throughout ace attorney, there is the “bubbly loud girl ” (BLG we will call them) character to assist the main character. maya, trucy, athena (kind of, i guess she’s a protagonist but also there’s too much going on to make her actually feel like one). kay is also one of these. but honestly, i think this BLG tope works least well with him. her antics and jokes just don’t bounce off him that well and make their relationship feel not that special when it’s easily compared to other BLG. to the point that i think it actually tanks the overall quality of investigations— not that this story is kino regardless, it’s a fun little game, but it feels like nothing special, and i think kay’s characterization is no small part in that.
i think miles needed a mean girl or a girl who makes little to no jokes but has her own kind of quirk about her. basically franziska. they are funny all the time and gumshoe could have been the government mandated joke machine.

i do like kay though. do not get this twisted