Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV

Synopsis

Brotherhood is set on the Earth-like world of Eos, occurring within the events of Final Fantasy XV. The kingdom of Lucis, keeper of the world's last surviving magical crystal, has been at war with the technologically-advanced empire of Niflheim, the latter dominating much of the known world. After many years of war, a peace is agreed between Lucis and Niflheim. As part of the peace agreements, Noctis Lucis Caelum—son of the reigning King Regis and heir to the Lucian throne—is to marry Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, former princess of Tenebrae and now hostage of Niflheim. Noctis sets off to marry Lunafreya in the company of his loyal companions and friends: Gladiolus Amicitia, Prompto Argentum, and Ignis Scientia. On their journey, Niflheim betrays and invades Lucis, stealing the crystal and killing Regis, leaving Noctis to go on a quest to reclaim his throne and defeat Niflheim.

Production

Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV forms part of the "Final Fantasy XV Universe", a multimedia project based around the 2016 video game Final Fantasy XV that also includes the theatrical CGI film Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV: the story of XV was large enough to have covered several games, but as the team did not want to create any additional games, they decided to create additional media. While similar in style to the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII project, the media associated with Final Fantasy XV came before the game's release rather than after it, acting as insight into the world and characters. XV and its associated media likewise hold a thematic connection to Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, a compilation of games and associated media sharing a common mythos while boasting unconnected stories and settings. While now distanced from the brand, the world of XV still uses its mythos and design elements. Brotherhood was designed so it would not be necessary for people to watch for understanding of the main game.

Brotherhood was co-produced by Square Enix, the game's developers, and anime studio A-1 Pictures. Square Enix staff ensured that the staff of A-1 Pictures stayed true to the game. A-1 Pictures had previously worked with Square Enix on "On the Way to a Smile", a short animated film included with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Edition, and had frequently voiced mutual willingness to work together again. It was directed by Soichi Masui, written by Yuniko Ayana, and had music written by Yasuhisa Inoue and Susumi Akizuki. The series originated due to producer Akio Ofuji, who was also the marketing producer for the Final Fantasy series. Ofuji's favorite character from the game was Prompto, and the anime grew from the wish to expand upon a reference in the game to the character's difficult childhood. The concept was first proposed in 2014, a year and a half before its reveal. Its format as an anime series was based both on staff suggestions and the fact that Kingsglaive was already in production as a CGI feature. Episodes were produced fairly quickly, being created and released at monthly intervals. As they were released, the creators took fan feedback into account when creating future episodes. The nature of Brotherhood as a free anime caused problems when it came to funding the project: this had been decided upon to get the anime to the widest audience possible. Ultimately, the budget was split between the total production costs of Final Fantasy XV and projected physical sales after the anime's release.

Ofuji was responsible for creating the basic scenario from which Brotherhood's main writers would work: working from the character sheets created by the writers of Final Fantasy XV, he created the entire scenario based on each character's background characteristics, such as Ignis' love of baking and Prompto's childhood obesity. The anime focuses on themes of brotherhood and friendship, and includes interpersonal scenes that could not be included in the game. Its storyline details the backstory of Noctis from his childhood to the game's opening, along with the backstories of his companions. The first and last episodes tie directly into the events of Platinum Demo: Final Fantasy XV, a free tech demo showing Noctis' journey through a dreamworld after a near-death experience. The anime also serves as an introduction for potential players to the characters. In previous Final Fantasy games, the player party was built up gradually over the course of the game. In Final Fantasy XV, the complete party will be available from the start, and since the backstory moments could not be fitted into the game, the anime serves as a similar means of allowing players to sympathize with them. Each episode's event also helped detail some of the characters' different social classes, with the cited example being the contrast between Prompto's small house and hard-working parents when compared to Gladiolus' more luxurious life.

Release

Brotherhood was first announced on March 30, 2016 at "Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV", a media event dedicated to the game; the first episode aired immediately following the event. Each episode was released online for free through the game's official YouTube channel and concluded with the fifth episode on September 17, 2016. They were also streamed through online service Crunchyroll. Each episode is approximately ten to fifteen minutes long. This format was chosen over the standard 23-minute format as it would tell the desired stories without the viewers getting bored. All episodes of Brotherhood were included as part of the Ultimate Collector's Edition of Final Fantasy XV on a Blu-ray disc. The series was also included in the "Final Fantasy XV Film Collection", a box set which includes Final Fantasy XV and Kingsglaive. Bonus scenes focusing on Lunafreya were included exclusively as part of the Ultimate Collector's Edition. The series was edited together into a 30 minute episode and broadcast on Japan's Tokyo Metropolitan Television network on September 30, 2016. The five episodes were also broadcast on Niconico during a launch event livestream on November 28, the day before the worldwide launch of Final Fantasy XV. The planned run only extended to five episodes, but Ofuji stated that depending on public reception to the series, further episodes could be produced.

Reception

The initial reaction to the series was better than the developers had initially expected, with the first episode getting more views than anticipated upon release. As of November 2016, the anime episodes were among the most viewed on the game's official YouTube channel. "Before the Storm" was the most watched video on the channel, with over 2,330,000 views. "Dogged Runner" was fifth with over 614,000; while "Sword and Shield" and "Bittersweet Memories" were at #13 and #14 with over 431,790 and 344,000 views respectively. The final episode had the lowest viewing figures, with just over 110,000. Versions of episodes on the channel featuring multi-lingual subtitles also had view counts above 100,000.

In her review of the anime's first episode, Meghan Sullivan of IGN praised the visuals and fight choreography, but felt that the story would be confusing to those not already familiar with the game. She finished by calling the episode "a solid start to what will hopefully be a memorable anime". Michelle Nguyen of Geek.com, writing following the release of "Sword and Shield", was generally positive about the anime, praising its characters despite her dislike for the lack of playable female characters in the game itself. Speaking about each episode, she found the first episode to be rather weak, and ranked "Dogged Runner" high for changing Prompto into a more complex character. Andrew Webster, writing for The Verge, said that the anime captured the game's mixture of humor and traditional role-playing story tropes, sharing Nguyen's praise for "Dogged Runner", and saying that the anime made him more eager to play the game itself.

Destructoid's Chris Carter, in an article on the release of the final episode, said he enjoyed the anime overall, although he found the final episode lax on story when compared to the rest of the series due to its focus on action. He stated that he "bought into" the relationships between Noctis and the other characters. In an article summarizing Final Fantasy XV and its associated media, GamesRadar called the episodes "surprisingly well-written" and "well worth watching", noting its focus on personal stories compared to the grander narrative of Kingsglaive. In a similar article, Kotaku UK's Kim Snaith said that the anime "perfectly [sets] the scene for where Final Fantasy XV picks up".