Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Publisher
Tokyopop
Writer
Shiro Amano
Artist
Shiro Amano
Country of origin
Japan
Year
2006

First Look at Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories V. 1

By David Rasmussen
20th Aug 06

At long last the time has finally come to pass… dear god I wish it didn’t.
After much time waiting for it, and waiting for it, we have finally come to the start of the second “Episode” of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Kingdom Hearts (for all intent and purposes) 1 ½ with Kingdom Hearts : Chain of Memories the Manga (two volumes).

If you remember the game’s release (the first Kingdom Hearts for a portable) I bet you were as surprised as I was to see it come out on, of all portables, the GameBoy Advance! You would have thought that, well, given that Kingdom Hearts was a big game on the PS2 AND Kingdom Hearts II would eventually be a big game on the PS2 (again) we would see Kingdom Hearts release on, oh I don’t know, the PSP?!?
However logic takes a back seat as the harsh truth settles in… whatever that could possibly be.

Anyway the GBA idea? Not a good one… especially since the original flawless combat system got the old heave ho and was replaced by a not so fine card combat system (which was, as I predicted when I reviewed Chain of Memories way back when, a one trick pony that was completely forgotten in Kingdom Hearts II).
But, thankfully, we don‘t have to mull over the not so excellent card combat system of the game this time out. No, no, no, we‘re looking at the not so fine story that came along with the not so fine card combat system of the game. Oh, that should be cheerful.

Of course before we can ask ourselves what Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories is about the first question we need to ask ourselves is… when is Chain of Memories coming out?
At the end of Kingdom Hearts V. 4 (the final part of the original manga trilogy), we saw the opening moments of Chain of Memories (as the threesome of Sora, Donald and Goofy are lured into the trap that is Castle Oblivion which won’t appear until the start of Chain of Memories), where some bad mojo is whacked upon them (which won’t be fixed until the first three hours of Kingdom Hearts II the game).

Then, after the Winnie the Poo one shot story there was a page ad announcing the coming of Chain of Memories… but only there was NO DATE LISTED! That, by the way, is not the way I would have rolled with this one. I mean, really, give me a date! When can I expect this! At least don’t fudge it like Kat & Mouse (which WAS supposed to have had a second volume out in November but now is pushed back to what looks like a January 2007 release date)!

So then, how to find out when this is going to come out. Best way, I suppose, is to go check out my usual source for all things purchasing in Anime & Manga… Right Stuf International, and see what they have to say about a release date for Chain of Memories V. 1 (while I‘m there I‘ll fish for that Agent Boo info).
Good news! They won’t make you wait as long as I feared.
Tenative release date for Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories V. 1 (2) is October 10th, 2006.
I better order my copy ASAP. In the meantime… about Agent Boo… oh, wait. One thing.

Expect to see me slam TOKYOPOP hard on this one because it looks like they’re shuffling Kingdom Hearts out of it’s comfortable $6 a pop arraignment and setting it into the $10 a pop range.
You down at TOKYOPOP DO know that one of the things I constantly praised Kingdom Hearts about WAS it’s affordable $6 a pop price tag… right? Well don’t go looking at me when I start delivering 2 or 3 out of 5 reviews because, well, you did ask for it. NOW Agent Boo.

Agent Boo V. 1 ($5! (at least something is still in the affordable range here!))
If you’ve Sliders then you know the drill. A vast omniverse of possibility, with thousands upon thousands of parallel universes layer upon layer upon each other. An endless string of possibility tangled in the claws of the kitty of chaos. But that’s what Agents are for, to paddle down the kitten of chaos and keep the strings of parallel universal order tangle free (and out of kitty’s mouth).

But just keeping the order is not enough. Agents must also make sure that you don’t have to suffer the endless headaches of being exposed (not that way) to these alternate realities! You should have to, after all, wake up one morning and find out Elvis is President of the United States for example. You shouldn’t have to go to the store and find Fidel Castro on a box of wheaties as the latest inductee into the MLBaseball Hall of Fame, Jackie Chan is head of a kinder, gentler, kick yo’ (bleep) if you misbehave UN, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is Governor of California… oh, wait, that happened.

Agents keep you safe. Not in the War on Terror kind of way safe, but in the War on Alternate Realities Buttin’ Into Your Life ala Spirits Occupying The Internet in Pulse kinda way. And, as the story opens, three new trainees have just “answered the call of duty” and joined their ranks as the latest to stand against the mind numbing chaos of an alternate reality where Michael Jackson is actually normal (allegedly).
One of these recruits, however, might be a violation of child labor laws in some alternate realities (as well as our own), as she is one fourth grader named Boo… what, did her reality implode or something and she has nowhere else to go?

Anyway Boo is young, she is small (even for her age) (think Chiyo-chan small), and she is not exactly what Donald Rumsfeld (the FOX News head anchorman in Alternate Reality 557 and American Idol Judge in Alternate Reality 441) would call a “good recruit” (or a “good idol” in AR 441). And yet in this person‘s “Agency” you have to work with the agents you are dealt with, even if the hand seems abit “stacked”.
That means you have to take the good and the Boo as they come at you. But lucky Boo, it seems that (in her job) being a small slash silent presence can work to your advantage as much as being the loud wisecracking lovable hard hitting lout with the heart of gold (Agent Ronald Reagan of Alternate Reality 934).

So armed with a strange “tool” of her trade, and a stranger “partner”, she’ll have to deal with the things we couldn’t possibly hope to understand… but that’s next review. Now onto Chain of Memories.

As for Chain of Memories? Let’s remember back to when I reviewed the game, and basically take it from there (since the story is the same for the most part, ala the manga for the original Kingdom Hearts game).

As this came about it was two years going on three since the original Kingdom Hearts rolled about, and finally fans of the series had gotten their next taste of the franchise while waiting for the long rumored (and twice delayed) Kingdom Hearts II.

Lots had happened between the original game and Chain of Memories.
SquareSoft went and merged with game company ENIX to become SquareEnix.
Disney/Pixar began to “divorce”, only for them to resolve their “break-up” only recently (after Disney tried to go it alone on the CGI animation field with their Chicken Little movie only to go crawling back to Pixar to give in to their demands). But that’s all in the past (recent and otherwise). Let’s focus on KH:CofM.

At the end of Kingdom Hearts V. 4 we saw Sora, Donald & Goofy on a long winding road, following Pluto who has appeared out of nowhere holding a message seemingly from King Mickey.
As Chain of Memories begins they chase Pluto all the way to this large forboding castle, named Castle Oblivion, where the story begins. Once they go inside their troubles begin.

Seperated from Goofy and Donald (part of the time in the game), and losing his memories, Sora is slowly drained dry of his essence of memory while being prepped for something -- but what? This is, by the way, the part of the series where you meet the mysterious “Organization” for the first time, who return for a second go (and a more detailed explanation of who -- or to be more precise “what” they are) in KHII.

The one thing I’m thinking about this manga version is that, well, they shouldn’t be using the card combat system here since, well, it is only a manga. No need to burden down the viewers with the useless card combat system from the GBA games now do we!
One thing we won’t escape from, sadly, is the revisiting of worlds seen in Kingdom Hearts I. Now while I’m hoping this means that we’ll get to see the worlds missed in the first go through with Kingdom Hearts I, I’m figuring that (once again) they will omit Tarzan and Nightmare Before Christmas as it was omitted the first time around from the original manga. Damn.

I don’t know what’s worst about the coming manga, though.
1-The fact that it is based on the not so stellar GBA Chain of Memories game.
2-The fact that it basically rehashes worlds from the original Kingdom Hearts with some new progress in the story… but not as good progress.
3-The fact that they’re going to charge us $10 a pop per volume instead of the low $6... Now, mind you, if that is the case I expect a full sized manga. If they give us a normal sized manga for $10 then I won’t have a complaint. If they, however, try to give the thin Dark Horse Harlequin Romance size manga and expect the money of a full sized manga for it… well, then we should be pissed off with that.
4-All of the above… wait, it’s all of the above.

Ok. Bottom line is that this is NOT Kingdom Hearts 2 the Manga, but it’s not a complete disaster either.
Just as the game was not a complete disaster I am sure the manga will also have a few saving graces.
May not be a 4 out of 5, but you’ll never know until you see the review in October for yourself.

Oh, but hopefully one thing the manga doesn’t suffer from that the GBA game did was ABC Afterschool Specialitis. Aka let’s hope the two volumes are not too preachy for words (nuff said).
Pray Kingdom Hearts II V.1 comes out sometime in Early 2007... If we’re, you know, lucky.

-- David Rasmussen 20th Aug 06