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Why We Love Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney


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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5888
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 3:56 pm Reply with quote
Parsifal24 wrote:
This is one of those franchises I missed out on this article helped explain why it is so beloved by fans of the games sorry to hear the Anime is seemingly so bad.


The hell if it is most of the criticism lobbied at the anime is from disgruntled fans who were expecting the anime to be done in a certain way and of course reacting (somewhat harshly)
towards the anime because it didn't do any of those things.

Spleen wrote:
I've never played the Phoenix Wright games but found this an interesting article.

But it's not hard to guess why it makes a terrible animé. I would quite happily tell you why Doom was such a great game and I'd make a pretty persuasive case. But an animé which faithfully reproduced the events of e1m1 would be terrible. You can't just turn a game into an animé word-for-word and expect it to be any good, even if it's a visual novel.


The problem with that is that it's not a perfect 1:1 adaptation of the games though there are some things that were added to the anime that weren't in the game. And some things that were in the game that were changed in the anime.

Also it being a faithful adaptation isn't why people are calling it bad they simply shit on it because they don't like the quality of the animation which is nowhere near as bad as some like to insist it is or don't like certain cheesy elements like the opening.....never mind the cheesiness of the series (and the localization) as a whole

It's crazy to remember how everyone liked the idea of an Ace Attorney anime when it was just a niche video game that the U.S. and European markets didn't even get up until the games were remade and rereleased for the DS now it's here and half fanbase treats it like it's one of the worse adaptations ever made.


Last edited by BadNewsBlues on Wed Apr 20, 2016 5:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Guile



Joined: 18 Jun 2013
Posts: 595
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:24 pm Reply with quote
I don't really see the problem with the anime. It's pretty much everything I wanted out of a Gyakuten Saiban anime. I can't say I ever really self inserted myself as Ryuichi Naruhodo anymore than I pretended I was Cloud Strife or Keita Amano so I dont get that complaint. Maybe its an American thing with how they play games. Naruhodo always seemed like a courtroom version of Conan Edogawa so the negativity of that comparison is also lost me. I'm not sure what kind of adaption people were expecting other than one that follows the plot and characters of the game. Animation might be off in some places but that applies to pretty much every anime, especially weekly shows aimed at kids.
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Aster Selene



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:40 pm Reply with quote
After the anime totally sanitized them I realized how much I missed the cross-examinations. There's a real feeling of frantically clawing at the air to find where that one contradiction was while the cross-examination music plays in the background. It makes finding the thing so much more satisfying after all that suspense.

As much as people accuse the Miike live-action movie for being "no fun", I actually appreciated the fact they kept something kind of like that with Phoenix constantly stalling for time and making funny faces. (Overall I thought the movie was very effective at replicating the quirky charm and appeal of the game while bringing its own mood to the field, so while I get why people aren't happy about it being a lot less fun, I feel like it pulled off a lot of things that this anime is not.)
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 5:04 pm Reply with quote
Spleen wrote:
I've never played the Phoenix Wright games but found this an interesting article.
But it's not hard to guess why it makes a terrible animé. I would quite happily tell you why Doom was such a great game and I'd make a pretty persuasive case. But an animé which faithfully reproduced the events of e1m1 would be terrible. You can't just turn a game into an animé word-for-word and expect it to be any good, even if it's a visual novel.


And Doom's Karl Urban/Dwayne Johnson movie was smart enough to realize that the game didn't lend itself to elaborate plots, but just gave itself a POV-scene excuse to replicate the game in the famous climax ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dMA8NmdyW4b ).

Valkyria Chronicles was more plot and character reliant to give us an anime-worthy story (haven't finished Crackle-ing the show, so I don't know why game fans have complaint with the anime), but that's because the war-simulation wasn't important to the plot, and you could have simply filmed all the cutscenes for a series.

Miike's live-action Ace Attorney movie ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqHAiGujanU ) was just the audacity of filming it faithfully, but the story 90% just replicated all the twists of the first game, so we were ahead of all the clues that we'd worked so hard, sweated over, examined carefully and finally "d'ohh!"-thumped the side of our head to find.
Which is sort of the problem with the anime as well--To understand the addictive appeal, you have to step into Phoenix's shoes and play the game, but if you do, most of the plot and character twists have already been spoiled.
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wutfeys



Joined: 20 Apr 2016
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 5:41 pm Reply with quote
While it is true that you cannot easily attach yourself to Phoenix in anime, there are still plenty of things that the anime has yet to show so you can be engaged. There is more to Phoenix Wright than him struggling in the court room. I still believe that its unique plot and character development (which is yet to come in the anime) is something that anime world needs to see. Also, we should see more of Edgeworth POV which we do not get in the games.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 6:17 pm Reply with quote
wutfeys wrote:
Also, we should see more of Edgeworth POV which we do not get in the games.


You mean out of the Gyakuten Kenji games which specifically focus on Edgeworth?
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gedata



Joined: 04 May 2013
Posts: 615
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 6:52 pm Reply with quote
BadNewsBlues wrote:
wutfeys wrote:
Also, we should see more of Edgeworth POV which we do not get in the games.


You mean out of the Gyakuten Kenji games which specifically focus on Edgeworth?


Not to mention spoiler[the portion of Farewell my Turnabout we spend in his shoes]
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Re:SOUL





PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:20 pm Reply with quote
I skimmed the article and it brings up good points. I haven't watched the anime yet but I actually just finished AA3 and in the end it's true; there's a difference between watching Phoenix and being him. Ace Attorney is a visual novel so rather than just watching him you're experiencing everything he thinks and feels. Additionally, since it's you who are solving the cases it's you who is becoming emotionally invested as you slowly piece things together.
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2093
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:39 pm Reply with quote
I've never played the games or seen the anime, but it sounds like they should've put someone like Yuzo Sato on the job.
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Snomaster1
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:49 pm Reply with quote
As I was reading this article,I was having the "Perry Mason" theme song in my head. It seemed rather appropriate for this. I think there should be an American version of "Phoenix Wright." Although it might exclude murders,it might have other crimes like kidnapping,and stuff like that. The U.S. version might have Mia kidnapped and Phoenix and Maya take over for her while she's being held somewhere. Who knows? It may happen. I don't know.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:53 pm Reply with quote
Snomaster1 wrote:
As I was reading this article,I was having the "Perry Mason" theme song in my head. It seemed rather appropriate for this. I think there should be an American version of "Phoenix Wright." Although it might exclude murders,it might have other crimes like kidnapping,and stuff like that. The U.S. version might have Mia kidnapped and Phoenix and Maya take over for her while she's being held somewhere. Who knows? It may happen. I don't know.


How do you make an American version of something that's already been Americanized?
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LightYapper



Joined: 05 Apr 2016
Posts: 131
Location: Somewhere on Earth
PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:08 am Reply with quote
Thanks for the article Jacob. Ace Attorney's games have always been around my mind, but I never got around to get the games. The fact that the player needs to actually act as Phoenix himself seems interesting for a mystery game, which justifies its popularity. Anyone can tell me about the whole game franchise?
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Alabaster Spectrum



Joined: 02 Sep 2015
Posts: 528
PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:10 am Reply with quote
A-1 churn out a soulless adaptation for a classic and beloved franchise? Perish the thought it's so shocking. Clearly people should keep using them for these as they're clearly just so good at it and care so damn much.

Anyway I think my favorite moment with the franchise will always be the first game cause it was just such a unique experience with the characters going places I didn't expect by the end, especially Edgeworth.
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:26 am Reply with quote
Spleen wrote:
But it's not hard to guess why it makes a terrible animé. I would quite happily tell you why Doom was such a great game and I'd make a pretty persuasive case. But an animé which faithfully reproduced the events of e1m1 would be terrible. You can't just turn a game into an animé word-for-word and expect it to be any good, even if it's a visual novel.

I concur. There would be no sense of tension or vulnerability once the chainsaw is found in the third map.
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Snomaster1
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2793
PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 6:13 am Reply with quote
I think BadNewsBlues may have missed my point. What I was thinking was that from what I've been hearing,the anime version of the "Phoenix Wright" games isn't exactly making the fans of the games very happy. To me,what's the harm of an American cartoon version of the same material? It couldn't be any worse than the anime version. And,it would be interesting to see.
The American version could have the Fey family as an American family that's steeped in Japanese mysticism and the family could have strange powers that could help Phoenix in his cases. Also,what's the harm in having Mia kidnapped or having her disappear instead of being murdered? The old cartoon "Science Court" that starred comedienne Paula Poundstone had a similar court backdrop. It would be interesting to see how an American company would handle a cartoon version of the "Phoenix Wright:Ace Attorney" games. Who knows? It might be better than the anime version. They might even do a theme song based on the "Perry Mason" theme from the 1960's. Something like that might even work,too.
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