Literally just saw a gamerant article about how riku's character arc is done and he is probably going to take on a more mentor like role for yozora who is now going to act as sora's "rival" and Riku is gonna be a bit less relevant....why does literally everybody think Riku is done as a character??? Cannot wait for the next game announcement to confirm Riku is still the deuteragonist of kh lol
Lmao well that article certainly aged like sour milk after khmom came out...unless this is a new one in which case...even more yikes.
The reason people think Riku is done as a character is because they canât see beyond his redemption/darkness arc- which is for the most part complete. But Riku has a whole other thread to his character that is far more fundamental to understanding him and is still unresolved. I think there are two main things about Riku that people miss and therefore canât imagine a major role for him:
1. Riku is gay. He is in love with Sora. And this isnât just something incidental that has no bearing on the story, it is actually arguably the most important thing to understand about Riku as a character because it makes sense of his actions and motivations from the very beginning. If you donât understand this, you donât understand Riku, period. Riku is keeping all these feelings locked up and hidden from Sora, and itâs /painful/ for him. âAll thatâs left in my heart is misery and despair, and now you can share it!â âThereâs no need. Got my own.â This wasnât just a throwaway line. Combined with the fact that Sora is simultaneously stating his own confusion about romantic love and also not being able to define what Riku is to him, not to mention Sora losing memories of his sacrifice, I think itâs clear that Rikuâs feelings will not remain hidden forever. Not from the audience, and not from Sora. The failure to see that Riku is in love with Sora and/or not believing his feelings will actually be explored is why people canât see where the story could possibly go for Riku.
2. Riku is the light. There is a reason Riku being âthe lightâ is being so heavily hinted at through the entire series, reaching absurd levels of obvious in kh3, only to be seemingly ignored by the narrative (and consequently missed by the audience) This is a quintessential narrative set up, and I can almost guarantee it will have a major payoff. I donât have the answer for what exactly this will be, but I strongly believe it will play a huge role in his upcoming arc, just as learning to accept the darkness was a fundamental part of his first arc. As Nomura said all the way back in CoM, the question of /what/ Riku is has yet to be revealed- but it will.
listen I love Soriku as much as the next person (as long as the next person is a huge Soriku fan) and Iâm not trying to undermine the main point of this post, since I definitely agree that Riku is in love with Sora and is going to continue to be central to the story, but--
I keep seeing people reference Rikuâs âno need, got my ownâ, and I really, really want someone more fluent in Japanese than me to check this line, because to me the JP scene sounds like it goes like this:
Aqua: I struggled my way to the far shore of this dark ocean, earnestly continuing to wait for rescue. But no rescue ever came. As I had lost my keyblade, I had no way to turn back and fight the heartless. Therefore, all I could do was earnestly wait. [the camera focuses on Riku] Can you understand this loneliness? [Riku gasps] Can you understand the anxiety and fear? I will share the despair of the one locked deep within [my] heart with you, too!ă(ćżăźć„„ćșă«éă蟌ăăăăććšăźæČăăżăăŒăăŸăăăĄă«ăćăăŠăăă)
Riku: Thereâs no need. I have enough. (ăăźćż èŠăŻăȘăăéă«ćăŁăŠăă)
The scene then immediately changes to Riku and Repliku.
The fact that Aqua specifically mentions âthe one locked deep in [her] heartâ and that the shot then cuts to the internal scene of Riku and Repliku makes me think that these lines might refer to the fact that Riku does, in fact, have someone locked away in his heart at this point, rather than to his emotional state. It could also be both - maybe Rikuâs saying heâs at capacity on despair and heart-prisoners? This is why Iâd like a second opinion, haha.
