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commentaryvorg · 5 months

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The Great Ace Attorney Final Trial Commentary: Day 2, Part 1

This is an ongoing mini-commentary covering the final trial of The Great Ace Attorney (Resolve) in line-by-line detail. It’s 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). I already had a lot to say about him in a big analysis post over on my main blog – but I have even more to say about him during the trial in even more detail, so here we are!

We’re starting day 2 here, aka the first trial day of case 2-5.

Writing the commentary for this day of the trial is going to feel a little odd for me, because I’ve essentially already done it before – just in character as Ryunosuke, instead of as myself. This was a chapter in my AU fic in which this trial day goes off the rails towards the end and Kazuma gets arrested for Gregson’s murder, because he should have been and I am forever salty that it didn’t happen in canon. The purpose of the chapter in the fic, even though it was 90% retreading canon events, was to utilise all the existing buildup the game had that made it seem like things were headed in that direction, so that my AU could actually deliver the payoff it deserved to have. There are so many really good bits that would be so delightful if they were foreshadowing what was going to happen to Kazuma, except for the fact that they aren’t. I am going to be compelled to point all of these out and grumble about them here.

Here's one to get us started, just as Ryunosuke heads into the courtroom.

Ryunosuke: (Today I battle with another in pursuit of the truth. My best friend, Kazuma Asogi, who I trust more than anyone else in the world.)

Like, yes, this is adorable in and of itself, that Ryunosuke still trusts Kazuma that much even after the way he’s been acting since he came back. But! Imagine how much juicier this line would be if it was followed by Ryunosuke getting Kazuma arrested for murder! That is absolutely what I thought it existed to foreshadow on my first playthrough and asghjkghjdghjdfs.

Stronghart: “Yesterday’s proceedings brought to light a shocking and disturbing fact: There was a side to the victim, Inspector Tobias Gregson, that was unknown to his superiors at Scotland Yard.” Kazuma: “Yes, he was carrying out operations in secret, which Scotland Yard knew nothing about.” Stronghart: “And in those clandestine operations, he had an accomplice.” Kazuma: “Mr Daley Vigil, who would be given the inspector’s identification…”

During what is supposed to be Kazuma’s opening statement, Stronghart is having just as much if not more of a part in it, and they’re both practically finishing each other’s sentences. (Here is just one example of their tandem speech extremely coming across this way.) Clearly Stronghart, who is determined to keep Kazuma in line after his shenanigans with Vigil yesterday, firmly instructed him on what he was supposed to talk about, and apparently they may have even spent a while rehearsing this speech together. No wonder Kazuma wasn’t surprised to see Stronghart here at the judge’s bench today.

Stronghart: “Which brings us to the crucial issue of the victim’s time of death. The defence yesterday proposed a suggestion that the victim may have been killed one day earlier. This was based largely on the discovery that the victim’s pocket watch had not been wound.”

Not really! It was also based equally if not more so on the scorch marks on the candle, which have still not been explained as anything other than evidence that a gun was never fired there at all. But nah, Stronghart is just as happy to draw attention away from that as Kazuma is.

(Since he knows the full truth of the murder, Stronghart is also the only person who may be aware of the even more damning evidence that proves a gun could not possibly have been fired in the Fresno Street room. But he’s especially not going to draw any attention to that.)

Kazuma: “The prosecution has something to report on that subject, My Lord.” Stronghart: “Really? Go ahead, Prosecutor Asogi.”

Geez, look at him acting like he wasn’t expecting Kazuma to bring this (the autopsy report) up at all and this definitely wasn’t all rehearsed and planned out.

Stronghart: “But the official opinion of the investigation team was made clear yesterday. That the time of death was 5 p.m. on 1st November.” Kazuma: “There are indications of an attempt to disguise the real time of death, however. It seems that the natural decaying process of the victim’s body may have been slowed by keeping it chilled.” Stronghart: “That’s out of the question.”

Stronghart apparently also elected to put himself on the “nope it’s definitely impossible” side of this little scripted exchange. In reality, the entire first testimony we’re about to have is to examine the possibility that Gregson was killed the day before, and that testimony was very obviously Stronghart’s idea, so he was perfectly okay with this avenue being explored! (because he intends it to end either with nothing substantial or with apparent proof that van Zieks did it anyway.)

Kazuma: “It’s conceivable that he was killed in the course of his secret activities.” Stronghart: “Do I sense that the prosecution has some information regarding those activities?”

Gasp, look at Stronghart’s amazing sixth sense to pick up on this, and not at all that he blatantly knew Kazuma was about to bring this up because he told him to, nope, nothing suspicious here.

Honestly, this is all remarkably brazen, but I guess since Stronghart has a licence to do whatever the heck he wants, he doesn’t care how obvious it looks because nobody’s going to call him out for it anyway.

(Also, look at Kazuma acting like he’s entertaining the idea that Gregson was killed during his secret outing on the 31st, when really he hasn’t entertained that at all because it was definitely van Zieks, okay.)

Kazuma: “Scotland Yard put an enormous effort into investigating that precise matter yesterday. I think we should begin by presenting the results of that investigation work.”

Once again, note Kazuma’s avoidance of giving a direct answer to Stronghart’s question. He sure does have some first-hand information about Gregson’s real secret activities that day, but he phrases his response in a way that shifts the focus onto something he knows full well is a red herring. Again, he is so good at doing this without actively lying.

--- Testimony 1 ---

Ryunosuke: “Smuggled goods?!”

Ryunosuke is quite surprised to hear this brought up out of nowhere – as he should be. It seems he can already tell on some level that this is a complete wild goose chase that has nothing to do with the actual case.

Spare a thought for Kazuma, who gives us a summary of the smuggling case and must have spent some time researching this information to recite it in court, while knowing this is irrelevant and fully intending to throw it all out the first chance he gets.

Kazuma: “There’s no question: the accused, Barok van Zieks, was present.” […] Kazuma: “In short, Lord van Zieks had ample opportunity to murder the victim.”

Kazuma looks very smug about suggesting that van Zieks could easily have murdered Gregson at the gentleman’s club… even though he knows for a fact that couldn’t have happened. Granted, he’s intending to throw all this out by revealing what Gregson was really doing that day, but the fact that he’s looking so smug about the idea that this irrelevant point throws even more suspicion onto van Zieks is a bit much. Kazuma, please.

(This is one of the very rare instances of Kazuma referring to him as “Lord van Zieks”, incidentally! I… can’t think of any specific reason why this one might be an exception, alas. Guess he just ever-so-occasionally slips up and falls back into habits from his amnesiac days.)

Ryunosuke: “But I was hoping to find out the name of the club.” Kazuma: “That won’t be necessary.” Ryunosuke: “What?” Kazuma: “It’s conceivable that the club might be used again by the smugglers in future. Therefore… the prosecution has been asked not to reveal the name in these proceedings.”

Note Kazuma’s wording here – he has been asked not to reveal the name of the club. It’s not actually his decision, and he doesn’t actually want to hide that information. He’s just putting up a token amount of resistance here, presumably because Stronghart instructed him to, but he’s bound to be trusting that Ryunosuke will keep pushing. And when he does…

Stronghart: “The prosecution is rightfully exercising caution, I imagine.” Kazuma: “……… No, My Lord. The prosecution has no objection.” Stronghart: “…!” Ryunosuke: “Kazuma?”

Too bad, Stronghart – turns out, as the lead prosecutor on the case, Kazuma gets the final say whether you like it or not.

Ryunosuke also has an interesting little reaction there, like he’s surprised at Kazuma suddenly changing his tune, or perhaps relieved to see an indication of his friend acting on his own terms and not what he’s been ordered to do.

Kazuma: “There’s no question that Inspector Gregson was looking into these black market dealings. However… it’s not yet been established that he was on that particular trail on the day in question.”

And here he goes, opening up the possibility that Gregson wasn’t there that day at all, to allow Ryunosuke room to prove it, despite what Stronghart wants.

One incidental thing to note here is that Ryunosuke is now addressing Kazuma with his given name in court, and will continue to do so for the rest of the trial, even though he was calling him “Prosecutor Asogi” in the trial yesterday. Perhaps it’s got something to do with the conversation they had in Kazuma’s office yesterday afternoon, the first thing even vaguely close to a proper conversation between friends that they’ve had since Kazuma’s return. It seems like that closed the distance between them just slightly, enough for Ryunosuke to internalise that this is still Kazuma, albeit a Kazuma with a lot of unexpected emotional baggage, and start instinctively defaulting to calling him by the more familiar name again even in court. (Although this must be on a pretty subconscious level, since we still had Ryunosuke in that scene outwardly telling Kazuma that he’s changed.)

Ryunosuke: “The Grouse? What sort of a club is that?” […] Kazuma: “They’re not places where a foreign student like you would be readily admitted.” Ryunosuke: “Have you looked into the mirror recently?”

I love the way Kazuma tries to project his foreign student status onto Ryunosuke alone. Kazuma is above that, right? He’ll definitely be taken more seriously by the British judiciary and not be written off because he’s “just a foreign student”, won’t he…?

Ryunosuke: “As I understand it, they’re places where well-to-do gentlemen socialise with friends and colleagues.” Kazuma: “Don’t imagine for a second that a foreign student like you would be admitted.” Ryunosuke: (Seriously, is your mirror cracked or something?)

And he does it again, just a few lines later. His particular hypocritical insistence on this just really delights me, which led to me figuring out what it’s implying about his feelings on his own foreign-student status.

Stronghart: “If it wasn’t a gentleman’s club… then what was it?” Ryunosuke: “…A steamship.” Kazuma: “You think… it’s a ship…?”

There’s a subtle screen-shake on Kazuma’s line there, which I like, as it implies an undercurrent of something more going on in his head. He knows it was a ship, and on the one hand he must be glad and proud that Ryunosuke’s zeroing in on the real truth… and yet also perhaps a little worried what that might end up revealing about him.

(After all, Kazuma may well not have been expecting Ryunosuke to prove this much, since this isn’t just proving it wasn’t at the club, but also proving where it really was. He can’t have imagined Ryunosuke would randomly have Mikotoba’s steamship ticket on him in order to cross-reference the ship’s name.)

Kazuma goes on to argue that it couldn’t have been the SS Grouse because it hadn’t docked in Britain yet on the day in question. He has to feel kind of torn about putting up resistance to this, too – on the one hand he wants Ryunosuke to prove the smuggling irrelevant so that he can reveal what Gregson was really up to and is just saying this to make Ryunosuke’s argument stronger, but on the other hand, perhaps a part of him doesn’t want Ryunosuke to prove how Gregson got onto that ship in Dunkirk (and that he brought someone else with him…)

Kazuma: “Then show your evidence for that assertion!” Ryunosuke: “…Very well.” Kazuma: “…!”

Kazuma has an interesting little reaction here as Ryunosuke unflinchingly announces he’ll present his evidence. He’s got to have been expecting Ryunosuke to have something and not just be making things up, but perhaps he’s a little worried about exactly what he has and how damning for him it might end up being.

If you’re playing this part of the trial from chapter-select mode (like I’m doing right now for this commentary), the Court Record will assume you haven’t yet examined Gregson’s trunk to find the passport inside it. Which then makes the fact that I have to do so right now to be able to present the passport kind of awkward, because it will be a vital plot point very soon that Kazuma shouldn’t know that the passport was inside the trunk. So uh. Let’s just have Ryunosuke hide behind his bench to sneakily look at the trunk and take the passport out, Kazuma totally won’t see that, it’s fine.

(Of course, we can assume that canonically Ryunosuke took the passport out of the trunk at some point yesterday so that this isn’t an issue.)

Stronghart: “What’s this? A passport for travel issued to the victim?” Kazuma: “………”

Kazuma keeps himself poker-faced as the passport is presented. But as Ryunosuke shows that he’s very much figured out what it means…

Ryunosuke: “…there’s a distinct possibility he wasn’t even in the country!” Kazuma: “…!”

…he flinches back in shock. It’s a little bit of an odd delayed reaction, but I do think he’s realising here that Ryunosuke having seen that passport is a Bad Sign for him being able to keep his own dodgy actions hidden.

(And maybe he also remembers where Gregson was keeping the passport, so the fact that Ryunosuke has seen it means he’s also found a certain metal trunk that a very damning piece of evidence was left in…)

Kazuma: “……… Ha ha ha ha ha hah! I’m impressed, Ryunosuke Naruhodo! I certainly didn’t expect you to get your hands on that passport.”

But Kazuma regains his composure pretty quickly, of course. He’s fine! He’s definitely fine and proud of his friend for figuring things out and just wasn’t expecting him to have seen the passport, hmmmm, nope, nothing suspicious about that specific point.

Ryunosuke: “What? You mean… you knew about this?”

Meanwhile Ryunosuke is several steps behind those of us in the commentary who know everything Kazuma knows, and is only just catching onto the fact that Kazuma was aware of at least some of this all along. He seems pretty shocked here, presumably at realising that his friend was hiding information from him. He never openly picked up on any of the earlier hints at this – of which there were a lot – perhaps because he doesn’t want to think about how underhanded Kazuma’s capable of being.

Kazuma: “The prosecution’s strategy for this trial has been laid down by the Crown prosecution office:”

Instead of directly answering this question, and also diverting the conversation entirely away from the matter of the passport before he gives too much away, Kazuma goes on to explain that this whole angle about smuggling was something he was ordered to do. He says it was from the Prosecutor’s Office, and I guess on a technical level it was, but let’s be real – it was Stronghart. Kazuma probably even knows this, given their blatantly rehearsed opening statement… but it seems like directly calling out Stronghart for this is not a risk he’s willing to take when there isn’t much reward for it.

Kazuma: “I think the Prosecutor’s Office is trying to hide something.” Ryunosuke: “What?!” Kazuma: “And now that you’ve expertly disproven their assertion… I intend to reveal what I believe that something to be.” Stronghart: “What are you playing at, Prosecutor Asogi?”

Stronghart is glaring at Kazuma, clearly Not Happy at him going against orders like this. Again: those orders were so obviously from him, especially since it was all to hide Gregson’s role as the Reaper’s tactician, which Stronghart in particular would quite like to keep hidden, thanks.

Kazuma: “A courtroom is a forum for the truth, My Lord. Which is why it’s my duty to present all the facts, without exception.”

Kazuma’s entire speech here, and particularly these lines, really give the sense that he cares a lot about doing things honourably and without corruption in order to uncover the whole truth. Which, in principle, he does!

And yet. All the facts, without exception? He hasn’t exactly been keeping to the word of that, now, has he – and he still isn’t planning to.

Stronghart: “Let me guess… This was your intention from the outset, wasn’t it?”

Of course it was; of course Kazuma wanted to reveal Gregson working for the Reaper, just to paint an even bigger picture of how completely terrible van Zieks is. It doesn’t take much for Stronghart to figure that Kazuma planned this all along, either. There was a bit in Stronghart’s office during yesterday’s investigation, in which Kazuma was being told off for going off the rails with Vigil in that day’s trial. Stronghart ordered him to stay in line next time, and he mentioned to Ryunosuke that if Kazuma continued not to, “I will be forced to take steps”. Apparently those steps amounted to “script his approach to the trial and oversee it as the judge to make sure he stays in line”. And of course he still didn’t, because Kazuma is stubborn and doesn’t bow to authority for the heck of it.

But like… surely Stronghart would have known there’d be a good chance Kazuma wasn’t going to behave, even being directly overseen like this? What further steps was he planning to take if (when) Kazuma inevitably didn’t?

…Apparently, the answer to this is “nothing at all (other than some displeased glares)”. So that whole mini plotline about this amounted to barely anything. I guess it gives Stronghart an excuse to be the judge for the final trial days, but honestly I wouldn’t have batted an eye at him doing that anyway, minor powerplay with Kazuma or no.

I’d thought, on my first playthrough, that Kazuma’s defiance here was going to lead to Stronghart realising he can’t control Kazuma and that he needs to get rid of him, therefore causing Stronghart to deliberately nudge things towards getting Kazuma arrested once the assassin thing is revealed a little later in the trial. It would have made perfect sense! Kazuma ought to be just as much if not more of a threat that Stronghart would want to get rid of than van Zieks is, given that he’s just proven himself uncontrollable and has a lot more reason to seek the truth about the Professor case than van Zieks does. But somehow, canonically, Stronghart just shrugs and decides, nah, getting rid of van Zieks is totally still the greater priority, for some reason, let’s just let things continue like this.

Grumble grumble Kazuma should have been arrested, look at how much sense it would have made.

(It isn’t even made at all clear why Stronghart is so determined to get rid of van Zieks in the first place. I’ve seen it suggested elsewhere that it’s because, what with him vying for promotion, he wants to put an end to the Reaper at last and pin it all on the poor convenient scapegoat so that none of it can be traced back to him. I guess that’s the most reasonable explanation, but it'd be nice if there was some proper indication of it somewhere in-story.)

Anyway yes, Kazuma dramatically announces that Gregson was on a mission for the Reaper that day.

Kazuma: “The prosecution made an assertion in court yesterday:” Kazuma: [yesterday] “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!” Kazuma: “But in reality… the truth is the opposite of that.”

He makes sure to clear up any confusion caused by his previous argument by citing it and pointing out it was incorrect. But conveniently, he doesn’t mention the fact that he already knew it was incorrect when he made it yesterday, because unlike the rest of the police force, he did not learn about Gregson working for the Reaper only yesterday afternoon.

Kazuma: “Barok van Zieks never carried out any of the actual killings. Whenever the Reaper’s victims lost their lives, he always had a cast-iron alibi. Which tells us… that he must have had an accomplice.”

Sure, Kazuma, it definitely tells us that, because Barok van Zieks must definitely be the Reaper, no other possibility. This couldn’t possibly tell us that maybe van Zieks just isn’t actually the Reaper at all.

(Granted, he is thinking along the right lines, since the real Reaper mastermind also does not carry out the killings himself. He also just knows that to be a fact, since he’s had Gregson approach him as merely the Reaper’s tactician. But his logic for arguing this here is based entirely on his tunnel-visioned “van Zieks is definitely the Reaper” premise and not anything rational.)

Susato: “We also arrived at the same conclusion, didn’t we? That Inspector Gregson was operating as the Reaper.”

You and Ryunosuke didn’t exactly “arrive at that conclusion”, though, Susato. Van Zieks told you that he’d figured it out during his investigations, and you believed his judgement, that’s all.

Ryunosuke: “Barok van Zieks is not the Reaper!” Kazuma: “A predictable response… from someone who’s advocating for the man.”

Nice mental deflection there, Kazuma. Ryunosuke’s totally only insisting this because it’s his job to as a lawyer, definitely not at all because he genuinely believes in van Zieks and he might be right to or anything, nope, no need to think about that possibility.

Ryunosuke argues that Gregson couldn’t have been acting as the Reaper on the Grouse because nobody was killed there.

Kazuma: “…Pfft!” Ryunosuke: “What’s so funny?” Kazuma: “You’re right, of course. No suspicious deaths were reported on board that ship. But I think perhaps you’ve missed the point. That’s precisely why Inspector Gregson lost his life!”

It’s kind of painful how Kazuma seems to think this is amusing. Van Zieks murdering Gregson for the oh-so-terrible slight of not killing his target this one time is so obvious in Kazuma’s head that he snickers at the thought that Ryunosuke stumbled into helping him argue that.

Ryunosuke: “What?!”

Understandably, Ryunosuke has no idea why Kazuma seems to think that makes sense, because it doesn’t.

Kazuma: “There’s no question that Tobias Gregson was heavily involved in the Reaper’s activities. You may just be an apprentice, but if you’ve spent any time at Scotland Yard, you must have heard rumours…”

Rumours aren’t evidence, Kazuma! Granted, he also cited just a moment ago that Gregson’s secret notebook contains details of the assassination plots, which is actually evidence, but it is something that he tries to bring the rumours into it too. Perhaps it’s that he knows for a fact Gregson was part of the Reaper for reasons he can’t reveal without incriminating himself, so it’s frustrating him that he still can’t quite treat it as fact in court, leading to him trying to back it up in flimsy ways as well as solid ones. Alas, how much easier Kazuma’s job in this trial would be if he was just willing to incriminate himself.

--- Testimony 2 ---

Ryunosuke: “I know Judge Jigoku! And I saw him the day before yesterday! Here in London! So I know for a fact that the man hasn’t been assassinated!” Kazuma: “As I said… the Reaper failed.” Ryunosuke: “Oh…” Kazuma: “Gregson missed his chance to kill his mark and returned to British shores.”

One thing the narrative never properly discusses about Gregson’s mission here is… was he even supposed to kill his mark in the first place? Gregson was the tactician, not the actual assassin. It’s his job to investigate the marks and figure out the best opportunities to kill them, and then to pass that information onto the assassin who will do the actual deed. If Gregson goes on a trip to investigate a mark with an assassin in tow, surely that’s just an information-gathering mission? Surely Gregson himself would usually try not to be present during the actual killings?

Granted, that’s all moot in this instance since this was never a real Reaper mission, and actually Kazuma was sent along so that he would, in theory, kill Gregson, but still. I guess the narrative just never discusses this because it would unnecessarily complicate things. And clearly we cannot be bringing up any possible flaws in Kazuma’s very sensible logic here, right.

Kazuma: “But the Reaper wouldn’t tolerate the mistake. So he killed the inspector… personally. The Reaper of course being the accused… Barok van Zieks!” Stronghart: “It’s… an undeniably logical argument.”

It really isn’t!!!!! There are so many things wrong with this argument that it’s honestly kind of hilarious.

It’s ridiculous that the Reaper would get so mad at Gregson failing to kill the mark when he’s not even supposed to be the assassin – as I said, this was surely just an information-gathering mission if Gregson was there. Even if it wasn’t, the killing itself is still not Gregson’s job. The Reaper should be getting mad at Kazuma for failing, if anyone.

It’s also just ridiculous that the Reaper would go so far as to kill any henchman of his for one small mistake that didn’t actually have any negative consequences. Gregson can still try again, surely? Sometimes unexpected things come up that make assassinations not safe to go for without getting caught! If he killed his men for every tiny thing like this, he’d run out of men very quickly.

It's also ridiculous that the Reaper, a very careful serial killer who has kept himself hidden for ten whole years, would apparently carry out this retribution by shooting Gregson in a house in a populated street, thus immediately getting himself caught red-handed like the most bumbling criminal imaginable.

And of course, this entire argument hinges on the assumed premise that Barok van Zieks is the Reaper, something Kazuma has still not shown any proof for whatsoever.

And, even if we somehow take everything about this argument as solid, it still only “proves” a potential motive for van Zieks committing the crime! It does not prove that he did it!

But Kazuma realises none of this ridiculousness. No, of course van Zieks is so petty and vindictive as to murder his henchmen for one tiny mistake that isn’t really even part of their job, and of course he’s stupid and bumbling enough to get himself caught for it, and of course he is definitely the Reaper, because he is The Worst Person Ever.

Stronghart agreeing that this argument is logical is laughable – but then, Stronghart is apparently (for some unclear reason) still on the Let’s Get Van Zieks Convicted train, so he’s happy to agree with anything that’ll let him do that so long as nobody questions it.

Ryunosuke: (Kazuma… You planned for the trial to go this way all along, didn’t you?)

Which even Ryunosuke isn’t doing! He’s only marvelling at Kazuma having planned this – if anything, the way he’s thinking this reads as if he feels cornered. He’s not at all considering that this is a terrible argument actually. I would side-eye his response to this the most, since he doesn’t have such a good excuse for being wrong as Kazuma or Stronghart, but… I suppose this just speaks to how much Ryunosuke idolises his best friend. It doesn’t occur to him to ever expect Kazuma’s arguments to be flawed, because Kazuma’s the best at what he does, right?

I love the sheer audacity of van Zieks striding up to the witness stand during his own trial and slamming his leg on it to express his displeasure at the bullshit going on. It’s so very him. And I really can’t blame him right now.

Kazuma: “The accused has no right to speak uninvited in court. You will return to the dock.”

Kazuma is Not Happy. He may have been fine with calling van Zieks to testify unnecessarily yesterday, but in that instance, he was in control and was doing so to prove van Zieks to be a terrible liar. Can’t have van Zieks speaking out of turn and saying things that might make people think he’s not a horrible person.

Also, one little detail I enjoy during this bit is that the angle of Kazuma’s eyeline in his poses while he’s addressing van Zieks is just slightly lower than normal. It gives the subtle sense that he’s not looking van Zieks in the eye. Of course he wouldn’t want to do that.

Van Zieks: “That girl is no detective.” […] Van Zieks: “Repeating rumours heard around the Yard… Reading entries from a notebook of unconfirmed origin… That’s not testimony. It’s practically a script. No doubt the rest of this trial will go exactly as you’ve clearly planned.”

Van Zieks is essentially accusing Kazuma of being corrupt, of having rigged the entire trial to get him convicted unfairly. And it’s not that Kazuma isn’t being kind of corrupt right now, what with his very terrible argument that Stronghart is conveniently choosing to agree with… but it’s not really in the way that van Zieks is suggesting here.

The first testimony we had today, about the smuggling, really was practically a script. That whole line of argument was bullshitted by the Prosecutor’s Office (aka: Stronghart) to come up with something to hide the truth about Gregson acting for the Reaper. And Gina, a very inexperienced detective who doesn’t know much of what’s going on and is the most willing to accept anything that doesn’t involve Gregson working for the Reaper, was called to give the testimony, even though all she was really doing was reciting what she’d been told to say about the smuggling. And Kazuma didn’t like that he had to script that part of the trial, and was happy when Ryunosuke managed to disprove it for him!

This second testimony of Gina’s is a lot less scripted, though. She’s stating actual facts about what’s written in Gregson’s secret notebook (the notebook she found, so she’s a relevant person to testify about it), and the purpose of the testimony is to prove that Gregson was indeed working for the Reaper. This is something that van Zieks knows to be true thanks to his own investigations, some of which involved that very notebook! And Gina is the one person who’s actually trying to argue against this angle on Gregson in her testimony, by adding an unwarranted personal-opinion line at the end about how surely he was really just investigating the Reaper. So she’s hardly a witness who’s biased towards Kazuma’s case.

The actual problem here is that Kazuma is taking the true and backed-up facts that Gregson was working for the Reaper and went on a Reaper mission that day, and using those to spin a thoroughly flawed argument about how this means that van Zieks, who is totally the Reaper, totally killed him. Van Zieks… doesn’t quite seem able to see that. His own hatred of Kazuma is twisting his judgement just a little out of whack on this matter, too.

(It’s pretty amusing that van Zieks’s mistake here is that he’s assuming Kazuma is being corrupt in a more competent way than how he is actually being corrupt. Everybody is overestimating Kazuma’s ability to form a coherent argument here. Which is fair, because Kazuma really is so much better than this the rest of the time!)

Kazuma: “………”

Kazuma’s response to van Zieks insinuating that he’s rigged this testimony is nothing but a silent glare. Maybe he feels somewhat secure here, because at least he knows that he hasn’t really rigged the testimony at all.

(He was trying to bring the rumours into it, though. Van Zieks isn’t wrong to call him out on that bit.)

Van Zieks: “In your mind, I’m sure I am the Reaper… who sent your father to the gallows all those years ago.” Kazuma: “…!”

Kazuma remains in the same pose, but his text box implies a slightly more intense reaction to van Zieks bringing up his father, because of course. I really like how van Zieks is able to empathise with Kazuma to some extent and understand how he must feel about the death of his father, even though van Zieks believes that Genshin deserved it!

Van Zieks: “But you’re in danger of becoming a far more sinister Reaper yourself… by attempting to have me condemned with this feeble excuse for testimony.” Kazuma: “What did you say?”

This is the only part of van Zieks’s words that gets a verbal rise out of Kazuma. Of course he’s especially not pleased at the insinuation that he’s being worse than van Zieks himself in the way he’s approaching this. And, hey, while van Zieks is off about the precise ways in which Kazuma’s being corrupt right now, he’s not wrong to suggest that at all! Kazuma, please take a step back and look at yourself before you become the very kind of demon that you’re trying to fight.

This delightful little exchange gets interrupted by Susato and Ryunosuke, as the latter appeals for van Zieks to remain in the stand for the cross-examination, since he might know important information. It’s almost like he’s the one who actually has proper information on the testimony’s topic of Gregson being part of the Reaper, because he literally agrees with what the testimony’s arguing! Not such a corrupt testimony, really, is it, van Zieks?

(This trial day is short enough that it isn’t split apart with a save point, but I have so much to say about it that I’m splitting it into two anyway! So I’m stopping here, just before we start the actual cross-examination.)

#ace attorney #great ace attorney #the great ace attorney #the great ace attorney chronicles #tgaa #dgs #dai gyakuten saiban #the great ace attorney resolve #the resolve of ryunosuke naruhodo

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The Great Ace Attorney Final Trial Commentary: Day 3, Part 1

(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!)

Time for the final day of the trial!

Van Zieks: “On what grounds is Kazuma Asogi permitted to continue in his role as prosecutor? He has admitted to colluding with the victim in a plot to assassinate an innocent man. He shouldn’t be enjoying the privilege of freedom, let alone be leading the prosecution.”

Of course it’s van Zieks who points this out, when nobody else was going to bring it up.

(Kazuma should be in prison right now for a lot more than just this, but we can’t have that, grumble.)

Kazuma: “I submitted a written petition to Lord Stronghart… requesting that judgement of my transgressions be delayed by one day.” Van Zieks: “You did what?”

This is probably highly irregular and not something that someone would usually be able to get away with. But Stronghart wants van Zieks convicted and figures Kazuma’s the best person to have do that… and Kazuma is so, so desperate to get to do this.

Kazuma: “In today’s proceedings… I intend to expose everything. My whole life for the last ten years… has all been leading up to this one day!” Ryunosuke: “Kazuma…”

Hnnnngh, Kazuma. The outcome of this trial is everything to him, everything he’s been working so hard for, for so long. And now he’s trapped himself in a situation where he has to finish it all today, or else he might never get another chance.

I enjoy Ryunosuke reacting to this, at getting a sense of just how huge this is for his best friend.

Kazuma: “Whatever the outcome of this trial… I give my word that I will accept whatever punishment is deemed appropriate. However severe.”

Kazuma means this, too; I don’t think he was ever intending to escape repercussions for his actions forever. All the way back when he agreed to the assassination mission in Japan, and when he went with Gregson and threatened him – he probably did all this while fully expecting to face the consequences for it in the end. He just needs to be able to finish getting justice for his father first, before all that happens. Afterwards? It doesn’t matter what happens to him afterwards. So long as he can fulfil his mission, that’s the only thing that’s important.

The ”however severe” especially brings this home. Even if it was capital punishment, which might actually be on the table under the circumstances. He is and has always been determined to avenge his father at any cost, even if it’s literally the last thing he ever does.

Of course, it’s not like he didn’t also have other things he wanted to do with his life – he still did mean it about wanting to study in Britain to be able to improve Japan’s legal system. But all of that is minuscule next to his main goal. He would sacrifice anything for this. Anything.

(The game actually kinda drops the ball on what’s supposedly going to happen with Kazuma’s own trial after this main trial concludes. The writing sort of just forgets about it and doesn’t bring it up again? So I can only assume that the British legal system also kind of forgot about it, or at worst let Kazuma off with only a minor punishment. That certainly feels most fair to me, given that his only real crime was saying that he’d kill someone, which he was emotionally manipulated into in the first place, and that his own guilt over what he’s done is more than punishment enough already. It did rather bother me on my original playthrough, though, that there was this apparent nebulous future punishment for his transgressions hanging over Kazuma’s head, and the game acted like it kind of just didn’t care and didn’t want to push for him getting a reasonably happy ending… until suddenly his ending did come across as reasonably happy after all.)

Ryunosuke: (Kazuma is bristling with hostility today. I get the distinct impression we’re heading into very dangerous territory.)

I dunno, Ryunosuke; while Kazuma might be even more hostile than usual today out of desperation, we were already deep in quite some territory regarding Kazuma’s twisted tunnel-visioning on van Zieks’s guilt.

Susato: “Is that even really Kazuma-sama standing before us?”

Oh nooooo, Susato, my heart. Ryunosuke also said something similar during the intervening scene at Baker Street – that Kazuma’s no longer quite the friend he knew and that he’s changed. I really wish the game did more with this! Kazuma is still the person they both know and hasn’t actually changed; it’s just that he’s dealing with a hell of a lot more issues than either of them expected him to have. I wish the narrative had gone more into exploring this and having them realise in the end that he is still their friend, instead of, again, having things between them suddenly be okay again in the ending scene with no real transition.

(There would have been a perfect opportunity for such introspection and development regarding this if only Kazuma had been arrested for Gregson’s murder and Ryunosuke had had to defend him, just saying!!! Again, this is why I wrote my AU fic.)

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

Once again, Kazuma is more than ready. He didn’t say this on the second day of the trial, but today of all days, on which he plans to bring this to an end – on which he has to bring this to an end because he won’t get another chance – of course he’s more ready than he’s ever been.

Jigoku: “Haah… So it was you who issued this, was it?” Kazuma: “Your subpoena? …I did what was necessary.”

It’s interesting that the game highlights that it was Kazuma who issued Jigoku’s subpoena. Without that, Sholmes and Mikotoba wouldn’t have been able to bring Jigoku with them off the Grouse yesterday, and he’d have got away. They had the subpoena with them when they went after him, meaning Kazuma must have issued it shortly after the first trial day at the latest, just in case it became necessary.

This is in stark contrast to how Kazuma was on the second trial day, where he was absolutely convinced that Jigoku must have been killed, and it didn’t even seem to occur to him that the court could possibly want to hear testimony from Jigoku about what happened on the Grouse if he did happen to be alive. That is not a Kazuma that I would have imagined preparing a subpoena for Jigoku in advance at all.

I guess what this speaks to is partly a hint of that very small and buried part of Kazuma that isn’t actually sure if van Zieks is guilty and genuinely wants to give him a fair chance. But perhaps it’s also partly a sign of something else I’ve been meaning to bring up at some point – that Kazuma’s tunnel-visioning has been getting worse as this trial’s gone on.

See, I roasted him a lot for his terrible logic yesterday, but it actually wasn’t nearly as bad on day 1! There was that part near the beginning where Susato commended him for not trying to argue that the gun might have belonged to van Zieks – and yet, “this gun could have been van Zieks’s, and so that somehow proves it definitely was, which means he totally did it” is an argument pretty much on par with his day 2 arguments in terms of logic.

So it seems, perhaps, that Ryunosuke casting very valid doubt onto the Fresno Street crime scene on day 1 made Kazuma become more desperate. With less confidence in the actual evidence, he began pulling more and more from his own hatred and twisted justifications that van Zieks is the worst and must be the killer and the Reaper and everything bad, to the point that he ended up with logic as flawed as in yesterday’s session.

Jigoku: “…but my decision is unrelated to this case. I can’t be bound to testify.” Stronghart: “Unrelated, you say?” Kazuma: “………”

Kazuma is again pointedly shown being silent, and I imagine what he’s thinking is similar to what he was probably thinking at the end of the trial yesterday. Jigoku’s actions on the Grouse totally are unrelated to this case, because van Zieks definitely killed Gregson at Fresno Street, and so bringing Jigoku onto the stand is just a dead end that’s going to do nothing but quickly put an end to Ryunosuke’s hypothetical version of events. Right?

Susato: “It has ties to another murder. A case that was tried in Japan almost a year ago now.” Kazuma: “A year ago in Japan… The murder of Dr John H. Wilson, you mean?”

Kazuma looks to be in thought for a moment here, as if he’s only just realising the connection Gregson’s assassination has to Wilson’s death.

Kazuma: “What’s this all about? Why is my name on that list?”

Here, too, is an indication that Kazuma had no idea about this being an entire plot with multiple assassinations such that there’d need to be a list of four names and not just two.

Ryunosuke: “K. Asogi and A. Shinn… are the names of assassins.” Kazuma: “No…”

It seems like Kazuma was really hoping he could at least get through things without this assassination agreement also coming to light – but nope.

Ryunosuke: “…were masterminded by a pair of individuals from each country as a form of assassin exchange! And the telegram the defence has acquired is proof of this international ‘contract’ to kill!” Kazuma: “Wha… WHAT?!”

And again: Kazuma’s reaction to this is distinctly shocked. He did not have the slightest idea that the assassination he was involved in one of a pair – that back when he was furiously defending Ryunosuke from false charges in Japan last year, that crime was the counterpart to the very murder he’d been forced to agree to himself.

Kazuma: “Judge Jigoku…? What’s this all about?!”

Kazuma’s pretty forceful in questioning Jigoku here. Obviously he already knew Jigoku wanted him to kill Gregson in England, that’s not a surprise – so this is about the other crime. He’s probably only just realising now that for the entirety of the trial for Wilson’s murder, Jigoku – who was the judge – knew who the real killer was and yet cheerfully tried to get Ryunosuke convicted as a scapegoat. Kazuma faced a lot of roadblocks back then to even be able to defend Ryunosuke in the first place, which he must have at least partially known were thanks to Jigoku; now he understands exactly why.

Meanwhile, Ryunosuke accuses Kazuma of having lied in court yesterday, because his mark wasn’t actually Jigoku but Gregson.

Kazuma: “……… Very impressive, Ryunosuke. But actually, I didn’t lie.” Ryunosuke: “…!” Kazuma: “The name of the target I was ordered to kill never passed my lips yesterday. The idea that Seishiro Jigoku was the mark… came entirely from you!”

I like that we have this one moment of Kazuma getting to show off and draw attention to his incredible skill at hiding the truth without actually lying. He’s done it a lot more than just this once, but explicitly pointing out this one instance invites us to look for other times he’s done the same kind of thing!

He’s also smirking a little bit as he says this. Apparently he feels at least somewhat smug about his prowess in deception-without-lying, although he probably wouldn’t consciously think that.

Ryunosuke: (You… deliberately avoided saying a name?)

Oh, Ryunosuke, there are so many more things that Kazuma has deliberately avoided saying than just that.

--- Testimony 1 ---

(The game’s chapter select calls this one “Testimony 3”, because it seems to want to treat this day and the previous trial day just one long extended day. Which is pretty silly, because it isn’t. We may have had much less of a proper investigation in between than usual, but it is still day 3 of the trial now! So anyway, I’m going to ignore the game and number these testimonies based on what number they are in this trial day. Add two to these if you want to match them up with what the game calls them.)

Susato: “To use such a worthy practice as foreign study to coerce somebody to commit murder… It’s the most appalling thing I’ve ever heard!”

Usually-soft-spoken Susato is not pulling her punches! She is incredibly disgusted at her family friend for manipulating Kazuma into agreeing to be an assassin. The fact that she sees foreign study as such a “worthy practice” in itself probably stems from how Kazuma wanted so badly to study in Britain all along – and as far as Susato knew, that was entirely for its own sake and not for a specific purpose.

Jigoku: “Asogi had a reason for taking his sword to that British inspector, you know.” Ryunosuke: “What?!” Jigoku: “Which is why he accepted the mission in the first place. Isn’t that right… Counsel?” Kazuma: “………”

I’m not convinced I believe this claim of Jigoku’s. Obviously we know Kazuma does have a motive to have wanted Gregson dead, now. But I’m not sure about Jigoku’s implication that Kazuma was aware of that when he took the mission, a year ago. The only person who could have told Kazuma about Gregson’s connection to his father’s case is Jigoku. For one, I’m not entirely sure Jigoku even knew that much, since he was only involved in the prison escape half of the plot – but more pointedly, I doubt he would have wanted to tell Kazuma anything he knew, because that’d cast suspicion on his own role in Genshin’s death, something he very much would not want Kazuma figuring out.

Nonetheless, Kazuma is evasively silent in response to this, because while he may indeed not have known about Gregson’s involvement back then, it’s likely he was able to piece things together enough to suspect something. And of course, it all eventually came to a head with him actually wanting to kill Gregson in that terrible moment, which Kazuma must not enjoy thinking about.

Kazuma: “As I said yesterday, I’ve killed nobody. I freely admit that I accepted the mission, but on the night the plan was to be executed, I backed out.”

Kazuma is still wording things carefully. While talking about the night in question, he simply says that he didn’t go through with it, and not that he didn’t want to go through with it, because that would be a lie.

Kazuma: “Gregson was killed after returning to London. In the room on Fresno Street. And the perpetrator of the crime was the Reaper, Barok van Zieks! The prosecution’s accusation remains unchanged.”

Naturally, Kazuma wants to remind everyone that van Zieks, who is definitely the Reaper, definitely did the murder, and everything we’re talking about now is just an irrelevant dead end. He is still genuinely convinced of this.

Susato: “It’s unforgivable! Using Kazuma-sama’s feelings to manipulate him into agreeing to such a despicable plan…”

In the testimony’s recap dialogue, Susato has more Strong Opinions. I love that she’s thinking about Kazuma’s feelings and fully realises that he was manipulated and should barely be morally condemned for this decision at all. Honestly, I agree with her – despite all of Stronghart’s many crimes, the thing that gives me the biggest emotional reaction out of any of the villains’ actions in this game is Jigoku doing this to Kazuma. He knew that Kazuma was so desperate to get to Britain that he’d agree to absolutely anything if it was presented as his only way to do so, and ugh. To his friend’s son, and all. What a bastard.

Ryunosuke: “But I think Kazuma manipulated Judge Jigoku, too. He completely double-crossed him.” Susato: “Oh dear… It’s hard not to see that as a stroke of brilliance on Kazuma-sama’s part…”

I wouldn’t quite call it “brilliance” when it was as simple as “not keeping the promise he never wanted to be forced to make in the first place”, but I’m still with Susato here. Kazuma didn’t do anything wrong by refusing to go through with Jigoku’s expectations when Jigoku was the one who wronged him first by expecting him to do it at all.

Susato: “I know I shouldn’t let my emotions cloud my judgement… but you must destroy him, Mr Naruhodo!”

Yesss, Susato. Love her being so furious on Kazuma’s behalf, not even caring that Jigoku is a respected figure and a family friend.

Kazuma: “I thought it was a joke at first, of course. But then… it was made clear to me that if I didn’t accept, I wouldn’t be considered for the study tour.” Ryunosuke: “So, so you agreed to it… just for that?! I mean, I know how much you wanted to study in Britain, but… assassination?!”

Ugh, I get it, but it still hurts to see Ryunosuke react with horror like this. You know he wasn’t planning to go through with it, Ryunosuke! His only crime was agreeing to something shady without any intent to follow through!

But even then, it’s still not remotely something he would have expected from his best friend a year ago.

Kazuma: “………”

Kazuma’s not trying to defend himself. No doubt he always felt guilty about hiding this from his friend, and always expected it would make Ryunosuke think less of him.

Ryunosuke: “Why Kazuma? Why did you pick him as the assassin?” Jigoku: “He was the most capable of all the applicants. And in addition… I knew his desire to travel to Britain was very strong. In fact, it was almost more than a desire. It was his whole purpose in life.”

Ugh. Jigoku knew exactly how desperate Kazuma was and took advantage of that. He couldn’t risk bringing up the assassination mission to any potential candidate unless he was already sure that they would agree, lest they just turn him in to the police. But Kazuma was someone he could be certain would agree to this, so long as Jigoku threatened his chances to ever make it to Britain if he didn’t.

And conveniently, the candidate who was so utterly desperate to do this that he’d agree to an assassination for it was also the candidate who’d studied ridiculously hard to the point that he was the most capable applicant anyway and it wouldn’t look suspicious. Funny, that.

Kazuma: “There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to get here. Be that agreeing to assume the role of an assassin… or betraying people’s trust.”

Guhhhhhh, Kazumaaaa. This line really punches me in the gut with how completely desperately determined Kazuma was and is. And it’s interesting that he’s saying this to justify his decision… but he didn’t do so just a little earlier when Ryunosuke was directly accusing him. This time it’s directed more at Jigoku, or just the court in general. Perhaps he doesn’t really feel like these words would be enough to justify his actions to his best friend.

The “betraying people’s trust” part especially hit hard on my first playthrough. What with the more distant and hostile way he’d been acting lately, it felt like Kazuma could have been talking about betraying Ryunosuke’s trust. Aaaagh.

Jigoku: “Well, you certainly did a fine job of betraying mine, Asogi.”

What Kazuma actually means, though, is this. He promised Jigoku he would carry out the assassination, Jigoku trusted him with it… and then he betrayed that.

And yet it’s so incredibly grossly entitled of Jigoku to be angry at Kazuma over this when he was the one who betrayed Kazuma’s trust in the first place by forcing him into this at all. If he had any sense, he wouldn’t have trusted Kazuma’s promise, when it was a promise made out of coercion.

(I guess this is Jigoku being mad that this then meant he had be the one to murder Gregson in the end. Oh no, you had to get your hands dirty yourself instead of coercing the son of the friend you also killed into doing it for you, how terrible.)

Ryunosuke: “But why was Inspector Gregson the target?” Jigoku: “I have no idea. Those were the orders from Britain. I was in no position to question them.” Kazuma: “You have no idea? Really? I find that hard to believe.”

Kazuma’s right to. Not only is he bound to suspect that Jigoku knew something about Gregson’s involvement in his father’s death from his time in Britain ten years ago, but also, Jigoku literally just told the court that Kazuma had a reason to kill Gregson, which definitely implies that he knows the reason too!

Ryunosuke: “Obviously, Kazuma didn’t actually die at all. But he did lose his memory. Including all details about his special mission.” Kazuma: “………”

This bit is very rude to me personally, because on my first playthrough, I thought, “Why are they making a point of Kazuma’s silence here? Surely this is meant as a hint that he didn’t really lose his memory?” Which led me to continue to entertain that fervent theory of mine just a little more, even after I’d mostly abandoned it. First-time-me had further ammo for it by this point, too, because wanting to pretend he’d forgotten about his assassination mission would have been a very plausible reason for Kazuma to have faked amnesia!!!

In reality, we can presume that the actual reason the narrative is making a point of Kazuma’s silence is that he’s thinking about how losing his memory was painful and difficult, but god forbid Kazuma ever actually talk about or openly acknowledge the suffering he’s been through.

Kazuma: “But I’d never intended to go through with the assassination mission anyway.”

Again, some very careful phrasing. He had never intended. Meaning he’s referring to a period of time in the past, around when he accepted the mission, at which point he did not intend to go through with it. A certain point in time much closer to the present day? He’s not talking about that point in this sentence. That would be a lie.

Jigoku: “So you were playing me right from the outset, were you? Is that it?” Kazuma: “I’d sooner be guilty of that crime than of taking someone else’s life. I was prepared to do whatever I had to in order to get myself here to Britain.”

Yes, Jigoku, and you should have realised from the start that he was planning to repay you in kind.

It is something that Kazuma still considers this – simply double-crossing Jigoku and making a false promise he intended to break – to be a “crime”. Kazuma cares a lot about honour and integrity, and it really hurt him to have to tarnish that in order to make it to Britain! Even though he was only doing this to somebody who’d already done much worse to him. Really, Kazuma, don’t beat yourself up over this – Jigoku deserved it.

Ryunosuke: “I suppose Inspector Gregson was there in his capacity as the Reaper… He was intending to take the witness’s life.” Kazuma: “Exactly. As I’ve said numerous times now, I had no intention of killing anyone.”

Once again, Kazuma is referring to a specific time period here – the point at which he and Gregson entered Jigoku’s cabin. At that point, he had no intention of killing anyone. Later than that? He’s not talking about that. Because he doesn’t lie.

It’s also starting to seem just a little suspiciously specific that Kazuma keeps repeating that he had no intention of doing any murders. Overcompensating for that guilt much, Kazuma?

Kazuma: “I stayed to talk with Inspector Gregson for a short while… and then I left him there and made my way off the ship alone.” Ryunosuke: “Was the guard still at the door when you went?” Kazuma: “Yes. He glared at me as I walked past.”

Yes, just a short, casual conversation in which nothing at all serious happened, don’t worry about the blade tip in Gregson’s trunk, it’s totally irrelevant to the case.

Given that Kazuma must have been in rather a panicked state of mind after finding himself wanting to kill Gregson and very nearly doing it, it sure is something that he then immediately passed by the guard glaring at him. He must have managed to put up one hell of a poker face.

It’s surprising that the crewman didn’t hear the sound of Karuma hitting Gregson’s trunk, honestly, but then that could easily have led to Kazuma being arrested, and we can’t have that, apparently

(…Actually, scratch that – there’s a specific reason he wouldn’t have heard it. Someone had muffled the speaking tube in the cabin with a piece of cloth, which likely wouldn’t have drowned out a gunshot, but I could buy it muffling less loud sounds. It’s never revealed who did that, but it could very easily have been Kazuma, given that he wouldn’t have wanted anybody to overhear him threatening Gregson.)

Ryunosuke: “But a hole like that made by a bullet was found in your cabin, Judge Jigoku! That’s compelling evidence that a gun was fired in there!” Kazuma: “What’s that? A bullet hole…?”

Yes, Kazuma, speaking of bullet holes—

…That aside, Kazuma’s reacting to this in surprise because he’s only just realising that Ryunosuke has actual evidence that the murder might have occurred there. What do you mean it could have actually been Jigoku who did it, and not van Zieks.

(Jigoku goes on to write off the bullet hole as totally just woodworm or something, and Kazuma probably justifies it that way in his head, too.)

Kazuma: “All crewmen were… away from their posts?!”

Kazuma also reacts to this. He’d been seeing Jigoku’s testimony as open and shut, he obviously couldn’t have done it because the guard would have heard the gunshot – what do you mean it actually was possible after all?!

Kazuma: “A twenty-minute window of opportunity… That’s an excellent find, Ryunosuke. But it amounts to nothing!”

Even though he’s proud of his friend for figuring something out, Kazuma is still quick to brush this off as definitely irrelevant, because a mere possibility isn’t proof that anything actually happened.

(Funny how he’s able to acknowledge that proving something is possible is not the same as proving that it definitely happened that way, now that we’re talking about it being someone other than van Zieks who maybe did the murder.)

Kazuma: “Unless you have some decisive evidence […]… your accusation is nothing more than conjecture!”

So is yours, Kazuma! Someone is still managing to forget this.

Ryunosuke: “Judge Jigoku! This was found in your cabin yesterday.” Stronghart: “What is that? The crown of a pocket watch?”

Interestingly, it seems Sholmes missed out a few details when he passed the evidence from his investigation of the cabin onto Ryunosuke. The crown of the watch was actually found in Jigoku’s trunk, which is distinctly not the same thing as his cabin. It could have been in the trunk without ever actually being in the cabin itself, so this technically doesn’t prove Gregson was attacked in the cabin… but on the other hand, it being in the trunk pretty much already proves that Gregson was inside there at some point. That’s not something the game wants us to get to just yet, so instead we have this little discrepancy that’s honestly very easy to not even notice (and makes sense to have happened, since Sholmes could have just not mentioned it).

Ryunosuke: “Moreover, this crown is a perfect fit on the spindle protruding from the victim’s watch.” Kazuma: “…!”

Kazuma’s shown being alarmed as he realises that Ryunosuke has some actual compelling evidence here. But barely a minute later…

Kazuma: “Expertly manoeuvred, Ryunosuke.” Ryunosuke: “…!” Kazuma: “And your argument sounds entirely plausible… at first. But rather like this pocket watch, it’s full of cracks.”

…even despite praising his friend (I love how Kazuma’s always proud of Ryunosuke for coming up with his arguments even as he’s shooting them down, they are friends), he’s already figured out a way out of it. It’s probably easier than it would otherwise be to come up with ways in which this still doesn’t prove Jigoku’s guilt when you’re utterly convinced that van Zieks must have done it.

--- Testimony 2 ---

Jigoku: “When I walked through the door, a mustachioed Englishman was there, foolishly waving a gun at me.”

Here’s an interesting point: I don’t think Gregson actually did point a gun at Jigoku. Sure, he was technically supposed to kill him since Kazuma had walked out, but I don’t believe he actually wanted to, given that Jigoku isn’t the kind of irredeemable criminal that the Reaper usually kills. He was probably feeling pretty conflicted about this whole mission, especially with his imminent transfer to France in which he was going to finally be done with all this murdering.

That and, if Gregson had had his gun out during their struggle, it rather begs the question… why didn’t Jigoku do the murder with Gregson’s gun? That would have been much easier to pin on somebody else, because anyone could theoretically have turned Gregson’s gun on him. As it is, by using his own gun, Jigoku limited the possible suspects to other judiciary members who carry the same model of gun (and coincidentally happen to have misplaced theirs). Framing Hugh Boone, like he'd originally intended to, wouldn’t actually have worked, because where would that guy have obtained such a weapon?

Ryunosuke: “Far from being impossible for you to do… the transporting of Inspector Gregson’s body back to Britain is something ONLY you could do!” Kazuma: “What are you talking about, Ryunosuke?”

Kazuma’s leaning forward and seeming quite urgent with this. What do you mean, it was possible, and maybe Jigoku did do it, and not van Zieks.

Ryunosuke: “The actual scene of the crime…” Kazuma: “The prosecution’s stance is unaltered. The killing took place on Fresno Street when the gunshot was heard… as the accused, Barok van Zieks, shot the victim at point blank range!”

Kazuma’s still insisting on this, again. He has to be starting to think by this point that maybe Ryunosuke’s onto something, but no, it was definitely van Zieks, it has to be.

Stronghart: “Since no tangible evidence exists to disprove the prosecution’s claim at this time…”

No tangible evidence has existed to prove it for quite some time now!!!

The part where you have to prove Gregson couldn’t have been shot at Fresno Street because he died instantly and couldn’t have curled up like that is a bit silly and unintuitive. This is something Ryunosuke could have pointed out at any point earlier in the trial, to support his argument that the murder took place elsewhere! I suppose it makes some sense that it’s coming up now, because now that we know Gregson’s body was in a trunk, we have an explanation for why he was curled up, but still.

(But then if Ryunosuke had brought it up earlier, that might have been seen as actual proof that Kazuma’s argument is all wrong, because apparently the scorch marks on the candle were not already enough proof of that, even though they were and just got conveniently brushed aside and forgotten.)

Also, we could have just skipped this awkward unintuitive bit by simply forcing Jigoku to present his trunk for inspection, which would prove it anyway.

Ryunosuke: “…before it was coldly turned out on the floor… from the inside of a large travel trunk!” Kazuma: “No!”

Anyway, here’s Kazuma with a powerfully shocked reaction as he realises how much sense Ryunosuke’s argument makes and that Gregson couldn’t have been killed at Fresno Street at all.

Jigoku: “Present my trunk? I refuse!” Kazuma: “What?!”

What do you mean Jigoku’s being suspicious in a way that implies he obviously did it?!

Stronghart: “Well, Mr Jigoku… what’s it to be?” Jigoku: “………” Kazuma: “You can’t be serious! You did it?!”

What do you mean, Jigoku did it, and it really wasn’t van Zieks at all???

Kazuma’s reaction here goes to show that he had still genuinely managed to keep convincing himself it was van Zieks until only just now, when the truth becomes completely impossible to deny.

And then Jigoku admits to moving the body but accuses Kazuma of the actual murder in a last-ditch effort to defend himself, which is far too little too late, grumble grumble. There’s no interesting narrative tension surrounding the question of whether Kazuma really might have done it when it’s already so obviously Jigoku at this point!

Jigoku: “As you know, there was one other person in my cabin that night. He had the opportunity.”

We’ve known that Kazuma theoretically had the opportunity to do the murder for a while now, which is such a juicy point, but the narrative’s done nothing with it until just now! Like, I get why Ryunosuke and Susato wouldn’t want to think about it, but why has nobody else even pointed out this possibility until it already became clear the killer was someone else anyway???? Bah.

Stronghart: “Well… the prosecution counsel has already admitted to visiting the witness’s cabin on the night in question.”

And this is all we get from Stronghart on the matter – the vaguest indication that he’d be more okay with throwing Kazuma under the bus for this than Jigoku. Because somehow he was not more okay with sacrificing Kazuma rather than van Zieks, even after Kazuma had repeatedly shown himself to be impossible to keep in line.

There’s not even that much narrative weight behind Ryunosuke being the one to prove Kazuma’s innocence in this one brief moment here, because Kazuma could perfectly well have done it himself anyway!

The “Overture to Pursuit” music kicks in about here as Ryunosuke begins to do so, which is a track that I love and that usually gets me really hyped. But no matter how much the music wants me to be, I can’t get hyped here over the fact that it was always literally impossible for Kazuma to have done this murder. He just had a freaking alibi the entire time, removing any potential for tension over whether or not it could have been him!!! Why.

And the thing is, Kazuma’s alibi is a really incidental, offhand sort of thing. Him staying at that boarding house in Dunkirk is only mentioned one other time and isn’t connected to any other part of the plot – it could have been completely removed while keeping everything else intact! This is particularly notable when almost every other plot point in this narrative serves multiple purposes for the story one way or another. Kazuma’s Dunkirk stay is one of the only things that doesn’t! It’s just… there, purely to give him an alibi and nothing else.

This means that it would have been so, so easily possible to write a story in which Kazuma theoretically could have done the deed and we’d actually had something come of this! If he’d just been on the ship the whole time – perhaps because the cabin’s guard had actually done his job and refused them entry due to Kazuma’s two fricking swords, meaning they had to wait until that window when all the crewmen left – then Kazuma would have been a perfectly viable suspect!

But nope, he just gets an alibi, making it that easy to prove his innocence when things actually come to this. Grumble grumble grumble.

(I think I am probably done complaining about this, finally, now that we’ve got past this point. Please read my fic in which Kazuma does get arrested if this idea seems enticing to you too.)

Jigoku: “To lure the man in, he was given a sham mission by the Reaper.” Ryunosuke: “W-What?!” (The Reaper…?) Kazuma: “But there’s only one person who could have done that! The mastermind of the entire operation: the Reaper himself!” Ryunosuke: “Ah!” Susato: “So… that means the assassin exchange was… It was all planned by the Reaper!”

Kazuma is the first person to jump on this and point out that Jigoku has just effectively told the court that the Reaper mastermind and the exchange mastermind are the same person. As I touched on earlier, Kazuma would already have been pretty sure of that himself due to the circumstances of him getting the mission to supposedly kill Gregson, and he’d have been itching for an opportunity to prove as much in court, so that he can use his father’s case as evidence that van Zieks is the Reaper.

Jigoku: “I decided that man [Hugh Boone] would be the perfect person to set up as the culprit.”

Framing van Zieks was actually an unexpected accident! While it’s a little frustrating that this means that Stronghart’s insistence on using this trial to get rid of van Zieks (and not Kazuma for some reason) wasn’t even planned, it does actually matter that Jigoku’s intended scapegoat was not van Zieks, as we’ll see later.

Kazuma: “………”

Kazuma’s shown silently uncomplaining as Stronghart accepts Jigoku’s confession. No doubt he’s just waiting until he can get to the part where he accuses van Zieks of being the Reaper and the man who ordered Jigoku to kill Gregson.

Ryunosuke: “Mr Jigoku! One last detail! Who was your counterpart in Britain? Who was the mastermind behind the assassin exchange?” Jigoku: “………” Ryunosuke: “Nothing you say now can make matters any worse for you! Just tell us!”

Ryunosuke’s got a point here – Jigoku’s apparently going to go down for murder, so he really shouldn’t have anything to lose. Even the fact that Stronghart’s holding him shooting Genshin over his head shouldn’t really matter any more, because one murder or two doesn’t make a difference to the death penalty. (Although I do suspect that Jigoku might feel a certain amount of personal guilt over shooting his friend dead, to the point that he just doesn’t want anyone to know about that, regardless of the consequences.)

But mostly, I think the reason Jigoku insists he can’t say anyway is that, despite what he keeps saying, it’s not actually over for him. Not as long as Stronghart’s still able to pull some strings behind the scenes to get him out of this.

Stronghart: “Seishiro Jigoku, it is the opinion of this court that you should be found… Guilty. And may I remind all those present of the strict confidentiality demanded by this closed court!”

Stronghart’s approach here certainly implies he’s planning as much. Look, everyone, he’s unofficially declared him guilty here, so that totally counts right? And nobody’s allowed to tell anybody that this happened – which means nobody can complain if Jigoku conveniently gets let off the hook in his actual trial later.

(It is a bit silly that it does the whole flames-in-the-scales thing for the Guilty, but not only is that setup for Stronghart’s breakdown later, declaring an unofficial verdict here actually does make some sense with the manipulation Stronghart’s trying to pull for Jigoku. See – most things in this story serve multiple purposes!)

Anyway, that was a point I found interesting and non-obvious enough that I wanted to talk about it even though it has nothing much to do with Kazuma, but let’s get back to Kazuma.

Stronghart: “In short, the defendant’s innocence has therefore been established beyond doubt.” Kazuma: “………”

Kazuma’s still biding his time, just waiting for the perfect moment to object and argue that no, it hasn’t.

Ryunosuke: “I’m just a little troubled… by his silence.”

Ryunosuke notices it too! He knows his friend – which in this instance means he knows Kazuma’s fervent determination to convict van Zieks well enough to be sure he’s not just going to give up and accept defeat like this.

Stronghart: “I hereby declare the defendant, Barok van Zieks………” Kazuma: “Objection!”

Seriously, Kazuma, you really were just waiting for the most dramatic possible moment, weren’t you? Dork.

#ace attorney #great ace attorney #the great ace attorney #the great ace attorney chronicles #tgaa #dgs #dai gyakuten saiban #the great ace attorney resolve #the resolve of ryunosuke naruhodo

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