Totally Agree!

okay I just had to back up a bit to verify it was you. How we feeling about Roche

My thoughts on Roche can be found summarized here

To not summarize them:

I love how stupidly consistent with the original he feels. I love Reno's comment in remake that all SOLDIERS are in fact, massive weirdos. I love how gay they let him be. I love that he quotes Romeo & Juliet. Except, in this universe, Loveless is the stand in for shakespeare and there's actually several shakespeare lines in the performance at the saucer. So there's like a 90% chance Roche was just quoting Loveless when he said that. I love that he put in the effort to hire a full brass band for his showdown in Junon. I love his stupid little keychain (yes I had it equipped for like half my playthrough)

Most of all I love that Cloud???? Weirdly respects him???? After their first duel, whenever Roche shows up, Cloud plays by the rules and tells all his allies to stand down so they can 1v1. He genuinely likes Roche and has this begrudging fondness for their random shonen rivalry. You don't see him giving Sephiroth any of that. Cloud has so many random people obsessed with him, and you know the only one he tolerates??? Roche. What the hell.

If we're talking about his final fight, let me just say: Ow.

"Absolutely no one comes to save us but us."

Ismatu Gwendolyn, "you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress)", from Threadings, on Substack [ID'd]

Only a blind person would deny the writers' intention here ❤️

In the August 20th, 2021 interview for Trace of Two pasts, Nojima comments on how Aerith handles her sadness.

Both of the stories shine light on the protagonists who steadfastly live on despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding them. Can you tell us what kind of story device you used to get these ideas?

Nojima: I thought about those who were able to overcome various sadness in their lives. Aerith tries to get used to the environment by maintaining a very upbeat personality and believing that she isn’t sad.

(Source)

So Aerith pretends to be an upbeat, happy person to mask her sadness?

Sure enough:

“Gotta look forward, not back.”

Ahhh my poor heartbroken girl 💔

Talk about a coincidence!

(Previous post here)

Midgar Blues

It has been said and repeated to death: there's a song dedicated to the "promise" in the Remake, and this should be enough to claim the "coincidence" post and end it here with a good link to enjoy the song.

But this song received some criticisms, so I'd like to talk a bit more about it.

1. "There is no evidence that this song is about Cloud and Tifa" and "It's just a random song in Wall Market without specifical meaning".

I saw some people trying to debate about this matter so, here we are.

The text perfectly describes the scene of the promise and Cloud leaving Nibelheim to join SOLDIER. It talks about a man/boy who left his hometown for Midgar, leaving behind a girl. There's a reference to the Lifestream and to the starry night with falling stars. The lyrics - both English and Japanese - are posted below.

This song has old-time/banjo&harmonica sounds that fit the "old west" atmosphere of Nibelheim.

The "author" of the song says he had started his career 7 years ago, when Cloud and Tifa shared the promise, and he's wondering if "Midgar Blues" will be his greatest success. Get the metaphor.

From a storytelling perspective this is NOT a coincidence: no reasonable company invests money and resources to create this sort of content without a reason (and no reasonable company invests money and resources in a song submissively sang in a hidden location of the game, probably this piece will have more focus and importance in the next parts of Remake when the promise will be brought up again - who knows, maybe at Gold Saucer?).

2. The original Japanese lyrics are different from the English translation (hence: it's not about love)

(Source)

The English version is undoubtly romantic and includes the words "True love", while the Japanese version doesn't. I'd like to point out a couple of considerations:

Whether you take the English version or the Japanese one, they're both romantic. It really doesn't seem to me that the original version sounds like a man singing for his sister or his mother. The romantic subtext is in both songs, and it's no wonder: the fact that Cloud was in love with Tifa at the time of the promise is history, more likely the addition of the "True love" part could be made in order to convince the most relunctant part of the western fandom about this subject.

This is a "Enka" song, a popular Japanese music genre that bears some resemblance with blues (for this reason, "Midgar Blues"). This genre is a form of sentimental ballad: enka songs usually express strong emotions, especially love.

This is more a personal opinion about localization from the perspective of someone who's not a native english speaker. I've read many harsh comments about the English localization of the Remake. Especially when it comes to LTD I've seen people from both sides of the fence complaining the translators to be biased CA or CT fans. Fact is that if the complain comes from both sides probably they're not the first nor the second, they're just...translators. I'm not a translator but I speak many languages and it happenes to me to watch and rewatch movies both in English and in my native language. You'll never find a literal word-by-word translation, ESPECIALLY when it comes to songs. Because it wouldn't work. A good localization has to follow the pace of the lip-sync, has to create rhythm, rhymes and lyricism when it comes to poems and songs, it has to convey the right feeling before the right word, it has to take into account the cultural differences from the country of origin of the movie/song and the receiving audience (in this case Japanese people tend to be more descreet and less explicit than western people when talking about love), and much more. With this I'm not saying everyting in the localization is perfect, I don't speak a word of Japanese so I can't make a comparison myself, but just remember that the devs DO speak English. They speak it well enough to notice the difference between the two texts of the song and if they authorized it (I doubt nobody bothered to double check the international scripts of one of the most important products of this company)...it just means that they agree.

In conclusion, yes, it's a love song about the promise and no, it's NOT a coincidence.

He's correct and he should say it.

FF7 Remake ~English/Japanese Comparison Master Post

I have been noting the differences between the official North American English language version of FF7R and the Japanese game. Translation choices are guided by cultural differences and the media tropes, audience expectations, and localized needs that shape the narrative. These small differences can significantly impact how we understand characters and their relationships. I love sharing my observations and guesses with other fans!   I think I am pretty unbiased since this is my first real encounter with the story (husband played the OG so I know a little bit) but know these are still my thoughts on it. I am overall disengaged from the surprisingly vitriolic ship wars. Pls don’t drag me into that.     I have made 10 posts at least 20 about it so far. The earlier ones are a bit sloppily done but as I’ve continued, the later posts got more streamlined and easier to read. Sorry for typos. I’ll update this master post occasionally when more posts come. If you are so moved, there is a link to send me a cup of coffee because I can only really do these late at night.   

20. Tifa’s resolution 19. “You can’t fall in love with me” 18. EVERYONE DIES 17. Interlude: CLOUD AND TIFA LUUURRRVVEE EACH OTHER - I only did a few and they are somewhere in the comments.  16. Untranslatable weird speech things: the case of Reno 15. Untranslatable weird speech things: the case of Wedge ~Shameless request to please buy me coffee. I don’t have a patreon 14. Hide and Seek with Tifa and Aerith, aka Chicks before Dicks  13. We’ve got a bodyguard, don’t forget. MINE. 12. HOHEEEEEEEEE + video 11. Pretty boys, homely girls, nailed it, and is Cloud…kind of stupid? 

~~Pause for a Reeve appreciation post~~ 10: Someone’s got a bit of a crush 9. That’s the perfect type for you I’d say. 8. Is Tifa, like, your girlfriend? 7. Aerith’s personality differences.  6. Not a “Merc” and other observations.  5. You and everybody and their mother.  4.5 note: A great Japanese youtuber compares the Ghost scene. 4. Tifa, the protector. 3. Lovers used to give these when they were reunited… 2. Flirting at the bar. 1. Alone at last.

Woof

Marlene knows him well.

Marlene is a smart kid.

Trust Marlene.

“But that’s all right. As long as I’m with you… As long as you’re by my side… I won’t give up even if I’m scared.”

 (Pic on pixiv: みなと)