Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-

Last Order -Final Fantasy VII- (ラストオーダー -ファイナルファンタジーVII-, Rasuto Ōdā -Fainaru Fantajī VII-) is an Original Video Animation based on events that occurred in Final Fantasy VII. The movie was released in Japan with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

The 25 minute anime is about 2 events that happened in Final Fantasy VII. One flashback takes place 5 years before the game begins, revolving around Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, and Sephiroth at Nibelheim. The other flashback involves Zack and Cloud on the run from the Shin-Ra Company. The anime cuts back and forth between these two events, with the Turk commander Tseng reminiscing on the Nibelheim event. Last Order also forms the basis of the Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- PSP game, and serves as a tie-in with the mobile phone game Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, as several of the game's playable Turk characters appear as minor characters, with some having dialogue.

Although the anime was originally only released in Japan, it was released in the collector's edition of Advent Children in North America and Europe. This collector's edition was released on February 6, 2007.

Plot
The anime opens up with Cloud being carried by Zack on his back in a forest. Zack tells him that he'd like to let him take a break, but they aren't able to. Suddenly, three men in grunt uniforms with swords jump out of the bushes and rush towards the duo. Zack grabs the handle of his sword from its sheath on his back.

The movie switches to the Shin-Ra Tower, where Tseng is talking on a cell phone, telling whoever he is talking to that the military has made contact with the "target". Tseng then says that the Turks will be sent to where the "target" was encountered, and that everyone else has go to back to the base.

The movie switches back to Cloud and Zack, with Zack placing Cloud on the ground and fighting the three opponents. Once they are defeated, Zack picks Cloud up again and continues walking through the forest. Almost immediately, more enemies arrive and start shooting at Zack and Cloud, but they escape and jump off a cliff.

The movie switches to Tseng, who says that 72 hours ago, the Turks received a mission to capture "samples" that were on run from a Shin-Ra facility. The targets are two adult males, one formerly a SOLDIER First Class. Tseng then says that because of what happened five years ago, the targets are somewhat related to him. He continues saying that if it had never happened, then their lives wouldn't be this crazy. He then opens a book on his desk and goes to a page containing a picture of Sephiroth, saying that Sephiroth was the reason for their lives. The movie then goes black and shows the logo.

Once the logo fades out, Nibelheim is shown in flames with Sephiroth killing an inhabitant. He then walks away from the town, going to take back Jenova.

Tifa is then shown walking around Nibelheim looking for her father. She sees Zangan helping an injured civilian and asks him what happened to the town. He tells her that Sephiroth is the reason. Tifa is surprised that Sephiroth would ever do this and asks Zangan if he has seen her father. He tells her he's at the Mako Reactor on Mount Nibel. Before she runs to the mountain, he warns that Sephiroth is there too. Despite him telling her this, Tifa runs off to the reactor, with him yelling from behind her that she won't be able to do anything.

Back to the Turks, Tseng is seen at his office again looking at the book that contained Sephiroth's photo. The Turks report to him that the target has been spotted.

Zack, still carrying Cloud, is shown surrounded with troops. As they ready their guns, Zack places Cloud on the ground against a pillar, shoving his sword in the ground in front of Cloud. Zack then begins to fight them all. One of the troops comments that he's too strong and that he has the power of a SOLDIER. As more troops arrive, Zack runs off, leaving Cloud behind.

Tseng is shown again in his office looking at the book on his desk. This time, instead of seeing Sephiroth's picture, Zack's is shown, along with some written information about him beside his picture.

Zack along with a troop arrives at Nibelheim and meets Zangan. Zack asks if Sephiroth was the reason why the town is up in flames and calls him a killer. Zangan replies that Sephiroth's gone too far and ask if Zack wants Sephiroth. He then remembers that Tifa went to Mount Nibel and tells Zack that Sephiroth is also there. Zack tells the troop to help the man and that he will help Tifa.

Zack is then shown again, running down a street. Two troops on bikes race from behind him to in front of him, causing him to stop running. Suddenly, beside Zack, a helicopter arrives, containing two Turks--Rude and Elena's older sister. They both have a headset on and Rude asks if they're supposed to kill or capture Zack. Tseng is shown on a cell phone in his office telling them to try their best to catch him alive. The female Turk then tells Zack to surrender and that if he does, they can promise his personal safety. Zack says nothing, and the two troops on the bikes decide to take him, readying their guns. Zack then declares that "what he wants is freedom," and runs at the two troops.

Tseng is shown at his office again. His cell phone rings and answers it, saying, "What?"

Tifa is then seen running towards the Mako Reactor. She sees her father lying on the ground, with a bloodied sword beside him. She runs to him, and he tells her to run. He then dies, and Tifa cries over his body. She then says that Sephiroth killed him and grabs the sword beside him. She then says that she hates SOLDIER, Shin-Ra, and the Mako Reactors, all of them. The door Sephiroth was standing in front of opens and he walks in.

Sephiroth is shown going up the stairs inside the reactor. He stops at the top, faces a door, and says, "Mother. I've come for you." Tifa, holding a sword in both her hands, runs in the reactor and up the stairs towards Sephiroth, yelling how he dared to kill her father and everyone in the village. As soon as she reaches his back, she swings her sword down at him. Sephiroth quickly turns around, grabs the sword, and knocks her in the air and down the stairs. She lands at the bottom of the stairs, reminiscing about a promise that when she's in trouble, Cloud will come to save her.

Meanwhile, Cloud is still lying motionless against a pillar with Zack's sword in front of him. Two troops try to lift the sword from the ground but are unable to. A bike's tire is then shown approaching them.

Tseng is then shown on his cell phone talking with Rude. Rude says that Zack has acquired a bike and that his escape region has increased.

Back to Cloud, Zack approaches the two troops trying to lift his sword from the ground and punches one in the face and smashes the face of the other into the pillar. Zack easily lifts the sword from the ground, spins it, and puts it on his back. He squats down to Cloud and apologizes to him for making him wait. Zack and Cloud are then shown on a bike, with Zack asking Cloud to not be mad, and that he wouldn't leave his friends alone. However, Rude and Elena are in a helicopter above them, following them. Zack speeds off into a narrow road, and Elena reports that they've lost them. Rude says that they're heading off to Midgar. Tseng is shown in his office, saying that Midgar has to be cordoned off.

Back at the reactor, Zack wakes up Tifa. Tifa says that she hates Shin-Ra, SOLDIER, and him. Zack doesn't ask her to forgive him, and walks up the stairs towards the door Sephiroth went through, now closed. Once at the door, Zack grabs his sword and smashes it open. Zack sees Sephiroth in front of the metallic sculpture of Jenova. Sephiroth says to her that they should take back the planet together and that they should go to the promised land. Zack then yells at Sephiroth, asking him why he killed the villagers in Nibelheim and why he hurt Tifa. Sephiroth only laughs and tells Jenova that "those people are here again." Sephiroth continues, saying that with Jenova's superior powers and knowledge, she should have became ruler of the planet, but that "those people" took her planet from her hands. Sephiroth says that she doesn't have to be sad anymore and that she can come with him. He then rips off the metal cover and sees Jenova inside a large glass chamber. Zack places his sword right beside Sephiroth's neck, asking him, "What the hell is wrong with you?" Sephiroth then laughs and calls him a traitor. Sephiroth quickly grabs his sword and the two fight.

As they're fighting, Zack says he trusted Sephiroth a lot, and that he's no longer the Sephiroth he once knew. As they continue fighting, Sephiroth says that he is the chosen one, the chosen ruler of the planet. He continues talking, saying that he will take back the planet from humans and return it to the Cetra, and that that is what he was born to do. Despite Zack's attempts at fighting him, Sephiroth defeats Zack, who is thrown out of Jenova's chamber to where he woke up Tifa, with his sword left in Jenova's chamber.

Sephiroth walks up to the glass and places his hands against it, saying that every thing is all right now. Right when he finishes saying this, the camera shows the glass breaking, and then shows a sword shoved through him. Asking who it is, a man in a troop uniform responds, "Give me back Mother, Tifa, and the whole village! I used to respect you, admire you!" Sephiroth responds by calling him a bastard. The man removes his sword from Sephiroth, and he falls to the floor. The man says Tifa's name and runs to her. He removes his helmet and runs to Tifa, the camera showing that the troop was Cloud. He puts his hand on her face and Tifa wakes up. Tifa is amazed that Cloud is there, and that he kept his promise, that he came for her when she is in danger. A loud crash is heard. Sephiroth has broken the glass containing Jenova and cuts off her head. Cloud looks up at the door to her chamber to see Sephiroth walking out of it, with Jenova's head in his hand. Zack encourages Cloud to finish him off. Cloud runs at him, yelling his name. Sephiroth stops him right when he reaches him and stabs Cloud through the stomach. He then throws him back into Jenova's chamber. Sephiroth walks up to him, saying, "Do you think a mere human could defeat me?" He then stabs Cloud again, and lifts him up over a ledge. Cloud says that he can never forgive him. He grabs his sword, pulls himself back onto the platform, and swings the sword, causing Sephiroth to be thrown aside. Sephiroth can't believe what Cloud did, and then sees his glowing eyes. Sephiroth then laughs. He tells Jenova to come with him to the promised land and jumps off the platform, falling to the bottom of the reactor and disappearing. Cloud, still with Sephiroth's sword in him, passes out. The camera moves to a Turk dialing on her cell phone outside Jenova's chamber. Zangan, along with Tifa on his back, is shown looking at Mount Nibel. He says to himself that he hopes Cloud and Zack survive.

The reactor is now filled with Turks and scientists, with Zack and Cloud on stretchers. As Zack is being carried out of the reactor, Professor Hojo tells the carriers that he is to be taken to Shin-Ra Mansion's basement. Tseng then approaches Hojo and asks how is the village being handled. Tseng replies that they've already started working on it. But then he questions if they "really have to do all that." Hojo replies that Tseng's too young and that he doesn't care how he sees it, and then tells him to hurry and finish it up. After he says this, he sees Cloud being carried out and approaches him. Hojo finds him interesting and wants to use him as a new sample for his experiments.

Tseng is shown at his office. A Turk calls him and says that Zack has entered the area. Tseng replies that he will be there right away. He then says to himself, "Will we take their freedom away from them again?" He looks down at the book on his desk, this time containing a page about Cloud.

The bike Cloud and Zack were on is shown, with Zack kicking it. Rude reports that they ditched the bike when it ran out of gas and hitchhiked a truck leaving Midgar. Tseng is seen walking towards eight turks beside a helicopter. One of them, Reno, comments on how serious Tseng looks. Another Turk says, "We helped them five years ago, and now we are chasing them?" Another Turk calls Cloud and Zack pathetic. Another turk says he sympathizes with them. Reno says that no matter what their mission is, they carry it out--it's their job. Tseng then tells them it's time to go, and they board the helicopter.

Zack and Cloud are shown in the back of a yellow truck driving in a wasteland outside Midgar. Zack asks Cloud what he's going to do when they get to Midgar. Cloud doesn't answer, so Zack continues, saying that they'll need money first. He then asks the driver if there's any business he can do. The driver says that he should try everything while he's still young, and to spend time trying things when he's old. Zack says to Cloud that he said they can do anything. At this, Zack says that he will be an odd jobs person. He continues, saying that he will do troublesome and dangerous jobs, as long as they pay him good. He then asks Cloud what he's gonna do again. Zack then says he's just joking, and that he won't leave him alone because they're friends. He says that they both will open an odd jobs company.

A sniping scope locks onto on Cloud, and a person says that they will be within firing range soon. Another person says to go for it. The first person says that the Turks said to wait until after they arrive. The second person says that they're not going to give the Turks credit. He tells the first person not to worry and just shoot. The camera then shows the Turks helicopter above the wasteland, with Tseng and Elena's sister piloting.

Zack looks above the truck and asks the driver why they aren't at Midgar yet. He then calls the truck old, but as soon as he finishes the sentence, he blinks and dashes to Cloud, telling him to get down. The screen goes black. Zack is heard telling Cloud to run, and then a gunshot is heard. The credits then appear.

Discrepancies with the game
Because Final Fantasy VII was produced several years prior to the release of Last Order, the interpretations of events sometimes differ between the game and the OVA. Further discrepancies are made in Crisis Core. The contradictions are as follows:


 * In Final Fantasy VII, Tifa's father is found already dead inside the Mako Reactor. In Last Order, he is found dying outside the reactor. Crisis Core does not include this event.


 * In Final Fantasy VII, when Tifa is injured by Sephiroth, Zack just checks on her. In Last Order, they have a short conversation before Zack enters the chamber. This conversation also occurs in Crisis Core.


 * In Last Order, Cloud and Sephiroth have dialogue during their confrontation that was not present in the game. The same is true in Crisis Core.


 * In Final Fantasy VII, when Cloud charges Sephiroth with Zack's Buster Sword, Sephiroth turns in time to be stabbed in his stomach. In Last Order, Sephiroth is unaware of Cloud's presence in Jenova's chamber until after he is stabbed through his lower back. He is once again stabbed through the back in Crisis Core.


 * In Final Fantasy VII, Cloud is stabbed by Sephiroth's Masamune once. In Last Order, he is stabbed with the sword twice. Cloud is only stabbed once in Crisis Core.


 * In Final Fantasy VII when Sephiroth attempts to leave with Jenova's head, Cloud pursues him onto a catwalk that crosses over the middle of the reactor, a wide shaft leading into the Lifestream below. Here, Sephiroth quickly turns and runs his Masamune through Cloud. After being impaled by Sephiroth and held in the air above the Lifestream, Cloud pulls the blade out of his chest and uses it to fling Sephiroth into the Lifestream. In Last Order, Cloud charges Sephiroth while he stands at the top of the stairs leading to Jenova's chamber, and is impaled a first time. Sephiroth then tosses him into Jenova's chamber and impales him upon his blade a second time, holding Cloud above the shaft that leads to the Lifestream. Cloud then grabs Sephiroth's sword and throws him into a wall. Sephiroth then jumps into the Lifestream. What happened in Last Order is also present in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-. Crisis Core alters the events even further, with Cloud charging Sephiroth on the steps and being knocked into the Jenova chamber. Sephiroth then stabs Cloud and the events proceed as they did in the original game, other than occurring in the Jenova chamber.


 * In Final Fantasy VII, when Zack rushes Sephiroth, he is defeated in a very short period of time. In Last Order, he fights with Sephiroth for about 48 seconds before being defeated. In Crisis Core, the fight is expanded into a two-part boss battle.


 * In Final Fantasy VII, when Cloud goes to move Tifa to safety after defeating Sephiroth, there is no dialogue. In Last Order, after Cloud stabs Sephiroth in front of Jenova and moves Tifa to safety, she regains consciousness and speaks with him. This is a plot hole, because in the game, Tifa has no recollection of Cloud ever coming to Nibelheim 5 years ago, which is a key point in the story. Correcting the plot hole, Crisis Core returns to the previous version in which Tifa does not speak to Cloud.


 * In Final Fantasy VII, Cloud is present during Sephiroth's attack on Nibelheim and is knocked unconscious. He later recovers and rushes to the Mako reactor after Zack has already gone in that direction. In Last Order, he and Zack discover Nibelheim in flames, and only goes to the reactor after looking for injured civilians with Zangan. In Crisis Core, Cloud is knocked unconscious just as in the original game.


 * In Last Order, Cloud and Zack are ambushed by Shin-Ra soldiers while hitchhiking to Midgar in a pickup truck. While Final Fantasy VII features the hitchhiking scenario, it does not feature the attack that Cloud and Zack suffer at that time. Instead, Zack is gunned down on a cliff overlooking Midgar by three Shinra soldiers, who fire further rounds into his body as he lies on the ground. In the retelling of events, Zack is shot and presumably killed while taking a bullet meant for Cloud. In Crisis Core, Zack fights an entire legion of Shinra soldiers alone and is weakened enough for the three lone infantrymen to kill him just as in the original game.

Voice actors
Despite the anime's release on the collector's edition of Advent Children in North America and Europe, it was not dubbed. The voices remained Japanese; however, English subtitles could be turned on.

Soundtrack
de:Last Order: Final Fantasy VII