#amazing phenomenal

[alynnl]

I did another gameplay marathon and cleared TGAAC 2-3 and I was absolutely blown away by it.

Needless to say, this case has completely shattered the myth of Third Case Syndrome for me.

Let's dive into what (or who) made the largest impression on me.

Barok van Zieks. Up until now, his past was shrouded in mystery, and he appears to be the typical rival prosecutor who wants to poke holes in the defense's arguments and be extremely rude the whole time doing it.

But this case is different for Van Zieks. Because his friend Albert Harebrayne is accused of murder. He meets the accused before the trial, which is something he's never done before. And during that trial, Van Zieks believes in Albert's scientific theory. And it's not a ploy. He truly sees his old friend from university as a man of science and refuses to discredit him.

Even when the trial goes completely off the rails and Albert ends up confessing to the crime in question (just for one more chance to prove his hypothesis is correct), Van Zieks doesn't appeal to the jury and ask them to call for a guilty verdict. He patiently waits for Ryunosuke and Susato to talk him down, then asks for Professor Harebrayne to tell the truth about the machine.

During the investigation, Van Zieks cooperates with Ryunosuke in a limited way, giving him a photograph of the engineer, Enoch Drebber. The fact that he even opens up to him at all is huge. He even asks about Soseki which was even more unexpected!

The third phase of the trial has Van Zieks appearing like he's his usual aggressive self (countering nearly all of Ryunosuke's arguments) but something curious happens when the judge calls for a summation examination. Van Zieks doesn't object. He doesn't even comment on how it's a waste of time. He takes a step back in a sense and just lets it happen.

And when Enoch Drebber and Doctor Sithe are finally brought to the stand, he openly cooperates with Ryunosuke. They both do what they can to find the truth: about the murder at the Great Exhibition as well as the incident at the graveyard ten years ago.

When Drebber is sure he's been had, he takes his anger out on Albert, who's been proven to be innocent in all of this and makes a remark about his lack of talent.

And when those comments get to Professor Harebrayne, it's Van Zieks who speaks up to comfort him. "(Your efforts) are not laughable, they are laudable." Barok showed kindness and mercy, when he rarely showed either one in past cases. He clearly still cares for Albert and "would have trusted no one else to be the prosecution in this case...or the defense."

Van Zieks comes so close to outright saying he respects Ryunosuke! I certainly never expected that from him unless the situation was truly desperate and Ryunosuke was his only hope, sort of thing.

Barok then proves to be (over)protective of Albert by having immediate arrangements for him to leave Britain for Germany, to keep him away from the whole Reaper's Curse Conspiracy (that's what I'm calling it now!) It makes their reunion quite bittersweet, but it shows that Van Zieks is still only human and cares about others.

But the surprises, like the chapter/case itself don't stop there.

Even though he's not required to tell him anything about what happened ten years ago, Van Zieks willingly shares details of his past. He talks about who his brother Klint was, and how he met people from other countries who came to study British law when he was (from what I understand) Chief Prosecutor. Then he revealed face behind the iron mask of The Professor's waxwork head. I figured this serial killer was of Japanese origin given Van Zieks's distrust of all Japanese people.

But what I didn't expect was for it to be Kazuma Asogi'a father. And for the then masked, amnesiac Kazuma to recognize it and recover his memory, as well as reveal his own face!

So while it's a brief, happy reunion between Kazuma, Ryunosuke, and Susato, I can't help but imagine Van Zieks's sense of dread.

All this time, this mysterious young man without a memory who he took as an apprentice is the son of his brother's alleged killer.

I say "alleged" now because...given the revelation that Dr. Sithe forged The Professor's autopsy report, Mr. Asogi might have been wrongly convicted.

It's also still equally possible that Mr. Asogi was a killer, and Kazuma will have to face a hard truth.

As a narrative, Chronicles case 2-3 functions more like a typical fourth case in other games with a total of 5 cases/chapters - where you unlock secrets that will be important in the finale, that involves solving a decades-old cold case or blowing the whistle on a massive cover-up. It's the rising action to what will probably be a very exciting climax. And I can't wait to see where it leads!

As it stands, I have my own predictions for Chronicles 2-4 and 2-5. Since I'm going in with minimal to no spoilers, it will be interesting if any of these are true...

Yujin Mikotoba and Herlock Sholmes know about the incident ten years ago. That's their big secret they're hiding. It's possible they are in collaboration to prevent the wrong secrets going into the wrong hands, even if it means keeping it from Susato, Iris and Ryunosuke.

Barok Van Zieks will get arrested and it will all be a setup. Kazuma will prosecute him. It’s possible that Ryunosuke might have to stop his best friend from using the trial as a means to get revenge. He'll have to persuade him to work together for the truth.

Mr. Asogi will be exonerated in death and the real culprit behind that case will be uncovered

The true mastermind(s) behind the Professor case and the one(s) carrying out the Reaper’s Curse Conspiracy are the same - similar to Blaise Debeste and his Worsties, Patricia Roland and the Zheng Fa president’s body double in Investigations 2

This last one is more wish fulfillment than anything, but there will be a group photo and all the recurring defense team, detectives, and prosecution team will be included.

Along with my educated guesses, I look forward to more surprises as I go through the rest of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles.

It's been an amazing experience and I'm happy I discovered this spinoff (and the series as a whole.)

[frmulcahy]

Listening to Seasons of Fear and I’m obsessed with Charley constantly being like

[thefrogdalorian]

Goodbye Carl Weathers 💔

Thank you for bringing so much to The Mandalorian as Greef Karga. Your acting and directing contributions will never be forgotten. May you rest in peace.

[the-siren-in-your-fridge]

Being aroace with a squish is really like. You look so nice and cute and pretty (not like that), I’d like to snuggle up in bed with you (not like that) and play with your hair (not like that) and lay there for a while (not like that) and hold your hand all the time (not like that) and hang out with you one-on-one (not like that) and get to you know you on a deep and personal level (not like that)

[cozylittleartblog]

i would like to share this VERY handy tutorial on drawing cars by the ever-immaculate EtheringtonBrothers (twitter, instagram)

[horribluh]

you dont understand, 40yo!zoro who is so happily in old man yaoi with sanji he doesnt even remember a time when they werent together. what years of pining? according to zoro theyve been together forever. this will both fluster and infuriate sanji. they duke it out and then kiss about it.

[davidtennan-t]

Got the chance to see the northern lights for the first time in my life - the same night Ncuti’s era began ✨

[rebelatheartblog]

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE

An Extended Look at Season 2🔥

[bird-inacage]

A First Kanaphan Gifset | Eyes that Speak: First as Yok

"Have you ever looked into someone's eyes and knew that person was so different than others?"

[mysteryfeesh]

Merry yaoi to all who celebrate (I binged the first three twilight movies and I’m still mad that there wasn’t any body exploration between these two)

[alynnl]

I played through the end of Turnabout Reminiscence last night and wow. That case and the story behind it was so good! I think it’s my favorite case in all of the first Investigations game so far.

I enjoyed all the interaction and banter between young Franziska and Edgeworth, I thought the side characters were interesting (especially Detective Tyrell Badd) and the case itself presented a really great closed room mystery.

Gumshoe having a part in Kay and Edgeworth's backstory was just the icing on the cake.

The twist at the end was fantastic too. I won't spoil it because it's something to be experienced.

Tonight I begin Turnabout Ablaze! I heard this case can be long (the word "slog" has been used) but I will see it through!

I look forward to seeing how everything gets wrapped up in the ending. 💖

[gunsatthaphan]

something about them I guess 🤷🏼‍♀️

[one-more-guy]

When I try to convince people to listen to tma I feel like a real estate agent trying to sell a house, but since the fandom is the magnus archives it immediately makes me think about our dear real estate agent Helen Richardson. Which distracts me and completely derailing my sales pitch (which she’d probably like, being of the spiral after all)

[warpedwings]

[kanasmusings]

[English Subs DL] Banana Fish Stage Play Part 1 & Part 2

Hello, friends~! I come to you this time with English subs for the Banana Fish stage plays~! Thank you to @emerald-trashart for requesting me to do both plays! I had such a blast working on it even though it got a bit overwhelming and heavy at times (because Banana Fish (╥_╥))

The stage play is just so amazing, and beautifully made...! I went into this not knowing what to expect, and I came out of it just mesmerized. If you're familiar with Banana Fish, of course it will be as heavy as its source material, but I think that you would enjoy it! The production did a really great job respecting and staying true to the events of its source, and I think long-time fans would love it ^^

The actors, too...! They were so great at their roles, and gosh the emotions and intensity they portrayed were really convincing. Mizue Kenta and Okamiya Kurumu were so perfect as Ash and Eiji, and their chemistry was just beautiful T^T>

Alright, enough rambling! I'll let the stage play speak for itself! (￣▽￣)

For those who are interested in getting the Blu-rays for themselves, I’ll provide links below~ BD Purchase Links: (From Animate JP) BANANA FISH PART 1 | BANANA FISH PART 2 * Purchase links would require proxy since the BDs are sold-out on CDJapan and were requested through proxy either way. I couldn't find them on Animate International either ^^;

Notes, disclaimers, trigger warnings, and link under the cut, enjoy~! (Long post ahead ^^;)

NOTES:

※ THE FILE IS SUBTITLES ONLY, VIDEO IS NOT INCLUDED!

TRIGGER WARNINGS:

Heavy mentions/depictions of drugs/drug abuse, sexual abuse (rape, pedophilia, child prostitution/pornography, among others), mental disorders/illnesses, gun violence, racism, general gang violence, suicide, death.

Above themes are rampant in both stages, so please watch with caution. If you start feeling uncomfortable or anxious, please take a step back and stop watching until you feel better.

For those who want to start watching the anime after getting into it from the stage play, please refer to these guides for trigger warnings: Twitter | IMDb

MISC. NOTES:

From what I remember, the stage play follows the manga more than the anime (since the anime changed some stuff). So if something from the stage was not in the anime, you can check the manga for them ^^

RULES:

[MOST IMPORTANT] Please DO NOT re-post the subs and the link outside of Tumblr! If you want to share outside, please, please DM me about it and link my blog to your post. That’s all I ask.

Please DO NOT remove my credits.

Please DO NOT re-translate without permission.

SUBS DL LINK: PART 1 | PART 2

※ Please only DM me if there is a problem with the subtitles. I cannot help you if it’s related to the videos. ※ If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a coffee here, if you can. It’ll really help me out a lot.(o^▽^o) Thank you!!

[dandelions-fly-in-summer-skies]

talking in tags is like talking in brackets EXCEPT YOURE NOT CONFINED TO ONE BRACKET