Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Director Says Cloud and Aerith Relationship Comments Were Misinterpreted

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi has said his previous comments on the nature of Cloud and Aerith’s relationship were misinterpreted and that no member of Square Enix will comment officially on the character’s relationship.

A December interview with Inverse quoted Hamaguchi as saying “Aerith has always been this sort of sisterly character pulling Cloud along and encouraging him,” leading many fans to complain or question the director about the true nature of their relationship.

Final Fantasy 7, both the original and the first two games in its Remake Trilogy, has always portrayed Cloud’s relationship with Aerith and Tifa rather vaguely. Player choice can influence their interactions, prompting things like a date with different characters depending on how the player, as Cloud, treats them. The “canon” relationship has long been debated.

Fans were therefore shocked when Hamaguchi appeared to have essentially dismissed Aerith as a romantic partner in his comments, though he has now told Automaton this was a misinterpretation and that he, nor anyone at Square Enix, would convey the nature of their characters’ relationships beyond the game itself.

“As creators, we will continue to convey [the relationships between our characters] through our content,” Hamagucho said. “For example, no one will make any official statements about who Cloud likes, who Aerith likes, and so on.”

He added that the misunderstanding may have come from subtle differences in language and culture between his native Japanese and the article’s publication in English.

This all comes as the modern retelling of Final Fantasy 7 hasn’t concluded yet. More answers, or more questions, could emerge in the third and final part of the Remake Trilogy, though fans will be waiting a while for them as Square Enix doesn’t hope to release it until 2027 at the earliest.

The story has now been wrapped up internally though, and Final Fantasy series producer Yoshinori Kitase previously said he’s “sure fans will be satisfied with the final chapter.”

In our 9/10 review of the last game, IGN said: “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth impressively builds off of what Remake set in motion, both as a best-in-class action role playing game full of exciting challenges and an awe inspiring recreation of a world that has meant so much to so many for so long.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.