Final Fantasy 9is the last game in the series’ PlayStation era and though not as popular asFF7, the unique art style that gave life to Zidane, Garnet and company certainly has its crowd. Now, those fans are getting closer to living that story all over again after it was confirmed the plannedFF9anime will be unveiled later this week.
Plans for an anime take onFinal Fantasy 9were first made public in June of last year, with the project set to be a co-production between Square Enix and French animation house Cyber Group Studios. Released in 2000,FF9unfolds on the planet of Gaia in a world mostly adorned by a medieval or mid-renaissance steampunk aesthetic more similar to older games, rather than the more modern anime influence ofFF7orFF8, which is partly why it became so iconic for the franchise.
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Getting such a unique look right will definitely be one of the things to look out for when theFinal Fantasyanime is finally revealed this week during The Licensing Expo taking place in Las Vegas, between May 24 to 26. According to statements gathered by IGN, Cyber Group Studios’ Vice President of International Licensing and Marketing said the event will be an occasion to showcase their “most recently developed shows —Digital Girl,The McFire Family,Press Start!andFinal Fantasy IX— [which] will be presented for the first time”, although no specific day was given for FF9 or any of the other productions.
While very little is known about theFF9adaptation, such as how many episodes or how long each chapter will be, Cyber Group Studios’ main field of expertise tends to focus on productions geared towards younger audiences like their Netflix seriesThe Last Kids on EarthorLes Chroniques de Zorro, thus fueling rumors theFF9series would also be aimed at an 8-13 age demographic. Licensing Expo will be live streamed online, meaningFinal Fantasyfans won’t have to wait too long to find out.
This is not the only Square Enix property currently being used for an animated production as the studio alsoconfirmed aNier Automataanime is in developmentthrough a teaser back in February.Final Fantasy 9was the last game in the franchise to lean heavily into the themes of flying airships that were integral to the games in the Super Nintendo era, which is partly why so many fanswant Square to develop anFF9Remake next.
Even ifFF9is far fromthe hardest or longestFinal Fantasygame, its exploration of existentialist themes through a main character like Vivi alone makes it worth playing, so maybe a new anime is exactly what the game needs to fuel interest in a classic that was underserved by it untimely release near the end of the PSX’s lifespan.
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