Gyakuten Saiban 2 Blog Entry 6: The Meteorite Brothers (2002)

Title: The Meteorite Brothers / 「メテオ兄弟」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 2 official site (down)

Summary: In the sixth blog entry for the original Game Boy Advance version of Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 - Justice for All), Takumi talks about two big problems they encountered during the development. One was a character-related problem. The popularity of Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth) had consequences for the way in which Takumi could use him in the game. Another problem was one of space: they didn't have enough on the cartridge to do all five episodes they had initially planned. In the Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Ace Attorney 3 - Trials & Tribulations) blog, it is eventually revealed that the cut story was in fact Turnabout Recipe (Recipe for Turnabout), which was used as the third episode in that game.

As always with the Gyakuten Saiban 2 blog, Takumi's own article is followed by a 'backstage' skit, where Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright) and Mayoi (Maya Fey) add their own comments to Takumi's story.

The Meteorite Brothers

Let’s continue the story from last time. We faced two big crises during development. I might as well describe them as meteorites, because of their destructive power and the impact provided a far-too-intense stimulation to our everyday life, which had become a biｔ monotone. The meteorite fall happened twice.

The first meteorite hit us right after we started development. I call it “The Case of Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth)’s Popularity.”

The rival Mitsurugi Reiji appeared in the previous game, Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney GBA) as a prodigy prosecutor. And when I first started the story of Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 – Justice for All), I had Mitsurugi just appear in court again as the prosecutor.

…However. After Gyakuten Saiban had been released and we started receiving feedback from the people who played the game, it turned out… that that guy was super popular. That was all good, but it left me with one problem.

Mitsurugi would never had a chance to win against Naruhodō, because Naruhodō’s the protagonist. So Mitsurugi’d always lose. You wouldn’t even know anymore why people call him a prodigy. When I first started writing, I did think it was a bit sad for him. But with the feedback, I really faced an immense crisis.

“Let’s treat Mitsurugi with more care.”

Because of that, a new rival was born: Karuma Mei (Franziska von Karma). And I had to rewrite pretty much everything. But, I think that turned out for the better. Karuma Mei is in more ways than one, the best thing I got out of the story.

The second meteorite fell while we were working on the third episode. I call it “The Case Of  Having Way Too Little Storage Space.”

“Mr. Takumi, we have a problem!”
One day, a programmer came running to me with a pale face. Even the most optimistic person on the world wouldn’t expect to hear good news from him once they saw his expression.

….We didn’t have enough space on the game cartridge! There is of course a maximum limit to how much we can put in a game cartridge. It appeared that our estimates had been too positive.

So in a hurry, we decided to cut one whole episode. That really made my world go dark for a moment. It was of course a shock I had to cut a story I had written, but even more problematic was that the whole structure of the game would break down in a fatal way. I’d need to redo all the foreshadowing and hits I had spread across all the episodes. But, I think that turned out for the better. If it had been one episode longer, there would have been people who would have given up on the game halfway through because it was so long.

Anyway. Now I look back, and I have one question. “That original story I wrote so desperately, did that have any meaning?”

…I try to not think about that.

The Meteorite Brothers (Backstage)

The rival Mitsurugi Reiji appeared in the previous game, Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney GBA) as a prodigy prosecutor. And when I first started the story of Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 – Justice for All), I had Mitsurugi just appear in court again as the prosecutor.

Mayoi: He’s doing pretty good, Prosecutor Mitsurugi.
Naruhodō: I guess.
Mayoi: He’s the most popular after me.
Naruhodō: Eh, after you? …What about me?
Mayoi: You are probably not that popular.
Naruhodō: Uuurgh. What’s so great about Mitsurugi?
Mayoi: It’s that frilly thing around his neck that does it. It looks so cute.
Naruhodō: But in the original version of this game, TakuShū was pretty indifferent about how using Mitsurugi.
Mayoi: Really?
Naruhodō: I have the original version here with me. Let me quote you from the part where it first mentions him.

Itonoko: I have two things to tell you, pal.
Naruhodō: To me?
Itonoko: One is bad news for you, pal. The other is even worse. What do you want to hear first?
Naruhodō: … I don’t care.
Itonoko: Prosecutor Mitsurugi will be handling the case in court tomorrow!
Naruhodō: Wha-what! But he disappeared into the mountains, saying he needed to sort out the doubts that had appeared within him!
Itonoko: And this is the other bad news. During his stay in the mountains, he reached spiritual enlightenment, pal!
Naruhodō: …What?
Itonoko: He’s now in the Prosecutor’s Office, working on the angle of his fingers during his “Objection!”

Mayoi: …What was he doing in the mountains…?

Because of that, a new rival was born: Karuma Mei. And I had to rewrite pretty much everything.

Naruhodō: That whip is against the rules. In a lot of ways.
Mayoi: I even passed out. I was whipped good.
Naruhodō: But it was actually the judge who was whipped most often.
Mayoi: Ooh. He’s still doing quite well, the judge.
Naruhodō: Because her name is Mei, everyone thought she was Karuma’s niece (TN: mei, written differently, also means ‘niece’ in Japanese).
Mayoi: Who wouldn’t? TakuShū sense in naming characters is pretty simple.
Naruhodō: When he heard people say that, he got angry, I heard. He said: “I don’t just give character pun names!”
Mayoi: Ooooh. I guess there are no real puns in the names. Just weird names.
Naruhodō: Nononono, there was that police officer this time, right? He’s called Machio Mamoru (Dustin Prince) (TN: the name is a pun on machi wo mamoru, ‘protecting town’)
Mayoi: Ah, you’re right! TakuShū is a big liar!
Naruhodō: Perhaps he has just forgotten about the things he has done.
Mayoi: I could see that happen…

“Mr. Takumi, we have a problem!”

One day, a programmer came running to me with a pale face.

Naruhodō: There is a story behind this.
Mayoi: Really? What is it, what is it?
Naruhodō: This was actually a calculation mistake of the programmer.
Mayoi: A calculation mistake?

Programmer: Mr. Takumi! We won’t get everything on the cartridge at this rate!
Takumi: So… we’ll need to cut a whole episode?
Programmer: That won’t help at all!
Takumi: What?
Programmer:  The cut needs to be more drastic.
Takumi: We-well, do you want me to cut two episodes!
Programmer: I won’t say it definitely won’t fit then.
Takumi: So you’d reunite with Mayoi and then go straight to the finale episode?!
Programmer: I won’t say it definitely won’t be like that then.

Naruhodō: But it turned out there had been a calculation mistake.
Mayoi: Oh….That was a pretty amazing mistake then.
Naruhodō: But it appears they were helped by that mistake.
Mayoi: Why?
Naruhodō: Because of that, they had noticed quite early on that it was getting tight, so they could work on it while the damage was still light.
Mayoi: A lucky break then.
Naruhodō: When he was told they needed to cut two episodes, even TakuShū couldn’t joke about it.
Mayoi: So even he didn’t made a punny joke then.
Takumi: I told you, I hate puns!
Mayoi:….? Did you hear something?
Naruhodō: Wasn’t it just your imagination?