Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

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-animated film 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 was released in Japan on September 14, 2005. The movie received the Honorary Maria Award at the Festival Internacional de Cinema de Cataluña on October 15 2005. The official Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children website 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, the timer was removed. 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. The film's soundtrack, scored by Nobuo Uematsu, was released on September 28, 2005.

A collector's edition of the movie is to be released in North America on February 20, 2007. To be Included in this collector's edition is listed below.


 * Ten collectible postcards
 * English movie script
 * Biographical character booklet
 * Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII story digest
 * Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Venice Film Festival footage
 * Sneak peek of upcoming Final Fantasy VII games
 * Trailers
 * Deleted scenes
 * The Distance: Making-of featurette with all new English voice cast interviews
 * The anime Last Order: Final Fantasy VII.

Plot
"The information below was compiled using various sources such as the FF7:AC IMDB Page, trailers, the Japanese release of the film, and the short stories contained in On the Way to a Smile written by Kazushige Nojima."

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" ("Seikon-Shoukougun" or Star Scar Syndrome in the Japanese version) has arisen. It is proving to be fatal, and children seem to be at greater risk. Cloud Strife, who is also infected with the disease, has secluded himself from the world, still haunted by the deaths of Aeris Gainsborough and Zack. However, he has established his own delivery service with the aid of Tifa Lockhart. He had lived with her along with Barret and Marlene Wallace for a while in their newly recontructed bar, 7th Heaven in the city of Edge. Tifa's bar is now an orphanage for the infected children. While Barret is away to settle his past, Marlene, Barrett's adopted daughter, is entrusted to the care of Tifa and Cloud, whom Tifa introduces to people as their daughter. With them is a boy named Denzel, whom Cloud and Tifa have taken in as their own.

The survivors of Midgar have begun to build a new home on the edge of the city, a new city aptly named 'Edge'. In the center is a monument to Midgar's destruction by Meteor and the peoples' survival. The monument was built by the president of the former Shin-Ra company, Rufus Shinra, who is now confined to a wheelchair due to the energy-draining effects of Geostigma. He is coordinating an investigation through the Turks into the effects that Sephiroth has left on the planet.

Three unknown figures appear and begin searching for Jenova's remains to complete the Reunion. The leader of the trio, Kadaj, claims that Geostigma is due to Jenova cells having entered the Lifestream. He seems to be somewhat familiar with Cloud, referring to him as "brother," most likely due to the fact that he considers anyone with spiritual or biological connections to Jenova as family. He also calls him "traitor," as Cloud is trying to stop Kadaj and his crew rather than embrace their efforts to further their goals dedicated to Jenova. Vincent Valentine suspects that the trio is seeking to obtain the remains of Jenova and that it could result in the return of Sephiroth. He then reveals that Geostigma is the result of one's gift from the Lifestream (the Spirit Energy given to them prior to birth) inside their body battling the Jenova cells for dominance within.

Tifa and Marlene go looking for Cloud at the church where Aeris spent time and grew her flowers, and where Cloud has apparently been living recently. 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. His Geostigma then flares violently and he collapses next to Tifa. They are found by the Turks, 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. They take the children to the City of the Ancients where Kadaj tries to persuade them that the Planet is inflicting this disease upon them and that they should rally together against the Planet. He then walks into the very lake where Aeris was laid to rest two years prior, and as he does so, corrupts it, turning it black. He takes a drink and tells the children to follow suit. They do so, entering a trance-like state, the pupils of their eyes becoming narrow slits like those of Kadaj.

As it gets late, Tifa wakes up, finding Cloud staring out the window. She confronts him about his Geostigma, asking him if he wants to die alone. Cloud does not answer, which clearly frustrates Tifa. Reno and Rude return, telling Cloud and Tifa that Kadaj has taken the children to the Forgotten Capital of the Ancients. On his way, riding on his motorcycle Fenrir, Cloud has a vision of Aeris, standing back-to-back with him in a field of flowers. She puts a hand gently on his arm, asking him why exactly he came. Cloud hangs his head and asks to be forgiven, but Aeris just giggles and asks "By whom?" Cloud tries to turn around to face her, but the vision ends. Suddenly, he is confronted by a hail of gunfire. Kadaj "controls" the children, using them as a human shield, and making them 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. During the battle of one VS three, Cloud performs his limit break "Blade Beam" against an earth-moving attack engineered by Loz. This leads to a battle, in which Cloud is defeated by the three, but saved by Vincent Valentine. Vincent says he had also saved Tseng and Elena by rescuing them from Kadaj and the others after they'd been brough to the Ancient City and tortured. After having a discussion about their current situation, Marlene comes and yells at Cloud when he says he wants to back down from fighting again.

It is here Cloud has another flashback of what happened prior to arriving to the Forgotten Capital. Rude had told him that the children have been taken there and that it was the hideout of Kadaj and the others. Hesitating, Cloud decided instead to go talk to Rufus. Tifa had obviously had it with Cloud, and lectured him, speaking her thoughts about how he is pained by past failures, and how he doesn't want to be alone but distances himself from others for fear of failing them. She pauses and says "Which is it... a memory or us?" Cloud just hangs his head and says, "But... I let you die." Aeris's voice is then heard, suggesting to Cloud that he should forgive himself instead of dragging his guilt with him and being the one to blame himself.

As the flashback ends, he asks Vincent if sin can be forgiven. Vincent just replies that he had never tried. This slightly confuses Cloud, but he says he'll give it a try and let Vincent know how it goes. Hand in hand with Marlene, they head back to the city.

The two return back to Edge, where they find the city in havoc. Yazoo and Loz have unleashed numerous Shadow Creeper monsters to attack the populace, and Kadaj is seen in an incomplete building with the wheelchair bound Rufus. The water Kadaj had the kidnapped children drink earlier activated the Jenova cells within them and allowed their Reunion instincts to take over, leading Kadaj and his brothers to Midgar. The children had surrouned the monument dedicated to Meteor's destruction of Midgar, leading the three silver-haired brothers to believe Jenova's remains were beneath it. When Yazoo and Loz attempt to pull the monument down, Reno and Rude appear to call them out to fight, and to add to the confusion, Kadaj then summons Bahamut SHIN. The two Turks rescue some of the possessed children from Bahamut's first blast -- which decimates the memorial monument -- and then proceed to engage in a fierce melee with Loz and Yazoo, though they're clearly outmatched. Despite being knocked to the ground again and again, the two Turks continue to battle on valiantly.

Tifa had protected Denzel from Bahamut's earlier blast, though both of them were reundered unconscious. Denzel awakens from his zombie-like state afterward and then attempts to defend Tifa himself, though clearly he's no match for Bahamut SIN. A sort of nostalgic scene ensues when the other Final Fantasy VII party members (Barret, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Yuffie, Cid, and Vincent) show up at this point to battle Bahamut SIN. The members each protect Denzel and Tifa -- and one another -- in turn before heading into battle with the summoned dragon, the scene finally culminating with the arrival of Cloud on Fenrir. Cloud tells Tifa that he returned Marlene to their bar and that his guilt feels lighter, to which she smiles. Denzel then says he'll go back to the bar 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 until Cloud joins in. At first, Cloud performs his limit break "Braver" to hit Bahamut down the ground. But "Braver" is not powerful enough to defeat Bahamut and the creature rises high into the sky, preparing to unleash a powerful Mega Flare that would have likely destroyed much of the city. With the help of the entire party, Cloud is boosted into the sky toward Bahamut, only to be hit dead on with Bahamut's massive Mega Flare. Flying through the blast, Cloud has a vision of Aeris reaching out to him, giving him a final boost to make his way through Bahamut's largest attack. He takes her hand, and she gives him the strength he needs to push through. With that, he goes through Bahamut's Mega Flare and finally takes the dragon 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, jumping out of the wheel chair and throwing off the white blanket he had been wearing. He also reveals the remains of Jenova that were sealed in a black box, a box which he had been hiding on his lap under the blanket all along. He tosses it off the edge of the building, and in a blind rage Kadaj fires a blast at Rufus. Surprisingly, Rufus easily dodges it, and in the process, he loses the bandages covering his head and allows himself to fall off the ledge. He then quickly pulls out his shotgun from his jacket and begins to fire at the gas pipe above Kadaj's head. Rufus' bullet hits the pipe, and the fire from Kadaj's blast makes contact with the gas from the leaking pipe. This causes an explosion, forcing Kadaj to jump in order to try stopping the box holding Jenova's remains from hitting the ground. Rufus changes his target to the falling Jenova container. After a few missed shots, he manages to hit the box, causing some of its contents to spill. Kadaj still manages to retrieve it but doesn't know it has been hit. Rufus is then saved by Tseng and Elena, who quickly shoot nets to break Rufus' fall. Before Kadaj can celebrate, he notices Cloud is hot on his tail. There is a chase scene on a partially constructed highway, where Loz and Yazoo both try to stall Cloud, who fail due to the timely arrival of Reno and Rude. Rude had made a bomb that he calls "Shin-Ra technology at it's finest." It's actually a bundle of TNT and fireworks strapped together, which takes out Loz and Yazoo's single remaining motorcycle, slowing them down considerably.

His brothers' duel with Cloud gives Kadaj a head start, but once interrupted by Reno and Rude, Cloud quickly catches up with him. They parry one another's attacks and Kadaj slashes at Cloud's infected arm. Cloud then removes his sleeve to reveal a pink ribbon which all of the party members have tied to their arms, a sign of their friendship and a symbol of remembrance of Aeris. Cloud catches up with Kadaj once more in Aeris's church where Kadaj tries to attack Cloud with magic. He misses, but hits the still blooming flower garden. Water wells up from the created hole and rises into the air, both physically harming Kadaj and healing Cloud of his Geostigma. A drop of water falls and Aeris's voice is heard, softly encouraging Cloud with "Let's go, Cloud". This water is said by the film's creators to be a representation of Aeris's final Limit Break, Great Gospel. Cloud pursues Kadaj once again and finally confronts him in a one-on-one showdown, a battle nearly cut short due to the rest of the party arriving in the Sierra, Cid Highwind's new airship, named after his assistant/wife Sierra (Shera in English localizations). However, Tifa and Vincent manage to convince everyone not to interfere because they believe this is Cloud's fight. Vincent reveals that Kadaj is in fact something like a larva of Sephiroth ("Shinentai" is the term used in the Japanese version of the film; it means an embodiment of will; in this case, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz were embodiments of Sephiroth's will, as manifested through his divided Spirit Energy and that of some extra tainted Spirit Energy from the Lifestream). The implications of this are that -- being part of Sephiroth's spirit -- if he comes into contact with Jenova's cells (Sephiroth's body), Kadaj can become Sephiroth's host. The Sierra flies off, brging a small smile to Cloud's face, knowing that his friends believe in him. A moment later, he finally defeats Kadaj with another of his Limit Breaks, Finishing Touch. Kadaj drops his sword and falls from the building that served as their battle ground.

Kadaj hangs from the building's edge with one hand, Cloud standing above him. However, instead of conceding defeat, Kadaj throws the container containing Jenova's remains at Cloud, who slices it open while reacting on instinct, allwoing Kadaj to absorb the spilled contents as he falls. Cloud jumps down after him, trying to finish him off before what he knows will happen next can happen, but it's already too late. Cloud's strike is stopped by Kadaj's body raising his hands as it transmogfrifies into Sephiroth, the Masamune forming in his grasp at the point of Cloud's impact. (The background music changes to Sairin: Katayoku no Tenshi at this point, a reprised, rock-orchestra version of One-Winged Angel.)

Sephiroth reveals to Cloud that the spirits of the people who died with Geostigma would serve to taint the Lifestream when they returned to it, thus allowing him to control the Planet as a whole. His plan was to use it to travel the stars until he found another planet to crash into, just as Jenova had done. Cloud asks what that would do to this Planet, and Sephiroth ominously replies, "Well... Thats up to you Cloud."

A strikingly fierce fight follows, Cloud battling Sephiroth for some time, even performing a split Blade Beam against him, though Sephiroth easily dodges it. Sephiroth comments that Cloud has become stronger and asks him where he found his new strength, to which Cloud refuses to answer. Sephiroth also comments that he's been thinking of what to give Cloud as a gift, suggesting that he should give him despair. Sephiroth tires Cloud to exhaustion, and as Cloud collapses on a wall, Sephiroth stabs him below his right shoulder. He then makes his final fatal mistake, asking Cloud what is most important to him so that he can have the pleasure of destroying it. Scenes of Aeris, Zack, Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel flash by and Cloud removes Sephiroth's blade from his shoulder, stating "I pity you. You just don't get it at all." Sephiroth leaps into the air, preparing for a final clash and Cloud declares "There's not a thing I don't cherish!" while leaping toward Sephiroth, separating his sword into six pieces and performing a new Limit Break (identified as "Omnislash Version 5," a variation of Cloud's infamous ultimate Limit Break from Final Fantasy VII; the new Limit Break consists of him seperating his multi-pieced sword into its component parts and dashing through Sephiroth with each one), which defeats Sephiroth. The defeated villain floats over Cloud with a single black-feathered wing emerging from his right shoulder. In answer to Sephiroth's earlier suggestion of giving him a gift, Cloud says "Stay where you belong, in my memories." Sephiroth smiles and replies, "I will... never be a memory..." before his wing wraps around him and he crumbles, revealing a badly injured Kadaj.

More of Aeris's Great Gospel rain begins to pour while Kadaj, dying in Cloud's arms, hears the voice of Aeris herself, telling him to return home. Mistaking Aeris for Jenova, the "Mother" he had been seeking with obsessive zeal, he makes the motion of reaching skyward and taking someone's hand, joyfully returning to the Lifestream and leaving Cloud behind victorious. Scenes are shown throughout Edge of the sick children with Geostigma being cured by a large scale version of Great Gospel. Rufus is shown in an alley, sitting in his wheelchair, surrounded by Elena, Tseng, Rude, and Reno, and is among those cured by the healing rain. The party onboard the Sierra are shown celebrating while a drop of water catches Tifa's eye. She looks up, smiling, saying to Aeris "Somehow, I knew you were there. Thank you."

As Cloud stands in the rain, at peace, he is suddenly shot from behind by Yazoo, who along with Loz, has survived the Turks' blast, although they too are now 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 before leaping toward them. Loz and Yazoo raise their hands, a blue aura surrounding both of their arms, and as Cloud brings his strike down upon them, they unleash a final blast, an explosion which disintegrates them and engulfs Cloud.

Seeing the area where Cloud was fighting explode, the crew onboard the Sierra react in shock, and Tifa calls out to Cloud. Denzel and Marlene are shown in Tifa's bar holding hands and looking out the window, Denzel stating "He'll come back. He said that he would".

Lying in a blank expanse, Aeris puts her hand on Cloud's forehead. Cloud mutters "Mother?" to which Aeris then replies "Again? Why is everyone calling me their mother lately?" Zack's spirit, with Aeris in the Lifestream, jokes "I guess they must be fond of you." Finally, he explains to Cloud that his place isn't there, and that he must return home.

Cloud awakens in Aeris's church in Sector 5, surrounded by his friends and many citizens from Edge, including the cured children. He cures Denzel, the last child with Geostigma, by bringing him into the newly formed pool in the middle of the church and pouring some water on Denzel's head. It is here where Cloud smiles for the first time in the movie. He then looks up and scans the church, doing a doubletake when he sees Aeris crouching by two children. Everything else stops. His eyes widen and his mouth falls open slightly. Aeris stands up and walks to the door, where Zack is leaning. Knowing he is alright now, Aeris turns back and smiles at Cloud, revealing her face for the first time in the movie and saying "You see? Everything's alright" She and Zack walk out the door and into the light with a final wave from Zack, all of them finally at peace. Cloud watches them leave, smiles, and says, "I know. I'm not alone. Not anymore."

Bonus ending
A small cutscene is shown after the main credits to "Calling" by Kyosuke Himuro. This scene features images of Cloud travelling on his motorcycle, Fenrir, through various landscapes. As the song reaches its climax, a flower field is shown that Cloud appears to be approaching and the camera pans out to show Aerith standing in this field. We see her at first from the side, but she turns her head eventually to face the camera, and, many speculate, to face Cloud. Cloud rides further into the horizon towards the flower field, smiling. The last scene shows Cloud's desk at 7th Heaven filled with postcards, letters and photographs of the places he has visited. A close up of his desk is shown with a new photograph of him and the AVALANCHE crew together (notable because the picture that was originally shown, only showed Tifa, Marlene, Denzel, and on the side; the new picture implies that Cloud is holding on to his new happiness) and a small bouquet of flowers (from the field shown earlier) laid in front of it.

Maiden that Travels Around the Planet
This is the story of Aeris Gainsborough while she is in the Lifestream after her unfortuate death at the hands of Sephiroth. Aeris meets many characters from AVALANCHE who have died in the game including Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs. The story also tries to answer the debate about who Aeris loves more and it is obvious by the end that she loves Cloud more than Zack. It even says Aeris led Tifa to Cloud in the Lifestream. In the end it reveals that Aeris with the help of many saved the planet from Meteor by summoning Lifestream.

On the Way to a Smile
There is a small series of stories taking place between the time Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Written by Kazushige Nojima, they are being released in episodes on the Japanese Advent Children website, and are currently only in Japanese. Various fan translations are available online.

Case of Denzel These episodes 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. Impressed by Tifa's decisiveness as to how to get on with life while everyone else still seemed at a loss, Johnny would start telling his customers stories about how wonderful Tifa was, and soon he lost business because of it. Many started going to Tifa's new 7th Heaven, also rebuilt in Edge, because they saw her as something of a feature attraction. However, her attention is mostly focused on caring for the children orphaned by the many recent tragedies.

One day Denzel shows up in Johnny's store to have a private meeting with Reeve Tuesti. He is interviewing to become part of Reeve's new World Restoration Order, an army devoted to rebuilding the Planet. Denzel then goes on to tell his story of how he became an orphan, the events of that fateful day in which the Lifestream emerged to save the Planet from Meteor, when he got Geostigma, and how came into the care of Tifa, Cloud, and Marlene.

Case of Tifa Shortly after the release of Case of Denzel, Nomura and his team released a second story, Case Of Tifa, which consists of Tifa's account on what happened after Meteor was destroyed, up to and including part of Denzel's story. It helps to uncover some of the mysteries around the beginning of the movie, and its location. This story was never released in English, which led to many fan-based sites to do their own translating.

Geostigma
Geostigma is a term used to describe the illness plaguing the inhabitants of the film world of Advent Children. What geostigma is exactly was widely speculated upon amongst fans of the game prior to the film's release; however, in the movie it was revealed geostigma is actually the negative side-effects of one's body overexerting itself in an attempt to purge Jenova's cells from within. It is also rumored to be the method by which Kadaj/Sephiroth uses to control the children seeing as Sephiroth has the power to control "lesser Jenova Cells".

After Cloud and company defeat Sephiroth and Jenova inside the Northern Crater in Final Fantasy VII, Jenova's cells are distributed within the Lifestream. It is explained that the body itself has a Lifestream born of the larger Lifestream encompassing the planet. The Lifestream gives life by breaking itself into smaller streams allowing people to live. Once the body dies, the stream within the body reconvenes with the larger stream, bringing back knowledge and information. This is also how materia/magic is made (since the Lifestream has infinite knowledge, in a concentrated form the knowledge is used as magic for living beings). Once implanted within the Lifestream and once the Lifestream breached the Planet's surface during the ending of Final Fantasy VII, Jenova's cells are distributed to the surface populace. Once Jenova's cells are eradicated through the healing power of Aerith's Great Gospel, the illness is cured.

Release information
Official released information about the dates

Japan: September 14, 2005

North America: April 25, 2006

Europe: April 24, 2006

Australia: May 3, 2006

New Zealand: May 24, 2006

About the Release and its Delays
Originally, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children had a runtime of approximately 60 minutes, slated for release on July 10, 2004. Upon release the film's runtime had increased to 101 minutes. Commercials for the film were planned for August of that year. Delays pushed the release dates back to September 13 for NA and September 14 for Japan as a simultaneous release. The simultaneous release was not an identical release however, 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 featured a clock counting down to the DVD's release.

Mere days before the North American release, Square Enix changed the date to November 2005, a move rumored to motivated by the promise of better sales during the lucrative holiday season. The date was changed again in early November to a January release date (with initial confusion given that many retail outlets got different release dates and information that didn't match), with a limited theatrical run before the release of the DVD. Fans questioned Square Enix's move, given the track record of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which bankrupted Square Pictures after the movie made a substantial loss.

The date continued to shift until stores confirmed that the film would be released in April. The official dates for NA and Europe followed from Sony Pictures and Sony Pictures UK.

The Illegal Release
On September 11 of 2005, the pirate group BiEN leaked the movie in DVD rip format over the internet. Many, desperate to see the movie since its announcement in September 2003, downloaded it through BitTorrent. The Japanese addition "Last Order" was also leaked around the same time.

Advent Children Complete
At the Tokyo Game Show 2006, Square Enix showed a trailer of a movie titled Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete that is to be released on the Blu-ray disc format. New scenes will be added to the movie so it could be called an extended version, however, Director Tetsuya Nomura says that "it's not meant to be just an update to the original, but rather a replacement". The release date of this Blu-ray version has not been confirmed, although Nomura said a Japanese release should be mid 2007 and, as long as Blu-ray continues to expand in North America and other reigons, Nomura says he would like to release it in those reigons too.

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