Ace Attorney Episode 2 [ Okay, I’m sold ]

The first episode of the Ace Attorney episode left me with a distinct sense of dread: this could go either way, I realized, and it has gone either way multiple times. I liked the first episode of Brynhildr in the Darkness and then later went on to feel it was plagued with too many adaptation errors. Video game animes are notorious, like Gunslinger Stratos or Persona 4. Persona 4’s original anime had wonky animation and Golden felt like it needed to be spliced and placed into it. So you end up with a sense of fear: will this really ‘finally’ be the adaptation we’ve been waiting for, or will it be a bucket of butts like most video game anime end up being?

This episode had me getting my hopes up. While I was initially cautious the real question is, what can an anime bring to this adaptation? Well, one thing is to give life to Naruhodo / Phoenix in a new way. As the games are played you hear Phoenix’s inner thoughts but you never get to view him as an outsider might. You don”t exactly see why everyone gives him crap until you’re in the court room and he makes a derpy mistake- but the thing is, we’re the ones making the derpy mistakes in that game. Is it really Phoenix who messes up and is a derp, or just us?

Well now Phoenix exists outside our derp mistakes. Naruhodo/Phoenix is now a person whose flashbacks exist vividly on screen, whose motivations and sacrifices are seen absolutely clearly. We see him being cute as he discusses dinner with Mia/Chihiro and her sister, and we see his pain that injustice is being done and nobody is stepping up to help the weak. The entire concept of the games was believe in your client to the end but Mayoi herself always ends up in special amounts of trouble – it’s so additive to the series that we finally see just why Phoenix cares with our own eyes, his determination, his spirit.

On top of Phoenix’s performance we have the addition of some of my favorite characters: Reiji/Edgeworth is a fan favorite and Gumshoe is the Zenigata equivalent with even more harmless derping and good-natured antagonism. Edgeworth absolutely lives up to the charisma we expect of him and Gumshoe is just as stupid as ever. I actually always found Maya/Mayoi’s endless hamburger rambling annoying at times but loved her anyway, now I want to hug her and Phoenix into my chest and cry as they feel pain with their precious cinnamon roll bodies.

I think so far this anime has more than done its job. I love Phoenix so much more now that he is not off screen and I can see his emotions- he seems much more caring than he ever did in the games. Mayoi and Naruhodo are their own characters to me and they’re absolutely adorable, I just can’t wait to see them be more awkward and . . honestly, you know what it is? This anime has captured the feelings of the game and all the attachment I had while expanding on it at the same time. So far, I recommend it, and it looks like I’m in for the long haul of this anime. Ace Attorney Episode 2 was a pleasant surprise.

Oki