Encore: Reeve and Cait's Return in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Welcome to our newest section, devoted to Cait Sith and Reeve's appearances in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Please note that there are
spoilers in this section.
About the Compilation: First announced in late 2003, stunning and exciting FF7 fans around the world, the Compilation of FF7 continues and expands on the original game through a variety of media. As of this writing, the Compilation consists of four parts:
Advent Children (a CG-animated direct-to-video movie), Before Crisis (a cell-phone game), Dirge of Cerberus (a PS2 action-RPG), and the upcoming Crisis Core (an action RPG for the PSP). In addition, there have been two official novellas published since the release of
Advent Children: "On the Way to a Smile", a two-part novella featured in the book
FFVII:AC Prologue, and "Maiden Traveling the Planet", featured in the FF7 Ultimania Omega.
Advent Children
Cait Sith was the last of FF7's playable characters revealed to be appearing in this CG movie, which was released in Japan in September 2005, and in various English-speaking countries in late April-early May 2006.
Cait's first appearance in this movie, which takes place two years after FF7's events, is during Marlene's retelling of FF7's story. In the movie's depiction of the final battle, Cait Sith appears
without his moogle, launching an attack alongside Tifa, Nanaki, and Barret. Later on, he appears along with all the other original party members, during the Bahamut Sin fight scene in Edge. Again, he doesn't have his moogle, and is instead riding Nanaki's back! Out of the two, Nanaki does most of the actual fighting, though Cait can be seen casting some sort of magic on Bahamut Sin in one scene. Later on, Cait can be seen aboard Cid's new airship, the Sierra, inadvertantly pounding Nanaki's back as he tells Yuffie (calling her by her proper title of "Princess") to calm down.
According to a Wikipedia page about Cait, his moogle wasn't included in AC since it would have taken a lot of work to animate it, and the animators didn't like working with Cait to begin with, due to the detail required for the fur (of course, they had the same complaint about Red XIII/Nanaki). I'm well aware that 3D CG animation is a lot of work, but... lazy bums -_-
| Screenshot: |
|
As for Reeve himself, unfortunately, he isn't seen at all in AC. However, we do hear his voice once, in the form of a cell phone message to Cloud, as said phone sinks down to the bottom of the lake in the Forgotten Capital. He has a deep voice, and a professional yet friendly manner—very Reeve ^_^
Here's Reeve's voice mail message to Cloud (from the fansub translation by Jasconius):
"It's me, Reeve. How's work going? I just saw you pass by, but can you really make a living doing that? It is like you, though, Cloud-san. If it's OK, I'd like to help, so I'll contact you again."
The English-language dub for Reeve can be favorably compared to the Japanese voice, but for Cait, an Irish accent was given to him (the Japanese Cait speaks in a Kansai dialect). Although this was probably done due to the origins of Cait's name, seeing as how Cait didn't sport an Irish accent
in the original game, this particular choice of dialect is especially bizarre.
Japanese Voice Actors:
Cait Sith is played by Hideo Ishikawa, who has also given voice to Leon (in the Japanese versions of the Kingdom Hearts PS2 games), Auron (in the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts II), and other game and anime characters.
Reeve is played by Banjou Ginga, who has also voiced the roles of Liquid Snake (in the Japanese versions of the first two Metal Gear Solid games), Clayton (in the Japanese releases of both Disney's
Tarzan and Kingdom Hearts), and several other game and anime characters.
English Dub Voice Actors:
Cait Sith is played by British actor Greg Ellis, who has done voiceover roles for a number of games and animated TV series and films, as well as bit parts in live-action TV shows and feature films. Aside from AC, his other credits include
The Bard's Tale,
Call of Duty,
Invader Zim,
24, and
Pirates of the Carribean.
Reeve is played by Jamieson K. Price, who has played roles for various anime and games, including Duke Red in
Metropolis, Yuri in
Planetes, and (under the name James Lyon) Briareos in the recent CG remake of
Appleseed.
(Thanks to the Anime News Network Encyclopedia and IMDb for the seiyuu info. Additional thanks to J. and Tanja regarding the English dub VAs.)
"On the Way to a Smile"
Fortunately, for those of us feeling deprived by a lack of Reeve in AC, the "Case of Denzel" part in "On the Way to a Smile" makes up for it somewhat. "Case of Denzel" is about the life of the title character, a young boy who, in AC, suffered with the illness Geostigma. At the beginning of the story, Denzel is interested in joining the WRO (World Restoration Organization), which was founded by Reeve in the time between FF7 and AC. At a restaurant run by Johnny (Tifa's redheaded childhood friend—remember him?), Reeve interviews Denzel, and we learn about the boy's life story. We also, as it turns out, learn something interesting about Reeve. However, I won't spoil it for you—just read the story!
Here's a
fan-translation of "Case of Denzel" (outside link)
Before Crisis
Before AC was even completed, the cell phone game Before Crisis included a cameo by Reeve in Chapter Six. As he appears in this game, he's a bit younger (BC begins taking place about six years before FF7), and not only is his tie blue instead of red, but he doesn't yet have a beard! Much later on, in Chapter Twenty, Reeve reappears and Cait Sith is seen for the first time (but as in AC...
no moogle! o_O;;;).
| Character Design (Reeve): |
|
Chapter Six Screenshot: |
|
Chapter Twenty Screenshots: |
|
Dirge of Cerberus
This game, released in 2006, takes place three years after FF7 (or one year after AC) and features Vincent Valentine as its main playable character. Cait Sith and Reeve were the second and third characters from the original FF7 announced for this game, respectively; in addition, it was later revealed that Cait was playable for certain "stealth" missions. Reeve has traded in his old suit and tie for a new uniform (and has grown his hair out o_O;), and yes, once again, Cait Sith is moogle-less. The voice actors for both the Japanese and English language versions of the game are the same as they were in
Advent Children (note: unlike AC, the English-language version of DC does not include a Japanese-language option).
Cait and Reeve can be seen several times throughout the course of this game and play integral roles in the plot, making up for the deficit in AC. Reeve, the commissioner of the WRO, hires Vincent to investigate strange incidents occurring due to the actions of the Deepground Soldiers; Cait Sith supplements the tale by spying on the villains.
As far as gameplay goes, DC isn't a very good action RPG, and lacks both the finesse and freedom of movement found in other games of its ilk. There's also the matter of the game's central plot, which is wildly derivative and adds a lot of retroactive continuity to the FF7 universe. I really can't recommend it except to hardcore FF7 fans, and even then as a rental or purchased for a bargain price.
One final thing: sometime during DC's development, Reeve was officially given a last name: "Tuesti". Personally, I think this surname is a silly one, and Lucrecia got the better deal (she was given the last name of "Crescent"). At any rate, there you have it: Reeve's full name is now officially Reeve Tuesti.
*For Cait Sith: The first two images are from early on in the game's development. Notice the slight differences in Cait's appearance between those images and the third one of him.
• 