To start off, the quote is actually from the October 24, 2003
issue of “Famitsu PS2.” Sources:
http://web.archive.org/web/20120515032229/http://ff7ac.hotcafe.to/magazine/magazine03.html
http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/product/magazine/03003520
Secondly, there’s actually no comparison here between Cloud’s
feelings for Aerith and those of the rest of AVALANCHE, nor
does the quote even mention Aerith’s comrades on the team.
A more accurate translation would be:
"I think that for all those players with whom Aerith traveled as a comrade,
each carries their own feelings and love for Aerith. In this story, Cloud also
carries his own undying feeling for Aerith, even now .…"
Third, the commonly spread version of the quote seen under the “Claim”
marker above also leaves out the last several lines of the quote, which
are vital to identifying the “undying feeling” in question. This is the
complete quote:
----
"I think that for all those players with whom Aerith traveled as a comrade,
each carries their own feelings and love for Aerith. In this story, Cloud also
carries his own undying feeling for Aerith, even now .... Its relation to the
church scene is .... Yeah. I'll leave this to everyone's imagination. (laughs)"
Japanese text:
エアリスはかつてともに旅をした仲間で、受け手側の皆さんにも、それぞれの愛情や想いがあると思います。この物語のクラウドも、エアリスに対して、いまもなお死なぬ想いは あると・・・・。この教会の場面との関係は・・・・・うーん。このあたりは皆さんのご想像におまかせします（笑）。
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/feelingsforaerith_zps8e119cdc.png
----
Before proceeding further, I would like to turn to an explanation
from hitoshura that breaks down exactly why it’s clear that
Nomura’s comment does not mention the rest of AVALANCHE:
----
エアリスは = we're talking about Aerith
かつてともに旅をした仲間 = a comrade (nakama) who once
travelled together [with the rest of them]
で = comes from the verb “to be/is,” and is conjunctive. It means
“[Aerith] is [a comrade who [they] once travelled with], and ...” but
seems to have been taken as 'for those who travelled ....”
受け手側の皆さんにも = [and ...] for everyone in the audience too
それぞれの愛情や想いがあると思います = he thinks they each
have their own affection and feelings
この物語のクラウドも、エアリスに対して、いまもなお死なぬ
想いはあると = there's not really anything there singling anything out
like “his own” like there was above. Just that he still has some “undying
feelings” as well.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/feelingsforaerith2_zps6bd2a231.png
----
This interview also took place well before even the original edition of
Advent Children was released. This was only a month after the project's
development had been announced at Tokyo Game Show 2003. Nomura
was teasing the eager fans.
He didn't identify exactly what Cloud's unique undying feeling for Aerith was,
but he hinted that it was related to "the church scene.”
So, what is this feeling that's ultimately given so much attention in the
film? Guilt, as we've discussed before. In both editions of the movie, the
wolf that symbolizes Cloud's guilt appears in Aerith’s church when Cloud
finds Tifa beaten up there, and the FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania
also refers to Aerith as a symbol of his failures to protect those he cares
about (pg. 50; pg. 52 of the Revised Edition) — reproducing Nomura's
comment here point for point, and explicitly identifying "Cloud's unique
feeling" as guilt: "Aerith still lives on in the hearts of her friends who
saved the planet. And in particular to Cloud, as a symbol of his failure to
... protect those dear to him."
For that matter, at the time Nomura made his comment about "the church
scene," there had only been *one* church scene shown thus far -- the one
with Cloud walking down the main aisle of the church in the trailers from
TGS 2003's first, second and third days (three trailers were shown during
the event, one each day). In that scene, Cloud can be heard saying, "I think
I want to be forgiven. Yeah, I want to be forgiven."
The only church scene shown to the public at that point — indeed, the only
one that existed at the time — was this one featuring Cloud’s desire for
atonement.
For reference, let us turn to pg. 13 of the Reunion Files, where Takahiro
Sakurai, Cloud’s voice actor, says the following:
----
The first recording I did for this project was for a trailer shown at the Tokyo
Game Show 2003. It was only four lines, like “I want to be forgiven,” but it
took me over an hour and a half just to get through them (laughs)!
Source scan:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/wanttobeforgiven_zps95c33c78.jpg
Japanese text:
最初のアフレコは東京ゲームショウ2003トレーラーでしたね。「うん、俺は許されたい」他の、たった4つのセリフだったのに、その収録だけに1時間半以もかかりました。ええ（笑）。
----
The footage that existed at the time is corroborated by pg. 74 of the
Reunion Files:
----
The first time the title and visuals were revealed to the public was at a
presentation held during the 2003 Tokyo Game Show (TGS), from
September 26 through 28. In fact, the only visuals that existed at this
point were this three-minute movie and the secret proto-movie
described earlier. In other words, this sneak preview was actually the
pilot.
Source scan:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/tgs2003_zpsfd18b939.jpg
Japanese text:
初めて一般に向けてタイトルとその映像が公開されたのは2003年9月26日～28日の東京ゲームショウ（TGS）の時に行われた制作発表会だった。だが実はこの時点で存在した映像は、前出の幻のプロトムービー以外、この3分の映像しかなかった。そう、この初公開映像は俗に言う「パイロットフィルム」そのものだったのである。
----
Recollections from Nomura on the same page echo these
observations:
----
We decided from the beginning that we wouldn’t use the TGS
movie in the final version. It was really just a pilot film. We
produced three different versions and played one on each day of
the TGS, but made them so that they hardly implied FFVII at all.
Source scan:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/tgs2003-2_zps25b987a3.jpg
Japanese text:
TGSで公開する映像は本編では使わないって最初から決まっていたので、本当にパイロットフィルムという感じでしたね。TGSの3日間、毎日違うバージョンを流して3バージョン作りましたが、「VII」のこともほとんど語らない、という感じに仕上げました。
----
Here also are links to all three Tokyo Game Show trailers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD-aZa-jTNY (Day 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bADv4C2e0Vc (Day 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueAaATUs5dM (Day 3)
The counterargument has been made, however, that Cloud’s feeling
described in Nomura’s quote could not be guilt -- mind you, despite
no other feeling applying to the church scene from the Tokyo Game
Show trailers or even the same scene in the final film -- due to it being
described as “undying,” whereas Cloud’s guilt is resolved during Advent
Children.
This is, quite simply, a misunderstanding of the word “undying.”
"Undying" doesn't mean only that which is inextinguishable. Vampires
and Elves are frequently portrayed in fiction undying (i.e. as time
progresses, they are not in a constant state of eventual decay like
humans), but can be killed through the correct means. The race from
FFXII called the Undying, as well as the same game's final boss, are
likewise — undying, yet can also be killed.
That which is undying is only so until it has died. For examples within
Final Fantasy, one need look no further than the last boss of FFXII. The
form Vayne takes when he fuses with Venat's power is called "The
Undying" — and not just in the English translation.
The Japanese name for this boss is 不滅なるもの -- "that which/he
who is undying." The Occuria of the same game are also referred to in
both languages as "the undying" (不滅なる神; "kami who are
undying") but they very much can be killed, as Venat kindly
demonstrates.
For that matter, if one wants to make the case this feeling being
described isn't guilt, they're still going to have to attempt divorcing
that quote from its full context (i.e. the sentences that immediately
follow): "Its relation to the church scene is.... Yeah. I'll leave this to
everyone's imagination. (laughs)"
In any case, if Nomura was talking about something that goes beyond
Advent Children, you have to wonder why he would use “in this story”
to describe the feeling and then relate that feeling to a specific scene in
the trailer where Cloud speaks of wanting forgiveness. The point
becomes all the more clear when you look at the finished work and find
in that scene a manifestation of Cloud's guilt, bearing in mind such things
as Aerith's 10th Anniversary Ultimania profile (pg. 50; pg. 52 of the
Revised Edition) saying that, at the time of Advent Children, Aerith was
the symbol of Cloud's regrets.
Added to that, the character association chart in the same book (pg. 121;
pg. 123 of the Revised Edition) has an arrow running from Cloud to
Aerith that says "sense of guilt" (罪の意識
. While guilt certainly isn't all
that he felt for her, and while he may indeed carry an especial fondness
for her all through his life, it only stands to reason that in this particular
quote about Advent Children, Nomura was referring to Cloud's guilt.
That's what the whole film centers around: his struggles with his guilt
and coming to terms with himself.
