FFVII is probably my most favorite Final Fantasy for its character relationships. I've played through KHI, KHII, FFVII, FFVII: Crisis Core, FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus, and watched through "FFVII: Advent Children [Complete]," and am just really diehard. I think everyone is entitled to their opinion about the couplings in Final Fantasy VII based on their perception of the character relationships in the story, and personally I can admit that I was in love with Cloud and Aerith as an eternally transcending couple whose love overcomes death and all, but after having my heart wrenched with the irony and heartbreak of Zack's and Aerith's circumstances in Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, I like thinking that Cloud and Tifa are probably better off being together, since they practically are together anyway... XD They live under the same roof, practically have their own adopted child[ren] (Denzel and/or Marlene, if you don't want to count Marlene since Barrett is more of Marlene's father -- though he's also not blood related either -- but Tifa does refer Marlene to other people as "her daughter" in the novel of "On the Way to Smile: Case of Tifa," anyway, (not blood related either, mind you!), and Barrett refers to Tifa as Denzel's "Mom" in "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children when AVALANCE faced Bahamat SIN, so that would make Denzel and Marlene practically siblings and Cloud would be Marlene's second father figure, and Denzel worships Cloud so much he might as well be a father to him, too XD), and basically Cloud and Tifa lead a life together where they support each other emotionally and financially with children they love. It's not conventional, I know. And they define themselves as "family," so it's not romantic, but I feel that happiness comes in many ways, and if they are content being that way, I think Cloud and Tifa have their own happiness being together in that fashion. Since when was Cloud a smoothie anyway? XD But who knows? Maybe Cloud will suddenly become more romantic (though his smiling gestures and adorable words of assurance to Tifa, such as in the novel "On the Way to Smile: Case of Tifa," where he says that living a brand new life after Meteor "will be all right this time," and he "became very quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Because you're always with me."" That's probably got to be my most favorite thing I've ever heard Cloud say to Tifa.
Of course, Aerith will always be with Cloud in spirit, and that's fine. He'll always remember her, and I agree, that is a pretty strong bond fans love about Cloud and Aerith, because of the fact that he still cherishes her even when she's died. But I think he technically cherishes her just as much he does Zack, Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene, since images of all five of them popped into his mind when Sephiroth asked him what he cherished most in FFVII: Advent Children. "There's not a thing I don't cherish!"
Nobody says "I love you" in Final Fantasy VII, but the situations define a whole lot about Zack and Aerith. Zack was concerned when Angeal threatened Zack to fight him, saying, "Someone's waiting for you, no?" Zack spent a whole lot of time with Aerith for more than a year in the Slums, and rushed in extreme lengths to make his way back to her -- when 4 years had passed, because he was trapped in the Shinra Mansion, where Professor Hojo used tortured his body in various experiments. When he so close to seeing her, he died. In his last dying moments, Zack thought of Aerith, her laugh replaying in his head, as well as her face, and her words. It had shocked him when he found out that Aerith had kept trying to contact him for 4 years -- she had written to him 89 letters in total, and that time span, that number of letters, how circumstances caused this situation between them, angered him enough for him to yell. Zack had to hide, travel for miles and miles, protect Cloud, evade the Turks and Shinra, and even fight a hundred infantryman with the single goal of just coming back to her, only to fail. He was shot by a firing squad right on the outskirts of Midgar, and Aerith was so close. He was so close. That was just ironic, and all he wanted to do was come back to her. That was seriously the breaking point for me, and was what clicked with me about their coupling. It's got so much irony it hurts. Aerith did die in front of Cloud, knowing that might have been her fate because she was in Sephiroth's way, but Zack and Aerith were already dating, and Aerith kept waiting, and Zack kept trying to fight his fate just to come back to her, and his fate was sealed in a much more violent, gory, and prolonged way, and at a distance that wasn't face to face like Cloud and Aerith's, so Aerith definitely couldn't see him again after 4 years of separation. This level of irony and tragedy is what attracts me about Zack and Aerith more, and the fact that they are both in the afterlife watching over Cloud together, attracts me to them even more.
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This is a scene from Kingdom Hearts II, which I edited and added a song from Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, "A Flower Blooming in the Slums."
ChibiKyuu 6 months ago
^__^ I like to think that Cloud is not focused on romance, but focuses on all the people he loves: those who are with him physically and those who are with him in spirit. After the events of "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children", more than defining romance, Cloud continues to live with a pride in which he appreciates all the people who have impacted him in a great manner, who have made him who he is - which I think includes AVALANCHE, and most of all, Aerith, Zack, Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene.
ChibiKyuu 8 months ago 8
I think what Tetsuya Nomura intended was not for Cloud to solely love one person, but to love many people, as when Sephiroth asked him, "What is it you cherish most?" Cloud thought of not just one person only, but Aerith, Zack, Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene.
ChibiKyuu 8 months ago
To everyone wondering in this video about Aerith being a mother figure, Cloud may have called out, "Mother?" at the end of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, when she placed her hand on his head, but I don't think this entirely defines Aerith completely as a mother figure to Cloud. I think it demonstrates that she possesses a gentle and motherly quality that drew him to her. We can interpret this as romantic or not, we may never know, but all we know is that she is someone important to him.
ChibiKyuu 8 months ago 13