Final Fantasy: Unlimited

Publisher
ADV
Director
Mahiro Maeda
Production
Gonzo Digimation, Square
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
25 episodes
Year
2001

Final Fantasy: Unlimited Phase 4 (eps 13-16)

By John Huxley
24th Oct 04

Final Fantasy Unlimited is unfortunate in that lives under the shadow of its older videogame cousins. The reputation of games such as Final Fantasy VII has bought about unfairly high expectations for spin-offs such as Final Fantasy Unlimited and its CGI predecessor, Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. Whatever their shortcomings, these attempts to diversify the Final Fantasy universe were never going to satisfy the hardcore fraternity who now look to Advent Children (a Final Fantasy VII-based animation) as their only saviour. But is the reputation of these videogames truly deserved? As a videogame the answer is probably yes, but as a piece of storytelling the answer is not so clear-cut. Overly reliant on fuzzy logic, sentimentality and cliches, the average Final Fantasy story would make for an unspectacular if not downright boring cinematic experience. It's the addition of gameplay (however slight) that lends an extra dimension to these games, bringing us closer to the characters and allowing us to become more involved with the story than we might otherwise have been. Take away that gameplay and Final Fantasy is no longer such and appealing proposition.

Which bring us to back to Final Fantasy Unlimited. Now in its fourth volume, Final Fantasy Unlimited is the closest fans have come to an animated iteration of their favourite videogame series besides the short-lived Final Fantasy V based OVA, Crystal Chronicles. Almost everything that supposedly makes the Final Fantasy games so great can be found somewhere in Final Fantasy Unlimited - diverse characters with rich backgrounds, impressive summon creatures, chocobos, an exotic fantasy locale, Cid, imaginative designs, pantomime villains and an apocalyptic storyline. So what went wrong?

After a promising start, Final Fantasy Unlimited slipped into a repetitive cycle that lacked direction and purpose. With one or two exceptions, Lisa and the gang would arrive at a new location, learn a valuable lesson, find themselves ambushed by one of the Earl Tyrant's henchmen and narrowly escape after being rescued by the mysterious Kaze, repeat ad nausea. Thankfully the third volume saved us from this downward spiral to a degree, introducing a couple of interesting plot developments that should go some way to appeasing the Final Fantasy hardcore. Encouragingly, these developments are expanded upon during the first couple of episodes of this fourth volume which sees our heroes uncover a few disconcerting facts about their enemy and the potential demise of their homeland. I'd tell you more but I don't want to spoil the surprise.

As with all great Final Fantasy villains, the chubby, spoilt Earl Tyrant is pure pantomime in his exuberance; but underneath all the ridiculous costumes and tantrums lies a despicable soul that revels in other people's misery. And much like Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth, the Earl Tyrant and his equally camp henchmen are the real stars of the show, something that has become increasingly obvious as they've gained more and more exposure. While it may be a simple pleasure, to see these characters develop from mere comic asides to something much more menacing has been one of the real highlights of the series.

With the story finally gaining momentum the future looked bright for Final Fantasy Unlimited; all it needed to do now was bring events to their natural conclusion and everyone would have been happy. Unfortunately Final Fantasy Unlimited had other ideas, deciding instead to revert back to its old routine of subjecting the viewer to reams and reams of seemingly irrelevant nonsense. Once events from the last couple of episodes have settled, Lisa, Kaze and the twins join up with the rebels yet again as they use Cid's new submarine to travel across the vast ocean, presumably to put a stop to the Earl Tyrant's evil doings and perhaps search for the twin's missing parents in the meanwhile. Much to the surprise of everyone (can you spot the sarcasm?) one of the Earl's henchmen lays a trap for our weary travellers and lands them in quite a pickle. With Kaze temporarily out of action, will they be able to fight their way out of their most difficult challenge yet? In all frankness, this story is just about the most farcical Final Fantasy Unlimited has yet devised, and that's taking in to consideration some pretty ridiculous challengers for the ominous title. Final Fantasy both as a videogame and an animation has always relied upon fuzzy logic, but a giant talking quizmaster fish is pushing the boundaries of reality that little bit too far. And in contrast to the relatively dramatic, involving events of just a couple of episodes earlier this is a massive disappointment.

I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with Final Fantasy Unlimited. It remains a decent series; its attractive, imaginative visuals and Final Fantasy connections will be enough to satisfy some. But with so much potential spoilt by such basic mistakes it's easy to see why the Final Fantasy hardcore have failed to embrace this series as they perhaps might have done. I sincerely hope that the final two volumes are able to redress this situation to some degree, but for many it will be too little too late.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English 5.1 and Japanese 2.0 audio, English subtitles, voice actor commentary, production sketches, key animation backgrounds, reversible cover, character booklet

Release information: UK: 20th September 2004, ADV

Notes: The series may vary in quality, but the package ADV have put together for Final Fantasy Unlimited has always been of a high standard. The choice of two covers is as welcome as ever, with one featuring Makenshi and Lisa and the other a lonesome Cid in two very different compositions. The four page pamphlet also features Cid as its cover star, although there are a few profiles of different characters on the remaining pages. Whilst it's great to read up on some of the more enigmatic characters and keep a log of all the summons Kaze uses over the course of the show, it's a pity ADV didn't use this space to perhaps provide some interviews or production notes. The contents of the DVD somewhat makes up for this missed opportunity with a couple of nice extras; a single-episode voice actor commentary, production sketches and background artwork reels.

-- John Huxley 24th Oct 04

Final Fantasy: Unlimited Images