Okay so, I REALLY want to ship SoKai, and I was thinking if you could give me the reasons why you ship them? I think it could help me see the beauty in them as a couple! :)
My love for them as a pair was gradual, and I knew by the end of KH, I started seeing them in a romantic light. But what completely sold me was this moment in KH2.
Where he envisions her dancing with him.
It’s a sense of longing and of the most genuine of ways. What’s sweet about this is, yeah, he’s fantasizing about her, but take a better look at his point of view:
This is what he sees when envisioning: her, in smiles, frolic, and laughter. His only thought here is to witness it, because it’s all he wants. Her happiness.
In his fantasy, there’s not a lot of physical intimacy going on other than him joining hands with Kairi. Even then, there’s still that gap.
Ultimately, what this highlights is that even in his own fantasy, it’s not about him. He’s not the central focus of his dreams, Kairi’s joy is. It just illustrates how incandescently yet selfless and undeniably loving their relationship empowers.
And then we’re shown, this:
Now, this isn’t necessarily romantic to me as it is more of an emotional, groundbreaking moment for Sora, but I do want to add this here because for reasons beyond my understanding, it’s not acknowledged enough.
I’m not sure if you may be aware of what Dogeza is, but here’s a brief post about what it signifies.
To me, what this scene embodies is incredibly remarkable, because…tell me, who goes around dropping on fours in face of their enemy? Nobody. Not if it’s to show complete remorse or submission to power; to show you’re worth nothing to the person or people you’re facing to. In Sora’s case, it’s all three.
He drops down because he’s at crossed with himself for losing her again, and he kneels to repent. He lays his hands because he accepts that the Organization have the upper hand in this situation, and is willing to prove his worthlessness if it meant just seeing her– to know of her well-being with his own eyes.
It’s suppose to convey his loss.
Which is why his reunion with Riku, falling to his knees, didn’t strike me as romantic either, and why I find it desensitizing that people gloss over Sora and Riku’s reunion as something /intimate/ when it’s suppose to express Sora’s bare emotions for a long lost friend.
Getting back to your ask: Have a Sora running, tripping his way to meet Kairi by the shore.
It probably doesn’t mean much other than it being a cute feature to his character, but I still see it as a sense of him longing for Kairi. When you think about it, he’s had to abruptly leave Kairi in search of Riku, can’t live off without his memories of her (legitimately), thinks of her throughout his journey, loses her, reunites with her, then loses her again… Yeah, he’s pretty damn eager to be with her again.
Then there’s… that end credit scene where he sees Kairi’s addition to the drawing and he smiles at the thought that she’s happily reciprocated his feelings and UGH.
Honestly, there are multiple moments throughout the series that- with time permitting- I could settle and write a whole essay about, but for the most part, I wanted to bring light to at least two-three scenes that are still underappreciated to this day.
