Your post is so right, truly. I recently replayed kh3 and the paopu scene was just so awkward. I don't know, Sora just looked so dejected the whole time. Why would he look like that if it was supposed to be romantic? Why does he only agree after her reassurance that it isn't meant like that. For me he looked the same way with pooh bear, just idk sadness in his eyes if that makes sense. The funniest thing is that she didn't even took a bite out of it? Like he did, but hers was still whole after they shared the fruits. Like they probably forgot, but still.

My thing is if So/kai is going to be or supposed to be canon, there’s no reason to have Sora hesitate here, obviously uncomfortable with Kairi’s romantic advance. Whether he has feelings for her, doesn’t anymore, or never exactly did — if we are supposed to take the last chunk of KH3 + ReMind as confirmation that Sora/Kairi are a couple (as many people do), there is No Reason to write Sora hesitating in the Paopu Scene before that. If Sora/Kairi are just going to get together a couple scenes later, there is no reason for Sora not to confess his feelings then or at least show any happiness or excitement over Kairi wanting to share paopu with him…

I feel like the Paopu Scene’s a moment of truth. For many, this should be (and in most any other story probably would be) the moment Sora (and us, the audience) realize he is indisputably in love with Kairi. But instead it feels like the opposite. While I do think Sora is still confused about his feelings, the sight of the paopu fruit in Kairi’s hand seems to make Sora realize he might actually not be in love with her… And sometimes that’s how it works, you know? Sometimes you get what you thought you wanted only to realize you don’t want it. You don’t feel it in your heart. Sora’s heart is just not in it, and it’s written all over his little frowny face. In the stiffness of his body. In his uncharacteristic, total silence.

And in the sadness in his eyes that reminds you of when he’s with Pooh Bear… Sora recognizes that he doesn’t quite feel the same as when he added the paopu to their cave drawing years ago. I think much the way he feels that his connection with Pooh is weaker even as he’s reassuring Pooh that they’ll always remain close… Sora loves Kairi, and he cherishes their friendship. But as odd and painful as it is to admit, a lot has changed… and he’s just not sure if he wants to be with Kairi the way that she wants to be with him. Again, much the way Sora doesn’t ever promise to stay with Pooh in the 100 Acre Woods forever like Pooh wants him to.

There are honestly a lot of parallels between Pooh and Kairi and their relationships with Sora — not just in KH3 but the other games as well… Maybe I’ll make a separate post about that later because I do find them very poignant and interesting. But for the sake of this post, let’s not get too off topic.

Now, one could counter-argue, if the Paopu Scene is a rejection, why doesn’t Sora verbally reject Kairi then? Why not make it an indisputable romantic rejection? To which I have several possibilities:

As I said before, Sora is still confused about his feelings. He’s not sure what being in love is supposed to feel like, and he sure hasn’t had much time to think about it or figure it out in the last two years. He doesn’t say yes or no because he doesn’t know. He doesn’t have an answer… But we can see that he’s not happy. He doesn’t want this, and that makes a legitimate Sora/Kairi romance unlikely. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

Blatantly removing Kairi as a love interest detracts from her being a red herring after Riku’s sacrifice. As much as I loathe that she’s in this position. The audience has to be unsure, has to be reasonably convinced, and… well it would be pretty absurd if Sora went from saying ‘Sorry, Kairi, I don’t want to be your boyfriend’ to, you know, holding her hand and looking like he might be in love with her after he thinks that she saved him. It would be too obvious that something’s up. ‘But, Gi, why would Kairi be a red herring in the Keyblade Graveyard/Tunnel of light?’ You tell me. Why IS Kairi mistaken as Sora’s savior/light in the darkness here? It’s clearly Riku. There are plenty of visual and audio cues suggesting it is Riku. We literally see Riku’s act of true love. Why WOULDN’T Sora say it’s Riku? Why WOULDN’T the game indisputably confirm Riku is Sora’s savior/light in the darkness here? Why would Nomura choose to mask this using Sora and Kairi’s relationship… I mean, if this act of true love is so platonic — if Sora and Riku’s feelings are so platonic and familial. After all, there’s nothing controversial about love between brothers.

Which leads to my next point. Kairi is Sora’s only hetero romantic option atp, so completely, blatantly taking that off the table when more games are still in the works would… probably not sit very well with some people.

There’s also the fact that when it comes to the non-Disney characters, this series has always been lowkey when it comes to romance. Addressing what these feelings are, in any romantic context, may not ever be in the cards. (But with Sora beginning to wonder about romance in KH3, it’s not outside the realm of possibility.)

The Paopu Scene is so maddening. I’ve never come across a scene like this that thousands of people can walk away from with completely opposite interpretations. It’s wild. But I hope this drama doesn’t go on for too much longer. I hope we get some answers soon, one way or another.