The Tifa version felt so wrong, like those romance movie tropes where the guy is with the wrong girl and is head over heels in love with the female lead.

Literally every FFVII fan knows Aerith's date was the canon date in the OG. I don't understand why would anyone think it would be different in Rebirth.

One more clue that Aerith is the canon date is that when Aerith finishes singing she makes a few petals fly and one of them falls into Cloud's hand and this only happens if she is your date, in the rest she continues making the petals fly but different things happen, it is only in Aerith's date that this action has narrative continuity.

If we to interpretate Cloud's expression in Tifa's date as somber, my explanation would be is he must be thinking if this song is for Zack, and he is already thinking of asking Tifa if she talked to Aerith (since he remembered that Zack is dead). So Cloud must be very conflicted.

Red actually drew the heart behind him with his tail. 😄

Cloud is the one who is the most focused and serious (in a good way) in all the versions. It's clear that he knows how important this moment is for Aerith. And if something is important to her, it becomes the same for him.

BROOOOOO YOU CAUGHT THAT LOOK HE GAVE WHILE HOLDING TIFA'S HAND. OUR BOY CLOUD IS NOT INTO IT. HAHAHAHA

What I find interesting is that in the final scene when Aerith is crying and Cloud appears, depending on the character you are dating the theme song is their theme of that specific character, if you are with other characters and the music sounds disjointed because no promises to keep ends with Aerith's theme, when you are with Aerith in this scene her theme song plays as if it completely fits with the scene. while the rest do not.

The "random heart" is Nanaki teasing Cloud about Aerith 🥰🥰

It doesn’t matter who your date is Cloud will always look at Aerith mesmerized by her beauty even before she starts singing so it’s not only about her amazing vocals.

Thanks so much for this breakdown! The fact that we get SEVERAL close-ups of Cloud looking intensely at Aerith (let's be real he has hearts in his eyes) AND him initiating physical contact with her TWICE (something antis claim he never does and that it's "always" Aerith initiating with him which "clearly" proves he doesn't actually like her) in every version of this is so telling.

In a similar way to how Aerith’s role in Rebirth's story diminishes somewhat in the second act, only for the final act of the game to be wholly about Cloud and Aerith and their intertwined destines, Rosa can be played by someone else, but the finale always belongs to Aerith.

The expression with Cloud in Tifa’s scene after grabbing her hand was … I wanna uncertainty, like he’s unsure. It was like conflict in his eyes as he looks down for a brief moment…. Now I don’t know the intentions of that scene but it certainly tells a story. As you mentioned, I would think they would have cloud smiling softly instead or some sort of upturn of the lip. I love your Channel and your analysis on the scenes of each date! Looking forward to many more videos!

No way, I thought that look Cloud had during the "know that you'll find me" part was exclusive to Aerith's 😮. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

Yuffie singing and spinning is sending me and make me giggle! It's a gorgeous comparison of all variations - I like the small differences - but must admit, the boys? Always make me chuckle ;-;

The Barret variation is so peak, I really felt his connection to Aerith in Remake/Rebirth. Nanaki being excited for Aerith is the cutest though <3 and Cloud's wall comes down and he enjoys that moment with him. Nanaki's skywheel date did a great job of showing how he trusts Cloud enough to protect her and Barret's told Cloud to admit his feelings to her before it's too late. It made their variations almost as emotional as the Aerith date for me!

Absolutely loved this analysis. To us interpreting, the smallest things are the biggest! Thank you for catching when she says, "...you'll..." and then it shows Cloud's facial expression! Big clues in FF lyrics.

He looks so conflicted when he holds Tifa's hand. I love all the differences between each and yet, the similarities are all Cloud being in awe of Aerith. I got Aerith in both dates, so it's great to see the other choices without having to boot up the game. Great video!

This basically shows how memorized Cloud was by Aerith in this song. Despite all different versions they were still trying to make this a pure Cloud and Aerith moment.

Nanaki is basically Cloud's wingman 😂