Narumitsu.
I love them. Like a lot.
Every time I think of them my heart swells.
I really can’t properly express with words how great I think narumitsu is as a concept.
I mean, the only reason I got into Ace Attorney and spiraled into glorious obsession for several months (typically my hyperfixations last just a couple weeks) was because I kept seeing fanart of them and thinking to myself holy shit. This is peak. What the fuck. Who ARE these guys?!?
I just think their dynamic is the best thing I’ve ever seen and I want to stare at them day and night, simply *existing* in multiple angles, situations, universes, media…
I want to put them under a microscope damn it! And study their goddamn relationship and write a damn good scientific paper about it beCAUSE it’s so interesting!!
Back to the dynamic thing, it’s just something about the classic rivals to lovers thing with a dash of childhood friends and a great amount of wiggle room for personal interpretation, their canonical moments, both of their incredibly fun, interesting personalities, and their, in my opinion, innate chemistry that mixes together so well into a DELICIOUS cocktail that can and will feed me for decades in terms of ideas, content, and happiness.
It’s just nothing like I had seen before in a ship! I mean, listen, I described it above, I know they technically fulfill two very common tropes in shipping, but their relationship, at least to me, still constantly feels unique, always fresh, perhaps precisely because of that wiggle room mentioned earlier, perhaps because the game does such a fantastic job at characterizing both characters, perhaps simply because I love them so much.
But I love them so much BECAUSE of all of the above!!
I do think the main reason is that the characters are so enjoyable to watch do practically anything; the creativity and passion of the Ace Attorney fandom always manages to astound me, I believe the fact that the very games we love are so fun, and unique, and creative themselves that has created a community with creators that like to think of new ideas, put their own twist into the characters, and THAT is what makes narumitsu so great. Maybe.
Cause they’re so flexible! They are perfect, and enjoyable in any way shape or form; you can ANGST em, you can FLUFF em, you can make them have FREAKY GAY SEX or, my personal preference; ALL THREE IN QUICK SUCCESSION.
(You can also, of course, enjoy them platonically, which is JUST as awesomesauce)
I mean, never in my life has a fictional couple of dudes made me feel this insane and crazy and deranged. I have spent sleepless nights just reading fanfiction or, on occasion, simply THINKING about them for hours. My hyperfixation may be over, yes, but the passionate fire that narumitsu sparked in me continues to burn brightly even now.
But yes, when I first hit that Ace Attorney obsession peak they may have genuinely been all I could think of. To quote myself from a few months ago:
“WHATS THE POINT OF LIVING IF NOT NARUMITSU, YK? THEY ARE SO IN LOVE, PHOENIX YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY SMITTEN AND IT CAUSES ME PROBLEMS IN MY DAY TO DAY LIFE, I COULD THINK ABOUT GAY LAWYERS TILL THE END OF MY DAYS MAN.”
And:
“EVERY TIME I THINK ROMANCE IS DEAD NARUMITSU POPS UP ON MY FEED AND REMINDS ME WHAT LOVE REALLY IS.
IT’S GAY LAWYERS.”
And truly, that’s the crux of this issue, isn’t it? Narumitsu is just so peak, in so many ways, they inspire me to keep going sometimes I swear.
Before narumitsu, I had never even attempted to draw two people interacting, because I was bad at it! But they gave me the courage to try, I met them and I saw their love, and they skyrocketed to first place in my mind’s “Neptune’s top ships” list so fast they could’ve broken the sound barrier.
And I thank them, truly, for introducing me to one of the best things that’s happened to me, for bringing me into this game’s world of chaos, fun, distress, drama, love, fear, and lots of yelling. Because I love it. Because it’s now a part of me and because I will continue to carry its lessons and the joy it has brought me forever.
So perhaps it’s that love for them, that can be felt through the screen, in every comma, in every brush and pen stroke, in every word, sentence, breath, paper mache project, that makes them so great, the love for AA and narumitsu manifesting into the most wonderful creations, shared, enjoyed, loved.
All of this is to say, in a bunch of words, that narumitsu tops, and I love them very much.
Happy late narumitsu week!
Buddy described me so accurately it's scary 😭
