advent children

Two special editions of the Japanese version were released, including the "Ultimate Edition", Advent Pieces: Limited, which includes the OVA Last Order: Final Fantasy VII. Advent Children was the first announced title in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and received the Honorary Maria Award at the Festival Internacional de Cinema de Cataluña on October 15, 2005.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was rated PG-13 in the United States by the Motion Picture Association of America for "sequences of intense sci-fi action violence", although it was never shown in theaters (as opposed to the last Final Fantasy CGI film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within).

At the Tokyo Game Show 2006, Square Enix showed a trailer of a director's cut of the movie, titled Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete for release on the Blu-ray disc format. New scenes will be added to the movie, including one where Sephiroth impales Cloud with his sword and then lifts his body up into the air. The movie will also benefit from high-definition video and audio that the Blu-ray format offers. The cut will be released in 2007. [1]

Story

Two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, the planet has begun recovering from the devastating attack from Meteor, while the survivors of Midgar have begun to build a new city (aptly named "Edge") on the outskirts of the old metropolis. However, a strange disease known as Geostigma (星痕症侯群, Seikon Shōkōgun^?, lit. Planet Scar Syndrome) has arisen. Children seem to be especially prone to developing the condition, which is proving to be universally fatal.

After his showdown with Sephiroth, Cloud Strife established his own delivery service, the Strife Delivery Service, with the aid of Tifa Lockhart, with whom he has been living in Edge. Marlene Wallace (adopted daughter of Barret Wallace) has been entrusted to their care, and also with them is an orphaned boy named Denzel. Unfortunately, Cloud and Denzel are two of many suffering from Geostigma's effects. As a result of this, and because he believes that he is unable to protect those he cares about, Cloud has now secluded himself from the world, as he doesn't wish to be a burden on those he loves.

Cloud is attacked by three mysterious young men who believe that he knows the location of their missing mother; however, the battle is cut short and he escapes. Hoping to gain information on the mysterious attackers, Cloud responds to the summons of Rufus Shinra, the leader of the seemingly defunct Shin-Ra Company. Rufus, claiming that he wishes to make up for the decay his father's company brought to the world, can only give the name of the trio's leader: "Kadaj." After their meeting, Kadaj breaks into Rufus' lodge, dispatching Rufus' bodyguards (the Turks known as "Reno" and "Rude") with ease. Kadaj demands that Rufus himself tell him where to find his mother, revealing that "she" is, in fact, the remains of Jenova, and is somehow connected to the cause of Geostigma. He also announces that he and his "brothers," Yazoo and Loz — whom he identifies as "remnants" of Sephiroth's will and spirit — are planning a new Reunion that will culminate in an assault on the Planet itself.

Kadaj and his "brothers" begin collecting children infected with Geostigma (including Denzel and the uninfected Marlene, the latter of whom was kidnapped by Loz after he defeated Tifa), and take them to the Forgotten Capital of the Ancients. Cloud attempts to rescue them, but fails and must be rescued himself by Vincent Valentine. Vincent reveals to Cloud what the trio are seeking and that it could result in the return of Sephiroth. He also reveals that Geostigma is the result of one's immune system working excessively to fight off an infection of Jenova cells. After some soul-searching and a lecture from Marlene (who managed to escape from Kadaj's group while they were fighting Cloud) the reluctant Cloud agrees to return to Edge and face Kadaj in direct battle, now with renewed confidence in himself.

Shortly thereafter, in Edge, the villainous trio call forth several monsters to attack the populace, including the dragon summon known as "Bahamut SIN." While the other Final Fantasy VII party members (Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Yuffie Kisaragi, Cid Highwind and Vincent) deal with Bahamut, Reno and Rude attempt to take care of Yazoo and Loz until Cloud arrives. Through their teamwork, Cloud and his friends soon dispatch all the monsters summoned, culminating in the destruction of Bahamut with the aid of a team-sized fastball special.

While overlooking these events in a nearby building, Rufus reveals to Kadaj that he has been in possession of the head of Jenova all along, tossing the box containing it from the edge of the building. Kadaj dives after the box and recovers it (shortly after a bullet from Rufus' gun damages it as he shoots at Kadaj while diving after him). Rufus himself survives the fall when Elena and Tseng launch nets to catch him. Both had been captured earlier by Kadaj, tortured, and subsequently rescued by Vincent. Before Kadaj can celebrate his good fortune, he spots Cloud in hot pursuit of him. An intense motorcycle chase carries them into the ruins of Midgar, first across the old highways (which includes Loz and Yazoo losing their weapons after they are wrecked by Cloud and the two brothers subsequently driving into a massive explosion prepared lovingly for them by Rude and Reno). Cloud catches up to Kadaj and they slide off of the end of the unfinished highway and they take a dramatic stab at each other; Kadaj's stab reveals the extent of Cloud's geostigma infection while Cloud's attack stabbed Jenova's head. They then went into Aerith's old church where Kadaj sees the extent of the damage to "Mother" and lets out an anguished scream before Cloud arrives. They confront each other and Cloud comes off worse for it until a magical blast from Kadaj destroys the flowerbed and releases an outflow of seemingly lifestream infused water which heals Cloud's geostigma and proves inimical to Kadaj who flees. Cloud, impelled by Aerith's voice, pursues him to the derelict remains of Shinra Headquarters in the center of Midgar. Now healed of his debilitating condition, Cloud is able to match Kadaj blow for blow and soon defeats him decisively. However, before the battle can come to a complete close, Kadaj tricks Cloud by distracting him with the box containing Jenova's head, which Kadaj then jumps after and absorbs into his body to "...show [Cloud] [his] reunion". As Cloud jumps down after him from the heights to deliver a lethal killing blow, Kadaj begins to transform. Just before impact, Kadaj raises his hands, and Cloud is stopped in midair by the abruptly revealed Masamune in the hands of a fully regenerated Sephiroth, cuing the entrance of the new One Winged Angel music.

After a fierce battle, Sephiroth knocks Cloud against a wall and rams his Masamune through Cloud's shoulder. Sephiroth asks Cloud to tell him what he holds most dear, and asks if Cloud would give him the happiness of taking it away. This gloat proves to be a fatal mistake, as an enraged Cloud declares that there is nothing that isn't important to him, and while Sephiroth is left suspended in mid-air after their fight is renewed, Cloud separates his sword, the First Tsurugi, into its six pieces, an performs a new Limit Break (identified as "Omnislash Version Five," a variation of Cloud's ultimate Limit Break from Final Fantasy VII), which soundly defeats Sephiroth at last.

Sephiroth dissipates, leaving Kadaj's severely weakened body behind. Aerith's spirit begins to pour healing rain across Edge, curing the sick children — as well as the reformed Rufus Shinra — of their Geostigma. Speaking softly to Kadaj, who now lies dying, Aerith tells him to be at rest. Believing Aerith's voice to be that of his "mother," he complies and is joyfully taken by the Lifestream. Before a full-scale celebration can begin, however, Cloud is shot through the back by Yazoo, who, along with Loz, is now being taken or possibly destroyed by the healing rain. Yazoo and Loz prepare one final blast for Cloud, resulting in a large explosion that disintegrates them and engulfs Cloud.

Cloud appears surrounded by a white light. A hand lightly brushes his forehead. He softly calls, "mother". Aerith's voice is heard, asking why everyone was calling her mother. Zack replies that they must be very fond of her. Aerith says that Cloud is too big to adopt. Zack tells Cloud that he doesn't have a place there. Several small hands touch Cloud and he opens his eyes.

Cloud awakens in Aerith's old church with wounds healed, now surrounded by his friends and the citizens of Edge. After a moment, Cloud demonstrates the healing powers of the water pooled in the church by curing Denzel of his Geostigma, and then the remainder of the afflicted children. A celebration follows as the healed children surround Cloud and shower him with adoration. He then looks up and sees Aerith crouching by some other children. As she stands and walks to the doorway, she turns back to assure Cloud that he's all right now, and then steps into a white light with Zack. With a smile, Cloud agrees with her, stating that he isn't alone.

Marketing and release

Originally, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was scheduled for a September 2005 dual-release in both Japan and North America, with Japan obtaining a special release of the DVD with more extras and collectible offers than the U.S. release. The official website for the English version of Advent Children even had a countdown clock, displaying the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until this release date.

However, days before the release, Square Enix changed the US release date to a tentative "November 2005," a move many felt indicated an attempt by Square Enix to release the film during the lucrative holiday sales times. The estimate for release was changed once again in early November to a January release, and due to the release date being pushed back several times, the timer was removed from the official North American site. When fans noted that the E3 2005 trailer had "confirmed" the simultaneous September release, Square Enix stated that the trailer was not the real E3 trailer and possibly a "fake" trailer. Due to the delays, many fans resorted to downloading fansubs over BitTorrent and importing the Japanese R2 version in order to watch the film.

In an article for the website The Digital Bits, it was eventually mentioned that the delays were due to the extra time required to complete the bonus supplements. [2] Finally, in a February 13, 2006 IGN.com article, it was revealed that April 25, 2006 was the new official North American release date [3]. Later that day, on another article on 1UP.com, the release date was confirmed yet again, along with the entire English voice cast. Later, Square Enix confirmed the info on their U.S. website [4], indicating that the film was on track for a certain U.S. release. The official movie website was updated with the info and a new countdown timer was implemented.

A special one-time only theatrical screening of the English version of the movie took place on Monday, April 3, 2006 at the ArcLight movie theatre in Los Angeles. The event was promoted via e-mail to those who subscribed to the Square Enix mailing list. The screening featured trailers of Kingdom Hearts II and Dirge of Cerberus, and was highlighted by appearances of the American cast and Japanese film makers.

North American DVD release

The North American DVD is a 2-Disc set that includes the following bonus features:

• Disc 1
  • Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII (Story Digest)
• Disc 2
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Featurette: The Distance: The Making of Final Fantasy VII
  • Footage of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children at the Venice Film Festival
  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children trailer collection
    • Tokyo Game Show 2003 - Days 1, 2, and 3
    • Jump Festa 2003
    • E3 2004
    • Tokyo Game Show 2004
    • Jump Festa 2004
    • E3 2005
  • Compilation of Final Fantasy VII trailer collection
    • Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
    • Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
    • Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
    • Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
    • Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Certain retailers offered a bonus disc to go with the DVD set. The disc contains a featurette on the English voice-over process, including interviews with Steve Burton (Cloud), Rachael Leigh Cook (Tifa) and Mena Suvari (Aerith).

Product placement

The phone used by Cloud in the movie is the Panasonic FOMA P900iV Phone, which is not available in the US. Plans for bringing it to America, Europe, Australia, and other places internationally have been taken into consideration, at least until the "i mode" connection system becomes available outside Japan. Rumors say that it will be bundled with Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, although no official word has been published. There are different colors for this phone, but Cloud owns the "Cloud Black" model, an obvious pun on his name.

Reception

The DVD release of Advent Children sold over 420,000 copies in Japan (or by people who imported from Japan) in its first week, which was 93% of all published copies at the time.^[1]

Days before the North American DVD release, Advent Children achieved number one on Amazon.com's "Top Sellers" page, while the UK Top 40 DVDs and Videos chart, Advent Children was placed 3rd for the week ending 30 April 2006. According to Video Business Online, "Advent Children" was placed 2nd for the week in the US ending 30 April 2006.^[2]

Fan reaction was mostly positive, and many were pleased with the stunning video quality. Advent Children was the first time most of the Final Fantasy VII characters had been fully realized (with voice acting, for instance) due to technical limitations of the PlayStation, and a very large portion of the movie's appeal was seeing the characters as the designers originally intended them.

Criticisms from fans include substandard scripting and voice acting at specific points in the movie, spotty scene transition, and an over-emphasis on action rather than plot. Some felt that the inclusion of various minor characters was too obvious and served no purpose other than fan service, which made the movie suffer. Another criticism is that the fight scenes were untrue to the series and exaggerated; characters would often jump hundreds of feet in the air or get knocked off of enormous structures and walk away unscathed, things which they didn't do in the game.

Tie-ins

Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII

Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII is a story digest of Final Fantasy VII, as recalled by Cloud at a time set shortly after the events of Advent Children. It consists of edited scenes from the original Playstation game and live-action shots of locations seen in the bonus ending. Between flashbacks to the original game's sequences, it relates a short story about Cloud making deliveries while taking phone calls from other members of AVALANCHE.

The basic premise is that Yuffie wants Cloud to take a day off from his work, and sends a "closed for business" sign to him by way of Barret as her way of telling him so. Cloud then calls Tifa and asks her if she can close the bar the next day while he takes a day off from running deliveries. Only the voices of Cloud, Yuffie, Cid, Vincent and Barret can be heard during the story digest, as there are no actual animated renderings of them featured in Reminiscence. The only CGI in Reminisence is of Cloud's motorcycle parked on the side of the road as Barret gives him Yuffie's package.^[3]

Maiden that Travels Around the Planet

Maiden who Travels the Planet is a novelization written by Benny Matsuyama, and appears in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω Guide. It is the story of Aerith Gainsborough in the Lifestream after meeting her unfortunate death at the hands of Sephiroth at the City of the Ancients. Many characters killed from Final Fantasy VII also appear, Hojo, the mad ShinRa scientist, Dyne, Marlene's father, as well as AVALANCHE members: Jessie, Wedge and Biggs and many more including Zack, Aerith's old boyfriend. It reveals that Aerith loves Cloud more than Zack and she lead Tifa to Cloud in Lifestream during his coma in Mideel, and that she with the help of many drew Lifestream from the Planet to save it from Meteor.

On the Way to a Smile

On the Way to a Smile is a small series of stories taking place between the time of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Written by Kazushige Nojima, half of this novella (Case of Denzel) was released in episodes on the official Japanese Advent Children website, while the novella was released in its entirety in V-Jump's Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Prologue book. The novella was released only in Japanese, though various English fan translations are available online. [5]

Case of Denzel

These four chapters are told indirectly through the perspective of Denzel, the young orphan featured in Advent Children. Johnny, the bumbling regular of Tifa's 7th Heaven bar from the original game, has opened up his own bar in the newly built city of Edge. One day Denzel shows up in Johnny's store to have a private meeting with Reeve Tuetsi. He has requested an interview with him in the hopes that he may become part of Reeve's new World Restoration Order, an army devoted to rebuilding the planet. Denzel then goes on to tell his life story, including how he became an orphan, the events leading up to his becoming afflicted with Geostigma, and how he came into the care of Tifa and Cloud. He also offers a firsthand account of the events of that fateful day when the Lifestream emerged to save the planet from Meteor.

Case of Tifa

This half of the novella consists of Tifa's account of the events following Meteor's destruction, overlapping in part with Denzel's story. This half of On the Way to a Smile helps to uncover some of the mysteries surrounding the beginning of the movie, including identifying its setting and offering further insight into Cloud and Tifa's respective feelings for themselves and one another.

Credits

Characters and Voice actors

Developers

• Director: Tetsuya Nomura
• Co-director: Takeshi Nozue
• Producer: Yoshinori Kitase
• Co-producer: Shinji Hashimoto
• Scenario Writer: Kazushige Nojima
• Original music composed by: Nobuo Uematsu
• Art Direction by: Yusuke Naora
• Mechanical & Creature Designer: Takayuki Takeya

Motion Actors

• Akihiko Kikuma
• Isamu Tachihara
• Jun Ishii
• Mayuko Aoki
• Masakazu Morita
• Tesshin Murata
• Yukiko Nakamura

Battle Motion Actors

• Kenji Arai
• Masahiro Watanabe
• Miwa Hashiguchi
• Riichi

Trivia

• When Loz's phone rings after the battle with Tifa in the church, his ringtone is the beginning of the battle "Victory Fanfare" theme from Final Fantasy VII, which is fitting as Tifa, at first, was thought to have won the fight.
• Many limit breaks are performed in the movie including Cloud's Blade Beam, Braver, Climhazard, Finishing Touch, and a new version of Omnislash, called Omnislash Version 5. Tifa and Barret also appear to do some variation of their limit breaks as well.
• After being defeated, a single black wing sprouts from Sephiroth's back. This is a reference to Final Fantasy VII's final boss theme "One Winged Angel." A revised version of that piece — called "Advent One Winged Angel," and featuring different lyrics with a heavy metal accompaniment — is heard during the final battle between Cloud and Sephiroth. Sephiroth is also portrayed with a single black wing in the Kingdom Hearts series.
• The once-playable characters are shown bearing pink ribbons, keepsakes of Aerith. Everyone wears them at their upper left arm except Barret who has it at his left wrist, and Vincent where the knot appears to be from his right arm; Red XIII carries it at his front left leg. The Ribbon is also a recurring item in the Final Fantasy series; characters wearing it are usually granted immunity to all status ailments.
• Several signs seen in the film were posted by the World Regenesis Organization (WRO), the organization headed up by Reeve Tuesti in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. One particular sign has what appears to be Cait Sith's head as the W.R.O logo, a reference to Reeve himself.
• Although there is no direct connection between the two films, elements of Square Enix were also involved in the production of another CGI Final Fantasy-based film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. That film's box office failure is cited as one of the factors leading to the creation of the merged company Square Enix.
• According to one of the animators (interviewed for one of the DVD featurettes), the filmmakers almost made fight scenes more realistic, but chose not to, otherwise they might as well have filmed a live-action production with real actors.
• After Vincent rescued Cloud in the Sleeping Forest, Marlene asked Vincent if he had a mobile phone so that she could call Tifa, due to Cloud having lost his own during his fight with Kadaj's gang. Vincent didn't have one, however, and was embarassed by Marlene's reaction of near-disbelief to Vincent's lack of a phone. Further, Cloud informed Vincent that he would let him know how his attempt to find forgiveness of his "sins" went, a matter that would likely be of personal interest to Vincent considering his own history of accusing himself of committing sins, gesturing with his hand that he would call him. Vincent would be unable to keep in touch with Cloud and his other comrades easily if he continued to conduct himself without a phone. Therefore, he intended to buy one and "catch up with the times" so to speak, as he breifly says to Tifa before the fight with Bahamut Sin, "Where can I buy a phone?". As for whether or not he ever got around to doing this, as can be seen or, more accurately, heard, in Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII, Vincent does acquire a mobile after the events of Advent Children. In Dirge of Cerberus Vincent has a cell phone with his 'Cerberus' symbol on it.
• A UH-60 Blackhawk can be found in the movie, being piloted by the Turk, Reno, and later on the highway with Reno and Rude.
• During the fight scene in the forest near the Forgotten Capital between Cloud and Kadaj's gang, Cloud at one point jumps into the air and fends off both Loz and Yazoo using two swords. His movements in this scene are closely similar to the fighting, including camera angles, of Roxas in the Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix secret video titled "Another Side, Another Story [deep dive]". Like Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts is also one of Tetsuya Nomura's projects, and the CG team that created the "Another side, Another story…" and "deep dive" FMV trailers also worked on Advent Children.
• During the course of the film, there are very distinct references to Cloud's "lone wolf" status: When Tifa first calls him, there is a wolf standing near the implanted sword. When Cloud passes out next to Tifa shortly after finding her in the church, there is a wolf standing in the flowers a few feet away on the overhead shot. The wolf also appears at the end of the scene in the Forgotten City (after Cloud's phone reaches the bottom of the pool in which it fell), standing by the lake where Aerith's body rests (though the camera is panned far out, and it is rather difficult to spot the wolf--when a tree in the foreground passes, the wolf has disappeared). Finally, during the white light/death scene, a wolf walks up to the unconscious Cloud. Perhaps the final wolf's dissipation is Cloud's realization that he isn't alone, and has people he can indeed stand by (the photo after the end credits).
• It was stated in the Advent Children Reunion Files production book that the wolf, known as the "Cloudy Wolf," represents the deepest part in Cloud's psyche, and appears in response to some burden he is carrying, as well represent him being a "lone wolf" since he seemingly severed himself from his friends and family.
• The areas the wolf appears in are likely related to whichever of Cloud's burdens it has appeared in response to. Incidentally, several items of Cloud's seem to resemble, or are based off of, wolves: His earrings, when looked at closely, actually match the wolf-head pendant (possibly a buckle of some kind) on Cloud's shoulder pad, as does his signature ring which is seen on Tifa's right hand, Barret's left hand, and on a necklace worn by Denzel. Also, his motorbike is named after the wolf of Norse Mythology, Fenrir, which is also a summon monster in other Final Fantasy titles.

• There is a cameo appearance of the Final Fantasy VII game cover early in the movie. When Tifa turns to walk into Clouds office to answer the phone and the camera pans to the right, if paused at the right moment (or played in slow motion) the reflection of the cover is very briefly visible on the back of the black phone base.
• The memorial in Edge city has the words "Keep on Rockin in Midgar" written on it.
• An early CG test seen in Reunion Files was created in order to test lighting effects. It is a short video of Cloud riding across Midgar rooftops on his motorbike, which is slightly different looking from the final version.

References

External links

• Official Advent Children English site
• Official Advent Children Japanese site
• Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children at the Internet Movie Database
• Advent Children.net - news, information, profiles, images, fan submissions and more
• The Making of Advent Children with interview translations and images
• Interview with voice actors and actresses from the English release