 “Ace Attorney” is no doubt an entertaining anime series. For those who never played the video games or those who have and don’t remember the storyline for the Nintendo DS game “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All” (as it has been over a decade since the first video game was released), will find “Ace Attorney” to be an enjoyable anime series.
Image courtesy of © 2018 Funimation. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Ace Attorney Part 2
DURATION: Episode 14-24 (275 Minutes)
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16:9), Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Funimation
RATED: TV 14
Release Date: May 8, 2018
Directed by Ayumu Watanabe
Series Composition: Atsuhiro Tomioka
Music by Kaoru Wada
Character Design: Keiko Ota, Koji Watanabe
Art Director: Eiji Iwase
Anime Production: A-1 Pictures
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masashi Tamaki/Christopher Wehkamp as Miles Edgeworth (Reiji Mitsurugi)
Yuuki Kaji/Eric Vale as Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo)
Aoi Yuki/Lindsay Seidel as Maya Fey (Mayoi Ayasato)
Yuu Sugimoto/Anastasia Munoz as Wendy Oldbag (Oba Kaoru)
Akio Ohtsuka/Bill Jenkins as Manfred von Karma (Karuma Go)
Masami Iwasaki/Bryan Massey as Dick Gumshoe (Itonokogiri Keisuke)
Chie Nakamura/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Mia Fey (Ayasato Chihiro)
Saori Yumiba/Jessica Peterson as Franzisa von Karma (Karuma Mei)
Tooru Nara/Josh Martin as Larry Butz (Yahari Masashi)
Ben Hiura/Kent Williams as Judge (Saibancho)
Reiko Takagi/Whitney Rodgers as Lotta Hart (Osawagi Natsumi)
As a brand-new defense lawyer, Phoenix Wright is learning what it means to be a true defender of justice. But when his mentor is murdered, things go downhill fast! With all evidence pointing to the victim’s sister Maya, it’s up to Phoenix to use all his wit and powerful shouting to prove her innocence. Which is easier said than done when up against Miles Edgeworth, the genius prosecutor.
In 2001, “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney”, a visual novel adventure video game developed by CAPCOM was released for the Game Boy Advance.
But the video game wouldn’t become super popular until 2005, when the game was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan and North America (note: The title of the game in Japan was “Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten” and the characters names were different in the US (protagonist’s name is Phoenix Wright) and Japan (protagonist’s name is Ryuichi Naruhodo).
Since then, there are a total of eleven games with only a few that were released in the west.
But with the popularity of the “Ace Attorney” series, A-1 Pictures would create an anime adaptation of the first two games in 2016 and a total of 24 episodes were created.
The series is directed by Ayumu Watanabe (known for his work on “Doraemon”) and series composition by Atsuhiro Tomioka (“Danboru Senki” series, Inazuma Eleven” series). Music by Kaoru Wada, character design by Keiko Ota and Koji Watanabe and art direction by Eiji Iwase.
(Note: Because of the different names between Japanese and the English version, I will use the English version of the names)
In the second part of “Ace Attorney” (episodes 14-24), Surgeon Turner Grey is rumored to be responsible for the death of a nurse named Mimi Miney. But when Phoenix and Maya go with Grey to clear his name at Kurain Village, shots ring out and when Phoenix and newspaper journalist Lotta walk inside, Grey is dead and Maya is holding Grey’s gun. Is Maya responsible for Turner Grey’s murder? But this time, Phoenix discovers that the main prosecutor is Manfred von Karma’s daughter, Franziska, who does not like Phoenix Wright at all.
The next case features Max Galactica of the Berry Big Circus show accused of murdering the circus’ ringmaster, Russell Berry. Max states that he is innocent. Can Phoenix find out who was responsible for Berry’s death? And prove that Max is innocent of the crime?
The next case involves the death of actor Juan Corrida and the current Nickel Samurai actor, Matt Engarde being accused of the crime. Meanwhile, an assassin has kidnapped Maya and says he will only release her if Phoenix can get Engarde acquitted within the trial’s first day.
VIDEO:
“Ace Attorney” is presented in 1080p High Definition (16:9). The series may not be very detailed but it has a type of animation that should suit most fans of the video game series. Background art is well-detailed but for an A-1 Pictures anime series, it has animation feel to like a children’s anime series, not heavily detailed in terms of character design or shading but for the most part, it works for the overall anime adaptation.
AUDIO:
“Ace Attorney” is presented in Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 2.0. Crystal clear dialogue and music through the front channels.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Ace Attorney” comes with the following special features:
- Ace Attorney Outtakes: Part 02
- Episode 24 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary with Jessica Petersen (voice of Franziska von Karma), Christopher Wehkamp (voice of Phoenix Wright), Bryan Massey (voice of Detective Gumeshoe) and ADR Director Kyle Phillips.
- Textless opening and closing song
- Trailers
EXTRAS:
“Ace Attorney” comes with both the Blu-ray and DVD of the series.
As a big fan of the “Ace Attorney” video games, one of the things that I often look forward to is the thrill of taking on a case and at times, feeling the onset pressure that you only had so much time to ask the right questions and win the case.
The games were thrilling and suffice to say, I was looking forward to the anime series adaptation.
And finally watching it, the series is good but for those who played the video games, it doesn’t really add anything new to the storyline. If anything, the anime series will captivate audiences who never played the game or never played it completely.
The cases featured in episodes 14-24 are the cases featured in the Nintendo DS video game, “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All”. So, the three cases involving the murder of Surgeon Turner Grey, the murder of a circus ringmaster, Russell Berry and the murder of Juan Corrida and a “Hero of Heroes Grand Prix” event are featured.
This second arc features the introduction of rival prosecutor Franziska von Karma and also Maya Fey’s young cousin, Pearl and once again, poor Maya is accused for murder and we also get to see the return of. Oldbag, who is now working as security at the hotel where Juan Corrida was murdered. And for Miles Edgeworth fans, he does make an appearance in the final case.
As for the anime series, the animation was good but not great. Character designs of course are different from the original CAPCOM video game, which can be expected. But I wish there was a bit more detail, as more of the design was focused on the computerized designs (backgrounds and Phoenix’s pin). The lossless audio is both in stereo and both soundtracks are well-acted.
But once again, if you played the video game, the anime series may not be for you because it’s more or less an animated version of the story many known and played in the video games. So, it’s not exactly new content unless you haven’t played the first “Ace Attorney” video game.
Overall, “Ace Attorney” is no doubt an entertaining anime series. For those who never played the video games or those who have and don’t remember the storyline for the Nintendo DS game “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All” (as it has been over a decade since the first video game was released), will find “Ace Attorney” to be an enjoyable anime series.
