Ace Attorney: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Ace Attorney: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Ace Attorney: Season 2 is a comedy anime series with a peculiar approach to court-room drama. The series is based on the popular video game series created by CAPCOM. Featuring fun and colorful art from animation studio CloverWorks (The Promised Neverland, Wonder Egg Priority), Ace Attorney: Season 2 offers more comedic hijinks for fans of silly court-room shenanigans.

Things continue to heat up in the courtroom. Thought the court cases might be spicy or cold, depending on the day, the adventures of hip and suave Ace Attorney make things interesting along the way (to say the least). Ace Attorney is always searching for hot justice (and not in the way one might assume) and though the journey of Phoenix Wright is one paved with good intentions, the results are sometimes chaotic in the court room.

Phoenix Wright – aka – the Ace Attorney of the court-room story – faces some unexpected difficulties with a case giving him nothing more than Amnesia! What is an expert in the field to do when his own head isn’t feeling well? As Phoenix Wright struggles with his newest case load, the lawyering stakes continue to raise. Phoenix Wright even goes head-to-head with lawyer Godot. Can a new and spicy blend of piping hot justice be delivered?

The characters are part of the fun of the production. The lead protagonist, Phoenix Wright, is a solid lead as the ace attorney of the series. Phoenix Wright is always trying to do the right thing as the bustling attorney and he has his work cut out for him. The character is charming and humorous. Certainly, the level of attention given to the character and the personality of Phoenix Wright is surprising for a video game adaptation.

The animation is impressive and colorful for Ace Attorney. The production benefits from chief animation direction by Keiko Ōta (Hyakko, Sengoku Basara - Samurai Kings: The Last Party). The animation style is compelling and distinct while retaining the style inherit in the video games by CAPCOM. The art style certainly is kept intact and the character designs by Keiko Ōta are well highlighted. The animators of Ace Attorney provided a solid art style for the production.  

The cinematography by Ayaka Shimizu (DARLING in the FRANXX, Silver Spoon) is colorful, bright, and engaging. Shimizu certainly imbues the production with a worthwhile cinematographic approach to showcase the court-room silliness with vibrant visuals. The visual approach by Shimizu is in keeping with the style used in the video games by CAPCOM. Anyone with even passing knowledge of the video games will see that the art was well retained and the cinematography is a solid reflection of the artistic approach undertaken on the production.

The score composed by Kaoru Wada (Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon) is a surprisingly effective component of the production. The score might not stand out as one of the most memorable anime scores but it is nonetheless enjoyable, light, and effecting. As solid background music, the score is entertaining enough and it certainly fits the comedic style of the program. The composer has fun adding some silliness to the outing.  

Featuring head scriptwriting by Atsuhiro Tomioka (Baki the Grappler, The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird) and Yuichiro Takeda (Desert Punk, GaoGaiGar: King of the Braves), Ace Attorney is a comedic series that certainly offers some low-key charms. The scripting remembers to emphasis the silliness of the series and the goofiness of the cast of characters. Ace Attorney is almost like a sketch comedy at times even with the plotting and the scenarios are certainly over-the-top.

Directed by Ayumu Watanabe (If Her Flag Breaks, Mysterious Girlfriend X), Ace Attorney: Season 2 will appeal to fans of the program looking for more off-the-wall comedy. The series isn’t anything to take too seriously. The comedy is light and fun and those who enjoy the type of humor the series excels in will be thrilled to revisit the anime with its second season outing. Though not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, Ace Attorney: Season 2 is a decent comedic offering and fans will enjoy.

Ace Attorney: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation, Ace Attorney: Season 2 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series production looks crisp and colorful with the beautiful high-definition encoding. The encode offers an effective reproduction of the art style and the animation looks great with the quality presentation by Funimation. Fans will not be disappointed.

Ace Attorney: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless audio encoding on the release is excellent. Detail is superb. Clarity is top-notch and the dialogue reproduction is worthwhile. The score soundtrack was well reproduced as well. The release sounds great in stereo and the sound stage is reasonably good even without a more expansive surround sound audio stage.

Ace Attorney: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1:

Special Feature – Episode 7 Audio Commentary

Disc 3:

Special Feature – Episode 15 Audio Commentary

Disc 4:

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

Ace Attorney: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ace Attorney: Season 2 offers more comedic charms for fans of the off-the-wall comedy. The series has a charming sense of humor and the production showcases the goofy antics of the court-room drama. Fans of the CAPCOM video games will appreciate the fact that the series keeps the aesthetic of the video games. The Blu-ray release features a strong video and audio presentation alongside a selection of exclusive bonus features, include audio commentaries and more. Fans of Ace Attorney will be pleased with the quality of the release. Recommended.