So the first original Ace Attorney novel was released earlier this week (there have been short stories before though). It's written by Mie Takase, a veteran writer who specializes in light novels and novelizations of games (including for Kirby, Growlanser, Persona, Shin Megami Tensei III, Style Savvy and Fire Emblem). Turnabout Idol in particular is published in the Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko line, a line aimed for younger readers and the book includes illustrations by Kikuyaro (who does a lot of artwork for the Japanese Ace Attorney mail magazine). (So the book is not a light novel, it's just a book aimed at younger readers).

The story is set some months after AA5, and starts with Phoenix, Apollo, Athena and Trucy arriving at Pegasus Town, a recently opened shopping mall. Trucy is to perform at the shopping mall today with two other artists: the 'fruit-cutting' idol Sumomo Momogaya (she makes fruit art *while* singing and dancing) and the (totally not-funny) comedian Nadare Chokakko. After the show, the body of Chokakko is discovered in his dressing room, stabbed with Sumomo's knife, which makes her the prime suspect. Asked by Trucy, Phoenix decided to defend Sumomo, which puts him against Blackquill in the courtroom.

I read the book today and I had to admit that I was pleasantly surprised. Takase also writes mystery novels and the result is a pretty solid mystery story. Sure, it's aimed at younger readers in general so it's a bit on the easy/short side, but it's actually plotted quite well. And what's even more important, it does really feel like an Ace Attorney story, from the way the mystery plot unfolds to the characters and even things like Apollo and Athena's powers appear in the story.

As you guess from the fact it's published in the Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko line: the Japanese is really easy, for those who are considering reading this.

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Nice, a new way to practice Japanese . Where did you buy the novel?

Are there any illustrations featuring Sumomo? What's she like as a character?

Amazon, though I think most places where they sell Japanese fiction (not just manga) will have it in their system, as Kadokawa is one of the biggest publishers in Japan.





She's very good on stage, energetic, open and talkative, and a talented dancer/singer/fruit-cutter, but she's actually very shy and silent off-stage. The man besides her is her manager by the way.

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How many illustrations are there (including the one of Sumomo and her manager)? Do you mind describing them?

The book starts with two pages of character introduction, with mugshots for all the characters appearing in the novel. And there are about twenty illustrations of various sizes (half page / whole page), based on scenes from the story (for example, the one above belongs to the scene when Phoenix first meets with Sumomo and her manager).

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Slightly longer review of the book.

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This sounds good to have. I need to pick up and learn some more japanese at some point.

If you're still learning Japanese, this is a good book to try out. The lingo is easy, but still AA-like and it's a lot cheaper than starting right away with buying the games in Japanese ;)

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