NOMURA INTERVIEW (KH ULTIMANIA)

This is an end of the book interview with the director Tetsuya Nomura, who had a large hand in the creation
of this book. This will be the longest interview in this ULTIMANIA book.

PROJECT: In the Beginning, It Was a "Solo Team"

---Around what time did planning for a Disney collaboration begin?

Nomura: The producer Hashimoto (Square Co., Ltd. Business administrator: Shinji Hashimoto) was speaking
to a person from Disney. Coincidentally, I was in the same place talking to Mr. Sakaguchi (Executive
Producer: Hironobu Sakaguchi) about what kind of game to make. “I want to make an action game with
stylized characters,” I remember vaguely thinking to myself at that time. I offered my hand and said, “If
that’s the case, since I have an idea I want to do, please let me do this.” The person from Disney was in on
the idea and said, “Since it’s stylized, it would be best if there are Disney characters that are known world-
wide.” It was a great opportunity, as if it was destined.

---This was your first time demonstrating your prowess as the role of a director. What was it like to try out
directing?
Nomura: In the beginning I didn’t want to do it because I knew it was difficult. (laugh) When I offered to do
a Disney game, there was no team. It turned out I would do the planning myself and talk it over with Disney.

---You were a “solo team” in the beginning?

Nomura: I was a one man team for a year. (laugh) I began after FFVIII.

---You were different from other directors because you had to give directions while drawing. Was it hard to
hold two positions at the same time?
Nomura: I thought from the beginning that there would be places where I couldn’t touch upon while I drew.
In order to settle that, I made sure to gather excellent leaders. I believed that if I left the rest up to
trustworthy people, than I don't have to spend time giving direction for the small, fine details. It was still
tough while I drew pictures, but I think it worked out. Normally when the drawing job becomes tough
because of the schedule, it is the director’s role to push the artist to get the job done and say, “The
drawings are not finished?” But there were times when I myself would be late, and troublesome situations
arose. I would make subtle changes to the schedule. (laugh)

---Is the finished product what you had in mind from the beginning?
Nomura: Yes, just what I thought and drew out.

---In terms of the game, which part did you spend the longest time on?
Nomura: I guess it would be, “What makes this game interesting?” Even though lately hardware has evolved
and the appearance looks more and more amazing, I felt that nothing was interesting at first glance, or felt
fresh. I thought that if you were to compare the improvement of image quality, there wasn’t enough of a
feeling of newness or exhilaration. That is why I wanted to make a game that had various elements that
were immediately interesting and enjoyable to play.

---If you were to think of the Disney games up till now, there were times when other people thought that
you would not be granted permission. You were planning to do things such as creating worlds from multiple
works and remaking a large number of characters completely in 3D. Was it difficult to negotiate?
Nomura: I hardly think, “This is impossible so I’ll quit.” I think, “I’ll just see what happens, and if it’s no
good, then I’ll give up.” Even though in the beginning people expressed their disapproval, I did it by thinking
there was nothing that couldn’t be persuaded.

---I think it went well if you were able to create a project where all the Disney princesses appear in the same
place.
Nomura: At first, I wanted to put in a scene where all of the princesses would be captured in Hollow Bastion
and then each of their respective princes will come and save them. That idea was rejected but I was at least
able to keep the part with the princesses.

---Did you choose which Disney worlds you wanted to put in?
Nomura: In the beginning when I was working alone, I had a fair number of world choices in mind. If I were
to add the original worlds, there was over twenty. In the end, I spoke with the staff and cut a few here and
there, and ended up with the number it is now.

---In what order did you choose them?

Nomura: Well, I guess the first priority is its popularity. I chose in the order of how well known it was. Then I
chose by figuring out if there are characters that are fun to move around, and, in terms of staging, if there
were places that were interesting to be a part in.

---By the way, is there a reason why Disney's symbol character mickey Mouse only appeared in one scene in
the game?
Nomura: Actually, according to the contract, I was only able to have one cutscene with him somewhere in
the game. I thought deeply about which cutscene to put him in.

---So you had that sort of limitation? If that is so, you really made an effective choice.
Nomura: Disney gave me permission to put him in a role where he can be waving his hand from behind a
town’s crowd. However, I thought that if I were to do this, I would use him in a way that would give the
greatest impact. I thought, “He has to be here” and used him in that scene.

CHARACTER: Final Fantasy Character’s Episode

---With what priorities in mind did you choose the characters from the Final Fantasy series?
Nomura: I ended up with more Final Fantasy characters than I thought. At first I planned that there would
be less. Well, as I kept making the story, I thought about which characters to put in each role, and there
were many places where Disney characters would not fit in. For example, I couldn’t think of any Disney
characters to put in as the Destiny Island children. When I thought about which character would guide Sora
in Traverse Town, nothing struck me. Then I thought I should just make new characters, but they would just
show up once in a while and they would not be as appealing as the Disney characters around them. Since
that was the case, I came upon the idea of using Final Fantasy characters to choose which characters that
would fit the roles. When it came to choosing who would be the swordsman who guides Sora, I believed
that Squall fit the role the best.

---I digress, but Squall called himself Leon when he appeared... Squall Leonhart’s “heartless”... in other
words, does Leon come from taking out “hart”, or “heart”, from Leonhart?
Nomura: Ah, that’s a deep reading into it, but that’s not what I meant. (laugh). In Disney Castle, if people
saw in the beginning that “Meet Squall” was written in the letter, people would have an image of Squall in
their head and the impact of the first meeting would be weak. Then Akiyama (Event Planning Director: Jun
Akiyama) told me that he wanted to change only Squall’s name. We decided that we would take the last
part of his name.

---The red wing pattern in Squall’s back is based off of Rinoa’s image, isn’t it?
Nomura: That’s right. Well, there is a reason why Leon rejects being called Squall. I added Rinoa’s wings to
imply something definitely happened in the past.

---You did not plan to have Rinoa to appear?

Nomura: Rinoa didn’t appear, huh. (strained laugh) I thought personally, Rinoa was different from the other
characters that I imagined in FFVIII and her personality was hard to grasp.

---Also, moving on to Cloud, the left half of his design was based off of Vincent from FFVII?
Nomura: Yes, his left arm is based off of Vincent. Cloud was meant to be a character that is leaning towards
the darkness, so I wanted to make him demon-like. Vincent was created to be that way so I thought of
adding that on. I wanted Vincent to have an appearance though.

---I want to ask about Cloud from a setting standpoint. Is his hometown Hollow Bastion?
Nomura: In terms of Kingdom Hearts, it is that for now.

---If that is so, does that mean when Cid escaped with the other members from Hollow Bastion, Cloud was
left behind?
Nomura: No, he was not left behind just because he strayed from the others during the commotion. (laugh)
Cid and the others were able to escape from the mayhem.

---Then is the person Cloud searching for Aerith?

Nomura: I wonder. If that person was Aerith, then that means one question was answered by the ending.
You can take it as that. Since Cloud is a popular character, I don’t want to make this type of conclusion. The
opinions of the players are stronger, so I want to give room for speculation.

SOUND: Inside Story on “Hikari”’s Creation

---I would like to ask about the main theme song “Hikari”. Was it your intention to choose Utada Hikaru?
Nomura: Yes.

---I bet you still can't fathom how you persuaded Hikaru Utada to agree to making a song for a videogame.
Nomura: That’s true. But I didn’t think it was impossible, of course. If you don’t try, you won’t know. The
others around me said, “It’s better to stop, she’ll definitely turn that down,” and just convincing the other
staff took the most time. I insisted from the beginning that the singer must be Hikaru Utada.

---How were the actual negotiations once you started?

Nomura: The decision was unexpectedly smooth. Her people agreed to the first negotiation and it was not
bad. They replied saying something like, “She likes games, so it might be alright.” They also added that she
likes Disney. I was told that since she is coming back from Japan, I can talk with her directly. When I was
allowed one more negotiation with her after she returned, she asked if I could show what the game was. I
quickly sent her a presentation video. Then in a day or two, she said, “I’ll go for it” and that she will strongly
consider it. I said, “Seriously?!” I was extremely surprised that came out of my own mouth. (laugh)

---What kind of song did you ask for from Hikaru Utada?
Nomura: The song would play with the ending sequence where the hero and heroine part from each other
since the images for that scene were decided very early on. However, I wanted to show that this is not a
sorrowful parting but an optimistic one. The lyrics fit so perfectly that when I first heard it, I trembled and
couldn’t speak. I did ask her to not put in words that do not exist in the game’s worlds, such as “cellphone”,
but she added in “television”. (laugh) But I am glad that even from that, one can take away a deep meaning.

--- The Hikari single did splendidly and became #1 in the hit charts and matched up with the sale of the
game. It was nice that both of them benefited from each other.
Nomura: That’s right. Well, I think I was bothersome in some ways. (strained laugh)

NAMING: Theme of Building One’s Own Land

---When did you decide on the title “Kingdom Hearts”?

Nomura: I decided from the beginning that the title would have “Kingdom”. That has several different
meanings; first I wanted something that sounded like Disney... like “Magic Kingdom” or “Animal Kingdom”
since Disney has that “kingdom” image. Also, I wanted the meaning to be deep to an extent. Something not
to be taken lightly. Then, since this was a newly created team.... this is not a sequel but a project that was
built up from a vacant land, so there is an image of us creating our own country. I wanted to use it because
of all those meanings behind “Kingdom”, but we couldn’t use it.

---The registered trademark... you mean?

Nomura: Yes. Since it was already a registered trademark, I was troubled and kept thinking of different
names to use. But when everybody thought about it together, we only came up with silly ideas. “Kingdom
Champion”, shortened to “Kinchan”. (laugh) In the end, I wanted the story to have heart as the theme, so I
thought about using “heart” in the title. But the sound of “Kingdom Heart” did not flow well, so I thought
“Kingdom Hearts” would be good.

---Moving on, I would like to talk about the main characters’ names; Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Your characters
always have very memorable names. In the Final Fantasy series, Cloud (FFVII), Squall (VIII), and Tidus (X)
were all named after weather and such.
Nomura: Ah, Nojima (FFX Scenario Writer: Kazushige Nojima) named Tidus. I guess Nojima just wanted to
go with the pattern. Because it just matched up out of coincidence, I didn’t notice that at all. Since I named
Sora, Riku, and Kairi after the three elements that make up the world, I didn’t name Sora with weather in
mind.

---Kairi was the only one that was not named “Kai” (means “ocean” in Japanese) and instead had “ri”
attached at the end. Why?
Nomura: I thought Kai was not feminine enough, so I wondered what would be good. I tried attaching
Japanese syllables starting from “a”, and I thought Kairi fit the best.

---I am just curious, but are Sora, Riku, and Kairi treated as Disney characters?
Nomura: Yes.

---Does that mean that those three can appear in a Disney movie or some other sort of development like
that?
Nomura: That’s right. I guess I can’t say that’s impossible. I can’t say anything specific though. (laugh)
SECRET: Who are the Three People in the Secret Ending?

--- I believe the question on people’s minds who fulfilled certain requirements and finished the game... I
would normally think that the three people in the secret ending (pg. 474) are Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but who
are they really?
Nomura: Hmmm, is that so? I wonder if it’s okay for me to say it. Well, there are several different meanings
behind that... of course, there is also the image that comes after that. In the beginning, there are the words
“Another Side, Another story”. You can interpret that saying this is a different story. Well, since everybody is
having fun guessing who they are, I worry about revealing information.

--This book will be published in around six months.

Nomura: If that’s the case, I guess I can say a little bit. Well, Riku is one of them.

---Riku is there... then, who are the other two?

Nomura: I want to stop revealing if the other two are really Kairi or Sora. If there really is going to be a
continuation, then I would like not to reveal any more about the clip since it will actually have to do with
the sequel. If enough people demand for it, then it might be revealed in the form of a sequel.

---In the secret ending, there is an avalanche of words. Does that mean that you have the continuation of
the story clearly in your head?
Nomura: For now, yes. Hmmm, I wonder how much I should reveal. All I can say is that if there is a sequel, I
want to have Ansem appear. Speaking of which, Ansem in the end, lost his body. That means that you can’t
really say that the Ansem that appears in the end is Ansem’s true body. It’s a form that he took on after
borrowing Riku’s body. Saying that, the existence of the robed man in the beginning is suspicious. There are
several ways of interpreting it. Well, setting aside whether I’m doing that or not, I’ve been thinking about
several ideas for the development after that.

---If there is a sequel, does that mean Final Fantasy characters like Cloud will appear?
Nomura: Yes. If there will be a sequel, I want Cloud in it. Actually, in the overseas version of Kingdom
Hearts, ________ is _______.

---Ooooh!
Nomura: That is why this time, I want to expand on Cloud’s story and such.

---That means the overseas version is not exactly the same?

Nomura: There are many components added into the Plus Alpha. For example _________ was added. In
the local version, the design was finalized and the polygon model was created, but we had to cut it out
because of the time constraints. We revived it in this version. Since my staff never became so immersed in a
game before, many of them said, “I want to fight a strong enemy!” Various suggestions were taken into
consideration, as much tuning and additions were feasibly added under time constraints, and certain parts
that we were bothered about were improved.

---On top of that, the original Disney voice actors will be in the NA version?
Nomura: Yes, the Disney voice actors are definitely splendid, but there are many good voice actors for the
original characters as well. For example, Sora’s voice is done by Haley (Haley Joel Osment: main works are
“Six Sense” and “A.I”). There are actors from dramas and singers that are popular overseas that are voicing
as well.

---If that is the case, wouldn’t the fans be overjoyed if there was a “Kingdom Hearts International”?
Nomura: Personally, I would like to release the overseas version for the Japanese PS2, but I also feel that
having “international” in the title is a bit dishonest. It’s a delicate subject. I already had talks about if it were
to come out, I would have it say “English dub version” instead of “international”. (laugh)

MESSAGE: To the people who played this game

---This time around, you've been drawing the Donald and Goofy illustrations, haven't you? On that subject,
with Disney's sacred-like image, how was illustrating?
Nomura: No, I didn't draw them from start to finish. With this "tight-pencil" technique I do the rough draft
first of all then I pass it off to a Disney person. There, a Disney designer draws and sends over a character.
Then after all that, I draw it once more. This is how it's done and I don't change their corrections that much.

---Were the Atlantica and Halloweentown Donald and Goofy designs also done by a person at Disney?
Nomura: No, I did those too. Particularly, the Halloweentown Donald and Goofy I drew completely from the
beginning.

---If I were to think about it, the uniting of Disney and Square characters which everyone thought was
unreasonable, arranging and drawing Disney's characters together, and appointing Utada Hikaru, you made
everything everybody thought was impossible come true.
Nomura: That's right. I'm always talking with everyone about that. We say things like everything came true
like a dream. Thankfully, I didn't quit from the beginning.

---The game's sales have been promising, and it seems like the voice of people who want a sequel is
growing.
Nomura: People tell me I did a great job. I’ve been thinking about it since the company has been pushing
me to tell them what I’ll be doing next. I want to do three or four. One of them is the sequel of course, but I
am still consulting with the staff on what to do.

---But it must be hard for you to work on your own projects and the character designs of the Final Fantasy
characters on top of that.
Nomura: Hmmm, that’s true. But I feel lately I’ve been subtly fading out of the scene. Even though I worked
on the designs for FFXI, it didn’t stand out.

---You were done in?

Nomura: I was only helping. I’ve been gradually sticking more with my own team.

---You mean that you would like to have more power in directing?
Nomura: Yes. Well, for Kingdom Hearts, this was the first time that I made a team from scratch by myself,
and it was fun doing so. I thought, “This must be what it feels to make a game.” I felt like I was experiencing
something that I long forgotten. Not only me, but the staff also said that they have their own special
attachment to Kingdom Hearts. I thought that there is such a good atmosphere. It was extremely tough, but
I feel like we accomplished something. I wonder if that feeling comes across to the players as well.

---Lastly, what message do you want to give to the people who played Kingdom Hearts?
Nomura: Ah, I’m extremely, extremely grateful to the people who played this game. I had no idea how this
game would fare before it was released. I thought, “Is this really interesting?” But when it was released, it
received high ratings and players told me that they liked it. “It actually became this popular,” I thought to
myself. That’s why I’m incredibly thankful. This whole time I thought I would make this game with little
reward, but I feel it finally paid off. I heard that there are seven times the amount of survey postcards of
people saying they want a sequel, so I spoke with the staff and we are thinking of ways to live up to the
expectation. Thank you very much.

Tetsuya Nomura
Profile
Born in October, 1970. Lives in Kouchi prefecture. Was hired by the Square Co. in 1991. Major works are
Final Fantasy V, VI, VII, VIII, X, Parasite Eve, Parasite Eve 2, and Bouncer.

A Secret About the Game Only I Know

The words that appear in the opening were actually words that an actual character was going to say in the
ending. Please enjoy speculating who was supposed to speak those lines.

Ask Tetsu-san! Kingdom Hearts Scenario Mysteries

The following is an interview with Mr. Nomura about parts of the story with a couple of mysteries left
behind. If you read this, you will definitely understand the Kingdom Hearts story more deeply than before!

---Mr. Nomura, in this game’s story, what did you want to illustrate the most?
Nomura: As a story, I wanted to illustrate “bonds”... I wanted to show that the connections between people
are not physical. Well, I think that it was thoroughly incorporated. Even when separated, things that are
connected will still be connected.

---When I heard that this was going to be a Disney game, I imagined that the story would be simpler, but in
actuality it was a story that players can imagine different things.
Nomura: Ah, I was going to focus on the game’s playfulness and keep the story simple. I thought of Disney’s
target age group and talked about avoiding a complicated story. However, once the project started to come
together, Mr. Sakamoto said if we don’t aim for the Final Fantasy fan group, this project is going to fail. Well,
I knew that even without him saying it. Then, the game’s core... as for the playful part it still was kept the
same, but the story was changed a lot. At the very beginning, the story was meant to be extremely simple. I
thought of restricting it to ending after you defeat Maleficent, without the existence of Ansem…

---Then I would like to ask several questions about the story you changed. First, was Kairi’s arrival to Destiny
Islands a coincidence or fate?
Nomura: It’s both. I was not able to illustrate it in the story itself. It is a delicate subject whether or not it is
okay to talk about her life situation, but Ansem himself sent out Kairi from Hollow Bastion. The reason why
he sent out Kairi was to find the Keyblade. In the End of the World’s prison, there is an evidence that is left
behind. Ansem believed that the young princess would end up where the Keyblade was no matter what.
Thus the event of Kairi joining Sora and Riku is a coincidence and fate.

---Does that mean there are other Keyblade masters?

Nomura: Well, there are other Keyblade masters, but coincidentally for now, Kairi happened to arrive to the
world Riku and Sora are in.

---Even though Riku was the rightful owner of the Keyblade, then why did Sora obtain the Keyblade in the
beginning?
Nomura: Even though I would like to keep that obscure, there is a scene in Destiny islands where Riku is
being swallowed by darkness, a light appears, and Sora first obtains the keyblade. With the setting I created,
the darkness that surrounds them is Riku’s heart’s darkness. At that moment, Sora enters the darkness, and
the light he sees inside is Riku’s heart’s light. Sora, who was squirming in the darkness to save Riku, touched
the light and temporarily obtained the Keyblade from Riku.

---Does not the Keyblade itself choose its owner?

Nomura: The Keyblade reacts to the rightful owner’s heart and appears to them. Even though it was
definitely Riku who called the Keyblade towards him, the reason why Sora was able to wield it was because
he also had the right qualities too.

---Also, I would like to talk about the nuance about what Kairi’s grandmother told her: “The world was
destroyed once, but it was revived thanks to the strength of the childrens’ light.” Does that “world that was
born again through the power of light” have to do with each of the worlds in the game?
Nomura: Yes. Only, that wasn’t told as a historical story, but a fairytale. The story is not the world’s history,
pretty much. It only overlaps to some extent.

---When you look at the World Prison’s computer, there is a message with profound meaning. “The two will
shut the door to darkness” was written, but who are you specifically suggesting are “the two”?
Nomura: Well, one of them is definitely Sora. There are multiple choices for the other one. He can be Riku
or the King. Also, the “two keys” can also mean Sora’s and the King’s keys, or Sora and Riku.

---After everything is done, Kairi is left on Destiny Islands, but why did she not go back to Hollow Bastion?
Nomura: Yes. I’m going to be a little blunt here, but I said within the book the reason why. The princesses
told Sora, “We will be able to return to our respective worlds before they disappeared.” Kairi disappeared
from Destiny Islands, so she returned there. Since she was physically moved from Hollow Bastion to Destiny
Islands, she did not disappear from there.

---In the ending, why were Riku and the King on the other side of the door?
Nomura: In the King’s case, he was on the other side from the beginning. The reason why the King
disappeared was because in search for one of the two keys, he went to the other side of the world. He had
an adventure unfold just like Sora, and he obtained the key and ended up there.
In Riku’s case, his body was stolen by Ansem, so that means Riku’s heart was not in this realm anymore. As
you saw on the other side of the door, it is darkness. And that side of the world, in other words, in the end
Riku’s heart went to the world of darkness just like Ansem said. Then when Ansem disappears and Riku’s
body returns to him, he stayed in the world of darkness.

---Then, why didn’t Riku go back to the other side of the door to this realm once he got back his body?
Nomura: Various people ask me that as well, but it was clearly written in the World Prison’s computer. It
said that only darkness can pass through that door. Riku and the King are not beings of darkness, so that is
why they could not go through the door.

---If that is so, the reason why those two are on the other side of a door they cannot pass... Riku went to the
other side once he combined with Ansem. Since the King is there as well, does that mean there is another
place where you can enter into the world of darkness without using that door?
Nomura: Yes. The last words he left behind were “find the door to light”. In other words, he was saying find
the door, other than the door that allows darkness to come and go, that allows light to come and go.
---In the end of the ending, Pluto has the King’s letter. Is that implying that the King returned through the
door of light?
Nomura: I will leave that up to your imagination. I’ll tell you one thing. In the beginning in Traverse Town,
after Goofy said, “Pluto, we’re going,” Pluto was not present. Actually, between when he first disappears
and then appears again in the ending, he met with the King. The reason why Pluto perked up in Traverse
Town was because he felt the King’s presence.

---Which worlds did Pluto travel when he had that letter?

Nomura: I can say that he appeared in worlds that do not appear in the game.... well, other than the
current worlds, there are other worlds that the Heartless erased. The End of the World did not exist at first
and is a world that is made up of erased worlds put together. Also, there is that place the door to Kingdom
Hearts appears. At first that was another world, so that means that Sora and the others are now residing in
that world which returned to what it once was.

---So does that mean the reason why Pluto was there was because in that place, “that” or that person...
Nomura: I hope the story from then on would be revealed one day.