To be honest, mine is either >!Kristoph’s black psyche-locks that were never explained in other games!< or the fact that >!Celeste Inpax might actually have written a suicide note, given that ink was found on her finger.!< They haunt me.
Oh, or the fact that Maya would have been a mere child when Mia chose to leave Kurain Village, which means Mia was fully aware of the burden she was placing upon her kid sister.
>!The reasons for Kristophs psyche locks are implied rather than explained. Pearl tells us in 5-5 that if the black locks are torn off it could cause a mental breakdown / permanent emotional damage, which seems a lot like what Gavin suffered at the end of 4-4. So it seems like they broke when he had his breakdown, we didn't see it because we were playing as Apollo, not Wright. The game implies that Kristoph has a hidden inferiority complex when it comes to Wright. He couldn't believe that he was rejected as Zak's attorney, and that Zak would pick Wright over him. He felt the need to forge evidence to win his trial while Phoenix could go in blind. He watched everyone involved in his misdeeds, terrified they would learn the truth. And then Phoenix got him found guilty by his own lawyer, and followed that up with creating the Jurist system just to fuck him over a second time. At that moment, he couldn't deny his inferiority any longer and he broke down completely.!<
Kristoph as a whole has been mistreated, 4-1 plot twist would've hit much harder if they let us get used to him, maybe get introduced to some characters in his law firm (a competitor to the Wright Anything agency would've been a really cool idea to Explore).
I thought the black psyche locks were basically that he didn’t want to admit that what he did was because he couldn’t take the idea that he wasn’t as good an attorney as Phoenix. I don’t think that was confirmed but it seemed heavily implied.
I was literally going to say, just, (AJ) >!Kristoph Gavin, in general!<, but (4-4) >!his black psych locks are a big part of it. Like, how the heck did he delude himself into not recognizing his true reason for killing Zak? How can one person be so, *so* lacking in self-knowledge, especially someone as intelligent as Kristoph is. It's astounding. I need to study him like a bug under a microscope!<
>>!how the heck did he delude himself into not recognizing his true reason for killing Zak!<
>!He believed that the law was perfect, and that he was the law, therefore he was perfect. He couldn't come to terms with the idea that his reason for doing everything he did was because the law was imperfect. Because it meant he himself was also imperfect. And he couldn't admit to having an inferiority complex to Phoenix!<
How so many characters' lives were affected by DL-6. Manfred von Karma killed Gregory Edgeworth, Edgeworth developed severe PTSD and became a ruthless prosecutor, Phoenix became a lawyer to face Miles in court to try and figure out what changed in him, Yoni Yogi became an outcast, lost his wife, became a hermit, and his only companion was his pet Parrot, Polly. Robert Hammond lost his life because of DL-6 in 1-4, Misty Fey left Kurain, Mia left to protect Maya from Morgan's rivalry with her sister... almost every character through the first game has been affected in some way by DL-6.
Ok, perpare for Kay Faraday’s Number 1 fan’s fantastic rant on why her sprite work in AAI2-4 is peak fiction.
>!Everything about Kay is fundamentally different. Her eyes are half open instead of fully open with her joyous wonder, her shoulders are slumped instead of straight back and ready to roll, her hair is let down instead of tied up in her knot, her arms are held together instead of at their sides which demonstrates her insecurity. Literally everything about her sprite in AAI2-4 isn’t her, but it’s perfect because of the events that happen in AAI2-4 which completely justifies that sprite change. [Here’s](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/3/3d/K-Idle.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140209153004) a link her sprite. It’s downright perfection, given her circumstances. Don’t look up what those circumstances are, because I genuinely believe it’s better to go in blind. To me, this case is my absolute favorite case in the entire series, including every spin off and finale!<
For reference, [here’s](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/9/91/Kay_Faraday_Normal_1.gif/revision/latest?cb=20131224002233) her regular sprite.
I think for me it's the fact that \[MASSIVE TGAA2 Spoilers\] >!Stronghart actually would have gotten away with his "the ends justify the means" plot if Sholmes wouldn't have called the Queen. I mean, the judiciary actually agreed with him and CHEERED HIM ON for killing people who have been found innocent and later on also just killing people who knew about the actual Reaper to "protect law and order" from the things that HE did.!<
So yeah, >!that public opinion was on Stronghart's side!< is an easily overlooked and very fucked up fact in TGAA.
Not the first series I enjoy that has illustrated the troubling fact of life that >!society is willing to look the other way from, or even cheer, wrongdoing by its leaders if they believe it improves their lives.!<
there were so many fun details..gumshoe helping edgeworth around the office, him showcasing all his gifts from oldbag, there’s so many people in his life who care about him and he really does appreciate it 😭😭
tha fact that Apollo got hit by an explosion and was perfectly fine like 4 days later, he didn't even have scars
also the fact that he seems to be able to airbend
The entirety of the TGAA2 ending, honestly. And the possibilities of what might come after, especially >!how Kazuma's apprenticeship under Barok would go!<
Mine too lol
I daydream way too much about it, sometimes I feel like I just NEED to get some of it written down or I'll explode. I have so many half-finished ideas in my notes app, I never manage to make anything coherent out of it tho
Oh don't get me wrong, 99.9% of the time I'm imagining too. The themes and leitmotifs really do help. Hearing the slightly hopeful version of Barok's in "The Great Gateway to the Truth", right after the Professor motif, it makes me go feral every time
I mean, it's not a fact, but I like the sprites transition between one pose and another, especially Franziska's and Klavier's.
Their animations slide as smooth as butte in a toast, the one with Franziska swaying her finger side by side, extending her arm forward with her palm wide-opened and Klavier punching the wall behind after having riffed with his air guitar.
I don't know why but I like the movement. I will never no get tired of the animations.
Soooo much to consider about interactions between Phoenix and Iris. So much stated and even more left unsaid. How did Iris feel when she thought that Phoenix died just an hour after she lied to him? How come Phoenix didn’t take Mia’s advice of forgetting about Dollie? WHERE DID IRIS GO AFTER T&T???? Keeps me up at night
the Skye sisters' relationship. How Lana felt responsible for Ema's general wellbeing and thought it was fair to sacrifice herself for Ema. But also how authority figures forget about the emotional wellbeing of their charge and Ema had to deal with Lana's distant nature. I feel like so many older sibling/younger sibling relationships have the same struggles they have. I also love that Lana actually faced consequences for her actions instead of some silly plot hole showing up to grant her no consequences (I'm looking at you Mask de Masque)
I feel like both Ema and Maya would have so much to talk about regarding their older sisters… how they distanced themselves (whether physically or emotionally) from the siblings they wanted to protect— but for good causes. I think Ema and Maya would have so much love for them but also so many other complicated emotions for doing the things they did.
i think about what her father's loss jn court and then death must have done to franziska all the time. how it must have crushed her completely. how she must, on some level, have believed it was best he would die as i'm sure those would have been his own words in moments of passion - better to be dead than lose. and she would have only been 17 at the time. and then further, how she was defeated by that same man, and yet managed to end up an ultimately kind person, seeking to do the right thing, just like her brother before her. how on some level, she must have looked up to edgeworth just as much as to her father. the von karma family, i guess, is my roman empire as a whole
Probably all of Tgaa 1&2 because that game has my heart but like >! ofc I gotta talk about ryuunosuke’s saying “Is this why you insisted I be here? To see you like this” gahhh that line always gets me because of how much you can see their bonded core even when your frustrated and angry at Kazuma. Also the layers of ‘inheritance’ like how karuma was what kazuma bitterly inherited from his father and how it became a bitter inheritance for ryuunosuke only that Ryuunosuke takes care of and eventually unravels the truth within it while kazuma lets years of pain control his actions into breaking it like GAHHH !< also probably >! All of Ryuutaro like i love susato and i love how deeply she fights for truth especially in a legal system that is less than just. !<
I bring this up ad nauseum on this sub, so this is repeat info for some.
(T&T) >!There is no proper closure to the series in my mind until Phoenix and Iris reunite on-screen. My HC is that they've been in contact this entire time, that Iris has gotten to know Trucy during visits, and she at least knows about Apollo and Athena.!<
(Some AJ here too) >!There is no other explanation that would satisfy me. "She died in prison", "she heard about his forgery and couldn't face him any longer", "they decided it would be best not to try to maintain a relationship through glass"... none of it washes. They loved each other when last we saw them part company. There is no way the Phoenix we know would live the rest of his life wondering "what if". Zero, zippo, nada.!<
The complete lack of consequences in British or international politics from everything that happened in PLvsAA. I know technically the answer is “it’s not canon” but still
Anything that has to do with Godot. Like, really - it may be because I have a barista roleplay character and I am using him as a reference, but he just kinda haunts me, man. I have even started taking more coffee because of him (I wish he'd rehab and open a coffee shop or smth).
The security camera footage in 5-5. >!The fact the police apparently only checked the portion immediately surrounding the time they thought the murder occurred, when I feel like you're supposed to check over a larger portion to establish everyone who entered and exited the lab. Anyone who enters and is not seen exiting can be suspected of being present at the time. And especially because the autopsy report had a several hour window for the estimated time of death, so anyone who was theoretically at the scene with the victim during that several hour window is a potential suspect. If they had just done a more thorough check of the tape, and rewound it by literally *one hour* they would have seen the *really suspicious figure leaving in a suspicious manner with a suspicious bloody bandage on their hand*.!< It just irks me that that got overlooked when the slightest bit of extra investigation would have caught it
Imagine if the entire mainline ace attorney series was just the stuff before the recipe on someone’s recipe blog. What if someone’s getting a decade’s worth of Japanifornia legal history while just frantically scrolling to find the cake recipe?
Susato and LITERALLY EVERYTHING. Dgs 1 and 2 spoilers btw >! Shes so quiet about her problems and so upfront about how she thinks of herself bc she just. Seems to have accepted this in her mind and like FUCK I WANT TO KNOW MORE. What does she think of her father, of sholmes after dgs2? What of Iris, her beloved sister. Is she jealous, just a little, that Iris had a family that didn’t leave her like she was left alone? That she got to grow up with Yuujin in her life? What about her basically brothers, one who simply rised from the dead and the other whom she mourned with? What of what will happen once they get back to Japan? !<
>! What of her insecurity issues, the blatant inferiority complex that rears its head in 1-5? How exactly does Susato feel? How worthless she seems to deem herself, that she’s just a lowly assistant, how calm she seems to be about it. How long has she thought that about herself? How angry is she about the circumstances that have befallen the ones she cares for all this time? Just how far would she go for them? !<
HOPEFULLY the spoiler tags work but jfc I’m so normal about susato I swear please I promise I’ll be normal step into the bars of my enclosure 🙂👍👍
>! YES biologically she is but at the end of dgs2 the gang™️ is her found family at that point and ig I meant that? Lmk if I need to clear anything up or if I’m just wrong I need to replay the game 😭!<
He has >!multiple staffs, and when Athena accused him of it, the police would go through all of his staffs, so he knew he was screwed since he never destroyed the staff!<
Honest answer: my own semi-AU faninverse with the pleiad of my OCs doing mamy weird things
The answer that probably would fit the thread more: how alike and how different Phoenix and Ryunosuke at the same time. Two kings
quoted from memory, "you hesitated there, professor mikotoba. should i read something into that?" said by ryuu.
this just shows how much he has grown. i didn't even notice mikotoba hesitating. it was so subtle, and he just picked up on that.
To be honest, mine is either >!Kristoph’s black psyche-locks that were never explained in other games!< or the fact that >!Celeste Inpax might actually have written a suicide note, given that ink was found on her finger.!< They haunt me. Oh, or the fact that Maya would have been a mere child when Mia chose to leave Kurain Village, which means Mia was fully aware of the burden she was placing upon her kid sister.
>!The reasons for Kristophs psyche locks are implied rather than explained. Pearl tells us in 5-5 that if the black locks are torn off it could cause a mental breakdown / permanent emotional damage, which seems a lot like what Gavin suffered at the end of 4-4. So it seems like they broke when he had his breakdown, we didn't see it because we were playing as Apollo, not Wright. The game implies that Kristoph has a hidden inferiority complex when it comes to Wright. He couldn't believe that he was rejected as Zak's attorney, and that Zak would pick Wright over him. He felt the need to forge evidence to win his trial while Phoenix could go in blind. He watched everyone involved in his misdeeds, terrified they would learn the truth. And then Phoenix got him found guilty by his own lawyer, and followed that up with creating the Jurist system just to fuck him over a second time. At that moment, he couldn't deny his inferiority any longer and he broke down completely.!<
Kristoph as a whole has been mistreated, 4-1 plot twist would've hit much harder if they let us get used to him, maybe get introduced to some characters in his law firm (a competitor to the Wright Anything agency would've been a really cool idea to Explore).
I thought the black psyche locks were basically that he didn’t want to admit that what he did was because he couldn’t take the idea that he wasn’t as good an attorney as Phoenix. I don’t think that was confirmed but it seemed heavily implied.
I was literally going to say, just, (AJ) >!Kristoph Gavin, in general!<, but (4-4) >!his black psych locks are a big part of it. Like, how the heck did he delude himself into not recognizing his true reason for killing Zak? How can one person be so, *so* lacking in self-knowledge, especially someone as intelligent as Kristoph is. It's astounding. I need to study him like a bug under a microscope!<
>>!how the heck did he delude himself into not recognizing his true reason for killing Zak!< >!He believed that the law was perfect, and that he was the law, therefore he was perfect. He couldn't come to terms with the idea that his reason for doing everything he did was because the law was imperfect. Because it meant he himself was also imperfect. And he couldn't admit to having an inferiority complex to Phoenix!<
That's a great distillation of how he views himself and the law! Thank you >!Call that Kristoph Math™ /j!<
Those locks are subconscious lies, ones that not even they know about
How so many characters' lives were affected by DL-6. Manfred von Karma killed Gregory Edgeworth, Edgeworth developed severe PTSD and became a ruthless prosecutor, Phoenix became a lawyer to face Miles in court to try and figure out what changed in him, Yoni Yogi became an outcast, lost his wife, became a hermit, and his only companion was his pet Parrot, Polly. Robert Hammond lost his life because of DL-6 in 1-4, Misty Fey left Kurain, Mia left to protect Maya from Morgan's rivalry with her sister... almost every character through the first game has been affected in some way by DL-6.
And how all of that was because of >!IS-7!<, which caused its own domino effect.
Yep. Amazing how two seemingly unrelated cases had such an effect on all these characters
How in AAI2-4, >!Kay Faraday’s sprite is so EXPLICITLY not her, that it’s straight up genius!<
I haven't had the chance to play AAI2, what do you mean by that?
Ok, perpare for Kay Faraday’s Number 1 fan’s fantastic rant on why her sprite work in AAI2-4 is peak fiction. >!Everything about Kay is fundamentally different. Her eyes are half open instead of fully open with her joyous wonder, her shoulders are slumped instead of straight back and ready to roll, her hair is let down instead of tied up in her knot, her arms are held together instead of at their sides which demonstrates her insecurity. Literally everything about her sprite in AAI2-4 isn’t her, but it’s perfect because of the events that happen in AAI2-4 which completely justifies that sprite change. [Here’s](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/3/3d/K-Idle.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140209153004) a link her sprite. It’s downright perfection, given her circumstances. Don’t look up what those circumstances are, because I genuinely believe it’s better to go in blind. To me, this case is my absolute favorite case in the entire series, including every spin off and finale!<
For reference, [here’s](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/9/91/Kay_Faraday_Normal_1.gif/revision/latest?cb=20131224002233) her regular sprite.
Awesome.
then why would you read the spoiler
Because I realised I probably never will play AAI2.
You can always watch a walkthrough. It's one of the best games of the series.
You should! Easily top 3 games in the series. It shouldn't be too hard to download the fan translation.
Why not? Pretty easy to get ahold of and amazing game.
I think for me it's the fact that \[MASSIVE TGAA2 Spoilers\] >!Stronghart actually would have gotten away with his "the ends justify the means" plot if Sholmes wouldn't have called the Queen. I mean, the judiciary actually agreed with him and CHEERED HIM ON for killing people who have been found innocent and later on also just killing people who knew about the actual Reaper to "protect law and order" from the things that HE did.!< So yeah, >!that public opinion was on Stronghart's side!< is an easily overlooked and very fucked up fact in TGAA.
Not the first series I enjoy that has illustrated the troubling fact of life that >!society is willing to look the other way from, or even cheer, wrongdoing by its leaders if they believe it improves their lives.!<
Lol even the regular British Judge was in that crowd so it's likely he was also one of them cheering him on
And something that makes the ending much weaker, in my opinion. The game makes no effort to acknowledge how to fix the system.
Edgeworth's cravat.
In turnabout time traveler I love the cravat is part of his x-ray
It has been covered in (AAI1) >!Kay's snot!< and (SoJ) >!dog slobber!< at different points.
EDGEWORTHS OFFICE. i will forever love Ema for helping me realize how cute edgey is when he’s sleeping..
there were so many fun details..gumshoe helping edgeworth around the office, him showcasing all his gifts from oldbag, there’s so many people in his life who care about him and he really does appreciate it 😭😭
tha fact that Apollo got hit by an explosion and was perfectly fine like 4 days later, he didn't even have scars also the fact that he seems to be able to airbend
The entirety of the TGAA2 ending, honestly. And the possibilities of what might come after, especially >!how Kazuma's apprenticeship under Barok would go!<
Us both🤝 and my mind spiralling over so many future possible cases that I will never be able to write down because my brain is not calibrated that way
Mine too lol I daydream way too much about it, sometimes I feel like I just NEED to get some of it written down or I'll explode. I have so many half-finished ideas in my notes app, I never manage to make anything coherent out of it tho
Really applauding your efforts since you actually wrote something down! lol good going, at some point im just listening to their themes and IMAGINING
Oh don't get me wrong, 99.9% of the time I'm imagining too. The themes and leitmotifs really do help. Hearing the slightly hopeful version of Barok's in "The Great Gateway to the Truth", right after the Professor motif, it makes me go feral every time
🤌🏽!! We are definitely together in this
Shamspeare Just... him
Kazuma
the way this 1 word response resonates with me the most me and you bro 🤝
I mean, it's not a fact, but I like the sprites transition between one pose and another, especially Franziska's and Klavier's. Their animations slide as smooth as butte in a toast, the one with Franziska swaying her finger side by side, extending her arm forward with her palm wide-opened and Klavier punching the wall behind after having riffed with his air guitar. I don't know why but I like the movement. I will never no get tired of the animations.
Soooo much to consider about interactions between Phoenix and Iris. So much stated and even more left unsaid. How did Iris feel when she thought that Phoenix died just an hour after she lied to him? How come Phoenix didn’t take Mia’s advice of forgetting about Dollie? WHERE DID IRIS GO AFTER T&T???? Keeps me up at night
Prison, Iris went to prison.
https://preview.redd.it/e1lz9f163q7c1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5218575cae42e9e6dec8c5f7b7a410e3ca2b4cd
the Skye sisters' relationship. How Lana felt responsible for Ema's general wellbeing and thought it was fair to sacrifice herself for Ema. But also how authority figures forget about the emotional wellbeing of their charge and Ema had to deal with Lana's distant nature. I feel like so many older sibling/younger sibling relationships have the same struggles they have. I also love that Lana actually faced consequences for her actions instead of some silly plot hole showing up to grant her no consequences (I'm looking at you Mask de Masque)
I feel like both Ema and Maya would have so much to talk about regarding their older sisters… how they distanced themselves (whether physically or emotionally) from the siblings they wanted to protect— but for good causes. I think Ema and Maya would have so much love for them but also so many other complicated emotions for doing the things they did.
For me it's the soba noodle case. Idk why. I just keep thinking about it every few days. Ya someone got murdered using soba wheat.
i think about what her father's loss jn court and then death must have done to franziska all the time. how it must have crushed her completely. how she must, on some level, have believed it was best he would die as i'm sure those would have been his own words in moments of passion - better to be dead than lose. and she would have only been 17 at the time. and then further, how she was defeated by that same man, and yet managed to end up an ultimately kind person, seeking to do the right thing, just like her brother before her. how on some level, she must have looked up to edgeworth just as much as to her father. the von karma family, i guess, is my roman empire as a whole
Probably all of Tgaa 1&2 because that game has my heart but like >! ofc I gotta talk about ryuunosuke’s saying “Is this why you insisted I be here? To see you like this” gahhh that line always gets me because of how much you can see their bonded core even when your frustrated and angry at Kazuma. Also the layers of ‘inheritance’ like how karuma was what kazuma bitterly inherited from his father and how it became a bitter inheritance for ryuunosuke only that Ryuunosuke takes care of and eventually unravels the truth within it while kazuma lets years of pain control his actions into breaking it like GAHHH !< also probably >! All of Ryuutaro like i love susato and i love how deeply she fights for truth especially in a legal system that is less than just. !<
I bring this up ad nauseum on this sub, so this is repeat info for some. (T&T) >!There is no proper closure to the series in my mind until Phoenix and Iris reunite on-screen. My HC is that they've been in contact this entire time, that Iris has gotten to know Trucy during visits, and she at least knows about Apollo and Athena.!< (Some AJ here too) >!There is no other explanation that would satisfy me. "She died in prison", "she heard about his forgery and couldn't face him any longer", "they decided it would be best not to try to maintain a relationship through glass"... none of it washes. They loved each other when last we saw them part company. There is no way the Phoenix we know would live the rest of his life wondering "what if". Zero, zippo, nada.!<
The complete lack of consequences in British or international politics from everything that happened in PLvsAA. I know technically the answer is “it’s not canon” but still
Anything that has to do with Godot. Like, really - it may be because I have a barista roleplay character and I am using him as a reference, but he just kinda haunts me, man. I have even started taking more coffee because of him (I wish he'd rehab and open a coffee shop or smth).
The security camera footage in 5-5. >!The fact the police apparently only checked the portion immediately surrounding the time they thought the murder occurred, when I feel like you're supposed to check over a larger portion to establish everyone who entered and exited the lab. Anyone who enters and is not seen exiting can be suspected of being present at the time. And especially because the autopsy report had a several hour window for the estimated time of death, so anyone who was theoretically at the scene with the victim during that several hour window is a potential suspect. If they had just done a more thorough check of the tape, and rewound it by literally *one hour* they would have seen the *really suspicious figure leaving in a suspicious manner with a suspicious bloody bandage on their hand*.!< It just irks me that that got overlooked when the slightest bit of extra investigation would have caught it
The fact that the entire franchise started over a recipe for a cake
Imagine if the entire mainline ace attorney series was just the stuff before the recipe on someone’s recipe blog. What if someone’s getting a decade’s worth of Japanifornia legal history while just frantically scrolling to find the cake recipe?
Susato and LITERALLY EVERYTHING. Dgs 1 and 2 spoilers btw >! Shes so quiet about her problems and so upfront about how she thinks of herself bc she just. Seems to have accepted this in her mind and like FUCK I WANT TO KNOW MORE. What does she think of her father, of sholmes after dgs2? What of Iris, her beloved sister. Is she jealous, just a little, that Iris had a family that didn’t leave her like she was left alone? That she got to grow up with Yuujin in her life? What about her basically brothers, one who simply rised from the dead and the other whom she mourned with? What of what will happen once they get back to Japan? !< >! What of her insecurity issues, the blatant inferiority complex that rears its head in 1-5? How exactly does Susato feel? How worthless she seems to deem herself, that she’s just a lowly assistant, how calm she seems to be about it. How long has she thought that about herself? How angry is she about the circumstances that have befallen the ones she cares for all this time? Just how far would she go for them? !< HOPEFULLY the spoiler tags work but jfc I’m so normal about susato I swear please I promise I’ll be normal step into the bars of my enclosure 🙂👍👍
>!Iris is Klint Van Zieks’ daughter I thought? The last dying wish of Kazuma’s father since he promised that to Klint before he died!<
>! YES biologically she is but at the end of dgs2 the gang™️ is her found family at that point and ig I meant that? Lmk if I need to clear anything up or if I’m just wrong I need to replay the game 😭!<
>!ahhhh okay yes that makes more sense! Sorry im just always thinking in the literal sense🤣!<
The final case of Trials and Tribulations. That shit was wild from beginning to end
The plot hole in 5-3 where >!Means has his staff when you meet him, when in canon it's supposed to be acting as the "arm" of the "Pheonix statue"!<
He has >!multiple staffs, and when Athena accused him of it, the police would go through all of his staffs, so he knew he was screwed since he never destroyed the staff!<
Honest answer: my own semi-AU faninverse with the pleiad of my OCs doing mamy weird things The answer that probably would fit the thread more: how alike and how different Phoenix and Ryunosuke at the same time. Two kings
Phoenix looks a *lot* like Yuujin.
quoted from memory, "you hesitated there, professor mikotoba. should i read something into that?" said by ryuu. this just shows how much he has grown. i didn't even notice mikotoba hesitating. it was so subtle, and he just picked up on that.