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Hironobu Sakaguchi

Hironobu Sakaguchi

Director and writer, also producer · Born November 25, 1962 (63) · Japan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hironobu Sakaguchi(born November 25, 1962) is a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is world famous as the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and has had a long career in gaming with over 80 million units of video games sold worldwide. He left Square Enix and founded a studio called Mistwalker in 2004. Description above from the Wikipedia article Hironobu Sakaguchi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
November 25, 1962 (63)
From
Japan
Works as
Director and writer, also producer
Titles
3 on MovieCove · 5 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 39 days to Oct 28Down 23% in 30 days

What are Hironobu Sakaguchi's films like?

Across a limited sample of 3 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Ideas.

Themes

share of theme weight
Morality
49%
Ideas
18%
Bonds
16%
Survival
16%
Sacrifice2 titles, browse their movies with this themeHope2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Dark: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their dark movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 0 · Serious 0 · Dark 3

Heightened: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their heightened movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 0 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 3

Intense: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their intense movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 0 · Intense 3

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 1 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Relentless: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their relentless movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 0 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 2

Full focus: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their full focus movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 2

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 2 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
3
Melancholic
3
Thrilling
2
Hopeful
2
Elegiac
1

How their films linger

Hopeful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Hironobu Sakaguchi's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 2 of their 3 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Hironobu Sakaguchi's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

5 credits, 3 with a MovieCove page.

  • Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV(2016)

    Writer

    Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films

  • Blue Dragon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)

    Show 51 episodes · Original Concept · Original Story

  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children(2005)

    Writer

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films

  • Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - Aki's Dream Reconstruction (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)

    Director

  • Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within(2001)

    Director · Producer · Story

    Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films

Career shape

A full career of 3 titles from 2001 to 2007.

Biggest box office

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

$85M worldwide

Highest rated

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

Midcredits 84th

Most popular right now

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Directing2 of 3: 1 only directing, 1 with another roleWriting2 of 3: 1 only writing, 1 with another role

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Hironobu Sakaguchi's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 72nd percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 70th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

70thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

72ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

94thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Midcredits score across 3 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up1
  • 50th to 74th2

Shape of the crowd

None of their 3 titles divides audiences: 2 are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved1
  • Crowd Pleaser2

Most loved · writer

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

Midcredits 84th · 75% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 73/100 and the pacing 38/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Hironobu Sakaguchi work with?

People who share at least 2 of Hironobu Sakaguchi's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Takeshi Nozue shares the most, 2.

Directors

Writers

Producers