High Forehead Mom

Are we still really using this false reading six years later? Using this quote as “proof” capitalizes on misreading the english phrasing which makes a difinitive claim that the Japanese version never did. The highlighted line is: ティファと話すときはちょっと素が出る A more precise reading is: “When he talks with Tifa, a bit of his natural self comes out.” And can be understood as: “When he talks with Tifa, he lets his guard down a little.” That is not quite the same thing as “his true self briefly emerges,” especially if by “true self” people starts associating it with Cloud's real identity as if he is some schizo who switches personas on the go. The Japanese phrase 素が出る (su ga deru) usually refers to someone's natural, unguarded, or unpretentious side showing through. It describes demeanor and behavior, not the resolution of someone's identity crisis. Remember, at this point in the story, Cloud still believes he is SOLDIER. So even when he relaxes around Tifa, he is still operating within that mistaken understanding of himself. It means he drops his guard a little, not that only with Tifa are we suddenly seeing the fully restored “real Cloud” while everything else is fake. The line about Aerith is equally important: とくにエアリスに対しては、意識しすぎてヘンな受け答えになっています。 This is better understood as: “Especially with Aerith, he's too conscious of her, so his responses become awkward or strange.” This tells us that Cloud's attempts at concealing his awkwardness can actually expose his real feelings. In other words, Cloud trying to look cool around Aerith does not make those interactions less genuine. If anything, being overly conscious of her and giving awkward replies can itself reveal genuine feelings. His awkwardness is not proof of falseness. It may actually reveal just how much she affects him. And here's what makes all of this even more interesting. Nomura later described Cloud as someone who tries to act cool but is actually rather awkward. Isn't that precisely what the real Cloud from Nibelheim was like? Even before the events that led to his fabricated SOLDIER identity, Cloud was already an awkward boy who desperately wanted to appear strong and impressive, particularly in front of people whose opinions mattered to him. His tendency to put on a cool exterior wasn't something that suddenly appeared with his SOLDIER persona. It was already part of his personality. So when Cloud tries to act cool around Aerith but ends up being awkward because he is so conscious of her, how is that not an expression of the real Cloud? In fact, it is remarkably consistent with the boy he was in Nibelheim, long before his identity became confused. The irony is that the very behavior some people dismiss as Cloud acting through his fake SOLDIER persona is also characteristic of his authentic personality. Cloud being relaxed around Tifa and Cloud being awkward around Aerith are not mutually exclusive expressions of his real self. The mistake is assuming that this statement has anything to do with Cloud's identity instead of just his behaviour.