchase this book and read it at all. I liked it so much that I'm going to start the second volume immediately.
(spoilers following) Like the game, I wish we had more time with Roxas and his story before moving on to Sora, and I wish that the manga had included some of the day in KH II where Roxas went to explore the 13 Wonders of their town with Hayner, Pence, and Olette.
I really like the art style of Shiro Amano, and I'm glad that he was the one who illustrated and created the manga. The characters are very expressive, even if that means their expression are sometimes really simplified and/or ridiculous, but the faces of some character made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.
Overall, I really enjoyed this manga, and it made me feel very nostalgic. I do not regret my decision to purchase this book and read it at all. I liked it so much that I'm going to start the second volume immediately.
January 1, 2026
ROXAS 🥺 MY BOYYYY 😭😭
June 19, 2017
Well, it is a bit confusing reading the separate arcs out of order and having only played the first game, but I did enjoy it.
The listings for these books also have me very confused (both here and in my library catalog). I had a hard time finding the volumes I wanted in the statewide inter-library loan catalog and I ended up with the whole KH I manga series but also a novelization of the game which I haven't read yet, and also what I thought was KH II volumes 1, 2, and 3. The volume one (this link) says here that it's books 1 & 2 but my smaller book two has chapters 8-13 and the larger volume ends at chapter 18 and so should probably be books 1-3? My larger volume 3 is chapters 38-50, so I'm missing the omnibus in between, sigh. These books are due the 2nd, so I will be reading them out of order again, or returning them and requesting the third omnibus and hopefully finding the second one too.
The listings for these books also have me very confused (both here and in my library catalog). I had a hard time finding the volumes I wanted in the statewide inter-library loan catalog and I ended up with the whole KH I manga series but also a novelization of the game which I haven't read yet, and also what I thought was KH II volumes 1, 2, and 3. The volume one (this link) says here that it's books 1 & 2 but my smaller book two has chapters 8-13 and the larger volume ends at chapter 18 and so should probably be books 1-3? My larger volume 3 is chapters 38-50, so I'm missing the omnibus in between, sigh. These books are due the 2nd, so I will be reading them out of order again, or returning them and requesting the third omnibus and hopefully finding the second one too.
November 16, 2014
I am only giving this three stars because of my adoration of the game series.
Had I not played the games, I would have been completely lost reading this story. Very little background is given on any of the characters, and Organization XIII is only explained with the vaguest of details. Disappointing, really, especially when there is so much put into the narrative for this game. I would have loved to have seen the manga go beyond the confusing plot of the game itself and really add more backstory to the characters, particularly with Roxas and Axel, whose stories honestly deserve more than they are given.
Needless to say, though... I will still be sticking around for volume two. But I won't be happy about it.
Had I not played the games, I would have been completely lost reading this story. Very little background is given on any of the characters, and Organization XIII is only explained with the vaguest of details. Disappointing, really, especially when there is so much put into the narrative for this game. I would have loved to have seen the manga go beyond the confusing plot of the game itself and really add more backstory to the characters, particularly with Roxas and Axel, whose stories honestly deserve more than they are given.
Needless to say, though... I will still be sticking around for volume two. But I won't be happy about it.
September 1, 2016
Ok, so this is the 'Final Mix' version of KH2 and it says it holds volumes 1 and 2 of the original manga, but it clearly goes into volume 3. Honestly, it look gorgeous. The artwork has been redone and, apart from some not so good-looking artwork on Axel, it is beautiful. The thing is, they are changing things...like big things. (What is Vexen doing here???!) I can't say I'm mad at it, more intrigued. It makes me want to know where they are going with it. The Beast stuff at the end was different as well so I'm just sitting here like READY to read the next one. We shall see how this goes, but so far, it's exhilarating to read again. Definitely, would recommend the Final Mix version of these books because of the amazing artwork improvement, and small extras.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2014
When you see it like this, it becomes really clear that Roxas is an excuse for a tutorial and Organization XIII is an excuse for a series of bosses that look similar.
The Heartless/Nobody thing is vaguely interesting, but not especially clear in this book. (Or probably ever. For instance, all of the Nobodies are sad that they have no emotion. Or jealous that they have no emotion. Even beyond the basic irony, cf. http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questi..., they also are the most emotional characters in the book. )
And other than that, the characters and their motivations are not clear.
The Heartless/Nobody thing is vaguely interesting, but not especially clear in this book. (Or probably ever. For instance, all of the Nobodies are sad that they have no emotion. Or jealous that they have no emotion. Even beyond the basic irony, cf. http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questi..., they also are the most emotional characters in the book. )
And other than that, the characters and their motivations are not clear.
June 21, 2017
Originally posted on BlueAnteater
The Kingdom Hearts manga saga continues! There is much more detail put in for Kingdom Hearts 2 than the first ones, and it’s not even finished being published! (The author took a break to do 358/2 Days.) I liked the expanded section on Roxas, as it made him more likable (and sad), and the worlds are doubled up, not separate like the game. Again, very funny and AMAZINGLY drawn.
The Kingdom Hearts manga saga continues! There is much more detail put in for Kingdom Hearts 2 than the first ones, and it’s not even finished being published! (The author took a break to do 358/2 Days.) I liked the expanded section on Roxas, as it made him more likable (and sad), and the worlds are doubled up, not separate like the game. Again, very funny and AMAZINGLY drawn.
February 11, 2016
Following the events from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (kind of, it seems 358/2 Days starts at the last half of Kingdom Hearts and finishes at the end of Chain of Memories), we continue the adventure with this next installment. We are introduced to a new character named Roxas of Twilight Town, but things arent all as they seem when strange things start happening to him yet his friends don't seem to notice anything amiss. What is going on, and why does he keep having strange dreams of a person he's never met before?
May 18, 2015
The contents are great. Colored pictures, scenes not in the game, everything's great. But it is so hard to hold a book that is 2.5 books wide! This contains part of the third volume of the manga, which screwed me up when I figured out I had to re-buy the entire series thanks to TokyoPop...
March 19, 2014
Just like my problem with the video game, I don't really care about Roxas and having to wait through over half the book to get to Sora's story was annoying.
June 27, 2014
Oh god, Roxas' story...
May 29, 2015
I LOVE THIS BOOK! Especially how the author adapted the Struggle tournament! My favorite KH volume so far!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews