Again, working from specifically the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 2: Scenario guide. This post is a follow-up to the “Sources of Power in FF” article I just posted, which also included translations from the FF 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 2: Scenario book.

Actually, this post might better be characterized as a follow-up to the “Love Triangle Debate- over” article that Ryushikaze posted a couple of days ago. That article included selected translations from the section which I am now posting a translation of in its entirety.

I think you’ll find that the ramifications for the Love Triangle Debate are even more obvious when you can read the entire page. Do enjoy.
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To be specific, these translations are from the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 2: Scenario guide. Yes, that is its full and proper title, and, yes, it is quite long.

Anyway, what I’m presenting here for your merry consumption is a translation of the “Source of Power” section of the Ultimania (pg. 8). It offers some rather illuminating insight into interrelated sources of magic
in the FF series.

For me, this page is largely vindication of theories I’ve long held to be true. Please check out the “Spirit Energy and Memories” article in my Final Fantasy VII Plot Analysis FAQ for more on that.

I do hope you enjoy this translation. Stay tuned, as another set of translations is ready to go up, and will be joining this one shortly.
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Sorry for the delay in new translations related to Final Fantasy VIII. I’ve had quite a lot going on, and what translating I have been doing has mostly been about other stuff.

Anyway, I’m happy to report that I have some more translations to post. Not all of it’s from the FFVIII Ultimania, though.

Among what I have here are Ellone, Edea, Ultimecia and Adel’s profiles from the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 1: Character guide. They’re not exactly the most interesting profiles ever, but they do confirm a couple of things that fans have long suspected, and it’s a cool novelty to at last have some kind of profile for Ultimecia — even if it only contains stuff we already knew.

A big thanks, by the way, to forum member Celes Chere for providing me with the scans from this book that I translated.

This post also includes the “A Day of Instruction at Garden” epilogue to FFVIII from the back of FFVIII’s Ultimania. Written by Kazushige Nojima, FFVIII’s writer, this is a short story depicting a classroom discussion at Garden about Hyne and witches. It’s pretty interesting, but not exactly riveting. Tells us a few things we didn’t know at any rate, including the name of the scholar who first coined the term “witches.”

By the way — if it reads kind of strangely, it’s in part because I didn’t go to any great, painful lengths to smooth out the language, and probably also because we’re only privy to the teacher’s words. The students’ input isn’t in the text, and can only be guessed based on what the teacher says in response.

Hope you enjoy!
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Continuing our series of translations from the FFVIII Ultimania, here are all the profiles for the game’s towns and countries. These translations are of pages 34 through 40 of the book.

The entry on Balamb was translated by hitoshura (though I changed his use of “force field” to “energy field” to match what I’d done previously with the G.F. section in the Keyword translations; likewise with “the world’s three greatest delicacies” to “3 Great Delicacies of the World”), while the rest were translated by me.

Note, by the way, that for this article, the pictures included at the beginning of each entry were deliberately selected to match those at the beginning of each entry from the Ultimania.

Be aware also that this still isn’t the end of our translation series for this Ultimania. Still to come are the profiles for all the characters (main characters and supporting cast). So, stay tuned!

Oh, and kudos to those who got the reference in the article’s title. Now, click on “Read the rest of this entry” below and enjoy!

Previously in this series:

Translations from the FFVIII Ultimania Keyword section – Part 1

Translations from the FFVIII Ultimania Keyword section – Part 2

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If you’re interested at getting a sneak peek at what FFXIV is starting to look like, you can apply to be a beta tester and get your hands on a copy of the game to help iron out the tweaks. Square Enix’s looking for players to test out the Windows version of Final Fantasy XIV. You can apply to play the online version here.

Just make sure not to be a pest and apply more than once, otherwise they’ll chuck all your applications. Guess they don’t like people who are too persistent. Thanks to our member Earl for bringing it to our attention!

Because we here at TheLifestream forums are geeks, we’ve had a thread running for a little while now on who the most powerful villains and heroes of the Final Fantasy franchise are. As well, I’ve had an interest lately in doing “top 10″ lists. See this thread for my “Top 10 Games of the Decade” list. [/shameless self-promotion]

Anyway, that being the case, it was inevitable that I decide to make an article like this for the front page. Seeing as how we’re now on the cusp of Final Fantasy XIII’s release in Japan, this seems like the right time for such a list, ere we have to include another hero and villain in our calculations.

So join me, won’t you, in celebration of the most powerful heroes and villains of the first 22 years (omg Sephiroth/Kabbalah reference!) of the Final Fantasy series.

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Do my eyes deceive me…?

With the lack of Final Fantasy characters appearing in KH 358/2, I kinda wasn’t expecting any FF characters to appear in Birth By Sleep.

Was I wrong.

A new scan from Weekly Jump showcases our loveable SOLDIER, Zack Fair, making an appearance in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. And as an even more amusing nod to Crisis Core, Zack’s D-Link ability with Terra in the game, is an attack called “Heroes Pride.”

I think it’s safe to say this game’s cool factor got a +5.

Thanks Dark & Divine for bringing this to my attention!

And with that, the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania translation coverage is complete. Once again major thanks to curiousACfan for contributing so much towards the understanding of the details of FFIX’s story. The Timeline of the world of Gaia chronicles the history of the entire planet in relation to FFIX’s plot, while the World Establishment materials dismantles and explains the important plot points and elements of Final Fantasy IX’s story. We hope you enjoy the materials and they help you appreciate FFIX even more!

Oh, and one quick edit… Hitoshura had previous translated the profile for Necron from the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary characters Ultimania book. Since it’s pretty much the most said about Necron anywhere outside of the game, it’ll be included as well for completions sake! You can find it at the end of the World Establishment Developmental Materials Part 3.

FFIX World Chronology – p.44-46 of the FFIX Ultimania

FFIX World Establishment (development materials) part 1

FFIX World Establishment (development materials) part 2

FFIX World Establishment (development materials) part 3

And here is the last portion of the World Establishment materials translation from the FFIX Ultimania done by curiousACfan. With that, the section is completed!!! Enjoy!!!

The Iifa Tree
The magical tree of Terra, whose roots extend through the surface of Gaia, and whose trunk resides in the interior. The true trunk lies within, while the section seen on the surface is actually just an aggregate of roots on the reverse side of the trunk. [See Figure 2]

The roots extended to the surface to stabilize the upper ground, while the trunk stretches to the crystal at the core of the planet, governing the cycle of souls.

The Iifa Tree used its influence to stabilize the upper ground 3000 years ago. Around this time, Garland started creating Genomes for the time when the people of Terra would revive.

The true nature of this giant tree is a spiral of roots. [top left]
There are some points like eyes in the center. [top right]
The tree is green with a yellowish tint. [bottom left]

The Genomes
The Genomes are lifeforms created to carry the souls of Terra’s people once they revived.

Until Gaia and Terra’s fusion completes, however, the Genomes’ lives are likewise incomplete.

With the radiance of Terra’s crystal declining, Garland created the Genomes and set out to control the cycle of souls on Gaia.
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Here’s more of the World Establishment materials from the FFIX Ultimania, translated by curiousACfan. Major thanks to him for bringing this info to light!!!

The relationship between the moons and the radiance of the crystals

Two moons
When Terra’s attempt at Fusion with Gaia failed, they partially melded, but there remained parts which did not. From that day on, Gaia’s original blue moon and Terra’s red moon both orbited around Gaia (for more details on Fusion, refer to P.40, “Gaia and Terra”).

The crystals and the two moons
The color each moon radiates is the true radiance of its planet, received from the light of each crystal. The color of Gaia’s crystal is blue and the color of Terra’s crystal is red, and their own moon shines with their radiance. [See Figure 4]

Therefore, because Terra’s crystal is inferior to Gaia’s and the moons travel in constant ellipses, the nature of the moons’ waxing and waning is such that, as Gaia’s moon draws closer to being in front of Terra’s, portions of Terra’s moon on the other side are covered in shadow. [See Figure 5]

As the two moons go around in orbit like in [Figure 6], every sixteen days, the positions of the blue and the red switch, and the two moons are stacked one in front of the other.

Only Gaia’s radiance is strong enough to be seen when its moon is directly in the back, as seen in [Figure 7].
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And here is some very fascinating information from the FFIX Ultimania, translated by curiousACfan. Here is the “World Establishment” section, which outlines some of the finer points of the worlds of Terra and Gaia in FFIX.

Gaia
The world that serves as the stage for FFIX. In its civilization, machines are becoming more dominant than magic. Its civilization is young — covering only a portion of the planet’s surface.

Terra
A world with a highly advanced magical civilization. Terra’s people made use of the ultimate magical art, Fusion, in order to attain eternal life. In modern times, Garland watches over the people of Terra until the Fusion process ends and the day comes that they awaken once more.

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Thanks to our member, curiousACfan, here’s the translated timeline of the World of Gaia, from Final Fantasy IX Ultimania!

[5000 years ago]

·Terra attempted to take over Gaia and assimilate it, but failed, resulting in a cataclysm. Garland planted a giant tree (the Iifa Tree) to control the environment and oversee its natural recovery.

[Year 0 (1800 years ago)]

·Gradually, the environment starts being repaired. Following that, the Shimmering Island begins to shine, marking the beginning of Gaia’s modern civilization. The calendar begins.

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