#Shu Takumi

[doorwood]

Ghost Trick is fantastic

[chaosmax]

"Romantic love is the strongest love there is"

WRONG Shu Takumi made a wholeass game with his dog as one of the most important characters immortalizing him for eternity and touching the feelings of everyone who played the game making everyone care about him too tHiS is the strongest form of love

[thisisutl]

The real dog that inspired Ghost Trick's "Missile".

As many people on Tumblr have already pointed out, Ghost Trick is a game that is best experienced going in fully-blind. It offers amazing puzzle-based gameplay, a charming cast of characters and a unique story with plenty of twists and turns that will leave you both stunned and fulfilled by the end. My one true regret with the game is that I can't experience it for the first time again.

So, in trying to hype up the game for its release on Steam, Switch, Playstation and XBox, I decided to go for a novel approach: Instead of gushing about the game and potentially spoiling it for you, I will instead offer some facts about the real-life dog that inspired one of the game's most memorable characters. Knowing those facts won't spoil the game for you and will in fact make you appreciate its story a whole lot more, so feel free to reblog away, adding any facts that I might have missed about the game's Charismatic Cheerful Capable Caring Canine.

You know… This adorable little guy: 

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Missile Takumi!

Missile was a pomeranian Puppy adopted by Shu Takumi on 2007. He was named after a dog appearing in Gyakuten Saiban 1 (aka Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney 1). The dog in the original game was a throwaway gag, not essential in the overall game’s story. The real-life  little pomeranian however proved to be an essential part of Shu Takumi’s life.

(Source)

(More facts after the break)

Missile was Shu Takumi’s best friend. The little doggie was always there for him, always available to lift his spirits with a cheerful bark when he was feeling down and always offering a friendly paw even in the gloomiest of circumstances. Missile was a truly loyal friend, offering unconditional love and friendship, helping Shu Takumi get over even the most difficult of times.

(Source)

So when time came to make Ghost Trick, a game about ghosts, regrets, mystery, loyalty, friendship and ultimate redemption, it was perfectly natural for Shu Takumi to give his best little friend a part in the story.

The game’s developers didn’t initially want to put Missile in the game. They didn’t have a problem with putting a dog as a character, they had a problem with the fact that the dog was a Pomeranian and they would have problems animating his fur in-game. Shu Takumi however insisted and eventually, after meeting the little doggie and falling under its charm, the developers relented into putting him in the game in all his Pomeranian glory.

(Image from lparchive)

Not only did they put him in the game, in fact, they went above and beyond in capturing his charm perfectly. They studied his moves and mannerisms, in order to get his movements down pat.

(Image from lparchive)

Missile’s iconic in-game bark was actually a recording of sound-designer’s Nobuyuki Shimizu Labrador Retriever who was coincidentally also named Missile! Shu Takumi wanted to record his own Missile, but Shimizu-san also wanted to put a part of his own dog in the game and Takumi eventually relented.

So, yeah, Missile in the game was voiced by Missile. Just not THE Missile.

In order to make up for not recording his own dog for the game Shu Takumi made a “character song” for Ghost Trick’s Missile:. 

Yes, those barks you hear in the song are recordings of THE Missile, no substitutes this time! This is how the little Pomeranian used to bark!

The song was made to celebrate Ghost Trick’s 3rd year release anniversary and even though the song talks about Ghost Trick’s Missile, a lot of the behaviors mentioned in the lyrics (such as Missile’s tendency to climb on the sofa and then needing help to get back down) are things that Takumi’s pomeranian friend used to do.

The song was later remade by CAP-JAMS and included in the soundtrack of the 2023 remaster of the game.

And, yes, the original Missile’s barks are still there.

If it’s not perfectly clear, Shu Takumi really wanted to tell everyone how awesome his little dog was. He made the little dog an essential part of Ghost Trick and stealthily  made the world, at least that small part of it that played Ghost Trick, fall in love with him.

Ghost Trick was released under critical acclaim, even receiving a nomination for Gamespot’s Best 2011 Puzzle Game, but the fact that it was released near the end of the DS’s lifespan and a lackluster advertising campaign made it 2011’s “Best Game You’ve Never Played”.

The game, however, slowly gained a cult following and within that following, the story of Missile resonated with everyone and became one of its standout points. He might not have been the player-character but he was definitely the show-stealer.

(To tell any more would be going into spoiler territory, but seriously go buy and play Ghost Trick any way you can. It really deserves a bigger audience).

So beloved was the little dog in fact that when Ace Attorney was eventually adapted into an anime, the animators couldn’t resist putting him into episodes 13 and 30 of the first and second season respectively. In fact, in the anime Missile was indirectly responsible for the “class trial” incident that shaped Naruhodo/Wright’s life.

Before you ask, no, Missile was not voicing himself this time (something about working with animals and children). He was voiced by Tomokazu Seki in the Japanese version and by Kyle Hebert in the English dub. Still a nice tribute to Takumi’s little doggie.

One final Missile fact that I can’t find a proper segway for is that Missile also got along surprisingly well with Wagahai and Sankichii, the cats that later also entered the Takumi household, though, the way Takumi tells this, it was the cats that called the shots more often than not. 

Missile passed away on the 10th of November 2018. The way Shu Takumi puts it, the valiant little doggie waited for him to return from the US, to spend some final time with him before passing on. We don’t know the exact details just that it was sudden and unexpected.

(Source)

Missile is no longer with us, but his memory lives on. He will always be remembered by Shu Takumi as the friend that always was by his side… and always will be with him.

…and he will always be remembered by the gaming community as the little Pomeranian that stole everybody’s hearts and made Ghost Trick a truly memorable experience.

MISSAIRU TONDEKE! 

(Missile’s Launched!)

[doggendoodle]

do i have this right

edit: turns out i missed a few

[key-lime-soda]

shu takumi and his dog Missile make me emotional everytime I think about them. just a guy who loves his dog enough to put it in both of his franchises (missile in ghost trick and pess in ace attorney). rip <3

[tunaricebowl]

my dual destinies art book finally came in and i’m cackling at this artwork, absolutely love the ghost trick reference

[mysteryterror-art]

ghost trick grahh

[kero-ish]

oh i also did jowd lots of little sketches as of late is it joe-d? or jao-d?

play ghost trick

[aaoneoffstournament]

ROUND FOUR, POLL ONE

[alinalal-art]

Lynne - Ghost Trick :D

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

The Grumps have now crossed over from “this case is stupid” to legitimate rage when it comes to Turnabout Big Top. You can tell Arin’s rage side is coming out when he shouted, “WHO WROTE THIS?!” when it came to the joke about Max’s bust. And Dan is doing the thing where he’s sounding tired and defeated, which usually means he’s mad.

What’s funny is that they’re angry at the case for a different reason than most of the people who played it already. I noticed that most people hate Big Top for the underaged Regina worship, or the love triangle. But the Grumps hate Big Top because the jokes aren’t funny, the story isn’t good, and they hate all the characters. They didn’t even notice the Regina age issue until a few episodes into the story.

It’s to the point where they’re convinced a different writer was in charge of this episode, when the truth is that it was Takumi who wrote this. It’s just he was drunk as hell and Capcom gave him as much time for one case in the original game to write ALL of Justice for All.

[overlordneptune]

OKAY A QUICK CONFESSION,

I ACTUALLY JUST FINISHED PHOENIX WRIGHT: ACE ATTORNEY

AND I AM.

BROKEN.

I AM A BROKEN, SHATTERED MAN. I WILL NEVER, EVER BE THE SAME.

N E V E R .

WORDS CANNOT BEGIN TO DESCRIBE A FRACTION OF THE EMOTIONS THAT I’M FEELING RIGHT NOW

BEING IN THE POSSESSION OF EVERY WORD OF EVERY LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT ALL OF HISTORY WOULDN’T BE ENOUGH TO EVEN SCRATCH THE SURFACE

I CARE FOR THESE CHARACTERS SO SO DEEPLY, AND IT ALMOST HURTS PHYSICALLY TO SEE THEM, BE. FOR IT TO BE OVER. IT WOUNDS MY HEART, AND MY SOUL CAN BARELY TAKE IT.

THE CREDITS STARTED ROLLING AND I WAS IMMEDIATELY REDUCED TO NOTHING BUT A SCREAMING WAILING MESS OF TEARS.

I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER BE ABLE TO PROPERLY EXPRESS THE APPRECIATION AND LOVE I HOLD FOR THIS VIDEO GAME SERIES. I LOVE IT SO IMPOSSIBLY MUCH AND I’M SO GLAD SO MANY PEOPLE AGREE. PHOENIX WRIGHT: ACE ATTORNEY WAS AND STILL IS REVOLUTIONARY, IT CHANGED THE WAY VISUAL NOVELS EXISTED, IT DID SO SO SO MUCH WITH THE LITTLE IT WAS GIVEN, AND FOR THAT I THINK IT ABSOLUTELY DESERVES ALL THE PRAISE IN THE WORLD EVER

[oujamon]

Pupaganda for the Poll Here to vote Missile!

They redid the song about Missile with Shu Takumi on vocals!

[probablygayattorneys]

⚠️ MANY GHOST TRICK SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️

The amount of foreshadowing in Ghost Trick is genuinely mind blowing. Whenever I replay any mystery game like Professor Layton or Ghost Trick I always love looking at lines of dialogue/scenes that I initially brushed off and realise they were clues the entire time.

Literally in the intro scene, in the very first paragraph where Sissel points to the corpse and goes "that has to be me. After all do you see any other dead bodies around?". Also the scene where Lynne temporarily transformed into Cabanela and it's played as a little joke scene. The scene when you're trying to save Jowd from getting executed and one of the guards say "man it's so dark in here. I wish I had night vision like a cat" to which Sissel replies "or a ghost". When Jowd is talking to Sissel about how Cabanela's stainless white coat is symbolic and Sissel goes "I think a black coat would be better". Sissel constantly playing around with rats. The fact that the number of people Sissel saved is 9 because cats have 9 lives. The fact that he can't read!!!! There's still more I'm missing but man..

God I love Ghost Trick

Well, you definitely caught more than I did (though to be fair, I didn't know what I was looking for) but I definitley agree that it was a phenomenal game - though I would never doubt that when holding a game made by Shu Takumi. Now I just need to get my hands on his magnum opus: Dino Crisis.

[sourtroubadour]

“bisexual and stuff” I'm gonna start using that to describe myself

[dontmindme2600]

As a huge behind-the-scenes nerd the concept art sections in remasters/collections of Shu Takumi’s games always make me fucking NUT. The one for AA chronicles actually has commentary from the characters designer too??? I was gonna skip on the Apollo Justice remaster/collection but if it has this kinda stuff for one of my favorite entries in the series then god.DAMN. I hate to say it but I might have to drop those 50 dollars. Half of my Nintendo switch screenshots are literally from the Ghost Trick concept art section I’m not joking