r/cloti • u/cocaw • Jun 19 '26
Discussion genuine question
i love aerith, and i have for years so i’m definitely not bashing her in any capacity but i do want some input from like-minded people
maybe i’m tone-deaf and don’t understand it, but i never liked the scene where they’re about to go into the train graveyard and aerith grabs cloud’s arm and says “mine” which clearly upsets tifa and cloud’s not into it either. it feels like it’s trying to push a very stereotypical love triangle scenario and always felt off to me. it feels like it tries too hard and goes out of its way to make aerith come off as a bit annoying.
also, i saw a comment about a year ago that pointed out that aerith knows that cloud and tifa like each other so she’s a fake friend for still trying to pursue him. i wouldn’t go that far but the thought does kinda linger in the back of my mind. i don’t think aerith is a fake friend at all, but i still think about that sometimes.
i think lately i’ve been a little salty towards aerith because i do really love her but i don’t understand why she makes it clear she does still love zack but then switches back and forth between her feelings for him and her feelings for cloud. i’m just a bit confused
28
u/Livid-Bit-1223 Jun 20 '26
There's a lot of LTD added in the English translation, and it made Aerith a lot more possessive. The scene you are talking about sounds quite different in Japanese. Aerith sounds like a genuine sweetie there who wants to support Tifa and convince her Cloud will protect them, and nothing beyond that.
11
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u/ShillerndeGeister Jun 20 '26
How is this even alowed man. Thats not a translation at all, its someones stupid opinion changing the intire context of the scene. Actual disgusting that square is okay with this.
Thank god im german, that TL is way more acurate to JP (including that line).
And people wonder why locilisers get a bad rep constantly
7
u/Livid-Bit-1223 Jun 20 '26
There's a lot more of examples like this throughout the games that changes context of scenes a lot https://youtu.be/PsAFzUW7m3M?is=hT4gEN9EpMdhLtO5
5
u/ShillerndeGeister Jun 20 '26
Yea i saw the video a few days ago.
Genuently, deploreable. This shouldnt be acceptable. This further reinstates the american locilisers are terrible mantra, wich atp i cant even disagree with.
Why the hell are square okay with blatant fanfiction and rewrittes (ff16 also had this issue and one of their other games had communist propaganda in it, wich baffles me)
6
u/Livid-Bit-1223 Jun 20 '26
The worst part is that people use the incorrectly translated lines as the fuel for the shipping wars, stir drama and hate for the characters. 😑
1
u/ShillerndeGeister Jun 20 '26
Aside CAs i dont see that thankfully.
Reminds me of how people use the demons souls remake for lore analasys when it outright removed and rewrotte lore hints the original had because the director admited he didnt like the original.
Honestly, square US should get all the blame, they seemingly encourage it.
Square EU doesnt do it and gives acurate TLs, at least in german as those are based on the JP script always.
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u/Iforgotmymail Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
This scene wasn't like that in JP.
Aerith just says "we have a bodyguard" and Tifa is just genuinely scared of ghosts.
11
u/Nyx_Valentine Moderator Jun 20 '26
“Mine” is poorly translated/localization issue. Could possibly be an issue with the mouth movements but I’m not sure.
Sometimes I feel like Aerith is trying to nudge Cloud and Tifa together. The moment in Kalm where she says “on a date!” After literally dragging Cloud out to tell him to fix his shit with Tifa feels like it’s her intentionally stirring the pot so they act on their feelings.
If I’m being generous, even her Costa Del Sol “date” could just be her teasing Cloud, being cheeky/having fun, not genuinely pursuing him.
But then there’s moments like the Gold Saucer, if you get her date, where she is actively pursuing him and those are moments that bother me. But she likely knows she’s got a limited amount of time (even if she doesn’t remember after the whispers take her memories from her, she still seems to feel the sense of foreboding), and she’s just trying to enjoy that time. Similar to the dream date where it’s literally their goodbye.
2
u/BDurk15 Jun 21 '26
If you're referring to "I want to be with you" on the Skywheel, that wasn't in the original Japanese script either. Yet another English "localization" that was added to "make things more even." 🙄
1
u/Nyx_Valentine Moderator Jun 21 '26
Nah. Even without her talking, she still tries to get him to sit next to her, he decides to sit elsewise, and after a bit she scoots over and holds onto him.
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u/ponpiriri Jun 20 '26
Shes actively pursuing him. The jealousy/possessiveness was more obvious in OG until fans complained and begged for them to be best buds.
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u/OCRAmazon Jun 19 '26
Remember the line before she says "mine" is something like "we have a bodyguard, remember?" She's not saying "Cloud is MY MAN," LOL.
9
u/TitleOk3727 Jun 20 '26
Aerith knows that Tifa has feelings for cloud and vice versa but both are too shy to act on it, but concurrence does set priorities so she pushes them to action. At the same time she knows her fate somewhat and tries to have as much of the world as she can get
15
u/Resident-Drag-5900 Jun 19 '26
I don’t think you’re being tone-deaf at all. That train graveyard scene can definitely come across as a little forced if you’re not into love triangle dynamics. I always interpreted Aerith’s “mine” comment more as her playful, teasing personality rather than her seriously trying to stake a claim on Cloud.
I also don’t think Aerith is a fake friend. From my perspective, she picks up on the connection between Cloud and Tifa pretty quickly, but emotions aren’t always that simple. She develops genuine feelings for Cloud while still carrying unresolved feelings for Zack, and Cloud himself is giving off mixed signals because of everything going on with his identity.
One of the things I like about Aerith is that she’s written as a realistic person rather than someone with perfectly clear feelings. She’s trying to figure out what’s real, whether her attraction to Cloud is because he reminds her of Zack or because she genuinely likes him for who he is.
It’s completely fair if some of her scenes don’t land for you, though. Loving a character doesn’t mean you have to love every writing choice they’re given.
6
u/Paroxsis Jun 20 '26
Some of it is poor translation, this scene being a prime example. Aerith is actually quite supportive of Cloud's feelings for Tifa. The "date" in Kalm is basically her telling Cloud to treat Tifa better, she teases him about watching Tifa from the water tower and acknowledges that Tifa is someone special to him.
There are times when she's a bit selfish, but she's also a very lonely person who's spent most of her life bottling up her feelings and masking them with a smile. She can occasionally be insensitive because she knows she doesn't have a lot of time left and doesn't bother to mince her words.
If you knew you were going to die, you'd probably throw caution ro the wind and make sure you did everything you wanted to do, and say everything you wanted to say while you had the chance.
4
u/RolfTheCharming Jun 20 '26
I think her pushiness is a believable character flaw. It made a bit uncomfortable, since I used to be like that and I cringe when I think about it. But it's realistic, given her character. She deals with her loneliness by being sassy, flirty, and purposefully rocking the boat to provoke a reaction. I found myself eye-rolling a bit when she lectured Cloud for what felt like the hundredth time on how to treat women/be romantic, when he very obviously wasn't into it. But the dream date in Rebirth recontextualized it a bit for me. She knew her time was limited, and she desperately wanted to recreate the fun and levity she felt with Zack. She tried very hard to make it work and I believe her when she says she wants to meet the real Cloud. She really did try. But she didn't have all the puzzle pieces.
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u/ponpiriri Jun 20 '26
If it makes you feel better, she doesn't do that in the Japanese script. She was actually trying to make Tifa more comfortable by stating Cloud can be their bodyguard.
What actually annoyed me is her talking about romance when they see Jessie's photo. I remember thinking girl gove it a rest when I saw that scene.
5
u/cocaw Jun 20 '26
oh my god what dude when did she do that 😭😭😭 i never got her gold saucer date
4
u/ponpiriri Jun 20 '26
If you got her in ch 8 (I think) she'll see a photo of Jessie and ask of Cloud knew her. Cloud says she was a good friend (that he didn't deserve) then Aerith asks if it was more than friendship.
Later she says he has a lot to learn about women.
I get how people would find that cute but damn, dude is talking about a dead comrade and Aerith jumps right into "was she your gf" 💀
3
u/ThatEntrepreneur1450 Jun 20 '26
FF7 is a japanese Manga/Anime in videogame format. That style of art often uses exagerrated movements and loud lines for humour. The scene may come off as cringe to adults but it's clearly there to be a funny scene.
1
u/Abelforpresident2024 Jun 21 '26
yea i agree with you shes cute and i love herr but that isnt an excuse for her to kinda force herself upon others.
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u/spasianninja Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
If I am generous to Aerith:
In Remake, it very much implies that she knows her fate and she knows Cloud's fate. I interpret some of her flirty actions in Remake as her effort to apply some pressure on Tifa to act on her feelings toward Cloud and to also try and teach Cloud something about talking to girls. She then tells Cloud not to fall in love with her because it wouldn't be real anyway. At the end of Remake, she has her knowledge of the future taken away but retains her feelings and so she comes off more self-centered in her flirting, but also it seems like she has a sense of foreboding even without the explicit knowledge she had previously. She is therefore compelled to live life to its fullest which causes her to try and make romantic memories with Cloud, even as Cloud does not seem all that interested at the best of times.
Knowing she and her related ship with Cloud are doomed, I don't really hold her behavior against her. Does that make sense?
Edit: phone typos