Final Fantasy, as a series, began in 1987 in Japan. He’s been strong ever since with up to fifteen major releases, sequels to those games, and plenty of spin-off video games. Some fallout is not what you would expect. That is, some of them took the form of other media like cartoons, movies, comics etc.
The very first game to be adapted for cinema was the OVA, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, which first released in 1994. Since then, there have been nine adaptations in total. So in honor of the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the resurgence of fans watching again Advent children because of this game, let’s go back and rank them all.
Updated July 11, 2021 by Tristan Jurkovich: Fans of the Final Fantasy movie and various animated shows over the years have received a big surprise in 2021. Square Enix has announced that they will be making an animated series based on Final Fantasy 9. Of all the entries to choose from, This one is fascinating because the fan base is quite divided on it.
Regardless of how you feel, this show is slated to begin production no later than early 2022, which means it could hit digital platforms by the end of 2022. It’s being developed by a studio of French animation, Cyber Group Studios, so it won’t. t exactly be an anime. This is exciting news even though there isn’t much to do other than that at the moment.
In the meantime, there are still plenty of Final Fantasy anime and movies to watch. Read on to find out how they stack up in our rankings.
9 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
The Spirits Within had almost nothing to offer fans when they debuted on July 2, 2001. The highlights were that it had been the cast and the visual effects. Unfortunately, the graphics don’t hold up as well anymore thanks to video game technology surpassing them.
Even though there were stars, they had very little to work with in terms of content. It’s as bland as it gets from a history perspective and overall artistic design. This cements its place at the bottom of this list.
8 On the way to smile: episode – Denzel
On the Way to Smile is a series of novels, or rather short stories within a novel, that discuss what everyone was doing between the end of Final Fantasy 7 and the start of Advent Children.
Of all the stories, Denzel’s was the only one to get a short animated feature conversion. He debuted on June 2, 2009 in North America and came up with some retail film versions. It’s not bad in and of itself, but not much is happening to this little-liked character in the universe, which is why he’s so low.
seven Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue
This was released as a sort of preview, or as the title suggests, a prologue, to the DLC episode of Ardyn in Final Fantasy 15. It was once in 2019.
This one, along with the DLC, attempts to put his motivations, which were poorly defined in the game, into context. This short is, well, short, but it does provide some answers to questions fans were having about the character. original. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the DLC.
6 Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy 15 released on July 9, 2016. It suffers from some of the same issues as The Spirits Within. He’s got a lot of Hollywood talent, but the actors don’t have much to do. It looks good now, but its technical appeal will likely diminish over time as well.
While it’s not as boring as The Spirits Within, it’s hard to fathom what exactly is going on and what its own set of issues are. However, the convoluted storylines can at least create some deadly action scenes.
5 Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals
As mentioned in the intro, this was the first adaptation. Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals premiered in Japan on March 21, 1994. It was released in four episodes throughout the year and would not have a North American release before. November 17, 1998 as one complete package. It was a sequel to Final Fantasy 5.
Because it was released as an OVA, it has high production values. VHS conversion might not have high screen options, but the animation itself still looks great. It’s kind of related to the game, but not really. Still, it at least feels like a Final Fantasy adventure both in look and with its many references. It rocks the generic side of ’90s anime, but overall it’s not that bad.
4 Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV
Along with Kingsglaive, this was released as a free preview for the main game. The first episode aired on March 30, 2016 and that ended in September, right before Final Fantasy 15 launched. Each of the five episodes delves into one of the brothers, with the final episode combining all four narratives for an epic battle.
Later there was also an exclusive episode on Lunafreya, which came with one of the higher collector versions of the game. These are short, but do a good job of giving players some context for the characters. . They are charming and even funny at times.
3 Last order: Final Fantasy VII
Before Crisis Core, the PSP prequel starring Zack, this was the best way to see the confrontation between Sephiroth, Cloud, Tifa, and Zack on Mount Nibel. Last Order: Final Fantasy 7 first released on September 14, 2005 in Japan, although North America does not get it until February 20, 2007
.
The entirety of the story takes place when Sephiroth goes mad and burns Nibelheim to the ground. It ends with Zack and Cloud escaping in the truck for Midgar. Even though the animation still feels fluid, this climax is better in the aforementioned game. It should hit even harder every time Final Fantasy 7 Remake makes it happen.
2 Final Fantasy: unlimited
Final Fantasy: Unlimited isn’t really a Final Fantasy spin-off. That is, it has very little to do with games, although one could presumably tie some things to different universes. The first episode released in Japan on October 2, 2001. It ended the following March. It will be released in North America via DVD box sets between 2003 and 2004.
He also has qualities like Cid and Chocobos which are iconic. That said, again, it doesn’t follow a traditional plot line, that’s the point here. It winds its way towards the second half, but even if it gets away from Final Fantasy, it’s a decent B-level anime with some real laughs. Chobi is the star out of the ordinary.
1 Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Even if some things didn’t hold up, like the graphics – which like The Spirits Within were remarkable at the time – Advent Children remains the best video game to adapt into a movie. It was created on September 14, 2005 in Japan and April 25, 2006 in North America.
The first hour is slow and the overall tone is gloomy, but this final hour is adrenaline fueled chaos. The action choreography is always on top. It’s like Dragon Ball Z had a baby with Final Fantasy 7. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but at least it’s fun to watch.
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=320&h=240&dpr=1.5)
Read more
About the Author
