sabinelagrande | Countdown to Apollo (Reply)

DAY TEN/ELEVEN: FAREWELL, MY TURNABOUT
or, samurai haet ninja

Defense Attorney: Phoenix Wright
Side Bar: Pearl Fey, Mia Fey
Prosecutor: Miles Edgeworth
Defendant: Matt Engarde
Victim: Juan Corrida
Play Time:
Miracle Never Happen Ending: 5 hours, 28 min.
Good Ending and Credits: 5 hours, 52 min
Justice For All (minus Case 3 Day Two): 11 hours, 41 min.

I wasn't expecting to get this case done, but as it turned out, I was too sick to go to work today, so my loss is your gain.

This is one case I have absolutely no problem replaying. I think this is the third or fourth time, and I know I've replayed it as recently as a month ago. I think it says a lot for the complexity and cohesion of the case that I still want to finish it even when I know the ending.

The backstory of the Jammin Ninja may be my favorite piece of absurdity from the Phoenix Wright canon. WORST NINJA EVER. I just trip out every time I see that one screenshot of him with his bright red guitar, playing a happy song to all the little woodland creatures.

I felt so bad for Pearl this entire case. Maya's off somewhere getting dub-conned- uh, I mean, kidnapped- by this creepy guy, Phoenix is dragging her around at ten o'clock at night to investigate crime scenes, there's all this stuff going on with scandal and suicide- girl needs a nap and a teddy bear (without a spy camera or a suicide note in it, kthnx). Pearl's such a great character. In another fandom, she would be the character to hate, but not in this one. You just want to pat her on the head and read her a bedtime story.

It seems counterintuitive to me that the Steel Samurai plot arc is, in a lot of ways, the darkest out of all the games- you can make arguments for Dahlia's story being worse, but she's more… above board than Engarde is, to my mind. Jesus, people, it's a kids' show, and the stars are pushing each other over balconies, and having each other whacked, and everybody hates on Will for no good reason.

The Matt-Juan-Celeste-Adrian love quadrangle is one I've never really liked reading fic for. It's always so impossibly fucking dark, and yes, when I say that, you know shit's rough. I have just never liked fanon Matt. Canon Matt is clearly a crazy messed up son of a bitch, but I can't see him killing small animals or torturing people as he so loves to do in fanfic. He's a sociopath, obviously, but I think he's too concerned about his image to really get into true evil.

What has he really done in canon that's that fucked up?
1. He hired a hit man. It was clear that he was always gambling his reputation on this- for as much evidence as there was against him, there was no real reason for him to have hired De Killer. In fact, if De Killer had never come up, and everything else in the crime scene had been as it was, Adrian very well may have gone down for the crime. Fanon Matt would have whacked Juan's ass with a tire iron and been done with it.
2. He told Juan that he and Celeste hit it. Okay, so, his timing was really, really mean. But why didn't Juan already know about it? It sounds an awful lot like Celeste set herself up to take the fall on that one.

I don't want to sound like a Matt-apologist, because he is mad, bad, and dangerous to know, but he's just not as bad as fanon Matt. But then, canon Edgeworth isn't as much of a pussy as fanon Edgeworth, and canon Fran isn't quite so gay, and I could go on.

Speaking of gay, Edgeworth actually acted a little bit straight in this case. I was very surprised. He called Adrian a beauty, and he was all concerned for Maya (in a way that could be either big-brotherly or I'd-hit-it-ly, whichever you prefer). Granted, it was in between the MOUNTAINS of slashy subtext with Phoenix. But that's okay.

Come on, folks. You give him a whip at the end for all his hard work. Seriously, now.

On a related note, I have to say that I've never been much for Franziska/Adrian, or Fran/Maya for that matter. I hate to say that, because fandom always, always needs more femmeslash, and they're the most readily apparent pairings (except for Lana/Mia, which is practically canon anyway, and Dahlia/Iris, of course). I may be just a silly shipper, but I like Gumshoe with my Fran. And Phoenix. And Edgeworth. Possibly at the same time. Okay so maybe I just like het. Also, Fran/Adrian fics almost invariably end with Adrian softening Fran, and I don't see it that way. Fran is not a nice individual, and Adrian's a complete doormat. She'd bring Adrian down, not the other way around.

I love Shelly de Killer. His character design is quite neat, and I'm just a huge sucker for honorable assassins. And, of course, testifying through a radio is nearly as comedy gold as trying to cross examine a parrot.

We must now speak of the best moment ever:

FRANZISKA'S GREAT REVIVAL.

Oh man. There is absolutely nothing better than the first time you see her slam those courtroom doors open. You're so totally, completely fucked, and Maya's going to DIE (unless you're a dick and sent Adrian to the chair), and there's no way out of it, and then BAM, there she is. It also helps that the Great Revival themes are my all-time favorites (especially Mitsurugi Reiji – Great Revival from Gyakuten Meets Jazz Soul, which is just completely ftw).

I must say that the "bad" ending is one of the saddest endings EVAR, with one of the most unfortunate typos I have ever seen. The miracle never happen. L It's interesting to note that after this case, no character retains a perfect win record. Of course, they're all doing better than Godot, who actually has a perfect lose record.

So that's Justice for All. On the whole, it's probably my least favorite game. That's a really misleading statement, though, because I am head over heels for the series. Hell, I don't usually even finish most videogames, and I'm happy to replay JFA. As a side note, I think Justice for All has the most appropriate title of any of the games. Ace Attorney hardly even counts, and while Trials and Tribulations is a fine title, it doesn't peg the game's theme so nicely as Justice for All does.

Tomorrow, we move on to what is probably my favorite game, Trials and Tribulations. But first!

Top Three Reasons To Play Farewell, My Turnabout
3. The long awaited return of Phoenix's Dead Gay Boyfriend
2. That classy, understated assassin with the unfortunate name, Shelly de Killer
1. Heroic Franziska and Gumshoe!