Square Enix broke the Kingdom Hearts 4 news drought last week with a major announcement: Pixar’s Coco will appear in the game, alongside playable King Mickey sections focused on papercraft puzzles rather than the series’ signature floaty combat. But the most intriguing revelation came not from the trailer, but from a shirt worn by series co-creator Tetsuya Nomura at a D23 panel—a plain black tee emblazoned with the logo ‘Black Honey Chili Cookie.’ The news was reported by GamesRadar.
That seemingly innocuous fashion choice has sent fans into a spiral of speculation, connecting the upcoming RPG to Nomura’s canceled Final Fantasy Versus 13 project. The logo references a fashion brand from NEO: The World Ends With You, a JRPG Nomura was heavily involved in, and its in-game shopkeeper shares a name with the real-life designer behind Versus 13’s character costumes. With Kingdom Hearts 4 set in an alternate Tokyo—the same city as The World Ends With You—the potential for crossover is tantalizing.
Here’s what we know, what fans are theorizing, and why this could be Nomura’s most layered narrative yet.
What the Shirt Reveals: Black Honey Chili Cookie and Its Connections
Nomura’s shirt at the D23 panel featured the logo ‘Black Honey Chili Cookie,’ a fashion brand that appears in NEO: The World Ends With You. That game, a beloved but overlooked JRPG, saw Nomura in a key creative role. The brand’s in-game shopkeeper is named Hiromu Takahara—the same name as the real-life fashion designer behind the cast of Final Fantasy Versus 13, which was later repurposed into Final Fantasy 15.
This name overlap is unlikely to be coincidence. Nomura is known for embedding subtle references and meta-narratives into his work, and the choice to wear that specific shirt at a Kingdom Hearts 4 panel suggests deliberate signaling. Characters from the original The World Ends With You have already appeared in the Kingdom Hearts series, so the connection isn’t unprecedented.
Given that The World Ends With You is set in Tokyo and Kingdom Hearts 4 sends players to an alternate version of the city, there’s a strong possibility those characters could return in the sequel. The shirt may be a playful nod to that crossover, or a deeper hint at narrative threads yet to be revealed.
Fan Theories: Versus 13 Parallels and Tokyo’s Invasion
In the days following the Coco trailer, fans have combed every frame for clues. They’ve found striking similarities between the city guards in Kingdom Hearts 4 and those in Final Fantasy 15, and the military airships in both games are almost exact mirrors of each other. These visual echoes have fueled speculation that Kingdom Hearts 4 is drawing directly from the canceled Versus 13 project.
YouTuber The Night Sky Prince has theorized that there’s method behind the madness, suggesting parallels between Kingdom Hearts 4’s narrative and the story Versus 13 was supposed to tell. One prominent theory posits that a foreign invasion of Kingdom Hearts’ Tokyo could be what spurs the Heartless to wreak havoc, mirroring how the Empire of Niflheim spreads daemons across Final Fantasy 15’s world.
These are, of course, fan interpretations—not confirmed plot points. But the visual and thematic echoes are hard to ignore, and they suggest Nomura may be weaving elements of his canceled project into this new chapter.
What It Means for Kingdom Hearts 4’s Story
If the theories hold, Kingdom Hearts 4 could be a spiritual successor to Versus 13 in more ways than one. The alternate Tokyo setting, the military imagery, and the potential for a foreign invasion narrative all align with what Versus 13 was originally envisioned to be. Nomura has a history of repurposing ideas—Versus 13 itself became Final Fantasy 15—so it’s plausible he’s revisiting those concepts here.
The inclusion of Coco and the papercraft-focused King Mickey sections suggest a game that balances whimsy with deeper, more complex storytelling. The shirt, the visual parallels, and the Tokyo setting all point to a narrative that rewards attentive players.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is scheduled to release next year, and fans will have to wait to see if these theories prove true. But one thing is certain: Nomura is playing a long game, and every detail—even a shirt—might be a clue.
