The most captivating element of the Final Fantasy VII movie was undoubtedly its ultra high-speed action sequences.
As for the story itself, even with the additional half-hour of background explanation, it still came off a bit confusing for newcomers.
But that wasn't much of an issue—fans quickly stepped in to explain the entire plot to those unfamiliar with the game.
Many did so with great enthusiasm, vividly recounting the full storyline to those who had never played Final Fantasy VII.
And after hearing these explanations, many of the newcomers began to take a strong interest in the original game.
In a short period of time, the once-cooling sales of the Final Fantasy VII console version started rising again.
Soon after, someone informed these new buyers that a remastered portable version of Final Fantasy VII was going to be released.
And that by purchasing the cartridge version of the movie, they could get a discount on the upcoming game—making it a very good deal overall.
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What followed was a rapid surge in popularity.
Before Final Fantasy VII's film release, there had already been impressive animated and special effects movies.
But no one had ever tried making a movie like this.
It wasn't a children's animated film, nor a live-action blockbuster.
Some called it an animated film for adults, others labeled it a CG movie.
Either way, the Final Fantasy VII movie's stunning visuals and effects quickly dominated the front pages of many social media platforms.
Discussions about Final Fantasy VII exploded across the internet.
And that was just from general audiences.
Within the film industry, the movie stirred a minor shockwave.
The film's production might not have been extremely difficult, but it still represented a technical breakthrough—especially since no one had previously thought a movie could be made this way.
Perhaps because Takayuki wasn't originally from the film industry, he wasn't bound by conventional thinking.He had the freedom to create his own unique cinematic language.
By now, many in the industry had begun studying the film's production techniques, and professionals were trying to find out which VFX team was behind the movie.
Then came the moment of truth—Facebook released its platform metrics.
As a publicly traded company, Facebook was obligated to report financial data to its shareholders.
Previously, their video streaming service was barely breaking even. CEO Bob had little interest in it, and only launched the division because Takayuki, a major shareholder, had pushed for it.
When revenue stayed stagnant, Bob more or less ignored the department.
But once Final Fantasy VII debuted on the platform, everything changed.
The most obvious impact: subscription numbers skyrocketed from just a few hundred thousand to over one million in a single week.
More than half of these users signed up for annual subscriptions, while the rest subscribed for one month, three months, or six months.
In just one week, the video division generated over $50 million in revenue.
For a previously unprofitable department, it was a miraculous windfall.
Everyone was stunned.
"How did we suddenly go viral? We only released one movie!"
And that movie wasn't even in theaters—it skipped the mainstream box office entirely.By all logic, it shouldn't have been so successful.
And yet, it triggered massive social buzz.
Even Facebook's stock price rose by several percentage points—directly due to this unexpected success.
Takayuki wasn't in it for the subscription money anyway. Since the stock value rose, his own wealth increased with it.He didn't take a single cent from the movie's streaming revenue.
His real profits came from physical sales.
And sure enough, the physical versions of the movie also saw a massive spike in sales.
The cartridge edition, which came with exclusive bonuses, still sold well despite its higher price.In the first week alone, 600,000 copies of the cartridge version were sold, and 200,000 disc versions.
And those numbers were still climbing—it was clear this film's popularity was far from over.
Cinemas, ironically, barely made a dime.
This sparked discussion online:
"Why isn't this amazing action movie showing in my local theater? Did they not even hear about it?"
Someone replied:
"Clearly, you're not in the know. Final Fantasy VII was supposed to hit theaters, but it was blocked by certain shady people."
"Blocked? Why would anyone block a movie this good?"
Most of the general audience had no clue about the behind-the-scenes industry politics.They just wanted to be entertained.
After watching the Final Fantasy VII movie, they were blown away.
And when they learned the film wasn't in theaters because of industry sabotage, they were outraged.
"Shouldn't the audience decide what plays in theaters?"
If a movie sucks, people won't return for a second viewing. But if a movie is great, like Final Fantasy VII, why should it be kept out of theaters?
Despite the complex plot, the stunning visuals alone justified its release.
Then, a new post on Facebook went viral:
"BREAKING: Final Fantasy VII is actually playing in select theaters—in Japan!"
"Wait, what? Why Japan?"
"Because the U.S. film unions only have power domestically. Japan has no such restrictions."
"Damn those Hollywood unions. Always sabotaging the competition. On a serious note—how much is a flight to Japan? I might actually go watch it there."
"Too late. Flights to Japan are almost impossible to book right now. Looks like everyone wants to see Final Fantasy VII on the big screen."
Turns out, plenty of people were more than willing to pay.
Especially in the U.S., where consumers have stronger spending power, many Final Fantasy superfans didn't hesitate to book flights to Japan just to see the film in theaters.
And it wasn't just a handful of fans, either.
While it wasn't extreme to the point that all flights sold out, the real bottleneck came from something else—a major airline strike in the U.S. grounded many planes, further limiting flights to Japan.
But that had nothing to do with Final Fantasy or movies—just an unfortunate coincidence.