I really can't see the connection. But I'll give it to you that Galbadia is a close cousin to the US. All that the US does anymore is try and muscle in on someone else's buisness.

And that's all I'll type. If I get on this rant, I'll get banned from the forums.

But hey, good eye. I'm glad someone other than myself sees some of the strange little things that the programmers try and sneak in every now and then.

Well by that line of thoughts i would relate Japan more with Esthar city because their much more technological advance and have a different culture...

Galbadia similar to U.S.A well...maybe just like Galbadia, America does impose their power a bit to much....so yeah i can see the similarity!

well FF VIII, was made in that time of reality and i woldent doute the creatures took stuff from the real world and made fun of them as jokes.

I dont agree with that. Iraq as a nation had done nothing wrong but America attacked them. Iran has done nothing wrong but theyre going to attack them. I think that in modern sci fi and fantasy the USA is a very common inspiration for corrupt and power mad governments/countries. I wouldn't be surprised if Galbadia was loosely based on the US. I definately think Esthar is more like Japan than Balamb is.

And also, everyone knows G W Bush cheated his way into power, he wasnt freely elected

Gotta say you're a little mistaken on the Iraq thing. They had threatened us before, but I think everyone knows that W was tying up daddy's loose ends. Why else would anyone go to the extremes that he did.

But let's keep the politics outta the threads. Otherwise, the whole Forum'll burn from all the flamers.

But as for Japan being the basis of Esthar, think about the illusion-shield. Japan was quite a closed society, but that was a while in the past. Couldn't Esthar be closer to China? Very secretive, very big. They just changed the political structure to hide it....

I agree, the Galbadian continent does remind me of North America, but nothing really with the rest.