Title: [Mari-Detective] Brimming with memory-filled stories the fans had longed to hear! A report of the Gyakuten Saiban 10th Anniversary Special Court, where the new title Gyakuten Saiban 5 was also announced! / 「【まり探】『逆転』ファン垂涎の思い出話がてんこ盛り！ 最新作『逆転裁判5』も発表された“逆転裁判10周年特別法廷”レポート」
Source: Dengeki Online
Source: Dengeki Online
Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to the respective owners.
The special event “Gyakuten Saiban Tenth Anniversary Special Court” was held today (January 29) at Mielparque in Tokyo. Marizō here, chief of the Marizō Detective Agency corner where we talk about mystery, horror and suspense adventure games here at Dengeki Online, reporting on the afternoon edition of the event!
The event starts with a “Special Court" video. Familiar faces like Naruhodo Ryūichi (Phoenix Wright), Mitsurugi Reiji (Miles Edgeworth), Ayasato Mayoi (Maya Fey) and the judge are all gathered in the courtroom and look back at the now ten-year old Gyakuten Saiban series. Suddenly, Detective Itonokogiri Keisuke (Dick Gumshoe) appears on the scene. A “mysterious murder” has occurred in the lobby of the courthouse. The crime scene photograph presented by Itonokogiri shows a dead Yahari Masashi (Larry Butz) covered in way too many references. As part of the investigation into the Larry Butz Murder Case, the developers are asked to testify.
It is at this moment that Takeshita Hironobu (producer of Layton Kyūju VS Gyakuten Saiban (Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney), Eshiro Motohide (producer of the Gyakuten Kenji (Ace Attorney Investigations) series), Yamazaki Takeshi (director of the Gyakuten Kenji series) and Takumi Shū (director of the Gyakuten Saiban series) appear on stage. Takumi explains he is happy the audience laughed at watching the video they just showed, and with that, the developers begin reflecting on the Gyakuten series.
Reflecting on Gyakuten Saiban
The first game, Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney GBA) was released in October 2001 on the DS. It was a project that was planned as a ten-month project with seven members on the team. Mr. Takumi explains how during the development of that first game, he had not even thought about any sequels. Gyakuten Saiban was the first game he had written and directed, and he explains how the rookie attorney Naruhodo-kun grew with each new entry in the series and that he himself too grew along him.
Mr. Takumi talks about how he wrote the scenarios for five episodes in three months for Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 – Justice for All) on GBA. But while he had written those five episodes, they were forced to cut one episode halfway though development. That episode was Turnabout Recipe, later included in Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Ace Attorney 3 – Trials and Tribulations). Mr. Takumi reveals that because the episode had been moved from the second game to the third game, the minor joke that the one white pigeon in Vitamin Square among the other pigeons was in fact one that had escaped from Tachimi Circus (Berry Big Circus) was scrapped.
Mr. Takumi also tells how he would have liked to have used the final episode of 2, with Ōtorō Shingo (Matt Engarde), as the final episode of the whole series. But the moment he came up with the idea for the story, he decided to use it immediately, and thus it became the last episode of the second game. But because of him using the idea immediately, he had troubles with the final episode of 3 until the very end. Mr. Takumi however looks content when he tells the audience that he is glad that in the end, things did go the way they went.
He then touched upon the fingerprinting system featured in Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten (Ace Attorney 1 DS), which was created with the capabilities of the Nintendo DS in mind. He explains how he thought of the idea for that mechanic when he saw how you could blow out a candle on the DS by blowing at the screen without even touching any buttons. He also reveals that during the development of Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 – Apollo Justice), which features the Lay Judge system, he personally went to the Ministry of Justice to make a presentation about the game, but was told that “the police isn’t that sloppy at conducting investigations.”
Reflecting on Gyakuten Kenji
Next was the Gyakuten Kenji series on the DS. Mr. Eshiro explains how the series started with the concept of offering a new way to interact with the world of Gyakuten Saiban. Gyakuten Kenji (Ace Attorney Investigations) being the first game he’d produce, and also the first game to be directed by the rookie Mr. Yamazaki, the two worked hard in order to create the game. The two then proceeded to talk about a character which was scrapped from Gyakuten Kenji, and a whole episode cut from Gyakuten Kenji 2 (Ace Attorney Investigations 2 - Prosecutor's Gambit).
This is Inukai Ruka, a character originally planned to appear in the third episode of Gyakuten Kenji. She’s a dolphin trainer and would only open up to dolphins. Mr. Yamazaki explains how Mitsurugi was supposed to become friends with a dolphin in order to get her to testify, and that it would become such an oddly impossible mission they decided to cut this part.
This was followed by another reveal that for Gyakuten Kenji 2, Mr. Eshiro had gotten angry at Mr. Yamazaki because the story he had written was far too big, and Mr. Yamazaki was forced to cut the third episode completely. Because one episode had been cut, the game would now only have four episodes, so they decided to split the final episode into two separate episodes: The Forgotten Turnabout and The Grand Turnabout. Aizawa Shimon, who appears in Episode 5, originally had a very big role in the third episode. And then Mr. Yamazaki reveals the shocking fact that because they had to cut the third episode, Ō Teikun (Di-Jumn Wang), who wasn’t supposed to die originally, became the victim of the fifth episode. He explains that he hopes he can use the cut third episode some time in the future.
Q&A With the Developers
Next there was a corner where the developers would answer questions from the audience. Below is a summary in Q&A form.
Q: What has ten years of Gyakuten Saiban brought you?
Takumi: I’ve gotten to know a lot of people.
Yamazaki: I was originally a fan myself of Gyakuten Saiban, so it’s the reason why I went to Capcom and why I am standing here today!
Q: How do you come up with the trickery in your stories?
Takumi: I usually start with thinking about the case. The more interesting a case is, the more motivated I get to really give it form. And then I let my darker self take over, brooding over the tricks necessary to make that murder reality (laugh). But it’s important to first think of an interesting case.
Yamazaki: I am like Mr. Takumi, I start thinking about what kind of case would be interesting. Of course, crazy story settings only make things difficult for me later on when I actually have to write the scenarios…
Q: Can you about recording the voices for the games? Is it hard? Any funny stories to tell?
Yamazaki: I have auditioned for every single game I have worked on, but not once did I get picked…
Takumi: Originally, Gyakuten Saiban wasn’t suppose to have voices, but the sound engineer insisted on it, so all of us just recorded voice clips. To be honest, I didn’t recognize our own voices at all when I first heard myself (as Naruhodo) and Iwamoto Tatsurō (as Mitsurugi Reiji) as voice clips.
Q: What brings you comfort at work?
Eshiro: The drinks after a hard day’s work.
Takeshita: It’s not really at work, but I love seeing people buying Gyakuten Saiban at the store.
Takumi: Wild Turkey Bourbon and Mr. Takeshita’s smile.
Yamazaki: We have a snack corner at the offices of the Gyakuten Kenji team. You’ll always find the newest snacks there, so it’s really the spot where everyone takes a break. But we also get fatter there (laugh).
About The Film Gyakuten Saiban
The Special Court continued after the Q&A corner and we are shown footage from the Special Courts from the past, the orchestra concerts and the Takarazuka Revue musicals. Two collaboration projects were shown here. The first is the theatrical film Gyakuten Saiban, to be released on February 11. Mr. Takumi explains how the Takarazuka Revue musicals surprised him originally, but that the film project too was a great surprise to him. He didn’t want the film to be just a normal drama film, but He had already seen an early preview and he explains how the film had some original ways in its presentation. and that we should look forward to it.
At this point, a special video message was shown featuring Narimiya Hiroki (role: Naruhodo Ryūichi), Saitō Takumi (role: Mitsurugi Reiji), Kiritani Mirei (role: Ayasato Mayoi (Maya Fey) and director Miike Takashi. Ms. Kiritani, a gamer herself who has played all the Gyakuten Saiban games, says she thinks that the people who made these games are amazing. Mr. Miike mentions how the people gathered at the venue are probably the most critical of the fans and that the cast and staff have worked hard to make the film. He ends with “To those who aren’t going to watch the film… Objection!’ After a round of applause and laughter, we are told that at the film theatres that’ll show the film, they have all kinds original merchandise like Taiho-kun figures (the Blue Badger), key covers and pass cases.
About Layton Kyōju VS Gyakuten Saiban on 3DS
The second collaboration project is the Nintendo 3DS game Layton Kyōju VS Gyakuten Saiban, scheduled for a 2012 release. It was at this point Level-5 CEO Hino Akihiro appeared on the stage, explaining the game together with Mr. Takeshita and Mr. Takumi. Mr. Hino, who is a self-proclaimed fan of Gyakuten Saiban, explains how has become once again aware hoe special it that Professor Layton is now collaborating together with Gyakuten Saiban. He explains that the concept of the game was not just to have Mr. Takumi supervise the game, but that it would be really a game created by Mr. Takumi. There had been a lot of talks about the game’s production, and he even started to think where Layton had gone off to, because it was shaping up as a genuine Gyakuten Saiban game. He made it really clear that Mr. Takumi’s touch was visible in the game.
Once the introduction ended, Mr. Takumi played a demo of the game himself. He explained about the mob trials and pursue mechanics never seen in a Gyakuten Saiban game before. We have a report on the demo here at Dengeki online, so please take a look there if you’re interested. They also showed some of the animations and voices used in the game. Mr. Hino said that Layton Kyōju VS Gyakuten Saiban does a lot of things not seen in previous Gyakuten Saibans, so we should all look forward to it. And with that, he left the stage.
Mizuki Ichirō Singing The Song of Ōedo Senshi Tonosaman!
The Special Court continued with announcing the results of a user poll about their favorite music, their favorite lines and more. The music track that got the most votes was Pursuit ~ Cornered. Other popular tracks were Turnabout Sisters ~ Ayasato Mayoi’s Theme, Ayasato Harumi – Together with Hami-chan, The Dark Fragrance of Coffee ~ Godot’s Theme, Objection! ~ Naruhodō Ryūichi’s Theme and The Great Revival ~ Karuma Mei. Next was a live performance of The Song of Ōedo Senshi Tonosaman, which was second-most popular after Pursuit! The singer was Mizuki Ichirō, the king of Anison. Mr. Mizuki, wearing his flashy crimson jacket appeared on stage with a hand fan with a rising sun motif in one hand, while raising his other fist in the air as he passionately sang The Song of Ōedo Senshi Tonosaman (The Steel Samurai).
They then announced the most popular lines. Fifth was Godot’s “The only time a man can cry, is when it’s all over.” Fourth was Mitsurugi’s “That… would be troublesome.” 3 and 2 were both Ayasato Chihiro (Mia Fey)’s lines: “Naruhodo-kun, you have to turn your thoughts around” and “The worst of times are when lawyers have to force their biggest smiles.” The number one fan favorite was: “Objection!”
iOS app Gyakuten Saiban 123HD – Naruhodō Ryūichi
Near the end of the event, they announced that the iOS application Gyakuten Saiban 123HD – Naruhodō Ryūichi would be released soon. This is an updated version of the iPhone/iPod touch application Gyakuten Saiban. The graphics have been brushed up and made compatible for both vertical and horizontal viewing. The game is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Please note that with this update, some parts of the terms of use will change.
And then Mr. Takumi made his concluding speech. “I am a fan of mystery fiction, and I originally entered the game industry to make a game like Gyakuten Saiban. When I started working in the industry, I dreamed of making game people would play ten, twenty years later too. It’s just amazing to think I am standing on this stage now, ten years later. Thank you all very much.”
And with that, the event ended…. Or so we thought. The Special Court continued once again. This time, the protagonist of Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 – Apollo Justice) Odoroki Hōsuke (Apollo Justice) appeared on stage together with prosecutor Garyū Kyōya and a special live performance of Garyū’s rock band Garyū Wave (the Gavinners) hit song Love Love Guilty (Guilty Love) commenced. Mizuki Ichirō appeared once again on stage, but this time together with Mr. Takumi on the guitar! The hot rock number Love Love Guilty echoed throughout the venue.
And what followed at the end was the biggest surprise of the whole day. Yahari, who was supposed to have been murdered at the start of the event, suddenly appears with a DVD. They play the DVD, which starts with the words “And now… a new history of Turnabout starts…” which was followed by the reveal of the logo of Gyakuten Saiban 5 (Ace Attorney 5 – Dual Destinies) and loud cheers from the audience. They announced that the newest title in the series, Gyakuten Saiban 5 was in development. They didn’t reveal anything about the hardware, release window or the contents of the game yet, but Dengeki Online will be reporting on it as the story develops. Fans of Gyakuten Saiban will have to wait for more exciting news.
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