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Last Order: Final Fantasy VII
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Wikipedia article
, also abbreviated as 'Last Order' or 'LO', is a 2005 Japanese anime original video animation produced by Madhouse and released by Square Enix. It was directed by Morio Asaka, and produced by Masao Maruyama, Jungo Maruta and Akio Ofuji. Tetsuya Nomura served as supervising director. The OVA is an alternate rendition of two flashbacks used for the video game 'Final Fantasy VII'. 'Last Order' was released in Japan with 'Advent Pieces: Limited', a special edition release of the film 'Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children', and as a bonus feature in the North American "Limited Edition Collector's Set" release.
'Last Order' is associated with the 'Compilation of Final Fantasy VII', a series of prequels and sequels to the original 'Final Fantasy VII'. Entries include 'Before Crisis', 'Crisis Core', 'Advent Children', and 'Dirge of Cerberus'. Although not an official 'Compilation' installment, the 'Last Order' has nonetheless been included in official guidebooks. The OVA's soundtrack was released with the music of 'Before Crisis', and select songs were later remixed for 'Crisis Core'. 'Last Order' was created due to the success of promotional commercials for 'Before Crisis', with production lasting six months. The plot encompasses two events occurring before the events of 'Final Fantasy VII'. One follows Sephiroth destroying a village, and the other follows Zack and Cloud escaping from the Shinra Electric Power Company. These flashbacks are narrated by Turk leader Tseng. Originally meant to focus on Zack, 'Last Order' highlighted Tseng's feelings and position in the Shinra company. 'Last Order' received negative fan response due to differences from the original game's content, and the 'Crisis Core' game designers avoided recreating certain scenes from 'Last Order'.
Background
'Last Order' explores situations shown and referenced within 'Final Fantasy VII' and other 'Compilation' titles. The world of 'Final Fantasy VII', referred to as "the Planet", is dependent for its survival on a flow of spirit energy called the Lifestream.'Bugenhagen:' "Lifestream... In other words, a path of energy of the souls roaming the Planet. 'Spirit Energy' is a word that you should never forget."('Final Fantasy VII')'Cloud:' "If the Spirit energy is lost, our Planet is destroyed..."('Final Fantasy VII') The megacorporation Shinra eventually rises to power and begins extracting the Lifestream through mako reactors, killing the Planet.'Bugenhagen:' "Ho Ho Hoooo. Spirit energy is efficient BECAUSE it exists within nature. When Spirit energy is forcefully extracted, and manufactured, it can't accomplish its true purpose."/'Cloud:' "You're talking about Mako energy, right?"/'Bugenhagen:' "Every day Mako reactors suck up Spirit energy, diminishing it. Spirit energy gets compressed in the reactors and processed into Mako energy. All living things are being used up and thrown away. In other words, Mako energy will only destroy the Planet..."('Final Fantasy VII') Shinra uses the Mako as an energy source'Marlene:' "The Shinra Electric Power Company discovered a way to use the Lifestream as an energy source."('Advent Children') and to manipulate the strength and abilities of their paramilitary organization, SOLDIER.'Sephiroth:' "Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako. You're different from the others, but still human."('Final Fantasy VII') Sephiroth, considered the strongest member of SOLDIER, is sent to investigate a Mako reactor in the secluded town of Nibelheim and is accompanied by the SOLDIER Zack and two grunts, one of whom is Cloud.'Sephiroth:' "Our mission is to investigate an old Mako reactor. There have been reports of it malfunctioning, and producing brutal creatures. First, we will dispose of those creatures. Then, we'll locate the problem and neutralize it."/'Cloud:' "Brutal creatures... Where?" /'Sephiroth:' "The Mako Reactor at Nibelheim."('Final Fantasy VII')'Marlene:' "Anyway, there was one SOLDIER named Sephiroth, who was better than the rest."('Advent Children') While there, Sephiroth spends most of his time reading in the Shinra Mansion, which had previously been used by the Shinra scientist Hojo to conduct experiments. Through Hojo's log books, Sephiroth comes to learn of his past, in which he was injected with Jenova's cells. The Planet had once been inhabited by the Cetra (or "Ancients"), who were almost completely destroyed by Jenova, an extraterrestrial lifeform that crashed onto the Planet 2,000 years previously, and began infecting the Cetra with a virus.'Ifalna:' "That's when the one who injured the Planet... or the 'crisis from the sky', as we call him, came. He first approached as a friend, deceived them, and finally...... gave them the virus. The Cetra were attacked by the virus and went mad... transforming into monsters. Then, just as he had at the Knowlespole. He approached other Cetra clans...... infecting them with... the virus..."('Final Fantasy VII') When Jenova was unearthed by a Shinra science team, it was mistakenly identified as a Cetra. This caused Sephiroth to believe he was also a Cetra, and that humans had betrayed his ancestors.'Sephiroth:' "...an organism that was apparently dead, was found in a 2000 year old geological stratum. Professor Gast named that organism, Jenova...X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova confirmed to be an Ancient...X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova Project approved. The use of Mako Reactor 1 approved for use..."('Final Fantasy VII')'Sephiroth:' "You ignorant traitor. I'll tell you. This Planet originally belonged to the Cetra. Cetra was an itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on...At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness. But, those that disliked the journey appeared. Those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life. They took that which the Cetra and the planet had made without giving back one whit in return! Those are your ancestors."/'Cloud:' "Sephiroth..." /'Sephiroth:' "Long ago, disaster struck this planet. Your ancestors escaped... They survived because they hid. The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase. Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports./'Cloud:' "What does that have to do with you?" / 'Sephiroth:' "Don't you get it? An Ancient named Jenova was found in the geological stratum of 2000 years ago. The Jenova Project. The Jenova Project wanted to produce people with the powers of the Ancients...... no, the Cetra....I am the one that was produced."('Final Fantasy VII')
Plot
|developer=Square Enix|Publisher=Square Enix |date=March 25, 2008 |platform=PlayStation Portable}}
After killing the villagers of Nibelheim, Sephiroth goes to the mako reactor facility, and incapacitates Tifa and Zack. As Sephiroth reunites with Jenova, Cloud ambushes him. Sephiroth impales Cloud and escapes with Jenova. Hojo and the soldiers arrive, and take Zack and Cloud for science experimentation, during which Cloud succumbs to mako poisoning.'Doctor:' "I'll say it again, he's got Mako poisoning. I've never seen a case this bad...An immense amount of Mako-drenched knowledge was put into his brain all at once......"('Final Fantasy VII') Zack later escapes with the unconscious Cloud and is ambushed by the Shinra military en route to Midgar.
Cast
*Kenichi Suzumura as Zack Fair, a 1st class SOLDIER. He protects Cloud from Shinra. The production crew used 'Last Order' "to portray Zack properly" as light-hearted and young. Suzumura noted Zack felt more "alive" in comparison to his appearance in 'Advent Children'.
*Takahiro Sakurai as Cloud Strife, a Shinra infantryman and a survivor of Nibelheim.
*Toshiyuki Morikawa as Sephiroth, a 1st class SOLDIER. He betrays Cloud, Tifa and Zack.
*Junichi Suwabe as Tseng, the leader of the Turks who narrates the OVA. Originally, the OVA was intended to focus on Zack, but Tseng became the "real highlight." 'Last Order' elaborates on Tseng's changing feelings towards his job, as well as where he places his moral values.
*Ayumi Ito as Tifa Lockhart, a resident of Nibelheim and childhood acquaintance of Cloud.
*Hiroshi Fujioka as Zangan, Tifa's martial arts instructor. He escorts her to safety after Sephiroth destroys the village.
*Keiji Fujiwara as Reno and Taiten Kusunoki as Rude. A duo of Turks agents under Tseng's command.
*Nachi Nozawa as Professor Hojo, the head of Shinra's science department. He takes Zack and Cloud for experiments, and dismisses Tseng's group of agents.
*Daisuke Namikawa as Turk (Rod), Ginpei Sato as Turk (Two Guns), Hch tsuka as Turk (Martial Arts), Mayuko Aoki as Turk (Shotgun), and Megumi Toyoguchi as Turk (Gun). A group of agents under Tseng's command previously appeared in 'Before Crisis'.
Other roles include Keiji Okuda, Atsushi Imaruoka, Ryji Mizuno, and Daisuke Kirii as members of Shinra's military unit who attempt to apprehend Cloud and Zack. Yhei Tadano and Katsuhisa Hki voice villagers at Nibelheim.
Production and release
'Last Order: Final Fantasy VII' was produced and scripted by Square Enix collaboration with Madhouse and directed by Morio Asaka. The decision to create 'Last Order' arose from the positive reaction towards a popular promotional clip created by Madhouse for the game 'Before Crisis'. Madhouse was chosen to produce the OVA partly because of their success with the clip and because the president of Madhouse was very enthusiastic about the project. However, the main reason for choosing Madhouse was that the company "understood the significance" of making a 'Final Fantasy VII' animation, as it was considered a large responsibility to animate "the most popular game in the FF ['Final Fantasy'] series." Tetsuya Nomura, the character designer for the 'Final Fantasy VII' series and co-director of 'Advent Children', acted as the supervising director. He had the right to reject or accept concept drawings for 'Last Order'. As a result, Nomura had a large quantity of images redrawn, to the extent that "the entire production was in jeopardy."
Production lasted six months. The production crew considered the most challenging part of creating the OVA to be making "Nomura's drawings move on screen." Because 'Last Order' was hand-drawn, the crew faced difficulties creating uniform lines. Another issue was the overall feel of each scene; original drawings were done by several artists, resulting in various scenes having different styles. Producer Akio Ofuji explained that they "wanted to make sure the final product was of very high quality, so [they] worked with the production company day and night, straight through to the deadline." Nomura and Ofuji agreed that many scenes showing important events and feelings in 'Final Fantasy VII' had been fragmented and disjointed, and so they had decided that those scenes would be the subject of 'Last Order', giving the audience of 'Advent Children' (the film 'Last Order' was released with) a "more enjoyable understanding." They used the film as an opportunity to portray Zack "properly" as a "handsome, light-hearted man [who] was in everyone's memory". 'Last Order' also details Tseng's growth and his feelings towards his both job and events depicted, wherein he attempts to "get his own ideas of justice heard" but later abandons his moral values "in order to carry out a cruel mission." Ofuji commented that "those are the kind of scenes we wanted people to be more aware of."
'Last Order' was originally released in Japan with the "Ultimate Edition" of the 'Advent Children' movie, 'Advent Pieces: Limited', on September 14, 2005. The OVA was included in the North American "Limited Edition Collector's Set" of 'Advent Children', released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on February 20, 2007. The North America release did not come with an English dub and the OVA is subtitled. 'Last Order' was not included in the release of 'Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete', a 2009 director's cut of 'Advent Children' with extra footage.
The 'Compilation of Final Fantasy VII' is a series of prequels and sequels to the original 'Final Fantasy VII' game. 'Last Order' is not part of the 'Compilation of Final Fantasy VII' and is considered an outside work. However, it has been associated with the 'Final Fantasy VII' series since its creation, and is mentioned alongside official installments in official guidebooks and Ultimanias. 'Compilation' titles include the film 'Advent Children' and games 'Before Crisis' (mobile phone), 'Dirge of Cerberus' (PS2), and 'Crisis Core' (PSP). Like 'Last Order', 'Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode: Final Fantasy VII' (a mobile phone spin-off of 'Dirge of Cerberus') is an outside work associated with the 'Compilation'.
Music
'Last Order's score was composed, arranged, and produced by Takeharu Ishimoto, including the ending theme entitled "Last Order". The music was combined with the music from 'Before Crisis' on a single soundtrack and released in Japan on December 19, 2007. The soundtrack was later made available in North America by Square Enix. Tracks 13 through 27 on the disc contain the score from 'Last Order', while tracks 1 through 12 contain music from 'Before Crisis'. Select tracks on the soundtrack of 'Crisis Core' contain music and remixes of music from the OVA.
OverClocked ReMix's four-disc tribute album, 'Voices of the Lifestream', has a disc entitled 'Order'. The name was chosen to coincide with 'Last Order', and the music is themed after it.
Response and cultural impact
Only 77,777 copies of 'Advent Pieces: Limited' were produced in Japan, and they are no longer available, having been sold out months in advance of its release. They retailed for 29,500, or US$300, each while the North American collector's edition retailed for $49.95.
Overall, 'Last Order' garnered positive feedback from Western critics. Chris Carle of IGN noted that 'Last Order' was "the true meat of the new extras [in the 'Advent Children' collector's set] a traditionally animated chapter for FF ['Final Fantasy'] fans that centers on the story of Zack and Cloud" and that "it adds even more dimension to the story [of 'Final Fantasy VII']." Todd Douglass Jr. from DVD Talk called 'Last Order' "the real reason to check out the Limited Edition release for 'Advent Children'" and commented that as "a long-time anime fan and lover of 'Final Fantasy'," he "was enthralled by every minute to be had in 'Last Order'." However, Hideki Imaizumi, the producer of 'Crisis Core', stated that they had received "considerable negative feedback" from fans, who were displeased with changes made to the Nibelheim event in 'Last Order'. Due to this, the scene was redone for 'Crisis Core', and the production crew was careful to avoid making the same decisions.
References
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