Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Japanese: ファイナルファンタジーVII アドベントチルドレン) is a CGI-anime movie based on the successful PlayStation game Final Fantasy VII that is set two years after the events of the game. It is slated to be released on DVD and on a UMD disc for the PSP handheld console. Its official theatrical release date was on September 10, 2005 as the grand public opening. It released in Japan on September 14, 2005, and is slated to be released in North America on January 10 2006 and the UK on February 20 2006. The movie received the Honorary Maria Award at the Festival Internacional de Cinema de Cataluña on October 15, 2005.
| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | |
|---|---|
| FFVII: AC logo. | |
| Directed by | Tetsuya Nomura Takeshi Nozue |
| Written by | Kazushige Nojima |
| Produced by | Yoshinori Kitase Shinji Hashimoto |
| Starring | Takahiro Sakurai as Cloud Strife (voice) |
| Music by | Nobuo Uematsu |
| Distributed by | Square Enix |
Running time | 101 min |
The official Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children website had placed a countdown, showing the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until the final release. However due to the release date being pushed back several times it has been canceled. Special Editions of this movie have been released, including the Ultimate Edition "Advent Pieces: Limited", which includes the OVA Last Order: Final Fantasy VII. This was the first announced title in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.
Plot Summary
The information below was compiled using various sources such as the FF7:AC IMDB Page, trailers and the Japanese release.
Two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, the Planet has begun healing itself from the devastating attack from Meteor, but a strange disease known as "Geostigma" (Star Scar Syndrome in Japanese version) has arisen. It is proving to be fatal, and children seem to be at greater risk. Cloud, who is also infected with the disease, has secluded himself from the world, haunted by the demons of his past. However, he has established a delivery service with Tifa, and once lived in the bar. Tifa's bar, 7th Heaven, is now an orphanage for the infected children. Marlene Wallace, Barrett's adopted daughter, is entrusted to the care of Tifa. With them is a boy named Denzel, who Cloud, Tifa, and Marlene have taken in as their own.
The survivors of Midgar have begun to build a new home on the edge of Midgar, aptly named 'Edge'. In the center is a monument to Midgar's destruction - Meteor. The president of the former Shinra company, Rufus Shinra, is confined to a wheelchair, though whether this is due to injuries from the destruction of Midgar or his advanced stage of Geostigma is not revealed. From his wheelchair he is coordinating searches by the Turks for the effects that Sephiroth had done on the planet.
Three unknown figures appear who begin searching for Jenova's remains to complete the Reunion. The leader of the trio, Kadaj, claims that Geostigma is due to the Jenova Cells corrupting the Lifestream and somehow knows Cloud, referring to him as "brother" and "traitor." Vincent suspects that the trio is seeking to obtain the remains of Jenova to create another Sephiroth, and suggests that Geostigma is the result of Lifestream inside one's body battling the Jenova cells within it.
Tifa and Marlene wait for Cloud at a church, where he has been living. It is here they discover that Cloud has Geostigma and does not have the will to fight it. Loz arrives at the church, attacking Tifa while searching for the ___location of Jenova. After a hard fought battle Tifa is knocked unconscious, and Loz kidnaps Marlene and steals Cloud's Materia. Cloud returns to the church where he discovers Tifa unconscious and his Materia stolen, and collapses next to Tifa due to the effects of Geostigma. They are found by Reno and Rude who bring them back to 7th Heaven.
The three members of Kadaj's gang begin kidnapping the children who are infected with Geostigma, including Denzel, and they take them to the City of Ancients, where Kadaj tries to persuade the children that the planet is inflicting this disease upon them and that they should rally together against the planet. He puts part his concious into the water nearby, drinking it and telling the children to follow suit. They do, turning into a trance-like state. Cloud, after learning the whereabouts of the trio from Rufus, begins chasing them down on his bike: Fenrir. Along the way, he has a flashback of his conversation with Tifa prior to going to the Forgotten Capital about "wanting to be forgiven." He finally locates the trio, where he confronts the leader Kadaj. Kadaj "mind controls" the children and they surround Cloud, ensuring that he cannot escape.
Kadaj begins calling him a "traitor" and is about to execute him when Marlene calls out Cloud's name, distracting Kadaj and allowing Cloud to grab his sword. This leads to a battle, in which Cloud is defeated, but Vincent arrives and manages to save Cloud. After having a discussion about their current situation, and about sins being forgiven, Marlene comes and yells at Cloud when he wants to back down from fighting again. It is here Cloud has a flashback, again, of what happened prior to arriving to the Forgotten Capital. Tifa is lecturing Cloud, speaking his thoughts of how he is pained by past failures, and how he really doesn't want to be alone, as he carries his cell phone with him everywhere, listening to the messages of people that called. She ends with the question "Have we lost to our memories?" Cloud, feeling responsible, thinks "But we just let her die.." Aerith suggested that he should forgive himself, to which he tries. "I'll give it a try," he tells Vincent.
The two return back to Midgar, where they find it in havoc. Kadaj has unleashed numerous Shadow Creeper monsters to attack the people, and is seen in an incomplete building with the wheelchair bound Rufus. Loz and Yazoo have used the children as human shields while they search for Jenova's head. To add to the confusion, Kadaj then summons Bahamut Sin.
All Final Fantasy VII party members show up at this point to battle Bahamut as Tifa protects the possessed Denzel. Denzel awakens from his possessed state after Tifa is knocked unconscious. The members each protect them in turn, finally with the arrival of Cloud on Fenrir; his motorcycle. Cloud tells Tifa that he returned Marlene to the shop, and that his burden feels lighter, to which she smiles. Denzel then says he'll go back to the shop too, asking Cloud if he'll return. Cloud nods as the boy turns to run back to the bar.
Bahamut wreaks havoc on the newly constructed Edge, with the help of the entire party boosting Cloud up toward Bahamut, Cloud goes through Bahamut's Mega Flare and finally takes it down using his Limit Break: Climhazzard. Meanwhile, Rufus reveals to Kadaj that he really isn't as weak as he was leading everyone to believe, and that he also has remains of Jenova. He tosses it off the edge of a building, forcing Kadaj to fall in pursuit. Rufus uses his firearm to pierce the container, breaking its seal. Kadaj still manages to retrieve it, but with Cloud hot on his tail. There is a chase scene on an under-construction highway, where Loz and Yazoo both try and stall Cloud, which fails due to a timely arrival of Reno and Rude, and some high-powered explosives.
Cloud manages to catch up to Kadaj in the Church, in which Kadaj tries to attack Cloud with magic. He misses, but hits the flower garden. Magic water wells up from beneath and rises into the air, both physically harming Kadaj and healing Cloud of his Geostigma. He continues to pursue Kadaj, and confronts Kadaj again in a one on one battle, which is almost cut short due to the rest of the party arriving in the Sierra, a new aircraft, named after Cid's assistant Sierra (Shera in English localisations). However, Tifa and Vincent manage to convince everyone not to interfere, because this is Cloud's fight. Vincent reveals that Kadaj is in fact a "Larva of Sephiroth." Sierra flies off, which puts a small smile to Cloud's face, before he finally defeats Kadaj with his other limit break: Finishing Touch. Kadaj falls from the building.
Kadaj hangs from a building with one hand, with Cloud standing above him. Instead of admitting defeat, though, Kadaj opens the container of Jenova's remains, and absorbs it all as he falls. Cloud jumps down after him, and tries to finish him with one strike, but Kadaj stops him with his hands, at the same time transforming into Sephiroth while the Masamune forms in his grasp. (background music changes to Kata Tsubasa no Tenshi, the rock-orchestra version of One Winged Angel)
Sephiroth reveals to Cloud that the spirits of people who died with Geostigma would stain the planet thus allowing him to control it, and use it to travel the stars, until he finds another planet and crashes into it, just like Jenova did. Cloud battles Sephiroth for some time, Sephiroth commenting that Cloud has become stronger.
A scene is shown of Marlene with Denzel at the bar, with a drop of water. "Sister?" she calls out, feeling Aerith's presence.
The scene goes back to Cloud's battle. Sephiroth defeats him, and stabs him below the shoulder. Sephiroth asks Cloud what is most important to him, so that he can have the happiness of stealing it from him. Scenes of Aerith, Zack, Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel are flashed by. Cloud removes Sephiroth's blade from his shoulder, and states "I pity you who understand nothing." Sephiroth leaps into the air and Cloud declares "For there isn't anything that isn't important" right before he leaps into the air, separating his sword into six pieces and performs a new Limit Break (translates to "Omnislash Version 5") to defeat Sephiroth. Sephiroth floats over Cloud with a newly formed black-feathered wing (see One Winged Angel), and says "I won't just be a memory..." before his wing wraps around him and crumbles, revealing a near-death Kadaj.
Kadaj, dying in Cloud's arms, hears the voice of Aerith, telling him to return home. Mistaking Aerith for "mother", he joyfully returns to the Lifestream, leaving Cloud behind, victorious. It begins raining. Scenes are shown throughout Edge of the sick children with Geostigma getting cured with this rain.
As Cloud is about to rejoin his friends, he is hit from behind with a shot from Yazoo, who along with Loz has survived the Turks' blast. (Although they too are being taken by the purifying water) Cloud rises up again, ready for one last go. He turns, his lips distorted into a snarl as he charges them, scraping his sword on the roof of the building. They raise their hands, a blue aura surrounding both of their arms as he runs. Suddenly, just as he jumps and swings, they unleash it, and the explosion covers the entire roof.
A scene is shown on Sierra. Seeing the area where Cloud was fighting explode, Tifa calls out to him. Another scene shows, in Midgar, at Tifa's bar. Denzel and Marlene are shown holding hands looking out the window, Denzel asking "Cloud is coming back.. right?"
Lying in a blank expanse, Aerith puts her hand on Cloud's forehead. Cloud calls out, "Mother?" Aerith then replies "Again! How many times must I be called that?". Zack, while watching Cloud, asks Aerith "Isn't it nice to be yearned for?" He finally explains to Cloud that his place is not here, and that he must return.
He awakens in the slums church, surrounded by his friends and the children. He cures Denzel, the last child with Geostigma, using the water in the church. It is here Cloud begins smiling for the first time in the movie. He then scans the church, and sees Aerith. His eyes widen and his mouth falls open slightly. Knowing Cloud is alright now, Aerith smiles at him, and she and Zack walk out the door and into the light. Cloud watches them leave and smiles sadly and says "I know I'm not alone" and that Aerith's spirit would always be with him.
Bonus Ending
We see Cloud travelling through familiar landscapes on the Fenrir with the theme song, "Calling" by Kyosuke Himuro playing in the background. The last scene shows Cloud's desk at 7th Heaven filled with postcards, letters and photographs of the places Cloud's visited. A close up on of his desk is shown with a photograph of the FFVII crew.
On the Way to a Smile
A series of stories taking place between Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Written by Kazushige Nojima, they are being released in episodes on the Japanese Advent Children site, and are currently only in Japanese. Various fan translations are available online.
Case of Denzel. Johnny, the bumbling regular of Tifa's 7th Heaven from the original game has opened up his own bar in a newly built town on the outskirts of Midgar called 'The Edge'. Tifa works there as a hostess, and is something of a feature attraction, but her attention is mostly focused on caring for the children orphaned by the many recent tragedies. These episodes are told indirectly through the perspective of Denzel, the young orphan featured in Advent Children. His back-story, as well as recounting the events of that fateful day in which Lifestream emerged to save the planet from Meteor. He tells his tale to Reeve, in hopes of becoming a member of the World Restoration Order, a new army devoted to rebuilding after the crisis.
Image gallery
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Cloud Strife threatened by the new main villain, Kadaj
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Turks; Reno and Rude confront the two new villains; Loz and Yazoo
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Vincent Valentine and Cloud Strife discuss many things in the Forgotten Forest
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Sephiroth's infamous scene from Final Fantasy VII, redesigned in Advent Children
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Aerith & Cloud in a dream sequence
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Cloud holding Tifa
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Cait Sith riding Red XIII (Nanaki) with Barret in the back
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Two of the Turks, Reno and Rude
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Two of the newest villains, Loz and Yazoo
Credits
Characters and Voice actors
| Character | Japanese | Japanese Voice Actor | English Voice Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denzel | （デンゼル） | Kyousuke Ikeda | |
| Elena | Megumi Toyoguchi | ||
| Aerith Gainsborough | （エアリス・ゲインズブール） | Maaya Sakamoto | |
| Cid Highwind | （シド・ハイウィンド） | Kazuyuki Yama | |
| Infected Girl with moogle-doll | Rina Mogami | ||
| Kadaj | （カダージュ） | Shoutarou Morikubo | |
| Yuffie Kisaragi | （ユフィ・キサラギ） | Yumi Kakazu | |
| Tifa Lockhart | （ティファ・ロックハート） | Ayumi Ito | |
| Loz | （ロッズ） | Kenji Nomura | |
| Red XIII (Nanaki) | （レッド・XIII） | Masachika Ichimura | |
| Reno | （レノ） | Keiji Fujiwara | |
| Rude | （ルード） | Taiten Kusunoki | |
| Sephiroth | （セフィロス） | Toshiyuki Morikawa | |
| Rufus Shinra | （ルーファウス神羅） | Toru Ohkawa | Wally Wingert |
| Cait Sith | （ケット・シー） | Hideo Ishikawa | |
| Cloud Strife | （クラウド・ストライフ） | Takahiro Sakurai | |
| Reeve Tuesti | Banjou Ginga | ||
| Tseng | Junichi Suwabe | ||
| Vincent Valentine | （ヴィンセント・ヴァレンタイン） | Shougo Suzuki | |
| Barret Wallace | （バレット・ウォーレス） | Masahiro Kobayashi | |
| Marlene Wallace | （マリン・ウォーレス） | Miyu Tsuzurahara | |
| Yazoo | （ヤズー） | Yuuji Kishi | |
| Zack | (ザックス） | Kenichi Suzumura |
Voice Actors (English)
It is widely speculated that the characters that appeared in Kingdom Hearts will be voiced by the actors who did them in that game; however, the actors who were chosen to play the characters in Kingdom Hearts were not chosen by Square Enix, but Disney, since their actors were used in the game, yet SE could use them as the voices for the characters.
Walter Roberts was the narrator in E3 2004 and Steamboy trailers (according to iMDB).
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 Seike
- Yasuhiro Miyakawa