ORGANIZATION XIII - THE PURPOSE OF ITS DYSFUNCTIONAL WORKPLACE IN “KINGDOM HEARTS: 358/2 DAYS”

RAHM JETHANI - Managing Editor, 1st Year, Japanese

Absolutely just using this to talk about Kingdom Hearts lol

SPOILERS FOR KINGDOM HEARTS: 358/2 DAYS!

The first manga I ever read was the manga adaptation of Kingdom Hearts II. I had found it in my elementary school library, and I would return every lunch period to read the first few sections of Roxas hanging out with his friends in the summer. I would continue this ritual pretty much every day, and I grew very close to his character. I felt Roxas’ confusion towards his contained life, I saw his longing for a never-ending summer vacation, and I was genuinely angry at the existence of Sora because it meant non-existence for Roxas. I wanted to know who he was, why his life never truly belonged to him, and to hopefully find some resolution to his story. I unfortunately would have to wait years for that resolution (Kingdom Hearts development times, am I right?), but I was able to discover the beauty of Roxas’ character much later through the prequel manga, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days has a reputation for being simultaneously both the most monotonous, yet emotional Kingdom Hearts story so far. Going into the manga, I was apprehensive about how Tomoco Kanemaki and Shiro Amano would translate this story in their unique style. Prior to this, I had read segments of their previous three adaptations of the Kingdom Hearts series, and had developed an opinion that these manga, while very faithful to the source material, were also quite comedic and lighthearted. And for the most part, it worked! However, I was worried specifically about 358/2 Days being adapted due to its tragic nature. I was also admittedly worried that this adaptation would remove a lot of the small yet important details like the official movie did. Needless to say, I actually ended up really enjoying this manga. This enjoyment was then followed by crying. Lots and lots of crying.

While there was plenty of silliness when it came to the humor and the general tone of the story, none of it took away from the emotional scenes. On the contrary, I think that the humorous tone in some moments helped flesh out minor characters, such as how Saïx got angry when people knew words he didn’t, Xaldin’s surprising fascination with nutritional health, and Lexaeus’ interest in puzzles. For that matter, each Organization member had unique quirks and personalities, which made their small interactions and missions have some depth. It made each of them distinct side-characters, rather than just static background noise. In addition, the artwork, while simple at points, majorly contributes to the charm of these characters. The lighter tone of the story also allowed for small moments of worldbuilding, particularly within the main settings of Castle Oblivion and Twilight Town.

The theme of finding meaning is almost immediately brought up in the story of 358/2 Days. Roxas does meaningless missions every day for almost a whole entire year, and this repetition is essential in order to maximize the attachment that readers will have with Roxas and the central friendship between him, Axel, and Xion. Since the other Organization members always either brush him off or demean him, Roxas finds solace in the central friendship. Since he doesn’t have anything else to find meaning in, Roxas continues to carry out missions each day, using the motivation of eating ice cream with his friends after work to motivate him. And make no mistake, this is “work”, for both Roxas and the reader. 358/2 Days, maybe unintentionally, makes the apparent association between Roxas’ work and the feeling of boredom. This sometimes means that as a reader, you have to tolerate those slow moments to get to the happy ones, even if it isn’t something you want to do. Work, especially the tedious type that Roxas does, is hardly ever fun, but this manga clearly demonstrates that it’s the friends you have at work who make the experience tolerable. The manga also demonstrates the feeling that work can have when you remove all the friendship and the sense of connection, leaving only a meaningless waste of time. A slog, in other words. This intentional yet very present monotony is a main reason why people not only criticize the manga, but the original game as well, and this pains me. While it can absolutely be boring, or may seem like there’s no point, every single moment lends some weight to more impactful ones.

It would follow, then, that the parts of the story where I was the most uneasy were when this central friendship was shaken. If Axel or Xion was missing, or if there was tension between the trio, I would feel like I had lost my anchor to the story, as I’m sure Roxas felt towards his own existence. Roxas wanted, so desperately, for the moments of eating ice cream on the clock tower to last forever, and to watch the red sunset every day. More time without Axel and Xion meant more time alone, doing pointless missions, going through the motions, and spending less time living a meaningful life. If it wasn’t obvious already, the initial worry I had over this manga minimizing the small moments was in every way unfounded (at least more so than the movie adaptation), and I was only more excited to keep reading after this revelation.

The way that this manga links silly, happy scenes with panels of character expressions can sometimes really bring gravity and a surprisingly serious tone to the moment, which reminds me of certain storytelling techniques found in the best moments of nakige. There are also a lot of plot details being kept secret from the characters, and yet the reader can plainly see the weight and strain of trust being broken. A lot of this is actually due to a decent amount of the story being shown from Axel’s side, which, while it could be said to ruin part of the mystery, is effective in building dramatic irony and a bond between him and the reader. All of these mixed up story threads and changing emotional tones led to me finding relief in the happy moments, again as I imagine Roxas felt as well. When I felt myself wanting those silly, simple moments to last forever, just so that I could avoid reading about the inevitable tragedy everyone knew was coming, I realized that this manga was achieving something far more precious than I’d hoped for. 358/2 Days has always had extremely strong themes of friendship and belonging, even more so than the other Kingdom Hearts stories, but these silly comics are somehow able to communicate this more than the original game. We see more character interactions, more joking around, more hilariously stupid stuff, and even more ice cream on the clock tower (which I count as a good thing). Roxas’ friendship with Axel and Xion is so much richer because there is meaningful context to oppose the more dramatic scenes. We get to see how devastating it is to have their friendship at risk, how every single one of these 358 days could go to waste, how there would be no more meaning in their jobs and in their lives again. We understand how dearly important it is for Roxas to hold on to his friends while everything is crumbling down around them.

The ending of the manga was very impactful. I think it says a lot that despite the dreaded feeling I had that doom was inevitable, I couldn’t bring myself to look away. Despite my praise of this ending, I can’t help but feel that the final fight was lackluster. In the original game, the struggle against Xion felt hopeless regardless of whether Roxas won or lost. Either way, a dear friend would die. The game presents this message not-so-subtly through dialogue, but also subtly through the actual fight. In each phase of the battle, Roxas and Xion transport to a different Disney world where they had learned something about what it means to exist, and a bit of how to feel complete. And each time a phase is defeated, the vision of the Disney world breaks, showing how everything important in their lives is slipping away. It is a beautiful, tragic struggle.

In the manga, the fight is over in a single panel.

Despite this flaw, many elements surrounding the fight were made better, such as the character expressions and the infamous “ice cream” line feeling more genuine and having a better translation this time, with Roxas instead pleading “I still want the three of us to have ice cream together! Didn’t we promise to go to the beach together?”

Normally, I’d recommend playing original games over reading their adaptations, as these interpretations often only have a partial piece of the whole experience. However, due to the repetitive and difficult nature of the original game, I can wholeheartedly recommend this manga as not only a replacement, but a genuinely great work of art. While it doesn’t encompass every detail, it’s not necessary to deeply appreciate and enjoy this story. Tomoco Kanemaki and Shiro Amano have shown their talent in adapting Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days into manga, and have told an amazing story fit for any fans of powerful, emotional stories.