Tifa character design seems to be inspired by Misao Aoyama from a famous visual novel of the early 90s

[KuraudoSeph789]

Recently some Japanese players have pointed out the design similarities in design between Tifa Lockheart and Aoyama Misao from the popular visual novel Can Can Bunny Extra particularly her hair, white top, black mini skirt and red shoes.

The similarities don’t stop at the visual design though, when Tifa was first revealed for FFVII in a magazine as the 6th party member they included her measurements and they are the same as Misao but with +1 added to each (this latter got changed).

On top of that during a recent interview Nojima talked about the dating mechanics in Rebirth being similar to old dating sims from 30 years ago, adding to the amount of coincidences it’s worth noting that Can Can Bunny Extra became 30 years old in 2023.

This would be hard to believe if it wasn’t for the Interview, it can be a coincidence that she has very similar character design with Misao but Nojima saying “It reminded me of playing dating sim games 30 years ago” seems oddly specific plus it wouldn’t be the first time there is similarities in design between FFVII characters and outside characters as seen with Red and Cloud.

This is just talking about character design alone since personality wise they are different, it seems Nomura took inspiration from Misao design when creating Tifa.

Do you guys think this is just some big coincidences or she could be inspired by the character from the visual novel?

 

[Theozilla]

I mean long black-haired light-skinned pretty women isn't exactly a rare character designed archetype in Japanese media in general.

 

[KuraudoSeph789]

I mean long black-haired light-skinned pretty women isn't exactly a rare character designed archetype in Japanese media in general.

Yeah but I was talking more about coincidences like Tifa saying the phrase from Misao in the visual novel fight into her own slap fight with Scarlet, also her initial measurements being the same as Misato and her having the same style of clothing (white top, black skirt and red shoes). It is more than the black hair tho.

 

[KuraudoSeph789]

Also someone mentioned to me that the Misao character has an outdoor s*x scene in the game and that it could be the inspiration for the Highwind.

 

[Theozilla]

Yeah but I was talking more about coincidences like Tifa saying the phrase from Misao in the visual novel fight into her own slap fight with Scarlet, also her initial measurements being the same as Misato and her having the same style of clothing (white top, black skirt and red shoes). It is more than the black hair tho.

I mean until more information is uncovered (like maybe someone will eventually ask Nomura in an interview) I don't think it is possible to determine whether it is a coincidence or a case of having been influenced by the visual novel character.

Sometimes coincidences can eerily share details; for example, a lot of people think that when Kentaro Miura created the character Guts from the manga Berserk, he must have been influenced by the real life historical figure Götz of the Iron Hand, but someone eventually asked Miura, he said no he hadn't been influenced by Götz of the Iron Hand and that he didn't even learn of Götz von Berlichingen until after he had been publishing Berserk for a while.

 

[GamerSkull]

Perhaps it’s just Nomura’s aesthetic preference. Rinoa and Garnet also have similar features too.

 

[Cereal for Dinner]

I've never seen that magazine excerpt before. Are there scans of the whole article available somewhere?

 

[Cereal for Dinner]

On a related note, I thought Tifa and Liza from Saga Frontier were based on the same concept: similar name, martial artist, short skirt, member of a resistance group based out of a restaurant, and in love with a member of the group.

 

[Odysseus]

Given that I've seen this comparison used exclusively to disparage Tifa on Twitter, I'm chalking this up to the usual brand of shipping schizophrenia.

 

[Cereal for Dinner]

Oh yeah, and the guy Liza's in love with? He's the cool, aloof, gun-wielding leader of the resistance named Roufas. Maybe this alludes to a dropped plot point in FF7, where Tifa and Rufus had a thing.

 

[Ryushikaze]

Oh yeah, and the guy Liza's in love with? He's the cool, aloof, gun-wielding leader of the resistance named Roufas. Maybe this alludes to a dropped plot point in FF7, where Tifa and Rufus had a thing.

If the other heroes and quests of SaGa mapped to FF stories much at all, you might have something, but honestly, it's probably just a coincidence, given the other quests reference spy movies, cop drama, tokusatsu heroes, Utena, etc.

 

[Cereal for Dinner]

I don't think there's one-to-one mapping of plot points, but that there was a lot of sharing of ideas that made it into various Square games at the time. I did think Saga Frontier and FF7 had other similarities, though - Trinity is Shinra, Emelia getting held hostage by a Corneo-like character, etc.

Here's concept art of Cloud, Yuffie, and Vincent in the Essence of Saga Frontier artbook.