Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel

Denzel watches the fire that kills his parents -
only the first of the losses he will experience.

Release Date: Apr. 16, 2009. Approx. 28 minutes. Written by: Kazushige Nojima. Directed by: Shinji Iishihara. Produced by: Square Enix, A-1 Pictures.


THE PLOT:

A ten-year-old boy named Denzel (Kazumu Izawa) comes to a café for a meeting. The owner teases him about having a date. Instead, Denzel is meeting with Reeve (Banjou Ginga), a former Shinra executive who now runs the World Regenesis Organization (WRO). Denzel wants to join the organization as a soldier, insisting that he isn't worried about danger. Reeve responds by asking about the boy's background, prompting Denzel to recall the last four years of his life, from the deaths of his parents - killed when Shinra obliterated Sector 7 - to the devastation caused by the unleashing of "Meteor," and the painful aftermath.

Reeve listens stoically to Denzel's saga.

CHARACTERS:

Episode: Denzel is appropriately titled, as this story is seen entirely through Denzel's eyes. The filmmakers wisely don't shoehorn in recreations of the Final Fantasy VII events that created Denzel's hardships. Instead, everything is observed from the perspective of this little boy, watching helplessly as his world is destroyed around him. The artists and animators do a splendid job with the character, particularly his eyes. Repeatedly, the film returns to him watching events unfold, his large eyes seeming to take in everything.

Supporting characters are transitory, mostly only appearing for a couple of scenes, but each is given enough of a personality to make an impression: Denzel's father, a Shinra employee who seems to worry that warning his wife about Sector 7's destruction will cost him his promotion; Ruvie (Ikuku Tani), an old woman who takes Denzel in after his parents die, and who has a desire to grow flowers; Gaskin (Fumihiko Tachiki), a man who takes in the children orphaned by all the destruction and puts them to work as scavenger; Rix (Kaito Arai), another orphan whose background is very different from Denzel's; and Reeve, who mainly acts as witness to Denzel's tale, but who shows his own connection through his final reaction.

Amidst the ruins.

THOUGHTS:

Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile was a set of short stories. Each focused on a different character, detailing what happened to them between the events of Final Fantasy VII and its animated sequel, Advent Children.

Episode: Denzel was the opening story, establishing the changes to this fictional world from the point of view of a child. This animated adaptation, produced for release alongside the "Complete Edition" of Advent Children, is a very direct screen translation - and a surprisingly emotionally effective one. If the rest of the stories were of this quality, I wish they'd adapt all of them.

This is one spinoff that would probably still work for viewers unfamiliar with Final Fantasy VII. Though the uninitiated wouldn't comprehend why Sector 7 is destroyed, what "Shinra" or "AVALANHE" are, or anything about "Meteor" devastating Midgar, I don't think that information is really needed to appreciate the story. What matters is that Denzel experiences losses and hardships; he survives and perseveres, while coming into contact with others, both children and adults, who do not survive; and eventually, he is there to see the survivors rebuild. It's a universal tale, one that could easily be framed around a real-world war or natural disaster, and it's been animated in a suitably subdued and realistic style... all of which means that Denzel's journey is emotionally accessible, even to someone who missed out on the larger references.

The film is only 28 minutes long, but it never feels rushed. Enough time is given to each of Denzel's successive caretakers, and each new person he meets adds something emotionally or thematically: From the old woman who loves plants but lives in a place where they don't grow, to the little boy from the slums who resents Denzel's previous comfortable life, even though they are now equals in poverty. The focus is always on Denzel and those with whom he interacts; but in the background, we see a new city slowly emerge from the rubble, until the flashbacks finally catch up with Denzel's present conversation.

It culminates in a splendid scene. First, Denzel recalls all the people who kept him alive, many of whom did not survive themselves. His resolve to be strong for others, the way those people were strong for him, could come across as silly bravado. Instead, with the subdued animation and voice acting, it carries surprising emotional weight - as does Reeve's response. The final images are perfectly judged.  When the end credits rolled, I felt genuinely moved.

Denzel - The survivor.

OVERALL:

Episode: Denzel is the opposite of what I expected from an anime tie-in to a video game series. There is no over-the-top action. Instead, we get a child's-eye-view of a disaster and its aftermath, brought to life in a realistic art style and featuring subdued, naturalistic voice acting. All of this makes it the most "life-sized" Final Fantasy-related product yet, and also the most directly emotional one. Its viewpoint also makes it a full story in itself; Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children expand the context... but it is entirely worthwhile in itself, even without its connection to larger works.

Within the limits of its format, and possibly even disregarding those limits, I would rate this as an absolute triumph.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Preceded by: Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children
Followed by: Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII

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