Big love for Cloud’s giant sword comes in a small package.

Last week video game publisher Square Enix finally released Final Fantasy VII Remake, a complete overhaul in terms of both graphics and gameplay for arguably the best-loved, most influential RPG of all time. On April 10, the game’s launch day, fans across the globe were treated to some of the most beautifully realized Final Fantasy artwork ever seen, but not all of it was to be found in the game.

In salute of Remake’s release, Japanese Twitter user @shiroi003 sent out a picture of his latest project, which is also a work of Final Fantasy VII fan art. Specifically, it’s a recreation of main character Cloud’s iconic Buster Sword done with a pencil, but it isn’t a drawing…

…as @shiroi003 carved the sword out of a single pencil lead!

“To celebrate the release of FF7R, I carved the Buster Sword from a pencil lead,” the artist nonchalantly tweeted, as though it’s the most natural way in the world to use what most of us think of as purely a writing instrument. Of course, this isn’t the first time @shiroi003 has wowed us with his choice of artistic medium, as we took a look at some of his earlier projects a while back.

▼ Another of @shiroi003’s works, this one a sword from anime/manga Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba

But while the Buster Sword isn’t @shiroi003’s first amazing pencil carving, it’s definitely one of his most impressive, and brought out reactions online such as:

“Amazing.”
“It’s a Limit Break of Quality.”
“Definitely interested!”
“You even included the Materia slots on the blade.”

As further proof of how detailed @shiroi003’s work is, one commenter even swapped the pencil art into a scene of Cloud fighting his nemesis Sephiroth, where it blends in amazingly well with the CG graphics.

https://twitter.com/yazhi09/status/1248599789379284992

@shiroi003 doesn’t say how long it took for him to carve the Buster Sword, but considering this tweet that came a few days before he unveiled the finished work, it doesn’t sound like the project was an easy one.

▼ “Failure is the proof that you’re challenging yourself. Failure is an opportunity to learn. The times you tried, failed, and learned are what leads to improvement.”

▼ More proof of @shiroi003’s positive attitude: To show the value of having even “a little courage” in life, he made a carving of the kanji for yuuki (“courage”)

Unlike the original Final Fantasy VII, which initially set out to tell a complete story within a single release, Remake is going to be a multi-game franchise for Square Enix, so hopefully when its sequel comes out, we’ll also get a new tribute carving from @shiroi003.

Source: Twitter/@shiroi003 via Jin
Top image ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Follow Casey on Twitter, where there are no fewer than three pieces of Chocobo merchandise in his apartment at all times.