Like the preceding 358/2 Days novel, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep: The Novel is a three-in-one omnibus release. So it’s another monster volume to read. But I still got a surprise: the number of color pages. Like before, the original Japanese covers and the three volumes’ color inserts are included. Some are Amano’s drawings, others are game renders. Although some images are repeated, in total, there are 11 front-and-back color pages. That’s quite a few.
Anyway, Birth by Sleep is the story of three friends who are all Keyblade apprentices. When two of them take the test to be named Masters, only one passes, and this kicks off a chain of events that ends their peaceful, happy days of training together.
Unlike other Kingdom Hearts trios of friends, the game Birth by Sleep is unique in that players run through the game three times, one for each character. Terra, Aqua, and Ven all go to the same worlds but at different times. What this all means is that there were two ways Kanemaki could have done the story. Option one would have been to have a volume each for Terra, Aqua, and Ven that follows their perspective, not knowing what the others are doing. Option two is chronological order, which means jumping between the heroes as they visit the worlds on their own.
Well, Kanemaki didn’t really do either. It’s generally 1 world = 1 chapter (although the Disney worlds are technically labeled as subchapters). If you’ve played Birth by Sleep, then you know this isn’t a great approach. After the Land of Departure (the introductory/tutorial world in the game), the next chapter is about Snow White’s world. But Terra visited Enchanted Dominion before that. It’s only after Dwarf Woodlands does Terra reflect on what happened after the Land of Departure. The events there shake him up and drive him to keep the darkness at bay, but light novel readers won’t understand this; the book just says Terra wants to do better. In another example, Ven arrives in Disney Town after being excited about making a friend in Olympus, which is only covered two chapters later.
Then, halfway through, things get screwy despite being faithful to the game before: Terra arrives last in Disney Town despite arriving first in the game; that same chapter says that Terra visited Deep Space before Disney Town, but in the game it’s after Disney Town and Olympus. Huh? Why change the order? I couldn’t help wondering if a book dedicated to each of the protagonists might have been better, although this would mean some scenes are repeated.
Another reason I think this approach would have been better is that the novel’s introspectives for each character improve Birth by Sleep‘s story. For instance, I’ve always found Terra’s sudden surge of darkness during the Mark of Mastery exam to be rather sudden considering he’s been training for years. Facing the chance to achieve one’s dream can lead to mixed emotions or amateur mistakes, and Kanemaki shows that Terra was much more nervous the night before the test than he let on. This gives the story a foundation for Terra’s dark powers, something the game did not.
The only downside is that Kanemaki might not have found room for a couple of chapters in the last third — and best — part of the novel. The entire novel incorporates a lot of things from the game: the Disney characters and their charming worlds, the various attacks, the ridiculous and often random Bosses, and even the horrible Ice Cream Beat minigame (although thank goodness we didn’t have to hear Huey, Dewey, and Louie sing like the novel says they did!). But in the original third volume, the author adds a couple of chapters with brand new content, including several sections devoted to Vanitas. While I enjoyed seeing the friends’ days at the Land of Departure, Vanitas’ perspective is rather interesting. I can see it sparking some conversations, particularly in the context of Kingdom Hearts III.
So if you’ve been looking forward to playing that game and want to learn more about those missing Keyblade wielders, this adaptation of Birth by Sleep is rather thorough. It doesn’t cover the Final Mix-exclusive Secret Episode but brings in the original game’s secret ending and scenes from the Final Mix version of Kingdom Hearts II in exchange. With the additional content and scenes, this light novel would have been a near-faithful or superior version of Birth by Sleep. Unfortunately, the way Kanemaki jumps ahead only to have to come back later and the screwiness of the timeline in the midportions lessens the enjoyment. In short:
Japanese Volume 1 – 4/5, Volume 2 – 3/5, Volume 3 – 5/5. Average for the omnibus = 4…as long as you keep a copy of the actual timeline handy.