Concept and creation

The protagonist of the series, Ashley Mizuki Robbins, first appeared in the Nintendo DS video game Another Code: Two Memories. She was designed by the game's director and character designer Taisuke Kanasaki. The character was originally intended to be 17 years old. Her appearance is intended to appeal to both female and male players. The developers were worried about how they should let Ashley grow up in Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories, as well as how her expressions would change after two years. While they already had an idea in mind for her in the first game, they had to develop a more grown-up personality for her, having to estimate how and what she experienced over the two years not seen in either game. One of the developer's daughters assisted in the development, playing a scene where Ashley has a long conversation with her father to get her opinion on how well they achieved the distance between a girl of her age and an "out-of-touch" father. When asked if the worlds of Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Hotel Dusk: Room 215, released in Japan as , is a graphic adventure game for the Nintendo DS. Originally announced on October 5, 2005 as Wish Room, the game made its first public appearance on May 9, 2006 at that year's E3 convention. It was released in North America on January 22, 2007, before...

and Another Code were connected, game designer Rika Suzuki confirmed this, stating that he would like to see an older version of Hotel Dusk protagonist meeting an older Ashley.

Ashley Mizuki Robbins

is a 16 year old fictional character in the Another Code series of video games. She first appeared in the Nintendo DS video game Another Code: Two Memories, known as Trace Memory in North America, and again later in the Wii video game Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories.

Ashley first appears in the Nintendo DS

Nintendo DS

The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...

 video game Another Code: Two Memories. In it, she is 13 years old, and is being raised by her aunt Jessica after her parents vanished when she was three years old. While Ashley believed they were dead, two days before her 14th birthday, she receives a letter from her father stating that he would be on an island called Blood Edward Island near Washington in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. She visits the island with her aunt the day before her birthday, but she cannot find her father. After Jessica goes to look for him and does not return, Ashley goes to find both of them, meeting up with a ghost

Ghost

In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...

 named "D". They both explore the Edward Mansion on the island, attempting to both find Jessica and her father as well as find "D"'s memories.

She makes yet another appearance in Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories. In it, she is now 16 years old and an aspiring musician. Her father, who is usually distant due to picking up on what Ashley's mother was working on, sends her an invitation to come meet with him in an effort to cement their relationship. They camp out at a place called Lake Juliet, but upon arriving, Ashley remembers being there before, just before her mother died when she was three.

Richard Robbins

Ashley's father, a scientist who works for JC Valley. He was studying human memory at the same government laboratory as his wife, Sayoko, when the two of them disappeared. Eleven years later following the death of Sayoko, he contacts Ashley to meet him on Blood Edward Island where he is isolated. He is also the creator of the DAS, the small machine he sent Ashley for her birthday until he was reunited with his daughter.

Sayoko Robbins

Ashley's deceased mother, A strong-willed Japanese scientist who specialized in researching memories, died when Ashley was only three years old. Originally from Japan, Sayoko came to the States to research Human memory in the same secret lab as Richard. she first met Richard when they were both working for MJ Labs.

Jessica Robbins

Richard's younger sister and Ashley's aunt. a high-school chemistry teacher. she is Richard's only other living relative, She took in and raised Ashley as her own when Richard went to Blood Edward Island thirteen years ago and understands her better than anyone else. A kind of generous woman, Jessica nevertheless appears to know more about the scientists' disappearance than she.

Captain

The captain of the small ship that takes Ashley and Jessica to Blood Edward Island. Though a little rough around the edges, Captain is warmhearted and an easy confident.

Daniel "D" Edward

The ghost of a boy who died 57 years ago on Blood Edward Island. He has lost all his memory of who he is and why he died. He meets Ashley while she is searching for her father, and the two join up, hoping to find answers to both their mysteries.

Bill Edward

A descendant of the Edward family and the main antagonist of the game. He is the murderer of Sayoko and let Richard continue the work on the Another project for his own deeds.

Dan Maxwell

A diligent forest ranger who works everyday without rest protecting the fauna of Lake Juliet. He befriends Ashley after she arrives at Lake Juliet to meet her father.

Matthew Crusoe

A runaway boy who finds himself at Lake Juliet, searching for his father who has been missing for five years. He meets Ashley and eventually allies himself with her to help each other meet their individual objectives.

Ryan Gray

A scientist employed by JC Valley. A scientific prodigy who has been working since his teenage years, he was a colleague of Richard and Sayoko when they were working at MJ Labs.

Agent John Smith

A man in a black suit and sunglasses who is investigating the pollution at Lake Juliet.

Greg Davis

A journalist researching the happenings at Lake Juliet and Matthew's father 5 years ago.

Sofia Callaghan

Another of JC Valley's employees. She introduces herself as Gina Barnes when she and Ashley first meet, but her true identity is revealed later on. She is associated with Ryan, and is caught leaking confidential information from JC Valley. It is rumoured that Sofia is engaged to Rex Alfred, the director of JC Valley, but she tells Ashley that this is untrue.

Reception

Since appearing in Another Code: Two Memories, the protagonist, Ashley Mizuki Robbins has received positive reception, especially for how much she resembles a real teenager. Cing

Cing

was an independent video game developer based out of Fukuoka, Japan. The company, a small development house employing only 29 people, was founded in April 1999, and was run by Takuya Miyagawa, who served as President and CEO. Miyagawa also acted as the producer on all of Cing's titles. The company...

 producer Takuya Miyagawa stated that Ashley has become popular amongst gamers. In a preview of Another Code, IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

 editor Craig Harris praised the dialogue, stating that it was written with an emphasis on giving Ashley a unique personality. 1UP.com

1UP.com

1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....

 editor Jeremy Parish stated that anyone who has been gaming for a while and has experience with adventure games will appreciate Ashley, adding that she was likely an attempt by Nintendo to appeal to teenage girls. In their review, Four Fat Chicks editor "Old Rooster" described her as a petulant child, describing her as awkward, stubborn, and difficult, yet also elicits concern. Game Nikki editor James Williams described her as astonishing, stating that at no point did he consider her facial expressions to not be authentic. The Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

 editor Chris Schilling described her as older and braver in the sequel, but retains her "endearing fragility." Adventure Gamers

Adventure Gamers

Adventure Gamers is a computer game website created in 1998 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game designers....

's review described her as inquisitive but also vulnerable like a realistic teenager. Another Adventure Gamers editor Kim Wild stated that while she has matured since Another Code, citing her learning the guitar and starting a band, as well as becoming more logical, she still demonstrates a "childlike frustration" for her father.