It’s time to dive into the first season of the Ace Attorney series. It was pretty cool finally getting to play the original trilogy a while back. I spent a good 100 hours on that title which is more than 99% of other titles. Visual novels are really built differently and so the anime was going to have a very tough time cramming all this content in. This one adapts the first 2 games in one shot which is extremely ambitious. I’d say that it is all handled well though. This is not exactly a top budget production but this show doesn’t really need to be. How good it is will come down to the story/writing.
The series starts by introducing us to Phoenix Wright, an up and coming attorney. He will be trying his first ever case and it’s a doozy. He has to defend his friend Larry Butts in a murder trial. That’s a really tough way to start because usually you’d want to start with something fairly minor. Fortunately Phoenix’s mentor Mia will be helping him out on the case. Basically Larry is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend and a very incriminating piece of evidence turned up. A statue that Larry had gifted her a while back.
The general format of the show is that we’ll get the allegation and then Phoenix will do some investigative duties on his side. He’ll talk to each of the witnesses and gather evidence that can be used to counter what had already been submitted. The rules of the court system are a bit different in this tile. It’s technically part dystopia as there are so many crimes that they have to be solved within 3 days. This is why you can just introduce evidence at any point and really get creative with it.
Naturally there is still a lot of corruption though. The prosecutors going up against Phoenix will often do whatever they can to win. Additionally the judge is very oblivious and doesn’t tend to be very helpful at all. He falls for each and every trap so in a way Phoenix is also going up against him in each of the cases. The jury doesn’t decide who is innocent or not, the judge carries all of those duties. Convincing him of the truth is paramount.
Like I mentioned before, the animation isn’t always the best. This one’s not all that flashy or anything like that and the movement can be a little stiff. Still, the artwork is good and the backgrounds are always really bright. I definitely didn’t have any issues with the series on a technical level. The soundtrack is also pretty good even if it does get completely outshined by the video games. The games had a much larger variety of fun tracks throughout and they all became pretty iconic for me. I think the show should have just brought them all back instead of only using some.
As far as the characters go, Ace Attorney has always had a really solid case. Phoenix is a main character who is easy to root for even if his inexperience does end up appearing a lot more often than you would have expected. I always pictured him as the absolute master type who was good at everything. Instead he does tend to panic a whole lot. He gradually gets more experienced as the cases go on but you could make the case that he is still at a disadvantage in each round and has to rely on a bit of luck in order to get ahead.
He likes to really believe in his clients which does help Phoenix have the moral high ground. I always thought it would be difficult to be an attorney because who wants to defend someone who is obviously guilty?? That dilemma is even addressed within the final case of the show. Phoenix also has to deal with a lot of abuse like getting whipped in the court room since the judge lets people do whatever they want. It’s definitely not an easy job.
His sidekick Maya is also a fun character. She’s fairly young and doesn’t have a law background but means well and always does her best to help. She has the ability to summon the spirits of the dead which is helpful on quite a few cases for when she switches with Mia. Maya also helps keep Phoenix current on what’s going on in the world. Without her always watching TV or wanting to go places, he wouldn’t have been around to take on a few of these cases.
While Mia doesn’t appear all that much, she is definitely a high quality character. She’s easily the best defense attorney in the series and it’s why she had to get written out early. With her on the scene a lot of the cases would be over in the blink of an eye. At least thanks to the supernatural elements of the series, she is still able to show up and contribute quite often.
As for Larry, well he’s always getting into trouble. The guy just can’t seem to help it and often times he is the direct cause of the issues going on. You won’t end up feeling all that bad for him as a result. If not for the personal connections he has with Phoenix and Edgeworth from back in the day, Larry really wouldn’t have much reason to have a big role in the show. Sometimes he is able to help out accidentally but it tends to be rare. He’s usually just here to complicate things.
Then we have 3 main antagonists in the season. First up is Edgeworth who used to want to be a defense attorney like Phoenix but for some reason he ended up being a prosecutor instead. This mystery gets a lot of screentime throughout the show. Edgeworth also used to be a man of principles but for some reason he is willing to win no matter what now. Something clearly changed him but finding out what that is will be very tricky.
What I really like about this guy is his confidence. Usually Phoenix is able to make big objections and even fire off anime styled wind blasts to knock over his opponents but Edgeworth is able to respond in kind. Edgeworth always seems to have an answer for everything that Phoenix throws his way. It shows just how versatile and dangerous Edgeworth is as an opponent. The backstory also helps to just make him a very well-rounded character.
Then we have Franciska who wants to rehabilitate the Von Karma name. She basically never loses a case and literally whips anyone who gets in her way. These violent tactics wouldn’t work in a standard courtroom but they definitely get the job done here. She’s easy to root for even if I would argue that her skills aren’t quite on Edgeworth’s level. Franciska is forced to go on a similar character arc to try and find the true meaning behind being a prosecutor but at least for now it hasn’t had time to move forward.
There is also the original Von Karma who makes of a really imposing villain. He has ties to Edgeworth’s backstory and also served as the guy’s mentor. Von Karma is big on absolute power and might makes right. He just barrels through his opponents and even pressures the judge to end things quickly. He makes for a great villain and is really fun to have around. It takes a lot of charisma to just dominate a courtroom the way that he does and the guy is also unapologetically evil.
Now lets go through the cases. The first one is about Larry being framed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend as we touched on before. It’s a fun way to start the season as the case is more on the basic side. You have to carefully consider all of the evidence and testimony to try and find a hole in t. In this series you generally know that the suspect is innocent, sometimes you even get to see that. The difficult part is figuring out a way to prove what you know. There are no real weak points to the case and it is a perfect one to introduce the series to someone who is just getting started.
The second case is about the murder of Phoenix’s mentor Mia. The suspect is her sister Maya for being in the room when it happened. You can also tell that this is really the first big case since it is 3 episodes while the original was just 1. As the series goes on, the cases would gradually get longer and longer. This one brought in our first big villain as well. There were quite a few colorful characters here and the fact that the crime happened in Phoenix’s office makes the whole thing more personal. It’s another solid case that also serves as a way to introduce some pretty big characters in Maya and Edgeworth.
Our third case introduces the Silver Samurai show which would end up being a big thing for the rest of the series. One of the stars is accused of murdering his co-star. There has been a lot of beef over the years so it’s easy to find a motive. Things don’t look good for this guy and Phoenix only gets involved because of Maya. Otherwise he was perfectly content to stay out of it. We also meet another supporting character named Oldbag. She’s a rather eccentric old lady who gets very obsessed. As far as the quirky characters go she tends to be a little less interesting. I’d also say that this case loses to the first two. I found the murder method to be really hard to buy. Now there is a certain level of disbelief for all of the cases since every character ends up looking like a complete genius but this one was pushing it a bit.
After that we get to the most important case in the series. Edgeworth is accused of murdering someone who was closely connected to the murder of his father. It looks like a classic case of revenge but Phoenix knows that it isn’t so simple. Edgeworth doesn’t even want him to get involved because of how personal it is, but Phoenix isn’t so easily dissuaded. This is a pretty long case since it has to go into the backstory as well as the main case. Phoenix also has to deal with Von Karma who is good at hiding evidence and fabricating other parts of it.
It’s a real interesting case and goes a long way to developing Edgeworth’s character. The general murder method and twists all line up pretty well too. You get the feeling that the villain was a bit sloppy here but as the characters get smarter and smarter, they’re bound to make a mistake somewhere. Phoenix is always ready to pounce on those mistakes.
After that we have a bit of a quieter case. Maya is suspected of murder again, this time of a doctor who went to her village to talk to the nurse that died a while back. It’s a bit of a long story but she was overworked and the doctor was blamed for the conditions that led to her death. He went here to talk to her spirit and clear his name but instead he just got himself into a lethal situation. Phoenix knows that Maya wouldn’t murder anyone, but Maya being possessed by another person? Well that’s another story. He also meets Pearl who really looks up to Maya.
Pearl has the same ability as Maya to bring back a dead spirit which Phoenix uses to talk to Mia once more. They have a pretty good setup right there. She may not be as fun as Maya but Pearl’s a good kid so I give her a thumbs up here. You can’t expect her to really be solving the cases or anything but she always keeps up a positive attitude. The case itself may not be as difficult as some of the others but they are all murder cases so the stakes are guaranteed to be high.
After that we have the circus case which is another big one. The magician is accused of murdering the ringmaster after someone saw him flying away. His act is about flying but of course it’s not like he has the actual ability of flight. Phoenix reluctantly helps the guy but it won’t be easy since everyone disliked him. The magician just came across as way too much of a jerk the whole time so it makes sense that everyone would turn against him. The end resolution for this one will also be a bit hard to swallow. It’s definitely creative though.
I always have to give the series credit for the quality writing throughout. The seeds of each mystery are always planted early on. You may not always be able to crack the case but usually the show makes it possible at least. In this case I enjoyed how smug the main villain is. He may not have been a overtly evil as most of the other ones but in that way it also does make him look more petty. This guy just blew his fuse whereas at leas the other villains all had grand goals.
Finally the season ends with a professional killer. Phoenix finds out that De Killer has been hired to murder someone and then he is now blackmailing Phoenix into getting an acquittal for his client. If Phoenix doesn’t win the case then he will murder Maya. Phoenix has never lost a case in his career so on the surface this sounds easy but as we’ve established, Phoenix is a man of principle. He doesn’t want to win if his client is actually evil and that’s where the problem is. Still, letting Maya die is not part of the plan so Phoenix will actually have to work with Edgeworth here.
This works perfectly well as the final big case because we’ve been waiting for a team up like this. You may wonder how a defense attorney can actually team up with a prosecutor but the show handles this very well. They are really able to work off of each other while not shirking their own duties. The tension was high throughout and De Killer works really well as one of the big villains.
Overall, Ace Attorney was a pretty fun show. It may not be ready for the likes of Liar Game or Death Note in terms of pure mind games but I always love a good trial. The writing is solid throughout and the cases are each given a lot of time to breath. Higher production values may have helped to get the show even higher but it’s still good enough to pass the time by. I would recommend this to anyone who likes watching court titles. The anime really does the whole process justice and I expect equally good stuff from the next season.
Overall 7/10
