Well I haven't read them all, but so far it just feels like a retread of the game plot but with extra melodrama
As if there isn't enough in the source material
I mean, the novels aren't canon either
The manga's more fun and, for me anyway, more accurate to the feeling of Kingdom Hearts
The novels portray most of the characters way better and you also understand their motivations and thought lines much better. That's not just "melodrama".
True, they aren't primary canon and if a part is explicitly contradicted by one of the games it is non-canon all the same, yet the novels are more close to canon than the manga will ever be.
Agreed on the novel thing. I love the manga, though.
I think everybody is going to view the novels differently. I personally like the extra info in Reverse/Rebirth that helps to show just how diddlyed up Repliku was because of how Namine cobbled his memories together. Kanemaki took an interesting narrative direction with presenting it.
Also I liked all of the additions in the KH2 novel. It wasn't melodramatic and instead made the game feel less barebones and like everything plot-relevant was shoved at the beginning and ending of the game.
They aren't canon in the traditional sense. The games will always trump any secondary sources, but the novels are meant to be there to serve as an expansion on the game's canon. If a fact is contradicted by the games, then that makes that non-canon. If it isn't contradicted by the games, it can be accepted as canon.
It's like any cross-media content from any franchise out there.
I love the manga too, but with a different premise and completely detached from the main storyline presented in the games.
I recently finished the KH 2 novel and man does it more justice to other characters like Riku, Naminé, Roxas and even Xemnas. Not like the game where everything is hidden behind the scenes and you're stuck watching Sora, Donald and Goofy doing nonsense by repeating Disney movies scene for scene without any value to the actual narrative.
I got the 358/2 Days one recently, just need time to actually start reading it.
Yep, and the novel author actually gets sometimes background info directly from Nomura if I recall correctly. The manga doesn't have that.
No offense but, this is doing the KH2 and 358/2 manga’s a disservice. I actually prefer parts of the manga over how they are presented In the games.
None taken.
Of course the manga also has some serious scenes thrown in and I am not actually disliking the manga.
I have all volumes that exist and I enjoy reading it, I just can't connect it directly with either the games or the novels since there's stuff happening in it that simply doesn't fit into the overarching narrative or is too silly, like i.e. Vexen's countless replicas of himself, Riku fighting like two thirds of the Organisation alone at the same time and coming out unscathed because the members are so completely stupid they blast each other or Kairi throwing her chance to flee out of the window just because Demyx throws a whiny tantrum.
