This is my 2023 mastered remix of the Sakura Mankai (Yozakura Mankai) song, from the hit 3D 1 on 1 Capcom fighting game: Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha, on the Sony Playstation/PSX/PS1.

This might be the last time I visit this song, I've made sure to keep everything just as relevant as my last edit, but with a new intro, and a lot of new sounds. Many of the original sounds from my last edit have either been changed, or re-worked for better balancing, either way, everything has had an upgrade of some sort.

Remixed & mastered by: Nicholas Taylor/Deliverance84, 24/01/2023.

Original Composer(s): 細江慎治 [Shinji Hosoe], 佐宗綾子 [Ayako Saso] & 相原隆行 [Takayuki Aihara].

Sakura Mankai 2023 -midnight Haze Edit- (D84 REMIX)

Kairi. Princess of Heart, Guardian of Light, newly chosen Keyblade wielder and Sora's childhood friend (and perhaps more...).

She has a lovely theme too.

Being an analogue of a Disney Princess, there are some obvious qualities that come with the territory:- purity, kindness, radiance - all of that good stuff. However, Kairi's character itself seems to be quite a polarising one.

...Which isn't something I'm here to discuss. Rather, I'd like to present my own arrangement of the beautiful Kairi's Theme. One that I hope speaks to the deeper, more archtypal characteristics of Kairi's character.

Composed by the legendary and amazing Yoko Shimomura, Kairi's theme always struck me as having a more introspective and melancholy kind of vibe. And while chill and pretty, to be completely honest, it doesn't really 100% fit Kairi's personality. My guess for this, though, is that Yoko-san composed Kairi's theme with the image of an archetypal pure and graceful princess-like character, possibly before Kairi's design and personality were solidified. 

There are times when they do successfully overlay this more graceful vibe on top of her character though (I'm thinking specifically the Destiny Islands cutscenes in KH2, and possibly the one where she and Sora gaze upon the ocean in KH1 and she says "I can't wait, once we set sail. It'll be great...".).

Either way, the feelings I aimed for were: wistful, melancholic - almost sad and bittersweet, but also somewhat haunting. I wanted to paint a more sombre and almost tortured feel (you might even say "edgy"), contrasting with Kairi's normally cheery character, giving her theme more of a vibe of something like Roxas'/Org XIII's theme. Either way, it's definitely a notch sadder than the already sombre original by Yoko-san.

Compositionally, I took the overall chord structure and twisted it a bit/made it more ambiguous (as a bit of music nerd point, the opening and ending sustained chord is an ambiguous sounding minor 11th chord, reminiscent of a Masashi Hamauzu kinda sound). I suppose in that sense there is a little Hamauzu-san influence peppered in here. As such, there's some extended harmony/jazz influence subtly placed in here, while still getting away with a classical piano ballad sound. This also opened the door for more "haunting" chromaticism melodically and counter-melodically. I wanted to make the counter-melodies quite intricate, for sure, so I hope those shine through. I also went with a unique section that kicks in at 01:50, that has a feeling reminiscent of something like the Org XII theme (the quick/battle version), before resolving back to the main theme.

It was fun doing this arrangement, as I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted it to turn out, but it ended up turning out okay.

If you're wondering why Kairi has no face in the thumbnail...I guess I was trying to do something poetic and edgy, but...perhaps I didn't succeed too well. ^^;

I hope you'll enjoy this offering towards Kingdom Hearts, and please subscribe/stay tuned for more. Thanks for listening!

YouTube version:- https://youtu.be/0Rye7NIsNGs

𝐊𝐇 - 🌸𝓚𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓲'𝓼 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮🌸 ~Bomix~

Kairi

Hello soundcloud users! I am a well seasoned music producer, I hope to find good music here, and I also hope people like my stuff too.

Soooo my name is Boris, a Music Composer/Producer in the making. What kinda music you ask? Well, take a listen. Yeah, that kind. The kind that you can't help but smile about. The kind that isn't for cynics and sourpusses. And that is my goal - to put a smile on your face and brighten up your day. So please, sit back, relax and feel the music bond with your soul :)

New tracks tagged #Kairi&#x27;s Theme

New tracks tagged #Kairi's Theme