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Arguably, one of the defining game series of the 2000s was Shu Takumi’sAce Attorneyfranchise. The handheld courthouse visual novels have spanned 11 games, including five spin-offs, and several tie-ins, including a manga series, a live action film, and anime series.
Want to follow Phoenix Wright’s antics, but don’t feel like playing the games? Or, maybe you want to revisit it in a new way? The Ace Attorney anime ran for two seasons and adapted the first three games in the franchise. Not to worry: most of the cases from the first three games made it to the screen via its anime adaptation.
Every Place You Can Watch Ace Attorney
Ace Attorney has hadtwo cinematic adaptations. Firstly, it was brought to life as alive-action movie in 2012, then subsequently again as ananime series from 2016 to 2019. They’re both currently available to watch online.
The two versions don’t really rely on each other in any significant way — you can watch one without the other, since they both include roughly the same content — but they are both available to watch online should you want to.
Where To Watch The Live-Action Ace Attorney Movie
Prolific director Takashi Miike took Ace Attorney to a new medium by replacing 2D courtrooms with film sets and actors. The filmfollows the first two casesof the series, plus theTurnabout Goodbyes case:
The original games aren’t voice-acted beyond Objection and Hold It barks, meaning that this film was the first time a lot of characters got their own voices.
Where To Watch The Ace Attorney Anime
Ace Attorney was adapted for television by esteemed director Ayumu Watanabe. The showran for a total of two seasonsand 47 episodes:
The first season covers most cases from thefirst two games, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Justice for All, while the second season explores the storylines of Trials and Tribulations.
Are the Ace Attorney Stage Plays Available To Stream?
Hold it! The TV series and movie aren’t technically the only ways of watching Ace Attorney. It’salso been adapted for the stageas several different plays and musicals. Most recently, The Great Ace Attorney: New Truth Reborn ran in 2023. These shows include:
A number of these shows have been recorded, but unfortunately, as is often the case with theatre productions, ithasn’t been reliably and officially distributedyet.
Crunchyroll And Kanopy
Thebest place to stream the Ace Attorney anime is Crunchyrollat the moment. It has the lowest cost attached, and it has both the original Japanese audio and English dub available. It also has subtitles.
Don’t already have an Amazon Prime subscription?Get a Crunchyroll subscription directlyrather than as an Amazon Prime Video Channel to save money.
Thelive-action Ace Attorney film isn’t on Crunchyroll, though, so if you want to watch that, you’ll have to use another platform. If you havea card for an eligible libraryor a part of a university thathas access to Kanopy, then that’s thebest way of streaming it, as it’s completely free for you.
However, youdon’t have to watch the live-action filmto complete the Ace Attorney story, asevery case in it is covered by the anime. Still want to see it andhaven’t got Kanopyaccess? Your best bet is probablyrenting it on Amazon Video.
Every Other Streaming Service
Amazon Video and Apple TV both sell digital copies of the Ace Attorney anime. There are two seasons, soit costs around $40 to $50 to buy every episodeon either of those platforms. Presuming you stream every episode on Crunchyroll within a couple of months, itworks out much cheaper to stream iton Crunchyroll.
Admittedly, you don’t own the episodes afterwards with streaming, butdigital ownership through big platforms can still go wrongwhen content becomes unavailable anyway.
Streaming it through Amazon Prime also becomes pricey thanks to the fact that it’sonly available on there through Crunchyrollanyway. So, unless you already have an Amazon subscription, it wouldcost a lot more to pay for both subscriptionsthan it would be to pay for just a Crunchyroll subscription.
If you already have an Amazon Prime or Amazon Prime Video subscription, then it costs the same regardless of whether you go directly to Crunchyroll or not.
