Gyakuten Saiban 2 Blog Entry 10: Turnabout Circus (2002)

Title: Turnabout Circus / 「逆転サーカス」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 2 official site (down)

Summary: In the tenth column for the Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 – Justice for All) website, director Takumi writes about the third episode in the game: Turnabout Circus (Turnabout Big Top). The story features many personal elements, like a character with a love for (bad) jokes, as well as trick magic (Takumi has always claimed that his performance during his job interview with Capcom got him hired). But he also notes that this was an episode with more focus on drama: many years later, when he was working on the anime adaptation of this very episode, he still remained firm in his opinion that this was one of the most touching episodes he had created. In the backstage part of this column, Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright) and Mayoi (Maya Fey) talk a bit about some scrapped ideas for this episode.

Turnabout Circus

Personally, I think this episode is basically perfect as a Gyakuten Saiban story… I think I managed to finish the episode as I had imagined it. It’s vying for first or second place of my own personal favorites in the series. (There is only one part where my own abilities weren’t enough). As it was the third episode, my head was already getting used to coming up with ideas, and I managed to come up with the plot rather smoothly.

“The circus” and “magic”. These were themes I definitely wanted to use when it was decided we’d work on 2. The destructive power of Tonosaman (the Steel Samurai) was really wonderful in the last game, so I was prepared to break all the rules to surpass that episode. The first thing we did when we were working on the scenario was… the defying act of going to see the circus. With extraordinary excitement, we were all entranced by the strange feats performed on the stage. And the result… was that we sorta used that for the background of the tent of the Tachimi Circus (Berry Big Circus).

This episodes has two “stories” that have nothing to do with the main plot. Perhaps this happened because writing the plot went so smoothly. The first one is “the story of a certain professional”. The main role there is the clown Tommy (Moe).

I like people who can pour their all into one thing. Believing in one’s path, going all the way until the end and then die… That’s awesome. However, an almost painful purity can also sometimes seem ridiculous. And that’s precisely Tommy’s way of life. The dried-up old gags he uses, and the many objects lying around in his room… As I wrote the scenario, I felt sad for a reason, and tears appeared in my eyes. But I’m probably the only one who did that.

The second was “the story of a broken group getting together again.” The main role there is for the whole circus team. We creators in general make one work together as one team. But people in the staff only assembling people they like and making the games they want to create…? That doesn’t happen. Team members are assembled and made to work on something by an entity… that entity is naturally “the company”. It’s pretty difficult to really become one team under circumstances like that. Especially with large teams, it might be impossible to really become one.

The Gyakuten Saiban team is about ten persons large. It’s about the largest number you can have where you can still have contact with the “team” directly yourself. That is why I felt attracted to a story like this.

The trick is pretty stupid, and the characters are outrageous. But I think that with this episode, I have now seen the perfected form of a mystery story that is possible only because it happens in the world of Gyakuten Saiban. Next time is the final episode. It is finally time to use that plot I had been saving as my ultimate weapon since the final stages of the previous game’s development cycle.

Turnabout Circus (Backstage)

Personally, I think this episode is basically perfect as a Gyakuten Saiban story… I think I managed to finish it as I had imagined it. It’s vying for first or second place of my own personal favorites in the series

Mayoi: Max was really amazing. Man, he flew. Right through the sky!
Naruhodō: Yeah. But at first, Max’ specialty was supposed to be something completely different.
Mayoi: Eh! It wasn’t a flying trick?
Naruhodō. At first, it was supposed to be a magic trick where’d he cut a person inside a box in two. And Max would’ve really cut somebody in two and get arrested.
Mayoi: Uuh…. That’s rather spectacular.
Naruhodō: But then, you see, he talked about that with a team member:

Takumi: ... So I was thinking about a story like that. What do you think?
Iwamoto: Hmm, that might be a bad idea.
Takumi: …Why?
Iwamoto: I read a mystery novel with a similar story a while back.
Takumi: What! Go get yourself cut up in two and die!
Iwamoto I-it’s not my fault….

Mayoi: Aha. That’s too bad.
Naruhodō: And then TakuShū came up with a story with an escape-from-the-water magic trick.
Mayoi: What kind of trick?
Naruhodō: A magician locked inside a water basin is supposed to escape, butt they fail and die.
Mayoi: Uuh…. That’s rather spectacular.
Naruhodō: But then, you see, he talked about that with a team member:

Takumi: ... So I was thinking about a story like that. What do you think?
Iwamoto: Hmm, that might be a bad idea too.
Takumi: …Why?
Iwamoto: I once saw a film with a similar story, long time ago.
Takumi: What! Go drown and die!
Iwamoto: I-it’s not my fault….

Mayoi: …Coming up with cases can be quite difficult.

“The circus” and “magic”. These were themes I definitely wanted to use when it was decided we’d work on 2.

Naruhodō: TakuShū is a magician, you now.
Mayoi: What do you mean?
Naruhodō: He practiced in a magic club in college.
Mayoi: Magic tricks?
Naruhodō: I heard it was his only weapon when he was looking for employment.
Mayoi: Magic tricks?
Naruhodō: And it was thanks to that he was actually hired.
Mayoi: Magic tricks?
Naruhodō: But after he was hired, that became something that made his life hard again.
Mayoi: Magic tricks?
Naruhodō: …Stop it, it’s annoying. Your reactions.
Mayoi: Hahaha, sorry. It was fun teasing you …But how was his life getting hard because of magic tricks?
Naruhodō: He had become known as “ that TakuShū with the magic tricks”. So every time people would ask show them something.
Mayoi: Aha. That’s too bad.
Naruhodō: It’s been nine years since he joined the company. So he has no tricks anymore. “Don’t haunt me both with ideas for scenarios and magic!”, he’d cry. It’s especially bad around the time of end-of-year parties.
Mayoi: That’s what they call the sorrows of the company worker, right?
Naruhodō: … I think that’s something else.

However, an almost painful purity can also sometimes seem ridiculous. And that’s precisely Tommy’s way of life.

Mayoi: Those gags of Tommy, or better said, his puns really make an impact.
Naruhodō: But I heard that TakuShū really thinks those gags are funny.
Mayoi: Jokes like “Overseas Chinese Returnees?”
Naruhodō: He was so impressed by that when he first heard that in the second grade of junior high, he’d been sitting on it until now.
Mayoi: Jokes like “Grapes for apes”?
Naruhodō: …That one he heard as a third-year college student.
Mayoi: He thinks that’s funny….
Naruhodō: He even praised it as part of his best repertoire.
Mayoi: TakuShū really does like his puns!
Takumi: Sorry! I do really love puns!
Mayoi: …? Did you hear something?
Naruhodō: Wasn’t it just your imagination?