Rookie defense attorney Phoenix Wright faces his first trial, in which he must defend his childhood friend, Larry Butz, who has been accused of the murder of Cindy Stone, his ex-girlfriend. Prosecutor Payne brings out the key witness, Frank Sahwit. He claims to have seen Larry leave Cindy’s apartment after the murder. With help from his mentor, Mia Fey, Phoenix spots a flaw between Sahwit’s testimony and the time of Cindy’s death.

Sahwit states that the time he heard came from the murder weapon, a handmade clock modeled after “The Thinker.” This leads Phoenix to conclude that the only way Sahwit could have known “The Thinker” was a clock was to use it himself to kill Cindy. Receiving advice from Mia, Phoenix finds that the difference between the time of death and the clock’s time is due to Cindy having just gotten home from an overseas trip in another time zone. As a result, Sahwit is arrested while Larry is acquitted and gives Mia another “Thinker” clock as thanks.

My Thoughts

Being a fan of the Phoenix Wright games, I was happy to hear that it was getting an anime series. After seeing this episode, I really enjoy it. It stay very close to the first case of the first game while adding some small moments that wasn’t in the game like seeing Phoenix heading to the courthouse.

The animation is good, and reminds me of animated cutscenes from Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies. While most of it was hand-drawn, there are some CGI. In my opinion, the CGI isn’t that bad or out of place like in the first few episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal.

The characters are enjoyable watch, and I like how their personalities are close to their game counterpart. Also, the chemistry between the characters does feel natural to me. The only real problem I have is getting use to the Japanese names when I’m so use to their English names. Then again, I won’t be surprise if I’m not one with that problem.