There are several things said. Nojima also basically says (paraphrase )"Nothing wrong with a love song and it does have elements of that" but that he also intended it to not be about just one person alone and made the lyrics broad (end paraphrase) he is not contradicting himself. He is saying it's not meant to be about just one person or relationship but to include all of them that are important for her. He said himself there are aspects of a love song but that's just not the whole purpose. It's about her.
Yeah, agreed with this. NPTK has elements of a love song because that's definitely been part of her life. The many months she spent with Zack and the years thereafter in which those feelings never dulled - to speak nothing of the influence he had and has in her life in other ways - are a large part of her life. But just a part.
So too, her relationship with Cloud. Confusion, uncertainty, do I like like him and do I even really know him, these are all things that are very much there in her present while singing. Nevertheless, it's a few days removed from her never even knowing he existed and a few days shy of her role in his life largely coming to a conclusion. It's important, if undefined, but just a part of what makes Aerith, Aerith.
One interesting thing to note is that, never mind how
we interpret NPTK,
it's clear her friends do not see it as a love song. Cloud makes no effort toward reciprocation, it doesn't ruffle Tifa's feathers in the slightest and the usual Yuffie teasing/banter is not present. They took it earnestly, at face value, as a song about Aerith's 21 years of life - just as Nojima had wanted.
And herein lies the rub, Aerith is an incredibly nuanced character with such a massive story that, were one to reduce it merely to circling those two short, Sephiroth-dominated, weeks with Cloud, one does an incredible disservice to her character. Aye, she's the last of the cetra, that alone is significant. She carries not one but two different ways of saving the entire world from destruction and the genes of her dead people. But underneath that is a complex and ultimately lonely person.
It can't be ignored that she has spent years waiting for her love to return to her as he promised, just as Elmyra waited for her own love to return each day when he never did. Compared to the two weeks of the events of the game, that 4 years of writing letters, wearing pink, continually asking about and hoping for Zack are a much more significant part of her story. So too her 15 years spent with Elmyra, comforts to each other in times when they needed it (and they certainly needed it a lot) are massive parts of her story, far far too big to be ignored.
This cannot be said of Tifa. I'm not trying to insult her by any means, but she was from early on wanting to be with Cloud as much as he with her. Her story is built on the foundations of being with Cloud, supporting him through his most difficult times and ultimately healing him. To project that role onto Aerith is to deny Tifa her own purpose in the story and, similarly, relegate all the importance that Aerith has as well. An assassination on all counts.
I hope all sides can learn a lesson from this. Clotis need to lay off the Aerith bashing. She's a deep, nuanced and beautiful character who was never a threat to them to begin with. Cleriths need to appreciate the game and Aerith for who and what they are, rather than what they want them to be. Ship who you like, by all means, but Nojima and Co deserve having their work and intended desire for it respected. I'll try harder to do this also.
And again, I personally don't see a problem when bring things from there when it's relevant/interesting since twitter is still the main source for ffvii infos, after all. We just need to be more mindful about what we are bringing from there, that's all.
