I finally finished replaying AA2, and also caught up to the corresponding anime episode.

I have to say, the anime isn't all that good. I mentioned that in my last post about it. They changed a lot of things, and that reduced the quality of storytelling and character development, I think. Edgey's case seemed really rushed. If I'd watched these without having ever played the game, I don't think it would have made me all that interested in the franchise, to be honest. But maybe that's because I'm seeing it through the lens of already being a big fan of the OT. Anyway.

Watch out for spoilers.

Gyakuten Gaki

They gave us some of episodes of the three friends when they were kids. It was nice to see how their friendship was, but they changed a few things, and I didn't like that. I love how they keep the exact same hairstyles they had when they were 9. They're all ♥gottsu kawaii♥, all of them!

One thing that really bugged me is that silly thing they do with adult male anime characters' flashback scenes. They keep the same voice actor. They're 9. Let them have 9 year old voices. Edgey's kid voice was the worst. Larry's wasn't too bad. [Edit: the English dub does have different actors for the kids episode.]

I always got the impression that Larry snuck into the school and knowingly took Edgey's lunch money. In the anime version, Phoenix bumps into Edgey and Edgey's money falls out and they don't notice. Larry later comes along and sees the money, not knowing it's Edgey's. He hands it in to a lost property office, but no one claims it, so Larry gets to keep it.

CHA CHING!

So after the class trial, the three of them bond over a show called Signal Samurai, that teaches them about road safety. Larry uses Edgey's lunch money to buy Signal Samurai keyrings for the three of them. It becomes a symbol of their friendship.

Larry befriends a stray dog, and Edgey tracks down the owner, who very rudely refuses to take it back, so Edgey asks his dad if he can keep it. I forget what the dog is called. Edgey uses a trail of dog biscuit crumbs to find their way back home.

After DL-6, von Karma becames Edgey's legal guardian — actually, I still have no idea how he was granted custody. He's not a relation or even a friend, and Edgey must have had some family somewhere, and if not, wouldn't he go to a registered foster family? And Gregory, being a lawyer and especially with Edgey's mum already being dead, would surely have had a will, making clear his wishes for who should get guardianship of his son if he should die while his son is still a minor... oh wait. I just realised. Von Karma probably bribed the authorities. Anyway, von Karma tells Edgey he is his guardian now, and throws Edgey's keyring on a bin on the way to the car. Larry later sees the keyring and gives up on their friendship. But Detective Phoenix notices the trail of dog biscuit crumbs, and realises that Hansel Edgey is planning to come back.

They each take their keyrings, which all three hold on to even when they grow up, to show their bond is still strong.

I don't know. It's cute, but it seems a bit twee. In the canon, after DL-6, they never saw Edgey again until Turnabout Sisters. I think it's better that way, rather than having them say a proper goodbye on good terms. It made more sense for them to be suddenly cut off with no way of contacting Edgey. Otherwise, what was to stop them writing or phoning?

Larry! ♥

Turnabout Goodbyes

They changed the ending of this and I didn't like it at all. Like I said, their attempts to make it more "dramatic" and "exciting" just annoyed me. Instead of von Karma tasering Maya and Phoenix in the archives room when they get the DL-6 Dee Eru Roku Go Jiken files (that name gets really annoying in Japanese, really quickly), von Karma has already taken all the evidence.

So Edgey fakes collapsing so they can have a recess, and Larry dresses up as Edgey...

... while Edgey and Maya break into von Karma's office and steal the evidence, where Maya gets knocked out by a guard. It's so out of character for Edgey, all of it, and it really brought the story down. Strangely, the defence isn't charged with contempt of court. I don't get why they thought these changes were good. The canon story was dramatic and tense enough. This just cheapened the whole thing.

A Whole Lotta Love

♥ MA GIRL! ♥ I really like that her name is Natsumi in the Japanese version, because when I realised that the Naminaris should also have Japanese names, that was the name I chose for Clarys!

You know what her actual word in this scene is? It's AKAN!

She looks completely different from her game sprite. She's a lot cuter in this one. I still stand by that she looks mixed race in the game sprite.

"Kettai na obahan ya naa". Fun fact: the voice actress is actually from Osaka.

WHERE'S MA GIRL?! They replaced her in Farewell, My Turnabout with Larry. I love Larry, but ma girl needs to be there, too!

Have I ever seen a UFO? Reckoncourse! And also, the way I and Lotta (and the Japanese, in fact) pronounce it ("yoofo"), is the actual correct way. So there :p

As an acronym, "UFO" was coined by Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who headed Project Blue Book, then the USAF's official investigation of UFOs. He wrote, "Obviously the term 'flying saucer' is misleading when applied to objects of every conceivable shape and performance. For this reason the military prefers the more general, if less colorful, name: unidentified flying objects. UFO (pronounced yoo-foe) for short."

Never Too Oba

Oldbag really has grown on me. With her reappearance in AA2, I just love the reactions she elicits from the other characters. I hope the English dub kept the "have some cheese to go with your vintage whine" line! Here are some Oldbag highlights:

XD

XD XD

This part (from Farewell, My Turnabout) is worth watching just for the vocalisations she makes. It's second only to Macchan's "How You Turn into a Cow" sound effect. Eh, I just noticed she has a wedding ring in this one. I don't remember seeing her have one in the game, but looking at the sprites, apparently, she does.

XD XD XD

XD XD XD XD

XD XD XD XD XD

XD XD XD XD XD XD XD

Turnabout Bigtop

The case everyone hates. In fact, the anime version was just as farcical, but in different ways.

Would Phoenix honestly wear his Feenie jumper after everything that happened in that trial? This is only game 2, so the truth about Iris and Dahlia isn't even revealed yet. "Iya na omoide ga atte sa, kore", as he'd say.

On the plus side, Max had no romantic interest in Regina (and his catchphrase is "GOOOORGEOUS!", rather than "FABULOUS!"). Trilo still had the ring for her, but a big deal wasn't really made of it. Also, at the end, Max shares his raise among the other staff or something. His name is also the same. On the negative side, the courtroom was a bit of a farce. How on Earth did Phoenix manage to construct this life-size mock up and get it set up in the courtroom in less than a day?

I mean come on. How would the courtroom be equipped for this? It's so silly.

So Turnabout Bigtop fails again. At least it gave us this picture. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Other Stuff

Here's the back room of the office. I did wonder, in the scene in Turnabout Samurai, when Maya was talking about standing under a shower... Phoenix's reaction is great. He literally acts like nothing happens. I guess that girl is whack 24/7.

Maya looking cute

ZOMG!

This is something that bothered me in the game, too. The defendants themselves often lack any plausible motive. There wasn't even any conjecture for Maya's motive in her first trial. They charged her on the basis of that silly note, with no motive ever given. The same for Larry's trial, I think, too. Why the double standards, Edgey?

Edgey is a squillionaire, why is his phone almost as dated as mine? AA2 is set in 2017-2018, right? Even I had a smartphone by then, even though it was a hand-me-down, and I only used it for Internet. My actual phone with a SIM is my Nokia 100. Anyway, what I'm saying is, they updated a lot of tech in the anime from how it was in the game, why didn't they give Edgey a more fancy phone? He's rich. That's what I'm saying.

The changes to Farewell, My Turnabout, though. This bear was meant to be a complex puzzle, where you had to remove each piece in the correct order or it wouldn't open. In the anime, all you do is press its button. That's it. That's not a secret! Keypers were more advanced than that in the 80s! They changed so much. Celeste and Adrian became sisters, the note was genuine, Maya made a DVD copy of Engarde's spy-cam footage and tied Phoenix's samurai keyring to it, and that and the card were the only evidence. Also, even though Gummi's injuries were "not serious", he was completely covered head to toe in bandages! One thing they kept exactly the same was Engarde's defeat animation. It was just as creepy the second time round.

I saved this pic because Edgey looks cute. That's all. ♥

I knew there was something wrong with this. At first, I was like, no the desks do have the corner at that side, why does it still seem off, and then I realised, the prosecution and defence have swapped desks!

See?

... I didn't save any pics of Gummi. Wasureteita waaa.

One other thing I forgot to get pics of was the way they all have wind-summoning abilities. Like, they just point their fingers and KA-BLAMMY! they emit a gust of wind from their finger knocking whoever they point at to the ground. It's so daft! I think there was one instance where Phoenix was almost injured by it. The damage sequence works with game sprites, but it was silly in the anime. Especially as they do it so much!

Is This the Same Room?

The NGS! fanbook is canon, the anime is not.

That's all for now, but I have one more major rant coming up. It involves the Feys again. Stay tuned!