Ema Skye

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Ema Skye
Ace Attorney character
Ema Skye as she appears in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice
First game	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – "Rise From the Ashes" (2005)
Created by	Minae Matsukawa Shu Takumi
Designed by	Kazuya Nuri
Voiced by	show English Erica Lindbeck[1][2] show Japanese Satomi Hanamura[1][3] (2005–2007) Marina Inoue[1][4] (2016–present)
In-universe information
Nickname	Bambina Fräulein Detective
Occupation	Forensics investigator Police detective (formerly) Detective assisting Klavier Gavin (formerly) Co-counsel to Phoenix Wright (formerly) Investigative assistant (formerly)
Family	Unnamed parents Unnamed coroner (foster parent) (sister)

Ema Skye, also known as Akane Hōzuki (Japanese: 宝月 茜, Hepburn: Hōzuki Akane) in the Japanese language versions, is a fictional forensics investigator in Capcom's Ace Attorney video game series. Ema is featured as the main support character to the protagonist Phoenix Wright in the fifth case of the first game of the series, and later returns in the fourth and sixth games as the main detective character. The character has also appeared in manga adaptations of the series, one of the Japanese stage plays, and the spin-off video games Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and its sequel, which were originally developed with Ema as the lead character.

Ema was created by Minae Matsukawa, the producer of the 2005 version of the first game, to be modeled after Maya Fey, to the point of having a near-identical hairstyle, and pink-lensed glasses originating from early concept art for the character. When she was brought back for the fourth and sixth games, she was at first written as more mature and moody to prevent comparison to Trucy Wright, with a habit of stress-eating brought on by a failure in her career. Critics praised her character and her interactions with Phoenix, and her return in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney was well-received.

Appearances[]

Ema first appears in the fifth case "Rise From the Ashes" of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, where she is introduced as chief prosecutor 's younger sister and a would-be forensics investigator, who hires Phoenix Wright to defend Lana for the murder of Bruce Goodman, with Ema assisting Phoenix in his investigation, introducing him to various forensic science methods including luminol. Ultimately, Lana is revealed to have confessed to the murder in order to cover up Ema's own apparent accidental murder of prosecutor Neil Marshall two years previously, while he had been attempting to recapture escaped spree killer Joe Darke. Ultimately, Ema and Phoenix discover both murders to have in actuality committed by Damon Gant, the current chief of police, with Lana remaining imprisoned for having acted as his accomplice. Before leaving for prison, Lana gives Ema the first book she had ever bought, the Scientific Investigation, before informing her that she had arranged for Ema to live in Europe with a coroner friend of hers to learn more about scientific investigation, leading to Ema hopefully one day becoming a forensics investigator.

In Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and its sequel, Ema returns to the United States two years later for spring break, using her forensic knowledge to assist Miles Edgeworth find blood traces and fingerprints before returning to Europe.

In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, set seven years later, Ema now unhappily works as a homicide detective assigned to Klavier Gavin, the rock star prosecutor responsible for having Phoenix disbarred, after having failed to qualify to become a forensic scientist upon returning to the United States. multiple bags of Snackoos every day, Ema befriends Phoenix's protégé Apollo Justice after he gives her a bottle of fingerprint powder she had previously given Phoenix nine years earlier, encouraging her to move on from being Klavier's "glorified personal assistant". Three months later, Ema assists Phoenix in setting up a test trial for the new Jurist System, a trial system intended for death penalty cases which would return the concept of a jury to trials, briefly imitating the voice of Klavier's older serial killer brother Kristoph to spook him. After the concluson of the trial, Ema begins finally becoming a forensic scientist.

Ema does not make a physical appearance in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, although she is briefly mentioned by Trucy Wright.

Ema returns in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, set two years later, having finally secured her dream job as a forensic scientist. She is partnered with Apollo's adoptive brother, Prosecutor Nahyuta Sahdmadhi of the Kingdom of Khura'in, as he prosecutes several cases in the United States and Khura'in, flying between the two countries on a daily basis. As a result of her jet lag, Ema takes up stress-eating again, and unexpectedly reunites with Phoenix in preventing Maya Fey from being falsely prosecuted for killing a Khura'inese high priest.^[5][6] In the game's DLC case, Ema works with Edgeworth as the detective on a case, then attending the wedding of Ellen Wyatt and Sorin Sprocket after the former is acquitted of murder.

Other appearances[]

Ema has appeared in other media adaptations of Ace Attorney. She is a recurring character in the Ace Attorney manga series published by Kodansha Comics. Her character is loosely referenced in a stage musical performed by the Takarazuka Revue, renamed "Monica Clyde" (モニカ・クライド, Monica Clyde) and portrayed by .^[7] Unlike "Rise From the Ashes", where Ema is depicted as a scientific investigator-in-training, Monica is simply depicted as a student, with her sister (based on ) being romantically involved with Phoenix.^[8] Ema also appears as a collectible card in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS and Teppen: Ace vs. The People.^[9][10] Ema is featured in a virtual reality attraction in Japan based off the Ace Attorney games, where players help Ema investigate crime scenes.^[11]

Concept and development[]

Ema Skye and the case in which she appears, "Rise from the Ashes", was not included in the original version of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in 2001; she was created four years later as part of the Nintendo DS version of the game.^[12] Conceived by series' producer Minae Matsukawa under supervision of Atsushi Inaba and Shinji Mikami, Ema was designed by Kazuya Nuri based on an early concept design for Maya Fey by Tatsurō Iwamoto, with both characters having near-identical hairstyles.^[13] The idea to include the use of the Nintendo DS system's microphone in "Rise From the Ashes", proposed by Ace Attorney series creator and director Shu Takumi, led to Ema's background being written as a scientific investigator-in-training.^[14] Nuri cited Ema as both the first and favorite of his characters to have designed, partly due to being allowed to draw her at different stages of her life and returning to redesign the character in the fourth and sixth games and the Ace Attorney Investigations series, seeking to keep Ema's "cuteness" intact for her facial expressions while simultaneously making her more mature and moody to prevent her from conflicting with the similar characterisation of Trucy Wright.^[15] The kanji for her Japanese surname, Hōzuki, translates to "treasured moon" or "jeweled moon".^[16][17]

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, directed by Takeshi Yamazaki and produced by Motohide Eshiro, was originally developed as a spin-off of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney following the older incarnation of Ema introduced in the game.^[18][19] Eshiro got the idea to make a new game featuring the character while working on Trials and Tribulations,^[20] with Yamazaki coming up with the idea of making a game about deductive reasoning and crime scene investigation and of Ema being the protagonist;^[21] however, based on fan feedback, the pair instead decided to use the more popular character of Miles Edgeworth instead, with Investigations and its sequel set in the four weeks between Trials and Tribulations and flashback scenes of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney,^[22] and featuring Ema as a supporting character, with another redesign by Nuri.^[23][24]

Reception[]

Ema Skye was well-received by critics, especially for her contrast and comparison in characterization with Maya Fey and Trucy Wright. Nintendo World Report editor Michael Cole commented that Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney's witnesses are not quite as funny or interesting as the ones in the Phoenix Wright story arc, specifically mentioning Ema Skye, adding that she lacks Dick Gumshoe's "lovable incompetence".^[25] Paste Magazine criticized Ema's "sour" appearance in the fourth game as being "written into an unpleasant and unhelpful young adult" compared to her depiction in the first game.^[26] The Outerhaven described Ema's "passion for science [a]s funny every single time, and not to mention, it’s very useful", ranking her as the eighth-best character in the series,^[27] while Hardcore Gamer praised the character's return to the series in Spirit of Justice, and provided forensic gameplay.^[28]

References[]