Soriku Ultimania
| Fanwork | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Soriku Ultimania |
| Creator: | |
| Date(s): | October 29, 2019 - present |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Kingdom Hearts |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Soriku Ultimania is a multimedia fan project in the Kingdom Hearts fandom centered around the Sora/Riku ship.
The project is intended as a compendium of meta analysis discussing how the relationship between the two characters is portrayed across the entire series. The goal is both to serve as a celebration of the ship and to document evidence of the pair having romantic feelings for each other so that in the event of the ship becoming canon in a future installment, fans new to the franchise, the fandom, or the ship can look back and appreciate the extent to which the story has built up to that moment.
As of November 2022, the project’s primary platform is its Twitter account, where the project mods share samples of the analysis that contributors have done so far as the project’s final platform and look are developed.
Works in the Soriku Ultimania
- ThatPerson, a two-part essay outlining how the consistent use of specific terms in the original Japanese script for Chain of Memories imply that Sora has romantic feelings for Riku.
- Kingdom Hearts and the Monomyth of Murdock, an essay outlining how the Kingdom Hearts story adheres to a storytelling framework built around the questioning and defiance of cultural norms, in which the role that Riku fulfills is most commonly used as the protagonist’s main love interest.
- Sora & Riku: Sibling Terminology, Archived version a Twitter thread posted on the project's central account that deconstructs the common argument from non-Soriku shippers that the two see each other as siblings by comparing when and in what context sibling terminology is used by different sets of characters across the series.
Notable Twitter Threads
- An analysis, Archived version of Sora's facial expressions during a conversation with Riku in Kingdom Hearts III
- An analysis of the slides from Deep Jungle, Archived version in Kingdom Hearts I
- A comparison between Sora and Riku helping each other at their lowest moments, Archived version, and Megara doing the same for Hercules.
- Analysis of a key term in the Japanese script, Archived version as it relates to Sora and Riku's relationship.
- Parallels between Soriku and Beauty and the Beast, Archived version in the official Kingdom Hearts Character Files book.
- A discussion of cinematography, Archived version in the conversations between Sora and the Riku Replica in Re: Chain of Memories.
- An analysis of how Sora, Riku, and Kairi's relationships have changed, Archived version from Kingdom Hearts I to Kingdom Hearts III.
- A tweet analyzing Sora and Riku's reunion in Kingdom Hearts II, Archived version as depicted in the game's novel adaptation.
Further Reading
- The project founder's twitter thread, Archived version asking fellow Sora/Riku shippers if any would be interested in putting together such a project.
- a thread explaining the project's purpose and invitating new contributors to join, Archived version.
- A New Years' thread sharing the opening of the project's preface, Archived version
- A tweet in Japanese, Archived version inviting Japanese fans to join the project.
- An invitation, Archived version to ask questions about the project on Curious Cat.
- SoRiku Ultimania Analyses, Archived version, a Twitter event compiling several pieces of analysis posted by the project's official account as of December 2021.