Review Detail

The most enjoyable Ace Attorney adaptation I've ever seen.

I had issues with the anime, the rushed pacing and sometimes bad animation made it an annoying sit through. Some of those issues are alleviated, or made more forgivable I suppose, within a movie's run time rather than it being episodes in a series. Many scenes were trimmed or switched around in order, and I think for the most part it led to a more coherent, cinematic experience. Some highlights: Phoenix's growth is more noticeable thanks to the trimmings, I like how Edgeworth and Manfred VonKarma's conversation was placed at the right time to introduce them and also keeping the idea that Manfred is an unbeatable enemy even Edgeworth can't touch, the ending with the flashback and Edgeworth leaving the note makes a nice segway into Justice for All, etc. The recontextualized shots were well placed, the more vibrant color scheme was welcome, and the added game tracks were a GREAT addition, helping the "movie" feel more authentic as a result, You could hear some noise around the extracted voice clips, though that's not really an issue for me personally.

Aside from some anime bits I wish were kept in, such as Edgeworth telling Phoenix his argument was crushed and shatttered or VonKarma asking the Bailifs to kick Larry out, I do think Phoenix having flashbacks to scenes cut from the first episode felt a bit strange. Some audio transitions around the beginning felt off, one example being the transition from the First Turnabout's ending to Maya and Mia's phone conversation. Other than those, I really like this edit. More enjoyable than the anime, and more of what I was looking for than the live action take that this edit based its structure around. Fully recommend!

Side Note: Though it wasn't the intention, this edit inadvertently fixed an issue I had with the live action movie, in that since Turnabout Sisters was longer we got to see more of Phoenix and Edgeworth's rivalry before beginning Turnabout Goodbyes.