Last Order Final Fantasy VII: Rasuto Ōdā Fainaru Fantajī Sebun

Last Order: Final Fantasy VII (ラストオーダー -ファイナルファンタジーVII- Rasuto Ōdā -Fainaru Fantajī Sebun-?), also abbreviated as Last Order or LO, is a 2005 Japanese anime original video animation (OVA) produced by Madhouse and released by Square Enix. It was directed by Morio Asaka and produced by Masao Maruyama, Jungo Maruta, and Akio Ofuji. Tetsuya Nomura acted as the supervising director. The OVA is an alternate rendition of two flashbacks found within the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII. Last Order was released in Japan with Advent Pieces: Limited, a special edition release of the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and as a bonus feature in the North American "Limited Edition Collector's Set" release of Advent Children.

Last Order is associated with the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a series of prequels and sequels to the original Final Fantasy VII. Although not an official Compilation installment or canon within it, the OVA has nonetheless been included in official guidebooks. The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII includes the games Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, as well as the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and the collection of short stories On the Way to a Smile. Last Order's soundtrack was released with the music of Before Crisis, and select songs were later remixed for Crisis Core. The OVA was created due to the success of promotional commercials for Before Crisis, with production lasting six months.

The plot of Last Order encompasses two events that occurred before the main events of Final Fantasy VII. One storyline revolves around the Nibelheim scenario that focuses on Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, Sephiroth and Tifa Lockhart. The other event follows Zack and Cloud as they run from the megacorporation Shinra. The OVA cuts back and forth between these two flashbacks, linked by the narration of Turk leader Tseng and his reflections on the Nibelheim event. Originally meant to focus on Zack, Last Order highlighted Tseng's feelings and position in the Shinra company, as well as his moral values.

Although the 77,777 copies of Advent Pieces: Limited that were released in Japan sold out months in advance of the official release date, Last Order received a negative fan response due to changes in content and presentation from the original Final Fantasy VII game, and because of this, the crew working on Crisis Core avoided recreating certain scenes from Last Order.

Last Order explores situations shown and referenced within Final Fantasy VII and other Compilation titles. The world of Final Fantasy VII, referred to as "the Planet", is dependent for its survival on a flow of spirit energy called the Lifestream. The megacorporation Shinra eventually rises to power and begins extracting the Lifestream through Mako reactors, killing the Planet. Shinra uses the Mako as an energy source and to manipulate the strength and abilities of their paramilitary organization, SOLDIER. Sephiroth, considered the strongest member of SOLDIER, is sent to investigate a Mako reactor in the secluded town of Nibelheim and is accompanied by the SOLDIER Zack and two grunts, one of whom is Cloud. While there, Sephiroth spends most of his time reading in the Shinra Mansion, which had previously been used by the Shinra scientist Hojo to conduct experiments. Through Hojo's log books, Sephiroth comes to learn of his past, in which he was injected with Jenova's cells. The Planet had once been inhabited by the Cetra (or "Ancients"), who were almost completely destroyed by Jenova, an extraterrestrial lifeform that crashed onto the Planet 2,000 years previously, and began infecting the Cetra with a virus. When Jenova was unearthed by a Shinra science team, it was mistakenly identified as a Cetra. This caused Sephiroth to believe he was also a Cetra, and that humans had betrayed his ancestors.

Cast

Image	Character	Jap
	Zack Fair	Ken'ichi Suzumura
	Cloud Strife
	Tifa Lockhart
	Sephiroth
	Zangan
	Tseng
	Reno
	Rude
	Turk (Rod)
	Turk (Gun)
	Turk (Two Guns)
	Turk (Shotgun)
	Turk (Martial Artist
	Professor Hojo
	Old Man
	Title