Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, Vol. 1 - manga (Kingdom Hearts, 1)

Yen Press did a great job re-releasing the Kingdom Hearts Mangas. The translation is completely redone, and each volume this time around contains two of the volumes you could buy back in the day. So even though these books are more expensive than the individual original ones, they're technically the same price as before, or even a little less depending on where you buy them. My only complaint is that this new version erases a lot of the Japanese sound effects, which I always enjoyed reading to practice Japanese sound effects in the original Tokyopop ones! It wasn't a deal breaker for me, though, so I wasn't that disappointed. As for the story, if you've never played the games, it's not the worst entry into the series ever, but the pace is a little odd, so without any prior knowledge everything might seem a little sudden and random. For someone like me who's played all the games, though, this manga is a great way to revisit everything from the first game! I highly recommend these Mangas for anyone who is interested in Kingdom Hearts!

I already own the Tokyopop versions of these, and I must say, the Yen Press rerelease is much higher quality. If you haven't bought the original release, buy these. If you have, still buy these. They don't disappoint.

*skip below for the review
I'm a long-time Kingdom Hearts fan, and have stayed with the series since it's very first debut as a video game for the PlayStation 2 in 2002.

The original story from the game made an impression on me as a child, and I thought I would share this with a "newer" generation.
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The manga adaptation of Kingdom Hearts is acceptable, but lacks fluidity in its presentation.
It's as if certain scenes or "in-betweens" are missing on ocassion, sometimes relying on the text to explain what's happening instead of showing it.

The worst example of this being a particular transformation scene that occurs off screen.

The number of fight scenes aren't an issue; however, they are disappointingly brief and sometimes awkwardly depicted, such as: the angle, perspective, or depth.

The majority of these issues could probably be fixed by the inclusion of more volumes, effectively "drawing" out more scenes that need it.

Redeeming qualities include the various charming characters and their interactions with each other. The overall comedic and light-hearted tone of the whole story makes it an enjoyable read.
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With that being said, it's a fair adaptation fit into a tiny 576 page series. It doesn't require previous knowledge of the series to fully enjoy the story (although it certainly would help).

3 stars. Not bad.

I am a fan of kingdom hearts and this book is a great read when you can't play the game. Only sad this about this series of books was no Nightmare Before Christmas...at least not in the american versions that I am aware of. If you don't own these but want to...don't wait. Like most KH items worth getting this will be hard to find at some point.

I've been a fan of this series for year and I really enjoyed seeing this converted to a comic format. It's not nearly in depth as the game, but it shows some character relationships that the game couldn't really explore.

Actually, I originally purchased this illustrated book / graphic novel mistakenly thinking it was a game guide, and was not quick enough to realize my error and get the order cancelled in time to prevent shipment. That said, I have enjoyed reading it as a postlude to playing parts of the game.

This is a super fun series to read! Highly recommend for Kingdom Hearts and manga fans!

Not a substitute for the game itself, but reading it was fun all the same and it makes you want play the game again.

It’s a fun book to read. If you’re a fan of Kingdom Hearts or are curious about it, give it a try. It does a good explanation of the main plot, but if you’re used to normal manga of reading from right to left, this book reads left to right like a standard book.

Funny when necessary, and combines the American art style of Disney with manga perfectly. I love this Video Game series and I hope to see things like Marvel and Star Wars added someday.