Yujin Mikotoba (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
professorbestie) wrote2021-11-01 07:03 am
professorbestie) wrote2021-11-01 07:03 am
Application
Warning:, there will be spoilers for The Great Ace Attorney!
Player: Meowzy
Age: 33
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
meowzy
Character: Yujin Mikotoba
Canon: The Great Ace Attorney | Post-Chronicles
Age: 43
Background Information: Wikia page
Personality:
Yujin Mikotoba is one of those characters who's far more than he appears to be on first glance. Or even on second glance. He's actually lived a very eventful life with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, because in a shocking turn of events, he's this universe's equivalent of John H. Watson! Yep, he's the Great Detective's unsung partner, with emphasis on the unsung part. When a misunderstanding gives birth to the belief that John H. Wilson was Herlock Sholmes's investigative other half ten years prior, he never bothers to correct anyone on this. Perhaps because it's easier that way.
Naturally, the truth can't stay hidden forever and eventually, it's revealed to everyone (even his own daughter) that he solved many a mystery with Herlock Sholmes back in the day. The player even gets to take control of him for a brief period of time near the end of the second game, offering some very interesting insights into his thoughts and investigative tactics. With his courteous mannerisms, limitless patience and unwavering loyalty, Yujin seems to make friends wherever he goes. Unfortunately, most of those friends turn out to be either murderers or corrupt pawns to a mastermind. Or both. He has some dreadful luck, really.
Described to have been “an exceptionally fine medical student” even before he set out on the original study tour, it's evident that Yujin is a very clever man by nature. His exposure to Herlock Sholmes, though, would have honed his smarts even more. By the time The Great Ace Attorney takes place, Yujin is a highly-acclaimed professor with a good grasp on deductive reasoning, who even serves as a diplomatic advisor to the Japanese government. He isn't quite as on top of things as Sholmes is, but in part thanks to his correspondence with the man, he does know a fair bit more about what's going on in the plot's background than one might think. During the final Dance of Deduction, the gameplay changes so that Sholmes no longer needs to be corrected. Instead, Sholmes pauses his deductions and asks Mikotoba to compliment them immediately- which he does. The two of them are very in sync and considering Sholmes's more eccentric mannerisms, that's quite a feat. The game never quite specifies just how many cases they solved together in their younger days, or even how serious they truly were. Still, the casefiles wouldn't exist if the details of their investigations hadn't left an impact on Yujin.
In spite of his many achievements, Yujin is a humble man with some mild self esteem issues. He waves off any compliments or credit to come his way and instead praises others. He can't seem to say “no” to people too readily, as evidenced by Susato's anecdote about booksellers always tracking him down to peddle their wares to him. His solution to young Susato constantly taking his watches apart to see how they work is to simply... stop wearing watches. At one point, he even describes himself as a 'miserable father who's let his daughter down thoroughly'. He knows that he should have been there for Susato when she was born and even ten years after returning to Japan, despite all the good things that he experienced in England, he experiences guilt over leaving her in her grandmother's care for so long. He's very open about his emotions, even admitting in a room full of people that he 'wept longer than he cared to admit' after failing to save Lady Baskerville's life. Most importantly, it's vaguely alluded to that he became depressed after the death of his wife and perhaps even suicidal, which is the reason why Seishiro Jigoku dragged him along on the study tour to begin with. This story is told to Ryunosuke quite openly, though out of Susato's earshot.
Let's also quickly address that he was sent to an unfamiliar country during a time when racial prejudice was at an all-time high. In reality, most Japanese exchange students in those times only lasted about a year or two before buckling under the cultural differences and the miserable encounters, while Yujin's exchange project only ended because he was sent home against his will. He would've had a very difficult time those six years, even with Sholmes by his side to protect him to some degree. This might seem strange to address for an Ace Attorney character, but The Great Ace Attorney itself also acknowledges this prejudice in the narrative quite a few times and therefore, I feel it's relevant here.
Despite all the darkness he's experienced (and still does to this day), there's no denying that he's still an optimist at heart. He cares deeply for his family and will do whatever he can to make their lives easier. He wishes for Susato to have more freedom than most women are given, and even encouraged her to masquerade as a male defense attorney to help her friend, because he had no doubt that with all her legal knowledge, she could win the trial just fine. He attempted to raise Kazuma as his own son and even paid for the young man's education... And with hope for the future, he named Iris after his wife and left her in the care of his best friend. To this day, he reads Iris's stories with no shortage of pride. He also has a high hope that Ryunosuke Naruhodo can help reform the legal system in Japan after all he's learned in England, which is why he asks the man to return with him.
His biggest flaw, I think, would be his secrecy. Despite his daughter being a great fan of Herlock Sholmes, he never once considers telling her the truth and instead dodges his way around the topic of whether Wilson was the great detective's partner. He never tells Kazuma the truth of what happened to his father, he never gives Sholmes permission to tell Iris about her father... He even outright lies about being sick to trick Susato into returning to Japan at the end of the first game, and when confronted with it, he fails to justify himself. He means well by hiding the truth, and it is to some degree done for sheer plot convenience, but man. MAN...!
Yujin is a bit of a clumsy dork at times, which becomes abundantly clear during the Legendary Pair chapter. He trips in an empty hallway, attempts to imitate a mouse by crying out the word “chuuu” and even asks Sholmes “where's the fun in life without a little fooling around?” to mask his dismay when he fails a deduction in the Theater of Logic and Reasoning. Overcome with nostalgia, he opens his old trunk and immediately gets knocked unconscious by one of Iris's boobytraps. Heck, he tapdances during serious investigations, and if that doesn't say it all, I don't know what will.
Abilities & Inventory: He has no canon abilities; he is but a simple man who happens to be great at tapdancing. Susato mentions her Take Down technique is passed down through the family, but it's never outright confirmed whether Yujin knows it. As for inventory, he usually carries a fan around that's so very clearly only meant for aesthetic, he never even unfolds it in the game. It's just... there.
Suitability & Plans:
For one, because the reveal came so late, Yujin was criminally underused in The Great Ace Attorney. There's a lot of character dynamics that were alluded to, but barely shown. For example, his adoptive father relationship with Kazuma and a possible history with Barok van Zieks (if Yujin and Sholmes ever actively investigated the Professor, which the game never confirms nor denies). But more importantly, he's just a very caring father figure with a high tolerance for shenanigans and even a willingness to play along. Looking at it like that, he should develop CR with any character very easily. He's not familiar with things like magic, but always willing to learn. It wouldn't be the first time something seemingly impossible is revealed to be very possible in his eyes. What he is familiar with is steampunky technology! The Great Ace Attorney has quite a bit of it- or rather, Sholmes's apartment does- and so, Reverein is actually not that different from the London Yujin experienced when he was younger. Aside from, y'know, the fae and the magic and such. Again, he can adjust to that.
Test Drive Sample: Top-level
Thread
Another Thread
Questions: None!
Player: Meowzy
Age: 33
Contact:
Character: Yujin Mikotoba
Canon: The Great Ace Attorney | Post-Chronicles
Age: 43
Background Information: Wikia page
Personality:
Yujin Mikotoba is one of those characters who's far more than he appears to be on first glance. Or even on second glance. He's actually lived a very eventful life with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, because in a shocking turn of events, he's this universe's equivalent of John H. Watson! Yep, he's the Great Detective's unsung partner, with emphasis on the unsung part. When a misunderstanding gives birth to the belief that John H. Wilson was Herlock Sholmes's investigative other half ten years prior, he never bothers to correct anyone on this. Perhaps because it's easier that way.
Naturally, the truth can't stay hidden forever and eventually, it's revealed to everyone (even his own daughter) that he solved many a mystery with Herlock Sholmes back in the day. The player even gets to take control of him for a brief period of time near the end of the second game, offering some very interesting insights into his thoughts and investigative tactics. With his courteous mannerisms, limitless patience and unwavering loyalty, Yujin seems to make friends wherever he goes. Unfortunately, most of those friends turn out to be either murderers or corrupt pawns to a mastermind. Or both. He has some dreadful luck, really.
Described to have been “an exceptionally fine medical student” even before he set out on the original study tour, it's evident that Yujin is a very clever man by nature. His exposure to Herlock Sholmes, though, would have honed his smarts even more. By the time The Great Ace Attorney takes place, Yujin is a highly-acclaimed professor with a good grasp on deductive reasoning, who even serves as a diplomatic advisor to the Japanese government. He isn't quite as on top of things as Sholmes is, but in part thanks to his correspondence with the man, he does know a fair bit more about what's going on in the plot's background than one might think. During the final Dance of Deduction, the gameplay changes so that Sholmes no longer needs to be corrected. Instead, Sholmes pauses his deductions and asks Mikotoba to compliment them immediately- which he does. The two of them are very in sync and considering Sholmes's more eccentric mannerisms, that's quite a feat. The game never quite specifies just how many cases they solved together in their younger days, or even how serious they truly were. Still, the casefiles wouldn't exist if the details of their investigations hadn't left an impact on Yujin.
In spite of his many achievements, Yujin is a humble man with some mild self esteem issues. He waves off any compliments or credit to come his way and instead praises others. He can't seem to say “no” to people too readily, as evidenced by Susato's anecdote about booksellers always tracking him down to peddle their wares to him. His solution to young Susato constantly taking his watches apart to see how they work is to simply... stop wearing watches. At one point, he even describes himself as a 'miserable father who's let his daughter down thoroughly'. He knows that he should have been there for Susato when she was born and even ten years after returning to Japan, despite all the good things that he experienced in England, he experiences guilt over leaving her in her grandmother's care for so long. He's very open about his emotions, even admitting in a room full of people that he 'wept longer than he cared to admit' after failing to save Lady Baskerville's life. Most importantly, it's vaguely alluded to that he became depressed after the death of his wife and perhaps even suicidal, which is the reason why Seishiro Jigoku dragged him along on the study tour to begin with. This story is told to Ryunosuke quite openly, though out of Susato's earshot.
Let's also quickly address that he was sent to an unfamiliar country during a time when racial prejudice was at an all-time high. In reality, most Japanese exchange students in those times only lasted about a year or two before buckling under the cultural differences and the miserable encounters, while Yujin's exchange project only ended because he was sent home against his will. He would've had a very difficult time those six years, even with Sholmes by his side to protect him to some degree. This might seem strange to address for an Ace Attorney character, but The Great Ace Attorney itself also acknowledges this prejudice in the narrative quite a few times and therefore, I feel it's relevant here.
Despite all the darkness he's experienced (and still does to this day), there's no denying that he's still an optimist at heart. He cares deeply for his family and will do whatever he can to make their lives easier. He wishes for Susato to have more freedom than most women are given, and even encouraged her to masquerade as a male defense attorney to help her friend, because he had no doubt that with all her legal knowledge, she could win the trial just fine. He attempted to raise Kazuma as his own son and even paid for the young man's education... And with hope for the future, he named Iris after his wife and left her in the care of his best friend. To this day, he reads Iris's stories with no shortage of pride. He also has a high hope that Ryunosuke Naruhodo can help reform the legal system in Japan after all he's learned in England, which is why he asks the man to return with him.
His biggest flaw, I think, would be his secrecy. Despite his daughter being a great fan of Herlock Sholmes, he never once considers telling her the truth and instead dodges his way around the topic of whether Wilson was the great detective's partner. He never tells Kazuma the truth of what happened to his father, he never gives Sholmes permission to tell Iris about her father... He even outright lies about being sick to trick Susato into returning to Japan at the end of the first game, and when confronted with it, he fails to justify himself. He means well by hiding the truth, and it is to some degree done for sheer plot convenience, but man. MAN...!
Yujin is a bit of a clumsy dork at times, which becomes abundantly clear during the Legendary Pair chapter. He trips in an empty hallway, attempts to imitate a mouse by crying out the word “chuuu” and even asks Sholmes “where's the fun in life without a little fooling around?” to mask his dismay when he fails a deduction in the Theater of Logic and Reasoning. Overcome with nostalgia, he opens his old trunk and immediately gets knocked unconscious by one of Iris's boobytraps. Heck, he tapdances during serious investigations, and if that doesn't say it all, I don't know what will.
Abilities & Inventory: He has no canon abilities; he is but a simple man who happens to be great at tapdancing. Susato mentions her Take Down technique is passed down through the family, but it's never outright confirmed whether Yujin knows it. As for inventory, he usually carries a fan around that's so very clearly only meant for aesthetic, he never even unfolds it in the game. It's just... there.
Suitability & Plans:
For one, because the reveal came so late, Yujin was criminally underused in The Great Ace Attorney. There's a lot of character dynamics that were alluded to, but barely shown. For example, his adoptive father relationship with Kazuma and a possible history with Barok van Zieks (if Yujin and Sholmes ever actively investigated the Professor, which the game never confirms nor denies). But more importantly, he's just a very caring father figure with a high tolerance for shenanigans and even a willingness to play along. Looking at it like that, he should develop CR with any character very easily. He's not familiar with things like magic, but always willing to learn. It wouldn't be the first time something seemingly impossible is revealed to be very possible in his eyes. What he is familiar with is steampunky technology! The Great Ace Attorney has quite a bit of it- or rather, Sholmes's apartment does- and so, Reverein is actually not that different from the London Yujin experienced when he was younger. Aside from, y'know, the fae and the magic and such. Again, he can adjust to that.
Test Drive Sample: Top-level
Thread
Another Thread
Questions: None!