An In-Depth Look At Aerith Gainsborough

Comments · 561

• CL

  @CloudyMrK · 3 years ago

  Aerith getting resurrected by flushing the Shinra HQ toilet 10K times makes sense. You've wasted so much water, ofcourse she'd be pissed at you for being harmful to the planet.

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• JU

  @Julford · 3 years ago

  One of my favorite stories to tell about Final Fantasy 7 was how I found out about Aerith&apos;s death. FF7 came out when I 8 years old, and I became absolutely obsessed with this game from the ads I saw on TV and in magazines. We didn&apos;t have a Playstation, but my dad did have a computer capable of playing the PC version, so we purchased a copy of that and The Official BradyGames Guide with it. I was only allowed to play an hour a day and so progress through the game was glacial, but I took that guide to school with me every day and I pored over the contents of it in my spare time. I knew everything about upcoming boss battles, like what I could steal from them or what elements they were weak to, and I knew every major twist and turn the story was going to take, about how Meteor was going to be summoned and how we&apos;d have to collect the Huge Materia to defeat it.<br><br>The guide did not spoil her death.<br><br>The guide says Aerith is &quot;locked in prayer&quot; as you approach her in the City of the Ancients, and that a cutscene will play before starting a boss fight. They talk about how you can visit her parents house in Icicle Inn, and all the events that reference her later on in the game are carefully worded to be neutral about whether she is present or not. Her death hit me like an absolute truck, and even now I can remember just being a sobbing mess and trying to explain to my poor concerned mom that no, it isn&apos;t just like Mario and she won&apos;t come back, and generally failing to articulate how much that lack of foreknowledge was hitting me. That moment hit me with emotional damage I didn&apos;t know video games could inflict, and really influenced my tastes in gaming for life.

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• KA

  @kageKun1198 · 3 years ago

  I love Aerith in the original but I love her in the Remake even more. Other media had flanderized her &quot;pureness&quot; but in the Remake, she reminds us that she was raised in the Slums every so often while still remaining her sweet self. If you subscribe to the theory that Remake is a sequel to the original FF7, then I&apos;m all for saving her this time. After all, her relationship with Cloud this time round had been growing with the weight of their previous selves&apos; tragedy. This is the chance for all of us OG fans to make things right.

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• MA

  @MagodoCaos1 · 3 years ago

  Aerith is my favorite character of all time. I fell in love with her since I saw her in a gaming magazine talking about FF7. All this just for a friend to come and say to me &quot;Don&apos;t get too attached to her, because she dies&quot;. <br>You can imagine my face when he said that.

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• TA

  @takibaki3436 · 3 years ago

  just spilt my coffee due to that cut in „GONGAGA“ 🤣

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• LU

  @LucasCarter2 · 3 years ago

  Aerith’s death was literally my introduction to death as a concept. She remains a foundational part of my being.

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• MA

  @Marshbag12 · 3 years ago

  So great to see In Depth Is Back!

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• JO

  @josecuestas7246 · 3 years ago (edited)

  Aerith was always my favorite character of FF7, to the point that her death was the first moment that a videogame makes me sheds tears.

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• IK

  @iknowtrevsupahyup · 3 years ago

  Do you work out Aerith? That’s Gainsbrooo

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• DR

  @DrVarner · 2 years ago (edited)

  A few observations…continuity-wise, Zach fell through the church first but development-wise Cloud fell through first. In fact, the developers specifically copied Cloud/Aerith’s “meet cute” to help the players feel more attachment to Zach.<br>Also, if my memory serves right, Aerith never calls Zach her boyfriend. In the English she calls him her “first love.” In the Japanese this carries more of an adolescent feeling or child-like love. In the West it is akin to a crush or infatuation.<br>Finally, the iconic pink ribbon being a gift from Zach was retconned in FF7r. Aerith is seen wearing her pink ribbon as a child during the train graveyard chapter.<br><br>Addendum: When Cait Sith says that Cloud and Aerith are a perfect match the fortune is not based on Cloud’s imprinted memory of Zach. The be clear, Cloud retains his original personality and nearly all of his memories. The imprinted parts of Zach only involve the Nibelheim incident and the idea of Cloud being in SOLDIER. Aerith even says as much.<br><br>Addendum 2: In Advent Children, Zach isn’t beside her. He actually walks away first.

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• TO

  @toddbean6640 · 3 years ago

  You forgot to mention that she appears in Final Fantasy Tactics as “Flower Girl.” Great video! Big fan.

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• LU

  @LuisSR01 · 3 years ago (edited)

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PoBDPz-AEY&amp;t=2568">42:48</a> I agree with Aerith feeling infatuated with Cloud at first because he reminds her of Zack, the way they meet for the second time falling down the church, the eyes, the uniform, the sword, some mannerisms, but she quickly notices their personalities are opposite: a shy, moody, sometimes disrespectful trying to act cool but at the same time kind guy and then an outgoing, cheerful, smiley guy, she&apos;s able to fall for both as individuals, and then Cloud is the one that isn&apos;t influenced by &quot;ZaCloud&quot; in this relationship because he doesn&apos;t know who Aerith is at the start of the game, he doesn&apos;t have dejavu&apos;s with her, or any memories from Zack about her, just as he doesn&apos;t have memories of the Turks because Zack never told Cloud about them, and so he&apos;s able to get to know her from zero

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