Gyakuten Saiban: Sono "Shinjitsu", Igi Ari! Season 2

Defense attorney Ryuuichi Naruhodou is still hard at work defending the falsely accused with his knack for last-minute turnabouts. With his trusty assistant and medium-in-training Mayoi Ayasato in tow, Ryuuichi's fame as a champion for the innocent steadily grows. But this newfound success attracts the attention of the coffee-loving, masked Godot⁠—a mysterious rookie prosecutor who bears an inexplicable grudge against Ryuuichi.

With the help of their allies, Ryuuichi and Mayoi take this new challenger head-on and search for the reason behind his appearance. But before long, the first two cases from the career of Mayoi's late sister Chihiro Ayasato become critical to solving a fantastical murder mystery, continuing the bloody saga of the tumultuous Ayasato clan. Will Ryuuichi once again be able to overcome the odds and find the truths hidden within the web of lies?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mitsurugi, Reiji Main

Tamaki, Masashi Japanese

Naruhodou, Ryuuichi Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Ayasato, Mayoi Main

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Godot Main

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Saibanchou Main

Hiura, Ben Japanese

Karuma, Mei Supporting

Yumiba, Saori Japanese

Itonokogiri, Keisuke Supporting

Iwasaki, Masami Japanese

Ayasato, Chihiro Supporting

Nakamura, Chie Japanese

Miyanagi, Chinami Supporting

Satou, Rina Japanese

Karuma, Gou Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Tsuji, Toshikazu Producer

Herek, Samantha Assistant Producer

Watanabe, Ayumu Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Mar 30, 2019

Maffy

Recommended

After the first series aired with its numerous problems, not many of us had any expectations for the continuation. Rough work on the pacing, narration and execution was detrimental to the final work. However, CloverWorks worked on some of the core problems the prequel had and it brought forth a much acceptable result.

The theme of the anime remains pretty much the same with Phoenix (Naruhodo) going through a few cases, but this time there is much more attention to the pacing, leaving enough time for a case to unfold in a more natural way than rush through everything. There were 23 episodes to animate only ... 1 game, which meant there was plenty of time for everything and indeed, they gave the final case the space it needed which made the series shine in the end with some great moments and a most well done climax, unlike the prequel.

Of course, this does not make everything great, as things still may be fast and there are various fillers that are just really boring (albeit some being on point!), but the changes have been welcome and it makes the experience much better for people who may have not played the games. It is still pretty far away from a perfect narration of a mystery (but that is not really the anime’s fault), but combined with the intricate story the 3rd game has, which involves our main characters deeply and has a span of many years, and the better storytelling, we have a series we can at least be happy about this time.

Character-wise, there is not much change other than the inclusion of Godot, who is by far the best character in the franchise, and Dahlia (Chinami), who is surprisingly very good at what she does. The downside of the characters is that the franchise itself is peculiar in ways that just do not make sense with characters acting so unnaturally sometimes, ignoring the obvious thing or somehow making the most absurd (yet right) assumptions, etc, so this happens in this series as well. It all comes down to how much you can like them and ignore such things, but of course it is not a good thing either way. Thankfully, there is a touching story involving a lot of characters this time and the more we learn, the better it gets.

Unfortunately, the art and animation have a lot of problems to the point that even in some close-up stills, the anatomy is pretty terrible which is astounding. I still consider it an upgrade though, because the opening/ending sequences were much better this time around and with better songs and I found myself rewinding to check some specific scenes created solely for the OP/ED. But that is all the positive feedback I can give to it, since the animation seems very simple most of the time and I was not a fan of some of the special effects used. However, they really tried bringing to life some of the game’s animations, which was welcome. Sound-wise, there was nothing impressive, but the voice actors were good (especially Godot, even though I didn’t like Hiroaki Hirata as a choice at first) and the OST is decent, with the 2nd OP being a weakness of mine.

Summing up, this is still not a great anime, but CloverWorks fixed to a big extent the problems that were there before and offered us an enjoyable watch, at least. If you are a fan of the game, you should definitely watch this. And if you are not, this deserves a chance someday!

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Mar 30, 2019

Lindle

Mixed Feelings

With CloverWorks splitting off from A-1 Studios, there was reason to hope that this season of the Ace Attorney anime might right the wrongs of its predecessor. Having gained the independence to make their own decisions and not simply be A-1's B-studio, they might have been able to take the series in a new direction. And with PVs showing revamped character designs, and the fact that this season was to adapt only one game (Trials & Tribulations, the third game in the series), and the show even starting with a good first episode, things were starting to look hopeful.

Sadly, this was not to be.

If you've ... read my review of the first season, you'll see I've already detailed there what a disaster this anime was from a technical perspective. There are some improvements to be found here - the colour palette for the character designs was improved from the undersaturated tones used in the season prior, although the facial proportions are still odd. The courtroom has also been revamped to something more closely resembling that of the games (although the defence and prosecution are still on the wrong sides of the court for some reason). Most importantly though, the CG court gallery, whilst not removed outright, has been made much less obvious. This anime even looks good at times - but it's extremely uneven. In some episodes it looks completely fine, but in many more there are constant and severe animation errors. The animation may be slightly improved, but it needed much more than "slight" improvements.

As before, this takes a streamlined approach to the games, cutting a lot of incidental dialogue. This actually works wonders for its opening case, The Lost Turnabout. This was originally the first case of the second game, Justice For All, which was left out of the first season - Understandably so, as it serves mostly to reintroduce the main cast, which would have been quite out of place in the middle of the previous season. That case has some fun contradictions, all of which are preserved here (for once), but it suffered from having an extremely irritating main villain whose main characteristic was rambling and ranting. The streamlining of dialogue cuts this out, leaving a much more enjoyable case as a result.

However, this approach is detrimental to the entire rest of the anime. In particular this damages the characterisation of two of its most central characters - Godot and Mia Fey. Godot serves as the primary antagonist for this season, a mysterious masked man with a grudge against Phoenix. While Godot is probably the least capable rival Phoenix has ever had in the games, notable more for his characterisation than presenting a direct threat, he was still a competent prosecutor in the source material. Here, however, he fails to present a single decent argument.

And Mia Fey comes off even worse. Prior to Trials & Tribulations/Gyakuten Saiban 3, she had been a mostly one-dimensional character, having been killed off quite early on and serving more as a ghost mentor figure to Phoenix and a part of various character's backstories. Here, however, we are treated to two cases set before the start of the series in which Mia Fey is the protagonist. Sadly she doesn't differ much from Phoenix in this adaptation, as both were strongly characterised by their inner monologue - the game's version of Mia is the sassiest thing on the planet, but that is completely absent here. Similarly, the anime totally changes the romantic dynamic she had with her mentor, making her obviously flustered in place of the more subtle dialogue that was used originally. It's a clear downgrade, and takes her even further away from her excellent game counterpart.

Those two cases are adapted more faithfully than much of the game - presumably since as they are more closely linked with this series' overarching plot. However while the events themselves aren't changed much, the sequencing of the cases is bafflingly rearranged. Turnabout Memories, originally the first case of the game most of this season is from, is moved to around the midway point, directly before the other prequel case, Turnabout Beginnings. Given that the plot threads set up in this case are vital to the dramatic core of this entire arc, and help to build intrigue in some of the later cases moved before it, this rearranging of the cases damages the narrative somewhat. While it isn't devastating, it's still maddening that they would arbitrarily make such an easily-avoided misstep.

A similarly bizarre decision was to add an entire four episodes of filler (including a brand new anime-original case, Turnabout Express) when such a substantial amount of canon content was trimmed out. Save for the aforementioned Lost Turnabout there isn't a single case here that couldn't have used more runtime. Somehow, even the filler case manages to feel rushed, and wastes some ideas that might honestly have made a good case (although possessing some obvious flaws, like the killer's identity being one of the franchise' most outplayed tropes).

Fortunately the series does make a significant jump in quality in its second half. Turnabout Beginnings in particular manages to preserve if not outright improve on the eerie tone it sets, with its very premise spelling certain doom for most people involved. Even the animation here is noticeably better than usual, and many of the presentation choices in these episodes do a superb job of emphasizing some of its most key emotional beats.

Most importantly of all, though, this season adapts Bridge to the Turnabout, the indisputable masterpiece of the original Ace Attorney trilogy, if not the entire franchise - and manages to not completely bastardize it. While it does make some errors in its first half (in particular bungling the initial hook of the case), in its second half it fares far better, not only giving the events the due space to breathe properly, but also featuring some uncharacteristically excellent directing in places. This case is an absolute masterpiece of detective fiction, managing to create an incredibly layered mystery that weaves together an absurd amount of narrative threads so perfect a puzzle that it defies belief. It creates a perfect mystery while also managing the feat of tying it all into numerous threads laid throughout both of the previous games, and grounding it into the conclusion of compelling character arcs for much of the main cast. It really cannot be overstated just how good Bridge to the Turnabout is, even if the execution here is flawed in places.

Overall this season is a significant improvement over its predecessor, but it's really too little, too late. While the production is better than its predecessor (what isn't?), the improvement is owed more to having better source material than the previous season.

If you have not played the games, and have already watched the first season, I am begging you not to watch this one. Please go play the games instead. They are available on so many consoles at this point that there's no way you don't have something that can access it.

Story/Plot: 6/10
Characters: 5/10
Animation/Art: 3/10
Sound: 5/10

Overall: 5/10

For Fans Of: Detective Conan, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 23, 2024

TheAceAttorney

Not Recommended

Please go play the games, don't watch this...

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations is one of the greatest Anime games ever made, I stand by that statement. How do you take a character like Godot, who is arguably top 3 Ace Attorney characters of all time and turn it into this...?

STORY:
Gyakuten Saiban: Sono Shinjitsu, otherwise known as Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, follows the story of that game while adding in meaningless filler. Do you remember a whole train arc that spans 5 episodes in the original game? No? Well it completely disrupts the flow of cases, in a storyline where every case is ... crucial to the underlying story. The whole point was mirroring Mia Fey's beginnings, with Phoenix's gained experience at this point, showing how much he's surpassed his mentor since, while giving meaningful insight to Godot's character. What does the filler have to do with that? Fuck all, that's what. To make matters worse, the poor pacing results in each case losing it's impact and being muddied down with the accompanying lack of care from Cloverworks.

Recipe for Turnabout is unsurprisingly the worst part of this Anime, as it was with the game, however, there are significantly worse arcs that are in the series, with Turnabout Big Top of JFA fame already being adapted in the previous season.

Overall, story wise most of the important details are there, albeit stretched out significantly, to the point it makes the long cases from the original VN seem short in comparison.

ANIMATION:
I really try not to stress about this too much in most of my reviews, but this is an exception. The charming visuals from the original VN are just gone altogether, replaced with this monstrosity. Cloverworks, after a incredibly upsetting first season, took no initiative to improve whatsoever.


If we're basing this off the original VN then this is a 9/10 for me, but the Anime is a 4/10. Like trust me, my name is literally TheAceAttorney, so when I say don't watch it, just don't. You'd think I'd know what I'm talking about. If for some reason you enjoyed this Anime, go play or watch the original game on YouTube. Any glimpse of charm you got from this, will be amplified to the max when you see the original source material.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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