Kazushige Nojima, the story and scenario writer of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, has recently addressed a certain fandom behavior, urging users not to engage in it. Though he doesn’t mention if it’s specifically about FFVII Rebirth, Nojima has been receiving requests from users to “get rid of” specific characters.

This article contains spoilers of the original storyline of Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second installment of the Final Fantasy II Remake trilogy for the PlayStation. The story and scenario of the game is being led by video game writer Kazushige Nojima, who recently took to his official X/Twitter account to urge fans to stop sending him requests to get rid of or kill off certain characters.

どのキャラクターも愛情を持って書いています。どんな意見も思想も自由だけど、あのキャラを消すべきとか果ては殺せとか私に送ってくるのはやめてほしい。あまりブロックやミュートしたくないし、鍵もかけたくありません
— K.Nojima (@sgwr1) November 4, 2023

Post translation: All of my characters are written with love. You’re free to your opinions and ideas, but stop sending me things like “you should get rid of this character,” or “kill this one off in the end.” I don’t want to go around blocking and muting people, and I also don’t wish to go private.

In response to Nojima’s post, many users can be seen offering words of encouragement to the creator, as well as criticizing individuals who send such requests. In a follow-up post, Nojima expressed gratitude for the encouragement and advice from fans, adding that he feels better. Nojima has not mentioned what title or characters the requests he received were about, but some are assuming that they may be related to part three of the FFVII Remake trilogy.

FFVII Rebirth is expected to tell the story up to the death of Aerith in the original version. On the other hand, FFVII Remake, the first part of the trilogy, included plot developments that differed from the original storyline, which gave birth to the idea of FFVII Rebirth possibly also changing things up and making it so that Aerith doesn’t die.

Inevitably, as soon as such a theory surfaced, those wishing for Aerith to die the same way she does in the original also appeared, and it would seem that several X/Twitter users of this opinion have been sending messages to Nojima repeatedly for the past few days, demanding for Aerith to be killed off. It seems that the reason for such demands is the speculation that if Aerith survives, the relationship between Cloud and Tifa, as well as the scenes depicting it, could be affected. Nojima’s message to fans this time around could have been caused by the requests of these users.

Previously, Nojima has publicly shared his fear that personal remarks of his could undermine the value of a game and affect how fans interact with it, and declared that he would not make comments regarding FFVII Remake and other titles he is involved with anymore. Staying true to this, he has made no mention of specific titles in his address this time around.

Direct requests to creators regarding their work, not just in this case, can be considered a nuisance. Mr. Nojima does not want to block or mute users as much as possible or make his X account private. He also states that he is “free to have any opinion or thought” and that he respects all the ideas that fans have about his work. He has requested that they not directly communicate such thoughts.

Making direct demands to creators regarding their work, not just in this specific case, is very likely to inconvenience the creator and make them uncomfortable. Nojima has stressed that he wishes to avoid blocking and/or muting fans and making his account private as much as possible. He also expresses respect for each person’s freedom to think what they want, but urges fans not to take to communicating their demands directly to him.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is scheduled for release on February 29, 2024 for the PS5.

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-11-07 13:49 JST)