The second season’s first half still adapts a few cases from the second and third video games, but with the addition of four original episodes, makes this second season worth watching if you are a big fan of the “Ace Attorney” video game series.
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TITLE: Ace Attorney Season Two, Part One
DURATION: Episode 1-12 (300 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: September 3, 2019
Directed by Watanabe Ayumu
Series Composition: Tomioka Atsuhiro
Music by Wada Kaoru
Character Design: Ota Keiko
Anime Production: CloverWorks
Featuring the following voice talent:
Tamaki Masashi/Christopher Wehkamp as Miles Edgeworth (Reiji Mitsurugi)
Kaji Yuuki/Eric Vale as Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo)
Kuno Misaki/Alexis Tipton as Pearl Fey (Ayasato Harumi)
Hirata Hiroaki/Brandon Potter as Godot
Iwasaki Masami/Bryan Massey as Dick Gumshoe (Itonokogiri Keisuke)
Nakamura Chie/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Mia Fey (Ayasato Chihiro)
Hiura Ben/Kent Williams as Judge (Saibancho)
Dani Chambers as Dahlia Hawthorne/Sister Iris
Yuki Aoi/Lindsay Seidel as Maya Fey (Mayoi Ayasato)
Yumiba Saori/Jessica Peterson as Franzisa von Karma (Karuma Mei)
Nara Tooru/Josh Martin as Larry Butz (Yahari Masashi)
Hold it! The Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright, is back. And his newest case is giving him a serious headache—with a case of amnesia! Once Phoenix gets his bearings, he’s back to finding the truth and helping his clients. But, a case involving a phantom thief brings in the smooth blend of justice and lawyer from hell, Godot! This coffee-obsessed prosecutor will prove not only to be a challenge, but will also be a reminder of a terrible trial from Phoenix’s past.
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” video game series, a new second series from CloverWorks has been released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Funimation.
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.
For the second season, the storyline is adapted from the second “Ace Attorney” game “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All” (originally released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan in 2002 and the Nintendo DS in the U.S. back in 2007) and the third Ace Attorney video game “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations” (originally released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan in 2004 and the Nintendo DS in the U.S. back in 2008).
The second season will also feature a new trial and characters created in cooperation with “Ace Attorney” creator Takumi Shu.
This time around, Phoenix Wright must take on a legendary prosecutor named Godot.
The first major case features the Kurain Village’s sacred urn being stolen and an innocent man named Ron DeLite turns himself in, claiming to be the mysterious thief, Mask DeMasque. But his wife Desiree claims that Ron is a DeMasque fanatic and is not the person responsible and asks Phoenix Wright to represent him, despite Maya and Pearl being upset because they believe Ron is responsible. But this time around, Phoenix Wright must take on the legendary prosecutor, Godot.
The next case revolves around the failure of Phoenix representing Maggey Byrde, who is accused of poisoning a talented programmer, Glen Elg. Phoenix believes someone impersonated him and needs to prove it.
For the next storyline, Phoenix and Maya, along with Gumshoe and the judge are invited by Avery Richman to ride the maiden voyage of the Silver Star express train. Gumshoe spots a fugitive who was sentenced to death, taking over the train and claims he was wrongly declared guilty in an American court. Richman invites all witnesses to the case in order to hold a fair trial with Phoenix as the defense and Tristan Turnbull as the prosecutor.
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: Season Two, Part One” comes with the following special feature:
- Episode 7 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary with ADR Director Kyle Phillips and Dawn M. Bennett (voice of Maggey Byrde) and Eric Vale (voice of Phoenix Wright) and Brandon Potter (voice of Godot).
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. I mentioned for the first season that “Ace Attorney” 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.
Fortunately, for season two, new episodes created for the series, working with “Ace Attorney” Takumi Shu were created.
For the 12 episodes, one episode was adapted from “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All”, while seven episodes are adapted from the third “Ace Attorney” video game “Trials and Tribulations”.
So, story arcs such as “The Stolen Turnabout” and “Recipe Turnabout” are the primary case adapted from the video game, while the series introduces new original stories such as “Sound the Turnabout Melody” which is about Phoenix thinking about his middle school days, three years after Miles Edgeworth lost his father.
While the other new to the anime, three-episode story arc “Northward, Turnabout Express” is also a brand new story about a fugitive who invites Phoenix, Maya, Gumshoe and the Judge to ride the Silver Star express train, but the purpose is to hold a fair retrial because he was wrongly declared guilty in an American court.
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, fortunately the second season offers more original stories, while adapting a few cases from the second and third video games.
Overall, the second season’s first half still adapts a few cases from the second and third video games, but with the addition of four original episodes, makes this second season worth watching if you are a big fan of the “Ace Attorney” video game series.