Ace Attorney (2016) / YMMV

This page is for subjective moments from Ace Attorney (2016).

Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Phoenix and Maya turning into monkeys while fighting Money. Even for this series, that was weird.
Broken Base: Opinion on the anime as a whole. Its detractors point to the fast pacing and Off-Model art, while others enjoy how loyal the adaptation is, how certain parts are actually improved over the games, and how the anime has freedom to show and do things the games can't with only text, sprites and static backgrounds.
Complete Monster: Season 2: Dahlia Hawthorne remains a sociopathic and demented girl hiding her evil nature under a nice disposition. Manipulating her boyfriend Terry Fawles and staging her death to place him on death row after organizing an extortion plot on her adopted parents, Dahlia murdered her stepsister and got Terry to poison himself to make sure she gets off scot-free. Poisoning defense attorney Diego Armando into a coma, Dahlia charms Phoenix Wright into being her fall guy and intends to kill him to cover her tracks. Murdering her ex-boyfriend Doug Swallow to keep her secrets quiet, she strong arms Phoenix into keeping quiet before framing him for the murders. Vengeful against Mia Fey, Dahlia works with her mother Morgan after her execution, attempting to possess Pearl to murder Mia's sister Maya out of vengeance.
Fountain of Memes: Redd White. His Engrish is beautiful.
- "WHATCHA NAAAAAAAAAYME?".
- "YES, WE CAN!"
Growing the Beard: Season 2 is noticeably higher quality in terms of animation, the pace is more consistent, and fans have been much more pleased with the case adaptions, as well as some exceptional anime-exclusive episodes like "Sound the Turnabout Melody" and the three-part "Northward, Turnabout Express." This is partially thanks to the second season only adapting Trials and Tribulations as opposed to having to cram in several games like the first season did with Phoenix Wright and Justice for All, allowing it to be more focused and to have better pacing since it didn't have to rush through multiple games.
Harsher in Hindsight: During "Turnabout Memories," Dahlia disdainfully calls Phoenix a "man-child" after she's pushed far enough and drops her facade. This is a rather cruel comment, but it gets even worse in the "Turnabout Beginnings" arc, which introduces Terry Fawles, Dahlia's former boyfriend, who seems to have the mind of a child despite being an adult. The Manchild term thus fits Terry much better than it does Phoenix, who's at worst naive and blinded by his love for Dahlia, and Dahlia's use of that insult comes off as even worse in hindsight.
Improved Second Attempt: "Turnabout Big Top" is regarded as one of the weakest cases in the entire series. The anime redeemed this arc by adjusting the characters motives to make them more sympathetic, expanding on their background to flesh them out, and creating some very fun and enjoyable scenes that couldn't be portrayed by the original's Visual Novel format (the moment where the circus cast reenacts Russel Berry's death in the courthouse is often cited as a fan-favorite).
It's Short, So It Sucks!: Some fans' opinion of the anime. Since the animated adaptation doesn't spend time on pointless pressing like someone playing the games does, the court segments in particular can seem rushed.
Mis-blamed: A common complaint of fans regarding the anime is the reducing of Phoenix and Maya as characters, simplifying their personalities and arcs in order to make the series make marketable. In reality, this is only partially true. While the anime does cut out a large amount of the Character Development the two get over the games as a result of Compressed Adaptation, their personalities are actually the result of Woolseyisms taken as the original text, with the ENG scripts of the games giving Phoenix a more persistent Deadpan Snarker streak rather than an intentionally generic Only Sane Man persona, and Maya having her rather immature speech style and mannerisms largely ignored. This naturally throws fans off when watching the anime subbed, given it is naturally Truer to the Text.
Moe:
- Dear god, little child Franziska is adorable.
- As is to be expected, Maya's still as lovable as ever.
- Animated Pearl, who is even cuter than her video game incarnation. Even more so in the dub, thanks to Alexis Tipton's performance.
- Maggey has her moments as well. She can be downright adorable.
Narm:
- Edgeworth parking his car in Episode 2. While the contrast between Edgeworth showing up in a sports car with the press there to greet him and Phoenix parking his bike without anyone around helps sell the David vs. Goliath aspect of their rivalry, Edgeworth's entrance is still a bit over the top.
- Gourdy's (imagined) face... is not very menacing to say the least.
- The classroom trial flashback is rather well done for showing Phoenix being defended by the people who would later become his friends. Unfortunately, it can be hardly taken seriously when Edgeworth and Larry's voices have the same voice actors they have as adults. Phoenix also does the same, but it's not as bad, seeing that Yūki Kaji actually can perform a convincing child character. This isn't as much of a problem in the English dub, which actually uses Crossdressing Voices for them as kids.
- The game's use of sprite makes it look like that the opponents are hurt or shocked by the logic/argument, which to some extent is still believable. The anime, however, takes this and exaggerates this to a dramatic effect it looks like lawyers have The Force or just straight-up airbenders due to how over-the-top the effects can be.
- In the moment Ini Mimey tears up her hat, for some reason she explodes massively. Sure it's meant to represent the symbolism of the incident but it was so over-the-top that you can't help but laugh at it.
- Edgeworth entering the courtroom at the start of "Farewell, My Turnabout" is so over-the-top dramatic it's kind of amusing, even if (or maybe because) you did just watch Franziska get shot.
Narm Charm: Most of the above examples of Narm are rarely disliked due to fitting perfectly with the general tone of the series.
Newer Than They Think: Many fans, primarily in the West, are surprised when they learn the backstory of Edgeworth being adopted by the Von Karmas after DL-6 is actually a case of Adaptation Expansion and Ascended Fanon in the anime. It was never confirmed in the games, but has been widespread Common Knowledge and Fanon since long before the anime debuted, mainly among English-speaking fans in part due to the localization changing Franziska from describing Edgeworth as her "younger disciple" to "little brother".
Nightmare Fuel: Granted that Dahlia Hawthorne was pretty much this once she revealed her true colors, but there's a rather disturbing extreme close-up to her face while she's talking about her plan with Morgan Fey during the second-to-last episode of "Bridge to the Turnabout".
No Yay: First episode of "Farewell, My Turnabout" had a shot of Larry apparently being enamored by Pearl.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Several characters are made much more likeable in the animated adaptation by having their most criticized traits to be either toned down or removed completely.
- Marvin Grossberg, Wendy Oldbag, Lotta Hart, and Cody Hackins were all tweaked to be better received by fans. Each of these characters are either made less irritating and more helpful, or less abrasive and more sympathetic.
- Larry Butz isn't a hated character by any means, but most fans agree that having his perverted stalker traits from the games removed in the anime made him far more endearing.
- Redd White was criticized for being a stereotypical Corrupt Corporate Executive in the games despite having such a crucial role in the series as a whole. The anime gave him much well-deserved Memetic Mutation in the form of having huge Large Ham personality, as well as speaking lots and lots of Gratuitous English. His Adaptational Intelligence^note doesn't hurt, either.
- Franziska Von Karma is also widely considered a much stronger-portrayed character here than she was in Justice For All. In the games, she was mostly a one-dimensional Jerkass whose Hidden Depths were only revealed after the end credits, whereas the anime allows for those Hidden Depths to be properly foreshadowed ahead of time. It also helps that she doesn't lash out as much like she did in the games.
So Okay, It's Average: This seems to be the general consensus around this anime with fans of the games. Many fans point out there are several parts where the original games surpass the anime, which tends to go too fast and gloss over things, but also enjoy seeing their favorite characters animated. Fans have warmed up to the anime as a whole overtime though, especially after the polished Season 2 was released.
Superlative Dubbing: Funimation really knocked it out of the park with their English dubbing efforts. The pun-based names of the games are kept, they amped up the localisation efforts, and the voice actors chosen to play the characters have been highly praised by fans of both the game series and anime. Eric Vale and Lindsay Seidel do a fine job as Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey, portraying both as green and eager young defenders of justice. Christopher Wehkamp does fantastic at playing Miles Edgeworth as uptight, arrogant, and obliviously comical, while Colleen Clinkenbeard is a natural as the firm yet good-hearted Mia Fey. Kent Williams is almost unrecognizable as the gruff, yet loveable Judge, and Josh Martin and Bryan Massey are absolute scene-stealers as Larry Butz and Dick Gumshoe respectively. In fact, many outright prefer the English voice track because of how well the dub flows with the action on-screen; the only loss being to Redd White's Engrish. Even Sam Riegel returns to voice Furio Tigre as a Casting Gag in Series 2! Also helps that Crossdressing Voices are used for the child versions of Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Larry, averting the narm found in the original Japanese version using Same Voice Their Entire Life.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
- Some fans of the games are unhappy with how the anime depicted or altered their favorite moments. Examples include.
  - The downplay of Gumshoe's Big Damn Heroes moment and the Adaptation Distillation of the incident five years ago in "Turnabout Samurai"
  - "Turnabout Goodbyes" — the removal of the statute of limitations on DL-6 and Edgeworth's fear of earthquakes; the letter in the boat shop being merely a sign that the killer had an accomplice and not a piece of evidence so damning that Manfred von Karma would use a taser on Phoenix and Maya to retrieve it; the taser scene itself involving Maya and an unknown officer over a different piece of evidence; and von Karma's breakdown not including the moment where he repeatedly bashes his head against the courtroom wall.
  - "Reunion and Turnabout" removes the part where Maya and Mia reunite after the trial, with the presence of a third party (Pearl) to channel Mia making it possible for the sisters to interact after Mia's death.
  - "Farewell, My Turnabout" — replacing Lotta Hart with Larry Butz, and a host of things in due to it being the most trimmed-down case in the anime. In fitting the case in just 4 episodes, the entire plot point of Adrian Andrews' dependent nature and suicide attempt was taken out and Celeste is made her sister (something which people who were wearing the Shipping Goggles were certainly not happy about), as well as the subplot of Gumshoe's firing and Will Powers being Demoted to Extra.
  - "The Stolen Turnabout" omits the part in which Godot is utterly shocked while seeing Maya channeling Mia, Foreshadowing his connection with Mia.
- There is also the complete removal of "Rise from the Ashes", at least for the Western fans, so no Ema or Lana Skye. Miles' decision to leave doesn't get more context like in the games, various character development doesn't happen, and we don't get the full and proper team up of Miles and Phoenix for the first time. Ema fans especially find it annoying since Ema later becomes an important character of Ace Attorney. Somewhat understandable as "Rise from the Ashes" is not included in the original Japanese release.
- There were quite a few complaints when Funimation's cast list was first announced, revealing that they would be Darrining the actors for Phoenix, Maya, and Edgeworth from the mainline 3DS titles (Sam Riegel, Abby Trott, and Kyle Hebert,^note respectively). Funimation has gone the extra mile in the past to get actors outside their pool to reprise their roles (such as in BlazBlue: Alter Memory). However, this sentiment died down once the trailer, clips and the episodes were released, with many quickly warming up to their replacements, and as the Superlative Dubbing example lists above, the casting has been nothing but praised since. Sam Riegel even returned to voice Furio Tigre in the second season.
Woolseyism:
- Crunchyroll's subtitles that followed the original game's Dub Name Change also follows the change of Maya's Trademark Favourite Food from ramen to hamburgers... despite the fact that she's eating ramen on-screen. To align with this, all instances of ramen on-screen has them being called Burger Noodles in the subs.
- Maya's nickname for Phoenix's imposter in the dub, "Fake-Nick's Wrong," involves some wordplay that's only possible in English and with Phoenix's localized name, but comes off as a rather amusing nickname.

YMMV / Ace Attorney (2016)

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