First Impressions: Ace Attorney
I’ve been a
huge fan of the Ace Attorney visual novel series ever since it was ported to
the Nintendo DS over a decade ago. Fellow gamers would know the familiar cries
of ‘Objection’, ‘Hold it’ and ‘Take that’ along with the gripping soundtrack
that accompanied each title.
Heck, I
even bought a compilation of the first three games for my iPhone along with Phoenix
Wright: Ace Attorney Dual Destinies, the latest entry in the main series. So,
imagine my reaction when I found out that Phoenix Wright and friends were going
to have an anime that covered the first two games.
The first
episode started on the right foot, faithfully adapting the very first trial that
served as a tutorial for new players. It followed the same sequence of events,
revealing a snippet of the crime along with the culprit and victim. The
adaptation was so faithful that it even captured the culprit breaking down
after being exposed for his crime.
For viewers
worried about the lack of suspense in later episodes, fret not. The culprit
becomes more ambiguous in the following cases and the cases themselves take
several in-game days to solve. Do continue watching as the cast grows,
including more madcap characters, be it in the form of Phoenix’s allies, the
various witnesses or even the Judge himself.
However,
the anime isn’t without its flaws. Animation quality was lacking, with the
characters looking like fan-drawn versions of themselves. Even the Judge looks
like a shadow of his majestic self in the games. I can only hope that this
won’t be a trend through the course of the next 20 odd episodes, especially
with the cases themselves becoming lengthier and more thrilling.
The
soundtrack has been hit-and-miss as well, but then again, having listened to
the more familiar in-game tunes for over a decade, I do appreciate the studio’s
bold move in inserting brand new background music. However, I’m glad that they
kept the familiar ‘Objection’ theme that we all know and love, even adding
their own spin to it.
All in all,
I’ve been impressed with the Ace Attorney anime adaption so far, bar the poor
animation quality and forgettable soundtrack. Fans also have the subtitles to
thank for inserting the many jokes and localisation changes present in the
English version of the game, with the most obvious one being Phoenix Wright's name (Naruhodo Ryuichi) in the native Japanese version.
Written by ET
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