Simple and Clean: A Kingdom Hearts Podcast

As your world is crumbling to pieces all around you, and you fall into unknown depths of pure darkness… if you’re very lucky, you may find yourself deposited onto the gaslamp-lit streets of a cozy little haven. Today we’re talking about Traverse Town, the first hub world of Kingdom Hearts - packed tight with little shops, therapy dogs, and anything else you might need on your way through to worlds beyond, all who need shel...

Recording artist Pom Pom Squad - aka Mia Berrin, Mayanna’s younger sister - hops into the booth to gush with us about the music of Kingdom Hearts. A complex & mature score for what is purportedly a game for children, full of rich character details for a sprawling ensemble, the score of these games manage to weave together some of the most well-known musical themes of all time, original compositions and motifs whose bea...

What if we told you there was a character vital to the Kingdom Hearts narrative and world in multiple ways, who possessed all the qualities that make Sora a hero and TWICE his raw magical potential, who starts their journey across the universe by bravely forging into darkness at the exact same time Sora does, who learns to wield the legendary Keyblade right alongside him… and yet we all shove this person into the back seat...

We’re so glad you’ve followed your heart back to us! Today we’re talking all about Hearts: what they are, what they can do, and why everybody wants ‘em so dang much. Not just the core of every person’s being, driving their every action - they’re also a source of limitless power, whose true nature eludes even the most learned scholars of the Kingdom Hearts universe. Could that true essence really be darkness, as Ansem, Seek...

Welcome to the beach! It’s very spooky here. Today we’re covering Destiny Islands, a little backwater world somehow drawn deep into the heart of everything. It’s home for Sora, Riku, Kairi, and so many more - it’s their safe place, the place where nothing bad could ever happen. So why do so many bad things keep happening to it? How do so many of the heroes and villains of this series find themselves inexplicably drawn to t...

“We’ve always been rivals, haven’t we?” This week we’re talking about Riku, best friend turned villain turned deuteragonist of Kingdom Hearts. He’s strong, he’s confident, he’s ambitious, and when others turn away in fear Riku dives in head-first… but of course, that also leaves him vulnerable to forces he hasn’t even begun to understand, and paves the way for ultimate darkness to overtake the universe. Can even those who ...

Mischa & Mayanna have been fans of Kingdom Hearts for a long time, they’ve dived deep into the lore… but there’s one thing they’ll never understand: what it’s like to first experience these games with a full adult brain! To that end they’ve invited Mayanna’s partner, filmmaker, podcaster & gamemaster David Tilstra, to give his impressions of the series as he progresses through them for the first time as a grown-up....

It’s a big key, and you hit stuff with it… but of course, it’s also SO much more. We’re taking a look at Keyblades, the signature weapon of the series. Filled to the brim with personality, power, panache, and plot relevance, these unique weapons make Kingdom Hearts simultaneously iconic and ridiculous. We’ll unlock all the important info for you: What can they do? Where do they come from? Why are they special? What are the...

Hop in the Gummi Ship with us and journey to Olympus Coliseum, the world of Disney’s Hercules - one of the most prolific Kingdom Hearts worlds (for some reason), and the KH capital for death, heroes, and seemingly-random yet oddly resonant Final Fantasy cameos. Under the shadow of warriors both triumphant and fallen, it’s here that Sora learns what it means to be a capital-H Hero - and where we all learn exactly what Disne...

Oh Sora, the boy that you are! We start our dive into the KH series by covering the protagonist of (most of) the games, and the moral center around which the entire KH universe revolves. And sure, he has to be that way to be the main character of a game about love and connection - but where does that leave him? Does relying on his friends make him weak? Does believing in goodness make him dumb? And the most important quest...

Hello, nice to meet you! We’re Mischa & Mayanna, and we love Kingdom Hearts. Allow us to introduce ourselves, say what we’re about, and explain why we want to spend so much time talking about this silly game series to you all. We can’t wait to get started!

Credits

- Created & hosted by: Mischa Stanton & Mayanna Berrin

- Music: “Sunset Dew” by Lupus Nocte

- A member of  Multitude

- Support us on Patreon

A...

If we’re gonna make any amount of sense of this series, we have to start at the beginning: Kingdom Hearts. The story of three friends who wanted to see worlds beyond their own, and ended up with much more than they bargained for… and also every Disney character, just for good measure. And because we know that our friends are our power, we invite along our friend Oscar Montoya to help us find our way in the darkness, and dr...

I've been having these weird thoughts lately... Like, is any of this for real, or not?

Simple and Clean is a show where hosts Mischa Stanton and Mayanna Berrin (and friends) talk about Kingdom Hearts, a little video game franchise about really big feelings. We attempt to unravel how this deceptively expansive game series has touched an entire generation of deeply earnest weirdos - and along the way, we may realize that what...