Its a bit redundant to have this kind of topic on an Ace Attorney fan board, but, this series really is amazing.

Take a step back and think about how this series evolved. It was directed by some guy that was an "assistant programmer" or "assistant art director" on the old Resident Evil games (to be honest I am too lazy to check out what the directors actual credentials are). Then in 2001, the guy must have worked some magic to convince the top brass at Capcom that a visual novel about lawyers would be a good idea.

So the movers & shakers at Capcom greenlight the idea, and the series gets a respectable following in Japan. It gets a couple of sequels on the GBA, which by that point is pretty respectable, what with the DS and PSP.

So the series enjoys some success in Japan. But then, some ballsy American exec looks at the games and thinks "Wow, I think this series will really take off in the West." So this king of kings campaigns to get this series localized, even though the original jpn version has countless wordplay jokes that will make it VERY HARD to localize.

But does this ballsy dude give up? No way! He makes sure the localization team understands that clever, well timed wordplay is the key to the series. So we end up with hilarious lines like WRIGHT: "She's coughing up something alright, she's coughing up lies!!" Ï DEMAND YOU LET THE PARROT TAKE THE STAND! and MAYA: "I guess he was just like every other man and his pile of secrets!" and my favourite (even though it has nothing to do with my post) EDGEWORTH: So, I hear you witnessed a murder?*"

The success of this series is a good old fashioned underdog story.

*The casual way Edgeworth says this always makes me crack up. I mean, really. Its a serious murder trial, and the defense says "I heard you witnessed the murder"to start his argument? WHAT KIND OF DEFENSE IS THAT?