so Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, the updated version of the original Kingdom Hearts, contains three extra entries in 'Ansem's Report', the collection of notes kept by the game's ultimate antagonist Ansem the Seeker of Darkness as he performed decreasingly-ethical experiments as to the nature of the heart and the darkness within it. these extra entries were never officially translated as KH:FM would never leave Japan until its inclusion in the I.5 HD ReMIX collection finally meant these reports would be in English for the first time.
right?
wrong.
one day a couple years back, while i was rewatching the KH series secret endings (because they rule) i realized that the first secret ending of KH2 showed off different translations than the ones i remembered making it into the translation of KH1 Final Mix we got, and i think that's really cool and also Why Isn't This In A Wiki Somewhere (I Am Helpless With Adding Things To Wikis Pls To Halp). i think it's really interesting that they were localized by a team much closer to the original game's release than whoever was responsible for handling the Final Mixes in the HD collections, and honestly i much prefer the feel of these older translations of them? they just fit in better alongside the original ones.
i took the liberty of typing them all out back then, and below the cut i've put them side by side in table form for you to check out! (note that The Gathering's version is off by one because the Ansem Reports were numbered starting with 0 in Japan, but were changed to 1 internationally, though the English text from KH1 is used in the Secret Ending aside from the numbering.)
| Ansem Reports (The Gathering) | Ansem's Reports (I.5 Final Mix) |
|---|---|
| Ansem Report 10 When the door to a world's heart is opened, the walls that surround that world crumble and scatter. This spectacle is seen by the naked eye as a meteor shower. This clarifies the reason gummi blocks have the capacity to fly to worlds beyond. The coming of the Heartless causes the world-walls to tumble. However, finding the world's door requires time. The same can be said of stealing the world's heart. If the world's door is locked with the Keyblade, its heart can be rendered unreachable. I must act before the Keyblade bearer visits this world. Assuming the Keyblade and the Princesses are closely related, it is likely they resonate with each other... I have chosen a special girl. I do not know if her abilities are the same as the named Princesses. However, the possibilities merit an experiment. Will she lead me to whoever holds the key? I will send her into the great ocean beyond and see. | Ansem's Report 11 Opening the door to a world's heart causes its walls to crumble. These fragments are seen as shooting stars. This explains why these "gummi blocks" can travel freely to other worlds. I know the catalyst of this collapse—the appearance of the Heartless. However, it will take time search out the worlds' doors and to retrieve each heart. Furthermore, the doors can be locked using a Keyblade, making the heart forever unattainable. I must take action before the wielder of the key appears in this world. If the princesses and the Keyblade are connected, they should resonate. I've chosen a girl. I don't know if she holds the princesses' powers, but I will find out. She may lead me to the key bearer. I shall set her free and observe. |
| Ansem Report 11 I exist as a heart. I have come full-circle and become a Heartless. Yet nothing has changed! True, my body is gone. But unlike other Heartless, my memories are intact, and I do not look like a Heartless. There are so many mysteries I have yet to solve... To reach the dark side beyond this world, I must pass through the door to Kingdom Hearts, where the hearts of all worlds cross. There the world's hearts are connected, revealing the way to the realm of darkness. (I shall maintain this data in a seperate report.) So many worlds yet unknown... "The existent world. The realm of darkness. The realm of light." And the realm in between. In which will I find true paradise? | Ansem's Report 12 The body is gone; the heart should have returned to the Heartless. And yet, nothing. This one is unlike any other. Its memories remain and it has yet to take the form of a Heartless. A close eye must be kept on the situation. Much is still unknown. To get to the realm of Darkness, one must go through the doors of Kingdom Hearts, the place where the world's hearts connect. Beyond this world is a place in which darkness reigns. (Details shall be archived in a separate report.) There are many worlds in existence, some of which we know nothing about. The world in which we live. The realm of Darkness. The realm of Light. And the world in between. Wherein lies true nirvana? |
| Ansem Report 12 When the heart leaves its bodily prison, where does the body go? The heart and soul are seperate, so the soul must remain with the body. Is it fair to consider this soul-bearing vessel destroyed? Indeed, the body disappears when its heart returns to a Heartless state. But that is in this world's domain. Could the body not exist in some other world, taking on a new form as the Heartless do? If so, then another "me" must exist somewhere. My other would be neither darkness nor light. He would live in between. He would be an outcast of the heart, an empty shell that begrudges both the light and the dark. Certainly this is an enigma not easily solved. The relationship between heart and body is complex. However, if I exist here -- if I am "existent" -- then the other cannot possibly be referred to as such. Which leaves but one name: "The Nobody". | Ansem's Report 13 Where does the body go when it separates from the heart? If the soul remains within the body, is it still considered to be deceased? When the heart returns to the Heartless, the physical form disappears. But that is merely true in this world. Perhaps the body exists in another form in another world. If that is the case, then it is possible for one to exist in two worlds. A being that is neither darkness nor light; belonging nowhere; abandoned by its heart; a mere shell of its former self. The relation between the heart and body is complex. However, I am certain that if your self exists here, then by definition, the other cannot truly "exist." The other, the one which does not exist, shall be dubbed, "Nobody." |
