English Dub Review: Ace Attorney “Turnabout Memories”

Even justice can catch a cold.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

This episode goes back in time to when Mia Fey and Phoenix Wright first met, in the courtroom of all places. Phoenix is on trial for murder, and Mia is his attorney, who has recently returned to the world of law after a traumatic case months back put her out of action for a time. Phoenix is something of a man-child, ignorant to the severity of him being accused of murder. Mia, however, is ready for action, and isn’t afraid to give Phoenix the best defense she can possibly give.

The trial begins with a younger Winston Payne presenting the evidence that damns Phoenix. The fledgling student proclaims his innocence, but Payne persists in saying that he pushed the victim, Doug Swallow, into a loose electrical cable, which resulted in his death. Mia objects, but Payne has more up his sleeve, a witness to the crime: Dahlia Hawthorne, Phoenix’s beloved girlfriend.

Dahlia’s presence in the courtroom is immediately felt as she makes all the boys in the courtroom swoon at her beauteous ways. Mia persists in her questioning, however, believing that Dahlia is the one who framed Phoenix for this crime. In addition, Mia has another bone to pick with Dahlia, who was involved in the very case that made her retire from law for a time. Using the power of objection, she is able to present evidence that links these two crimes together, and makes Dahlia seem more suspicious than she did when she first walked into the room. Mia weaves the argument that Dahlia has a bad habit of poisoning her boyfriends, and claims that Phoenix was to be the next one on the chopping block.

Eventually, it’s Phoenix’s ignorance that allows Mia to take the case. Phoenix has a pendant given to him by Dahlia filled with poison that she used to poison a particular lawyer eight months ago. Despite Phoenix’s relentless protest otherwise and Dahlia’s ability to shrewdly misdirect the courtroom, Mia is able to turn the tables and prove Phoenix’s innocence by establishing Dahlia’s guilt. Though Phoenix is emotionally damaged, he decides to become a law student, which will eventually lead him down the path of the ace attorney to become the man he is today.

Our Take:

This is the “Do or die” moment for this season of Ace Attorney. Here, the show introduces the story that absolutely defines the power of “Trials and Tribulations”, the “Ace Attorney” game that this season is based off of. A success in retelling this particular case would completely redeem this lackluster season in my eyes; that is how important it is for this episode to work. So, does it stand up to the task?

Not really, no, but it tries.

This episode follows the story of Mia, not Phoenix, which is a welcome change of pace from the usual shenanigans of Phoenix and his annoying dialogue. Mia is a bit more serious, which is what this show needs more of, but its not enough to rise above the tonal problems that have been present in this season from the beginning. Grossberg, the Judgeand Payne all are still not great to suffer through. Some emotional moments with Dahlia Hawthrone do hit, but there is still a commitment to incessant jokery that makes me want to eat my keyboard in frustration. Strangely though, Phoenix’s presence as a side character is much more enjoyable than him as our protagonist. As a comic relief character, he’s cute, as the main character, he’s annoying.

Improvement to the typical showing from Ace Attorney occurs in the length of the episode, which is surprisingly given 43 minutes of run time as opposed to the condensed space of 22 minutes that anime usually is normally constrained to. This means the story can take its time, which is the one thing it’s needed to do for weeks. By slowing down and allowing the dialogue to dictate the pace of the episode, the story is allowed to take form naturally, instead of being forced out at breakneck speed.

The issues that have followed this series from the beginning in terms of art direction and lack of appropriate style are still here, but this episode represents a significant improvement or what we’ve seen so far. I can say with complete honesty that this is the best episode of Ace Attorney I’ve seen so far, but that is only a relative recommendation, not an objective one. I still insist that the only way to really experience the “Ace Attorney” franchise is by playing the games, anything is selling yourself short, and when it comes to a game series this legendary, I would accept no substitutes.