Danseru-kun
Pro Adventurer
Posted here: http://danseru-kun.tumblr.com/post/...nd-analysis-of-zerith-and-all-things-involved
Just sharing it here.
Contrary to what people here know about me, I’m actually more attached to Zerith than Cloti. I guess it’s my fault since I never actually tried to write a serious article about them but I would like to do so now. Zack is my favorite male character so I would like to dedicate this to him.
Fanart by ジョカ
Facts first. Zerith was actually just a minor part of Aerith’s background in FFVII and Zack’s whole purpose was to provide a false persona for Cloud and to make Aerith curious about him. However, with the arrival of new installments such as Last Order, Before Crisis and Advent Children, Square found out the immense profit potential and unexplored importance of his character and gave him his own prequel titled Crisis Core. Of course, this is met by mostly positive reaction by new fans when it received mixed reactions from the original FFVII players.
So that’s the background of the Zack and Aerith pairing. It’s undoubtedly an extension of the original, take it away and it does not affect the main story, add it and you’ll might or might not love it. I’m writing this to explain why I love it.
There are three things I love about Zerith and it will be the important points of this mini article; it’s simplicity, tragedy, beauty and it’s uniqueness in those three.
Zerith is very simple and you actually know where it will be going
Zack was the talented, handsome, flirty young man who has so much ahead of him and has the dream to become a hero. Aerith was an innocent girl living a dull life in the slums (who didn’t know what destiny awaits her upon meeting Cloud 7 years later.) Not really complicated or grand, it looked like a cliched perfect cute match.
Yeah there were potential obstacles between them but the two of them were either so young or innocent that they really didn’t understand the implications. Aerith admitted her fear of Shinra SOLDIERs but upon learning that Zack was one, she saw him as he was, a friendly guy, she apologized. When Zack learned Aerith was an Ancient he… just said “the very last one in the world” and then nothing. Zack wasn’t really THAT dumb but he probably couldn’t get how special Aerith’s bloodline was!
Fanart by: うましかお
Despite all these cheesiness it’s hard to fully enjoy or laugh at them because you know where this was going: both Zack and Aerith would die.
The tragedy
Everybody knows Zerith will end tragically, some feel it’s a typical cliched romance, some think it’s a depressing story. To me there is no correct interpretation of it but I find it unique and detached from the fakeness of Hollywood romances.
This is what I find sad in Zack’s fate. His friend Sephiroth went mad, he and his best friend Cloud were made into lab rats and there this annoying thing called Genesis and he actually lost the future he envisioned. But Zack didn’t care about the media glam of SOLDIER, even if he was betrayed by Shinra, he kept what ideals his mentor Angeal told him. SOLDIER pride, he believed in such thing and he would save his friend Cloud. But what got into me what when he read Aerith’s last letter:
And this was the culmination of Zack’s love for Aerith. Yes they were doing silly things. Yes they weren’t doing anything serious but they were serious for each other. After this, he became more desperate to return to Aerith. She was special to him.
What I think that made Zack’s demise and the tragedy unique is the DMW system. It’s annoying and many people hated the randomness of it but it’s a way Zack can connect to the player. When you’re fighting you’re wishing that one of them will help you (to me it’s like remembering them enables Zack to do things rather than them actually coming to help you.) You’re annoyed when they don’t and you’re happy if they did. Most particularly, when you’re hurt Aerith was the person that you want to heal you.
When Zack was dying, his DMW was breaking, his friends disappearing in his mind. They cannot help you anymore but he won’t let go of Aerith.
When everyone else was gone the slots had Aerith. If they connect he gets healed but the slots were broken. And when Zack laid down on the ground the slots connected to show her and then he remembered her last words to him:
He was also so near to Midgar where Aerith was waiting and you can see it at the background when he decided to take on the troops and from where he lay. Despite the cheesiness of the background music and the angel wings and stuff (though the Japanese and some fans loves this stuff) Zack’s death was harsh actually caused Cloud to be messed up.
Zack didn’t die in the arms of his beloved, Aerith won’t wait for him forever and he lay there forgotten, his fate shrouded in mystery and the truth kept secret by Shinra until Cloud was was able to remember him.
Why I think it’s beautiful
For me, Zerith wasn’t about obsession or passionate romance that will last a lifetime, it’s about young, innocent love being torn apart. True, Aerith still wore the ribbon he gave her and continued to wear pink but to me it’s not because she was desperate for Zack. She of course wanted him to return since she never got a closure but for me it’s more a way to remember someone you cherished. The silly things turned out to be important once you realize loss. Zack was of course, someone who changed the dull routine of her life, let her discover the joy of selling flowers and the one whom she loved and loved her back.
The greatest irony of Zerith was that even if their time was cut short in the world of the living, they were reunited in the Lifestream and can have all their time together not as earthly lovers but now just spirits of two people whose futures were taken away from them.
Yes it’s true that some people (including me) believed that romantic feelings of Aerith for Zack didn’t fully fade but for me they won’t return to being lovers now that Aerith had learned to love Cloud and Zack would have been happy for her.
But still, they’re together and they have all the time to talk about things. The Ultimania states that “her first love, Zack, is always by her side” and they were watching Cloud. I love the way Aerith remarked that Cloud was “too big to adopt.” They also went to pay him a last visit in the church. Even when I didn’t know anything about FFVII when I watched AC the scene was touching to me because I can feel Cloud’s longing for the two.
When they were torn apart in life as young lovers, they were reunited in death as a man and a woman who had their share of the world’s tragedies. Despite this, just like when they were young, they kept their cheerful personalities and give the people they love a reassuring smile.
The tribute of Cloud for them is just as fitting. There are many ways to interpret the last scene of ACC from outright romance to the cleansing of sins symbolized by rust but for me, it’s a wonderful gesture of Cloud for both of them to honor their wishes. Flowers should grow in Zack’s grave and his memento should be in Aerith’s church where he wanted to return to and were she was waiting for him. I’m sure that Aerith would have wanted to offer flowers to Zack if she knew where he had fallen.
Zack and Aerith’s foil in relation to Cloud
Fanart by :柾摸ゆうり
Both characters died and was important to Cloud but there is more than meets the eye. Zack was a highly skilled, elite SOLDIER who was gunned down by mere Shinra grunts (the most generic human enemies you slaughter around) when Aerith was murdered by the powerful enemy Sephiroth. Zack was murdered when he was just running away to save his and Cloud’s life when Aerith lost her life in her mission to stop Meteor’s descent and save the planet.
As with their relationship with Cloud, Zack’s greatness lowered Cloud’s self esteem and caused him to feel inferior. With Aerith, Cloud thought he was someone great. At Zack’s death he made an illusion, at Aerith’s death his illusion began to crumble away.
Cloud was with them when they died, and both of them had a smile on their faces prior to their deaths. For Zack, it was because Cloud would be there as a proof that he lived and probably because he felt that he will die as a hero. He accepted his fate. Aerith was different, she was looking forward to coming back to Cloud and happy that she accomplished her mission but she never thought that her life would end at that moment. Zack’s death also involved a long, exhausting struggle of ten months while Aerith’s death came just like a flash of lightning.
The impact of their deaths to Cloud was also notable. In Zack’s death, Cloud was unable to do anything because he couldn’t. He was immobilized and he was barely conscious. In Aerith’s death, she was taken away right in front of his eyes, her last moments, the blood and everything clear to him. Cloud, because of his trauma, Jenova cells and mako poisoning actually forgot about Zack! Maybe because he both admired and envied him that it caused Cloud to incorporate Zack as to his new persona. And worse, Cloud got really messed up. When Zack was forgotten, Aerith’s memory was strong in Cloud and propelled the part to move forward and even after FFVII she was someone engraved in his heart. Eventually, Zack was also remembered by Cloud but included a whole process that included Tifa.
Ironically, the time Cloud and Zack were together was 7 years! They were best friends in Shinra for two years, four years in Hojo’s lab (they were communicating and were conscious) and ten months traveling the world running from Shinra (Cloud was unconscious during this time.) Cloud and Aerith’s meeting was very short, officially less than a month and estimated to be at least two weeks. Still, Cloud was having a harder time coping with Aerith’s since he felt her was responsible for her death (and other reasons perhaps) when Cloud actually feel that living for Zack’s sake is his responsibility.
Lastly, when Aerith’s dying enabled her to use the Lifestream to save the Planet, Zack actually died for nothing (though it doesn’t mean it has no meaning.) He didn’t really save Cloud because all his fighting has nothing to do with the troops deciding to leave Cloud for dead because he looked dying. So Zack died fighting for his life and freedom, not in the process of saving the planet but he just wanted to live and return to Aerith.
Analysis:
Zerith can act wonderfully as a foil to Clerith as well
Cloud and Aerith’s meeting was described as something that would set their destinies into motion when Zack and Aerith was described torn apart by fate. Some fans feel that Zerith was made to take out the spotlight from Clerith and push Cloti but I see things differently. To me, it actually offered a glaring contrast between the two love stories of Aerith.
Fanart by: ゆんち
There are many ways to compare these two pairings but let us start with the heroine herself; Aerith. In CC, Aerith was young and innocent while in FFVII she was a mature woman. At 15, Zack was the forward and flirty one while in FFVII, Aerith was the one with that role. When others say that it diminishes Aerith’s unique character to have her do what Zack did, I saw it as fitting to the fact that Cloud was similar to Zack causing Aerith to be interested in him.
When Clerith was action packed in a short time- a plate falling, a rescue mission that includes crossdressing, breaking into Shinra HQ, traveling the world and saving it- Zerith in it’s two years of being “active” is so idle that it just revolved around cheesy fun activities like… selling flowers. *laughs*
But there are actually sadder aspects between the two pairings. When Aerith was taken away from Cloud, it was shocking and unexpected when Zack and Aerith being torn apart was a fact we know from the start. Both men promised something to Aerith- Zack promised her that he will take her out and let her see the sky, unknowingly, Cloud fulfilled it when they went out Midgar, the Cloud (although optional) promised her that he would take her up in an airship. It was never fulfilled.
Most importantly, Aerith was simply a love interest to Zack in her first story but upon meeting Cloud, she would meet her destiny as the planet’s guardian and her death would inspire the party to be victorious. To Zack Aerith was just Aerith, the girl in the slums, to Cloud, Aerith was the last Cetra and a symbol of his failure to protect those who are important to him.
So to me, Zerith is in a way similar to Clerith- unfulfilled promises, time cut short and one partner surviving and finding it hard to move on- but it is actually quite different. It doesn’t diminish the beauty of Cloud and Aerith’s connection nor that does it take away the spotlight but rather it shows how Aerith grew from a simple girlfriend into a woman who was capable of great things of a grand scale.
A contrast to Cloti
Fanart by:丸賀
Not much can be said about this unlike Clerith but I can say that if the teenage Zack and Aerith would see Cloud and Tifa, they would probably become amused or even laugh on the pair’s melancholic aura. Cloti is full of issues especially that both Cloud and Tifa are full of complex emotions they cannot let out easily when Zerith has none at all. When Cloud and Tifa has trouble expressing their feelings as ADULTS, Zack and Aerith were full of laughter as TEENS and probably that’s it -no hidden pains, insecurities, failures and tragic pasts. And that’s the contrast of it- Zerith is about young people looking forward to their future together before it was taken away from them when Cloti is about surviving adults who had their share of the harshness of life and struggles to live as a family.
But they’re not that dissimilar and they are quite the same in the aspect of unfulfilled promises. Like Tifa, Aerith was also waiting for Zack to come back. But when Cloud was able to fulfill his promise, Zack died trying to.
Final Words:
So that’s my take on Zerith, it’s very personal and not really argumentative. There are a lot of things I might not have added because of time constraints and perhaps because I haven’t remembered them yet but I will if I do. Don’t hesitate to tell me what you think!
Added:
There was also some symbolism in the pairing. Zack symbolizes the sky, and Aerith the water (CC Ultimania I think.) Aerith was afraid of the sky but said his eyes had it's color and when Zack was dying Aerith looked up and then we get to see the pain in Zack's eyes when rain was pouring down on his bloodied body.
Screenshots from thelifestream.net and ign.com and... google.com
Just sharing it here.
Contrary to what people here know about me, I’m actually more attached to Zerith than Cloti. I guess it’s my fault since I never actually tried to write a serious article about them but I would like to do so now. Zack is my favorite male character so I would like to dedicate this to him.
Fanart by ジョカ
Facts first. Zerith was actually just a minor part of Aerith’s background in FFVII and Zack’s whole purpose was to provide a false persona for Cloud and to make Aerith curious about him. However, with the arrival of new installments such as Last Order, Before Crisis and Advent Children, Square found out the immense profit potential and unexplored importance of his character and gave him his own prequel titled Crisis Core. Of course, this is met by mostly positive reaction by new fans when it received mixed reactions from the original FFVII players.
So that’s the background of the Zack and Aerith pairing. It’s undoubtedly an extension of the original, take it away and it does not affect the main story, add it and you’ll might or might not love it. I’m writing this to explain why I love it.
There are three things I love about Zerith and it will be the important points of this mini article; it’s simplicity, tragedy, beauty and it’s uniqueness in those three.
Zerith is very simple and you actually know where it will be going
The dull life in the Slum,
The love with a SOLDIER who fell from the sky.
-Aerith’s Profile FFVII 10th AU
What I love about Zerith is that it’s basically about two teenagers falling in love- Zack was 16 and Aerith was 15. It’s a very simple boy liked girl and girl liked boy thing. If this was a highschool setting, Zack would be a football jock popular to girls while Aerith might be the school’s sweetheart. Maybe fans say that Aerith was out of character in CC but it’s as if they forgot that she’s just 15 years old. If I look back to myself when I was 15, I was really different to what I am now.The love with a SOLDIER who fell from the sky.
-Aerith’s Profile FFVII 10th AU
Zack was the talented, handsome, flirty young man who has so much ahead of him and has the dream to become a hero. Aerith was an innocent girl living a dull life in the slums (who didn’t know what destiny awaits her upon meeting Cloud 7 years later.) Not really complicated or grand, it looked like a cliched perfect cute match.
Yeah there were potential obstacles between them but the two of them were either so young or innocent that they really didn’t understand the implications. Aerith admitted her fear of Shinra SOLDIERs but upon learning that Zack was one, she saw him as he was, a friendly guy, she apologized. When Zack learned Aerith was an Ancient he… just said “the very last one in the world” and then nothing. Zack wasn’t really THAT dumb but he probably couldn’t get how special Aerith’s bloodline was!
Midgar full of flowers, wallet full of money!
-Zack Fair
Zerith involves the most idle and silly activities in any Final Fantasy pair I know. What do they do? Go on a date, build a freaking FLOWER WAGON and sell them. The DMW scenes reveal more scenes about them and they’re basically just doing silly things. Zerith is cheesy in all aspect for me- the way Zack flirts, the girly laughs of Aerith… it’s just so CHEESY! But despite this, what I love about them is that they are full of smiles. Even if Zack was having a hard time with his troubles in Shinra, being with Aerith was like an escape and a time to enjoy oneself. They’re a very happy pair. -Zack Fair
Fanart by: うましかお
Despite all these cheesiness it’s hard to fully enjoy or laugh at them because you know where this was going: both Zack and Aerith would die.
The tragedy
I have 23 tiny wishes but you probably won’t remember them all. So I put them all together in one… I’d like to spend more time with you.
This was Aerith’s letter to Zack just before he went to Nibelheim to do his last mission as a SOLDIER. Zack was able read four years right after he escaped from Hojo’s lab but he didn’t realize how much time had passed. I don’t want to repeat the contents of many other Zerith essays so I would keep this straight to the point and very personal.
Everybody knows Zerith will end tragically, some feel it’s a typical cliched romance, some think it’s a depressing story. To me there is no correct interpretation of it but I find it unique and detached from the fakeness of Hollywood romances.
This is what I find sad in Zack’s fate. His friend Sephiroth went mad, he and his best friend Cloud were made into lab rats and there this annoying thing called Genesis and he actually lost the future he envisioned. But Zack didn’t care about the media glam of SOLDIER, even if he was betrayed by Shinra, he kept what ideals his mentor Angeal told him. SOLDIER pride, he believed in such thing and he would save his friend Cloud. But what got into me what when he read Aerith’s last letter:
How are you?
I wish I knew where you were.
It’s already been 4 years now.
This is the 89th letter I’ve sent to you, but I don’t even know where to send them anymore.
I really hope that this final letter I am writing gets to you.
By the way, the flowers are selling very well.
They make everyone so happy-thanks to you Zack!
-Aerith
Zack screamed: “What do you mean FINAL!?” The expression of his face is just so painful. It realized that he had lost his girlfriend too.I wish I knew where you were.
It’s already been 4 years now.
This is the 89th letter I’ve sent to you, but I don’t even know where to send them anymore.
I really hope that this final letter I am writing gets to you.
By the way, the flowers are selling very well.
They make everyone so happy-thanks to you Zack!
-Aerith
And this was the culmination of Zack’s love for Aerith. Yes they were doing silly things. Yes they weren’t doing anything serious but they were serious for each other. After this, he became more desperate to return to Aerith. She was special to him.
What I think that made Zack’s demise and the tragedy unique is the DMW system. It’s annoying and many people hated the randomness of it but it’s a way Zack can connect to the player. When you’re fighting you’re wishing that one of them will help you (to me it’s like remembering them enables Zack to do things rather than them actually coming to help you.) You’re annoyed when they don’t and you’re happy if they did. Most particularly, when you’re hurt Aerith was the person that you want to heal you.
When Zack was dying, his DMW was breaking, his friends disappearing in his mind. They cannot help you anymore but he won’t let go of Aerith.
When everyone else was gone the slots had Aerith. If they connect he gets healed but the slots were broken. And when Zack laid down on the ground the slots connected to show her and then he remembered her last words to him:
I’ll be here
(“I’ll be waiting”in Japanese)
He was also so near to Midgar where Aerith was waiting and you can see it at the background when he decided to take on the troops and from where he lay. Despite the cheesiness of the background music and the angel wings and stuff (though the Japanese and some fans loves this stuff) Zack’s death was harsh actually caused Cloud to be messed up.
Zack didn’t die in the arms of his beloved, Aerith won’t wait for him forever and he lay there forgotten, his fate shrouded in mystery and the truth kept secret by Shinra until Cloud was was able to remember him.
Why I think it’s beautiful
For me, Zerith wasn’t about obsession or passionate romance that will last a lifetime, it’s about young, innocent love being torn apart. True, Aerith still wore the ribbon he gave her and continued to wear pink but to me it’s not because she was desperate for Zack. She of course wanted him to return since she never got a closure but for me it’s more a way to remember someone you cherished. The silly things turned out to be important once you realize loss. Zack was of course, someone who changed the dull routine of her life, let her discover the joy of selling flowers and the one whom she loved and loved her back.
The greatest irony of Zerith was that even if their time was cut short in the world of the living, they were reunited in the Lifestream and can have all their time together not as earthly lovers but now just spirits of two people whose futures were taken away from them.
Yes it’s true that some people (including me) believed that romantic feelings of Aerith for Zack didn’t fully fade but for me they won’t return to being lovers now that Aerith had learned to love Cloud and Zack would have been happy for her.
But still, they’re together and they have all the time to talk about things. The Ultimania states that “her first love, Zack, is always by her side” and they were watching Cloud. I love the way Aerith remarked that Cloud was “too big to adopt.” They also went to pay him a last visit in the church. Even when I didn’t know anything about FFVII when I watched AC the scene was touching to me because I can feel Cloud’s longing for the two.
When they were torn apart in life as young lovers, they were reunited in death as a man and a woman who had their share of the world’s tragedies. Despite this, just like when they were young, they kept their cheerful personalities and give the people they love a reassuring smile.
The tribute of Cloud for them is just as fitting. There are many ways to interpret the last scene of ACC from outright romance to the cleansing of sins symbolized by rust but for me, it’s a wonderful gesture of Cloud for both of them to honor their wishes. Flowers should grow in Zack’s grave and his memento should be in Aerith’s church where he wanted to return to and were she was waiting for him. I’m sure that Aerith would have wanted to offer flowers to Zack if she knew where he had fallen.
Zack and Aerith’s foil in relation to Cloud
Fanart by :柾摸ゆうり
Both characters died and was important to Cloud but there is more than meets the eye. Zack was a highly skilled, elite SOLDIER who was gunned down by mere Shinra grunts (the most generic human enemies you slaughter around) when Aerith was murdered by the powerful enemy Sephiroth. Zack was murdered when he was just running away to save his and Cloud’s life when Aerith lost her life in her mission to stop Meteor’s descent and save the planet.
As with their relationship with Cloud, Zack’s greatness lowered Cloud’s self esteem and caused him to feel inferior. With Aerith, Cloud thought he was someone great. At Zack’s death he made an illusion, at Aerith’s death his illusion began to crumble away.
Cloud was with them when they died, and both of them had a smile on their faces prior to their deaths. For Zack, it was because Cloud would be there as a proof that he lived and probably because he felt that he will die as a hero. He accepted his fate. Aerith was different, she was looking forward to coming back to Cloud and happy that she accomplished her mission but she never thought that her life would end at that moment. Zack’s death also involved a long, exhausting struggle of ten months while Aerith’s death came just like a flash of lightning.
The impact of their deaths to Cloud was also notable. In Zack’s death, Cloud was unable to do anything because he couldn’t. He was immobilized and he was barely conscious. In Aerith’s death, she was taken away right in front of his eyes, her last moments, the blood and everything clear to him. Cloud, because of his trauma, Jenova cells and mako poisoning actually forgot about Zack! Maybe because he both admired and envied him that it caused Cloud to incorporate Zack as to his new persona. And worse, Cloud got really messed up. When Zack was forgotten, Aerith’s memory was strong in Cloud and propelled the part to move forward and even after FFVII she was someone engraved in his heart. Eventually, Zack was also remembered by Cloud but included a whole process that included Tifa.
Ironically, the time Cloud and Zack were together was 7 years! They were best friends in Shinra for two years, four years in Hojo’s lab (they were communicating and were conscious) and ten months traveling the world running from Shinra (Cloud was unconscious during this time.) Cloud and Aerith’s meeting was very short, officially less than a month and estimated to be at least two weeks. Still, Cloud was having a harder time coping with Aerith’s since he felt her was responsible for her death (and other reasons perhaps) when Cloud actually feel that living for Zack’s sake is his responsibility.
Lastly, when Aerith’s dying enabled her to use the Lifestream to save the Planet, Zack actually died for nothing (though it doesn’t mean it has no meaning.) He didn’t really save Cloud because all his fighting has nothing to do with the troops deciding to leave Cloud for dead because he looked dying. So Zack died fighting for his life and freedom, not in the process of saving the planet but he just wanted to live and return to Aerith.
Analysis:
Zerith can act wonderfully as a foil to Clerith as well
Cloud and Aerith’s meeting was described as something that would set their destinies into motion when Zack and Aerith was described torn apart by fate. Some fans feel that Zerith was made to take out the spotlight from Clerith and push Cloti but I see things differently. To me, it actually offered a glaring contrast between the two love stories of Aerith.
Fanart by: ゆんち
There are many ways to compare these two pairings but let us start with the heroine herself; Aerith. In CC, Aerith was young and innocent while in FFVII she was a mature woman. At 15, Zack was the forward and flirty one while in FFVII, Aerith was the one with that role. When others say that it diminishes Aerith’s unique character to have her do what Zack did, I saw it as fitting to the fact that Cloud was similar to Zack causing Aerith to be interested in him.
When Clerith was action packed in a short time- a plate falling, a rescue mission that includes crossdressing, breaking into Shinra HQ, traveling the world and saving it- Zerith in it’s two years of being “active” is so idle that it just revolved around cheesy fun activities like… selling flowers. *laughs*
But there are actually sadder aspects between the two pairings. When Aerith was taken away from Cloud, it was shocking and unexpected when Zack and Aerith being torn apart was a fact we know from the start. Both men promised something to Aerith- Zack promised her that he will take her out and let her see the sky, unknowingly, Cloud fulfilled it when they went out Midgar, the Cloud (although optional) promised her that he would take her up in an airship. It was never fulfilled.
Most importantly, Aerith was simply a love interest to Zack in her first story but upon meeting Cloud, she would meet her destiny as the planet’s guardian and her death would inspire the party to be victorious. To Zack Aerith was just Aerith, the girl in the slums, to Cloud, Aerith was the last Cetra and a symbol of his failure to protect those who are important to him.
So to me, Zerith is in a way similar to Clerith- unfulfilled promises, time cut short and one partner surviving and finding it hard to move on- but it is actually quite different. It doesn’t diminish the beauty of Cloud and Aerith’s connection nor that does it take away the spotlight but rather it shows how Aerith grew from a simple girlfriend into a woman who was capable of great things of a grand scale.
A contrast to Cloti
Fanart by:丸賀
Not much can be said about this unlike Clerith but I can say that if the teenage Zack and Aerith would see Cloud and Tifa, they would probably become amused or even laugh on the pair’s melancholic aura. Cloti is full of issues especially that both Cloud and Tifa are full of complex emotions they cannot let out easily when Zerith has none at all. When Cloud and Tifa has trouble expressing their feelings as ADULTS, Zack and Aerith were full of laughter as TEENS and probably that’s it -no hidden pains, insecurities, failures and tragic pasts. And that’s the contrast of it- Zerith is about young people looking forward to their future together before it was taken away from them when Cloti is about surviving adults who had their share of the harshness of life and struggles to live as a family.
But they’re not that dissimilar and they are quite the same in the aspect of unfulfilled promises. Like Tifa, Aerith was also waiting for Zack to come back. But when Cloud was able to fulfill his promise, Zack died trying to.
Final Words:
So that’s my take on Zerith, it’s very personal and not really argumentative. There are a lot of things I might not have added because of time constraints and perhaps because I haven’t remembered them yet but I will if I do. Don’t hesitate to tell me what you think!
Added:
There was also some symbolism in the pairing. Zack symbolizes the sky, and Aerith the water (CC Ultimania I think.) Aerith was afraid of the sky but said his eyes had it's color and when Zack was dying Aerith looked up and then we get to see the pain in Zack's eyes when rain was pouring down on his bloodied body.
Screenshots from thelifestream.net and ign.com and... google.com
Last edited:
...wait, you're one?"
)
