Actress Briana White is generally considered to be the definitive embodiment of Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Remake. The tweet is very fresh in recent memory, in which Twitch quoted her as saying: “And that’s something to be proud of.” This tweet led to a flood of reactions from gamers while being lauded by many; others debated about the legacy of Maaya Sakamoto, Aerith’s Japanese voice actress.
The tweet was direct about the matter, and it was a very compelling one-very few gamers could imagine any other voice stepping into that role. And to be perfectly honest?looks like the gamers themselves are pretty much in agreement on this one. The replies started pouring in, among them such gems as that of Hashbrown Cloudy Kai, who declared that Briana is “such an amazing role model, perfectly suited for Aerith.” Meanwhile, Solid Snake lamented how the death scene of Aerith “was one of the most heartbreaking moments in the history of games.”
Others did weigh in with a contrary viewpoint. Voices from the camp of Shiranui 愛の火 argued that Maaya Sakamoto is the voice of Aerith in Japan and has been for over two decades, and that the original tweet was disrespectful to her legacy. This triggered a mini-war in the replies, with a user accusing the rest of “white knighting” for Briana. Drama? Over a Final Fantasy discussion? Could never have imagined I would have heard that.
The situation dragged Twitch into the conversation as well – because when does it ever not? The platform was trashed by a handful of commenters, thanking Twitch with heavy sarcasm for celebrating someone who “doesn’t platform terrorism.” Then another one joked that the “legendary woman” of the day was not one of the site’s notoriously bad cam-girls. Just some classic chaos courtesy of Twitter.
Aside from all that background noise, the admiration for Aerith and the actress actually penetrated. Yunalescka ☾ dropped a bit of Aerith artwork, referring to the pair of character and actress as an “amazing duo.” Really, Aerith has since then been among the most legendary female leads in gaming. Whether you grew up with the original FFVII or fell in love with her anew in the remake, she’s impact-worthy.
Yeah, Briana White really did kill it as Aerith. And yeah, Maaya Sakamoto’s legacy still lives strong. And yeah, Twitch is always going to be a hot mess. But at the end of the day, gamers just really, really love Aerith. And that’s something to be proud of.”
