So I just recently beat the game with my first character, Ventus. And I must say I am loving this game to death. The battle system is fantastic, better then KH2 in my opinion. I was intrigued though, as I played through, by the ideology the game promoted and it made me reflect on the philosophy of the series as a whole. I think its great when a game involves such intangible honor in ideas like dark and light, and uses it in a greater depth then "You're good, they're evil, kill the bad guys."

The dialogue that KH: BBS uses expresses the conflict of dark and light and the conflict of choice inherit in everyone. What sets one's actions in a morally higher ground? I'm about half-way through Terra's storyline, and it's already addressing the issues of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Ventus though, is an interesting case. Everything from his outfit to his storyline arch discusses a duality inherit in people. The concept of yin and yang is evoked strongly throughout, for example in the stained glass image of him and Vanitas. By creating a situation where the two identities are separated, we see associations in each that we might not normally assume with that typical extreme of light or dark. Though not as deep an internal conflict as say, Terra's battle in himself. Ventus's discovery of what -is- evil is an engaging adventure.

Side Note: I will say that the use of yin and yang patterns throws me off a little in the game, I understand how it makes sense on a surface level, but neither yin nor yang is evil. Yin is the feminine aspects of humanity, Yang is the masculine. Certainly, we can see the Yin in Ventus's innocence and generosity, and the Yang in Vanitus's violent behavior, but there are virtues and vices in them as well. Yin is pacifist, sometimes to a fault that can lead to others misfortune through negligence, and Yang can represent the masculine idea of honor and fighting for what you believe in.

I wonder what the KH union members here also have to add to Ventus's storyline and character development in terms of our ideas about morality and what is evil. Feel free to disagree, I'm by no means absolute in these opinions and in fact, for some I may think different tomorrow. But for now they stand and I'm curious as to your reaction.

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Dude...your a genius. XD

Terra's story of overcoming darkness is a much more internal battle, yes. Ventus' doesn't really search for what is evil, in my opinion. It seemed more like Ventus's story was similar to Sora's an he was just trying to find friends in the world. It bothered me that it often seemed like Vanitas was ignored until the end. While I thoroughly appreciated Ventus' search for friends, I feel as though they could have expanded on Vanitas' existence and his relationship with Ventus, as he makes many references to times that they spent together. The fact that they ignored these statements later on is disturbing slightly.

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"Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star shaped fruit. The fruit represents an unbreakable connection, so if you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can tear you apart."
FACT: Aqua's the best.

dang your delving pretty deep but honestly i got that without much thought while my brother tried to understand it and was completely confused so i guess KH BBS is alot more mature than expected

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no i didnt draw this but i just had to use it

Woah this is deep, but completely true. You delved deep, and found the true meaning it seems. You're right about Terra fighting internally, and Ventus finding what is truly good and evil. You're a prodigy man!

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OrganizationVIII Wrote:Dude...your a genius. XD

Terra's story of overcoming darkness is a much more internal battle, yes. Ventus' doesn't really search for what is evil, in my opinion. It seemed more like Ventus's story was similar to Sora's an he was just trying to find friends in the world. It bothered me that it often seemed like Vanitas was ignored until the end. While I thoroughly appreciated Ventus' search for friends, I feel as though they could have expanded on Vanitas' existence and his relationship with Ventus, as he makes many references to times that they spent together. The fact that they ignored these statements later on is disturbing slightly.

Wow, thanks for the compliment, but really I just think way too much about stuff like this... lo l


You're right, Ventus doesn't look for evil, it just kinda finds him. But I would argue that by discovering what friends do for each other, and classifying that as "good", he is discovering that the opposite actions would classify as "evil".

And I agree, I wish I saw more interaction between Ventus and Vanitus then they actually showed. Even if it was just more behind the curtain scenes of what he was doing while Ventus was going about his business.

Also I finally finished Aqua's storyline and must say I was the least impressed by hers. It seemed very much a tying up of loose ends to bring about the conclusion of the story. But introspectively, she has little change of heart aside from what Cinderella's fairy godmother told her about not fighting darkness with light. Though how much she actually progressed in that somewhat alludes me. Aqua already has a clear understanding of what makes someone good or evil, which makes sense seeing that she is an echo of Kairi, who also is a kind of flat character.

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