Kingdom Hearts is a long-running video game franchise, and the series covers a lot of ground with regard to storytelling. There are 13 Kingdom Hearts games in all, with seven of them being immediately relevant to the main story and necessary for the full context of what happens.
For those who don’t necessarily want to play that many role-playing games, or those who just miss the world and want to return to it, the Kingdom Hearts manga covers a lot of the same story. But there are key differences between the video game and the manga, particularly regarding Sora as a character. And while some of those differences make him a better, more well-rounded character, others make him a little too different from the video game character fans love.
10 Best: He’s Funnier
It’s hard to cram a lot of jokes and gags into a video game, especially when there’s a lot of stories to cover. But a manga doesn’t have the same kind of space restraints, and the ability to draw a character without worrying about having to animate him makes it easier to create some visual jokes. Sora definitely benefits from this, coming across a little less earnest and a little more like he has a charming and silly personality from time to time.
9 Worst: He’s Less Innocent
The Kingdom Hearts manga is a lot more explicit about death and violence than the video games are. While this works in the games as a way to keep Sora from becoming jaded or embittered by the world, the manga doesn’t really approach this in the same way.
For this reason, it’s also impossible for Sora to not react to it. He often looks guilty, after the deaths of those he has fought, as he should. But it removes him from that childlike innocence that he carries in the games.
8 Best: He’s Not Responsible For Maleficent’s Death
Sora acting as a guardian of light in the games can make it a bit difficult to watch him destroy other things and people. While destroying the Heartless is all well and good, when he faces off with and kills other human beings, it can be a little hard to take. In the manga, Maleficent’s death doesn’t come at the hands of Sora and his friends as it does in the game. Instead, Riku kills her outright by stabbing her, which protects some of Sora’s innocent nature.
7 Worst: He Spends Less Time With Other Characters
Outside of his relationships with Donald, Goofy, and Riku, Sora doesn’t seem to interact with other characters nearly as often in the manga. These relationships absolutely benefit from this fact, since it means their bond with each other seems stronger. But not being able to create those friendships with other characters, both the Final Fantasy characters who show up from time to time and the Disney characters, limits Sora’s ability to show his good nature and friendliness.
6 Best: He Collaborates More With Donald And Goofy
While it is completely possible in the Kingdom Hearts games for Sora to do combination moves with Donald and Goofy during battles, it’s not something that’s done regularly, and one has to collect objects in order for it to be possible. But without the game mechanics in the way, the three characters fight much more collaboratively in the games, making them seem like better friends who are looking out for each other in dangerous situations and reinforcing their bond.
5 Worst: He Doesn’t Go To As Many Worlds
It’s hard to adapt a story from one medium to another. A 60-plus hour video game certainly can’t be easy to shrink down enough to fit it into a comic adaptation. But one of the things this means is that Sora doesn’t spend as much time exploring other worlds. This takes away from the curious, inquisitive nature that Sora has, which is established from the very beginning as one of the reasons he wants to travel off of his own island to see other places.
4 Best: His Design Is Better
Sora’s outfits in the Kingdom Hearts manga are, for all intents and purposes, the exact same as they are in the game series. But the art style changes them just enough to make them feel refreshing.
The oversized pants and shoes are a little less ridiculous, making him look a little bit better proportioned than he does in the game, in which he sometimes looks downright comical. His overall character design is also cuter, giving him a bright-eyed Disney look.
3 Worse: He’s More Aggressive
Kingdom Hearts has no shortage of fighting throughout the series, but it all feels pretty PG for the most part. Sora rarely fights humanoid enemies, and even more rarely do the humans he does fight remain human-looking when he fights them, as opposed to turning into big monsters. But without the goofiness with which Sora sometimes faces his enemies, like carrying a Nightmare Before Christmas-themed keyblade that actually makes a jingle bell sound when he uses it, Sora seems aggressive and out to hurt his opponents.
2 Best: Fans See The Moment He Meets Kairi
Sora’s relationship with Kairi is arguably the most important in the series—though one could make an argument about Riku. Fans don’t see them spend very much time together before Sora is swept off into his adventure, so it’s hard to get a real feel for how much they care about each other. At the very beginning of the manga, Sora is shown meeting Kairi for the first time, establishing their friendship and giving more background to how long they’ve known each other.
1 Worst: He Doesn’t Make As Many Friends
Those who have played all of the Kingdom Hearts games know how much fun it is to watch him travel between worlds and meet new people. This is partially because, in Sora’s eyes, everyone is a potential friend. This sometimes makes him too trusting, but it also leads to great team-ups with Disney characters like Hercules and Mulan. The manga doesn’t spend as much time on this portion of Sora’s story, which makes him seem less friendly and less open to helping others.