It has long been claimed by many that Final Fantasy VII was incomplete, an intended resurrection of Aerith being left out due to time constraints. While true that the original Japanese release suffered from time constraints, and despite pushing back the release date a full month to work on the game longer, they still failed to add in a pivotal scene of backstory (Cloud's flashback in the Shinra Mansion basement on Disc 3 in which remembers his and Zack's escape from Nibelheim), a boss fight against Diamond WEAPON, the two optional mega bosses (Ruby and Emerald WEAPONs), and a few other small things that were added into the North American release.
Once the game was released in Japan, they added these things in, having over half a year to program them in. Despite this, many fans having continued to argue that -- for whatever reason -- something as pivotal to the plot as Aerith being revived was not added in during the six months of extra time the developers were given to work on the matter, despite them adding in things like the WEAPON boss battles and a few other things that were insignificant in comparison to such a massive plot element as this.
There has been rumour after rumour after rumour that Aerith was either intended to be revived or could be. To this day, many who even are aware that Aerith can't be revived believe that the developers once intended for her to be. I now have the proof that such a resurrection was never intended, even from the inception of the idea.
In the May 2003 issue of the United Kingdom video game magazine known as EDGE (quite possibly the most professional, best organized, and all around greatest video game magazine around), there is a six-page "Making of..." feature on Final Fantasy VII (there's a six-page "Making of..." feature in the back of every issue they release), in which Yoshinori Kitase (Co-Scenario Writer and Director of Final Fantasy VII) and Tetsuya Nomura (Character Designer of Final Fantasy VII) are interviewed.
During the course of the interview, Nomura speaks about what he intended in coming up with Aerith's death, and Kitase speaks on the fans' responses to her death. Here follows that part of the interview, along with picture proof that this issue of the magazine exists, and that the interview and dialogue I speak of is present within the issue.
Nomura, concerning Aerith's death:
Back at the time we were designing the game, I was frustrated with the perennial cliche where the protagonist loves someone very much and so has to sacrifice himself and die in a dramatic fashion to express that love. We found this was the case in both games and movies, both easter and western. But I wanted to say something different, something realistic. I mean, is it right to set such an example to people?
Kitase follows that up with this:
In the real world, things are very different. You just need to look around you. Nobody wants to die that way. People die of disease and accident. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad attached to it. It leaves, not a dramatic feeling, but a feeling of emptiness. When you lose someone you loved very much you feel this big empty space and think 'If I had knowni this was coming I would have done things differently.' These are the feelings I wanted to arouse in the players with Aerith's death relatively early in the game. Feelings of reality and not Hollywood."
Kitase, concerning the fans' responses to Aerith's death:
The world was expecting us to bring her back to life, as this is the classic convention. But we did not. We had decided this from the beginning. There was a lot of reaction from Japanese users. Some of them were very sad about it, while others were angry. We even received a lengthy petition addressed to our scenario writer asking for Aerith's revival. But there are many meanings in Aerith's death and that could never happen.
And here's the magazine shots. First, Kitase's words on Aerith being intended to remain dead:
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Next, Nomura's words on Aerith's death:
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The proof of the magazine's existance:
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And there you have it. Proof from the Director and Co-Scenario Writer of Final Fantasy VII -- as well as the Producer of Advent Children -- that no revival of Aerith was ever intended.
I realize that for some here this wasn't needed, but I've found that even among many well-informed gamers, the concept that the idea was once intended was believed. I'm just making this to ensure that the facts of the matter are brought to light.
