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Sephiroth:
“Even among the elite troops of SOLDIER, Sephiroth is known to be the best. His giant sword, which only he can handle, has extremely destructive power..." - Description
“Sephiroth’s strength is unreal. He is far stronger in reality than any story you might have heard about him." —Cloud Strife to his party
Sephiroth is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, and one of the major villains of its extended universe. A prototype SOLDIER and the strongest alive, Sephiroth is initially revered for his strength and hailed as a hero, until he learns and misinterprets his origins. Believing himself as the last of the Ancients, Sephiroth enacts a vendetta against mankind, with the ultimate goal of becoming a god and controlling the planet. Sephiroth’s goals later include defeating Cloud Strife, who has consistently foiled his plans. To this end, Sephiroth is frequently depicted as Cloud’s archnemesis.
Even after appearing in so many titles, Sephiroth’s true strength is still unknown. It’s stated in the official book “Reunion Files” the Sephiroth seen in Advent Children has “ascended to a new level of existence” and is much stronger than before. But Sephiroth never used the full extent of his powers in the final fight against Cloud, and because of that his true potential is still unknown.
Statements from Kitase and Nomura in the Advent Children Director’s Commentary of the Japanese DVD try to convey Sephiroth’s power. Kitase said. “Sephiroth’s existence and will is extremely powerful. There is nothing stronger, nothing above him." Producer Kitase even decided that they couldn’t make any other character stronger than Sephiroth in the world of Final Fantasy VII.
Sephiroth is a master swordsman and is very strong and agile. In Crisis Core, Sephiroth is able to defend himself with ease when facing both Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley at once. Although Genesis gains a temporary advantage on Sephiroth one-on-one, Sephiroth quickly retaliates and forces Genesis on the defensive, and at this time he single-handedly cuts apart the cannon of the Sister Ray, slicing clean through it with one-handed strokes. Also in Crisis Core, he can unleash bursts of energy from his sword and can teleport, and he retains the ability to unleash energy bursts in Last Order and Dissidia. As he has taken over Jenova, he is able to shapeshift her body parts into his visage and other forms. After absorbing the knowledge of the Lifestream while regenerating his body, Sephiroth gains the ability to use magic without requiring the use of Materia.
Sephiroth also has a measure of psychic abilities, able to read minds, project illusions, and levitate objects and people using his will alone. In Advent Children, Sephiroth retains his great strength and agility and controls the Lifestream that has been corrupted by those who died of Geostigma. Any other powers he has developed or retained since his death are not shown. Sephiroth’s strength in the Kingdom Hearts series has caused him to be ranked among the harder bosses in the series. Sephiroth in both games is able to summon meteors, pillars of fire, and orbs of dark energy.
Karas:
Karas tells the story of Otoha, a former yakuza, living in a fictional version of Shinjuku, Tokyo populated by humans and He is one of the titular karas, humans appointed as superpowered agents of the land. Able to transform into a car, an aircraft, and an armored crusader; the skilled swordsman is to stop his corrupt predecessor, Eko, from taking over Tokyo. Supporting characters such as Eko’s former henchman, Nue; the and Homura, the karas of another city, help Otoha in his quest. A concurrent side story focuses on humans affected by Eko’s scheme.
Yousuke Otoha is the protagonist of Karas. Yoshida wrote out Otoha as a character dark in history and actions, breaking the traditional mold of a Japanese hero. He based his idea on his observation of Shinjuku, questioning what sort of a hero a ward exuding an aura of terror and happiness would produce. He portrayed Otoha as the product of incest between his mother and his brother who is the local yakuza boss. Otoha’s back-story states him as suffering from congenital insensitivity to pain which lends the character a merciless reputation as his brother’s enforcer. The initial concept of Otoha was much darker, casting him as a serial killer who hunts down mikuras to retrieve his lover’s body parts.
Karas is the title for the city’s appointed agents. Capable of transforming into automobiles and aircraft, they are suits of armor animated by human souls infused into them through Yurine’s chanting of a Shinto prayer. Director Sato told his animators to enhance the karas' dark nature by drawing their faces in shadows. Fight scenes involving karas take place mostly in dark settings shrouded with steam or lit with spotlights. Animators touched up film frames by hand, creating an effect different from cel-shaded animation. To make the karas more menacing, they highlighted the eyes as if light bulbs were shining through them, a technique inspired by the suitmation practice of using light bulbs for the eyes of costumes. Producer Takaya Ibira explained the presence of ravens in Tokyo and the Tower of London, inspired him and Sato to model the agents of the city after them. He stated ravens are believed to be omens of good and bad in superstitions, and they always seem to be watching over the cities. This resonated with his view of the raven in the story Noah’s Ark, which cursed Noah as it scouted for land. The presence of ravens all over Tokyo led Ibira to notice the same of cats and conceive the Yurines as catgirls.
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“It’s Ironic how life is an endless pursuit of dream’s and yet we only find that dream in the eternal rest that awaits at the end of our journey through life..."
