Throwback Thursday| Kingdom Hearts OST

Hiiiii friendssssss~ Not going to lie, pretty burnt out. Still I’m trying. However, I got so caught up in alot of things that I didn’t realize it was my turn for TBT again… If you didn’t know the new Kingdom Hearts trailer dropped earlier this week. It revealed the new track called “Face My Fears” by Utada Hikaru and Skrillex. 

Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite games of all time. Basically because it combines all the things I love. I’m an Asian chick who’s a native Floridian and loves Disney. JRPG + Anime-esque characters + Disney = Perfect.
I do plan on probably doing a more in depth post of Kingdom Hearts in the future. So I’ll just be very short with a look back at what Kingdom Hearts is. 
Kingdom Hearts is a game series brought to you by Disney and Square Enix. It’s been under the direction of Tetsuya Nomura. It’s basically a crossover of Disney and Square Enix’s characters. You’ve got characters from various Disney films, Pixar films, as well as Square Enix’s Final Fantasy and The World Ends With You games. The story of the Kingdom Hearts games can kind of be a bit complex (and hella long). But basically you’re following the journey of a kid named Sora. He lives on an island that suddenly get’s attacked by these strange creatures called the Heartless. He learns that there are different worlds from his own. Sora then begins a journey with Donald and Goofy (from Disney of course) to defeat the Heartless and save his friends. 

I figured it’d be fun to take a look back at the other songs from the Kingdom Hearts games. Well to be more specific…I’ll be focusing on Utada’s song contributions; Basically the theme songs of the different Kingdom Hearts games. We know what a big fan I am of Utada. 
That’s not to say that the rest of the Kingdom Hearts official soundtracks aren’t good. I personally love all of the music. 
So if you want to check out the other tracks, here you go:

KINGDOM HEARTS I

The most well known song(s) from the game series would be the theme songs for the first Kingdom Hearts game. Utada always released a Japanese version and an English version of the songs for all the games. 
Japanese Version: 光/Hikari, “Light”
This is my jam. It’s my favorite song. This will always be my favorite one. Also…yes, I love the Japanese version more than the English version. This is one of the songs I’ll always sing at karaoke too haha. This music video was directed by Utada’s then-husband Kiriya

English Version: Simple and Clean
This is my jam still, but I still like the Japanese version better. Doesn’t mean I ain’t gonna sing alot if I hear it though. 

Technically the official version of the song used in the games are the PlanitB remix versions. I like the regular versions though. What can I say, I’m a simple girl that likes the classics.

光/Hikari~PlanitB Remix~

Simple and Clean (PlanitB Remix)

KINGDOM HEARTS II

The theme song for the second game was quite popular as well. I like it, but I still think “光” and “Simple and Clean” are the best. The MV for “Passion” was also directed by Utada’s ex-husband.
Japanese Version: Passion

English Version: Sanctuary

KINGDOM HEARTS 2.8

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 dropped with a new remix of “光” and “Simple and Clean”. It was called the Ray of Hope remix. 
Japanese Version: 光 (Ray of Light Remix)

English Version: Simple and Clean (Ray of Light Remix)

I should note that it does sample a bit of “Traveling” from Utada’s Deep River album. The very noticeable parts are”Can you keep it up? I would like to~” and “Let’s go for a ride!~”.

KINGDOM HEARTS III

Earlier this year, they dropped trailers for Kingdom Hearts III. It revealed two new tracks: “誓い/Chikai (“Oath”)” and “Don’t Think Twice”. The tracks aren’t bad. However, it seemed that everyone was a bit taken aback. It seemed more like an insert song rather than the theme song. Which I suppose has been proven.

Japanese Version: 誓い/Chikai (“Oath”)

English Version: Don’t Think Twice

Again, I suppose it’s been proven true with the recent drop of the opening movie trailer. Again, the track is called “Face My Fears”. The track is a collab between Utada and Skrillex. I suppose people were taken aback by “Oath” and “Don’t Think Twice” because it wasn’t a very upbeat song. “Face My Fears” does start off slow, but it has more oomph to it. Which seems to fit more as a theme song. 

Japanese Version: Face My Fears

English Version: Face My Fears

So what were your favorites? Also, do you prefer the English versions or the Japanese versions? I tend to gravitate more towards to the Japanese versions. I tend to like those lyrics more~