Gyakuten Kenji 2 Blog Entry 27: Thank you for your hard work! (2011)

Title: Thank you for your hard work! /「お疲れさまでした！」
Source: Gyakuten Kenji 2 official site

Summary: In the one of the last posts published on the official Gyakuten Kenji 2 (Ace Attorney Investigations 2 - Prosecutor's Gambit) developers blog, dated February 24th 2011, assistant producer Shiozawa Natsuki looks back at the development of the game that was released just a few weeks earlier. She reminiscences about the summer, when director and lead writer Yamazaki realized they weren't going to meet the scenario deadlines at this rate, and decided to lock himself up in a meeting room for months with just a computer to make sure he'd finish the scenario in time. And time flies when you're cooped up all day in a small room, and sometimes, even things like birthdays come second to work.

Images are taken from the source article. Copyrights belongs to the respective owners.

Thank you for your hard work! 

 

Hello, everybody! It’s been a while. Assistant producer Shiozawa here!

It’s been three weeks already since Gyakuten Kenji 2 (‘Turnabout Prosuecutor 2’) was released. The development team is finally settling down now, passing the days dancing and crying tears of joy as we read the comments sent to our official Twitter account (@GK_CAPCOM). I too finally have some time for myself, so I finally got started on Catha… err, I started playing Gyakuten Kenji 2!

Anyway, this will the final time I will be able to talk to you through the development blog, so today I want to look back at the development period and share a nostalgic story with you.
 

It all happened, ah yes, in the hot summer. When Director Yamazaki realized the scenario of the Gyakuten Kenji 2 wouldn’t be finished according to schedule, he decided to make the ultimate sacrifice: he went into kanzume mode (TN: kanzume means “canned” as in “canned food” and refers to a practice from the publication industry where editors basically keep an author or manga artist in a hotel room or somewhere away from home without distractions to ensure they’ll meet their deadlines).

And his kanzume mode… was the real deal. First he reserved a meeting room at the office for several months and brought only the bare necessities, like a PC and other files. Each morning, Director Yamazaki would go straight for the meeting room and start working on the scenario as if he were possessed. When he had exhausted himself completely, he would go straight home again. Chatting with the other staff members, going out for a nice lunch… you’d think he’d do that, but no! Some call me a demon or a puppet master, but even I had to admit he wasn’t going easy on himself at all. (Of course, you can’t develop a game without the director there, so once a week, there was the “Yamazaki Check Time”.

So during this kanzume period, I happened to pass in front of the meeting room. “…You know, what if he isn’t really working hard on the scenario there?” I wondered as I stealthily opened the door… No, of course that didn’t happen. I was worried about him, fearing he might push himself too hard!! So I knocked on the door and went inside.

I think, yeah, I think he was writing (my memories are vague). So we had a short chat, and just as I got up and was about to leave, he said the following.

“Oh, I almost forgot, today’s actually my birthday~”
….
……..
It was silent in the meeting room for a few seconds.
“Oh. I’ll have to congratulate you then. Bye!”
I think I saw tears welling up in his eyes, but I quickly exited the room. And I quickly ran to our offices.
“Hey! Did you know it was the director’s birthday today?”
“…Ah!” (Furukawa clapped his fist in his hand like you see in comics)
“That’s all you have to say!?”
 

So I then dashed to a cake shop near the office. My eyes fell on a delicious-looking short cake with lots of strawberries and blueberries on top and I called out to the clerk
“This one please? And could you write a message on the cake?”
“Yes. What should it say? ‘Happy birthday?’” the elderly clerk asked with a smile on their face. I had to muster up the courage to say the following.
“Errr… Objection.”
“Excuse me?” (Like how Sugishita Ukyō says it)
“Could… could you write Objection on the cake?” I asked very, very timidly.
“So it should say Objection?” the clerk asked again looking me in the eyes.
Nooo! Don’t make me repeat it again! Don’t make me repeat it again!!

…So we didn’t do anything fancy, but this was the cake we prepared.
Wouldn’t it have been great if they could’ve cut the plate like a speech bubble?

So then we went to the director’s kanzume room with the rest of the staff members. Steadily, swiftly and stealthily!

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY~~!”
(Director Yamazaki looked dumbfounded for a while)

And then followed the usual. We sang Happy birthday and Mr. Yamazaki blew out the candles.

 

*CLAP* *CLAP*

 

However, take a good look at the picture. Yes, our director had been eating a convenience store lunchbox all on his own… on the night of his own birthday! A tear-rending story, for both those who tell this story, and those who listen to this story!
 

And it was with episodes like these that Gyakuten Kenji 2 was finally completed. It felt like a long time, it felt like a short time, but it was very memorable. The development process of Gyakuten Kenji 2 is slowly turning into “a memory” for me. 

But! Life only starts for Gyakuten Kenji 2 the moment it falls into your hands!
This is only the beginning!
What happens next, is up to all of you! 

 

What lies ahead of us, what kind of world will open up to us, that is something we all look forward to! Last week will be the final time the blog is updated. One final message by the producer Eshiro and our director Yamazaki! Be sure to read it!

 

***** 

★Today’s best shot★

A picture at the end of the night. No explanations necessary, right? Thank you for all your hard work!