Riku, Depression, & Isolation | The Psychology of Riku

Its funny how there are 3 types of comments. The riku isnt gay comment, riku is gay comment, or how everyone agrees riku is chronically depressed

It's interesting. Sora when he can't help anyone or fails to help freezes up and falls into despair. Riku when he can't help anyone hides himself away, keeping himself in the dark. And both of them, funding themselves worthless.

Riku talking to Quasimodo about finding friends who still see you for you hits so hard, especially after his ansem episode in 2

Sora has a rage problem slowly building up. Through out the series he’s been repressing a lot of his more negative emotions, and slapping on a happy face. In the more recent games we’ve been seeing the cracks, and the thing behind that happy-go-lucky facade is frightening. I think it’d be interesting to see that addressed as his own Darkness arc.

I'm literally so ready and glad were doing more characters. Roxas next PLEASEEEEE

I think both Sora and Riku are depressed, thankfully Riku recovers in a fairly healthy way though as someone who's been through it I can say that the scars remain forever, however while those scars can re-open and cause more damage more often than not they provide us better resistance to similar situations, they make us stronger for the future. Sora on the other hand is finding himself on a downward spiral and what he really needs is the isolation Riku had during his struggles because in Sora's case some of his friends; specifically Donald and Goofy are making it so much worse, remember? No frowning, no sad face, this ship runs on happy faces. Instead of being real happiness it just becomes a false smile with the person being colder to the World and people around him, Sora has lost all value in himself and instead is completely selfless, however too much selflessness will eventually lead to contempt for the people you value more than yourself, I know because that's how I was. Sora's actions are very familiar to me but Riku's are not, depression affects everyone differently, some people like Sora can't even be identified as depressed, they are a hidden statistic, there may be more depression around you at one time than you think, no doubt it is almost omnipresent.

I don’t think Riku slipped back into his isolation in the keyblade graveyard when he tried to hold back the darkness single-handedly, I think it’s more that he recognized Sora wasn’t capable of defending himself in that moment and so he took the initiative and moved into a defensive position to allow Sora some time to regain his composure because tactically, he understands Sora has the best chance of defeating Xehanort.

This was a great video. I was afraid with the disclaimer at the beginning that you would never bring up how Riku’s feeling for Sora (whether you thought they were romantic or not) play a big role on his actions especially in 1. But I was pleasantly surprised and you even mentioned Sora’s his most important person which I haven’t seen any ‘big name’ KH youtubers address so thank you for that. And I also love how you talked about him in 3. I 100% agree. He’s not boring he’s the most confident and secure of himself he’s ever been. His growth is incredible and we see that in 3.

In 0.2 Fragmentary Passage Riku has a playful interaction with Kairi where she actually notices a change in him and brings it up. I love how he says that he’s trying to follow his heart because it’s more “fun that way”. That is GROWTH; not only because he’s trying to change, but because he’s also trying to have fun! When Riku says he’ll miss Ansem, that really hit home with me. Sometimes when you’re depressed you can feel like depression itself is the only true “friend” you have, because it sticks with you wherever you go. Thanks so much for these videos, they’re amazing.

I feel like Kairi and Riku will play the biggest role in KH4. For 3 games Sora has been pulling people out of their own darkness without confronting his own, and now it’s time someone saves him for a change. Hurt people may hurt people, but those who have been healed from that hurt will heal others who experience the same pain

As a person that has been dealing with depression since I was pretty much the age Riku was in KH1, and is now just barely showing any signs of recovery, I can tell that Riku is VERY relatable as a character.

Riku my beloved

Now I can't see any long form riku focused video without thinking about the 6 hour gay riku essay

i love this series of yours and it makes me sad to think that even with all her depth beneath the surface, "the psychology of kairi" will still be like 5 minutes long because that's about as much screen time as she gets lmao

Hearing people say that Riku is boring is pretty suprising to me considering that when I played the game for the first time, he strikes me as a really chill person who knows what he's doing. Not BORING. That hurts 💀

I see his reaction during the Keyblade war differently. When he steps before sora, it is not to sacrifice himself to protect him, to selfishly try to put the burden on himself alone, but to show sora that even in this dire moment there is hope. This action, that was once his way to shoulder it all alone away from his friends, is now perfomed in full view, a statment of defiance in his friends darkest moment. After all, it is the context that gives actions meaning, not simply the action itself. And in this case, i think it shows Riku having, not overcome, but at least fully come to term with himslef. Where he is now not focused on keeping hurt away from his firends, fighting in the shadows so they can live in the light, but stepping out into it and supporting them, no matter what.

Just wanted to jump in and mention that Riku significantly isolates himself from both Sora and Kairi in KH3 (specifically during the scene with his replica on the beach as well as at the end, when he says that Sora and Kairi will be fine without him because they'll have eachother). I think this plays into another part of depression in wanting what is best for the people you love and deciding that wasn't best isn't you. Idk, while riku is calmer in kh3 because he isn't actively "fighting" his own depression, so it begins to manifest in different ways

The cool thing about Riku's arc is that his Keyblades represent the various stages of his journey: Soul Eater (KH1- CoM): Not a Keyblade per se, but it represents Riku at his lowest: Completely immersed in darkness and used as a pawn for both Maleficent and Ansem. Way To The Dawn (KH2 - KH3): This represents Riku's road to mastering the darkness and making it his own, which is what happens at the end of 3D when he becomes an official Keyblade Master. It getting destroyed in 3 symbolizes that that part of his journey is over. Braveheart (KH3 onwards): I know not a lot of people like this Keyblade, but I like the symbolism behind it. If Soul Eater was Riku at his lowest, Braveheart is Riku at his best. He's made peace with his past mistakes, he's learned to control his darkness, and he's a Keyblade Master on top of that. The fact that it's designed to resemble an oversized car key shows that he's in the metaphorical drivers seat of his life. Neither Maleficient, Ansem, nor his darkness holds any control over him. I'm really glad we're getting more of these videos. It's giving me a greater appreciation for the characters.

I always saw riku as that troubled older brother with a good heart

"Riku has Chronic Depression" is a reading of his character I've heard a lot so I'm all here for this to get a proper deep dive (heh) into it from a psych background