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Even Disney is learning to respect the growing power of anime as a pop culture force; over the weekend, among the various announcements about new Marvel movies and the live-action Tangled film, they dropped the news that a Kingdom Hearts anime was in development for Disney+, and it sounds like original creator Tetsuya Nomura will be involved in some way.

The announcement didn’t come with much information; along with an image of what looks like a grown-up Sora holding a keyblade, Disney said, “Ready for a new adventure? An original Kingdom Hearts anime series inspired by the beloved video game franchise is coming soon to Disney Channel and Disney+.”

We don’t have a release date for the Kingdom Hearts series, but it is interesting that Disney specifically referred to it as an anime rather than an animated series, which implies that it will at least have some involvement from Japanese staff or a Japanese animation studio. Kingdom Hearts series creator Tetsuya Nomura teased that he was involved in the new series alongside working on Kingdom Hearts 4 and Final Fantasy VII Remake’s third and final instalment. 

“We can’t discuss all the details just yet,” Nomura said via the Japanese Kingdom Hearts social media page. “But I’ve been in close discussions with the scenario team, including myself, and when needed, we’ve also enlisted the art team’s cooperation, even creating multiple new character designs specifically for this project. I can’t say anything more right now, but the hint is in the single piece of key art that’s been revealed. Please let your imagination run wild while you await further updates.”

The message is obviously cryptic, considering how early in production the Kingdom Hearts anime seems to be. It left us with much the same sensation we get from playing the Kingdom Hearts games, which is general confusion yet a strong desire for more, so you could call it a success.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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