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commentaryvorg · 5 months

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The Great Ace Attorney Final Trial Commentary: Day 1, Part 1

Welcome to another commentary project of mine, though this one will be quite a bit shorter than my others. The Great Ace Attorney has become my favourite Ace Attorney game, but I wouldn’t have commentary-worthy thoughts about every single part of every case. The final trial (of Resolve), though, has a lot of fun stuff going on beneath the surface that’s deserving of some line-by-line analysis like I do on this blog.

Of course, this will be written from a perspective of already knowing the full truth of things, so there will be spoilers for facts that only get revealed later on in the trial. This is not a commentary to read along with one’s first playthrough!

(The commentary will update on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Check this blog to find any other parts currently posted, and if it’s not yet finished, follow to catch future updates!)

Now that we’re below the readmore, I can add that this isn’t quite a commentary for everything going on in the final trial. It’s focused specifically on Kazuma and what’s going on in his head, only covering things which are relevant to him in some way (for the most part). Kazuma is my favourite character, and I already had a lot to say about him in a big analysis post over on my main blog – but there’s enough interesting blow-by-blow stuff going on with him in this trial that didn’t really fit into that more general post. I still wanted to talk about that stuff somehow, so here I am, doing a more line-by-line commentary here.

By “final” trial, I of course mean all of van Zieks’s trial that spans across cases 2-4 and 2-5, so we’ll be starting with day 1 in 2-4 here.

Ryunosuke: “…The defence is ready, My Lord.” Kazuma: “The prosecution… is more than ready.”

This may sound like petty one-upmanship, but of course Kazuma is more than ready. This is the trial that his entire life has been building towards, in which he avenges his father and takes down the corrupt monster who killed him – he is so ready to finally do this.

Kazuma: “I believe it takes an outsider to see the truth sometimes.”

Kazuma believes that as someone not wrapped up in the corruption going on in the British judiciary, he’s in the perfect position to unravel it all.

And yet… he’s really not an outsider to this case at all. He’s far too caught up in the personal stakes it has for him to be able to see things in an unbiased light regarding van Zieks. Ryunosuke is the true outsider here, as the only one with no personal connection to any of this – and that’s why he’s the one who’s going to be able to see the truth.

(Fittingly, Genshin believed this too, in that he was the only one with a viewpoint unbiased by Klint’s noble status that allowed him to see the truth – even despite being Klint’s colleague and friend.)

Kazuma: “And as I stand here in this courtroom now, I’m quite certain… this is the reason why I had to come to Britain.”

Kazuma already knew from the start that the reason he “had” to come to Britain was for the purpose of avenging this father. So what he’s saying here is more about the specific circumstances of this trial, in which van Zieks finally screwed up and got caught murdering someone (that’s totally what’s happening here, right), as if Kazuma feels like fate wanted him to be here for this perfect opportunity to take van Zieks down. All along, this specific trial was the one he was fated to stand in when he came to Britain.

Kazuma explains that the gunshot was determined to be fired point-blank because scorch marks only happen within that range. It seems that this is a fact of forensic investigation that Ryunosuke didn’t know about until he heard it here. During the investigation, both he and Susato casually assume that the candle was broken by the bullet because of the scorch marks there. But that’s not possible! Ryunosuke’s later going to revise that assumption and argue that the scorch marks prove the candle couldn’t have been broken by the bullet, thanks to the new knowledge he’s acquired just now.

But Kazuma already knew all along about how scorch marks from gunshots work… and yet he never questioned the notion that the candle was broken by the bullet. Because of course he didn’t. Van Zieks is definitely guilty; any tiny details that might have a chance of suggesting otherwise are irrelevant and got thoroughly brushed over in his head.

Susato: “Bravo, Kazuma-sama… for not trying to use the gun as evidence when its provenance can’t be proven.”

Legit props to Kazuma for this. He probably assumes it totally is van Zieks’s gun, and given the backwards logic he’s going to use later on in this trial, I honestly wouldn’t have put it past him to insist that van Zieks having incidentally lost his gun is totally proof that this one belongs to him. But right now, at least, he’s behaving more rationally than that. I suppose he feels that van Zieks’s guilt is so obvious right now that he doesn’t even need to argue that the gun belongs to him.

Kazuma: “The bullet passed through the victim and struck the wall behind him.”

Did it now, Kazuma. I love how he just completely fails to realise the extremely obvious contradiction in this assertion of his.

(And no, I’m not talking about just the scorch marks.)

Judge: “Thank you for the thorough report, Counsel. The setting of the crime is clear to me.”

Very thorough, yes. He missed nothing. Nothing at all.

Kazuma: “Naturally… the accused himself.”

Calling the accused to testify is really very unorthodox, but I enjoy the smug way Kazuma acts like naturally this is who he wants to call as his first witness. Of course he wants to show everyone what a lying liar that Barok van Zieks is.

Kazuma: “As a prosecutor, he believes in the oath of office he’s taken and will be compelled to tell the truth.”

He makes a point of stressing this, because he’s fully intending to prove van Zieks to be a huge liar and wants the whole judiciary to see just how empty that oath of his really is.

Kazuma: “Then I’m sure the court would like to hear you explain some things away.” […] Van Zieks: “I intend to explain away nothing. I will simply tell the truth.”

Kazuma’s using some very leading phrasing there, making it sound like it’s already a given that van Zieks is guilty and will be lying (because it really is a given to him!) – and I love how van Zieks instantly picks up on that manipulation and pointedly defends himself against that implication. He is not having any of Kazuma’s bullshit.

---Testimony 1---

Kazuma: “So… you heard a shot being fired in a room with no living occupants… and moments later a corpse appeared before your eyes. Is that it?” [he smirks] Kazuma: “You’re right, you haven’t explained away anything. In fact that would barely qualify as an excuse.”

Not missing a beat, Kazuma plays right off of van Zieks’s previous defence to make him sound even more pathetic and obviously guilty. He’s well-practiced at snarking matches from his friendly banter with Ryunosuke, but this one’s a lot more barbed.

Judge: “Hmmm… It would appear to be a singular tale indeed.” Kazuma: “Singular isn’t the word. It’s laughable.”

Kazuma really wants to make sure everyone realises just how pathetic van Zieks’s flimsy excuse totally is.

Ryunosuke: (What’s got into Kazuma? He’s not behaving like himself at all…)

And Ryunosuke can tell that this is not the kind of thing Kazuma would normally do! He’s being a lot more vindictive and petty, and that’s not at all the composed, level-headed person Ryunosuke knows.

(Susato’s staring at him silently too, probably thinking much the same thing.)

One thing to do in this testimony before pressing is to scroll all the way to the end to see the little testimony-recap dialogue between Ryunosuke and Susato. Since this is a testimony where all you need to do to advance is to press everything once, it’s easy to miss out on that.

Susato: “Do you have any thoughts, Mr Naruhodo?” Ryunosuke: “Yes… mainly that it doesn’t ring true in all sorts of ways.” […] Susato: “So… you think Lord van Zieks is lying?” Ryunosuke: “No, I don’t think that. I mean, if he was going to lie… I would expect him to come up with a more credible story, wouldn’t you?” Susato: “Yes, I completely agree. I think he genuinely doesn’t know what really happened himself.”

Ryunosuke and Susato make a very good and honestly pretty obvious observation here. Of course van Zieks wouldn’t make up something so seemingly nonsensical. That’s all the more proof he’s telling the truth!

But Kazuma over there is just blithely insisting that van Zieks is obviously spouting pathetic flimsy excuses that barely hold up at all, even though that makes less sense than the alternative that he’s honest but confused. He’s incapable of letting himself acknowledge a world where maybe van Zieks didn’t kill Gregson and would actually be telling the truth here.

Kazuma: “You illegally entered the man’s office? In Japan that alone would constitute a very serious offence.” Judge: “As it does in Great Britain, I assure you.”

Kazuma wants to make sure people know about every little illegal thing van Zieks has done. It’s actually interesting that he specifies it would be illegal in Japan – making a point about how nobody in Japan’s judiciary would ever dream of doing something so underhanded, but look at how horrible and corrupt this British judiciary is over here.

(Even though Japan’s judiciary is definitely also pretty corrupt right now; that’s the very-much-second-priority reason Kazuma wanted to come here to study.)

It’s also amusingly hypocritical of Kazuma to be getting on van Zieks’s case for a technically-illegal thing so minor, considering the technically-illegal things he’s been up to recently.

…And actually, in his later testimony on day 3 of the trial, van Zieks mentions that he “demanded permission” to secretly search Gregson’s office. He doesn’t say from whom – I certainly doubt it was Stronghart, at least – but that does imply that he wasn’t actually doing it illegally!

Kazuma: “So, in summary, you were investigating the victim… and yet you refuse to tell the court why.” Van Zieks: “………” Kazuma: “I didn’t realise British prosecutors enjoyed such freedom to choose what to divulge under oath.”

Again, Kazuma wants to make a point of look how corrupt and underhanded the British judiciary is. And again, he is being a huge hypocrite, considering that he knows exactly what van Zieks’s reason might be to have been investigating Gregson, and he is also just casually choosing not to reveal that fact to the court right now.

(Of course, since Kazuma is convinced van Zieks is the Reaper, he doesn’t really believe he was investigating Gregson in any sense at all and assumes this whole thing about investigation is just an excuse for why van Zieks was there. So he thinks that’s the reason van Zieks is being so vague about his investigation, and not because van Zieks can’t yet reveal that Gregson was working for the Reaper.)

Kazuma: “There was no artificial light in the room, you say? You’re quite sure?”

Kazuma wants to make absolutely sure of this point in van Zieks’s testimony, so that he can then prove him to be a liar when he explains that the candles must have still been burning at the time. Even though, really, if van Zieks was there but was lying about the circumstances and Kazuma asked him this clarifying question, you’d think he’d stop and realise he ought to say that actually there were candles burning, if he indeed saw that. Again, it is very clear that van Zieks would not be lying about this, despite the strange facts of his story.

Kazuma: “And without thought of danger, [the witnesses] ran inside to see what had happened.”

Kazuma’s spinning things to make these witnesses seem so brave and noble, running inside to confront the terrifying murderous Reaper despite the danger to themselves. …When really, the reality is more like: one of them thoroughly freaked out, and the other two were more focused on looting the place for things they could sell. Not the noble heroes Kazuma is painting them to be at all.

Kazuma: “Objection!”

I’m sure everyone’s already aware of this, but I still just need to express my glee about how Kazuma’s Objection voice clip here is different from the one he had in the first half of the game. It sounds so much more vicious, perfect for his state of mind in this trial… and also perfect for an emotional gut-punch to the player if they happen to remember and notice that it’s different, which I indeed did.

(Revival of the Prosecutor, heard here in all its glory for the first time, is also a massive gut-punch, hearing Kazuma’s familiar leitmotif sound so twisted and almost sinister like this. Guh.)

I really love the fact that Kazuma objects to this testimony here. Not only is this him still thinking partly like a defence lawyer and using those tactics, and being viciously determined to tear van Zieks’s words apart… it also just makes the most sense this way? The prosecution should be the one to point out contradictions in testimonies that support the defence’s case, such as those from the defendant themselves! It’s always felt kind of awkward in other Ace Attorney games the few times defendants have testified, where we’ve then had to cheerfully shoot a hole in our own case by pointing out the contradictions in it.

Kazuma: “My Lord, the cross-examination has clearly revealed… that the accused, Barok van Zieks… is lying on multiple fronts!”

Well. A whole two (2) fronts that Kazuma is planning to point out here. But sure, I guess that technically counts as “multiple”, Kazuma, if you like.

Kazuma: “…he claims that he failed to notice the victim’s body because the room was dark.” Van Zieks: “That’s correct.” Kazuma: “No… that’s impossible.”

Again with that viciousness with which he shuts down van Zieks’s claims, I love it.

Kazuma doing this defence lawyer routine also really got to me on my first playthrough, because I was planning to point out the candelabrum! I’d noticed the different lengths of the candles and realised it meant they were burning at the time, and I’d assumed I’d get to point that out at some point, and Kazuma stole that from me! He’s doing the player’s job! How dare. Really great unexpected moment.

(Of course, he’s also failing to notice the really important clue on the candelabrum, which is the scorch marks that prove it can’t have been hit by the bullet from that distance.)

Kazuma: “And now to the next lie.”

Kazuma wants to make extra sure you know that the things he’s pointing out are not just contradictions but lies, Barok van Zieks is a horrible lying liar, okay.

Kazuma: “It goes without saying that the contents of the police documents cannot be divulged.”

Hmm, Kazuma, it’s almost like there are certain things that aren’t allowed to be divulged even in court, and maybe van Zieks’s reason for not divulging why he was investigating Gregson is along similar lines and not just him being sneaky and terrible?

Kazuma: “They all relate to cases prosecuted in court by Barok van Zieks.” […] Kazuma: “And furthermore… all those cases are ones in which the defendant was acquitted.” […] Kazuma: “Interestingly, none of those defendants are alive today.”

Look at how he calls them “defendants”, which means he’s thinking about them like a defence lawyer. He believes they were genuinely innocent and van Zieks MURDERED THEM ANYWAY.

Kazuma: “And yet the Reaper would claim never to have been to his own secret hideout? No one would believe that.”

Or maybe, just maybe, Kazuma, van Zieks isn’t actually the Reaper. His “proof” of this second “lie” is based entirely on the assumed premise that van Zieks is definitely the Reaper, which we have not established to be a fact at all!

Kazuma: “Inspector Gregson was investigating the identity of the Reaper. When he discovered the location of the man’s secret hideout… he was killed. As I’m sure everyone can imagine… by the Reaper’s hand!”

Except that Kazuma doesn’t actually believe this is the motive for murder. He already knows full well that Gregson was working for the Reaper, not investigating him, and so he believes the motive was that Gregson failed his Reaper mission to kill Jigoku, and/or that van Zieks is the assassin exchange mastermind who wanted him silenced about the autopsy ten years ago. But Kazuma can’t yet reveal any of this without incriminating himself in the assassination mission, so… eh, coming up with a fake motive that sounds plausible, that’ll do for now, right? So long as it gets van Zieks convicted, anything is acceptable.

Ryunosuke: (Kazuma’s done a brilliant job as ever. He’s drawing on his experience as a defence attorney to build his prosecution case… and it’s formidable.)

Kazuma’s got a legitimate point about the candlelight, but his argument about this being van Zieks’s hideout is completely flimsy… yet Ryunosuke is so in awe of his friend and of how impressive this all sounds on the surface that he’s not able to notice that.

(Also, this is a brief slip-up on the part of the localisers, in having Ryunosuke use the term “defence attorney”. In every other instance, this game uses the British English term, “defence lawyer”, and we only ever hear the word “attorney” when they’re doing a title drop.)

Kazuma: “And now, the prosecution would like to call new witnesses to the stand. Witnesses who saw events unfold on the day in question.”

In other words, these are the witnesses we actually should have started things off with, and Kazuma only called van Zieks to the stand to begin with in order to prove to the whole court what a lying liar he totally is.

--- Testimony 2 ---

Kazuma: “Try the man.” […] Kazuma: “Try the woman.” […] Sandwich: “I d-don’t actually sell anything, no… come to think of it.” Kazuma: “Pity.” Ryunosuke: (No more purchases today… please.)

Apparently Kazuma was enjoying teasing Ryunosuke by pushing him into parting with his money for silly, frivolous things. A little hint at their bantery friendship dynamic in the midst of all this drama!

(Being pushed by their friends into being the one to pay for all sorts of things is clearly a Naruhodo family trait.)

Kazuma: “Not only that, but they very bravely ran inside to see what was going on and witnessed the crime.”

Yep, he’s still painting these witnesses as so brave and noble to confront the terrible killer van Zieks.

Judge: “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how anyone other than the defendant could have committed the crime.” […] Kazuma: [he bows] “Thank you for your candour, My Lord.”

Kazuma appreciates the judge agreeing how Very Obvious it is that van Zieks is Definitely Guilty. Prosecutors are not usually supposed to thank the judge for agreeing that their case is strong, and yet.

It’s mentioned that the first person to arrive at the scene, supposedly Gregson with a red wig, was carrying a trunk. The truth is that this was Jigoku in a red wig, carrying the large trunk with Gregson’s body in it – but once we learn about Gregson’s metal trunk having been stolen from the crime scene, it could also theoretically have been him carrying that. Conveniently the witnesses are vague enough about the size of the trunk that it can’t be confirmed either way from their testimony.

Kazuma: “…I was informed that no trunk was found at the scene.”

I wonder if Kazuma has worried about the possibility of them finding Gregson’s trunk, given that he is probably aware that Karuma’s tip ended up stuck in it. Bet he’s relieved that it mysteriously vanished.

(It’s actually right here in this courtroom at this very moment, hidden behind Sandwich’s boards.)

Gossip: “When the Reaper’s around, people are goin’ in the ground! I mean, that’s what he doz, in’t it?”

“Killing people is just what the Reaper does” sure is a hilariously Kazuma’s-tunnel-visioning line of thinking. It really can’t have been hard for him to latch onto that, when so many Londoners casually think that, too.

Kazuma: “Considering the catalogue of killings the Reaper had carried out… it was a particularly inauspicious end.”

Yes, clearly, even though van Zieks has totally gotten away with so many murders for ten years, he’d suddenly be so careless as to just shoot a guy right on a populated street where people would come running immediately. Obviously this terrifying criminal mastermind is also simultaneously a bumbling fool.

Kazuma is shown being pointedly silent as Gossip reveals that he got blood on his hand. No doubt he’s already thinking there seems to be a contradiction here, but he’s holding himself back from pointing it out, because that wouldn’t help his case.

If you then press Gossip’s updated statement about wiping his bloody hand on the floor, we see Kazuma peering silently at a document.

Judge: “Is something wrong, Counsel?” Kazuma: “No, My Lord. I didn’t remember anything in the report about a bloody handprint on the floor, that’s all.”

Kazuma’s very careful with his wording here – saying he didn’t remember reading about it doesn’t categorically state that it wasn’t there. He still doesn’t want to explicitly bring up this contradiction that would just complicate his case. (And you’d think he could confirm it after reading the report again to check, but no, just casually gonna not mention that.)

Ryunosuke: “Objection! So you wiped off the blood from your hand on the floor of the room… Are you quite sure about that?” Gossip: “Well, well what else d’you expect me to have done, eh? Doz it really matter?” Kazuma: “Objection! The police found no such handprint on the floor during their investigations. What exactly is the defence asserting?!”

And yet, despite that he carefully kept the explicit lack of a floor handprint hidden until now, as soon as Ryunosuke’s objecting in such a way that suggests that the handprint’s existence might be beneficial to his case, Kazuma is immediately pointing out that it didn’t exist and so Ryunosuke’s argument (whatever argument he’s even about to make) must be flawed, right? He’s remarkably sure that his friend is about to put forth a convincing argument that will blow a hole in his case and is trying to pre-emptively counter it before it’s even happened.

Ryunosuke: “Objection! If you listen, you’ll find out… Prosecutor Asogi.”

I love that Ryunosuke picks up on Kazuma jumping the gun and points it out, too. That “Prosecutor Asogi” stings – it’s the first time Ryunosuke’s said it, and it has to hurt to address his best friend like he’s just an opponent, yet that’s exactly what he is right now.

Kazuma: “Objection! The witness very clearly testified that he wiped his hand on the floor. Any handprints on the back of the board are irrelevant!”

Kazuma is still pre-emptively objecting and just trying to write off Ryunosuke’s argument as completely irrelevant before actually fully understanding what he’s getting at. Van Zieks definitely did it, right? So there’s no need to bother about trivial details like this, no need to think through to the fact that the board must have been on the floor next to the body at the time.

Kazuma: “In other words, the defence’s assertion is contradictory!” Ryunosuke: “Yes… it is.”

Look at Kazuma still just trying to write off Ryunosuke’s argument as contradictory and therefore irrelevant, whereas Ryunosuke is able to realise that the existence of a contradiction means something and can give them new information. Kazuma ought to understand this too – he used to be a defence lawyer! But he certainly doesn’t want to think that way right now.

If you pick one of the wrong options (‘False testimony’) during the multiple-choice question you’re presented with here, there’s some fun dialogue.

Kazuma: “I don’t remember fostering that kind of simplistic thinking in you.” Ryunosuke: “…Since when were you my father?”

Aww, Kazuma feeling like he played a part in teaching Ryunosuke to be a good lawyer, and having faith that he ought to be better than this. And Ryunosuke comparing him to a father! Painful for obvious reasons, but also, Kazuma really kind of is a Dad Friend.

Conveniently, van Zieks’s testimony about the room being dark and the body suddenly appearing once the door flew open is really helpful for Ryunosuke’s argument about the noticeboard here! He wouldn’t have known the significance of the noticeboard’s position at all if van Zieks hadn’t testified. Kazuma’s attempt to prove van Zieks to be a horrible lying liar just ended up helping out Ryunosuke’s case, actually.

Kazuma: “That, that can’t…” Ryunosuke: “The door struck the noticeboard, knocking it over and making the victim’s body visible.” […] “My client has told nothing but the truth! He has simply described what he saw.” Kazuma: “Argh!”

Kazuma’s reaction is agitated, with his first “damage” animation, as Ryunosuke puts together this argument and he realises how much sense it makes of van Zieks’s testimony. What do you mean, van Zieks might have been telling the truth? Inconceivable.

--- Testimony 3 ---

Kazuma: “In short, the only person who could possibly have committed this crime… is Barok van Zieks! None of this wrangling over the board changes that simple fact.”

Despite Kazuma having been shaken to realise that maybe van Zieks wasn’t lying about the thing he tried to prove him a liar about, I’m sure he’s very happy to still be able to insist that these details are irrelevant to the fact that van Zieks did the murder.

Sandwich: “But the Reaper’s f-fate is sealed either way, because of the gunshot w-we all heard. So your fate’s sealed, too.” Ryunosuke: “My fate?!” Kazuma: “That’s right. The defence is fated to lose. And the prosecution to win.”

Here’s Kazuma’s pointedly strong opinions about fate showing themselves! Okay, granted, on some level he is just translating Sandwich’s ramblings into something a little easier to understand, but still, it doesn’t feel like that’s all he’s saying this for. It feels like he truly believes this himself and is taking the opportunity to make a point of it. It has to be Kazuma’s fate to win this trial.

Kazuma: “The truth, please.”

Kazuma deadpans this four times over at Venus as she’s testifying. I am amused by his subtle irritation at dealing with this compulsive liar of a witness.

Kazuma: “You’re, you’re telling us… that you DID move that board?!”

Again, Kazuma gets noticeably agitated – leaning forwards over his bench for the first time in the trial – as Venus reveals that she moved the board. Even though he’s already tried to write off all this board stuff as irrelevant to the fact that van Zieks still did the deed, and even though confirming that it was indeed moved doesn’t change that, it seems he knows on some level that this proves there was more to the case than meets the eye and maybe Ryunosuke’s onto something big.

Kazuma: “The TRUTH now!”

And then he’s a lot more forceful with Venus as she makes to lie again about whether she found anything underneath the board. He doesn’t even know for sure if anything she found would be important to the case, but he has to know every last hidden detail.

Gina: “That was a present to Inspector Gregson from the Yard for a big case ‘e solved ten years ago!” Susato: “The Professor case, no doubt.”

I’m sure Kazuma feels great to hear that Gregson received such accolades for illegally framing his father and getting him killed.

It really is an incredible coincidence that the watch just happened to wind down at exactly five o’ clock, thus conveniently supporting Kazuma’s argument until we look into it further.

Judge: “Well, it would appear that the mystery of the moving noticeboard has been solved at least.” Kazuma: “And as predicted, it had very little bearing on the case.”

Kazuma seems smug about this, in sharp contrast to how agitated he was just a few moments ago. But no, it’s fine, even if van Zieks wasn’t lying about that one thing, this still doesn’t prove anything important about him not being the killer, Kazuma’s case is fine and completely intact!

Naturally, Kazuma starts to get worked up again as Ryunosuke proposes that Gregson actually died the night before, which would mean van Zieks couldn’t possibly have done it (because Kazuma knows exactly where Gregson was that night).

Kazuma: “You claim he was already dead the night before? Do you really think that Scotland Yard’s coroner would have overlooked something like that?”

As he’s going to admit later, Kazuma is perfectly aware of the omission of the time of death in the autopsy report. However, despite that he must be beginning to realise that maybe Ryunosuke has a point about the time of death being different, he conveniently avoids bringing the autopsy omission up here, presumably in the hope that Ryunosuke won’t have noticed it and this will stop him in his tracks.

(Based on Ryunosuke’s reaction, it actually seems like he may not have noticed, but thankfully Susato has it covered.)

Kazuma: “Whether it was a gun or a firecracker, the only person present to cause that bang was Barok van Zieks!”

Yes, but why would he frame himself by setting off the firecracker, Kazuma, come on.

Ryunosuke points out that the scorch marks on the candle couldn’t possibly have been from the gunshot and therefore must have been from the candle being used to set off the firecrackers on a delay… and the moment he makes this argument, Kazuma no longer has a case, really. Kazuma never manages to come up with an adequate explanation for why there would be scorch marks on the candle if it wasn’t the firecracker. From here on out, Ryunosuke’s argument holds far, far more water than it turns out Kazuma’s ever did.

But Kazuma is so furiously tunnel-visioned on van Zieks’s guilt that he refuses to acknowledge this, and he’s going to continue to lead the court on a long series of what are basically complete diversion tactics so that he doesn’t have to think about the fact that the very core of his case fundamentally does not hold together.

Also, serious props to Ryunosuke. Within the space of two (proper) testimonies and just a little help from Susato, he’s managed to come up with a completely accurate theory as to how this situation at the scene was a setup to frame van Zieks, and technically, in theory, if Kazuma wasn’t so stubborn, prove his client’s innocence. He really is a great lawyer.

Kazuma: “Pfft… Ha ha ha ha ha ha hah! Oh, very impressive, Ryunosuke Naruhodo.” Ryunosuke: “K-Kazuma?!” Kazuma: “I’m really quite amazed you’ve come this far. But after all, wasn’t I the one who told you… that you had all the makings of a great defence lawyer?”

Kazuma realises this too, and he’s so proud of his friend! …Even though this destroys his own case (to far more of an extent than he’s willing to accept). It still stings a little, though, that even as he’s praising him, Kazuma’s using Ryunosuke’s full name, keeping that distance between them.

Kazuma: “I also noted the lack of a time of death in this report. A stark omission. But as far as I’m concerned… this whole country’s justice system leaves a lot to be desired!”

Indeed, Kazuma noticed it – but conveniently he did not bring that up when it hurt his case. He’s only doing so now that it’s already been established anyway, and he can use it as an opportunity to vent about how horrible and corrupt the British judicial system is, a system that killed his father and acted like that was right.

(And he especially has Opinions about dodgy autopsy reports.)

Judge: “Prosecutor Asogi! What on earth do you mean by that statement?” Kazuma: “I hear that many of the leading members of Britain’s judiciary are present to observe this trial today. So we cannot allow even the slightest doubt to be overlooked.”

It’s not immediately obvious, but Kazuma’s completely sidestepping the judge’s question here. He insulted this country’s justice system, and no, he’s not going to explain what he means by that, it’s just an obvious fact, and now he’s going to move right onto the next topic.

Kazuma: “The defence’s assertion about the time of death based on the victim’s stopped watch is just conjecture. But… while the possibility exists that my learned friend may be correct… we have a duty to explore it.”

Said next topic being: making a big point of how thorough he’s being, to ensure there’s no doubt by entertaining Ryunosuke’s argument even though it’s nothing but conjecture. Kazuma’s definitely not being the slightest bit corrupt about this trial, you guys. Nothing at all like that monster van Zieks was ten years ago with his father.

And yet… Ryunosuke’s argument really is a lot more than conjecture! Granted, maybe the point about the watch in particular is a bit flimsy, but by focusing on that, Kazuma’s conveniently drawing attention away from the scorched candle. Ryunosuke has pretty much categorically proven that the bang the witnesses heard must have been from a firecracker and not a gunshot, thanks to those scorch marks on the candle, and with that fact established, Gregson cannot have died at 5 p.m. that day.

But no, it’s fine, never mind that detail, Ryunosuke’s argument is definitely still nothing but conjecture. Look at how honourable Kazuma’s being to choose to entertain it anyway.

Kazuma: “And what immediately comes to mind is of course… what was Inspector Gregson doing and where did he go on the day before the incident?” Ryunosuke: “Do you know?”

A very good question for Ryunosuke to ask. Because yes, Kazuma does know exactly where Gregson was and what he was doing on that day, since he was there with him.

Kazuma: [he shakes his head] “The inspector always carried out his investigative work alone. His movements were treated as confidential within Scotland Yard.”

Despite his shake of the head, Kazuma is thoroughly dodging actually answering the question of whether he knows – very sneaky of him, so that he doesn’t have to lie. Instead he just makes a general statement about how Gregson was usually difficult to track, implying that this case is the same. Thus, Kazuma gives the impression that he doesn’t know anything about this himself, without telling any lies.

Kazuma: “However, considering the evidence we’ve been presented with so far… I’d say it’s fairly apparent what case the man was pursuing. Wouldn’t you, my learned friend?”

Still being very careful with his wording here – saying that the evidence makes it apparent what case Gregson was on. This way, Kazuma doesn’t have to directly say that he believes it was this case (the redhead case), because he knows it wasn’t. Kazuma is so incredibly skilled at hiding the truth without lying.

Honestly, this bit where you, as Ryunosuke, have to be the one to say that it was the redhead case that Gregson was pursuing… it’s pretty silly. Ryunosuke literally just argued that the red wig was only there at the scene because it was used by the real killer as a decoy, to make the witnesses mistake them for Gregson! So from Ryunosuke’s perspective, he has no reason to believe that it should have anything to do with the actual case Gregson was working on at the time! Buuut he's awkwardly got to be the one to suggest it anyway.

That said, I do understand why this is a thing – not just to give the players something to do, but also because Kazuma is very pointedly trying to lead Ryunosuke into being the one to propose this line of questioning about the redheads, so that when it all amounts to nothing, it makes Ryunosuke’s case look weaker. It’s just a shame that it doesn’t quite add up that Ryunosuke actually would fall for Kazuma’s bait here.

(I mean, I guess in the end it turns out that Gregson did just have the red wig on him while going to Dunkirk, perhaps to give the false impression to anyone who saw him leaving that he was off to investigate the redheads, so there is some connection there. The redhead case was his cover story alibi that day, after all. But it’s kinda flimsy that Ryunosuke is so sure of it, when he already has another reason for why the red wig was there.)

Kazuma: “So… you’d already worked it out.”

Kazuma seems pleased that Ryunosuke “figured this out”. In other words, he’s pleased that Ryunosuke took his bait and suggested exactly what he was being led into suggesting, while Kazuma completely hides the fact that he knows that Gregson’s real movements that day were something else entirely.

Ryunosuke: “So it’s very likely that he had direct contact with these criminals. And it’s quite possible that such contact led to… more serious events.” Kazuma: “………”

Kazuma’s silence is pointedly shown here. He’s clearly thinking about how he knows full well that Gregson was not killed by the redheads, and so pursuing this line of questioning is actually perfectly safe and is not going to damage his case at all.

Ryunosuke: “…And Kazuma.” […] “I feel as though he knew we’d arrive at this point somehow.”

Here’s a thought that Ryunosuke expresses during the recess. On the one hand, he’s very wrong that Kazuma expected Ryunosuke to prove the alternate time of death and the setup at the scene, because he’s so very convinced that van Zieks did it. (Though still, maybe on some level he expected his friend to come up with an impressive theory, especially considering the very buried part of him that isn’t so sure van Zieks is guilty.)

But, given Ryunosuke’s alternative theory, it’s true that Kazuma did fully expect them to then arrive at the point of investigating the redheads, since he was the one who deliberately led his friend into suggesting this. Ryunosuke’s not wrong there.

#ace attorney #the great ace attorney #great ace attorney #the great ace attorney chronicles #tgaa #dgs #dai gyakuten saiban #the great ace attorney resolve #twisted karma and his last bow

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