Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Japanese theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tetsuya Nomura
Written by	Kazushige Nojima
Produced by	Yoshinori Kitase Shinji Hashimoto Ichiro Hazama
Starring	Takahiro Sakurai Ayumi Ito Kenichi Suzumura Showtaro Morikubo Maaya Sakamoto Toshiyuki Morikawa Shōgo Suzuki
Cinematography	Yasuharu Yoshizawa
Edited by	Keiichi Kojima
Music by	Nobuo Uematsu
Production company	Visual Works
Distributed by	Square Enix Holdings
Release dates	September 14, 2005 (2005-09-14) (Japan) April 24,  2006 ( 2006-04-24) (North America) April 25,  2006 ( 2006-04-25) (Europe)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	Japan
Languages	Japanese English

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children^[a] is a 2005 Japanese computer-animated film directed by Tetsuya Nomura, written by Kazushige Nojima, and produced by Yoshinori Kitase and Shinji Hashimoto. Developed by Visual Works and Square Enix, Advent Children is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series of media, which is based in the world and continuity of the 1997 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was released on DVD and Universal Media Disc with Japanese voice acting in Japan on September 14, 2005, and on April 25, 2006 with English voice acting in North America and the UK.

Advent Children takes place two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII and focuses on the appearance of a trio that kidnaps children infected with an unexplained disease called Geostigma. Final Fantasy VII hero Cloud Strife, suffering from the same disease, goes to rescue the children. He discovers that the trio plan to resurrect Sephiroth using the remains of the extraterrestrial villain Jenova, and he and his compatriots from the game fight to stop them. The film's voice acting cast includes Takahiro Sakurai, Ayumi Ito, and Toshiyuki Morikawa in Japanese, and Steve Burton, Rachael Leigh Cook, and George Newbern in English.

Advent Children has been released in multiple versions; Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, released on Blu-ray Disc in 2009, adds 26 minutes of new and expanded scenes to the 101-minute original. It has received mixed reviews; critics praised its animation and CGI, but criticized the plot as being incomprehensible to viewers who did not play Final Fantasy VII and having a thin connection between action scenes. The film received the "Maria Award" at the Sitges Film Festival in 2005 and the "Best Anime Feature" at the 2007 American Anime Awards. The original release was one of the best-selling animated films in Japan and the United States in its release year. The Complete release was noted as driving a large increase in sales of the PlayStation 3 console in its release week. By May 2009, the DVD and Universal Media Disc releases had sold over 4.1 million copies worldwide. Advent Children (the Complete version) returned to Japanese theaters from January 19, 2024 to February 1, 2024, and returned to stateside theaters on February 21, 2024, to promote the launch of the video game Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.^[1]

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