Source: Nintendo Dream, October issue, 2017
Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to their respective owners.
Episode 1: The Adventure of the Blossoming Attorney
Episode 1: Behind The Scenes
Eshiro: The one we showed in the footage revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2016.
Interviewer: Was this illustration made for the reveal?
Eshiro: No, I think we picked one of the visuals from the image board the team made. Even though the show is in September, it’s still quite hot outside and I remember I thought it’d fit right with the weather at the time.
Takumi: It’s from a scene in the opening of the game, but it could also be used in a more abstract manner, so I proposed to go with this image.
Interviewer: And did you have the idea of having Susato at the grave from the start?
Takumi: Yes. I figured that the first thing Susato would do upon return to Japan, was to report on what had happened.
Interviewer: Yes.
Takumi: That view of the sea in the background a grave beneath a Japanese pine tree and the crying cicadas, Nuri and all the others all shared this common image how it should look.
Nuri: We talked quite a bit about whether there should be writing on the gravestone. We’d write something, and delete it again. For a period, it was clean, but personally, I thought that the gravestone is a focal point in the composition, but if it was empty, it’d attract your attention for nothing, so I wanted it to have some writing on it.
Takumi: Originally it was supposed to be only a background image, so we kept the gravestone clean, but when it was decided we’d do a close up on it, we also agreed to have writing on it.
Interviewer: I remember I wondered how Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 would start when I first saw the reveal.
Eshiro: And there came Ryūtarō.
Interviewer: First episodes in the Gyakuten Saiban series have featured amnesia and other ideas before, but who would’ve guessed this time the protagonist wouldn’t even be featured!
All: (laugh)
Eshiro: It did make the marketing campaign difficult. Now the game’s out, people know of course, but before the release, it was really hard figuring out how to promote the game considering it had a different protagonist now. And while Ryūtarō isn’t present from start to end, we couldn’t reveal their true identity either.
Takumi: I was of the opinion it didn’t really matter whether we’d spoil who Ryūtarō was or not. But it was funnier not to (laugh).
Nuri: Everyone could guess who Ryūtarō was with one single glance!
All: (laugh)
Eshiro: Ryūtarō was also in the demo, so while now it’s become a public secret, before the release of the game, I had to keep on saying that Ryūtarō was really the protagonist of the game (laugh).
Interviewer: How did you come up with the character of Ryūtarō?
Takumi: When we finished the first game, I figured that this was the only way possible to start the sequel with, if we’d produce the game. Susato had returned to Japan, so the game had to start. I also thought it’d be pleasing if like in the first game, the story would start from a courtroom in Japan.
Interviewer: I assume that it was not only Ryūtarō, but also the people who played the first game who were shocked to learn that the victim was Jezail.
Takumi: It was from the start the idea to have this set of having Ryūtarō defend and Jezail be the victim.
Interviewer: Aha. But naturally, this part was different when you first conceived the story as one single game, right?
Takumi: Yes. I had prepared a different story for Jezail in the original plans, so I rewrote it. But that led to new problems story-wise.
Interviewer: What kind of problems?
Takumi: By having Jezail die at the start of the game, the truth behind what happened in the first game would be covered by darkness for the moment. I was worried about how the players would deal with that. I paid attention while writing this episode to hint that the mystery would definitely be revealed later on. I think that if you play this episode a second time and pay attention, you’ll notice all kinds of clues.
Interviewer: Why was the case set at the beach?
Nuri: When Mr. Takumi told he wanted this game to start in Japan again, we talked about what a good setting would and I proposed the beach.
Interviewer: Why the beach?
Nuri: First of all, I wanted to redesign the characters in a way that was immediately noticeable. Suppose we had all the characters wear bathing suits. Even returning characters could look drastically different.
Eshiro: Beachwear from that period looked unique too.
Nuri: We talked about having Susato wear beachwear too, but then it was decided she wasn’t present at the crime scene. So that’s why Haori was wearing beachwear (laugh).
Episode 1: The Secret Stories Behind the Characters
Naruhodō Ryūtarō
Nuri: I think the discussion was about whether we’d make Ryūtarō unrecognizable, or to go with the more predictable pattern of having the design so just so you’d think “Hey, isn’t that Susato?” In the earliest rough designs, Ryūtarō even had a ribbon in their hair.Interviewer: These concept designs below, right?
Nuri: Eventually we decided to express Susato with the use of color and other manners, and not leave too many direct elements linking to her in Ryūtarō’s design.
Interviewer: What did Mr. Takumi had to say about the design?
Takumi: I left it up to Nuri. I think the only comment I made was it would be okay even if people would notice Ryūtarō’s Susato.
Interviewer: That’s a bold direction.
Nuri: Yes. If he hadn’t said that, I would’ve had to hide her hair. Though I wasn’t planning of removing the hat anyway. She’d be returning to London afterwards, so I couldn’t cut her hair short (laugh).
Takumi: That would’ve been a bad move (laugh).
Nuri: I was limited in what I could do design-wise, so that comment did help me out a lot. I remember Mr. Eshiro at first thought the design would look completely different so you wouldn’t know it was Susato.
Eshiro: Yeah. That’s what I heard when we didn’t have any visual material yet and only text.
Nuri: So when I showed him the design, he went: “But that’s just Susato!” (laugh)
Eshiro: I thought we weren’t supposed to spoil it, and I had been told the design would be different, so I cried out why it was exactly like Susato.
Nuri: But she’s Susato!
Eshiro: What!
All: (laugh)
Eshiro: So the team had no qualms about spoiling it. Well, it turn out to be a funny joke. And it fitted the story too. There were no angry complaints from consumers about how Ryūtarō wasn’t the protagonist, and I think everyone who played the demo or the full game was satisfied with the character.
Takumi: People would figure it out even before playing it.
Auchi Taketsuchi
Interviewer: His folding fan now says “Punishment” instead of “Sin.”
Takumi: It’s just a small change, but it’s fun for the player when they notice it.
Nuri: As for this design, his hair went off cleanly last time, so I had to think off how his hairdo would’ve become afterwards.
Takumi: I think it’s a very natural result. Also, I thought pretty hard coming up with his death poem.
Murasame Haori
Nuri: The character of Haori wasn’t originally in Mr. Takumi’s scenario.Interviewer: No?
Nuri: At first, the story featured Mr. Mamemomi as the only original character, but the story just seemed a bit plain compared to the first game. I mean, you had Professor Mikotoba, Sōseki and Auchi… only middle-aged men! (laugh)
Takumi: Originally, Professor Mikotoba was the defendant, and the story would be about Susato defending her father. So I had never thought about just having middle-aged men.
Nuri: Still, I had to voice my opinion on that. It wasn’t just about having middle-aged men, but if Susato were to stand at the defense’s bench, I figured you could have a girl in the role Susato usually had, and bonds between Ryūnosuke and Asōgi shown in the first game, could then be changed into the bonds between Susato and Haori. And the friendship between those two could also help flesh out a new side to Susato. So I proposed adding a new character.
Interviewer: You do rewrites when people point things out, right?
Takumi: Yes. I have the team look at the first draft, and then I pick things out or throw something away for the second draft. I also change lines depending on how the character designs turn out.
Interviewer: What can you tell me about Haori’s design?
Nuri: It’s completely my own design as I imagined her to be. Someone who has always admired Susato. Someone who adores Susato.
Interviewer: That’s why she has forget-me-nots in her concept designs, right?
Nuri: Yes, in flower language: “don’t forget me.” After seeing Susato in the first game, my image of her had changed into that of a bright, energetic girl, so character traits like braveness and gracefulness, traits I consider to be Yamato Nadeshiko, those traits were reflected in Haori’s design.
Hosonaga Satoru
Takumi: What you see is what you get.All: (laugh)
Interviewer: The turtle on his head is made of wood, right?
Nuri: Yes, it’s a wooden toy. It makes a clapping noise.
Interviewer: Was that turtle your idea?
Nuri: It was Mr. Takumi who wanted something on his head. Something on his head which would stick out from the water surface if Hosonaga was under water.
Takumi: Yes, that was my direction. Hosonage is a specialist in undercover operations, so where would the undercover agent be? Under water!
Interviewer: Oh—oh, sure (laugh).
Takumi: Explaining this is kinda embarrassing, like explaining your own joke.
All: (Laugh)
Natsume Sōseki
Takumi: It’s set in Japan after all, so I had the master himself appear.
Nuri: Sōseki is a favorite of Mr. Takumi.
Takumi: Yes. He’s always on my mind.
Nuri: But he likes him too much. At one time, he was appearing in all the episodes. Originally, he was also going to appear at the Fair as a witness, and I was like “Aren’t you going a bit overboard with him?” (laugh)
Interviewer: How did his design go?
Nuri: In the first game, he appeared in a suit, but that was not the appearance we had planned for him originally. At first, he was supposed to be spooked out, trembling in his rooms, so originally, his design had him wearing something like a dotera coat.
Takumi: In the first game, he was in the detention center from start to finish, and never got out.
Nuri: So this time we went for something closer to his original design by having him wear a kimono, also to strengthen the image of being in Japan now. In the end, I think we ended up with a design close to the original design. And now he was an important figure in literature, so he also dressed more the part. He isn’t a formal person, but he’d be wearing a kimono casually.
Takumi: For the first game, you also had a design with more Western fashion, right?
Nuri: That was a design with Western fashion for if he had gone to the Fair.
Takumi: But now he’s wearing Western clothing below the waist.
Nuri: I was afraid he’d look too much the part if he’d only wear Japanese clothes and it’d weaken that image of Sōseki moving around energetically. So I left some room for his active antics in his bottom wear. By the way, originally I had imagined Sōseki’s bathing suit as a single fundoshi (laugh).
Mamemomi Heita
Interviewer: The duo of Mamemomi and Sōseki is the best.
Takumi: I had the image of their appearance together from the start. The original inspiration comes from the Capcom fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3. In the background, there’s this character who rolls around taking photographs, and for some reason, that left an impression on me.
Nuri: Naruhodō Ryūichi (Phoenix Wright) also joined the fight in that game, right? You probably remembered it from checking the game then (laugh).
Interviewer: Sōseki’s moves look even better with Mamemomi moving around him.
Takumi: I wanted to have this link between the animations of those two. I also got the inspiration for this from somewhere else, but I won’t tell you here (laugh). By the way, I came up with the name by first thinking of the initials, and then I decided to have all m-kana ma-mi-mu-me-mo in the name, and eventually settled on Mamemomi. There’s no special meaning behind the mame (beans) or momi (unhulled rice).
Interviewer: I actually thought there was something behind that.
Nuri: I have heard this explanation for Mamemomi a couple of times now, but it sounds silly every single time (laugh).
Interviewer: What directions did you get when designing him?
Nuri: I got the name Mamemomi and the fact he was a newspaper reporter. So I first drew an elderly, restrained newspaper reporter. But then Mr. Takumi said he wanted someone a bit more energetic. So I decided to make him younger, with a thick, powerful chest. I figured he’d be someone showing off his chest. Then we talked about changing his name to Munagura (TN: munagura means collar/lapels. Mune/muna means chest).
All: (laugh)
Nuri: So now I worked on the design to fit his new name even better. So the self-controlled reporter changed into an active person and I figured he’d be outside in the summer going around doing his work, so I gave him a tan.
Interviewer: So Mamemomi was actually called Munagura?
Nuri: Yes, but a while after we settled on the design, his name was changed back.
Interviewer: From Munagura to Mamemomi.
Takumi: Yes. “I’m sorry, but you know…” You see, his line” Mamemomism” really stuck with me. Basically, I wanted him to say Mamemomism.
All: (laugh)
Nuri: The design itself hasn’t changed from his Munagura days. But little did we know that Munagura would have a large influence on a different character?
Interviewer: Munagura did?
Nuri: A bit after the name Munekura was scrapped, the name suddenly returned! And who could’ve guessed, it was as a candidate for Haori’s name! (laugh)
Interviewer: What was the name?
Nuri: Munagura Tsumami…
Takumi: Munagura Tsumami. Because she’d be grabbing someone (tsumamu means grab, pick in one's hand) by the collar (munagura) and throw you. Tsumami-chan.
Eshiro: Yeah, that’s a no-go.
All: (laugh)
Nuri: I desperately had to stop Mr. Takumi there. I felt something important would’ve been taken away from her as a friend of Susato with that name (laugh).
Eshiro: Great job at stopping Takumi!
Nuri: For a week, I kept on mumbling “ Munagura Tsumami?” as I stared at Haori’s design and considered the name, but in the end, I had to say “No!” out loud.
Takumi: I gave in to Nuri’s passionate feelings on the matter (laugh).
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