Site translator hitoshura has been kind enough to provide us with a chapter-by-chapter summary of the newest official FFVII novel. Released on December 15th, the book was written by Kazushige Nojima, writer of the original FFVII, as well as Crisis Core, Advent Children and the On the Way to a Smile novellas. As such, The Kids Are Alright is an authentic entry in the world of Final Fantasy VII.

Sadly, however, it had no official release outside of Japan. So, while you could still import it if you lived elsewhere, you novel, FINAL FANTASY VII Lateral Biography TURKS -The Kids Are Alright-. Released on December 15th, the book was written by wouldn’t be able to read it without some knowledge of the Japanese language.

Were the contents of this newest tale in Cloud Strife’s world, then, to be kept from us indefinitely? Blessedly, no. TheLifestream.net’s hitoshura has already stepped forward to provide his fellow fans with a rundown of the book’s main events.

This is to tide us over until he is able to provide a complete translation of the 354-page novel — an endeavour that is already under way, so be sure to check back in the future for updates about that.

What you’ll also find in this article: scans I’ve made of all the book’s artwork (illustrations by Shou Tajima), and my translation of a page from the beginning of the book that introduces several of the characters featured in the story. Additional thanks go to hito, by the way, for correcting me on a word I had mistranslated on that page.

So, if you’re ready to get caught up on the latest events in this world we all love, click upon “Read the rest of this entry” below.

And yes, by the way, that mouthful up there really is the book’s complete official title. “Lateral Biography” (外伝 in Japanese) really should have (in my opinion, anyway) just been rendered in English the way it’s pronounced in its native language: “gaiden.” As is usually the case with these things.

But that’s neither here nor there.

What is here: hito’s generous summary of The Kids Are Alright, scans of its artwork, and your first introduction to Evan and Kyrie — two new characters who serve as this story’s protagonists.

Without further ado, let’s start with the artwork:

Excluding the composite image used for the front page of the article, the first two images after that are the dust jacket’s front and back covers, respectively. The third image is the front, bare cover. The fourth is the back, bare cover. Fifth is the title page for the first half of the book, “See Me, Feel Me.” Sixth is the title page for the second half of the story, “Who Are You?”. And, finally, the last image is the character introductions page.

If, by the way, you think you’re noticing a lot of references to English rock band The Who, you’d be right. “The Kids Are Alright,” “See Me, Feel Me,” and “Who Are You?” all refer to the music group. The references don’t end there either.

The Kids Are Alright’s narrator and main character, Evan Townshend (エヴァン・タウンゼント in Japanese), also shares his last name with band member Pete Townshend (ピート・タウンゼント).

Why all the references? Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps Nojima’s a fan. Or maybe it has something to do with the main characters of this story running a detective agency — all three CSI television shows use songs by The Who in their opening credits.

Next up, a translation of the character intros page posted above:

Evan
A 19-year-old young man who was living in depression on Midgar’s plate until 2 years ago. Along with Kyrie and other friends from the slums he came to know, he opened the Mireille Detective Agency. It’s been getting considerable business. A crooked young man who can’t plainly express himself.

Kyrie
A 19-year-old girl from the slums. Her family is now gone, leaving her all alone in the world. Thanks to her parents being skilled pickpockets, and the lessons of her swindler grandmother, she also lived a life of crime until meeting Evan and taking up detective work. She’s easy to get attached to, but is easily misunderstood as well. This is often the case even with her friends.

Reno
The self-styled ace of the Shin-Ra company’s Investigation Division of the General Affairs Department (nicknamed the Turks), his eye is on the company’s revitilization. He values his comrades more than anything, particularly his partner Rude, with whom he shares a deep trust. He becomes embroiled in circumstances involving Evan and co., and watches over them from the shadows.

Rude
One of the Turk’s elite, he serves alongside Reno. Following the Meteor calamity, he operates as escort to the Shin-Ra company’s ill president, Rufus. A warm-hearted but silent man, he is watching over Evan and co., like Reno.

Cloud
The man who runs the Strife Delivery Service, which carries out a delivery for Evan. Unknown to Evan and co., he is one of the heroes who once saved the world.

Tifa
Owner of the Seventh Heaven diner, where Evan and co. often hold business meetings. For Evan and the members of the Mireille Detective Agency, it is also a place of leisure.

And, finally, the real jewel in this thread — hito’s summary of each chapter of The Kids Are Alright:

This is the summaries for the first half of the book (“See Me, Feel Me”):

Also, a little explanation of the character notes if it’s even needed:
- Characters Introduced/CI: First time a character appears in the story themselves (not just mentioned/referenced)
- Mentions: First time a character is mentioned by name in the story
- References: First time a character is indirectly (not by name) referenced in the story

1. Evan talks about his past and family, leading up to the Meteor disaster. Evan lived with his mother on the Sector 6 plate. His father had died in the Wutai war, and his mother hated him. One day she brings home a man, Nix Foley, who says that the three of them are leaving Midgar. Evan storms out of the house, hoping to come back after their intended depature date and ruin their plans. On that day, the Sector 7 plate falls, leaving Evan (in Sector 8 ) to walk through all the other sectors to get home. When he arrives, he finds that his mother has gone. She left him a large sum of money, and a letter saying she will contact him when she’s reached her destination. With no word from his mother and not wanting to spend the money she’d left, Evan started working to make a living until the day Meteor and the Lifestream destroy Midgar.
Characters introduced: Evan, Evan’s mother, Kuro the cat, Nix/Nick Foley
Mentions: Evan’s father

2. Skips to 2 years later, at Healin with Rufus and the Turks. A man called Fabio steals some Geostigma medication from the lodge.
CI: Rufus, Tseng, Elena, Throp, Fabio Brown
Mentions: Sephiroth, Jenova, President Shinra

3. Reno and Rude pay Evan (Townshend) a visit, mistaking him for Fabio. Once they’ve gone, Evan goes to see Fabio but finds his little brother Vits, who has Geostigma, home alone.
CI: Reno, Rude, ‘Rat-Face’, Vits Brown
Mentions: Doyle

4. Evan heads to Seventh Heaven to meet his friends. Evan and Kyrie head to meet a client.
CI: Tifa, Leslie Kyle, Kyrie Canaan
Mentions: Marlene, Keogh (Rat-Face), Marle
References: Kilmister, Reeve

5. Elena is displeased with how Reno and Rude handled the ‘Fabio’ situation.

6. On their way through the slums to see the client, Arde, Evan reflects on how their detective agency got started. The job is to look for Arde’s missing son Gould, a SOLDIER 2nd Class who went missing prior to the Meteor disaster.
CI: Tyran Arde
Mentions: Mireille, Gould Arde, ‘man in the biker clothes’, Ceddie, Aunt Liz

7. Elena visits the real Fabio to punish him for stealing the medicine.

8. As Evan is clearing up the mess Reno and Rude left his room in, Vits comes by in the middle of the night in pain. When they go back to Vits’s home, Evan sees Fabio on the floor, beaten to a bloody pulp.

9. Evan, Kyrie and Leslie go to Johnny’s Heaven, where Evan talks about what happened to Fabio.
CI: Johnny
Mentions: Mr. and Mrs. Chico, Dr. Drake

10. After two days without sleep, Evan collapses outside the Mireille Detective Agency’s office. Kyrie ends up going to Reno and Rude for help, but regrets it when the Turks say they’re going to take her and Evan somewhere. They make plans to escape from the Turks into the slums.

11. Their escape attempt ends in failure, with Rude leading them to the truck that will take them wherever it is they’re going on their ‘drive’. Kyrie asks if this is how the Turks got Aerith.
Mentions: Aerith

12. Reno reveals that they are taking Evan to Healin, and it has something to do with his mother, Annette Townshend. Kyrie talks about how she knew Aerith. Reno and Rude reveal that the photo Evan and Kyrie got from Tyran Arde of Gould was taken in Nibelheim.
References: AVALANCHE (FFVII)

13. Rufus and Tseng discuss Annette Townshend, a former secreterial worker for Shinra who was offered ten-times the standard retirement bonus when she quit.

14. Evan meets Rufus and Tseng, who tells him that he is the illegitamate son of the late President Shinra. They are interrupted when they hear an explosion from the woods.

15. Fabio, Doyle and Keogh attack the lodge to rescue Throp, a friend of Keogh’s who had helped Fabio to steal the medicine. When they run into trouble, Evan bargains with the Turks by threatening Rufus, who lets them go.
CI: Doyle

16. On the way back home, Evan ends up banging his head and losing consciousness. He’s taken to Dr. Drake’s to be checked out. By this time, Evan and Kyrie have fallen out.
CI: Dr. Drake

17. Evan returns home and checks on Doyle and the others. He doesn’t tell them the truth about what he talked about with Rufus (instead telling them they wanted to use him as Rufus’s double), and decided to leave and get away from everyone.

18. In order to get fuel for his truck, Evan decides to contact the number from a business flyer he found, the Strife Delivery Service. Using the phone at Dr. Drake’s office, he tells the boy who answers, Denzel, that he wants a letter delivered.
CI: Denzel, young girl (Marlene)

19: Reno complains about how Evan and Rufus had their ‘family reunion,’ and how Tseng and Elena are off doing something and he can’t get in touch with them.

20. While waiting for Cloud, Dr. Drake talks about the book/file he is reading: on Jenova, the subject of many Shinra experiments. Cloud arrives and Evan tells him that he actually wants fuel, to which Cloud replies that his choices are Shinra, the WRO, or Don Corneo in Wall Market. Evan mentions planning on heading to Nibelheim to find a lost SOLDIER. Cloud tells him to go ask about Nibelheim at Seventh Heaven.
CI: Cloud
Mentions: Don Corneo

21. Evan goes to Seventh Heaven to ask Tifa about Nibelheim. She seems reluctant for him to go there, but shows him the route. He tells her he’s going to find his mother. She had been in the picture with Gould Arde. The man who had brought that photo to Tyran Arde was Foley.

22. Kyrie goes to see Reno and Rude to ask what they’ve done with Evan, thinking they’ve taken him or hurt him, and waits by Evan’s car until he gets back.

23. Evan goes to Leslie’s house in the slums to ask how to get to Don Corneo’s. He meets Marle, Leslie’s pregant girlfriend, who looks troubled when Evan mentions Corneo.
CI: Marle

24. Reno and Rude notice that Kyrie is still scared of them, which reminds them of Aerith.

25. Evan goes to see Corneo, now an old-looking man in a wheelchair, about getting fuel. He agrees and says it will be delivered to Edge. Corneo recognises Evan from a picture one of his men took off a bullitin board, which had been put there by Foley while he was looking for Evan. Evan takes two pictures from Corneo’s walls: one of Cloud, Tifa and Aerith, and one of Marle. On his way out Corneo says Evan can take as many pictures as he likes, because he has copies of them all. Evan rips up the pictures.
CI: Don Corneo, Corneo’s doorman

26. Evan goes back to Leslie’s house to apologise for taking the picture of Marle from Corneo’s in case something happens to him and Marle because of it. Leslie tells him not to worry, and how it was meeting him that made Leslie (a former man of Corneo’s), Fabio (robber) and Kyrie (general life of crime) mend their ways.

27. Doyle arrives at the site of the monument being built by Shinra to tell Reno that he, Throp and Keogh will be helping out with the construction (as a way to make up for the damage they caused when rescuing Throp). Doyle notices Evan’s truck he left with Reno to look at while he’s gone. Rude tells Reno he’s going to Midgar, where Tseng and Elena are going to get a helicopter.

28. Evan goes back to Seventh Heaven and gives the same apology he gave to Leslie about the picture he stole from Corneo. Tifa tells him that Kyrie was there earlier, and that she told her about Evan’s Nibelheim plan. Evan returns to his car to find Kyrie there, who is set to go with Evan on his trip.

29. While Rude is fixing one of the helicopters, Tseng tells him and Reno of their new project: to find Jenova. However, Reno notices someone was listening in on their discussion, and Tseng sends Elena to capture whoever it was.

30. Evan and Kyrie spend the night in the car, waiting for the fuel to be delivered in the morning. They are surprised when it’s Leslie who drops off the fuel, as well as weapons for Evan’s trip. He went back to Corneo pretending to want his old job back, but instead burns down Corneo’s house (Corneo himself survives). Evan and Kyrie get ready to set off together to Nibelheim.

Rest of the summaries cover the second half, “Who are you?”

31. On their way to Under Junon, Evan reflects on how he met Kyrie, Fabio and Leslie.
CI: Mireille Dudley (Kyrie’s grandmother)

32. Evan and Kyrie encounter a girl on a chocobo, asking about the medicine for Geostigma.
CI: girl on the chocobo

33. Rude falls victim to a failed attack by two men (Keogh and Fabio) while fixing the helicopter. Reno talks with Doyle about Shinra until he gets a call from Rude: Fabio and Keogh are dead.

34. While taking a break at a pond on the wastelands, Evan and Kyrie come face-to-face with a ‘red monster’. Evan’s attempts to get rid of it backfire when he shoots and blows up their own truck. Then Kyrie starts to sink into the water, now seemingly turning black.
CI: red, dog-like monster (Red XIII)

35. While following Evan in the helicopter, Rude and Reno reveal that it had been Doyle who was listening in on them, thinking Shinra were up to no good. When Fabio heard about the helicopter, he decided to take it to help Evan. Meanwhile Tseng and Elena are at a beach house in the newly rejuvenated Under Junon when they hear commotion outside. A young girl has been brought to the town by a talking red beast, which Tseng recognises as Red XIII. Tseng goes to the office of the town doctor, Dr. Eugene, and recognises the girl as Kyrie.

When Tseng goes back to Dr. Eugene’s, Kyrie has left. He finds her talking to a young man behind the doctor’s office. The boy has the same silver hair and the same eyes as Sephiroth–he introduces himself as Kadaj. He goes to shake Tseng’s hand, and as Kadaj leaves, both Kyrie and Tseng collapse. When they come to, Tseng warns Kyrie not to trust Kadaj, who Kyrie saw as an old acquaintance she thought had died in a fire, if he should appear again.

Reno and Rude, having found Evan, are bringing him to Junon. Tseng will use Evan and Kyrie in their search for Jenova.
CI: Dr. Eugene, Kadaj
Mentions: the former Turks, Hojo

36. On the helicopter ride to Junon, Evan sees Nanaki outside and thinks back on how he saved Kyrie and him. When they reach Junon, Kyrie, who thinks the Turks had something to do with Fabio’s death, suggests they try to escape. Their plan is cut short as soon as it began when Elena shoots Evan in the shoulder. While in Dr Eugene’s, Evan has a ‘dream’ where he sees Fabio, who touches the site of his injury. When he regains consciousness, Kyrie explains that he had been in surgery for five hours and in bed for two days, and the doctor said he might never get the full use of his arm back. However, Evan feels no pain or discomfort in his arm at all.

37. Although Evan is ready to give up on looking for his mother, Reno suggests to Tseng that they just whip him over to Nibelheim in the helicopter. Tseng agrees to this, but it is himself and Elena who will be going. Reno and Rude are to take over Tseng and Elena’s duties and wait for their former coworkers to report in.

38. Dr. Eugene is surprised to see Evan out of bed. His shoulder had been shattered, he should be in tremendous pain moving around, and he was supposed to be in restraints that he couldn’t have gotten out of himself. Elena tells them that the Turks will take them to Nibelheim. Evan no longer cares, but Kyrie wants to go to look for Gould Arde.

39. When they reach Nibelheim they are confronted by suspicious villagers and a bearded man with a guy–who Kyrie soon recognises as Gould Arde. He explains that Tyran Arde is his step-father, his real father having died in the war. They had never really been that close, and Gould has no plans on reuniting with Tyran.

As Evan is ready to leave, Kyrie asks Gould about Annette Townshend. He reveals that Foley had been distressed because, while he had feelings for Annette, she would not accept him because her son didn’t like him. Annette had stayed in Nibelheim not even a week before leaving due to work, before the day the Lifestream destroyed Meteor. Annette had been in charge of tending to the test subjects living in the village. Gould gives them a letter sent to Foley by Annette. The letter had been sent from Icicle Inn. Evan and Kyrie return to the helicopter and head north.
CI: Gould Arde

40. Back in Junon, Reno and Rude are still waiting for the old Turks when Doyle and Leslie arrive. They’ve come looking for Evan. The day before he died, Fabio had taken Vits to the doctor where he was told that Evan needed to be looked at urgently. Fabio considered Shinra the reason for his parents’ death, so would not just ask them for the helicopter and instead tried to steal it. Rude says they are going to go look for Evan.

41. While Tseng and Elena wait in the helicopter, Evan and Kyrie visit Icicle Inn. They go to the guesthouse to enquire about Annette Townshend, but the lady at the desk doesn’t know anything. However, she says the proprietress might, but that she isn’t in today. Evan and Kyrie stay at the guesthouse, and while Kyrie goes to get some things from the shop, Evan reads the letter from Annette. It reveals that the money she left at home was for Evan to have an operation. Annette had taken the job of being a ‘villager’ in Nibelheim for one year, with the possible penalty of death if she disclosed any secrets she learnt, in order to get money to pay for Evan’s operation. She sent her contract back to Foley when it seemed she was going to be staying away from Nibelheim for longer.

When Kyrie comes back, there is a knock at the door. The proprietress, Windey, has come to talk with Evan. Back in the helicopter, Tseng and Elena are listening in through a bug planted in Evan’s bag. Windey tells them about the strange people in black who appeared in the village two years earlier. Annette had come to take them back, but by the time she got there they had all headed further north. But two months later, Annette returned, saying she needed to carry out her work, and headed into the snow fields. She never came back. Windey tells Evan he shouldn’t go looking in the snow fields, as the eruption of Lifestream has left crevasses all over, many hidden by the snow.

Meanwhile Reno and Rude ask about Evan and the others at Nibelheim, but are met with an unwelcoming reception. As they are taking off, Reno notices another set of landing marks on the ground. He tries to contact Tseng, but to no avail.

Back at Icicle Inn, Tseng and Elena are now in the room adjacent to Evan and Kyrie’s, listening in on their conversation. Kyrie suggests Evan goes to Junon to find the doctor his mother mentioned, Dimitri. Tseng recognises the name–Dr. Eugene Dimitri.
CI: Windey, receptionist

42. When Evan and Kyrie seem to have come to the end of their conversation, Elena suggests Tseng gets some rest. He refuses and suggests Elena do so instead, but she seems to have little intention to do so. Tseng goes to the window and looks out… And there is that silver-haired young man looking directly at him. He makes up an excuse and goes outside.

While Kyrie is in the shower, Evan hears a knock at the window. Thinking it must be Tseng or Elena he goes over and wipes the condensation away to find ‘Fabio’ standing there. He tells Evan to come outside and talk to him, or else he’ll kill Kyrie. Evan goes, unarmed, out of the guesthouse. Elena soon follows him. Tseng makes it to the spot he saw Kadaj, but there are not even footprints where he was.

‘Fabio’ leads Evan to a small guards’ hut, where he says he wants to show Evan something. It’s the picture of Jenova he had seen in Dr. Drake’s office. There’s dark stains all over the picture–blood. Suddenly it’s Dr. Drake standing before him. He tells Evan how he had learnt Jenova was in the Shinra Building from the real Drake, only to find nothing there. He returned to Drake, feeling betrayed. For a second he saw in front of him a silver-haired man. He says it was him who took away Evan’s pain, thinking he would know something about Jenova. Taking the form of Evan’s mother, Kadaj undoes what he did before, leaving Evan in agonising pain.

Tseng finds Evan on the floor of the guards’ hut, but is attacked by Kadaj. Kadaj disappears when he realises that Tseng doesn’t know where Jenova is either. Elena follows the footsteps in the snow to Tseng and Evan.

43. With Tseng and Elena going to search for Kadaj, Evan rushes back to the guesthouse to check on Kyrie. Outside the room he hears voices coming from inside. Kyrie is talking with her old friend, Kadaj. But then there’s a gunshot, and Evan opens the door to find the silver-haired boy he’d seen before on the floor. Kyrie fires again and the man on reception comes rushing to see what is happening. Out of nowhere, Kadaj now has a sword in his hand, threatening to kill them. They manage to get out of the building, but Kadaj is right there, outside and in front of them. They start running but Kyrie stops. The guesthouse is on fire. Evan pulls Kyrie back up and heads for the entrance to the village.

Tseng and Elena had returned to the helicopter. Tseng is checking a rocket launcher as he asks Elena to contact Reno and Rude; turns out she already had let on where they were, and that the other helicopter is on its way now. Elena takes off towards the village, where Evan and Kyrie have just reached the guards’ hut as the helicopter reaches the village, when suddenly Kadaj leaps from the ground and onto the helicopter. As the helicopter begins to move north, Evan suggests that they can beat Kadaj.

44. Over the snow fields, Tseng and Elena are still fighting Kadaj, while Evan and Kyrie try to keep up. Evan has a plan to get Kadaj using the crevasses as a trap. But when looking up to find him, they hear a voice in front of them. Kadaj is standing there, and provokes Kyrie to lunge at him. Kadaj leaps out of the way, and Evan grabs Kyrie’s hand before she slipped. But suddenly, the snow beneath her feet crumbles away, leaving her hanging on to Evan’s hand. Just then Kadaj offers to help. Evan, unable to pull Kyrie up on his own, agrees. But Kadaj simply stabs Evan in the shoulder, as Kyrie falls to the bottom of the crevasse.

In the helicopter, Tseng is looking down on Kadaj, standing over Evan. He tells Elena to fire a missile. Elena hesitates and asks Tseng if he is serious, but Tseng gives the same reply.

Reno and Rude, along with Doyle and Leslie, arrive at their destination. Elena tells them to get ready to attack. Reno sets up a machine gun, but when he finally sees that Evan is down there, he is not willing to follow Tseng’s orders to fire. After Rude says a ‘malfunction’ cut off the radio, Tseng tells Elena that they will attack alone. He tells Elena to preform the attack, but she instead insists on piloting the helicopter.

Down on the ground, Evan hears Kyrie’s voice calling him. After Kadaj removes the blade from his shoulder, Evan slides himself towards the crevasse.

Rude spots Kyrie in the crevasse about 3 metres down, still alive. Leslie and Doyle try to shoot down Kadaj with the machine gun, hoping that with him gone they can save Evan and Kyrie. The bullets hit Kadaj, but have no effect, then he disappears. Reno and Rude turn to find him standing on the nose of the helicopter. He stabs the windscreen, shattering the glass. Rude veers the helicopter to the side and throws Leslie and Doyle out. He then takes the helicopter up higher, but Kadaj has gone. He’s now sitting in the back of the helicopter. Reno and Rude both jump from the helicopter. Once they’ve escaped, Tseng fires a missile at the other helicopter and explodes it.

45. Evan reaches Kyrie, but the force of the explosion cracks the ice apart and they both fall into the depth of the crevasse. However, they find themselves in a strange, bright white place surrounded by voices–the Lifestream. Eventually Evan wakes up to find himself and Kyrie in a pipe-like tunnel of ice, made two years ago when the Lifestream erupted. They make their way through this maze, looking for a way out.

Tseng tells Reno that he and Elena are going back to Under Junon, while Rude is going to Healin to get the third helicopter, in order to collect Reno, Doyle and Leslie who are looking for Evan and Kyrie.

Evan and Kyrie hit a dead-end, but Kyrie notices several shapes just ahead. They are bodies, all dressed in black, frozen and preserved. Also there is the body of Annette Townshend. When Kyrie checks her, she finds some letters she was carrying: a report to Foley about the escapee test subjects, a personal letter to Foley, and a note to Evan. Just as they are leaving, they notice one more item, a small warm mass wrapped in Annette’s handkerchief.

But as soon as they’ve turned around, they hear Kadaj’s voice behind them. As they try to outrun him they pass a hole leading into the Lifestream. Evan suggests that they jump in, but then the handkerchief falls to the ground and unravels. Inside is a piece of Jenova’s flesh. As Kadaj tries to grab it, Evan kicks it into the Lifestream. Kadaj jumps in to get it, but eventually is consumed by the Lifestream and vanishes into particles of light. Not long after, Leslie, Doyle and Reno find them.

Mentions: Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, Barrett Wallace
Test subjects: Kaitlin Starks, Edmond Starks, Trevor Shaun, Ezra Monty, Ian Modeus, Rick Fergus, Lisa Tutti, Senna York

46. The epilogue started off straight where the last chapter left off, but soon moves ahead to the end of/just after AC. Evan, Kyrie and Vits are now living together, and when the Lifestream spring appears in the church, they take Vits there to get cured.

No real cliffhangers, story over.

Also, a brief addendum: Cloud, Tifa, Marlene and Denzel briefly appear in the epilogue, where they converse with Evan, Kyrie and Vits outside the church. It’s mentioned that Cloud and co. will be holding a get-together at Seventh Heaven (AVALANCHE’s reunion party, when the new photo from AC/C’s ending was taken).

And with that, the summary is concluded.

We hope you enjoyed it, and have gained something of a handle on the new story. We also hope your appetite has been whet for hitoshura’s upcoming complete translation.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned. =)

Read this article, that’s what!

I’m going to take all the work out of it on your end and lay everything out for you, the fans, to digest in a simple, easy-to-follow manner. So, the next time you’re in a debate about FFVII with HeartlessAngel527 or FlowerGoddess777 and they begin to reference Cloud’s wing, Aerith waiting around for a certain spikey-haired emo kid, or other stuff you know doesn’t belong, you can go all Phoenix Wright on them.

So, click “Read the rest of this entry” and let’s get started.

The Canon
First, let’s list in order of publication all the FFVII games that have come out since 1997 and the release of the original FFVII:
-Before Crisis (2004)
-Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding (2005)
-Dirge of Cerberus (2006)
-Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode (2006)
-Crisis Core (2007)

Next, we’ll list all FFVII movies, also in their order of publication:
-Advent Children (2005)
-Last Order (2005)
-Advent Children Complete (2009)
-On the Way to a Smile: Case of Denzel (2009)

Next up, a list of FFVII novels and novellas:
-The diary-like entries by several characters in the FFVII Kaitai Shinsho The Complete guide book (1997)
-Maiden Who Travels the Planet (2005)
-On the Way to a Smile:
Case of Denzel (2005)
Case of Tifa (2005)
Case of Barret (2007)
Case of Tifa (revised edition; 2009)
Case of Yuffie (2009)
Case of Nanaki (2009)
Case of Shin-Ra (2009)
Case of the Lifestream Black (2009)
Case of the Lifestream White (2009)
-Lateral Biography TURKS -The Kids Are Alright- (2011)

Finally, a list of other games that include FFVII characters or plot elements also found in FFVII:
-Final Fantasy Tactics (1997)
-Ehrgeiz (1998)
-Chocobo Racing (1999)
-Final Fantasy X (2001)
-Kingdom Hearts series (began in 2002)
-Final Fantasy X-2 (2003)
-Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special (2004)
-Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable (2006)
-Dissidia Final Fantasy series (began in 2008)

Before going into the whys and wherefores concerning some titles being canon and others not, I will now give you the list of titles that are canon to the FFVII story:
-Before Crisis
-Dirge of Cerberus
-Crisis Core
-Advent Children Complete
-On the Way to a Smile (all of them)
-Lateral Biography TURKS -The Kids Are Alright-
-Final Fantasy Tactics
-Final Fantasy X
-Final Fantasy X-2
-Dissidia Final Fantasy series

Now, let’s move on to those whys and wherefores. First, let’s refresh on what the term “canon” means.

What does “canon” mean?
The word is derived from the Greek word “kanon,” meaning “rule,” “standard” or “measure.” Itself derived from the Hebrew word “kaneh,” it first came into use in its modern meaning from the councils who decided the ecclesiastical laws and official texts of the Catholic Church, those becoming the canon laws and texts.

Eventually adapted from that concept, canon for a fictional universe — or the franchise that depicts it — is what is considered to be the official continuity. For an illustration of this concept, let’s turn to the franchise that pioneered criteria for determining such matters where fictional universes are concerned.

Meet George Lucas, or Your Lord And Savior as he likes to be called

“Star Wars” is George Lucas’s creation, and — being officially licensed creations as they are — while he might take elements added to the so-called Expanded Universe of “Star Wars” by other authors, only those titles with direct involvement or approval from Lucas himself are considered the “absolute canon, the real story of ‘Star Wars’” as Stephen J. Sansweet, Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations for Lucasfilm, has referred to it. Though distinctions may become difficult at times due to the Expanded Universe featuring a great many products that are all officially licensed by Lucasfilm even while Lucas himself has no direct involvement in their creation (consequently, the overall franchise has a tiered hierarchy with levels of canonicity rather than a strictly in-or-out policy), comments from Lucas in the May 2008 issue of “Total Film” magazine make the matter quite simple: “… the movies and TV shows are all under my control and they are consistent within themselves.”

With that comment as the basis for determining absolute “Star Wars” canon, the overall definitive canon of the franchise is the seven films (“The Phantom Menace,” “Attack of the Clones,” “The Clone Wars,” “Revenge of the Sith,” “A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”), as well as the animated series “Star Wars: Droids,” “Star Wars: Ewoks,” and both the “Clone Wars” and “The Clone Wars.”

Information from interviews with Lucas or his production notes also fall under this umbrella, as do any deleted scenes from the films that are not in conflict with the final products. In the event of new Lucas-involved media — including rereleases of past films — that introduce new material or contradict previous facts, the newer material is considered to replace the old, and the most current vision of events becomes the new canon.

Though there is disagreement among fans about the exact mechanics of it all where Expanded Universe titles are concerned, a simple standard often followed is that EU titles can be considered in-continuity so long as they do not contradict established facts from the Lucas-involved works. However, due to his lack of involvement, they are at risk for being written out of continuity altogether — “decanonized” is the term often used — in the event that Lucas puts out a new work with elements that don’t correlate to those in the EU material. Without the overall protection of being a work from Lucas himself, those elements of contradiction call into question the rest of the work, and — unless otherwise afforded a place in the official continuity by a comment to that effect from Lucas — the entire work itself is considered struck from canon, or decanonized.

Lucas himself keeps the concept even more simple than that. As far as he’s concerned, there’s two “Star Wars” continuities — the universe he works on, and the parallel Expanded Universe, which includes all the details of his own continuity, as well as those added by other authors. As he put it in an August 2005 interview with “Starlog” magazine, “When I said [other people] could make their own ‘Star Wars’ stories, we decided that, like ‘Star Trek’, we would have two universes: My universe and then this other one.”

I know a fast way to increase the Midichlorian count in your bloodstream

Due to examining the “Star Wars” franchise, we’re unavoidably getting a bit far afield of the idea in its most general terms, so the concept of canon as it applies to fiction is best summarized as follows: it is the official continuity of a fictional universe as recognized by the franchise’s owners and/or creators, in which the most recent depiction of events is considered to be the current version.

Obviously, it can become a bit tricky for situations where the original creator no longer holds ownership rights to the creation and it’s then taken in different directions than the creator intended, but these standards generally work pretty well. Also, while one might think it becomes more difficult to make determinations about canon when dealing with products such as Final Fantasy VII, where the finished product was the work of several core creators and is also owned by a company that they merely work for, it can actually be much easier, for reasons we’re about to see.

Now that we have a standard for determining canonicity, we’ll begin applying it to the various FFVII-related media in order to establish why the list given earlier is the definitive canon of the franchise.

Not to take away Forcestealer’s Thunder with his final dungeon retrospective, but he, Tennyo, and I (Ryushikaze) have recorded another fan commentary track for Case of Denzel, which you can download after the break.

If you’re not familiar with this On the Way to a Smile entry, it covers the life of Denzel from his life with his parents living on the plate of Midgar to his coming to live with Cloud and Tifa in Edge. Our commentary by contrast, is mostly about the weird hair and lovingly drawn piles of junk.

No, really, you could kill a man with that hair

So download the mp3 itself,  load it into the player of your choice and enjoy Case of Denzel with some amusing, and occasionally insightful commentary.

Credits where credits are due:

On the Way to a Smile Audiobooks

Written by Kazushige Nojima
Original Translations, LH Yeung “Xcomp”
Narrated by Ryushikaze

Aerith - rinrin0rikuriku
Cloud - strykinglight
Tifa – Christina McBride / AnimazingGamerGirl
Barret - psylentknight
Sephiroth - RemovableAspirations
Cid – Twistedpuppet
Yuffie - Mizura
Vincent - danyetman
Red XIII/Nanaki – Joseph Vitaliano
Reeve – ConVito

(Temporary Note: This is NOT an April Fool’s Day joke).

The Forgotten City. At a small lake where Aerith had lost her life and saw everyone off, Yuffie and the others had returned once again to let her know that the fight against Sephiroth was over. They all stood silently around the lake’s altar. None of them spoke but each of them were speaking to Aerith with their own words.

“Bye.”

It was Vincent’s low voice. By the time Yuffie turned round to face him, his red mantle was already flailing behind him. What was with him, thought Yuffie. Is that the way he was going to part with us?

“Hold it- Hooold it!!”

She cried out hurrying after him.

“How can you part with us just like that? We’re all war buddies you know.”

Her protesting didn’t stop him. She ran ahead and the two of them stood face to face. He looked as if he was staring at a point far into the distance. Yuffie didn’t know what he was thinking or what was going through his mind but his gaze was very powerful. She stepped back immediately knowing that she couldn’t stop him.

“Take care,” Vincent said as he passed her. Yuffie never expected such words from him and let go of what just happened as she felt his heart for the first time.

Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Cid and Red XIII were watching them.

“Looks like he has somewhere to go,” reported Yuffie as she returned to her comrades.

“To his woman probably. Time I got going too,” said Cid.

“Yeah, you’re right. Same for me,” agreed Barret.

Everyone has someone they want to go see, thought Yuffie. She understood but couldn’t hold her feelings in.

“You know… You guys sure are taking this lightly.”

“It just means we know we can always meet again,” said Cid as he started to walk off. Cloud and Tifa nodded. Even Red XIII agreed too. Red XIII’s just forcing himself along, thought Yuffie.

“Yeah.”

As she began to feel the same way they did, she accepted what was about to happen.

“Lets go.”

Cloud and Tifa began to walk off. Yeah. Once we leave this place, it really is goodbye for us all, thought Yuffie. But that’s fine. I’ll enjoy our parting with all the energy I have.

“Hey wait!”

Barret suddenly raised his voice. Man, this parting’s ruined. That’s why I don’t like the old man. She looked over at him and saw him removing the materia from his prosthetic arm, handing it over to Cloud.

“What do we do with this?”

“Hey wait!”

Realizing she had forgotten something very important, Yuffie raised her voice. She had almost forgotten the whole purpose of her journey.

“Can I have all the- No, I mean can I just have half of all the materia? I’ll bring them back to Wutai with me and keep them in safe custody. Well, I’ll use them too maybe. Just a little.”

The eyes of all her comrades gathered on her. She loved to be the center of attention but this time she felt a little guilty. She continued to speak in an effort to hide that guiltiness.

“I was in the middle of hunting for materia you know. I got close to you all because I was following my instincts as a materia hunter. The materia you all had was just too tempting.”

Shinra’s research, technology and knowledge of the planet’s life allowed them to bestow “powers” into the materia Cloud and his party possessed that wasn’t possible to produce naturally.

“To be honest with you all, I didn’t really know what you were all after or know much about your past. Even now, I think it’s the same. But I fought with you all didn’t I? And it wasn’t because of the materia. I just wanted to be of use, even if I wasn’t much. We’re friends now. Come on, think about it. How many times have I saved you all from pinches?”

After she finished, Yuffie thought, Damn. There’s no truth to that part.

“Yeah, you helped us many times,” said Tifa.

Yuffie was confused.

“You’re an ideal child, so cheery and strong.”

“Huh!?”

Yuffie was surprised and waited for Tifa to continue. But Tifa just smiled and stayed silent.

“Are you serious?” Yuffie asked without thinking.

“Mmhmm,” nodded Tifa immediately.

“Eheheh.”

Yuffie thought about what she just heard as she blushed. She was surprised that she just might be getting the materia with no objections.

“What do you think, Barret?”

Cloud had suddenly turned round to ask him. Why the hell are you asking Barret for? Yuffie thought but remained silent.

“Hmmmm—” mused Barret. “It’s true that Yuffie’s a good friend of ours. But it’s a whole different matter when it comes to materia, isn’t it?”

“No it isn’t! It’s the same. The same! I know it may be all over now that we’ve defeated Sephiroth but, I have a great dream and that’s to restore Wutai. To do that, having materia is crucial.”

“Restoration eh—”

This time it was Cid who piped in. Shut up old man! Yuffie glared at him.

“If that’s what you need it for, isn’t Midgar much worse off?”

“You’re right.”

After agreeing with Cid, Cloud fell in thought.

“Hey, Yuffie. How about this? We’ll give you all the materia.”

“Alright!”

“But I keep it in safe custody.”

“Er— Are you trying to trick a child here! ”

Thinking she was being made a fool, she stood up tall in protest.

“You got it all wrong. Most of our materia are used for battle right? It really won’t be of much use for Wutai. So we’ll just share the ones that will be of use in healing and I’ll keep the rest. I think I’m the one that’s the most experienced when it comes to dangerous materia.”

“It’s true we don’t need any equipment for battles any more but—”

“Yeah?”

“Even if we can’t use them, we’ll feel much more at ease with them won’t we?”

“Then lets do this. You return to Wutai but if you feel uneasy without materia then contact me. We’ll think about it again then.”

Cloud was speaking in a gentle tone but in the end, his decision to keep the materia was clear to Yuffie. And just as he said, even if Wutai had a lot of materia with immeasurable destructive power, they may not be of much use. Times have changed. Even Yuffie understood that.

“Fine. You be sure to take good care of my materia.”

* * *

Once again, thanks for your hard work Xcomp! Below you’ll find his translation of the story.

Oh, Gilligan please begone. Just who are you? Nanaki who was also known as Red XIII faced the moon and howled as he tried to spit out the pitch black monster that had nested itself inside him. His howl echoed across the cold plateau of the night. The burning flame at the tip of his elastic tail lit up the red fur that covered his entire body as he shook and howled.

There was nothing around to answer Nanaki’s distant howl. It had always been the same but just this time, he thought there was a sign. It was one that told him he will most likely have to resolve this problem alone. Gilligan was inside him and was his enemy alone.

It was just a few days ago that he realised its existence. Gilligan was born after Nanaki was— Or so that was the order it happened as he thought back.

* * *

After the journey with Cloud and the others to defeat Sephiroth and save the planet ended, Nanaki returned to Cosmo Canyon. The people of the valley warmly welcomed the return of Nanaki who helped end the battle and listened to the story of his travels with deep interest. Nanaki was filled with pride.

Then Nanaki went to see his father, the brave warrior who fought the Gi Tribe and now stood petrified watching over the valley.

“Father, you and mother were fine warriors who watched over this valley. That’s why I tried to protect it just like you did. And I think I managed to do it. That’s why I will be travelling again, father. This time it won’t be about fighting. I will look at life around the world. Chocobos being born, trees withering and hmmm— I don’t know what else but, I’ll look at all sorts of things, everything. Grandpa told me. He told me that it’s my errand to continue watching such things, remember it all and tell my descendants all about it. Oh and—” Nanaki’s gaze ran over his father looking at his petrified eyes and ears as he thought, “And I will tell you everything too, father. Yes, I’ll do that.”

Nanaki then told the people of the valley the very same things. That he was going to obey the last words of his deceased grandfather Bugenhagen—And make “the journey to record the world” his new errand. They all encouraged him saying it will be very meaningful. And reassuring him that they will always be here for him, they saw him off.

Leaving the village through the plateau, Nanaki looked back after going down a steep path. The people of the valley were still waving to him. In answer, he sat back and raised his front legs, head high in the air and howled. Farewell. I will be back. Take care. With that, he ran down the rest of the path in a single breathe. Before long he arrived at a crag. It was the spot he would always stop to look back whenever he left the village. After he leaves it, the village will be out of sight. Just like those times he looked back up—but he couldn’t see it. A giant boulder that he was sure wasn’t there before blocked his view. Ah yes, Nanaki thought to himself. The lifestream passed through here. That must have caused the boulder to fall down from somewhere. When I made my way back here, I noticed the geography has changed in many places. At the very least when he went to check nearby, he found layers of rocks and parts that had once protruded out of ledges had all collapsed. It can’t be helped, thought Nanaki. The changes weren’t troubling anyone. When compared to say Midgar’s reconstruction and its destroyed cities, this was nothing. Nanaki leapt off a small boulder and moved on. He took care as he walked on his feet. He took one step. Then another. Then he realised something was wrong. It had nothing to do with his surroundings but his body—No, inside his heart. Nanaki stood still and closed his eyes. He looked deep into his heart. There it is. This must be it. How to describe it, thought Nanaki. This was the way Nanaki looked at and tried to understand matters. This was—pitch black. It was as if a hole had opened up in his heart. No it wasn’t a hole. It was like a black “soul of memories” sitting there. Something was attached to his heart very firmly. Before long he could feel it starting to vibrate violently. He believed it was changing shape. I wonder what’s it changing into—Just as the thought came to mind, Nanaki trembled all over with fear.

“—” He shuddered so much he couldn’t even make a sound. Nanaki grit his teeth and tried to endure it. No, he couldn’t endure it. Letting out a deep breathe he turned round and ran back towards the village, leaping over the cliff.

The people of the valley who had just saw Nanaki off were surprised to see him again and gathered together.

“What’s wrong, Nanaki?”

“Hmmm—” he started. He knew the black soul had disappeared.

“Don’t tell us you were already missing your home,” someone jeered. The others laughed.

“Yes, that maybe so.”

“Nanaki, you have to be firm with yourself! It’s not like a brave warrior at all!”

“Yes, you’re right.”

For a while, Nanaki exchanged words with the poeple of the village. Then once again, he said his goodbyes and started his journey. He could have went a different way but he challenged himself to go down the same path again. He thought it was necessary to ascertain whether the reason for the fear he had felt was because of that very place. However, nothing happened.

* * *

Nanaki named the “something” that suddenly appeared and struck him with fear, “Gilligan”. There was no meaning to the name but by giving it a name, he won’t forget about it at the very least. Names were what reminded him of various matters. And so it was, Nanaki continued to raise this Gilligan as he travelled. Sometimes when he remembered about it he would think about finding out what it truely was but every time he did, he would be gripped with fear. Until he could deal with it calmly, he thought he will leave it for the time being.

* * *

Leaving Cosmo Canyon, Nanaki made a rough plan of his journey. First he will go west where Yuffie’s hometown Wutai is and then he will travel around and see the long narrow islands to the north south. After that, he will go east. On a big island there was Rocket Town where Cid is, Barret’s hometown Corel and, Tifa and Cloud’s hometown Nibelheim. Then he will try going north. He’s also thought about visiting the uninhabited borders as well as every nook and corner which was going to take a lot of time but, Nanaki wasn’t worried about that at all. To Nanaki whose tribe has a lifespan of five hundred or even a thousand years that no human could ever have, what meaning could it have?

“Being rash is forbidden. I will be living on much longer than everyone else after all.”

* * *

Wutai was Nanaki’s destination . If it was possible, he planned to go see Yuffie. Yuffie would always come to him and treat him as if he was her pet but, Nanaki accepted it thinking it was Yuffie’s way of being friendly with him.

“It’s easy to understand what Yuffie’s thinking,” thought Nanaki. Surrounded by comrades who were older than her, Yuffie would always be challenging them. Outside of being in the same battle together, she would insist the difference in age didn’t matter. Nanaki understood those feelings very well. She was probably referring to one’s psychological age. However, he had very mixed feelings when it came to not understanding the fifteen or sixteen year old Yuffie’s behaviour very well even though he has lived for close to fifty years but, because humans matured in a different way than he did, he just had to give up in understanding her better.

As Nanaki reached close to Wutai, he found Yuffie by coincidence. Mischievously he was planning to give her a fright and pretend she was being attacked but, looking at Yuffie from the plateau, it didn’t seem like a good time for that. Her back was facing Wutai as she dragged a young boy around her age by his ankles. She’s probably been doing that for a long time. A long trail was made behind the boy in the grassy field. He didn’t know whether the boy was still alive but Yuffie was desparately speaking to him. Before long, Yuffie stopped. Just as Nanaki thought she was taking a break, Yuffie lifted up the boy and was somehow trying to get him on her back. However, Yuffie wasn’t strong and it looked like she was having some difficulty.

“Guess it can’t be helped,” said Nanaki to no one in particular and headed towards Yuffie. The feeling of going to help someone who wasn’t expecting any help didn’t feel too bad. Nanaki quielty crept towards Yuffie who didn’t notice him at all and asked:

“Shall I give you some help?”

Lifestream Black 1

The man could sense the Lifestream trying to erode his spirit– the memories of his former experiences, thoughts and emotions. If he allowed himself be taken into the current, the being he once was would soon disseminate and disappear amongst the spirit energy cycling around the planet. The man thought this unacceptable. The planet was to be his to rule, and to become a part of that system would be nothing short of defeat.

The man sensed a large flux in the Lifestream. A sign of another, different defeat. When the Lifestream erupted onto the surface of the planet, the man thought that Cloud was no doubt certain of his victory. Cloud was the one who had twice sent the man into the Lifestream. The man knew that if one could hold onto some core of their spirit, then one could remain a separate entity, independent from the planet’s system. Cloud. The man decided to make Cloud that core. And he wanted to let Cloud know of that. I’m still thinking of you. And I’ll show you the proof of that as well.

Lifestream White 1

The woman was an Ancient. Which explained how she was able to maintain her individuality even within the Lifestream. If she so wished she could become part of the planet at any time, but the woman thought it too early for that just yet.

The woman had sensed a different presence within the Lifestream cycling around the planet. It was the vehemence of a strong will, one that would never join with the planet. She knew this consciousness. It was the man who had taken her life. A merciless spirit hidden behind a beauteous wall. That spirit was now operating from within the Lifestream. The woman sensed that he was planning to exert his influence to the surface of the planet. She wondered what she could do.

Because it would be dangerous for her to come in contact with him, the woman tried to keep away from the man’s consciousness. Because of this, she couldn’t learn much of the man’s plot. However, just once, when the man’s spirit had suddenly appeared near her, she discovered that he had made his memories of Cloud the core of his being.

Cloud was her friend, her beloved — a symbol of what was important to her, and someone to be protected.

Lifestream Black 2

When the Lifestream erupted onto the surface of the planet, the man had already surrendered his inconsequential memories to the planet. Memories from when he was a boy, of his few friends, of the battles when he was still unaware, of his life in bygone days– all these became a part of the inundation, encased around Meteor, and finally receded. At the same time, the core of his spirit, and those memories deeply related to it, moved from torrent to torrent, and traveled around the land, from city to city. When the people who were trying to escape, or those left unable to do anything but stand still, were enveloped by those streams, he decided to leave them with his stigma. If Cloud noticed that stigma, the man was certain that he would never disappear. As long as Cloud remembers me, I can continue to exist. Within the Lifestream, and on the surface. Even if my spirit disseminates, even if just one fragment of a memory courses around the planet, in the end I can count on Cloud’s consciousness to bring me back, the man thought.

Lifestream White 2

The woman discovered that there was a growing number of spirits within the Lifestream who refused to be absorbed by it. While they were different from the man’s spirit, they rejected the Lifestream due to the same emotion. Hatred. Their feelings towards the planet were steeped in hatred, just like that man’s. This is the result of his influence reaching the surface, she thought. The woman drew closer to the souls that had just entered the Lifestream, spirits filled with hate, and tried to heal them. Beneath the surface of enmity were hidden memories. Memories from their lives as normal people. While unremarkable, they had many joyous memories as well. She released those thoughts and dissolved them into the Lifestream. Having lost the core of their emotions, the surface animosity disappeared. The woman had found a solution, however more and more spirits steeped in spite appeared, and it was too much for her to bear. She rushed through the Lifestream in search of other souls to help her. Ancients, on the verge of diffusing. These fragments of consciousness accepted her undertaking. When she found fragments of consciousness of people she had once known– pitifully few in number– she infused them with her own memories and sought their assistance. She had more spirits on her side now, but even so the hatred borne by that man did not decrease. She then thought of Cloud, living in his reality up on the surface. In order to reduce the hatred lingering in the Lifestream, she would have to remove the hatred flooding the real world. The woman wondered if Cloud could help her. However, that might lead to Cloud getting hurt as well. The Cloud she knew had a very fragile heart.

Lifestream Black 3

Despite mankind’s troubles, life on the planet had returned to normal. The man became aware of the increase in spirits— they could be called the darkness of the heart— melding with the Lifestream. He cherished that lingering darkness. Even more so when he considered that the stigma he had left on the surface was what created it. He thought that he could possibly enjoy himself with that. Filling the Lifestream with this darkness.

The man hid himself within the life on the planet and traveled around the world, branding even more people with his stigma. On the surface there were many people who no longer had their normal lives, and at the man’s temptation the dark parts of their hearts grew even larger.

Soon the man thought to himself; I want Cloud to know this is my doing. I want the humans to know this is my doing. For that he needed a body. There were things he wanted to say in his own voice. Things he wanted to shatter by his own hand.

He had decided he would use his Mother’s power. With a fragment of Mother’s body, I too can get a body again, the man thought. And so firstly, he tried to manifest on the surface as just a spirit, but his attempt failed. He had already returned the memories of his own appearance to the planet, and so he was not able to produce an image of himself. So the man found memories of a suitable appearance from the Lifestream, and with that form produced an image. It was the form of a boy. Soon the man remembered that being on the surface was incomparably more limited than the freedom of being a spirit. He created two more agents to do his work. These three were separate entities, and at the same time he himself. These three, created by the strength of the man’s will and detached from the system of the planet, were both at once a part of reality and monsters out of fantasy.

The man thought of the future. As my servants are looking for Mother, if they come across someone who knows me, then from that spirit I can learn of who I once was. And with Mother’s further assistance, I can become fully real. Even if there’s something lacking, it doesn’t matter. Cloud will make me complete.

— That will be the beginning, the man thought.

Lifestream White 3

The woman considered ways of telling Cloud of the crisis. As she thought, all the feelings she couldn’t tell him about came back to her vividly. There were many things she wanted to tell Cloud. However, she did not know what she should tell him or how she should tell him. It had been a while since she had worried. In the end, the woman decided she would see Cloud first and then think about what to do.

Eventually the woman discovered that the man, spreading hatred around the world, was trying to manifest on the surface. She wondered how he was planning to do that. Summoning up all her courage she approached the man’s spirit. However, he spotted her and chased her off, but soon gave up chase. She knew the man was laughing at her. You can’t do anything. However, she had caught what he was planning. He was apparently going to use separate entities to be his agents. The woman asked herself if she could do the same. However, she soon changed her mind. Even if it were possible, I want to meet Cloud the way he knows me.

EDIT: As of 5/18, Danna has gone through the text and edited a few spots to clarify the translation and smooth out the readability. Just to clarify, so enjoy!

Tifa walked the last customer out of her store before returning inside to clean up in the galley. The room was dimly lit, with minimal but adequate lighting. No one else was there besides Tifa. Just days ago, she was working so much that all her bitterness disappeared as she watched families come and go. But now, the water was cold and she wasn’t getting anywhere with all the dirty tableware. Tifa tried turning on all the lights that illuminated the store to try and change the atmosphere. For a brief moment, the store lit up, but due to the instability of the electricity supply, it became dimly lit again. A surge of uneasiness came over her. She wondered if she was all alone in the house. As the thought crossed her mind, she couldn’t stand it, and she called out a girl’s name.

“Marlene!”

Before long, soft footsteps could be heard from the children’s room deep inside the store, and Marlene appeared.

“Ssssh.” She put her finger to her lips and frowned. Tifa apologized but was relieved.

“Denzel’s finally fell asleep.”

“Was he in pain?”

“Yeah.”

“You could have given me a shout.”

“Denzel didn’t let me.”

“I see…” Tifa looked as if she was blaming herself for not paying attention to the children.

“So, what’s wrong?”

“Hmmm… What do you mean?” Tifa answered, trying to hide her feelings. Marlene looked around the store, where only Tifa and her stood.

“Did you get lonely?” This little girl saw through everything. “I won’t be going anywhere.”

“Thanks. You should sleep soon too.”

“I was just about to sleep!”

“Sorry.”

Tifa stopped washing and followed Marlene. Her parents already died and she was brought up by her father’s closest friend, Barret. Ever since Tifa met Barret and got along with him, she found out about half of Marlene’s life. That was why she naturally ended up being the one taking care of Marlene when Barret decided he would go on a journey to settle his past.

In the children’s room were two beds lined up to one another. There, Denzel was lying sound asleep. The Geostigma scar on the eight-year-old’s forehead looked painful. Denzel was suffering, as the illness couldn’t be healed and his condition wasn’t improving. Tifa wiped away the pus from the mark on his forehead; Denzel grimaced a little but continued to sleep. Marlene, who watched over Denzel, went to her own bed afterwards and called out Tifa’s name.

“We’re here with you but you’re still lonely, aren’t you?”

“…I’m sorry,” Tifa answered honestly.

“It’s ok. We’re the same.”

“I see.”

“I wonder where Cloud is.”

Tifa didn’t know and put her hand on her neck. Cloud was in Midgar somewhere. She imagined how the worst could have happened as he was caught in an accident where he went to work or he was being attacked by some monster.

But she soon found out that he was still out there on jobs. There were people who had seen him. He just left the house, that’s all. Tifa was trying to convince the children that there were no problems, but she lost her composure and the children soon realized something was wrong.

“Why did he leave?”

I didn’t know. Maybe all kinds of problems had cropped up. But Tifa remembered Cloud’s last smile. It had the kindness that made her think everything was fine. I wonder if I was mistaken.

Thanks to our member Dark & Divide for an update with higher quality images.

Edit: Also, Silent Tweak has translated some of the Chinese text for the scan! The textbox at the top left of the page next to the FFVII screenshot reads:

“In this work,[FFVII AC] Cloud and Sephiroth join the new scenario, the two’s show-down will be shown in a more intense way. The picture on the right is a new scene, Cloud’s body is surrounded by a blue aura, and that is the familiar Limit Break from [FF VII]. On the other side, Sephiroth expands his dark black-wing and prepares to fend off Cloud’s attacks. The two’s fated battle will be taken into a new height!”

Source: Cloud180
Update: FF Shores

Also, some more info from the Dengeki PS3 interview has surfaced, and with it, some details pertaining to the particular story, “Case of Shinra” and Rufus and the Turks in ACC. Major thanks to hitoshura for providing this info.

- Nozue talks about how since it’s CG, they might as well do over-the-top things you can’t do in live action. There’s a lot of this in the new scenes, like the bike scene with Reno and Rude.

- (Nojima) Rufus is cool, and being a kind of ‘insider’ gets lots of dialogue.

- (Nojima) Case of Shinra involves the Turks, but Rufus gets a lot of attention as well. It covers what happened after Tseng was attacked by Sephiroth and nearly died, and what Rufus did after being saved from the WEAPON attack. Case of Shinra is the only chapter which begins during FFVII. This chapter is tied to BC and DC, so it was hard for Nojima to fully grasp the character’s actions and time lines. But it was interesting because it shows what’s going on inside Rufus’s mind.

Source: Square-Enix Japan, Cetra Connection, and Shienabent blog

- ‘Mog girl’ is really people within Square Enix, and Nozue and Nojima hit it off because of her.

- In the novel, Yuffie’s chapter was meant to be a brighter story, but that brightness conversely ended up bringing a sense of pain, so it turn out a rather sad story. Quite a bit of focus on Geostigma in Yuffie’s chapter.

- In Nozue’s interview he talks about the highlights for the characters: for Cloud, the scenes with the children; for Tifa, he had nothing but a hard time with her. In the battle with Loz, there’s a slight change to the appearences of the scene when the flower petals float in the air. There are a lot for Denzel, but the best is the scene where he meets Cloud.

- When asked if he wants to write a sequel to ACC, Nojima says that he’s interested in Cloud’s future, and in AC he’s still in his early 20′s so he can still take the lead role.

- And there’s still the surprise new scenes which haven’t been revealed.

- Tifa’s page talks about how she gives Cloud encouragement, and ends up creating the catalyst for him regaining the will to fight. I’d like to believe this also leads to her salvation.

- Marlene is “a girl who watches over Cloud, together with Tifa,” and Denzel is “a boy who grows, together with Cloud.”

- “In Nojima’s interview, he said he thinks that since Denzel idolizes Cloud, there’s going to be a period where he doesn’t pay any attention to girls.

- Cloud’s personality basically drags things on, but in the scene with Marlene he finally shows a cool, heroic moment.

Also, DillyDally has stated that info has surfaced that Vincent Valentine will make an appearance in “Case of Red XIII,” explaining his appearance on the cover of the book as well.

Source: 2chan

*UPDATE: Moved here from later news story.*

Also, some more info from the Dengeki PS3 interview has surfaced, and with it, some details pertaining to the particular story, “Case of Shinra” and Rufus and the Turks in ACC. Major thanks to hitoshura for providing this info.

- Nozue talks about how since it’s CG, they might as well do over-the-top things you can’t do in live action. There’s a lot of this in the new scenes, like the bike scene with Reno and Rude.

- (Nojima) Rufus is cool, and being a kind of ‘insider’ gets lots of dialogue.

- (Nojima) Case of Shinra involves the Turks, but Rufus gets a lot of attention as well. It covers what happened after Tseng was attacked by Sephiroth and nearly died, and what Rufus did after being saved from the WEAPON attack. Case of Shinra is the only chapter which begins during FFVII. This chapter is tied to BC and DC, so it was hard for Nojima to fully grasp the character’s actions and time lines. But it was interesting because it shows what’s going on inside Rufus’s mind.

In addition to this, we’ve also updated our site with 54 Screens from the most recent ACC Trailer showcasing a lot of the new footage that was shown. Feel free to check them out at the following link.
54 Advent Children Complete Screenshots

Source: Famitsu