The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is a controversial part of the franchise in general, but it owes its existence primarily to Advent Children– Final Fantasy VII’s official cinematic sequel. Thematically and narrative inconsistent with the classic RPG, Advent Children is at best an entertaining way to kill 2 hours and at worst a slap in the face to what Final Fantasy VII values most as a story. All while telling a poorly plotted and paced narrative to boot.
All around, Advent Children is a disappointment, but the prequel novel– On the Way to a Smile– helps give depth to Final Fantasy VII's film sequel. From fleshing out the cast’s development after the main game to actually making Advent Children’s story somewhat coherent in retrospect, On the Way to a Smile is an important and overlooked piece of Final Fantasy VII’s history.
10 Life After Meteor
The most notable thing about On the Way to a Smile– and arguably what makes it worth reading above all else– is how it documents the immediate fallout of Meteor's impact. Not just by following the party, but by following them individually as they split up following the final battle. Made up of eight short stories, On the Way to a Smile is a nice comprehensive look at how badly Meteor impacted the planet.
The fact of the matter is that Advent Children leaves the consequences of Meteor in the background while also depicting life more or less as it was. On the Way to a Smile goes into the hardships of how one can possibly live their life after the end of life itself.
9 Barret Left Marlene With Cloud & Tifa
Barret's devotion for his adoptive daughter Marlene is one of his defining characteristics in the original Final Fantasy VII. Underneath the intimidating eco-terrorist is someone who loves his daughter more than anything. He even gives up his revenge on Shinra near the end of the game to make Marlene his motivation. Which makes Barret leaving her with Tifa & Cloud all the more perplexing.
In truth, this is very much in Barret's nature– at the start of FFVII. Come the end, Marlene is his motivation and should have remained such in a post-Meteor world. The idea of Barret doing soul searching as a means of penance is a strong story, but that he leaves his daughter for so long at the end of the world does not paint the picture of a loving father.
8 Tifa’s Survivor’s Guilt
Tifa is one of the more nuanced characters in Final Fantasy VII, and taking a surface level reading to the character really does her a disservice. Her relationship with Cloud is loaded, and pretty much all her early game dialogue (especially in reference to Cloud) has some kind of double meaning. Tifa's always been a more emotional character, something the Compilation has touched upon.
On the Way to a Smile depicts a Tifa dealing with intense survivor's guilt, stemming from just about every facet of her journey– AVALANCHE's death, the plate falling onto Sector 7, Aerith's death, and Meteor impacting the Earth. Tifa takes on a lot of guilt, which helps explains where she is psychologically during AC.
7 Yuffie, Unwelcome In Wutai
Due to time constraints, the original Final Fantasy VII unfortunately had to relegated both Yuffie and Vincent to side character status. As a result, Wutai as a region ended up being pushed aside to side content, with little development given to the nation other than alluding to a War between Wutai and Shinra. On the Way to a Smile plays on this with Yuffie's chapter.
With Geostigma ravaging the world, and Wutai comparatively disconnected, they come to believe that Yuffie brought Geostigma back with her from Midgar, making her an outcast in her own home. Yuffie spends years searching for a Materia to cure Geostigma to no avail.
6 Red XIII And The Agony Of Life After Death
It's mentioned by Bugenhagen in the original Final Fantasy VII that despite being 48, Red XIII is only around 15 or 16 as far as human maturity and intelligence goes. He's a smooth talker, but he's not wise beyond his years by any means. All the same, living so much has made Red XIII more introspective, something On the Way to a Smile touches upon heavily.
Red XIII has one of the most depressing stories in the book, with him in particular agonizing over the idea that he will outlive all of his friends. Thankfully for Red XIII, he doesn't have to go through this alone as Vincent is immortal himself and will be able to live a long life alongside Red.
5 Red XIII And Gilligan
On the subject of Red XIII's personal fears and insecurities, they eventually manifest into a split personality called "Gilligan" which Red XIII uses as a means of processing his uniquely complex feelings. Red XIII finds himself haunted by Gilligan over the course of the story, the figure representing the fear of loneliness that plagues Red XIII so much.
By the end of the story, Red XIII does come to terms with Gilligan to an extent, but the story really just puts into perspective how damage Red XIII is. Between believing his father was a coward, being experimented on by Hojo, and now this, it's hard not to feel for the guy.
4 How Rufus Survived
The original Final Fantasy VII takes such a tactful approach to death that Rufus' sudden survival in Advent Children feels like nothing more than an insult to anyone who bothered taking the story seriously in the first place. Worse yet, the explanation for his survival is stepped on by Cloud for a joke, severely undermining Rufus' presence and original death.
Interestingly, On the Way to a Smile tries to remedy this inconsistently by specifying that President Shinra had a panic room specifically built for Rufus, but not for him– believing himself to powerful to attack directly, but not Rufus. The room is meant as an insult to Rufus, but it ends up saving his life. Even if an FMV quite literally shows him dying on-screen.
3 Episode Denzel: The Animated Prequel
It should be pointed out that On the Way to a Smile originally opened with Episode: Denzel, a chapter focusing on Advent Children's new orphan character also suffering from Geostigma alongside Cloud. The chapter is framed two years after the events of Advent Children with Denzel recounting his life after Meteor's impact to Reeve.
The short story was notably made into a half hour animated adaptation which makes for a decent enough way of getting a taste of On the Way to a Smile. Episode: Denzel unfortunately isn't the most essential to understanding Advent Children, but it at least sets a better foundation for Cloud, Tifa, and Denzel's character arcs.
2 Stepping On FF7’s Eco-Friendly Themes
Final Fantasy VII is in no way subtle with its environmentalist message. Humanity is quite literally poisoning the planet & abusing it, and it's only a matter of time before mankind becomes so dangerous to the Earth that they either need to be removed or the planet itself has to die. The pollution that comes from Mako energy is so pointed, that it's impossible not to see the story's eco-friendly themes front & center.
Hilarious, On the Way to a Smile decides that the best course of action in a post-Mako world is for humanity to rely on oil... For as much good as On the Way to a Smile does in helping fix Advent Children, this is frankly bad enough to remove any of the book's credibility.
1 Case Of Tifa Fills In Advent Children’s Gaps
Which is a pity because On the Way to a Smile really does make Advent Children a better story. Now, it doesn't make it a better movie, but On the Way to a Smile at least brings every character where they need to be for the story proper. Case of Tifa in particular is the book's big draw, featuring the most direct ties into Advent Children.
Case of Tifa is essentially analyzing Cloud, Tifa, & Marlene starting a family only for Cloud to suddenly become standoffish, disappearing on Tifa completely. While it might not sound like much, the context provided by Case of Tifa really does make all the difference.