Did I just imagine this official quote about Zack and Aerith?

[Shademp]

My memory claims that, years ago, there was a comment by somebody from the Crisis Core team (probably Kazushige Nojima) who took the time to confirm that Zack and Aerith never had sex.

I remember there being an outrage at how unnecessary it was to shed light on such an awkward matter and that it would have been better left unaddressed.

...Did I just dream all this? I can't find the quote despite lengthy google (and TLS) searches.

If I were to make a guess at where my memory is erroneous it would be that perhaps the quote was in regards to a different Final Fantasy pairing.

 

[Roger]

“Although called my first love, that doesn’t mean that we(Zack&Aerith) became particularly intimate. " FFVII Dismantled.

 

[Shademp]

Thanks! That may very well have been the one

 

[Theozilla]

What was FFVII Dismantled, out of curiosity?

 

[Strangelove]

it's a japanese strategy guide ('ffvii kaitai shinsho').

from the sound of that quote it sounds like one of diary entries written from the characters' voices, not a statement from any staff.

in terms of crisis core, the ultimania had a quote on one of their profile pages calling zack and aerith's relationship 'platonic' but that also wasn't a staff quote. i can't think of any other quote that might fit off the top of my head.

 

[Carlie]

So she died a virgin? Way to add insult to injury Square. This is the kind of shit that has annoyed me about Square, the way Aerith's characterization has been post OG (in CC being especially crap). I'd like to think that the girl who was a subversion on her character archetype, threatening to rip someone's balls off also got to have sex with her boyfriend.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

it's a japanese strategy guide ('ffvii kaitai shinsho').

from the sound of that quote it sounds like one of diary entries written from the characters' voices, not a statement from any staff.

in terms of crisis core, the ultimania had a quote on one of their profile pages calling zack and aerith's relationship 'platonic' but that also wasn't a staff quote. i can't think of any other quote that might fit off the top of my head.

If I remember right, it was Zack's profile. It described their relationship as "platonic na koi," I think? A "platonic romance"? Which I took to mean a "chaste love" (i.e. romantic with no sex).

 

[Ite]

So she died a virgin? Way to add insult to injury Square. This is the kind of shit that has annoyed me about Square, the way Aerith's characterization has been post OG (in CC being especially crap). I'd like to think that the girl who was a subversion on her character archetype, threatening to rip someone's balls off also got to have sex with her boyfriend.

Died a virgin? Impossible.

“No Cloud, I want know... the REAL you!”

If this gondola’s a rockin’ don’t come a knockin! The great dragon Valvados was slain that night, after all.

 

[Clement Rage]

Doesn't really seem like a definitive statement to me. Could still go either way if you wanted to interpret it accordingly.

 

[Mage]

I reckon she shagged Cloud, dunno about Zack. I'm CloTi 4 lyfe though so it just confirms my suspicions that she ain't nothing but a Cetran ho.

 

[Channy]

You take that back


Well, I mean... it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Zack and Aerith to have sex at that age... she was.. 17 when he finally left?

Afterall, Zack did say to Cloud that they might have a place to say but then ruled it out because the mum didn't like/approve of him. Sounds like you got some 'splaining to do!!

 

[Strangelove]

oh they fuckin

(i would put the video here of that from the discord but cba)

 

[Shademp]

Zack did say to Cloud that they might have a place to say but then ruled it out because the mum didn't like/approve of him. Sounds like you got some 'splaining to do!!

The nuance is different in the Japanese game, appealing to Zack's "less monogamous" image.

It was actually multiple girls he was talking about.

The English version only sounds like one person:

Zack
“I know what I'm gonna do.”
Zack
“I got a place I can crash for a while…”
Zack
“No wait, the mother lives there too.”


But the Japanese one talks about a number of girls:

ザックス
「俺はあちこちにあてがあるんだ」
"I've got people I can count all over."

ザックス
「みんなの世話んなって……」
"I'll get everyone to help me out..."

ザックス
「あ、どの女の子も親といっしょに住んでるのか……」
"Oh, does every girl live with their parents..."

Each line specifically highlight that he's talking about multiple people (the bold parts), rather than the single person he is talking about in the English script.

Link

Not arguing for or against anything here, just reminding people of hito's post from 2013 for the umpteenth time.

oh they fuckin

(i would put the video here of that from the discord but cba)

 

[Strangelove]

classic brand hito bring the punctuation and capital letters in the right places

 

[looneymoon]

I hope in the remake they imbue Aerith with the ratchet ho from the ghetto she always had in her

 

[hian]

It's also worth mentioning that in the original Aerith doesn't speak as if she ever dated Zack. She speaks as if she had a passing interest in him.
Whether this is her just being careful cause she's plying Cloud or whether it's the honest truth is hard to say.
But given Zack's attitude and what Aerith says, I think the original dynamic invisioned there was that Zack was just this cool flirtatious SOLDIER who got around, and that Aerith took note of him and found him attractive or something.
They were never implied or spoken of in a way that suggests they were ever a couple.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Zack's final letter to his parents in Gongaga is also one of things on the fourth disc where it does more explicitly mention that he got a girlfriend in the P.S. section. I think it's probably the most clear indication of what the intent for Zack & Aerith's relationship was meant to be in the final product / release version of the game.

X

 

[T@ctic]

how long did they know each other anyway? was it even a year?

 

[Roger]

how long did they know each other anyway? was it even a year?

Less then 2 years, more then 1.

 

[T@ctic]

Less then 2 years, more then 1.

so would it be weird even if they never slept together? knowing each other a year or so, i wouldn't think that would be appropriate. or maybe i'm the weird one.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I know what I believe.

 

[T@ctic]

well if that ain't cryptic af

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I loved Crisis Core as much as the next person, but I'd have loved even more a game that spent a lot more time in the Wutai War and also showed Zack as the ruthless and selfish but charming womanizer presented to us in the original.

Anyway, the reason Aerith ran crying out of Mr and Mrs Fair's hut in Gongaga was because they asked her if she'd been the girl he wrote home about, and she knew she wasn't.

 

[Clement Rage]

Don't they also say Zack hasn't been in contact in ten years?

That's a good scene, 1st playthrough you think Aeris and Tifa's reactions are just shipping related, and it turns out to be much more than that.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Don't they also say Zack hasn't been in contact in ten years?

Ten years since he left, six or seven since he wrote.