Final Fantasy: Unlimited



Final Fantasy: Unlimited is the second anime based off the popular video game series of Final Fantasy. It was originally scheduled for 52 weekly episodes (two seasons). Unfortunately, low ratings led to its cancellation, forcing the story to be quite condensed in the final episodes. But the story would later continue in web, manga & radio drama specials: "Final Fantasy Unlimited: Before", "Final Fantasy Unlimited: After", "FFU: After Spiral", "FFU: After 2".

Plot Summary
Final Fantasy: Unlimited is the story of Ai and Yu Hayakawa, two twelve year-old twins who travel into Wonderland, a mysterious parallel dimension, in search of their missing parents. Along the way they meet many strange new characters and travel to exotic lands in pursuit of their quest. All the while, the evil Earl Tyrant is holding the twins' parents hostage, and has had them brainwashed into working on his side to help him in the nourishing of himself and the entity Chaos. The Earl desires to consume every world outside Wonderland, other worlds like our own, in Chaos so he could rule universe.

However, there are two whose power challenge the Earl. The two known as "Black Wind" and "White Cloud". Known by the others as Kaze and Makenshi, they are Unlimited, the only threat to Chaos. But that is only if they put aside their own differences.

Episode List

 * 1) Wonderland: Journey into the Darkness
 * 2) Magun: Man of the Black Wind
 * 3) Fruit: The Town of Sweet Scent
 * 4) Makenshi: The White Etude
 * 5) Cid: The Adventure of the Underground Waterway
 * 6) Kigen Arts: The Saviour of Souls
 * 7) Subway: Enemy of the Dimensional Tunnel
 * 8) Soil: The Heart of the Magun
 * 9) Oscar: The Endless Project
 * 10) Mansion: The Memory of Sagiso
 * 11) Ciel: The Departure of Chocobo
 * 12) Fungus: Eternal Life
 * 13) Meteor: Abominable Memory
 * 14) Omega: Reunion and Departure
 * 15) Jane: The Moving Ocean Puzzle
 * 16) Kigen Summon: Behind the Smile
 * 17) Frog: The Smallest Great Adventure
 * 18) Madoushi: The Battle of Kiri and Kumo
 * 19) Ai: Meeting with Clear
 * 20) Yu: The Secret of Gaudium
 * 21) Cactus: The Wandering Ocean
 * 22) Moogle: Nostalgic Memories
 * 23) Teros: Long Lost Memories
 * 24) Chaos: The Earl Unveiled
 * 25) Kaze: The Glory of Life

Characters



 * Yu Hayakawa
 * Ai Hayakawa
 * Lisa Pacifist
 * Kaze
 * Makenshi

Comodin

 * Knave
 * Miles
 * Cid
 * Fungo

Villains

 * Earl Tyrant
 * Lords of Guadium
 * Herba
 * Oscha
 * Fungus
 * Pist Shaz XI
 * Soljashy

Others

 * Fabula
 * Joe & Marie Hayakawa
 * Chobi the Chocobo
 * Crux
 * Lou Lupus
 * Clear
 * Moogle
 * Madoushi

Continuation of FF:U
The story of Final Fantasy: Unlimited, left incomplete by the television series, was continued in several other media and released only in Japan. These are listed below, ordered by the chronology of the events they cover.


 * Sou no Kizuna is a novel that explores a side-story that is set somewhere before episode 12 of the series.
 * Final Fantasy: Unlimited Before is a drama CD that features a flashback to the destruction of Kaze and Makenshi's worlds. The ending shows what becomes of Kaze and Makenshi after the final episode. FF:U Before was awarded to competition winners in Japan.
 * Final Fantasy: Unlimited After is a book that contains a 32 page manga and 120 page script, released in 2002 by DigiCube. It depicts how the Hayakawa family and Lisa ends up back in their own world after the final battle. However, trouble stirs anew as the twins learn more of the mysterious organization that Lisa works for. It includes revelations of Lisa's past as well as featuring a new villain under Gaudium named Soljashy.
 * The After Spiral is a series of web novels published on the official Japanese FF:U website (which has since gone down). The first of these short stories takes a quick plunge into Makenshi's past, while the rest describe an encounter between the show's heroes and Soljashy on the twins' childhood home of Sado Island, where Ai and Yu are briefly reunited with their old friend Touya Satomi.
 * Final Fantasy: Unlimited After 2 is another radio drama. It deals with Comodeen's final attack on Gaudium and brings a conclusion to the conflict between Lisa and Soljashy, however it leaves many questions yet unanswered.

Connections to the games
Final Fantasy: Unlimited has been criticized for only having minimal connections to the main series (i.e. games). However, looking closely enough will reveal some more subtle correlations:


 * The job system can be applied to certain characters in the animé: Kaze can be seen as a gunner with summoner as a sub-job, while Makenshi (and Madoushi) would be warriors with summoner as sub-jobs. Lisa is somewhat more difficult to place. The Kigen Arts have numerous uses, but the majority seen in the animé are used for offense, with only a few defensive or restorative abilities. This layout, along with her quick reflexes, would make her similar to a monk, or possibly a ninja, while the "spirits of nature" aspect of the Kigen Arts tie it to geomancy. Amidst this confusion, one certainty is that the Kigen Dragon summon shows that she, like Kaze, Makenshi and Madoushi, has summoner as a sub-job.
 * Earl Tyrant and the Four Lords of Gaudium are parallel to Chaos and the Four Fiends in Final Fantasy.
 * Despite Final Fantasy XII being created after Unlimited finished, Gaudium looks a lot like the Alexander.
 * Fabula's eyes are heterochromatic: one blue, one green. This trait is shared with Yuna.
 * In the first appearance of Earl Tyrant and the Four Lords of Gaudium (minus Pist) in the second episode, the Earl is enjoying a meal of steak with Sylkis Greens (mispronounced and misspelled in the English dub and subtitles respectively as "shilkiss"), which apparently complements the flavor of the meat, unlike Gizzard. The Earl is referring to two variants of Gysahl Greens. Also, the greens appear here as leaves rather than root vegetables.