Mitsurugi Reiji - This Is The Character Everyone Imagines Him To Be!? Takumi's Comments (2005)

Title: Mitsurugi Reiji - This Is The Character Everyone Imagines Him To Be!?!? Takumi's Comments /  「御剣怜侍　みんなが考えた御剣はこな感じ！？ 巧氏コメント」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban Fanbook

Summary: The Gyakuten Saiban Fanbook, originally released in 2005 just before the Japanese release of Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten (Ace Attorney DS), featured a couple of character profiles with information that was imagined by the fans themselves! From bloodtype, type of mobile phone and even the places where they live, the fans had thought off all kinds things for the main characters of the Gyakuten Saiban series. In return, director Takumi, producer Inaba and character designers Suekane and Iwamoto also responded to those 'fan-theories/head-canon' and also talked about their own 'head-canon'. In his reaction to Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth)'s profile, Takumi added a couple of (unofficial) background ideas to the character, including a pet dog, a surprising sense in music and a habit of singing karaoke.

Takumi's Comments

Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth) was born as the rival of Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright). He can do everything in an elegant way, but the Mitsurui Mr. Takumi has in mind also has a surprising side!

Interviewer: When we look at the comments we got from the users, you see he's portrayed as a elegant character with some 'dents' in his image. What do you think about Mitsurugi?

Takumi: I think that it's easier to come up with all kinds of things for Mitsurugi, compared to Naruhodō. He's easy to, how shall I put it, play with. He looks like he's rich, so you can let your imagination go loose on him.

Interviewer: Talking about rich, it seems the users imagine the "home" he lives in is quite luxurious.

Takumi: I wonder (laugh). Perhaps he keeps a very large dog as a pet. With white frills on its collar. To keep a dog like that at home, you'd need a fancy apartment building. Like: "Pess, what are you howling at now?"

Interviewer: Pess!?

Takumi:  The name of his dog (laugh). Mitsurugi looks like he's bad at communcating with other people and horses, but he does get along with Pess (laugh).

Interviewer: Only with Pess (laugh). You just said it.

Takumi: And when Pess dies, Mitsurugi will close himself off. The way he lives his life, the balance there is quite dangerous.

Interviewer: So Pess is the one thing he's holding on to in life. So usually Mitsurugi acts all strong, but he shows his weak side to Pess?

Takumi: Not just then. Mitsurugi is a very double-faced person. At first, I wrote him as a character with no weaknesses, but in the walkthrough from publisher Futaba, Suekane draw a comic about that Mitsurugi loves Tonosaman (The Steel Samurai). I think it was because of that comic that his perfect image started to crumble down (laugh). So I started to think it'd be cuter if he had weaknesses.

Interviewer: Between Naruhodō and Mitsurugi, who do you think is cuter as a character?

Takumi: I have projected a lot of myself on Naruhodō, so I never considered him "cute". I am just looking at things through Naruhodō's eyes...

Interviewer: And in the eyes of Naruhodō, Mitsurugi is...

Takumi: I'm sure he thinks Mitsurugi is a pretty cute guy (laugh). Mitsurugi's characteristics only really started to show from Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 - Justice for All) on. That's why I wanted to show his growth in the game, and came up with an episode where he saves Naruhodō.

Interviewer: I did start to look at Mitsurugi as good guy from Episode 4 of the second game on. It made you acknowledge him as a close friend of Naruhodō. But let's go back to the character profile, what do you think about the "Music" column?

Takumi: He might like ppongjjak (Trot), I think.

Interviewer: Pp....Ppongjjak!? That comes out of nowhere...

Takumi: Classic music would've been too easy and not fun (laugh). So yeah, standing upright listening to ppongjjak. With his personality, I think ppongjjak is possible.

Interviewer: According to the users, he'd sing My Way in English with karaoke, with everything he's got. Does he sing whenever he wins a trial?

Takumi: Perhaps that was the tradition in the Karuma (von Karma) family. Whenever they win a trial, it's My Way (laugh). Karuma Gō would stick the microphone in front of him and say: "Reiji, sing." Mei (Franziska) might've sung too.

Interviewer: Now you mention the Karuma family, it's pretty amazing Mitsurugi got the Karuma-ism hammered into him since around junior high.

Takumi: He got excellent schooling, so by twenty, he'd be a familiar face at the dinner table of the Karumas. By the way, the old housekeeper in his fancy apartment knew him from then (laugh).

Interviewer: So she left the Karuma family to stay with Mitsurugi (laugh).

Takumi: But Mitsurugi likes being alone, so she leaves him be at such times.

Interviewer: The perfect housekeeper (laugh).

Takumi: Precisely.... I wonder why it's so easy to mess around with Mitsurugi as a character? (laugh). It's really mysterious.