After seeing the success of shows like Castlevania and The Witcher on Netflix, the time seems ripe for video game adaptations. Square Enix specifically has recently seen the release of Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai and also anticipates the release of The World Ends With You: The Animation sometime in Summer 2021. So why not Final Fantasy?
How is it that the world has only seen two feature-length films and yet not a single anime adaptation? It almost seems like the game series was built to be made into a long-form, episodic series. On top of that, the creativity and imagination that goes into an anime series is perfect for capturing some of the more cinematic moments from Final Fantasy. The more thought given to the subject, the more a person can see exactly why Final Fantasy and anime were made for each other.
In some ways, Final Fantasy and many anime already have the same art style. Amnesiac spikey-haired heroes, androgynous villains, and wackily-oversized weapons are hallmarks of both. This is in part due to the rise of Tetsuya Nomura’s popularity as a character designer after the smash success of the original Final Fantasy 7 (he debuted with Final Fantasy 6). Looking at characters released in subsequent games in the series it’s clear to see the anime aesthetic continue to dominate.
This makes the transition from video game series to anime virtually seamless. There are many, many two-dimensional drawings of the characters from each installment of Final Fantasy that Nomura has worked on. While he did not create characters in entries 1 through 5, he did draw all of the character art for the Dissidia series of Final Fantasy fighting games. These drawings are also in an anime style, so again the designs are already there.
As fans, people love to critique the content that we enjoy. This is all a part of the experience, but it’s important to remember how much work goes into any show, good or bad. In the case of Final Fantasy the process of creating stories for each season of the show would be more akin to chiseling marble than reinventing the wheel. The average Final Fantasy game will last a player 40-50 hours, this means that writers would simply need to cut out the fat and make each season hit only the most important plot points and battles of each game.
Taking a less is more approach to a Final Fantasy series could help a potential show feel like a greatest hits reel of the entire series. This would mean that many side quests would of course end up getting snubbed in order to fit into a 10-15 episode season, but would feel like an all killer, no filler situation as a result. Additionally, most cutscenes in the mainline series of games are typically fully voiced and animated. This means that a large part of the series is already story-boarded in some form, allowing for yet another starting point for a potential studio looking to adapt the properties.
The “Final” in Final Fantasy is a lie. The series will outlive the majority of audiences that enjoy it today in many additional iterations. However, it’ worth noting that the way the series is structured lends itself perfectly to an anthology series. Each major numbered entry in the series follows a new cast of heroes in a wholly original story.
The shared elements of the series are typically the spells, creatures, and names of certain characters (Cid, for example), and of course, chocobos. Each season in a potential animated series could base itself upon each numbered entry in the series. This would help to keep the series brisk in its pacing and fresh each season. It also allows newcomers to enter any new season without the need to catch up on several seasons in order to catch up.
A show’s success financially speaking is typically directly correlated to the number of people that watch it. There’s a reason that Final Fantasy games continue to be made: people buy them. It’s likely that many of these same people would also watch television shows based upon the same games they’ve already purchased.
Looking at the amount of merchandise already surrounding the series this claim is likely valid. Financially, adapting these series makes sense because unless Square Enix severely flubs the execution on these then there’s a very low risk of them failing.
Much like how a well-written side quest in a video game, taking the time to tell smaller stories on the side can help to color in the motivations and personalities of characters. A Final Fantasy series could do the same with a couple of well-placed episodes unique to the show. By adding scenes from the talent behind a potential series that show could have it’s own unique side stories that are faithful to the original game but also flesh the characters out in its own way. The possibilities are endless, but nothing’s final.
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