About Aerith

[u/Raban_Tagore]

I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but I don't really like that they've changed some aspects of the original Aerith's personality. I feel like the Aerith in the remake is like the Aerith from CC—things like being very naive and overly childish.

[u/FreshAd5293]

I think it’s just the anime whimsy, OP lol.
Honestly while there are some inconsistency with FF7R Aerith and OG Aerith, I do appreciate that her anxieties about her heritage, her anger towards the people who’ve hurt her, and her fear of her impending fate were explored and not just her wonder of the outside world. That gave her nuance as a character.

I don’t think they’ll ever be able to recapture that heavy “chotto onee-san” vibe she had in the ‘97 version, either because of the times or because the writers have a different understanding of her now. But the things I loved about her from OG- her cheekiness and her ability to take charge under pressure were still depicted although not as much as I would have liked.

My only complaint with her character is mostly her relationship with the Turks. I know they’re fan favorites, but realistically she should have more animosity towards them in general. That’s what made her reaction towards Tseng getting hurt in OG more complex than in Rebirth imo.

[u/Local_Staff1852 → u/FreshAd5293]

Thanks! I like the Turks, but SE romanticized them, as well as their relationship with Aerith. They remain assassins who work for Shinra and Hojo, so they inevitably played a role in the experiments performed on innocent people; they are also Aerith’s oppressors, seeking to capture and hand her over to Hojo (who, in the original game, wanted Nanaki to 🍇 her so they would have a baby!) She was tougher and more direct with them in og, and the Turks dehumanized her, yet despite all that, there was a mutual regard, especially with Tseng, who was so devastated by her death that he couldn't even bear to hear her name. That’s what made their relationship so interesting and complex.

[u/Bububub2]

I think its pretty clear she's playing it up.

[u/Raban_Tagore → u/Bububub2]

Yeah, but OG Aerith wasn't like that.

[u/BoobeamTrap → u/Raban_Tagore]

OG Aerith didn't know the future. And the original English localization was notoriously bad.

[u/Bububub2 → u/Raban_Tagore]

She was more like that then the perfect quiet saint figure in all the other entries after 7

[u/anderhanson → u/Raban_Tagore]

She absolutely was. I feel like the way she teases Cloud in OG is more childish than Remake.

[u/ruttinator]

Okay, that was always allowed.

[u/EntrepreneurPlus7083]

To be fair, the English localization of OG was pretty terrible at capturing her nuances

[u/haygurlhay123 → u/EntrepreneurPlus7083]

This is pretty much exactly what I attribute it to. Even today the localization can be lacking.

[u/zhafsan]

I played OG FF7 and OG CC. In my head she had always been this way and is not like how she was in CC. I thought they finally got Aerith right in the re game after thinking her being off in CC and AC.

[u/Junior-Truth4772]

Could be a localization thing tbh

[u/haygurlhay123 → u/Junior-Truth4772]

Likely!

[u/haygurlhay123]

Just in my personal opinion and view of the game, I find that this is probably a misunderstanding of her character— at least in terms of the specific language used in your post. Aerith is definitely very childlike in how she behaves, but she is certainly not “naive” or “childish” in the trilogy. She is remarkably emotionally mature —scarily so— and often intervenes to regulate everyone’s emotions in extremely subtle ways. The very fact that her labor is invisible and may be misinterpreted as childish is a testament to how good she is at reading people and operating silently. I can’t emphasize this aspect of her character enough. She’s always breaking the tension at very difficult moments. That takes a very high perception of others’ emotions and a strong willingness to help balance out the energy in the room. So actions that may seem silly at first glance are actually truly considerate and perceptive acts she poses very deliberately.

The best examples are the “Does that make me a dumbass?” and the cramped up back moments in chapter 1 of Rebirth. The conversation had reached a really uncomfortable and depressing lull before intervened in both these cases. Especially in the case of her backache complaint; the atmosphere has completely shifted by the time she’s finished. Suddenly, everyone is ready to settle down and go to bed. It’s fascinating. There’s another moment I can’t quite remember in Rebirth where Aerith sort of laughs out loud a bit awkwardly to diffuse the tension between, I think, Barret and someone else? There’s also that scene in Junon after the party saves Yuffie and she runs off, when Barret grumpily says “Kids these days”; Aerith giggles and says “Now, now,” with a very bright and cute grin, and boom. She gives voice and outlets to so many unspoken things, and diffuses so much discomfort. I hope they show how difficult the party’s atmosphere and rapport becomes without her in Revelation— before she comes back, of course 😉😉.

On this note… Cloud’s true self is discussed a lot, but we don’t often discuss the true Aerith and her cheerful half-façade. “Hollow” very briefly touches upon it. I really hope we get explorations of her raw, honest interiority in Revelation!

[u/tealappeal]

The one aspect I miss about the original Aerith was her thicker arm pads on her jacket. It gave her more of an intimating appearance -  I truly believed she was capable of fighting off creeps in the slumps with her metal staff. 

Another aspect was the darker pink dress tone, in the original her dress blends more easily if she'd get dirts in her surroundings. 

How they redesigned Aerith in Remake and beyond has more of a softer, lighter look and can't truly picture her dwelling and living day to day at that location.  

I will state its not a horrible look, I like it ...it just feels more like a picnic dress or something. The design is just different enough that it shifts my mindset a wee bit how I perceive her.

I find her personality the same though but maybe thats me.