Final Fantasy IIV: Advent Children

PlotSet 2 years after the supposed end of the world the story continues

off from when Sephiroth, a being known as a ancient tried to destroy the planet with a meteor. With the power of materia Cloud and friends where able to stop him and give the planet enough energy to use the lifestream as a weapon (the lifestream is almost like a heaven, where people go after they meet death and fade into the life source of the planet). However because Sephiroth dies and became part of the lifestream it also meant that he became part of the planet, later on infecting the next generation of children and anyone who was deeply connected to sephiroth to contract a disease known as Geostigma. The illness acted as a beckon for 3 remnants of Sephiroth to gather those infected with Geostigma for a reunion to welcome back Sephiroth and their mother, Jenova: a calamity that feel from the sky and tried to destroy the plant long ago. Cloud must now face his past demons and overcome this fear of change, once again facing Sephiroth and realising a horrific truth of how they are both connected.

CharactersHumans ~ main protagonist roles as they are

the original cast of heroes who saved the planet the first time over.

Supernatural life forms ~ these are the remnants that are created through Sephiroth’s and Jenova’s genes and the embodiments of the Geostigma disease.

Alien creatures ~ these are the summons which are crated using the materia, the worlds magic source. One particular is summoned by Kadaj in order to destroy Midgar.

Settings Midgar ~ the central city of the story which is heavily

industrialised and built up in 7 sectors. 2 years ago this was the main city of sucking the life force out of the planet in order to keep the supply of the city going and support human life however in the process polluting a lot of the planets atmosphere and animals. It is also the hot spot for Geostigma as it’s where most of the population is situated as well as being the hiding spot of Jenova. It is also devastated not only from the poor treatment before the meteor threatened to strike but also when the lifestream burst out of the planet in order to put a stop to Sephiroth.

The Forgotten city ~ A place north of Midgar which has been enthused with all kind of materia to the point where it looks like it’s from another planet, the trees and dystopian sculptures that have formed there make it seem as thou it’s from a dream or, as said before, from another planet. It also has a significant meaning to the place as this was the setting which Aerith, a former member who fought to bring down Sephiroth, died. This event could also link to the spiritual feel to it as in some scenes both Aerith and Zack, departed team members, are seen in spirit form. This could further more be a link to the after life or a purgatory setting since Cloud, in the story ,going to save the children here could be heading to his supposed death until vincent saves him; which is also another character linked to the theme of death.

ThemesThrough the film many themes are coherently explained

and demonstrated through the sequence of story telling and visuals which the mise en scene all make up for. Because of the game 10 years before the films release it already had some themes and messages to expand on or if not challenge these because of the time difference or simply because they didn’t touch on it before.

For example the theme of respect is widely talked about as well as caring for one another through the act of children, hence the title, being that children are the next generation of the world and that whatever they experience or influence by will impact the world either for better or for worst.