The Ethics of Tifa’s Boobs
Strange title, strange titties, strange topic of controversy
Many gamers such as myself were extremely excited when it was announced at E3 2015, seemingly out of nowhere, that ‘Final Fantasy 7', arguably one of the most celebrated and beloved games of all time was getting a remake. The trailer was, and still is, stunning to look at.
As time marched on, many fans began to speculate whether we would see this game at, as SQUARE ENIX would become rather mute on the matter. I for one thought the game was cancelled.
Then the prayers of many were answered when during the run-up to E3 2019 and at the gaming conference itself where two gameplay trailers were shown and oooooooh boy was I ecstatic upon seeing those trailers. Seeing Cloud, Barrett, Aerith, Sephiroth and of course, Tifa realised the way they have been. The combat, the dialogue (they actually have voice actors now!) the reimagining of Nobuo Uematsu’s classic themes for FFVII and Aerith, intertwine with each other all overwhelmed me to the point of tears.
I hope a mere snippet of one’s excitement has come across in this paragraph.
Excitement aside, I do have my concerns with this clearly troubled game. It has since been revealed that the remake due to arrive 3rd March 2020 only focuses on the portion of the city found in Midgar, the main explorable city found in the game, which is about 20% of the main game, spread across on two discs (on physical copies of course). That will be five years of development on a game that is effectively a crumb from a rather large cake.
There are also the matters of playing it across future consoles and how long will it take to play the entire game, how/if cross-saving works, if said PS5 version has features the PS4 will lack, and what the pricing of each instalment thereafter will be. That is, of course, presuming that PS5 will be backwards compatible, which creates additional conundrums if that isn’t the case.
Now, these are reasonable things to be apprehensive about, as no other game (to my knowledge at least) has had this particular type of troubled development cycle with future problems waiting for them to bite them on the ass. What most ‘fans’ seem to be worried about however is the portrayal of the main party, that we have seen very little of. First Barrett was a racist stereotype, then Aerith has the wrong face shape, and now Tifa’s boobs are too small.
Jesus fucking Christ, what a world we live in…
SQUARE ENIX’s Ethics Department demanded the devs working FFVII to shrink the boobs and people have taken to social media, wanting the Tifa of old back, which I find rather funny, as the original model for PS1 Tifa consisted of a few pyramids stuck onto each other.
‘You’re not being faithful to the original design’ is something I’ve seen thrown around a lot. ‘It’s not realistic’ was another common response, which just made me laugh, as there is nothing truly natural about her tits. I’m sure Tifa wouldn’t mind not having intense back problems in this game!
‘So why has Tifa lost her boobies?’ you may be wondering. ‘How has SQUARE ENIX’ responded?’ you may be asking. Well, according to Tetsuya Nomura, the game’s director and mastermind behind the ‘Kingdom Hearts’ games, said the following in an interview with Gematsu:
We wanted Tifa to have abs, so she has an athletic body type. The ethics department at Square Enix also told us that we had to tighten her chest as not to get unnatural during all the intense action. From there we got the black underwear and fitted tank top. — Tetsuya Nomura, 2019
You can read the full interview here
Something to consider here is that this was a translation that some are believing to be false, with an allegedly more appropriate translation saying that the FFVII Remake team gave her clothes that didn’t make her boobs bounce and fly around in combat, which would make sense, as Tifa is very hands on in FFVII, probably being the Monk, if one was to put her a class. In other words, the clothes have been tightened, not shrunk, effectively putting Tifa in a sports bra. Whichever translation you wish to believe, pretty much the same thing has been asked by SQUARE ENIX. Tifa has been redesigned to be more realistic, whilst giving her a fairly large pair of boobs.
In short, this is not censorship you perverts!
There may however be a legitimate business reason as to why SQUARE ENIX’s Ethics Department has gotten involved like this. Sony is cracking down on the amount of sexual content found on its platforms, something that I explored in great detail in my ‘Censorship in Gaming and Sony’ blog. In it, I refer to a Wall Street Journal article that discusses this issue, in great detail, so I won’t go into great amounts of detail for you about that, purely so I don’t repeat myself too much. I will leave one paragraph that sums up some of what was discussed in the article, in my blog;
In it, one spokesperson gives the poor excuse that these new policies were implemented so that gaming does not inhibit the growth of young people (which I paraphrased for you). This is all fine and dandy, but what every game in this blog has in common is that they are very clearly marketed as mature games, which is recognised by rating boards, XBOX and PC. They are not intended for young people. It is up to parents/guardians to teach their children that what they see and do in games is not real and should not think it is ok for little Timmy to mow-down the class, celebrating with Fortnite dances, and expect them to come back to life via the ancient art of teabagging. They shouldn’t get scared shitless when they see something grotesque or sexual either. — Daniel Mayfair, 2019
To put this in great relation to FFVII Remake and SQUARE ENIX, there is the question about how the Honey Bee Inn (which is essentially a Love Hotel in the game) section would be reworked. Nomura has confirmed in the same Gematsu interview that the section would return, be it in a more modernised form, as that the facility identical to the original game in the Remake would cause ‘physical unease’.
The image above/left is the scene I am of course referring to (note: the below image is a fan creation, NOT SQUARE ENIX!). If you’ve played the original, you know where this goes and if you haven’t, you can probably guess the implication. Whereas the original 1990s version was delivered in a very camp, slapstick sort of manner, I do not think a more realistic version of buffed, sweaty, hairy men would create the same impression. If left unchanged, it would be very cringey, at best. At it’s worse it would be incredibly offensive.
Whereas some would want SQUARE ENIX to go full throttle of capturing everything exactly how it was in the original, but with a new fresh coat of paint (which you’re more than entitled to want, as everyone is entitled to their opinion). I don’t think SQUARE ENIX should do this. Even I, who doesn’t take great offence to these sort of things, found this fan image rather uncomfortable to look at. There are other moments in the game that I will label ‘risque’ that would need to be reworked for a more modern audience.
Coda
To add further upset (to some), Tifa’s breasts were reduced before. I refer to the film ‘Advent Children’, set some time after the events of FFVII. Her breasts were reduced there and she wasn’t as sexualised as many had envisioned her to be back in the day of its original release.
I personally was not bothered by this change either.
In both ‘Advent Children’ and the upcoming FFVII remake, she is still stunning to look at, there’s no denying that. Gamers know she is a very attractive character. That being said, it never really struck me that she was an overtly sexual character, minus certain ‘assets’. I believe that there is far more to her character than a large pair of boobs attached to a body. For people to have that mindset is just downright childish.
Tifa is emotionally shy and empathic in FFVII, acting as a motherly figure towards her friends when providing encouragement and emotional support. Tifa has grown more forward and tries to keep their family unit together when Cloud gets all moody/emo (depending on who you ask). Tifa pushes him to take action and to stop brooding with what he considers to be his past failings. She cares for the children in her care, defending them in battle and giving them comfort.
In short, I think the slight changes in her appearance are necessary, as are any changes made to possibly sensitive in-game events and cutscenes found in the original 1997 game to not only modernise the remake but to uphold the respect and dignity the original has had for 22 years.
NOTE: I am basing final this opinion solely on the information that has been presented by SQUARE ENIX, via translators made available to the public as of 30th May 2019, which was when this blog was written.
What do you think of this strange ‘controversy’? Are you deeply offended by the reduction of Tifa’s tits, or don’t you give a fuck? Are you excited for the FFVII Remake? If you are, how excited are you? What are you most excited to do whilst exploring Midgar?
Let’s start a conversation, people!
