English Dub Review: Ace Attorney “Northward, Turnabout Express – 2nd Trial”

Northward, to justice!

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Avery Richman, the wealthy entrepreneur from the Goldstruck Republic, has hijacked the train Maya and Phoenix are on to hold a retrial of the murder case which Richman says he was wrongfully convicted of. This train is Richman’s last hope; if he can’t prove his innocence here, then a life in prison awaits him. Phoenix stands to defend him, while an American prosecutor named Tristan Turnbull is to be the prosecution in this case.

Turnbull explains the circumstances of the murder, how the victim, a man named “Cashanova”, was murdered, and the circumstances pointed to Richman being the murderer, since his fingerprints were found on the gun. After the brief overview of the case, the witnesses step forward to explain their interpretation of events. One by one, they reveal more to the case. There was a crash shortly before the victim was shot. Furthermore, an injured waiter with a bandaged right hand spilled champagne on an old woman, Mrs. Mytonbread, and apparently was also responsible for dropping a tray in front of Richman. Phoenix deduces that this injured waiter is highly suspicious, and Turnbull confirms that the waiter was someone named “Gale.”

Just before they can figure out who this “Gale” is, however, a fire breaks out in the rear of the train. Turnbull puts out the fire, but it appears that the man inside the train cabin has been stabbed to death. The man was none other than the Gale they were looking for. Avery looks through the cabin where Gale’s body was found, only to find that the corpse has disappeared. Inside the room, they find Gale’s ID.

Meanwhile, Detective Gumshoe, having his wound mended by Regina, presses the young stewardess to help him investigate. After some convincing, she lets him use her laptop, which he uses to send a text message to none other than Miles Edgeworth, the Ace Prosecutor. Miles then looks through the case’s files for info, but is soon stopped by some suited thugs. Miles is then sent to speak to the Chief Prosecutor, where he explains he spotted some fishy things going on in that case file. Once there, he is shown the trial going on in the train.

Phoenix and Maya speak with Turnbull, who reminisces about going to law school with Edgeworth, where he developed an awe for the prosecutor. Meanwhile, in the other part of the train, Gumshoe and Regina stumble upon the body of Gale, who is actually dead this time.

Our Take:

The plot thickens this week as Ace Attorney starts really rearing up to tell an intriguing and curious mystery. While its hard to say how good the mystery is at this point, since we don’t know how its going to end, but the story has proved to be entertaining so far. As this mystery unfolds, its quickly revealing itself to be a lot more than what originally met the eye, as a simple murder case seems to be layered into a tale of international espionage.

There’s a strong sense of mysterious ambiance that accompanies this episode to great effect. Because of the snow, because of the train, because of the confined space, one is really drawn into the Sherlockian nature of this particular case. Its something different from what we usually get in the world of Ace Attorney, but a setting that fits in pretty well into the world of cops and robbers that our legal heroes live in. Furthermore, the brisk pace at which the episode moves does well to keep the viewer interested, and there’s plenty of good little twists and turns to keep one guessing.

Though, there are some little problems with the episode that keep it from living up to its full potential. A lot of time is wasted in the first few minutes recapping the scene where Maya and Phoenix board the train, which isn’t really necessary for the story. It seems more like filler than anything else. Not to mention, a good deal of the episode is just one big information dump. An interesting information dump, but one that lacks a sense of style. Everything is done in a really straightforward way without time for the viewer to really digest. I’d like us to spend more time getting to know our cast of characters better, in particular Avery Richman, but we don’t get much in the way of character development.

This is a hard episode to critique because its so dependent on the resolution of this case a whole to say just how quality the storytelling is. Its definitely entertaining, but its more of a transitional episode, meant to get us from one place to the next without too much fuss. There’s fun to be had in seeing a cameo from everyone’s favorite prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth, for sure, but he doesn’t add a whole lot to the case. Overall, its a decent episode, just not one I can really write home about.