Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Twitter: Origin of The Class Trial (2016)

Title: Origin of The Class Trial 
Source: Takumi Shū 's Twitter

Summary: The Class Trial is a pivotal moment in the life of the character Naruhodō in the first Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney) and one of the main mysteries of the game. Series creator Takumi has often said the trial was based on an event that actually happened to him when he was a child. While it has been mentioned often, the series of tweets he posted on his Twitter account on June 24, 2016 offer one of the more detailed accounts of this happening.

The series of tweets starts with this tweet. In the translation below, each paragraph is a seperate tweet.

Everyone, good evening. Tomorrow's episode of the TV anime Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney) will feature a story with Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright), Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth) and Yahari (Larry Butz) when they were still in elementary school. Takumi here, who wants to bring out an old story from his own time as a schoolboy.

It happened one day, when I was a second grader. Young Takumi was playing alone in the schoolyard and at the garbage disposal area, he came across a handmade "piggy bank": an empty can with origami stuck on it, just a small object. Not giving it much thought, he took it up in his hands.

"Maybe there's a lot of money inside," he thought and opened it and out of the "piggy bank" came... one coin of five yen. Well, he had already kinda guessed that because of the sound it made when he picked the thing up. Without giving it much thought, he put the five yen coin in his pocket, and yes without giving it much thought again, went home. It happened the following day.

Young Takumi was made to stand in front of a class he didn't know, and while being watched by forty schoolkids he didn't know, a 40-year old teacher who was very angry with him. "Tell the truth!"

The boy had been taken away from his own class, so his head had become all blank. Eventually, young Takumi started to understand he had been accused of being "a heinous five yen thief". "You can't go stealing people's money!"

What had probably happened was that someone had taken one of the piggy banks they had made with handicraft classes, and had left it it at the disposal area as a prank. Coincidence led to young Takumi picking up that piggy bank, and someone had witnessed how boy Takumi had pettily stolen the five yen.

Something like that had happened, I gathered from the information gathered later.... but at the time, I really didn't know what they were talking about. Young Takumi was pushed by the teacher he didn't know, in front of a girl he didn't know: "Apologize to her!"

And at that moment... Objection!
... there was no one in the class who shouted that of course. Young Takumi, still confused and understanding nothing about what was happening, apologized to the girl again and again. Why he didn't say "It wasn't me!" ? Perhaps because the boy had taken the five yen with him.

And twenty years passed after that event. This charming little story was "promoted" by being included in Gyakuten, Soshite Sayonara (Turnabout Goodbyes). If back then, Mitsurugi had been there for me... there might've been a defense attorney Takumi right now, shouting Objection! somewhere in a dingy courtroom.

And another fifteen years passed after writing Gyakuten, Soshite Sayonara... How I feel about that "incident" now, has become even more strange. When I revealed this story at the script meeting as a sort of joke, people really felt for me, and I was quite shaken by that...

Such trifling, slightly bitter memories... For scenario writers, they're like spices they can take out and use when they have trouble coming up with ideas. But do that for too long, and you'll run out of ideas anyway. Maybe it's about time to get a new stock of trifling, slightly bitter memories... But anyway...

Tomorrow's episode of Gyakuten Saiban will be about such a memory. It's an original episode, portraying what happened "the lunch money inident" from an angle different from the games.  Naruhodō, Mitsurugi and Yahari and the origin of their friendship... don't miss it. Episode 13: Gyakuten no Yakusoku (Turnabout Promise)... Take that! (←  like Naruhodō)

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