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Xxxx DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOLIERS FROM ANY OF THE KINGDOM HEARTS GAMES OR IF YOU'RE EASILY ANGERED BY LOVE BETWEEN TWO MALES xxxX

Kingdom Hearts.

Oh, Kingdom hearts. Honestly? It starts with the American official cover art. Notice Riku is the only one facing the opposite direction putting discreet emphasis on him. It's a clever tactic and probably meant to symbolize who the darker one of the game is. However NOW let's notice the only two characters enveloped in the heart-shaped moon: Riku... and Sora, whom is the main character of this game. Very interesting. Now... typically? The female 'lead' would be back-to-back with the hero, or at LEAST have some sort of equal emphasis (Maybe a close up of the profile of her face translucent in the background of the entire picture, maybe standing on the opposite side of Sora, ect.) but where is she? She's sitting way down there in the dark! Weird first impression!

And then we start up the game and the music comes on, there's Sora alright, alright he's floating, the catchy music starts and you know I'm rocking out to it, drooling over the graphics la da dah de dah and then BAM.

Sexy aquamarine-eyed silver-haired Bishie on the screen. First Character besides Sora we see. With the chosen lyrics:

"You're giving me too many things lately..."

And he extends his hand to Sora and smirks suggestively, and Sora feels compelled to RUN eagerly towards him even as an enormous wave is building behind Riku.

"You're all I need; you smiled at me, and said:"

But Alas! The enormous wave knocks Sora and sends him tumbling back through the sea! Oh No! But he struggles, and he tries to get to that sexy bishie but they are pulled apart by the waves!

"Don't get me wrong, I love you but does that mean I have to meet your father? When we are older you'll understand what I meant when I said "No, I don't think life is quite that simple."

...VERY STRANGE SONG CHOICE TO BE SYNCED WITH THAT SCENE.

Of all the songs in the entire world why pick this to be the theme and why sync it like this?

But hold the phone! What were the creators saying about Sora meaning "Sky", Riku meaning "Land" and Kairi meaning "Sea"…? Were Riku and Sora torn apart by the sea just then? Could this have a double meaning? Who knows...!

So finally Sora comes up out of the water and Kairi appears and la la la the game goes on. There's nothing much to question until, you guessed it: The Paopu scene.

Riku tosses Sora this fruit and tells him its powers. If two people share them then their destinies will become intertwined no matter what. He jokes with him and says, "come on, I know you want to try it."

...But what was he implying just then? Was Riku teasing him because he knew of his feelings for Kairi? Or was it something else?

We can forget about it, for now. Sora tossed it away because he was embarrassed (BUT NEVERMIND IN THE MANGA HE KEPT IT AND TOOK IT HOME!). The game goes on.

There is a pointless race between Riku and Sora. Sora says if he wins he gets to be captain of their raft. But Riku interrupts and says if he wins (in an oddly monotone voice) he gets to share a paopu with Kairi. Tension! However, no matter whether you win or lose, this isn't the case. Riku insists that it was just a joke. He was … just trying to push Sora's buttons? Okay-- whatever.

We can note the touching moment Sora and Kairi share... but wait. She insists that Riku has changed, and she suggests that just she and Sora go leave the island on their adventure, just the two of them. Sora doesn't take to this idea and she says she's kidding. She likes Sora, she just implied she's favoring him over Riku- that was an obvious hint. His best friend has been acting MIGHTY weird and supposively trying to get on his girl-- and yet in spite of the 'tension' and 'rivalry' Sora seems all for keeping to the plan. He wants to go with the three of them, regardless of Riku's recent actions. A little too forgiving for someone crushing on a girl if you ask me (or any other straight boy in existence).

Then there's the Secret Place.

Now, now I think you all know what I'm going to say. It's never actually said whether or not that drawing on the right is Kairi. Think about it for a moment, though. Could it be Riku? The face seems girly but the hair looks almost exactly like the hair younger Riku has... strange? Is it possible, no...?

One other scene that can be noted before Riku goes all bad-boy and villainous is the scene where he and Sora are briefly reunited in Traverse Town. He seems happy to know Riku is alright but-- why does he put his fingers in Riku's mouth and immediately pinch at his face? Cute comic relief? Well. Its understood he's checking to make sure he "isn't imagining this time" -- which is suggestive all by itself-- but he seems to be much more physically comfortable with Riku then he has ever been with Kairi.

  The scene sours, however when Riku feels replaced by Sora's new friends, Donald and Goofy. ... Wait-- he's jealous and afraid of being replaced by Sora? That's what fueled him and caused his heart to stray into the darkness? HUH.

If he's so torn up about that, just imagine how sad he'd be if he over-heard what Kairi said to Sora about leaving him behind and taking off just the two of them! Could he have a fear of being the 'third wheel' and getting left behind-- or is this something else?

And what in heaven's name is the deal with 'Anti-Sora'? It's a strange, dark monster that seems to have been conjured by Riku: he looks exactly like his best friend. Perhaps he's trying to send Sora a message of some kind? He wants Sora to embrace the darkness...? Perhaps get back at Sora and make him feel replaced? WHO. KNOWS.

For the entire rest of the game, Riku is pretty much a jerk. He seems to lure Sora and taunt him using Kairi as bait, while supposively still trying to save her. He fails utterly when he is taken over by "Ansem" (which turns out isn't actually Ansem but that's confusing as hell and we're not touching it with a ten-foot-pole) and tries to destroy Kairi's heart.

BACK TO THE CAVE:

Could this possibly be why at the ending of the game Kairi starts to cry when she sees the drawing (assuming it is of Riku and not of her) on the caves walls? Perhaps she understands now more then ever why Sora didn't just come back with her at the end of the game, and instead went looking for Riku who to be honest, was a jerk the entire game. Sora didn't seem to care about Riku's request of 'take care of her' and instead kept looking for him. Perhaps her drawing the returned paopu was her way of accepting their relationship. Could it be because he has ... NO. NO. I'm just being crazy, right? Dear heavens let me be paranoid!

Let's move on to another game... let's jump to:

Re:chain of Memories.

'Surely Sora is completely and utterly straight, there is another girl in this game after all. Maybe it's Riku's love interest?' says my inner hope as I start to play this game.

(Let it be noted I hate the game-play of that game and the card system. I'm more of a 'let's hack and slash our way through the level with guns ablazin'!" kind of person. It made me cry-- but that's getting off topic…)

Sora's story starts… Axel tells him he must find the one who matters most to him. "Would you like me to give you a hint?" he asks. He extends his hand in a very similar manner that Riku does in the intro of KH 1 --Could it go without saying maybe that WAS the hint?

Anyway, Sora now realizes he is inside Castle Oblivion and slowly he finds his memories are getting messed with by the witch, Namine... it doesn't take long before he runs into Riku!

But wait-- he seems (suggestively?) angry. The words he says seem harsh-- not words you'd say to your best friend who left everything behind to look for you. Things along the lines of, "Humph you don't care about me, all you care about is Namine now!' It's weird-- Riku has some serious jealousy issues here... but we can over look it until we find one very specific exchange of dialogue.

"Sora! you're always trying to worm your way into my heart!"

"Huh? When did I ever try to do that?"

"You forgot that too? You never cared...it never mattered to you!"

The direct Japanese translation is, "It never mattered to you how I felt."

And with that, Riku runs off in a fit of anger as Sora reaches for him with concern and utters, "you won't push me away..."

...My own, Mormon MOTHER saw the gay in that, guys. Don't play dumb. My jaw dropped but I still refused to give in. Kairi was the one that mattered most to Sora! I STILL HAD THAT, DAMN IT! Never mind that Sora said to Riku he came all this way looking for him and didn't go back with her in the first place!

…It's also really sad how easily he forgot Kairi… but no matter.

Oh yeah… And there's a piece of official art with Sora and Riku with their eyes closed gazing upwards towards the sky. If you take the image in Photoshop, flip them facing each other and line their heels up so their angles match and complete the light blue curve in the background to complete the half circle, they are clearly about to kiss or are kissing. In fact the image looks more complete this way.

Tetsuya!!

One other thing worth mentioning is the slowly increasing theme that 'darkness isn't as evil as we all thought' is starting to develop throughout the few couple of games, this game being a big breakthrough. Keep that in mind as I ramble on.

To the next game...

358/2 Days

Probably the most over-looked Sora/Riku proof (yeah, fandom you let me down with this one, shame on you SHAME ON YOU ALL) I have ever seen would be the simple fact that everyone forgot about Sora- correct? This was required for Namine to "fix" sora and make him and his memories whole again. EVERYONE Sora had ever met couldn't remember who he was, including Kairi, while he was asleep.

... But not Riku.

Riku guards him, "to make sure" his "best friend sleeps in peace". For whatever the reason, Riku is the only exception besides Namine herself. In fact as if his feelings for sora weren't strong enough, he chooses to accept and embrace the darkness for Sora's sake and to take the form of "Ansem." In other words, he was willing to give up even his body for Sora.

...

moving on.

Kingdom Hearts II

Well first of all? The intro to this game seems to be a recap of all the previous games...until one big fat piece of evidence is the fact Sora is holding hands with Kairi... AND Riku. He's in the middle. Why can't Kairi be in the middle? You can not tell me they didn't do it on purpose, because they did.

The entire plot of this game as far as Sora's concerned is "Where's Riku?" until Master Yen Sid tells him the worlds are in danger yet again. So he saves the worlds- while looking for Riku at the same time. Where the heck is Kairi?

She finally (and obviously probably feels jipped at this point) remembers Sora and gets tired of waiting, and sets out on her own to look for him. Good for her.

When they finally reunite, Sora seems happy but doesn't show any signs of wanting to give her even a handshake! In fact one of the first things he says is that 'she's changed'. Funny- but we'll get to that in a minute. She hugs him and he returns it a bit awkwardly.

And then the game seems to be leading up to this moment: Him finding out where/who Riku was and has been all long, and being reunited with him. They get dramatic piano music. Sora holds his hand (as he was encouraged to do by Kairi-- WHO HONESTLY DOESNT LOOK VERY SURPRISED OR ANGRY AT ALL. Was she expecting this? Is this her way of acknowledging Riku and Sora have something a little more then a bromance?) and falls to his knees and cries, literally cries.

"I looked everywhere for you!"

Shouldn't it have been the other way around? meeting Riku first, and then the moment leading up to Kairi? Where's her dramatic piano music? He's been away from Kairi longer then he's been away from Riku! What gives?!

And it's funny. Riku turns into Ansem (um, ew?) but "He's still Riku no matter what". Kairi gets boobs and "she's changed."

Whatever, Sora.

And by the way? Remember the charm kairi gave you in the first game that made the Oathkeeper? Well it's fair to say the Oathkeeper represents Kairi, while the Oblivion represents Riku. Why in the name of Mansex then is the charm on the Oblivion SORA'S CROWN? The same crown he has on his necklace, except black? Why would a sword that's supposed to represent Riku have a reference to Sora? HMM.

So anyway towards the end of the game, Sora and Riku get separated from the others and end up fighting the final battle together. They have many combo moves and have adorable moments where they save each other in battle. They win-- but Riku is injured.

He expresses to Sora that it looks hopeless and he wants to give up.

"Don't say another word! It's not over. It's just not."

And with that, Sora helps to drag him to the dark margin where they wait on the beach. But! Not before a very strange grab to his backside? Okay, so he's actually grabbing his "belt" -- but just before he does, his hand seems to be lingering a tad lower...and we all have to remember Riku wears baggy pants so his back pockets don't mean anything. Why put emphasis on this to begin with? As if we didn't get the hint already: We GET IT.

Finally Riku and Sora have a small chat and reveal that they both have secretly envied the other and wished they could be more like each other. They seem to be perfectly content to spend eternity together in the dark margin.

(Cue the music: "I'll follow you into the dark" -Death Cab for Cutie)

When a miracle occurs and Sora offers his hand to Riku to which he accepts, returning home to the islands to be rejoined with Kairi.

All is well and maybe Sora and Kairi will kiss, or have a moment, or something for heavens sake…

Sora sees the drawing in the secret place after the credits and he can clearly see that someone has drawn another paopu fruit being given to him by the character on the right.

Who does he go to see after this?

Freaking Riku.

Even I was a little pissed off.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.

Birth By Sleep.

We have to do a little backtracking since this game was a prequel to the first one. Sora and Riku are little tykes and boy! Aren't they adorable?

When Aqua meets Sora and Riku she asks Sora if he likes Riku to which he replies "Of course I like Riku! He's my best friend!"

Actually, the direct translation of what she asked appears to have more then one meaning. The character used to describe the word 'like' can mean "like OR love." -- But we can't exactly use that because they're just little kids.

Unless you're into that, like Axel but that's an essay for another day.

Aqua tells Sora that it's his job to protect Riku and keep him safe should he ever wander down a dark path alone. Sora and Riku look at each other and share a small moment before running off again.

Aqua seemed to be foreshadowing what was to come and left Sora with a powerful sense of 'needing to protect' Riku. Let me point out that she put a spell on Kairi so Sora would protect her-- however; as much as I hate to say it, what would you rather have... someone protecting you because of a spell-- or because they genuinely loved you? Is Kairi just a close friend he cares about he's protecting because of the spell that binds them? We wont think about that!

Then when Terra meets Riku he kneels and gives him confidence or encouragement (or a spell-- but I don't think so since there was no sparkling light or anything like that) as he feels he's destined for something, someday. He says a little rhyme for Riku and lets him touch his keyblade:

"In your hand take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking...it's wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me friend- No ocean will contain you then."

Wait-- once again we have to wonder if that "ocean" was referencing Kairi somehow (her name comes from "Sea" lets remember).

"No borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

Riku, best friend of Sora? You can champion him any day.

We'll watch.

Next game!

Kingdom Hearts: Recoded

Oh… my… God.

This game. For those of you who haven't played it…

This wonderful not-a-filler-game-at-all is about Data-Sora whom has to go on an adventure inside the datascape, which is Jiminy's journal. Who turns out to be Data-Riku, somehow. Data-Sora has to find backdoors and defeat the 'bugs' inside them. Understand? Me neither. Okay, anyway--

In other words the object of the game is Data-Sora going inside Data-Riku to defeat the bugs in his backdoor…

"What the f--- yay? Ew? Riku has a tapeworm what?! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!" -- anonymous reaction to what was just read.

And all along I thought Sora was the uke.

Alright, Alright. I'll ignore the really, really not-much-of-a-secret metaphor entirely and dub myself a pervert for the sake of my sanity, and give you something better to consider now, all joking aside.

One has to wonder why Kairi (or data-Kairi, rather) was completely absent in this game. The only time she's mentioned AT. ALL… is when data-Riku shows Sora something deep inside his memories.
Why doesn't Data-Sora mention her-- even once? Where IS she? By all right's shouldn't she have been on Destiny Islands somewhere? She's data, not dead!

In fact Riku's role in this game could have easily been altered and given to Kairi by the creators. Obviously they wanted to ONCE. AGAIN… put more emphasis on Sora's character (even as data-Sora) and how much he's willing to help his friends-- Mickey, Donald and all the Disney characters AND OF COURSE, Riku.

When Data-Riku tries to sacrifice himself or blame himself  Data-Sora has to save him, and reassure him. It all seems to be staying true to the whole concept of 'You're my friend, I trust you. Don't be envious of me and my friends, because my friends are your friends. I have your back don't worry so much blah blah blah…'

Not a direct quote but I'm not exaggerating that's the messed up thing. Even Data-Riku commented and said Data-Sora's monologue was 'a bit flowery' without seeming very put-off.

Data-Riku at one point also says he wants to tell Data-Sora something… and we never find out what it is, because Data-Sora loses his memories. His next words from Data-Riku are words of guidance on what to do now inside Castle Oblivion.

I wonder what he had to say, don't you? CoughILOVEYOUSORACoughwhat.

And there you have it, folks. If Sora and Kairi have a five minute make-out scene In the next game maybe it'll even the score. Maybe. But I doubt it…

Stay tuned for the next time I update this when Dream. Drop. Distance. Comes out because I think we all know when there's a Kingdom Hearts game… there is gay.

Description
Xxxx DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOLIERS FROM ANY OF THE KINGDOM HEARTS GAMES OR IF YOU'RE EASILY ANGERED BY LOVE BETWEEN TWO MALES xxxX

Kingdom Hearts.

Oh, Kingdom hearts. Honestly? It starts with the American official cover art. Notice Riku is the only one facing the opposite direction putting discreet emphasis on him. It's a clever tactic and probably meant to symbolize who the darker one of the game is. However NOW let's notice the only two characters enveloped in the heart-shaped moon: Riku... and Sora, whom is the main character of this game. Very interesting. Now... typically? The female 'lead' would be back-to-back with the hero, or at LEAST have some sort of equal emphasis (Maybe a close up of the profile of her face translucent in the background of the entire picture, maybe standing on the opposite side of Sora, ect.) but where is she? She's sitting way down there in the dark! Weird first impression!

And then we start up the game and the music comes on, there's Sora alright, alright he's floating, the catchy music starts and you know I'm rocking out to it, drooling over the graphics la da dah de dah and then BAM.

Sexy aquamarine-eyed silver-haired Bishie on the screen. First Character besides Sora we see. With the chosen lyrics:

"You're giving me too many things lately..."

And he extends his hand to Sora and smirks suggestively, and Sora feels compelled to RUN eagerly towards him even as an enormous wave is building behind Riku.

"You're all I need; you smiled at me, and said:"

But Alas! The enormous wave knocks Sora and sends him tumbling back through the sea! Oh No! But he struggles, and he tries to get to that sexy bishie but they are pulled apart by the waves!

"Don't get me wrong, I love you but does that mean I have to meet your father? When we are older you'll understand what I meant when I said "No, I don't think life is quite that simple."

...VERY STRANGE SONG CHOICE TO BE SYNCED WITH THAT SCENE.

Of all the songs in the entire world why pick this to be the theme and why sync it like this?

But hold the phone! What were the creators saying about Sora meaning "Sky", Riku meaning "Land" and Kairi meaning "Sea"…? Were Riku and Sora torn apart by the sea just then? Could this have a double meaning? Who knows...!

So finally Sora comes up out of the water and Kairi appears and la la la the game goes on. There's nothing much to question until, you guessed it: The Paopu scene.

Riku tosses Sora this fruit and tells him its powers. If two people share them then their destinies will become intertwined no matter what. He jokes with him and says, "come on, I know you want to try it."

...But what was he implying just then? Was Riku teasing him because he knew of his feelings for Kairi? Or was it something else?

We can forget about it, for now. Sora tossed it away because he was embarrassed (BUT NEVERMIND IN THE MANGA HE KEPT IT AND TOOK IT HOME!). The game goes on.

There is a pointless race between Riku and Sora. Sora says if he wins he gets to be captain of their raft. But Riku interrupts and says if he wins (in an oddly monotone voice) he gets to share a paopu with Kairi. Tension! However, no matter whether you win or lose, this isn't the case. Riku insists that it was just a joke. He was … just trying to push Sora's buttons? Okay-- whatever.

We can note the touching moment Sora and Kairi share... but wait. She insists that Riku has changed, and she suggests that just she and Sora go leave the island on their adventure, just the two of them. Sora doesn't take to this idea and she says she's kidding. She likes Sora, she just implied she's favoring him over Riku- that was an obvious hint. His best friend has been acting MIGHTY weird and supposively trying to get on his girl-- and yet in spite of the 'tension' and 'rivalry' Sora seems all for keeping to the plan. He wants to go with the three of them, regardless of Riku's recent actions. A little too forgiving for someone crushing on a girl if you ask me (or any other straight boy in existence).

Then there's the Secret Place.

Now, now I think you all know what I'm going to say. It's never actually said whether or not that drawing on the right is Kairi. Think about it for a moment, though. Could it be Riku? The face seems girly but the hair looks almost exactly like the hair younger Riku has... strange? Is it possible, no...?

One other scene that can be noted before Riku goes all bad-boy and villainous is the scene where he and Sora are briefly reunited in Traverse Town. He seems happy to know Riku is alright but-- why does he put his fingers in Riku's mouth and immediately pinch at his face? Cute comic relief? Well. Its understood he's checking to make sure he "isn't imagining this time" -- which is suggestive all by itself-- but he seems to be much more physically comfortable with Riku then he has ever been with Kairi.

  The scene sours, however when Riku feels replaced by Sora's new friends, Donald and Goofy. ... Wait-- he's jealous and afraid of being replaced by Sora? That's what fueled him and caused his heart to stray into the darkness? HUH.

If he's so torn up about that, just imagine how sad he'd be if he over-heard what Kairi said to Sora about leaving him behind and taking off just the two of them! Could he have a fear of being the 'third wheel' and getting left behind-- or is this something else?

And what in heaven's name is the deal with 'Anti-Sora'? It's a strange, dark monster that seems to have been conjured by Riku: he looks exactly like his best friend. Perhaps he's trying to send Sora a message of some kind? He wants Sora to embrace the darkness...? Perhaps get back at Sora and make him feel replaced? WHO. KNOWS.

For the entire rest of the game, Riku is pretty much a jerk. He seems to lure Sora and taunt him using Kairi as bait, while supposively still trying to save her. He fails utterly when he is taken over by "Ansem" (which turns out isn't actually Ansem but that's confusing as hell and we're not touching it with a ten-foot-pole) and tries to destroy Kairi's heart.

BACK TO THE CAVE:

Could this possibly be why at the ending of the game Kairi starts to cry when she sees the drawing (assuming it is of Riku and not of her) on the caves walls? Perhaps she understands now more then ever why Sora didn't just come back with her at the end of the game, and instead went looking for Riku who to be honest, was a jerk the entire game. Sora didn't seem to care about Riku's request of 'take care of her' and instead kept looking for him. Perhaps her drawing the returned paopu was her way of accepting their relationship. Could it be because he has ... NO. NO. I'm just being crazy, right? Dear heavens let me be paranoid!

Let's move on to another game... let's jump to:

Re:chain of Memories.

'Surely Sora is completely and utterly straight, there is another girl in this game after all. Maybe it's Riku's love interest?' says my inner hope as I start to play this game.

(Let it be noted I hate the game-play of that game and the card system. I'm more of a 'let's hack and slash our way through the level with guns ablazin'!" kind of person. It made me cry-- but that's getting off topic…)

Sora's story starts… Axel tells him he must find the one who matters most to him. "Would you like me to give you a hint?" he asks. He extends his hand in a very similar manner that Riku does in the intro of KH 1 --Could it go without saying maybe that WAS the hint?

Anyway, Sora now realizes he is inside Castle Oblivion and slowly he finds his memories are getting messed with by the witch, Namine... it doesn't take long before he runs into Riku!

But wait-- he seems (suggestively?) angry. The words he says seem harsh-- not words you'd say to your best friend who left everything behind to look for you. Things along the lines of, "Humph you don't care about me, all you care about is Namine now!' It's weird-- Riku has some serious jealousy issues here... but we can over look it until we find one very specific exchange of dialogue.

"Sora! you're always trying to worm your way into my heart!"

"Huh? When did I ever try to do that?"

"You forgot that too? You never cared...it never mattered to you!"

The direct Japanese translation is, "It never mattered to you how I felt."

And with that, Riku runs off in a fit of anger as Sora reaches for him with concern and utters, "you won't push me away..."

...My own, Mormon MOTHER saw the gay in that, guys. Don't play dumb. My jaw dropped but I still refused to give in. Kairi was the one that mattered most to Sora! I STILL HAD THAT, DAMN IT! Never mind that Sora said to Riku he came all this way looking for him and didn't go back with her in the first place!

…It's also really sad how easily he forgot Kairi… but no matter.

Oh yeah… And there's a piece of official art with Sora and Riku with their eyes closed gazing upwards towards the sky. If you take the image in Photoshop, flip them facing each other and line their heels up so their angles match and complete the light blue curve in the background to complete the half circle, they are clearly about to kiss or are kissing. In fact the image looks more complete this way.

Tetsuya!!

One other thing worth mentioning is the slowly increasing theme that 'darkness isn't as evil as we all thought' is starting to develop throughout the few couple of games, this game being a big breakthrough. Keep that in mind as I ramble on.

To the next game...

358/2 Days

Probably the most over-looked Sora/Riku proof (yeah, fandom you let me down with this one, shame on you SHAME ON YOU ALL) I have ever seen would be the simple fact that everyone forgot about Sora- correct? This was required for Namine to "fix" sora and make him and his memories whole again. EVERYONE Sora had ever met couldn't remember who he was, including Kairi, while he was asleep.

... But not Riku.

Riku guards him, "to make sure" his "best friend sleeps in peace". For whatever the reason, Riku is the only exception besides Namine herself. In fact as if his feelings for sora weren't strong enough, he chooses to accept and embrace the darkness for Sora's sake and to take the form of "Ansem." In other words, he was willing to give up even his body for Sora.

...

moving on.

Kingdom Hearts II

Well first of all? The intro to this game seems to be a recap of all the previous games...until one big fat piece of evidence is the fact Sora is holding hands with Kairi... AND Riku. He's in the middle. Why can't Kairi be in the middle? You can not tell me they didn't do it on purpose, because they did.

The entire plot of this game as far as Sora's concerned is "Where's Riku?" until Master Yen Sid tells him the worlds are in danger yet again. So he saves the worlds- while looking for Riku at the same time. Where the heck is Kairi?

She finally (and obviously probably feels jipped at this point) remembers Sora and gets tired of waiting, and sets out on her own to look for him. Good for her.

When they finally reunite, Sora seems happy but doesn't show any signs of wanting to give her even a handshake! In fact one of the first things he says is that 'she's changed'. Funny- but we'll get to that in a minute. She hugs him and he returns it a bit awkwardly.

And then the game seems to be leading up to this moment: Him finding out where/who Riku was and has been all long, and being reunited with him. They get dramatic piano music. Sora holds his hand (as he was encouraged to do by Kairi-- WHO HONESTLY DOESNT LOOK VERY SURPRISED OR ANGRY AT ALL. Was she expecting this? Is this her way of acknowledging Riku and Sora have something a little more then a bromance?) and falls to his knees and cries, literally cries.

"I looked everywhere for you!"

Shouldn't it have been the other way around? meeting Riku first, and then the moment leading up to Kairi? Where's her dramatic piano music? He's been away from Kairi longer then he's been away from Riku! What gives?!

And it's funny. Riku turns into Ansem (um, ew?) but "He's still Riku no matter what". Kairi gets boobs and "she's changed."

Whatever, Sora.

And by the way? Remember the charm kairi gave you in the first game that made the Oathkeeper? Well it's fair to say the Oathkeeper represents Kairi, while the Oblivion represents Riku. Why in the name of Mansex then is the charm on the Oblivion SORA'S CROWN? The same crown he has on his necklace, except black? Why would a sword that's supposed to represent Riku have a reference to Sora? HMM.

So anyway towards the end of the game, Sora and Riku get separated from the others and end up fighting the final battle together. They have many combo moves and have adorable moments where they save each other in battle. They win-- but Riku is injured.

He expresses to Sora that it looks hopeless and he wants to give up.

"Don't say another word! It's not over. It's just not."

And with that, Sora helps to drag him to the dark margin where they wait on the beach. But! Not before a very strange grab to his backside? Okay, so he's actually grabbing his "belt" -- but just before he does, his hand seems to be lingering a tad lower...and we all have to remember Riku wears baggy pants so his back pockets don't mean anything. Why put emphasis on this to begin with? As if we didn't get the hint already: We GET IT.

Finally Riku and Sora have a small chat and reveal that they both have secretly envied the other and wished they could be more like each other. They seem to be perfectly content to spend eternity together in the dark margin.

(Cue the music: "I'll follow you into the dark" -Death Cab for Cutie)

When a miracle occurs and Sora offers his hand to Riku to which he accepts, returning home to the islands to be rejoined with Kairi.

All is well and maybe Sora and Kairi will kiss, or have a moment, or something for heavens sake…

Sora sees the drawing in the secret place after the credits and he can clearly see that someone has drawn another paopu fruit being given to him by the character on the right.

Who does he go to see after this?

Freaking Riku.

Even I was a little pissed off.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.

Birth By Sleep.

We have to do a little backtracking since this game was a prequel to the first one. Sora and Riku are little tykes and boy! Aren't they adorable?

When Aqua meets Sora and Riku she asks Sora if he likes Riku to which he replies "Of course I like Riku! He's my best friend!"

Actually, the direct translation of what she asked appears to have more then one meaning. The character used to describe the word 'like' can mean "like OR love." -- But we can't exactly use that because they're just little kids.

Unless you're into that, like Axel but that's an essay for another day.

Aqua tells Sora that it's his job to protect Riku and keep him safe should he ever wander down a dark path alone. Sora and Riku look at each other and share a small moment before running off again.

Aqua seemed to be foreshadowing what was to come and left Sora with a powerful sense of 'needing to protect' Riku. Let me point out that she put a spell on Kairi so Sora would protect her-- however; as much as I hate to say it, what would you rather have... someone protecting you because of a spell-- or because they genuinely loved you? Is Kairi just a close friend he cares about he's protecting because of the spell that binds them? We wont think about that!

Then when Terra meets Riku he kneels and gives him confidence or encouragement (or a spell-- but I don't think so since there was no sparkling light or anything like that) as he feels he's destined for something, someday. He says a little rhyme for Riku and lets him touch his keyblade:

"In your hand take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking...it's wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me friend- No ocean will contain you then."

Wait-- once again we have to wonder if that "ocean" was referencing Kairi somehow (her name comes from "Sea" lets remember).

"No borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

Riku, best friend of Sora? You can champion him any day.

We'll watch.

Next game!

Kingdom Hearts: Recoded

Oh… my… God.

This game. For those of you who haven't played it…

This wonderful not-a-filler-game-at-all is about Data-Sora whom has to go on an adventure inside the datascape, which is Jiminy's journal. Who turns out to be Data-Riku, somehow. Data-Sora has to find backdoors and defeat the 'bugs' inside them. Understand? Me neither. Okay, anyway--

In other words the object of the game is Data-Sora going inside Data-Riku to defeat the bugs in his backdoor…

"What the f--- yay? Ew? Riku has a tapeworm what?! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!" -- anonymous reaction to what was just read.

And all along I thought Sora was the uke.

Alright, Alright. I'll ignore the really, really not-much-of-a-secret metaphor entirely and dub myself a pervert for the sake of my sanity, and give you something better to consider now, all joking aside.

One has to wonder why Kairi (or data-Kairi, rather) was completely absent in this game. The only time she's mentioned AT. ALL… is when data-Riku shows Sora something deep inside his memories.
Why doesn't Data-Sora mention her-- even once? Where IS she? By all right's shouldn't she have been on Destiny Islands somewhere? She's data, not dead!

In fact Riku's role in this game could have easily been altered and given to Kairi by the creators. Obviously they wanted to ONCE. AGAIN… put more emphasis on Sora's character (even as data-Sora) and how much he's willing to help his friends-- Mickey, Donald and all the Disney characters AND OF COURSE, Riku.

When Data-Riku tries to sacrifice himself or blame himself  Data-Sora has to save him, and reassure him. It all seems to be staying true to the whole concept of 'You're my friend, I trust you. Don't be envious of me and my friends, because my friends are your friends. I have your back don't worry so much blah blah blah…'

Not a direct quote but I'm not exaggerating that's the messed up thing. Even Data-Riku commented and said Data-Sora's monologue was 'a bit flowery' without seeming very put-off.

Data-Riku at one point also says he wants to tell Data-Sora something… and we never find out what it is, because Data-Sora loses his memories. His next words from Data-Riku are words of guidance on what to do now inside Castle Oblivion.

I wonder what he had to say, don't you? CoughILOVEYOUSORACoughwhat.

And there you have it, folks. If Sora and Kairi have a five minute make-out scene In the next game maybe it'll even the score. Maybe. But I doubt it…

Stay tuned for the next time I update this when Dream. Drop. Distance. Comes out because I think we all know when there's a Kingdom Hearts game… there is gay.