Sephiroth ranks very high on the “cool” scale, and the big reason for this is that he is called Masamune, the very long katana he behaves as his great power. He is not the first sword-wielding Final Fantasy character with this particular name, but he is probably the most notable. very Infamous Murder He commits with this sword at a major moment in the original FF7 (And again FF7 playbackthe scene plays slightly differently).
I’ve never seen cosplayers swing their versions in teenage conventions, so I’m fascinated and amused by the visible appearance of Sephiroth’s sword bones.
Who is better to ask than designer Tetsuya Yugimura? And then there’s Nomura, who pays homage to Cool Sword Day, explains the sword’s backstory, its incredibly variable length, and more.
Image: Square Enix
passthecontroller: Why did this lead to the decision to name Sephiroth’s sword after the medieval blacksmith Masamune?
Tetsuya Nomura: Masamune appeared as the strongest sword in the entire Final Fantasy series. When considering equipping Sephiroth with a sword, a match worthy of him, I thought there was no better option than Masamune.
For example, who was it an idea to give Sephiroth this particular type of sword, rather than the Buster sword?
That would be mine. Every time Cloud received a design tweak, the accompanying Buster Sword seemed to grow larger. The reason was that the juxtaposition between the clouds swinging around a huge “sword” and Sephiroth swinging around a much stronger, thin “katana” wielding it was very interesting. Furthermore, the contrast between the wide broadsword and the long Japanese sword is also inspired by the rivalry between two famous Japanese swordsmen, Musashi and Kojiro.
Have you had any other design ideas for his sword?
As mentioned before, I had a particular sword in mind for Sephiroth, so there were no other ideas.
Did the length of Sephiroth’s sword make it difficult to design battle scenes, especially in FF7 playback Can you actually play as Sephiroth?
Sephiroth has appeared in various titles previously, with each look adjusting the length of his sword based on the title specifications. In other words, we didn’t design the scene based on the length of the sword, but instead designed the length of the sword based on the design of the game.
I have a rough guideline that his sword should be about 10 feet long, but this has never been inconsistent across his appearance. Final Fantasy 7 Playor products, etc.
Have you ever changed the length of your sword in a particular scene, such as extending it for a visual effect or shortening it to accommodate a particular movement?
The blades of the masamune are of organic quality and are extended and shortened as needed. In the recently released second season of the first Soldier Ark Final Fantasy 7 Agear Crisisin reality, there is a scene where Masamune grows for the first time. I want you to check it out.
I did someone in the universe FF7 Would you make this sword especially for Sephiroth?
I mentioned the first soldier arc Final Fantasy 7 Agear Crisis A while ago, when we watch season 1, we see that when the young Sephiroth first appears, he has a Sinra army sword. This means that if others are equipped with it, it won’t come as a surprise. That being said, I personally think that military swords are accessories for ritual purposes, so Sephiroth is probably the only person to actually use after customising it to be suitable for combat. Swords are usually heavily influenced by the skill of the equipor and tend to be useless unless the equipor has the appropriate abilities. So it’s rare for someone to use a sword in combat.
Also, in the aforementioned second season of the first Soldier Ark Final Fantasy 7 Agear Crisiswe dive deep into the legend of Masamune for the first time as we experience an episode where a young Sephiroth obtains Masamune and meets the blacksmith who made the sword. The setting and background were brewed in my head, but to portray this in the game, I consulted Motomu Toriyama, co-director Final Fantasy VII Remake Series and Director Final Fantasy 7 Agear Crisisand we decided to ask Kazushige Nojima the scenario writer. Final Fantasy 7 Write this for us series.
