Part 5 of an analysis of all the prerenders found in Final Fantasy VII. Some of the text is too small to be seen without zooming in and some of the pictures are larger than can be displayed on this page, so click here to download them for yourself or here to view them one by one in full.
The Shinra building, with its giant logo.
The sign on the building in the center of the screen reads “NORTH EDGE STATION”. Connected to the Edge of Advent Children, I wonder?
The sign reads “INTRUDER”. The animated version also has some kanji reading “CAUTION” (注意) if I recall.
SpooX says: According to my art book that contains the concept design for this map, there is a sign located to the left of the gate that states “NORTH GATE”. Opposite of the gate there is a sign with white on green that says something like “OMEGA” and “RED” underneath it.
The train has Shin-Ra (神羅) written on the side.
An upside down Shin-Ra banner in the background.
Signs on the left:
CONGRATULATIONS
MIDGUL
MARKET
RED TAG
19
???
GRAND
BAZAR
Loveless poster:
MY BLOODY VALENTINE
6/25 6:00 – 開幕
6/25
LOVELESS
開発 means “Debut”.
Graffiti:
VELVET
VOIX
Poster on the ground:
Warning
Interestingly, there appears to be French signage above the awning to the right, reading “LES M ?? DE”, or “The ?? of”. Also, is that the same type of truck that Tifa and Aeris ride in during the motorcycle chase scene to the left of the black “Warning!” poster?
Qhimm says: The sign above could just be partially incorrect French for “Le Monde” (The World).
SpooX says: In the tech demo the restaurant seems to be named “Les Marronniers” which translates to “The Chestnut Trees”. However, that doesn’t explain where the D comes from.
Difficult to read the signs here. The one with the lights on top says “Mt. Kolts“, a location in FFVI. It seems that AVALANCHE runs through here at 2:37. AM? PM? We don’t know.
Another “Mt. Kolts” poster. This one’s easier to read.
Another Loveless poster and more graffiti reading “VOIX”.
More random numbers and letters on the walls and ducts.
The sign on the bottom left reads “VU”.
A camper van and some cut-off text on a house reading “COR”. The sick man’s pipe reads “Safety First” (安全第一).
The graffiti engraved on the metal reads “We gods” or perhaps “We Shin-(ra)” (我々神).
Qhimm says: The graffiti reads “Yamato” (大和), an old name of Japan.
Shademp says: This gate is notorious for having “07” written on it when it is, in fact, the access to Sector 5. Sector 7 is crushed by the time you reach this point. The item to use the door is also called “Key to Sector 5”. Either the designers messed up, or the door numbers don’t match the sectors, which could mean that there are more doors to the slums than there are sectors.
The sick guy has some impressive trophies. Cigarette butts litter the ground.
The writing on the jar reads “China” (漢), possibly the first character of “Chinese Medicine” (漢方). The writing on the pipe is “Welcome” (迎歓). While “Welcome” would normally be written 歓迎, the the characters are read from right to left, as is done traditionally in Japan. Thanks to Qhimm for reminding me of this. The welcome mat reads “Torishima Item Shop” (アイテムの鳥島屋).
A shop with a small fridge and an “EXIT” mat. So much for a warm welcome! Is that a rabbit on that box? More cigarette butts, but at least this guy has a fire extinguisher.
BMF54123 says: That “rabbit” might actually be a peace sign.
Yet more cigarettes, an ashtray, and a few guns lying around. Great chainsaw. Note that this bus still has some of its seats intact, including the driver’s seat and the steering wheel.
A giant bionic arm! This map actually once had another accessible area viewable in prerelease shots, now hidden from the player’s eyes by blackness..
BMF54123 says: I notice that a couple of details were added between the prerelease and final versions of this scene, like the rocks under the falling panel on the left and the glow of the crane.
Qhimm says: The upside-down red posters read “Everyone” (皆様).
Yay, swings!
Qhimm says: The park’s name is “Green Park” (みどり公園).
Burning wreckage in the background.
Signs reading “ITEM” and “Materia” (マテリア) and boxes reading “Oranges” (みかん).
luksy & Qhimm say: The sign top also seems to read “Materia” (魔天リA), written in a very convoluted way.
Signs reading “Arm Saw” (腕ソウ), “Arm gun A” (腕ガンA), and “In Stock Now” (只今入荷). The large helmet has “God” (神) written on it. Could be part of the Shin-Ra logo. Also, a very blurry welcome mat.
The cover reads “circle” (丸) and there’s an odd doll resembling a Daruma in the left corner and a poster on the wall reading “BOLT”, as well as some pin-ups that might depict Mt. Fuji and another poster above the bed which looks to have a blonde pinup girl on it.
Another sign reading “TEXAS COWBOY CLUB”. The neon sign on the Seventh Heaven reads “TYFER BAR”. Yes, that T-looking thing is really a stylized F, as you can see in the picture below this one, where it’s written in a plain font. Now, why is the Seventh Heaven named after “TYFER” when the owner is “Tifa”? Well, when Tifa’s name is written in kana, it becomes “Tifaa”. The “aa” sound in Japanese is also used to approximate the sound of the English “er”, a combination for which the language lacks an accurate way to write. This can be seen in the Japanese rendering of “fighter”, which instead becomes “faitaa”. As “I” and “Y” often have the same sound in English, when the graphic artist was making this sign, the latter vowel was chosen. Put the two together and you get “Tyfer”. I guess the artists didn’t get the message about the official romanization of the characters’ names, or maybe the developers themselves hadn’t decided yet.
In addition, there’s a small skull with the symbol “Shinobi” (忍) beside it on the top floor of the weapon shop.
Shademp says: The broken TV you see to the top left of Seventh Heaven is actually mentioned by one of the NPCs in Sector 7. According to the dialogue of Johnny’s rattailed friend…
“Now that you mention it,
there used to be an outside TV monitor
here in the slums.”
{NEW PAGE}
“But that {BARRET},
busted it up.”
{NEW PAGE}
“Shot it up with that
weird machine gun hand of his.
Blam‚blam‚blam.”
{NEW PAGE}
“I think it was when President Shinra was on.”
{NEW PAGE}
“He was on again this morning‚too‚you know.”
{NEW PAGE}
“{TIFA} better
watch out for her TV. ”
“DRAFT BEER” from “TEXAS”! Also a more legibly written version of the bar’s name on the welcome mat.
The TV, when turned on with the newsreader giving his speech, says something about “Terror” (テロー). A questionably-capitalized sign reads “DanGer”. Is that two packs of cigarettes and an ashtray on the table?
Some plans on the drawing board, a sign reading “DanGer”, and a 90s computer. Apparently the AVALANCHE logo is a skull with an A.
The sign on the gate here reads “No Trespassing” (立入禁止).
Another “No Trespassing” (立入禁止) sign, this time in red.
The blue jar is labeled “poison” (毒). Yikes! And the jar next to it says… “Jar” (壺).
SpooX says:
Mat:
“FIGHT”
Front of ring:
“SWC” (Square Wrestling Club)
Left of ring:
“Energy V” (エネルギーV)
Banner 1:
“Burn, Man, Burn!! (燃えろ男よ！！)
Banner 2:
“The Man Inside the Man” (男乃中乃男！！)
Banner 3:
“Muscular Vitality” (肉質剛健)
Banner 4:
“Sensual, Beautiful Man” (好色美男)
Notice to right of mirror:
“Way of Man” (男の道)
This shop appears to boast schoolgirl uniforms.
The mat reads “Welcome” (いらっしゃいませ).
luksy & SpooX say: The black writing above the counter on the far wall says “Goes Down Smoothly” (のどごしスッキリ) in reference to beer.
The mat reads “Welcome” (いらっしゃいませ) and the orange sign reads “energy” (エネルギ).
The mat reads “FiRe!” Apparently warning signs around Midgar are red and boast weird capitalization.
SpooX says: The red and white banners read “Victory Goes to One Who Makes the First Move” (先手必勝) and “Civil War Commander” (戦国武将).
Covarr says: The banner on the back wall appears to read “ARMY”.
SpooX says: According to my art book that contains the concept design for this map, the orange sign on the fence reads “KEEP OUT”, the fence to the right “FiRe!” mat reads “Warning”, the two signs behind the fence on the green part of the back wall read “<| Keepout |>” and “Denger”, and to the left of the flag on the right side of the room it reads “DE – [skull with wings] -R”.
The writing on the performance area says “performance” (演).
SpooX says: The left of the performance area (the very dark part) has a small sign reading “WC”.
luksy says: The mat appears to say “Welcome” (おいでやす), the Kyoto version of the same expression (いらっしゃいませ).
“MOG”!
Yellow-green neon sign:
“Corneo” (古留根尾)
Red banners:
“Wordly Humility” (天地卑下)
Yellow neon sign:
“???” (馬 ?)
Blue sign:
“Ice” (氷)
Red roof:
“???” (それ ? いじわ)
White sign:
“Pub” (居酒屋)
White covering:
“Defense Headquarters” (防衛本部)
Blue sign 2:
“Men Men Men” (男男男)
Water Tank:
“Water Department” (水道局)
And, of course, “MACHINE GUN”.
White sign to the left:
“Clothing Store” (洋服のこと屋)
Red sign to the right:
“Materia” (マテリア)
Brown sign:
“Restaurant” (めし処)
Green neon sign:
“Medicine” (薬)
Obscured red sign on the back building:
“Materia” (マテリア)
Green sign to the left:
“Exit” (出口)
Green mat:
“Entrance” (口入)
This texture, like we saw previously, has the characters written from right to left.
From left to right…
Red sign:
“Number ♥ 2” (2♥号)
Main sign:
“Honey Room” (蜂蜜の館)
Red banners:
“Women” (女)
Welcome mat:
“Welcome” (迎歓)
This texture, like we saw previously, has the characters written from right to left.
White sign:
“Honey Room” (蜂蜜の館)
Orange-red sign:
“Transparent Billing” (明朗会計)
Some interesting graffiti. “NO MERCY”, “BO…”, and “AVERL…” are visible. The last could be a misspelling of AVALANCHE on the graphic artists’ part, though some people have other opinions.
One must never get between a man and his bulldozer. But how did he fit it through the door?
Peep peep!
BrutalAl says: The reason these chicks look blurred and faintly doubled in this shot is because they’re animated with 3 frames, the 2nd frame made by merging frame 1 and 3, which is what is shown here.
This map is hiding an unused scene.
What is wrong with these mountains? I’d be terrified to live underneath this spiky, malformed range. I’m sure they’re cursed.
Shademp says: While the game contains map files for MTNVL2 – 6, there is no plain old MTNVL, possibly suggesting a deleted map.
The reactor bears the full logo of the Shin-Ra Electric Company, English writing included.
The box appears to have a picture of a mischievous little devil drawn on it.
luksy says: The map depicts Japan.
The sign at the upper left reads “Slippery” (滑), while an sign reading “OFF” stands beside the well.
Covarr says: A “HOTEL” sign also exists in the upper-left corner.
Two red banners reading “Big Sale” (大売り出し) sit at the end of the tracks.