[BOOK REVIEW] Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix Volume 1 by Shiro Amano

Title:  Kingdom Hearts:  Final Mix Volume 1

Author:  Shiro Amano

Genre: Comedy / Adventure / Sci Fi / Video Game



Year Published: 2013



Year Read: 2013



Series: Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix #1



Publisher: Yen Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I just want to say that I am a huge fan of the “Kingdom Hearts” games, as I played all of them (at least, the ones that came out on Playstation) and I enjoyed the game play and the storylines involved.  So, imagine my surprise when I found out that they were making a manga series about the famous “Kingdom Hearts” games and I just had to pick this series up to see if it is just as good as the games were!

In this volume, Sora is separated from his friends Riku and Kairi when a terrible storm hits his home island and he is thrown into another world.  In that world, Sora meets up with Donald and Goofy, who were travelling to other worlds to find King Mickey, who had suddenly gone missing.  It was then that Sora, Donald and Goofy decided to work together to find both King Mickey and Riku and Kairi while Sora defends the world from the monstrous Heartless, using his newfound Keyblade.

Shiro Amano had done a fantastic job at adapting Tetsuya Nomura’s concept for the “Kingdom Hearts” video game series into manga format.  I loved the fact that Shiro Amano made the manga faithful to the original games, with a few changes here and there, and it was great seeing my favorite characters from the “Kingdom Hearts” games come to life in manga format.  I also loved the strong friendship built between Sora, Donald and Goofy as it was a hilarious yet heartwarming type of friendship as they were bonded when they were all trying to find people that they care about and I loved how this story emphasized the importance of friendship, even during rough times.  But, what always intrigued me about the “Kingdom Hearts” series was the fact that we are able to see our favorite Disney characters intertwine with the characters from “Final Fantasy” and such.  Even though Sora was a made up character for the “Kingdom Hearts” games, it was great seeing him mingle with other Disney characters such as “Hercules,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Aladdin.”  It was also interesting that Shiro Amano made the manga version of “Kingdom Hearts” much funnier than the original games as Sora seems to act more childish in this version than in the games and I really enjoyed the hilarious bantering between Sora, Donald and Goofy.  The artwork for this volume was extremely well done as the characters look both realistic and slightly exaggerated, which gives this volume a dramatic yet comedic feel.

Overall, “Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix Volume One” is a fantastic volume for anyone who is a huge fan of the “Kingdom Hearts” games and I will definitely be checking out the second volume to this series!  I would recommend this volume to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this volume.