Ace Attorney

Episode 4

By episode four, Ace Attorney is turning into a real treat for fans of the game and a bizarre spectacle for everyone else. From now on, I'm assuming that if you're still watching, you're either somebody who has played the game or somebody who enjoys Ace Attorney's wacky blend of courtroom intrigue and goofy humor. This episode covers all of those bases, combining the game's impossible leaps of logic with suspense and silliness.

On the second day of the Fey trial, things are not going well for Phoenix. Not only has he been unable to successfully exonerate Maya for the murder of her sister, but he himself has been arrested as a potential suspect too! “It's almost like they're reading off a script,” Phoenix observes in a particularly hairy moment, and to fans of the game this takes on a double meaning. After all, this is an immensely literal interpretation of the game into a show. Testimonials, cross-examinations, and objections have the same animation as the game sprites did, and all of it uses that familiar chirpy chiptune music. At a turning point in today's trial, the show finally uses the suspenseful “Cornered” theme from the game, one of my favorites.

If anything, however, this low-budget animation serves to make this drama-comedy plot skew decidedly toward the comedy side. The CG of the peanut gallery observing the trial is certainly "special," to say the least. When Redd White confesses to wiretapping, a honking sound effect accompanies his trial for seemingly no reason. And of course, there are the gags brought over from the game script: “Having spiky hair isn't a crime!” Phoenix huffs once again. On a meta note, the real farce is this trial, where everyone takes White's increasingly unreliable testimony at face value. Even when White is sweating and shaking, the judge simply notes there is no contradiction—leading Phoenix to scream in frustration in the middle of court. No, this is not a realistic courtroom drama, but it's a goofy wild ride.

Overall, there's a more relaxed, humorous vibe to the show compared to the game, especially since it's my second time around with this plot. During the gameplay, I was nervous that Phoenix (AKA me, the player) would lose, while the episode smoothly moves him toward a win. The show doesn't even encourage you to really play along too intensely, because most of the evidence spread out over Phoenix's desk is illegible to us. The clincher comes instead when Maya channels Mia, a supernatural anomaly that seems like a deus ex machina to new viewers and merely an incongruous part of the plot to game fans. It's just as gratifying as I hoped to see Maya channeling Mia in anime form, made more powerful by the two different voice actresses coming out of the same character.

It's a little nostalgic seeing Phoenix and Maya go out for miso ramen—er, I mean burgers. But the best part of the ending was seeing the preview for next week and the slough of familiar faces from the game we're ready to meet again in anime form. Nobody can deny that this wacky show stays true to its wacky source material—at the cost of any outsider getting all the jokes.

Rating: B

Ace Attorney is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.