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Interview I'm Looking For....
Topic Started: Jul 26 2009, 08:30 PM (449 Views)
Jon Snow
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khaleesi ♥
I remember reading an interview about FFVII where the creators were discussing that they didn't want this to be an average story "where the guy dies for the girl they love" then they went on about Aerith's death and it's meaning.

Does anyone happen to remember this or know anything about it?
I really need this interview, so any help would be great.

Thanks.
:huggle:
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Anastar
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To touch the light I see in your eyes...
I don't have the whole interview or a link to it, but that interview's talked about in the article about Aerith at Wikipedia. Here's what it says:

Nomura stated in a 2005 Electronic Gaming Monthly interview: "Cloud's the main character, so you can't really kill him. And Barrett... [sic] well, that's maybe too obvious". This was not changed after other protagonists were created.[10] While designing Final Fantasy VII, Tetsuya Nomura was frustrated with the "perennial dramatic cliché" where the protagonist must dramatically sacrifice herself to express her love for someone. He found that this appeared in both films and video games from North America and Japan. "Is it right to set such an example to people?"[11] Kitase concludes:

In the real world things are very different. You just need to look around you. Nobody wants to die that way. People die of disease and accident. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad. It leaves, not a dramatic feeling but great emptiness. When you lose someone you loved very much you feel this big empty space and think, 'If I had known this was coming I would have done things differently.' These are the feelings I wanted to arouse in the players with Aerith's death relatively early in the game. Feelings of reality and not Hollywood.
—Yoshinori Kitase, Edge Magazine, May 2003[11]

While reflecting on the game, Tetsuya Nomura claims that "Death should be something sudden and unexpected, and Aeris' death seemed more natural and realistic," and "When I reflect on Final Fantasy VII, the fact that fans were so offended by her sudden death probably means that we were successful with her character. If fans had simply accepted her death, that would have meant she wasn't an effective character."[10] Rumors have circulated that Aerith can be resurrected in Final Fantasy VII or that the possibility was removed in development. "The world was expecting us to bring her back to life, as this is the classic convention". A lengthy petition asking for Aerith's revival by Japanese players was sent to Kitase. However, Kitase states that "there are many meanings in Aerith's death and that could never happen".[11]


The source of the article is cited as Edge Magazine, May 2003, pg. 112-113.

There's more about that article at Wikipedia.

EDIT: More about the Edge article here: AnimeFringe - Aerith's Death

There's more about the Edge article here: Eyes on FF Forums. From a post by Squall of Seed (who is very reliable):

In the May 2003 issue of the United Kingdom video game magazine known as EDGE (quite possibly the most professional, best organized, and all around greatest video game magazine around), there is a six-page "Making of..." feature on Final Fantasy VII (there's a six-page "Making of..." feature in the back of every issue they release), in which Yoshinori Kitase (Co-Scenario Writer and Director of Final Fantasy VII) and Tetsuya Nomura (Character Designer of Final Fantasy VII) are interviewed.

During the course of the interview, Nomura speaks about what he intended in coming up with Aerith's death, and Kitase speaks on the fans' responses to her death. Here follows that part of the interview, along with picture proof that this issue of the magazine exists, and that the interview and dialogue I speak of is present within the issue.

Nomura, concerning Aerith's death:

Back at the time we were designing the game, I was frustrated with the perennial cliche where the protagonist loves someone very much and so has to sacrifice himself and die in a dramatic fashion to express that love. We found this was the case in both games and movies, both easter and western. But I wanted to say something different, something realistic. I mean, is it right to set such an example to people?

Kitase follows that up with this:

In the real world, things are very different. You just need to look around you. Nobody wants to die that way. People die of disease and accident. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad attached to it. It leaves, not a dramatic feeling, but a feeling of emptiness. When you lose someone you loved very much you feel this big empty space and think 'If I had knowni this was coming I would have done things differently.' These are the feelings I wanted to arouse in the players with Aerith's death relatively early in the game. Feelings of reality and not Hollywood."

Kitase, concerning the fans' responses to Aerith's death:

The world was expecting us to bring her back to life, as this is the classic convention. But we did not. We had decided this from the beginning. There was a lot of reaction from Japanese users. Some of them were very sad about it, while others were angry. We even received a lengthy petition addressed to our scenario writer asking for Aerith's revival. But there are many meanings in Aerith's death and that could never happen.


Too bad... Squall of SEED also provided scans of those pages, but the links no longer work. :sad: I see the post was made some 5 years ago, though.
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Jon Snow
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khaleesi ♥
Yea, that's it! Thanks so much Anastar! this is awesome. :huggle:
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Anastar
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To touch the light I see in your eyes...
Glad it helped! :huggle:

Now if someone could help me find the English translation of this Famitsu article, which I *know* I read somewhere and that I posted on this forum... I'd love it!

Never mind... I found it! ^_^ It's translated here: PS3 Hyper
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