This is something I've been thinking about. I know all of the year dates we get on the AA timeline are based off of the DL-6 date from the first AA. (Because things like character ages don't match up). I was playing Apollo Justice, and it seems to me it would be better for it to actually happen in 2027 rather than 2026. And it seems like it's possible it could.

Is there any dialogue in AJ that directly states its exactly 10 years after GS1 or that Phoenix's final case was the same year as GS3? If not, why was the conclusion made that 2019 was the year of the Gramarye case? Here are my reasons why I don't think that really makes sense:

* The Official GS Manga (Not the casebooks) seems to take place after GS3. (This creates a problem of its own in that the last case isn't anywhere the finale that Bridge to the Turnabout was, so some of the impact if ruined there, but it doesn't fit anywhere else) Specifically, the cases happen between August and November. Putting them in August and November of 2017 or 2018 doesn't work due to character appearances. Now, technically the manga could be called Non-Canon, but if you read the manga you'll see the writers went out of their way to make everything match up with Apollo's story. Not only is there foreshadowing of Phoenix's disbarment, but Guy Eldoon's father is there running the noodle stand, and Phoenix's memories of "Dahlia" seem to be ridden of their negative connotations, simply remembering her (really iris) while they were together. Regardless of if you think it was canon or not, they obviously knew the Apollo Justice story and were writing it as if it was to be canon. So why didn't they just make the cases in march and april of that year then? This totally works if this is August - November 2019 and AJ takes place in 2027.

* The only date-related phrase I remember in AJ is "Seven Years Ago" and AA time is never definite. To my knowledge they never mention any date comparison to the original trilogy. The character ages of T&T & the flashback part of AJ are probably the same but character ages seem to change or not change randomly. They seem to add a year to everyone's age at the start of a new game, which isn't very reliable.

* (This is more an opinion) As crazy as the AA universe is, I still can't believe these were Wright's only clients. Especially since crime is so rampant in the AA world and the trial can only last 3 days, in order to stay afloat Nick would need a bunch more cases than what we see. I always just assumed he had other cases going on (Say, the manga) and I think having another year of clients would be great for his lawyer history. Also, at the end of T&T it didn't seem like Maya was leaving Wright & Co. right then and there, but it seemed like it would be soon. Giving another year makes Maya not being in the courtroom with Nick make more sense. It doesn't seem so sudden.

So back to my question. Is there anything in AJ that absolutely ties AJ to be in 2026? Because it seems to make so much more sense a year later.

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In T&T Phoenix was 26
In AJ he is 33

33-26=7

As much as I hate to admit it (I think Phoenix should have been a lawyer at least five years), this can't be date other than 2026

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That's disappointing. Especially because the ages listed in the games are physically wrong anyway. If only we knew the date of Phoenix's birthday.

Still, this does make me wonder why the manga writers didn't change the dates to april/may. Apollo was actually out when the manga was published, and if they put in so many Apollo references I don't know why they ignored the date. Edgeworth's appearances even work with his location during Investigations.

Oh Well.

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