My heart honestly stopped for a second when I saw the news about a Kingdom Hearts anime series drop at D23. If you’ve been waiting for this as long as I have, you know exactly how I feel. We’ve been traveling across worlds, sealing keyholes, and trying to untangle the wildest lore in gaming history for decades; and now, it’s finally happening: a Kingdom Hearts anime series is officially coming to Disney+.
Photo from Disney
We’ve seen Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s journey through so many iterations, but seeing the franchise reimagined as an anime? It’s the stuff of dreams.
According to the official announcement, this isn’t just a simple adaptation either. The Kingdom Hearts anime series is being developed in partnership with the one and only Tetsuya Nomura and the powerhouse team over at Square Enix. That alone makes me breathe a huge sigh of relief. Knowing that Nomura-san is involved means we can count on it feeling truly, unmistakably Kingdom Hearts, if that makes sense.
Additionally, it’s going to be a brand new story that expands on the universe we’ve spent years obsessing over all while celebrating those iconic characters who have basically become our best friends.
Ayo Davis, the president of Disney Kids & Family, hit the nail on the head when they said there’s something incredibly exciting about taking the worlds we’ve explored with our controllers in hand and breathing new life into them on-screen. It’s a whole new way to experience the magic, the wonder, and, let’s be real, the emotional rollercoaster that this franchise always delivers.
This series is joining a pretty stacked lineup of animated projects on Disney+, and frankly, it feels right at home among them. Whether you’ve been a fan since the very first game on the PS2 or you’re just now realizing why everyone gets so misty-eyed when they hear Dearly Beloved, this is huge.
I’m already wondering which worlds they’ll visit, how they’re going to handle the complex timeline, and if we’ll finally get answers to the questions that have been haunting us for years. But for now, I’m just going to sit here and process the fact that one of our favorite crossover adventures is finding its way to streaming.
