I recently remembered that there’s a Gyakuten Saiban anime, so I decided to watch it. I saw a few clips of the English dub and wasn’t too happy with the voice cast, so I went with the subbed version. I don’t like Edgey’s voice. I know it’s supposed to be deep, but it sounds the wrong kind of deep. I dunno. It just doesn’t sound right. Maybe his English voice is better. Maya was a bit too high-pitched for my liking, but it’s kinda an occupational hazard for anime, isn’t it? I seem to remember her voice being better in the Layton vs Phoenix Wright trailer. Anyway, I’m only up to the second episode. So here’s what I think so far.

One thing that bugged me is that Naruhodo-kun (Phoenix) kept calling Chihiro (Mia) “Chihiro-san”, which he didn’t do in the game. He called her “shochou”, or, in the English release, “Chief”. I don’t know if they made the same mistake in the English dub. They also couldn’t make their mind up about Mia’s age. She literally aged down a year in one second, even though she was dead!

They changed quite a lot of things. The First Turnabout was set in August. I specifically remember it from recently translating the Takushuu column for Summer. But in the anime they set it in March. They also had Grossberg initially accept Maya’s case, then later rescind the offer. It feels like they were really trying to make it more dramatic, but actually made it less so. I’m a little disappointed. Maya’s detention centre scene was less dramatic than the game version, too. They completely removed the bit where Maya says Mia warned her not to hire Phoenix as he’s too inexperienced.

Also, I noticed it was originally Mia after all who gave the Naruhodo-kun nickname to Phoenix. I was wondering about that before.

Also, in Turnabout Sisters was that Maya left her phone in the office (why did she leave it in Charley’s pot?). It seems Redd White’s pretentiousness originally manifested in the form of random English words and phrases sprinkled into his Japanese. I recommend checking out his dialogue. It’s… how do you say… splendiferous! He also didn’t punch Phoenix. I wasn’t thrilled about Phoenix getting punched, but it really added to the tension. They should have kept it in. Like I said, the changes they made just made it less thrilling. It all felt rather flat.

In any case, I’m looking forward to Edgey’s case, as I’m excited to see Lotta Hart. She’s definitely one of my faves out of the recurring cast. I’m also one of those people that thought that Lotta was supposed to have some African heritage, but apparently she doesn’t. Do I love Lotta? Reckoncourse! MECHARON! You know, I guess it’s a sign of my old age, but Oldbag is kinda growing on me. I know!

I’m still replaying the OT. I’ve been on the last case of AA2 for a while now (I got my old PC games out again). People seem to hate Turnabout Bigtop universally. I do think it was a bit of a mess. The motive was dumb, the clown was annoying, grown men pursuing a (very childish) 16 year old, it was all a bit ridiculous. But I still mantain that Bridge to the Turnabout was the worst case, from a storyline point of view. It’s such a dumb premise. It’s a total idiot-plot, and I don’t get why people rank it as one of the best (if not the best) episode in the series. None of it would have happened if Godot’s two remaining braincells weren’t too busy fighting over who gets third place. All he had to do was just get the plans before Pearl, and stop Maya going to the temple. IDIOT PLOT!

I still think the best cases were Edgey’s case in AA1 (I still can’t remember what it was called), and Farewell, My Turnabout. As for Edgey’s actual game, honnnnnma suki ya arehen! (I can be pretentious too, Redd White!). I didn’t like it. Edgey turned into an interfering busybody, it was just annoying. His improved sprites were awesome though. At least he looks his age, rather than mine. The flashback case was okay. I mean, the case itself was rather blah, but it was fun to see the dynamics with the von Karmas. The rest of the game was rubbish though. I was expecting his game to be more in the vein of the classic point-and-click mysteries, like the Kyle Hyde games, and Broken Sword. You know, investigating, puzzle-solving, interacting with objects, etc. But they kept the same trial-based mechanics! In a game with NO TRIALS! It’s soooo dumb. I know a lot of people like it, but to me it comes across as a pale imitation. They should have gone down the Hotel Dusk route. And had Edgey investigate cases that he was actually assigned to, instead of being a sticky beak who keeps getting in the way.

As for Apollo Justice, the game itself was meh, but I hated what they did to Phoenix. My understanding is that Takumi wanted to have a completely new cast, separate from Phoenix’s story, but Capcom were like akan de (Capcom’s offices are in Osaka, you know). So Hobo-Wright was his way of shoehorning Phoenix in. Was the 180 (or should I say, TURNABOUT?) in the next installment a result of fan complaints, or what, because it all seems rather pointless. Also it was dumb that he got disbarred for inadvertently submitting forged evidence, when Edgey was shown as having done the same in Rise from the Ashes, with his punishment being a mere talking-to.

Speaking of Rise from the Ashes, I never got past the first visit to Edgey’s office this time round. Not sure why, but I found it pretty boring, and just moved on to AA2. Maybe it’s cos I just don’t like Ema all that much. The first time I played, I was so glad when we got Maya back. I did like Ema in Apollo Justice, though. Segueing back on track, the fanbase seems pretty divided over Hobo-Wright. From what I’ve read online, more people like him than dislike him. I hated it, and accept only the OT as my headcanon. I still haven’t bought a 3DS. I do want to play Layton vs AA. I like Lukie. It’s such a nice change from the incessant supply of perky teenaged girl assistants. I can justify my hypocrisy in this case, because our main characters had to be at least partial self-inserts.

Okay, bye!