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Reason/s why games like Ace Attorney & Danganronpa dont go well in Anime Format

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Apr 24, 2016 5:43 AM
#1

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Dec 2014
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Im an avid fan of the ace attorney trilogy and the danganronpa franchise.They're visual novels but offer a more interactive gameplay than the usual one.Both are of the same kind of genre - mystery and have similar styles (courtroom battle & investigation parts) that is very engaging because you yourself are the one finding the contradictions and the feeling of finally conquering your adversary- that is finding the culprit and proving someone innocent is just gold.And I also think that feeling is what makes both series great.The very tense courtroom trials and the awesome soundtracks accompanying those scenes just makes my hand sweaty due to so much excitement. The story also is not to be trifled with as ace attorney 3 offers a very humane story and the danganronpa franchise is a twisting bitch that'll make you smile so ugly , its just so epic.

Anyway, I've been a shameless fanboy so I must now provide my reasons why I think those two is unfit to be adapted as an anime.
1. I think it goes without saying to those who've played the 2 that they're very unique in terms of gameplay.And that kind of gameplay was what made us entered the series.The pointing out of contradictions yourself and cornering the culprit after so many simple to complex thinkings applied by one's gray cells, the feeling is absolutely satisfying and that feeling is very vital to fully enjoy the 2 games but i could not feel it in the Danganronpa anime and same goes to gyakuten saiban anime,well atleast not yet but I think i'll never feel it because anime is just plain me watching while sitting on the couch.there's no interaction,no hardships and the answers are just presented you at a very fast rate with no time to think(or you can pause or maybe not if ur a genius).
2. this reason is an AA exclusive one.
the spirit channeling ability of the Feys is just ridiculous and it was even more ridiculous in the anime. in the game, I really first thought that it was a ridiculous element(i mean the world is very grounded and then you introduced stuff like that,unbelievable)but you know what,it worked maybe because its a game that's why it worked. in the anime, well anime is a very hated medium already so some pups here are probably labeling the show a fanservice and bashing it "chihiro's boobs is funny" "is this samurai flamenco 2.0?"you name it. and then there's the coming soon psyche locks which I think can be considered as a metaphor for a mask to hide your secret. I just wish A1 pictures would handle that one correctly and not present it as just psyche locks literally.

well, that's my reasons you can disregard the 2nd one if you want. the first one I think is really the reason why I think they failed/will fail as an anime.

soooo, do you agree with me or do you have your own opinions about it? you're very welcome to agree , disagree and provide ur own ideas.

edit:
still, I enjoy the shows because I love the series and the throwbacks just never get old.
thefreeloaderApr 24, 2016 5:52 AM
Apr 24, 2016 6:23 AM
#2
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Jul 2018
564612
Agreed. I too played both games before watching the anime, heck I even watched the Live Action Ace Attorney, but the anime seems to lack the tension I felt while playing the game.
Apr 24, 2016 6:36 AM
#3
*hug noises*

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May 2013
31398
Same reason 99% of all video game adaptations suck: they're reliant on player interactivity. It just doesn't work out very well in a linear medium when you're just showing a video
Apr 24, 2016 6:39 AM
#4

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Jul 2014
2431
Uh,... Ok?

Not sure what i should response since that's almost always the case when adapting gameplay video game.
Apr 24, 2016 6:41 AM
#5

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Dec 2012
24356
Can anybody even mention any video game adaptation be it in movies, TV shows or anime that well received?

Let's face it. People will never like any kind of video game adaptations.
Apr 24, 2016 6:43 AM
#6
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May 2015
2216
When I watch a video game adaptation, it just doesn't feel the same. Part of the reason why I like said games is the gameplay. When you take out the gameplay, it's like you're taking out the cheese in a cheesecake. For example, I love the Valkyria Chronicles series and I'm a big fan of the games but when I watched the anime adaptation, it sucked complete ass.

Apr 24, 2016 6:48 AM
#7
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Sep 2011
1782
thefreeloader said:
the spirit channeling ability of the Feys is just ridiculous and it was even more ridiculous in the anime. in the game, I really first thought that it was a ridiculous element(i mean the world is very grounded and then you introduced stuff like that,unbelievable)but you know what,it worked maybe because its a game that's why it worked. .


I kind of agree, but also disagree. I can see why it would seem ridiculous, but when we're introduced to a character right off the bat who is a spirit medium, you're either expecting it to actually be a thing, or just some silly gimmick with no magical element.

Any supernatural elements in this series are tied specifically to this spirit medium concept. It's not like this is a perfectly normal, realistic world but then out of nowhere they introduce the concept of time travel or space aliens. The concept of spirit mediums is also directly tied to the story.

Plus, Ace Attorney in general is kind of ridiculous.
Apr 24, 2016 7:30 AM
#8
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Jul 2018
564612
Hmn i made a similar thread a month ago, but anyway regarding the games in question. Like i said before i don't think Danganronpa is a bad adaptation, the reason why it isn't so good is mostly because is only a 13 episodes series and because that they only focus on the main story and rush it in a way that most characters got zero development.
Now im not having much problem with Ace Attorney because most of the game is "cross examinations" and read someone testimony multiple times, if the anime would follow that format it would had become boring fast. I don't like to judge a anime that is still airing but for now the only problem i see with it is the animations.

Animes most likely will never be good when compared with the main product, we should view the anime and the game as 2 different things and judge them the same way.
Apr 24, 2016 2:12 PM
#9
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Dec 2014
410
they don't go well as anime cause



I don't care about the chars, they are solely defined by their gimmicks, the setting with this fucking bear is stupid as heal, the place (school) is overused and overarching story besides the murder story is non existent.

Bit I see that phenomenon often in video games that ppl think that non gameplay elements are actually good, but if adapted to another medium it becomes obvious that they are not. Now people blame the adoptation, cause their game blinded expectations are not fulfilled.
Apr 24, 2016 2:19 PM

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Nov 2008
27787
Not many game to anime adaptations end up like the 1st Idolm@ster, that was a perfect adaptation.


Apr 24, 2016 2:23 PM

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Oct 2014
15239
To Kill a Mockingbird is a court related novel that should get an anime adaption. I think with the way stories work in video games they can't always transfer over well to other types of media.
Apr 24, 2016 2:31 PM

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Apr 2014
13385
tsudecimo said:
Can anybody even mention any video game adaptation be it in movies, TV shows or anime that well received?

Gungrave is the best video game adaptation I've ever seen and and one of my favorite anime. The story was far more fleshed out than in the games as well, which is pretty rare for video game adaptations.
Apr 24, 2016 2:35 PM

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May 2014
21059
+1 for Gungrave it's great

And, I think that anything can be adapted to be a good anime. Part of the reason does fault of the nature of the games yes, but another part falls on a poor production.

Can I just say. Ace Attorney

-That opening. What the fuck. What are we doing here. We're gonna have our main characters run? What is this a fucking shounen action anime? the fuck.
-Holy shit. That CGI jury. Oh my god the budget is obviously through the roof
-I feel that half the faces they make are physical representations of emojis.
-Terrible execution is terrible. Should've gotten some die-hard fans on the production team tbh.
Apr 24, 2016 3:42 PM

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Nov 2015
35
I've only seen/played Ace Attorney, so I can only speak for that series. I think it has a lot to do with the genre of game, too. Persona is known for having okay anime adaptations but that's because they're story oriented first, gameplay oriented second.

I find myself feeling bored while watching AA. I don't want to see them solve the court case, because we already know what happened. In the games if I had figured things out it was nice because I had done something to do so. It felt challenging. There's nothing challenging about watching someone else do it.

I think it's because games like this are so gameplay centric--meaning that even if the story is fun, it doesn't translate well because part of the fun of the story was experiencing it yourself, first hand.
Apr 24, 2016 4:17 PM

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Jan 2015
599
Don't remember who it was, but someone said that the Ace Attorney anime adaption just feels like watching some speedrun the games, which is a pretty accurate description so far. It's like the writers/production staff decided they wanted to rush through the story of AA as fast and barebones as they could, while removing all the banter that made it entertaining in the first place. It's also just not as satisfying when you're not the one finally figuring it out after minutes of trying to piece together every bit of evidence and testimony, or at least seeing someone else struggle to do so. Phoenix just kind of finds the contradictions after a few seconds of thought.
Apr 24, 2016 8:38 PM

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Jan 2010
7156
Hoppy said:
Not many game to anime adaptations end up like the 1st Idolm@ster, that was a perfect adaptation.


Protaku said:
Gungrave is the best video game adaptation I've ever seen and and one of my favorite anime. The story was far more fleshed out than in the games as well, which is pretty rare for video game adaptations.


I thought both were great as well, but here's the weird thing. For the longest time, I never knew that Gungrave was based on a game. It worked really well as a mafia drama, though in hindsight, the switch in genre upon the show's second half was probably to adhere to the game's story. The iDOLM@STER had something similar as well, as it went its own direction, arranging the game's elements to fit the adaptation, rather than the adaptation adhering strictly to the game.

In both cases, they both worked well by being less as game adaptations and instead became good in of themselves. They took liberties to make functional stories and invented their own material to add to their respective series, as opposed to taking the safe, restrained, less risky approach of a 1:1 adaptation. Of course, adaptational accuracy is important, though that's an entirely different conversation to be had. That's more so associated with one's own experiences, whether they're familiar with the source material or not. This does have an effect on one's opinion on an adaptation, but for the most part, I'd say creating a good anime comes before creating a good adaptation.

I don't really recognize Gungrave nor The iDOLM@STER as video game adaptation because they don't feel like it. They just simply feel like enjoyable anime to watch, and that's probably the best I could ask for. If I wanted to experience the video game, I'd just play it. Instead, I want to watch anime.
Apr 24, 2016 8:53 PM

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Apr 2014
13385
@Shocked
Well said. I didn't know Gungrave was based off a video game either until around 2 months after I finished it. I believe Nightow himself filled in the story that was missing in the video games to better develop the already great characters. A lot of these anime video game adaptations NEED the viewer to also play the game in order to get a full grasp of the series, but the Gungrave anime was excellent as a standalone.
I rewrote Gungrave's current synopsis here on MAL and I made it a point to introduce the fact this was based off a video game. It's both a good hook for some people and gives you a good idea of what to expect. Some people never find out Gungrave is based off a video game as well, and that's a pretty big shame.
Apr 26, 2016 6:30 PM

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Sep 2012
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It's because the staff behind those shows try to make the anime as close to the game as possible in terms of experience, which ironically results in it feeling awkward to watch. Ace Attorney this season is an example of this problem, as someone who is a hardcore fan of the novels, the anime feels like I'm just seeing scenes being animated from the game instead of feeling like it's an anime that can hold up by itself.
Apr 27, 2016 1:16 PM

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May 2015
16469
I don't know about AA but I think you miss the point of Danganronpa.

The game may have worked differently, but the anime is still great. I found the anime to rely less on the mystery aspect and more on its characters. It has brilliant characters - beautifully designed, each with their own hobbies and personalities. It's one of the best casts I've ever seen and they made the anime, they drive it. Sure, the whole mind-bending aspect may be missing but there's plenty of black humor and great characters to go around.
WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things
Apr 27, 2016 1:24 PM

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Feb 2013
5532
I dont know about danganronpa but I agree with you in AA

Also the anime fails because its way too rushed imo

May 3, 2016 12:18 AM

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japaniMay said:
TheBrainintheJar said:
I don't know about AA but I think you miss the point of Danganronpa.

The game may have worked differently, but the anime is still great. I found the anime to rely less on the mystery aspect and more on its characters. It has brilliant characters - beautifully designed, each with their own hobbies and personalities. It's one of the best casts I've ever seen and they made the anime, they drive it. Sure, the whole mind-bending aspect may be missing but there's plenty of black humor and great characters to go around.


There was barely any character development in the anime though.


What do you mean by character development? Do you mean characters changing? I agree they don't really change, but they are well-written. They each have a distinct personality and quirks. They all react to the situation in their own way and feel alive.
WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things
May 3, 2016 12:33 AM

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Sep 2014
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tsudecimo said:
Can anybody even mention any video game adaptation be it in movies, TV shows or anime that well received?

Let's face it. People will never like any kind of video game adaptations.

I thought the Persona 4 adaptation was well done but maybe that's just me.
May 3, 2016 2:34 AM

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Apr 2016
98
In the Japanese-speaking world, people who watch Ace Attorney
1. Fear, dread and seemingly always skip the opening. They call it "puzzling." And yet, you will see comments at any time of the opening.
2. Remind us that the developments happen way too fast every three seconds
3. If you haven't played the game, then in all likelihood you adore Maya blindly
4. Every time something, anything happens in court, a screen of comments reading "are you insane," "this court is full of idiots," and other astute observations will shield the view, which is a telltale sign that these commenters haven't played the game. Those who have will usually plant grass at those moments, known as posting "wwwwwww" or "grass"
5. Everyone loves the BGM
6. The poor detective is known as a blockhead

It is really well received, but in a rather different fashion.

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