mimi miney literally has so much in common with other criminals in aa
mimi and april are both women who were driven (haha get it) to do Bad Crimey Shit because of their horrible bosses. they both used an outward appearance to deceive the court. they were also both in some ways victims of their circumstances. they had to hide their real feelings and thoughts into just being a clueless ditzy girl.
mimi and dee both lost a loved one in a very very traumatic way and wished to seek revenge on them. also morally grey
mimi and yanni both had to completely suppress who they were to put on a more stupid persona after suffering blame for a crime + the loss of a loved one
mimi and lana both, in some way, did what they did for the sake of their younger sisters, with lana doing it to protect ema and with mimi doing it to get revenge for the man who (technically) killed ini
her and acro were both people who are very morally grey and suffered the deaths of two people that really affected them, with their siblings death basically pushing them to harm someone they see as responsible
dahlia and mimi both Dyed Their Hair Red For Reasons Related To Their Kind Of Fucked Up Past
recognising the theme of grief in jfa is literally so important to getting anything out of it. phoenix and franziska are both grieving miles, though phoenix is depressed by this (refusing to engage with it at all) and franziska is in angry denial. miles is coming to terms with the death of his father and the metaphorical death of his mentor throughout the trilogy, but especially here. pearl is understandably devastated over the loss of her mother, which she only voices when she thinks she’s about to lose maya too. mimi is grieving ini, and her crime is killing the man she sees as responsible for the death of her sister. acro is grieving bat, and while attempting to kill the girl he sees as responsible accidentally kills his mentor. these crimes are supposed to be sympathetic, but not selfless - despite the justification of grief, they acted for themselves, because ini and bat are already dead. adrian and juan are both grieving celeste and both attempt to frame engarde, who they see as responsible for her death - a stance that alleviates both of them of responsibility, that justifies forging a suicide note. is it supposed to? engarde is the subversion to the theme in that he’s a villain who is evil because he enjoys hurting people. he is entirely self-interested, without any facade of grief or reasoning. the situation he puts phoenix in forces him to choose between his ideals (solving the case) and ‘self-interest’ (saving his friend at the cost of an innocent life). the bad ending, in which phoenix allows adrian to be convicted, reflects phoenix’s established tendency to depression and avoidance - after he wins the case, he wanders the streets alone, thinking about it in abstract terms. the good ending - adrian getting justice, pearl reunited with maya, miles and franziska coming to their version of reconciliation - is a hopeful one, opening the possibility of moving forwards
[Image Description: From the official game. Acro, a tan-skinned man with straight brown hair and dark eyes, sits in a wheelchair in front of a stand. His hair is tied up into a small bun and he has a golden crown-like band around his forehead with a red gem in the centre of it. There is white paint in three straight strips on his cheek. He is wearing a brown tank top with red and white triangles around the edge. Matching red and white bands are around his wrist and bicep. There are three birds perching on his hand, shoulder, and the handle of his blue wheelchair. He appears to be in a courtroom. End ID.]