Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children is a - that is a sequel to " Final Fantasy VII " . It has been released on and disc for the PlayStation Portable handheld console , as well as an extended edition titled , released on Blu - Ray Disc in April 2009 . Its official theatrical release date was on September 10 , 2005 as the grand public opening . It was released in Japan on September 14 , 2005 . The movie received the Honorary Maria Award at the " " on October 15 2005 . Taking place two years after " Final Fantasy VII " , " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " focuses on Cloud Strife who has distanced himself from his friends due to his personal demons . In the two years since Sephiroth ' s defeat a plague called Geostigma has spread across Gaia , and among the infected are Cloud and an orphan named Denzel who is under Cloud and Tifa ' s care . Story . Two years after the Meteorfall , which was averted through the efforts of the rebel group AVALANCHE , the world is suffering from a disease called Geostigma for which there is no known cure . Suspecting a link between the disease and the alien entity Jenova , Rufus Shinra , president of what was once the Shinra Electric Power Company , tasks his assistants and bodyguards , the Turks , with the retrieval of Jenova ' s head from its last known location within the Northern Cave . While the agents retrieve the item , they encounter a hostile force within the cavern that abducts two of their number . Concerned with this new development , Rufus attempts to make contact with the now retired members of AVALANCHE , specifically with Cloud Strife , who now lives in the newly built city of Edge with another AVALANCHE member , Tifa Lockhart , and two children , Marlene Wallace and Denzel , who is infected with Geostigma . Tifa passes the message onto Cloud via his cellphone as he travels through the Midgar Wasteland while on a delivery . Unbeknown to his friends , despite his attempts to find a cure , Cloud himself has become infected with Geostigma and is distancing himself from them in anticipation of his death , while battling a growing depression and lack of self - confidence as he feels guilty for the deaths of Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough . Receiving the call while en - route to Edge , Cloud is attacked by three teenagers dressed in black and riding motorcycle s : the Remnants of Sephiroth . While two of the brothers harass Cloud , the leader , Kadaj , contacts Rufus . The Remnants were the hostile force encountered in the Northern Cave , now embarking unto the world in pursuit of their " mother ' s " head to initiate the " Reunion " . Cloud responds to Rufus ' s call and arrives at Healen Lodge , Rufus ' s current headquarters . Rufus attempts to enlist Cloud ' s help to stop the trio , but fails . After Cloud leaves , Kadaj breaks into Rufus ' s lodge and abducts Rufus , announcing that he and his brothers are planning a new Reunion that will culminate in Sephiroth ' s return . While Kadaj abducts the president , the other Remnants , Loz and Yazoo , go to Midgar and Edge respectively to gather children infected with Geostigma for the Reunion . While children like Denzel flock to Yazoo with the promise of a cure , Loz obtains Cloud ' s collection of Materia after defeating Tifa within the Sector 5 Church in Midgar ' s ruins . Returning to his encampment within the church to find Tifa unconscious and Marlene kidnapped , Cloud succumbs to his Geostigma and collapses . The pair is found and returned to Tifa ' s residence , the 7th Heaven Bar in Edge , by the Turks Reno and Rude . While the Turks inform the two of the Remnants ' plans and Tifa confronts Cloud over his self - depreciating attitude , the Remnants infect the waters of the Forgotten Capital with negative Lifestream and have the children drink the black water making them fall under the sway of their influence . While en - route to the Forgotten Capital to rescue the children , Cloud is visited by Aerith , now a spiritual avatar of the Lifestream , who questions his refusal to move on from her death . Cloud ' s attempt to rescue the children fails and he ends up rescued himself by Vincent Valentine , who had been spying on the Remnants since their arrival in the Forgotten Capital . The two have a brief recap , during which Marlene flees the Remnants and Vincent reveals Tseng and Elena , the Turks who had been captured by the Remnants in the Northern Cave , have survived . Cloud asks Vincent how he moved on from his perceived failures and Vincent says he didn ' t and that he never tried to . Cloud declares he will attempt to move on from the past . Deducing that Shinra has hidden their mother under the Meteorfall Monument at the center of Edge , Loz and Yazoo have the infected children form a barricade around the monument and attempt to remove the structure . They are interrupted by Reno and Rude , but Kadaj summons Bahamut SIN to destroy the structure as his brothers battle the Turks . The summon destroys the monument and finds nothing , and begins to run rampant in the city . The other members of AVALANCHE arrive to assist Tifa , and later Cloud , in fighting the dragon . After the dragon ' s defeat , Rufus reveals to Kadaj he had been in possession of Jenova ' s head all along , and tosses the box containing it over the edge of the building the pair had been residing within . While Kadaj recovers the box , Cloud catches sight of him and pursues him through the streets . The race moves onto the Midgar Highway stretching between Edge and Midgar and into a tunnel where Cloud , with the assistance of Reno and Rude , deals with Kadaj ' s brothers . Kadaj seeks refuge within the Sector 5 Church , but is discovered and driven away by both Cloud and the eruption of Lifestream - infused water from the church ' s flowerbed ; summoned by Aerith to counter the effects of Geostigma . Now healed of his ailment , Cloud pursues Kadaj to the remains of Shinra Headquarters at the center of the derelict city where , supported by his friends from AVALANCHE , Cloud defeats the Remnant in combat . Kadaj absorbs Jenova ' s remains into his body and completes the Reunion , using his body as a vessel and resurrecting Sephiroth as a physical being in his stead . Sephiroth manipulates the corrupted Lifestream , developed through his influence and formed with the souls of those killed in the throes of Geostigma , to spread across the Planet , intending to gain full control the Planet and use it as a vessel to search for another planet from which to start anew . The two engage in combat over the ruins of Midgar , but Cloud prevails and Sephiroth dissipates and returns to the Lifestream . With Sephiroth ' s will momentarily dissipated , the corrupted Lifestream disappears from the skies to be replaced by Aerith ' s Lifestream - infused rain that heals all those infected by Geostigma . As Kadaj also dissipates , Cloud is caught unaware by Loz and Yazoo , who shoot him through the chest before self - destructing in an amassed explosion of Materia energy . Cloud is granted a return to the realm of the living by Aerith and Zack , appearing within the newly sprouted spring in the Sector 5 Church surrounded by his friends and the children he had helped to save . Given a final farewell by the spirits of Zack and Aerith , Cloud agrees he is going to live his life in the present , instead of the past . Development . The idea for a movie came about from the success of " Kingdom Hearts : Final Mix " , in which the secret ending depicts a CGI action sequence of two people fighting Heartless . Director Tetsuya Nomura had the idea for a full movie with " lots of cool fight scenes " , and thought " Final Fantasy VII " would be a good source material for it . The development team thought the ending movie for " Final Mix " was the best they could do , but Nomura was certain that with better technology they could surpass it . When " Final Fantasy X - 2 " became a success the project came closer to realization . Nomura claims the merger between Square and Enix was the event that sealed the creation of " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " and got the project rolling . In spring of 2003 " Final Fantasy X - 2 " was released , Square Enix was formed , and " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " was given the green light to start production . The original script was only 20 minutes long and involved an unspecified woman giving a message to a child and asking her to deliver it to Cloud . Through a relay system between children , Cloud receives the message and at the end it is revealed who the messenger is . The script kept expanding due to a combination of fan speculation , the anticipation of a long - awaited sequel to " Final Fantasy VII " , and new ideas being worked in . Once initial reactions to sneak peeks and trailers were positive , the short video became a full movie . Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima decided to bring Nomura in as director who began writing down key words for scenes as a foundation for a storyline . Some of the phrases he wrote down would be used for ads and trailers . For example , one of Nomura ' s ideas was for a child to narrate and explain events they could not truly understand , which developed into Marlene narrating the film ' s opening sequence which recaps the events from " Final Fantasy VII " . Nomura and others began experimenting with concept sketches and CG renders of the film ' s key characters and locations . The film ' s subtitle was originally going to be " reunion " , but Nomura found it did not suit the rebirth of Sephiroth that was planned for the film . He found the word " advent " , Latin for " coming " , and Nojima wanted the word " children " in the title as well . Thus the full subtitle " advent children " was created . With the project rapidly expanding , a year after production began the script was still not finalized and scenes and renders were still being altered . When the development team was offered to show their work at a festival in Venice they had two months to develop a minimum 30 - minute film or else they would be rejected . The team rushed to meet the goal , formulating the final film into a 23 minute segment , showcasing visuals and CG that were not completed yet ; thus , most of the footage shown was ultimately cut from the final product . After the positive fan feedback the team returned to Japan with the realization they were making a full film , and still had much work to do . The final length of the film was nailed down at 100 minutes at the end of 2004 , and work on finalizing the CG visuals and renders began . Release . Originally " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " had a run time of approximately 60 minutes , slated for release on July 10 , 2004 . Upon release the film ' s run time had increased to 101 minutes . Commercials were planned for August of that year . Delays pushed the release dates back to September 13 for North America and September 14 for Japan as a simultaneous release . The simultaneous release was not an identical release , however , with Japan obtaining a special release of the DVD with more extras and collectible offers than the U . S . release . The official website for the English version of " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " featured a clock counting down to the DVD ' s release , but due to the release date being pushed back several times the timer was removed . Mere days before the North American release Square Enix changed the date to November , a move rumored to have been motivated by the promise of better sales during the lucrative holiday season . The date was changed again in early November to a January ( with initial confusion given that many retail outlets got different release dates and information that did not match ) , with a limited theatrical run before the DVD release . Fans questioned Square Enix ' s move , given the track record of " " , which bankrupted Square Pictures after the movie made a substantial loss . " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " was initially released on both UMD and DVD formats . The Japanese UMD version includes a set of battle music tracks from the " " as a bonus . The North American DVD release consists of two discs , but the buyers who preordered the set were given a bonus DVD including extra material . Special editions . Special editions include the Ultimate Edition " Advent Pieces : Limited " , which includes the " Last Order - Final Fantasy VII - " . This was the first announced title in the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " . Japanese special edition . The Ultimate Limited Edition Advent Pieces includes a Cloud riding on Fenrir figure , a voice actor script , a shirt and a cap , a serial - numbered keychain , a new version of the Japanese " Final Fantasy VII International " and a DVD with " Final Fantasy VII : The Last Order " . The set is limited to 77 , 777 pieces . North American special edition . A collector ' s edition of the movie was released in North America on February 20 , 2007 . Included in this collector ' s edition is the following : The illegal release . On September 11 of 2005 , the pirate group BiEN leaked the movie in DVD rip format over the internet . Many fans , desperate to see the movie since its announcement in September 2003 , downloaded it through BitTorrent . The Japanese addition " Last Order " was also leaked around the same time . " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children Complete " . " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children Complete " is an extended edition of the movie for Blu - Ray with almost thirty minutes of extra content . Along with these new scenes are a demo for " Final Fantasy XIII " , and a new OVA starring Denzel . Development . At the Tokyo Game Show 2006 , Square Enix showed a trailer of a movie titled " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children Complete " that is to be released on the blu - ray disc format . New scenes were be added to the movie so it could be called an extended version , however , director Tetsuya Nomura says that " it ' s not meant to be just an update to the original , but rather a replacement " . Nomura has stated the new scenes could add up to as much as thirty minutes of new content . Though originally slated for a 2007 release , the movie was delayed until 2008 and then 2009 . The film was released April 16th , 2009 , for Japan , and in North America on June 2nd , 2009 . Included is a new theme song , " Safe and Sound " , a joint - creation of Kyosuke Himuro and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance , which was only included on the Japanese version . The film was released in Japan in three bundles . One included a limited edition 160GB " Cloud Black " PlayStation 3 bundle with the " Final Fantasy XIII " demo , another was the film with the demo , and the last was the stand - alone film . The film also includes an OVA based on " On the Way to a Smile : Case of Denzel " , along with never - before - seen trailers for " Final Fantasy XV " and " Final Fantasy Type - 0 " . Nomura also said that " Complete " may be the last installment of the Compilation for some time , but he and Takeshi Nozue have other ideas and are contemplating another film project . Differences from " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " . The following is a list of the changes found : Related media . " On the Way to a Smile " . " On the Way to a Smile " is a series of short novellas taking place between the time " Final Fantasy VII " and " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " . Written by scenario writer Kazushige Nojima , they were released in episodes on the Japanese " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " website , and as a novella in the Limited Edition Collector ' s Set . The two original novellas were " Case of Denzel " and " Case of Tifa ' " , and " Case of Barret " was released with the North American and European releases of the film . Until the Collector ' s Set release , there were no official English versions for the first two novellas , but various fan translations exist on - line . For the release of " Advent Children Complete " , several more novellas were released . They are " Case of Yuffie " , " Case of Red XIII " , " Case of Shinra " , and " Case of the Lifestream " . There is also a thirty minute OVA , animating the " " . " The Reunion Files " . A short booklet titled " The Reunion Files " was released , detailing much of the process of the movie ' s creation , including character notes , artwork , voice actor interviews , and other commentary . " Final Fantasy Record Keeper " . Although " Final Fantasy Record Keeper " is a game with no inherent relation to the film , its status as a " Final Fantasy " compilation title provided for the entry of " Advent Children " into the " Record Keeper " universe . Based on this , the Challenge Event " The Lone Wolf ' s Lament , Cloudy Wolf " was created from several battle sequences that played out in the film . Cloud ' s alternate Wardrobe Record , Cloudy Wolf , is based on his appearance in " Advent Children " . The " Fenrir " is also rendered as part of his Burst Soul Break , Fenrir Overdrive , which in turn requires that Cloud obtains the Fusion Sword 1st ( VII ) as a weapon . Etymology and symbolism . " Advent " is Latin for " the coming , " often used to refer to the time before Jesus ' s birth , or to the second coming of Jesus at the end of the Earth in Christian religions . This refers to the rebirth of Sephiroth , who sees himself as a God . The second coming of Sephiroth can also be seen as a sign of the end of the world , as he plans to destroy all life on the Planet . " Children " comes from the original concept for the story , being told by and focusing on children across the Planet . The term " Advent Children " could refer to the Remnants of Sephiroth , the children of Jenova who bring about the coming of Sephiroth , or to the Remnants coming to the Planet . It could also refer to the children recruited by the Remnants to search out Jenova to bring the advent of Sephiroth .