No Objections To Resident Evil’s “Deaf Composer” In Ace Attorney

The controversy around Resident Evil‘s supposed “deaf composer” has been the center of attention in Japan and recently culminated in what could only be described as “a fiasco” worthy of everyone’s favourite video game courtroom.

In case you didn’t know, Mamoru Samuragoch* was the composer for the DualShock version of Resident Evil Director’s Cut and Onimusha who lost his hearing and has been called “Japan’s Beethoven.” Samuragoch recently came out admitting that he had hired a ghost writer to compose many of his works for him.

The ghost composer, one Takashi Niigaki, subsequently came out and confirmed this fact, adding that he never had any reason to believe Samuragoch was deaf at all.

The whole situation caught fire on online message boards and twitter. Twitter user imamshi posted a humorous image of a Samuragoch-like character appearing in Capcom’s own Ace Attorney.

佐村河内氏、逆転裁判のキャラに出てきそうだよなーと思って作ってみたけど違和感なさすぎ pic.twitter.com/qksBQGa2sN

— いまむし (@imamshi) 2014, 2月 19

(“I thought Mr. Samuragoch was like a character that would show up in Ace Attorney, so I made this picture and it fits perfectly”)

Earlier this month, Samuragoch held a press conference and the media was eager to pounce on him. Samuragoch stated that he previously lost his hearing, but since about 3 years ago, his hearing has returned somewhat — a fact that members of the medical profession say is impossible. Samuragoch noted that his hearing is still somewhat impaired, with sounds being perceived as distorted, and that he still requires a sign language translator.

Much of Samuragoch’s testimony conflicted directly with what Niigaki had said earlier, with Samuragoch saying that he had never heard a tape and had never held a conversation on the phone. Samuragoch stated that he had plans to sue Niigaki for defamation.

When time for questions came around, things got ugly, with Samuragoch sometimes answering questions directly before his sign language translator had even finished translating the questions. Samuragoch got visibly irritated at points and would refuse to answer questions, moving on to the next reporter. Overall, it seemed more like a witch hunt, with the news media hungry for blood.

On the very same day, a fan-made satirical video was posted on Japanese video site ニコニコ動画 (niconico douga) by a non-disclosed user, which showed Samuragoch on trial in Ace Attorney. The video was part 1 of 2 with the second half being posted last Friday. The video is obviously satire, but ends up pointing out some important truths about the whole thing. Check out the videos below. (Subtitles by yours truly)

*Birth name Mamoru Samuragochi

佐村河内裁判　前半（1/2） [ニコニコ動画]

佐村河内裁判　後半（2/2） [ニコニコ動画]