Board 8 > Rate the Ace Attorney case: Turnabout Academy (5-3)

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Rules:

1. Rate each case on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Anything above 10 gets rounded down to a 10, and anything below a 1 gets rounded up to a 1.
2. Anything beyond one decimal point will be rounded accordingly: .04 and below will be rounded down, .05 and up will be rounded up.
3. You may grade on any criteria you like.
4. You can rate cases from previous topics if you miss a topic.

Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PiEuURt1qf19VoYzcFCU1EFa8uqs2teJiVcip7JmjDw/edit?usp=sharing

Previous Results:

Bridge to the Turnabout (3-5) - 9.8 (37 votes)
Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4) - 9.7 (30 votes)
Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) - 9.2 (32 votes)
The Inherited Turnabout (E2-3) - 8.5 (16 votes)
Turnabout Beginnings (3-4) - 8.4 (26 votes)
Rise from the Ashes (1-5) - 8.2 (28 votes)
The Stolen Turnabout (3-2) - 8.2 (24 votes)
Turnabout Samurai (1-3) - 7.4 (29 votes)
Turnabout Memories (3-1) - 7.4 (30 votes)
The Grand Turnabout (E2-5) - 7.3 (16 votes)
Turnabout Target (E2-1) - 7.1 (17 votes)
Turnabout Trump (4-1) - 6.9 (25 votes)
Recipe for Turnabout (3-3) - 6.6 (27 votes)
The Monstrous Turnabout (5-2) - 6.6 (22 votes)
Reunion, and Turnabout (2-2) - 6.5 (25 votes)
Turnabout Ablaze (E1-5) - 6.0 (19 votes)
Turnabout Sisters (1-2) - 5.7 (25 votes)
Turnabout Reminiscence (E1-4) - 5.6 (22 votes)
The Imprisoned Turnabout (E2-2) - 5.3 (16 votes)
The Forgotten Turnabout (E2-4) - 5.2 (16 votes)
Turnabout Visitor (E1-1) - 5.0 (20 votes)
The First Turnabout (1-1) - 4.9 (25 votes)
The Kidnapped Turnabout (E1-3) - 4.6 (22 votes)
Turnabout Airlines (E1-2) - 4.2 (22 votes)
Turnabout Countdown (5-1) - 4.1 (24 votes)
Turnabout Corner (4-2) - 4.0 (25 votes)
Turnabout Big Top (2-3) - 3.7 (25 votes)
Turnabout Succession (4-4) - 3.5 (24 votes)
The Lost Turnabout (2-1) - 3.3 (27 votes)
Turnabout Serenade (4-3) - 2.7 (24 votes)

While most liked 5-2 for its twists and Blackquill's introduction, others weren't so keen on the premise or the cast. Though, surprisingly, no one had a thing to say about the other new main character - Fulbright. But I'm sure he'll get plenty of discussion in the cases ahead.

Summary:

Having recently re-passed the bar exam, Phoenix is invited to be a guest speaker at the famed Themis Legal Academy. During the academy's highly anticipated mock trial, wouldn't you know, a murder takes place, and Athena steps behind the bench to defend one of her oldest friends.

Main Characters: Athena Cykes, Apollo Justice, Phoenix Wright, Bobby Fulbright, Klavier Gavin, Simon Blackquill, The Judge, Trucy Wright
Other Characters: Aristole Means, Juniper Woods, Constance Courte, Hugh O'Conner, Robin Newman, Myriam Scuttlebutt

My rating: 7.5/10. It takes a bit for me to warm up to this case. Ace Attorney has always been anime adjacent, but this case is full-on anime. The cast takes a bit to warm up to, but I end up really liking everyone here. Hugh is a fun scapegoat who does seem to be the culprit, but I'm glad it swerves towards Means because friendship is undying. Athena really makes this case hers - the "You're a goner!" thing and cosplaying as the statue feel like something neither Phoenix or Apollo would do. Blackquill's surprisingly fun here, too. I especially like the part where he just plays the high school rebel when Means is taking attendance.

7.5

8.5

4

8.5/10

This case is just silly and fun. I get why some people don't like it, but I enjoy all the antics from Robin, Hugh, and Myriam. Athena and Apollo are a really good duo. Means is a decent villain.

I also enjoy all the self-referential and deprecating humor, such as the stuff they teach in their school courses, like the proper angle of the arm when pointing.

7

7

9/10

Excellent case from start to finish. Means is an awesome villain, and the rest of the cast is great.

8.1/10

What Leon said basically. I'll just add that Means has my second-favorite transformation in the series after a certain aquarium worker we'll be getting to soon.

Means basically justified the entire switch to 3D. His animations are so fun.

8

8

8.9

7

It's a bit problematic

6/10

8.5

8.5/10

So many memorable moments and characters. I love Robin so much. Also "You're a goner!" made me cringe but not necessarily in a bad way. It's camp.

Myriam is also a fun character with a great design, even if she's slightly underused.

9/10 Was in high school at the time myself so I really related to it. Blackquill and Fulbright are both a lot more likable. Once again Im surprised at the high scores though. Usually I have to defend myself for liking this case. At least Im happy about it this time. I have to say, 5-2 being so trash probably helped elevate my opinion on this since I legit was simply expecting Hugh to be the culprit and thought Means was some irrelevant rando that might show up as an NPC in later cases.

8

8, it's solid and Means is funny

8

congrats aa, you defeated third case syndrome two games in a row.

the setting isn't a favourite of mine, but that's very much a "me" issue and not that i think it is inherently bad for aa. and i do love how the existence of themis is just a straight up reward for those who played aai2. hugh manages to have similarities to sebastian yet comes across as a completely different (but also great) character. i love how he seemed bad and aloof but no, he's just as much of a softie as his friends.

good cast overall. juniper is good, if slightly inconsistent to the junie we've already seen. right out the gate it just feels weird how she's more nervous the second go around with being a defendant than the first.

robin is ... a tricky character. im not going to say whether her direction was a bad decision or not, for various reasons. i personally liked her but i can understand why some may take issue with how she was handled (and i do dislike how the game brushes over you forcing her secret to be public. luckily? hugh also suffered a similar fate, i suppose)

and rounding it out, scuttlebutt comes off as someone i was prepared to hate but ended up liking. funny how she just immediately becomes the fourth member of the crew at the end lol

means definitely makes the transition to 3d models more bearable. i am pretty firm on "team sprites" but i think so far, the game has made use of its higher presentation without overdoing it. and he's a great, possibly even the best example. though i immediately clocked him as an accomplice at best (that smile is too creepy for him to be innocent!) i do like how he seemed so friendly and cooperative the whole time. it made me second guess my decisions despite his design cues and that "end justifies the means/dark age of law" mentality.

and rounding it out, the returners are great. blackquill and fulbright have more room to grow and klavier continues to be the nicest prosecutor in the series.

some aspects are not great but the greater picture makes up for the case's faults.

5/10

Eh. There's a couple of things I like. First of all, it has Blackquill, and Blackquill carries anything he's in. Means is a fun villain even if it was kinda obvious the entire case it was gonna be him. In general, I think the pacing of this case is great - it flies by and goes down really smoothly without having any slow parts or anything really bumpy.

But I dunno, it's just kind of okay. I found the murder scenario disappointing - the fact that someone did a copycat murder based on Juniper's script doesn't really come into play in any kind of way I find satisfying or cool. The "You're a goner!" thing and the whole "oh Robin's ACTUALLY a girl so it could be her voice?" strains credibility for me super hard. I basically never remember anything from the second half of the case at all until Means, it's all really forgettable. Just didn't like the cast or the murder much. It doesn't do anything for me.

Monstrous Turnabout - 5/10. Its fine but surprising to see it rate so high.

Turnabout Academy - 8/10. Robin is problematic but other than that its a belter with one of the best minor villains in the series. Kind of typified the switch to making the middle cases actually important.

2

8

5 - really don't like the setting and most of the characters, but at least Means was good.

Blackquill just walking out of the courtroom during Hugh's body double testimony is one of his best moments

8

I like this one a lot. Great characters, good pacing.

Stage costume-related evidence taken in classic end-justifies-the-means style!

Professor Means always says what he means and means what he says by all means!