Final Fantasy VII Abridged Series
- Thread starter Theozilla
- Start date
Chained Prometheus
Lv. 1 Adventurer
- AKA
- Chained
Yeah, they did a pretty solid job with the ending. Not surprising, considering how great a job they did with wrapping up the Cell Arc for DBZA and Hellsing Ultimate Abridged two years ago. I definitely appreciate that they know when to put aside the humor and play scenes straight for as long as they need to.
Also I really want to give a shout to Brian Olvera in particular. The whole cast did a wonderful job with their performances (especially Sarah Anne Williams and Justin Briner), but man, something about the way Brian voices Cid feels 'definitive' to me. Square-Enix is going to have a hard time finding a VA that tops his performance when Cid shows up in the Remake sequels.
I'm really interested in seeing where TFS go with their original content moving forward. I know that their plans this year were upended a bit due to COVID, most notably with the production of the second half of S1 of Unabridged still needing to be filmed and edited.
- AKA
- So many names
Brian is fairly awesome, if his work on TFS at the Table is anything to go by. I keep meaning to get into FF7 Machinabridged but there're only so many hours in a day. How bad am I missing out on a scale of 1 (Raditz) to 10 (Cell Games)?
Chained Prometheus
Lv. 1 Adventurer
- AKA
- Chained
Yeah, what the show does to fix the dynamic between Cid and Shera is genuinely brilliant. Honestly I'm not entirely sure what it is exactly about Brian's performance that really stands out to me exactly. He doesn't get a lot of the showier performance moments that others like Tifa and Cloud's actors get, but the energy and vibe he brings to Cid just... fits the character perfectly.
As for whether you should take the time watch the show or not, that's a bit of a tricky question. Personally speaking, I really love what TFS did with FF7MA and their interpretation of the various lore and character arcs. However characters like Cloud, Tifa and Barrett initially start off quite a bit differently than diehard fans of the original game would expect them to be. Especially Tifa. I assure you though that this changes as time goes on and that it's generally in service of the plot and development.
Moreover, unlike TFS' other Abridged shows, FF7MA had a rotating line of writers in the first few seasons. Antfish is there on the writing team from beginning to end, but Season 1 was more led by Takahata101. From Season 2 onward though, Antfish was essentially the series' primary showrunner.
That said, if you stick with it and put your trust in what the writers start off doing with some of the characters and where that ultimately leads their character development, FF7MA is legit up there with DBZA and HUA in my book. It's kind of like what happened with DBZA in my opinion; the show had its growing pains and initially focused a lot on the humor, but as it goes on, you really get invested in these depictions of the FF7 crew.
There's a number of fine, small touches across the show that really help endear these iterations of the cast to you over time and appreciate them apart from the official depictions of the same characters and story. In fact, there's one particular thing they do in the Season 3 finale that adds a whole new level of emotion to one of the game's more iconic/gut-wrenching plot beats.
I'd say the show is absolutely worth taking the time to watch it all from start to finish, but be prepared for some possible shocks on how Cloud, Tifa and Barrett might initially come across to you in the first season or two. As things go on, the payoff is really worth it IMO.
Edley
Pray for Sound
- AKA
- Issac Dian, Dudley, Chev Chelios
This is gonna sound very whiny for something people spent half a decade working on but the best way I can describe it is a well prepared fish that wasn't deboned properly. Problem was I ordered a steak.
Voice Acting = 7 out of 10: They have industry pros for the most part. If anything they routinely outperform and overdeliver on behalf of the uneven script. I don't blame the T4S regulars for getting blown out of the water here, but some of the performances really bailed out some mediocre sections. Sarah and Kira are just as talented as Britt and Briana and Justin is obviously a VA superstar. Unfortunately roles like Barret, Yuffie, Red, and Cait Sith are mostly one note and feel dated and blah just as much as they have zingy jokes. The VA who did Rufus as Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood was particularly droll.
Art Direction = 6 out of 10: The webcomic/deviantart style is what it is. I just hope the art budget was minimal, cause otherwise they got ripped off. It's never outright bad, but the machinima outpaces the animation easily and the machinima isn't stellar. Also, it just never gets much better until the last part, and even that is because the FMV from disc 3 helps them with better source material.
Writing = 5 out of 10: The Performances really bailed out some mediocre sections. Sarah and Kira are just as talented as Britt and Briana and Justin is obviously a VA superstar. Unfortunately most secondary characters like Cait, Yuffie, Vincent, or Rufus spoke I felt like I was watching a web series from 15-20 years ago on newgrounds. Barret, who I think was routinely criticized early on has some pretty funny scenes, but just as much cringe. For the most part they keep things moving quick and in a way that pokes fun at the tropes and oddities of the story. Most of the dramatic scenes were good, but I found it difficult to draw the conclusions about the characters we were led to versus the way they acted throughout the series. They were smart to only skim TLD and lean Clerith enough while keep it ambiguous enough to avoid the hornets nest. The ending was played very straight and it was very obvious they just wanted to wrap up ASAP for reasons. Because of that there was just a flavor of the MA characterizations and felt more like a love letter than a satire. I think a lot of people involved would have liked another pass at the scripts.
Special note on Tifa. I was interested in the direction they went with her character, even the manipulation of Cloud stuff that plays on those Tifa the Liar tropes that I can't stand. I honestly wish they had kept her the violence queen yandere the entire time. As much life as Sarah brought to the role, I thought her more straight forward scenes, especially the lifestream sequence which ends on "Thanks for being my friend" "Anytime, bro" was a bit limp. I know I'm in the minority there, but it just felt like a lot of missed opportunities for funny.
All that being said: 6 out of 10. better than Advent Children '06 or Dirge. I get the making fun while showing love, but as some point you gotta stab the sacred cow a bit.
Voice Acting = 7 out of 10: They have industry pros for the most part. If anything they routinely outperform and overdeliver on behalf of the uneven script. I don't blame the T4S regulars for getting blown out of the water here, but some of the performances really bailed out some mediocre sections. Sarah and Kira are just as talented as Britt and Briana and Justin is obviously a VA superstar. Unfortunately roles like Barret, Yuffie, Red, and Cait Sith are mostly one note and feel dated and blah just as much as they have zingy jokes. The VA who did Rufus as Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood was particularly droll.
Art Direction = 6 out of 10: The webcomic/deviantart style is what it is. I just hope the art budget was minimal, cause otherwise they got ripped off. It's never outright bad, but the machinima outpaces the animation easily and the machinima isn't stellar. Also, it just never gets much better until the last part, and even that is because the FMV from disc 3 helps them with better source material.
Writing = 5 out of 10: The Performances really bailed out some mediocre sections. Sarah and Kira are just as talented as Britt and Briana and Justin is obviously a VA superstar. Unfortunately most secondary characters like Cait, Yuffie, Vincent, or Rufus spoke I felt like I was watching a web series from 15-20 years ago on newgrounds. Barret, who I think was routinely criticized early on has some pretty funny scenes, but just as much cringe. For the most part they keep things moving quick and in a way that pokes fun at the tropes and oddities of the story. Most of the dramatic scenes were good, but I found it difficult to draw the conclusions about the characters we were led to versus the way they acted throughout the series. They were smart to only skim TLD and lean Clerith enough while keep it ambiguous enough to avoid the hornets nest. The ending was played very straight and it was very obvious they just wanted to wrap up ASAP for reasons. Because of that there was just a flavor of the MA characterizations and felt more like a love letter than a satire. I think a lot of people involved would have liked another pass at the scripts.
Special note on Tifa. I was interested in the direction they went with her character, even the manipulation of Cloud stuff that plays on those Tifa the Liar tropes that I can't stand. I honestly wish they had kept her the violence queen yandere the entire time. As much life as Sarah brought to the role, I thought her more straight forward scenes, especially the lifestream sequence which ends on "Thanks for being my friend" "Anytime, bro" was a bit limp. I know I'm in the minority there, but it just felt like a lot of missed opportunities for funny.
All that being said: 6 out of 10. better than Advent Children '06 or Dirge. I get the making fun while showing love, but as some point you gotta stab the sacred cow a bit.