Kingdom Hearts 4 was announced 1,084 days ago, the once annual series hasn’t seen a new release in years, and this is easily the longest news drought Kingdom Hearts stans have ever lived through. But the ever-cryptic series director Tetsuya Nomura has just popped his head out of the shadows to reveal a bit of new, potentially crucial, fruit-themed lore that even has publisher Square Enix baffled.
To celebrate the first Kingdom Hearts game’s 23rd anniversary, publisher Square Enix decided to try and wrangle some new info out of Nomura’s head, specifically in regards to the star-shaped paopu fruit that appears in protagonist Sora’s home island. “In the game, it’s said if two people share a paopu fruit, their destinies become intertwined,” a new social media post explains. “We asked director Tetsuya Nomura to tell us more.”
His response may or may not surprise you depending on how numb you are to Kingdom Hearts bulls*** – which I love, by the way.
Square Enix asked the famed director if there are any “untold stories” behind the fruit, to which Nomura simply says “You mean the Paradise of Promise?” Square Enix’s social media team seemingly has no idea what he’s talking about, and asks if the word paopu came from “combining the words Paradise of Promise.”
Nomura: “Or was it Paradise of Pure?”SE Team: “Hmm?!”Nomura: “I guess there are no particular untold stories.”And there you have it, a fun fact after 23 years! [3/3]March 28, 2025
In keeping with the series’ tradition of confusing retcons, Nomura then asks “or was it Paradise of Pure?… I guess there are no particular untold stories.” The Square Enix team, echoing what everyone else is thinking, just responds with “Hmm?!”
I’ve been playing Kingdom Hearts for most of my lifetime, and I couldn’t even begin to speculate about what Paradise of Promise/Pure even means. We might find out in Kingdom Hearts 4. We might find out in a social media post years from now. Or maybe the information will stay locked in Nomura’s noggin for the rest of time. Regardless, it’s at least slightly hilarious that the biggest news drop we have about one of Square Enix’s biggest upcoming games is a piece of lore about fruit that even has the publisher lost for words.
