Kingdom Hearts Memorial Music Box
The Kingdom Hearts Memorial Music Box is a campaign launched to commemorate the launch of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX and the fifteenth anniversary of the Kingdom Hearts series.[1] The main feature of the campaign is the Kingdom Hearts Memorial Music Box website, which hosts a selection of songs from Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX alongside unique visuals, story summaries, character quotes, and commentary from composer Yoko Shimomura. In addition, fifteen physical music boxes playing "Dearly Beloved" were made for the campaign.
Campaign[edit]
The Kingdom Hearts Memorial Music Box website features eight songs from the remastered Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX soundtrack: "Sora", "Riku", "Kairi I", "Roxas", "Aqua", "The 13th Struggle", "Blast Away! -Gummi Ship I-"[2], and "Tension Rising".
The main menu plays "Dearly Beloved" and presents eight icons, each corresponding to one of the eight featured songs. The five character themes are represented by their respective characters, while "The 13th Struggle" is represented by Axel, "Blast Away! -Gummi Ship I-" is represented by a Gummi Ship, and "Tension Rising" is represented by Master Xehanort. Selecting an icon opens a short piece of commentary from Yoko Shimomura about the track's composition. This also displays the logos of specific Kingdom Hearts games, roughly corresponding to where the track plays in the series.
Playing a song opens a unique visual of Sora walking or running along a music staff, depending on the tempo of the selected song. As he moves through the score, he passes through rings decorated with various music and Kingdom Hearts symbols and icons of Keyblades, Organization XIII's weapons, Heartless, and Nobodies. Pages of sheet music float in the background, and images of cutscenes related to the music track fade in and out. In addition, character quotes are displayed as subtitles, often corresponding to the current shown cutscene. For the five character themes, these cutscene images and quotes relate to those characters' journeys; those shown for "The 13th Struggle" center around Organization XIII, "Blast Away! -Gummi Ship I-" focuses on the Gummi Ship and Disney allies, and "Tension Rising" uses Xehanort and Disney villains for the display.
The final part of the digital Kingdom Hearts Memorial Music Box is the Story tab. It includes summaries of the six games included in Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX.[3]
Merchandise[edit]
Fifteen wooden music boxes were created for the campaign and given away by lottery. The giveaway campaign, running from March 9 to March 31, 2017, required entrants to follow the official Japanese Kingdom Hearts Twitter account and post their favorite musical Kingdom Hearts memory with the hashtag #音で視るキングダムハーツ (Oto de miru Kingudamu Hātsu, lit. "Kingdom Hearts by Sound").
The music boxes have the Kingdom Hearts Memorial Music Box and Kingdom Hearts 15th Anniversary logos on the top and side, respectively. The music box note sheet features images and symbols from the Kingdom Hearts series in a collage of the website visuals.
Other appearances[edit]
In Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory, the party runs along a five-line music staff in a similar manner to Sora in the Kingdom Hearts Memorial Music Box visual. According to an interview with members of the development team, the Field Battle stages in Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory were directly inspired by the 15th Anniversary campaign.[4]
Gallery[edit]
Promotional image of the digital music box.
Main menu of the digital music box.
Promotional image of the physical music box and note sheet.
Contents of the physical music box package.
The 15th Anniversary logo.
External links[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
- ^ Twitter (@_KINGDOMHEARTS): "In honor of the release of KH 1.5+2.5, as well as the approaching 15th anniversary, we'll be opening the site 'See with Sounds' as a first in the series! There is also a present campaign planned! We're looking forward to it." Translation via Catherine Mueller
- ^ "Blast Away! -Gummi Ship III-" erroneously plays in place of "Blast Away! -Gummi Ship I-" when the track is selected.
- ^ The website uses the logos and game titles of the original versions of the games, rather than the Final Mix and Re: versions that are included in the HD collection.
- ^ Nintendo Enthusiast Feature
