The year 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the Kingdom Hearts series. Since its initial launch in 2002, Kingdom Hearts, which centers around original characters traveling to the worlds of various Disney films, has released three main series games and a number of spinoffs, collections, and remixed versions. Throughout the series' history, one of its most highly praised elements has been its music, which features new arrangements of classic Disney tracks alongside original music composed specifically for Kingdom Hearts.
The year-long 20th anniversary celebration of Kingdom Hearts included the long-awaited announcement of Kingdom Hearts 4, which will feature protagonist Sora trapped in a new world called Quadratum, resembling modern-day Tokyo, Japan. Although no release date was announced, fans have already begun speculating about the game. Two major questions include: which Disney worlds will be featured and, will singer Utada Hikaru, who wrote and sang the openings for the first three games, be returning to work on the series?
While Utada Hikaru's involvement with Kingdom Hearts 4 has not yet been confirmed, they did celebrate the series' 20th anniversary in a very special way. At Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Hikaru began their set with "Simple and Clean," the iconic opening to the very first Kingdom Hearts game. They also performed "Face Your Fears," the opening to Kingdom Hearts 3, which they co-created alongside EDM and dubstep musician Skrillex. Fans were thrilled, and can be seen cheering and singing along to both songs in official Coachella livestreams.
Utada Hikaru, one of Japan's most well-known performers, first became involved in the Kingdom Hearts series when their single "Hikari" was chosen as the opening for the original game. Hikaru, who was born in New York and is fluent in both Japanese and English, also wrote and performed the English version of the song, which was renamed "Simple and Clean." Since then, they have written and sung a number of songs for Kingdom Hearts, including "Sanctuary," "Don't Think Twice," and "Face Your Fears." The involvement of Utada Hikaru has been cited as a major reason why Kingdom Hearts' music has been so widely praised - to the point that an entirely music-based game, Melody of Memory, was released in 2020.
The continuing involvement of Utada Hikaru is one of the things fans hope most to see in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 4. With Sora venturing to a more modern-day world, Hikaru's J-pop style tunes may be more fitting for the series than ever before. Other fan hopes include new Disney worlds based on recent movies such as Zootopia and Encanto, worlds inspired by properties Disney has purchased such as Star Wars, and the return of fan-favorite characters such as Riku.
Kingdom Hearts 4 will release at an unannounced future date for unconfirmed consoles.