In Ace Attorney 1, Masakazu Sugimori wrote one of the strongest, best character themes in the series, that being Maya Fey ~ Turnabout Sisters, and I wanna talk about something in it
I want to focus on an specific thing and the missed opportunity it has, but I gotta mention this theme is great lol. The composer adds a lot of groove here and that's very welcome. The harmonies speak to a much more nuanced character than you would be led to believe from the simple yet catchy melody. This theme remains a fan favorite for a reason!
Anyway, when Ace Attorney 2 happened, Naoto Tanaka was the composer instead, and he makes the call to change several instruments to bring it closer in line to the version he had written for Pearl Fey. And in what I think is a very smart decision, he also completely replaces the B section with an entirely new one:
This B section, again, helps bring the whole idea of tying this theme to Pearls', but also in my opinion helps show an overlooked aspect of Maya as a character in AA2: she's going thru changes. She's required to confront the legacy and the issues of her family, and she has to grow to support lil Pearl, an element that will be confronted much more directly in the next game. I like it!
(as an aside, it's worth mentioning that almost all official remixes of Turnabout Sisters include both versions in some way)
So it always struck me as strange that when given the chance to do the same, Noriyuki Iwadare not only didn't change this theme, this theme is not even in the soundtrack!
Now, for those attentive, Turnabout Sisters the melody actually shows up several times in the OST, including its own section in the credits. So either a version existed and got scrapped and was just replaced with the regular investigation themes or this was never done, and I find that a shame. Trials and Tribulations is the game that revolves around the Fey clan the most, and the game that most explicitly brings attention to Maya herself as a character. Missing the lead the previous two games had and not making your own small version of Maya's theme feels like a missed opportunity.
Anyway I'm absolutely not surprised that when he had the chance again for Spirit of Justice he just played it safe and made basically the same version used for AA1. That is just... emblematic of the problems with Maya's writing in AA6, but that's not the point of this chost.
That will be for later.