The KH4 trailer didn’t do much for me, so why am I weeping over grown up Sora?

Warning: contains light spoilers for the overall plot of Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts is, at best, a messy franchise. Split across multiple systems for years – much like the various versions of its protagonist – it’s never been easy to follow. But it’s managed to capture thousands, if not millions, of hearts around the world, regardless (pun kind of intended). 

Sunday was the series’ 20th anniversary, and to celebrate the occasion, Square Enix dropped a video showing off the next three Kingdom Hearts games, including the first reveal of Kingdom Hearts 4. This trailer follows up on KH3’s secret ending, which shows Sora appearing in a hyper-realistic world. Our boy has been rendered in Unreal Engine 5 glory, and he looks significantly older to boot. 

Here's a look at the future of the Kingdom Hearts series, just revealed at the 20th Anniversary Event held in Tokyo. #KH20th pic.twitter.com/WkmknaMcqO

— KINGDOM HEARTS (@KINGDOMHEARTS) April 10, 2022

Being entirely honest, this trailer didn’t really do much for me. I’m not a fan of the Final Fantasy vs 13 thing Nomura is clearly trying to do with the series, and while I can’t say I was satisfied with KH3’s ending, it had enough of the mushy character resolutions I needed to walk away from this story with a smile. 

But seeing the art for the 20th anniversary with each version of Sora across the installments brought tears to my eyes, particularly the illustrated version of the older KH4 Sora. It took me by surprise, since I hadn’t really felt anything watching the trailer. But my emotions ran high seeing him there, a young man finally coming into his own.

KH20周年イラスト　完全版#KH20th pic.twitter.com/bbN6gdfVxO

— キングダムハーツ最新情報 (@differem7) April 10, 2022

My relationship with Sora as a character has shifted dramatically over the years. When I was younger I didn’t really like him. He was too saccharine, too naïve, too forgiving. But as I got older, so did he, slowly though it may have been. Bit by bit, we both got more mature. He experienced hardship and we finally got to see him crack under the weight of reality in KH3. He was more than just a himbo in training. I came to realize that it’s not always a weakness to work to save a relationship, to have unwavering faith in someone you care about and the will to push them to be better. 

Now Sora is one of my favorite parts of Kingdom Hearts. I love that he’s silly enough to watch Elsa sing the entirety of “Let It Go” uninterrupted in the snow. I love that he’s not perfect; he has failed again and again, even when normal rules of these stories would say he should have come out on top. Sora isn’t a chosen one, he was a backup plan, a safe harbor with a warm heart. But he made himself into a hero and a friend to hundreds by doing his best to be brave, understanding and kind.

We’ve both been on a long road to become the men we are now, so seeing Sora there, smiling, confident, grown, made me hopeful for my own future self, a few iterations from now.

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