Ace Attorney Anime Episode 15: Reunion and Turnabout 2nd Trial Review

<p>Phoenix Wright is a defense attorney who proves his clients innocent in the court of law&period; The basic concept of the <em>Ace Attorney<&sol;em> franchise is simple enough&&num;8211&semi;until the actual stories begin&period; There are many reasons to love Capcom&&num;8217&semi;s series&comma; with the biggest reason being the individual stories&period; Each one tends to surprise hard-core fans and newbies alike&period; The anime adaption is doing an <em>OK<&sol;em> job of transferring the exciting mysteries from the games to the anime&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The 15th episode begins with Maya in deep trouble as she stands trial for yet another crime&period; Her innocence is plain enough to see for both the viewer and the show&&num;8217&semi;s protagonist&comma; Phoenix Wright&period; Despite it appearing transparent that Maya should be cleared&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s up to Phoenix and his new little assistant Pearl to find the evidence to bring the truth into the light&period; <em>Reunion and Turnabout 2nd Trial<&sol;em> has the makings of a decent TV mystery yet it doesn&&num;8217&semi;t quite live up to its video game counterpart&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The <em>Ace Attorney<&sol;em> anime is a mix of well-adapted jokes and flat character designs&period; Villainous characters like von Karma are given softer facial expressions that lack the dark intensity that&&num;8217&semi;s so familiar with the game series&period; Aside from the villains missing their dark-lined faces&comma; the animation team chose to place focus upon Phoenix&&num;8217&semi;s expressions&period; His face and movements mimic those of his original character design from the games&comma; especially in the 15th episode&period; Phoenix&&num;8217&semi;s dumbfounded look in the courtroom is accurately portrayed&period; Yet the bottom line comes to the consistency of the anime series is lacking severely&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;117538" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-117538" style&equals;"width&colon; 960px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-117538" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;26150101&sol;ace-attorney-ep-15-pic1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"ace-attorney-ep-15-pic1" width&equals;"960" height&equals;"535" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-117538" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Ace Attorney Reunion and Turnabout 2nd Trial &sol; A-1 Pictures<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Some scenes are given several minutes to be fully executed&comma; while others are cut short&period; Franziska in past episodes was only given a few glimpses of screen-time until her main debut in this episode&period; Her anger and displeasure in the courtroom is transferred well especially with the effects of her whip&period; Disappointment wreaks havoc when her facial expressions only cover the bare minimum of those from the original games&period; Her gloating can be heard in the Japanese voice actress&&num;8217&semi; voice&comma; who does a great job of conveying the von Karma&&num;8217&semi;s family tradition of always being angry in court&period; Franziska stole the spotlight in this episode away from everyone&&num;8211&semi;including Phoenix&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;117540" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-117540" style&equals;"width&colon; 1280px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-117540" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;26150417&sol;ace-attorney-ep-15-pic2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Ace Attorney Reunion and Turnabout 2nd Trial &sol; A-1 Pictures" width&equals;"1280" height&equals;"720" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-117540" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Ace Attorney Reunion and Turnabout 2nd Trial &sol; A-1 Pictures<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>With Franziska&&num;8217&semi;s strong personality&comma; the judge&&num;8217&semi;s submission to her whims and Phoenix&&num;8217&semi;s confusion&comma; the cast still remains the colorful characters millions of <em>Ace Attorney<&sol;em> fans fell in love with&period; Although Franziska has plenty to say in this episode&comma; Maya&&num;8217&semi;s silence is disappointing&period; She stares blankly at the court and barely seems to register what is happening&period; For having such a mystical and mysterious background&comma; Maya&&num;8217&semi;s outward self sure is failing to show it&period; This seems to be a running trend in this adaptation&period; Each time a character is accused of a crime they barely have anything to say and are portrayed as meek and silent beings&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s bothersome to see them with such defeatist attitudes&period; Despite being disappointed over and over&comma; the characters and story are engaging enough to keep viewers entertained and wanting more from this series&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">We love to hear from you&excl; Let us know what you think of the show and each episode by commenting below or by contacting us on Twitter &commat;BagoGames&period; If you want to follow along with my review series then I&&num;8217&semi;d recommend watching the <em>Ace Attorney<&sol;em> anime on <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;crunchyroll&period;com&sol;ace-attorney"><strong>Crunchyroll<&sol;strong><&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;