a short list of my responses to people giving me the chance to talk about tgaa

What first came to mind here was something due again to one of my lovely twitter mutuals, (whom is playing tgaa for the first time in recent, so I am being dragged back into my Love for it… (just kidding. It would never leave!)) mentioned in a post. Not just the found family, or the platonically-questionable relationship that can be perceived between Ryunosuke and Kazuma if you squint even just a little, but rather how they all intertwine. This is something That, Per Usual, I’ll gladly say: Ace Attorney does great with this. But specifically, The Great Ace Attorney.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney isn’t… a huge… favourite of mine. And in this manner of intertwining characters, it falls just a bit flat for me. What doesn’t, predictably, is The Great Ace Attorney’s relationship chart. It’s… actually beautiful to me. Every time a relationship between two unexpected characters was established, I was firstly like “WHAT.”, but more importantly, SECONDLY, like “oh. There were signs! And I missed them! And it all makes so much sense.” And it was wonderful to experience — maybe it’s just me, but nonetheless then I will say: for ME, the great ace attorney did a delightful job at having surprising but fitting charzcter interactions and past relationships were written so well and in character I fear I may never meet a cast I care so much about (but especially meet a cast I am so invested in) ever again. That’s something that’s hard to accomplish without good relationship writing between characters, I think. When pitching the idea of buying tgaa to friends, my first, and what will always be my first “pro” is this: “it just feels. So put together. At the end, you’ll see, everything just seems to make sense, and it helps you see how much dedication was really put into these guys”—or something like that.

a lovely twitter moot has reminded me of one of my favourite details about my favourite aa ship ever: asoryuu! asoryuu being Kazuma Asougi and Ryuunosuke Naruhodo. though I cannot elaborate on the context of it, throughout a lot of the game, runo can be seen wearing Kazuma's armband. this armband is one that signifies a defence attorney in japan, at the time. the entire time runo is seen wearing it, it is noticeably too large for him, consistently slipping down his arm. upon inspection of the band, you can see it is equipped with two strings to adjust tightness— yet, runo keeps it the original size— the one that was fit for Kazuma's arm. explodes and dies. sorry for being a shipper i promise the game offers more than this

while I am a big fan of how TGAA represents ... more than friendly relationships (in my eyes), it's also fantastic at representing familial relationships. like... outstanding at it. taking a look at Herlock Sholmes (a clever name, isn't it?), and Iris Wilson, you can see that there's much more than just a father/daughter duo. how they came to be that way, and how they will be in the future changes how their relationship a lot. despite this not being super common in father/daughter tropes, you can really see them both change and grow for each other. it's really heartwarming to see.

believe it or not, most of these will be about the great ace attorney rather than the justice or wright series... sorry. i think something tgaa does better than other ace attorney games is its side characters,,, like a THOUSAND PERCENT. it's just.. they're all peak. just like the other aa games, they mostly have pun names, but their designs are always so fucking good that there tend to be fans that treat them as an mc. for example: Rei Membami! (... pronounced: re-mem-ba-me... "re-member me".) her design is wonderful as she's just.. really fucking pretty, but her design also compliments her 100% canon gf's: Susato Mikotoba's! both of their designs take aspects of flowery culture, while seeming mature at the same time. or, more so susato's. rei's is playful as she is, and even features Myosotis sylvaticas! otherwise known as the forget-me-not. she is featured prominently in one case, and yet, even in the second game in the series, there are times you can remember her as susato's best friend (girlfriend.. says me). she isn't forgettable. and while the other side characters don't have such an open book of a name/theme, they, too, are not forgettable!

HI!!! umm there are so many options here but in honour of my retheme just now i will gladly talk (vaguely) about kazuma asougi!!! vaguely because i don't intend on spoiling a lot of tgaa, but at the same time, kinda hard to talk about.. that. ..... without.......... anyway.

I JUST think .. he is a great example of a very very very well executed 'vibe' change in a character. (I can't think of the right word. aura? whatever. i'll comment later when i remember).

I think possibly, to pick something, my favourite part about his switch is that you can see that he's still... him. I think to understand what i mean, you could use Hajime Hinata as an example. You can (and many do) argue for the separation of 'hajime hinata' and 'izuru kamakura' despite the fact they're supposed to just represent different versions of the same character (like, at different points in time). this can be argued (and is) i think, mostly due to how hajime hinata as an identity on his own (like, in the game) is very altered, so it isn't super authentic to 'him' as a character. but i also think it's argued because people simply feel as though it would be hard to speak about or think ab them as the same person when they are in such different environments and with such different personalities.

this is not an issue with kazuma asougi, i don't think. and while, again, you could say it's because he wasn't 'altered' as much as hajime hinata, i don't think that's it. i just think that even the newer kazuma still feels like him, somehow; despite the differences, you can (i think), be reminded that it's him. when he does something and you think 'kazuma wouldn't do that.' it's followed by something that makes you think 'well, i guess that never changes...'. because he is still him.

and even environment wise, you can see that to the people who knew him before hand, both ryunosuke and susato have a hard time adjusting to it, but theres nothing they can do. even as 'people', they couldn't argue the same way fans do about hajime hinata, i don't think. because it is still kazuma. they couldn't blame any Van Zieks, or any incident, or anything, i don't think. or if they can, they wouldn't. and i think it's great that we get to see such a character.

for me, anyway, i feel bad even vaguely imagining separating the versions, because they represent and compliment each other so well. you can see that he's changed and that the ways in which he did are just... his past self, in a new environment. you can see it very well.

you can see kazuma asougi v2 in his childhood home, you can see him being childhood friends with susato, and it would still be him. just grown; changed.

you can see runo change too of course, but they really show the differences between runo's changes and kazuma's changes. you can see how ryunosuke had time to adjust (at least, more than kazuma), he had figured it out on his own. kazuma did not have that privilege, and we can see it. we can see that, while he is still him, he was forced into this position, without warning; it's hard to decide if he changed for the better or worse, because either way, it wasn't something he had a choice in.

and throughout meeting him, the new him, you can see how he's slowly starting to adapt who he is and who is meant to be with his new situation. you can see the kazuma, the one (i would imagine) ryunosuke and susato once knew. i'd like to think it would've been nice to have that realization, both of them.

not the initial 'that's.. him?' but the actual moment it hits; when they actually accept, because they cannot deny, with what they're seeing, that this is kazuma asougi. this is him. the one they knew, he's right here, and while he is different, he is authentically him as they knew him.

so i enjoy his character a lot. what he represents and how he acts and how he changed and... all that.

also, he's like... kinda attractive.