[Review] “Ace Attorney” Episodes 3 & 4

Written By: Lauren

Hold it right there, because I’m back with another “Ace Attorney” review!

Episodes 1 and 2 were a pleasant surprise, so I was excited to jump back into the courtroom with 3 and 4. We progress into the meat of the “Turnabout Sisters” trial, meet the voluptuous, pink April May, flashy Redd White, and watch our boy Phoenix wipe the smug smirk off Edgeworth’s face.

Just like the first review, I’ll compare and contrast the game and the anime, bring up the facts, my opinions, and mix ‘em all together.

Are you ready for a little courtroom tumble?

(I will refer to the characters by their localized names, as I’m used to addressing Phoenix as “Phoenix,” rather than “Ryuichi,” and Maya as “Maya,” instead of “Mayoi.”)

EPISODE 3

Episode 3, although not very exciting, did a great job with sticking to the game storyline. It hits off on Maya’s first trial, Phoenix being her attorney and Edgeworth the prosecution.

Edgeworth calls in Detective Dick Gumshoe, in as the first witness. Gumshoe and Edgeworth provide a comedy relief for the trial, as well as the interactions between Edgeworth and Phoenix.

The second witness, April May, is then called to testify, instantly charming the audience. She states she witnessed the murder from her room at Gatewater Hotel.

They did a great job with animating April. I was disappointed with Mia’s design, but they were spot-on with April, from the pretty face, big boobs, and bunny-like appearance.

Phoenix blows everyone away with the wiretap he stole from April’s hotel room. Turns out she was ordered to spy on the Fey sisters’ conversation by someone.

In light of the new discoveries, court is adjourned and April is arrested for the wiretapping.

Phoenix meets with Grossberg, who tells him to look into Redd White, a dangerous blackmailer Mia was investigating for years up to her murder. Phoenix confronts the pompous man, who calls the authorities in after promising to testify Phoenix as the true murderer.

I was pleased with April’s character design and voice. As for Redd White, his voice and “Japanish” were a perfect representation of him, but his character was pretty damn ugly. On the bright side, he wasn’t a completely different person than he was in the live-action movie (what the hell was that?).

The transition from scene to scene was decent, and we do get a few glimpses into Mia and Maya’s past through Grossberg. However, the best part of the episode was from Grossberg to Redd White, where they did a good job building up the intensity.

Ren’s Rating: 7/10

Bonus!! Here are some of my favorite screenshots.

EPISODE 4

It’s now the last day of the trial, and Phoenix is basically defending himself. This is the first time we get to see Maya as his informal assistant.

It cuts to the audience, who move in a strange, gyrating motion that makes it seem more like a class animation project than an anime. It didn’t go well at all with the anime and stood out more than it should have.

The cross-examination of Redd White’s testimony commences, and our boy Phoenix continues driving him into a corner. Phoenix keeps picking at holes in his testimony, and just as we think he’ll finally get the bastard indicted for Mia’s murder, Edgeworth refutes his claims.

Phoenix screams in the middle of the courtroom (yes, he really stands there, looks up, and screams), and feels like he’s already lost the case. Just when things get even worse, Maya suddenly channels Mia, who appears before Phoenix.

My questions are and always have been: 1) How the hell did nobody notice her transform? 2) They have a whole conversation just between the two of them in the middle of the trial, so how could anybody miss that?

She basically gives him a pep talk, points him in a new direction, and he jumps back into the trial full throttle. As White loses his cool, Edgeworth tries to postpone the trial another day, so Mia scribbles on a piece of paper and throws it at Redd White’s face. It’s a list of everybody he blackmailed. White confesses after [lowkey] getting blackmailed, and the trial closes with him being indicted for the murder.

In the game, White only confessed after Phoenix threatened to read the list, not after Mia threw it at him. It was a little strange and cheesy (for lack of better terms) in both the game and in the anime to have White confess that way, but it did get him indicted for murdering Mia.

They also omitted a few parts of the trial, such as the conflicting testimonies of Mia running left and right, and changing a few other details, but it wasn’t so noticeable that it altered the plot.

This episode had great animation, especially with the closeups of Mia, Phoenix, White, and Edgeworth. The artwork is colorful, clean, and modern, with a dash of the original “Ace Attorney” flair.