The following interview appeared in the Japanese magazine, GanGan, July Issue.
The interview covers mostly Advent Children with some information on Before Crisis.
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Advent Children: This might just be a new genre.
GanGan: To get right to the point, at this year’s E3 the latest trailer was shown.
Concerning the visuals, what aspects did you want to stand out?
Mr. Nomura: The original characters have evolved so we’re aiming for the textures
and atmosphere to feel real, but with the modeling we’re not looking for realism.
As for the rest, we’ll go with what looks cool. The same goes for things like direction,
and the battle scenes too, but by contrast we didn’t make it too realistic. I’m
having the development team do things that are really exaggerated like the technique
employed in anime and manga and such, where within a realistic atmosphere you have
things that are done non-realistically, like the modeling of the characters in AC.
GanGan: Looking at the visuals, it’s turning out to be a production with a mysterious
atmosphere, with there being what seems to be a fusion between non-realistic and
realistic styles.
Mr. Nomura: A fusion you say… well, I guess it might be. With there being
a very fine balance that is, in any case, hard to put into words. If it became either
more realistic or non-realistic, the present balance would probably be lost. It’s
something that’s different also from your usual animation, I guess you could call
it a new genre.
The gloomy lot gets into action all right!
GanGan: Continuing about the characters, the appearance of people from the original
game making a continuing appearance here, has rather changed, hasn't it?
Mr. Nomura: Yes, the original FFVII was made in 1997 and 7 years have passed
since then, and within the world of the characters themselves too, 2 years have
passed so… As for the clothes, if they were the same as 2 years ago, I’d be like
people saying 'Is that one outfit all you own?' (laughs) As for Vincent, his outfit
hasn’t changed, it’s probably like he doesn’t have anything else (laughs). About
Vincent, with a body that doesn’t age and is immortal, he’s a bit different from
humans so I guess that’s why we took a chance in not changing his looks.
GanGan: Will the other characters that appeared in the game make an appearance
as well?
Mr. Nomura: The other characters… well, I’ll get in trouble if I say 'that’s
all?' You’ll just ask me why, right? (laughs) FFVII’s characters were really popular,
so such things are naturally being considered.
GanGan: About FFVII, the appearances of its gloomy characters have really gained
popularity- Vincent among others for instance.
Mr. Nomura: Yes, this time those people get plenty of instances to show off.
(laughs) Well, it’s not that the party from the game will just get together once
more and the story then develops from there… FFVII comprised an epic story totaling
tens of hours, but when you compare the current FFVII:AC to it, the latter comes
in really short. If all the previous members were to once again get together in
the same place, that would be overkill so…
GanGan: I see. So, about the 3 characters, Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, who newly make
their appearance in this production, these 3 have similar characteristics like silver
hair and such, right?
Mr. Nomura: I guess you could say they’re siblings… Concerning their looks,
if you're thinking that, since the colour of their hair as well as the colour of
their eyes is the same as Sephiroth's, there might in some way be a connection…
there is. (laughs) I can't yet tell you what they're after, but the keywords that
appeared in the last trailer 'Jenova', 'Reunion', 'Geostigma' and such are connected
to them. This time the story will start to develop with them at the centre. With
them showing up, the peace that has lasted for 2 years will begin to deteriorate.
GanGan: About the much talked about story, firstly, what is the meaning of the
subtitle, 'Advent Children'?
Mr. Nomura: The theme will be about 'Advent', which means 'second coming',
and 'Children', which literally means 'children'. Who is this 'children' referring
to? In general it also encompasses Marlene and her friends. Children will be the
key point of the story, and this time Cloud will have to come to their rescue. The
game, is being about saving the Planet, had an epic story, but this time it's about
saving the children… What appeared in the last part of the most recent trailer,
'Why is Cloud fighting once again?', 'Is it for the children? For a memory? Or,
for himself?', is something worth noticing.
GanGan: How will the story be connected with FFVII's?
Mr. Nomura: It’s not a story that will reveal the mysteries present in the
game, but the thing is, that although we concluded FFVII back then, I think that
there probably are among the players, those for whom there are still unclear things
remaining about the character of Cloud who’s role they assumed. Why is Cloud, who
is now living by himself in solitude, in fact alone? Aside from this, there must
surely be parts that trouble the minds of people who played FFVII… Pertaining to
that, I think that in more ways than one, Cloud will settle things this time.
Continuing with the previous issue of Famitsu PS2, there is an interview with
Noara, and it mentions Cloud's sword(s). He wants people to take note that Cloud's
new sword(s) have no Materia slots.
Before Crisis: How funny, a cellphone game that isn’t online!
GanGan: Well, to continue, at E3 a game called 'FFVII: BC', which will be compatible
with FOMA cellphones was newly announced. What prompted the project?
Mr. Nomura: It started with me wanting to do something with the mobile format.
Although a cellphone is a communication device, the current game is in a stand-alone
format. With the game not being online and not being about doing something together
with others although it is on the cellphone, for me that seemed rather strange,
so we chose FFVII as the subject matter to make the threshold easy to cross for
everyone. First I wanted to get people interested, and when I was thinking about
wanting to do this, there was FFVII:AC, a project already nicely underway, so I
thought, 'Isn’t there a possibility to tie it in with that?'. And, I thought designing
it from the Turks' perspective would be something new. I want to make something
that pulls off feeling like something half virtual, where you receive missions.
Although the main characters are members of the Turks, you’ll be able to play with
a character created by choosing a face and a name for yourself. As a matter of fact,
there exists a set chronology for FFVII, and this time I wanted to develop something
along those lines. With the game starting 6 years before FFVII and from there on
catching up to the world FFVII, there will also be, among other things, the fun
of seeing familiar characters show up.
GanGan: I see, well in closing if you'll please say a word to our readers concerning
for instance points of FFVII:AC you want them to look forward to.
Mr. Nomura: With this production, we put much effort into expressing things
like atmosphere and textures realistically. That is something in particular I would
like people to notice.
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Translated by:
Kionae,
Sasayaki,
Shadow Spirit, and
Vilaeth.
Thanks also to FF7AC
Reunion for the original Japanese summary.
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