Ace Attorney (anime)

Ace Attorney
逆転裁判 その「真実」、異議あり! (Gyakuten Saiban: Sono "Shinjitsu", Igiari!)
Genre	Mystery, Drama
Anime television series
Directed by	Ayumu Watanabe
Written by	Atsuhiro Tomioka
Music by	Kaoru Wada
Studio	A-1 Pictures
Network	NNS (ytv)
Original run	April 2, 2016 – present
Episodes	24
Manga
Written by	Naoyuki Kageyama
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	V-Jump
Original run	TBA 2016 – present

Ace Attorney, known in Japan as Gyakuten Saiban: Sono "Shinjitsu", Igiari! (逆転裁判 その「真実」、異議あり!, lit."Turnabout Trial: I Object to That 'Truth'!"), is a 2016 Japanese mystery drama anime series produced by A-1 Pictures, based on Capcom's Ace Attorney video game series. It is directed by Ayumu Watanabe (Space Brothers) and written by Atsuhiro Tomioka (Inazuma Eleven). First unveiled at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show, the series began airing in Japan from April 2, 2016.

Premise

See also: List of Ace Attorney characters

Based on the first two video games in the series, Ace Attorney takes place in an alternate world where the court system has been changed to the point where trials held in first instance courts must reach a verdict within three days. Phoenix Wright is a rookie defense lawyer who works under his mentor, Mia Fey. When Mia is suddenly murdered, Phoenix befriends her younger sister Maya, a medium-in-training with the power to call on the spirits of the dead. Joined by Maya, Phoenix heads up the Wright & Co. Law Offices and stands up to defend his clients on court, often butting heads with the ruthless prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.

Media

Anime

Ace Attorney's anime adaptation was first announced during a presentation at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show. The series will adapt the first two video games in the franchise; Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All. The series is being directed by Ayumu Watanabe at A-1 Pictures and written by Atsuhiro Tomioka with character design by Keiko Ōta and Koji Watanabe. The anime began airing on NNS across Japan from April 2, 2016, replacing Kindaichi Case Files R in its initial timeslot, and is being simulcast by Crunchyroll, who are offering multiple subtitle tracks featuring both the original Japanese names and localized English names. The opening theme is "Gyakuten Winner" (逆転Winner, "Turnabout Winner") by Johnny's West while the ending theme is "Message" by Rei Yasuda.

Episode list

No.	Title	Original airdate
1	"The First Turnabout" "Hajimete no Gyakuten" (はじめての逆転)	April 2, 2016
Rookie defense attorney Phoenix Wright (Ryūichi Naruhodō) faces his first trial in which he must defend his childhood friend Larry Butz (Masashi Yahari), who has been accused of the murder of his ex-girlfriend Cindy Stone (Mika Takabi). Prosecutor Winston Payne (Takefumi Auchi) brings out the key witness, Frank Sahwit (Hoshio Yamano), who claims to have seen Larry leave Cindy's apartment after the murder. With help from his mentor Mia Fey (Chihiro Ayasato), Phoenix spots a contradiction between Sahwit's testimony and the time of Cindy's death, to which Sahwit responds that the time he heard came from the murder weapon, a handmade alarm clock modeled after The Thinker. This leads Phoenix to deduce that the only way Sahwit could have known The Thinker was a clock was to use it himself to kill Cindy. Receiving advice from Mia, Phoenix finds that the discrepancy between the time of death and the clock's time is due to Cindy having come home from an overseas trip in another time zone. As a result, Sahwit is arrested while Larry is acquitted and gives Mia another Thinker clock as thanks. Later that night, however, the clock becomes the center of another incident.
2	"Turnabout Sisters: 1st Trial" "Gyakuten Shimai: 1st Trial" (逆転姉妹 1st Trial)	April 9, 2016
Mia calls her younger sister, Maya (Mayoi Ayasato), asking her to hold onto some evidence she has hidden inside the Thinker clock, unaware that their conversation is being wire-tapped. That night, Phoenix arrives at the office to discover Mia has been killed, with Maya nearby. Discovering a receipt with Maya's name written in blood, police detective Dick Gumshoe (Keisuke Itonokogiri) arrests Maya on suspicion of Mia's murder. After speaking with Maya, who reveals herself to be a spirit medium in-training, Phoenix requests the help of Mia's mentor Marvin Grossberg (Soranosuke Hoshikage) to defend Maya in court. The next day, after finding Maya's phone containing a recording of the conversation she had with Mia, Phoenix learns from Gumshoe that Maya's prosecution is being handled by Miles Edgeworth (Reiji Mitsurugi), an alleged genius who has never lost a case. While investigating the key witness, April May (Umeyo Shōchiku), Phoenix discovers a screwdriver and a wiretap in her hotel room. Grossberg then suddenly informs Phoenix that he can no longer take on Maya's case. Refusing to give up on Maya, Phoenix decides to take on her defense himself, stepping up to face Edgeworth in court.
3	"Turnabout Sisters: 2nd Trial" "Gyakuten Shimai: 2nd Trial" (逆転姉妹 2nd Trial)	April 16, 2016
During the trial, Phoenix points out Mia could not have written the bloody message as she died instantly, but Edgeworth negates this theory by presenting an updated autopsy report. April is then called up to the stand, claiming to have seen the murder from her hotel room, but Phoenix points out that she could not have heard the time from the clock as its mechanism had already been removed, proving its time of removal through Maya's phone recording. Phoenix then presents the wiretap found in April's hotel room, to which April reveals she was ordered to place the wiretap in Mia's office. As the trial is extended due to the new facts presented, Grossberg tells Phoenix he is being blackmailed by Redd White (Masaru Konaka), a company president that Mia had been investigating for corporate crime before her death. When Phoenix confronts White about the wiretapping, suspecting him of being Mia's murderer, White implicates Phoenix for the crime and has him arrested instead.
4	"Turnabout Sisters: Last Trial" "Gyakuten Shimai: Last Trial" (逆転姉妹 Last Trial)	April 23, 2016
Phoenix stands to defend himself in court, with Maya acting as his assistant. White takes the witness stand, claiming that he saw Phoenix kill Mia from the hotel room, but Maya helps Phoenix point out that if White had never been to the office, he would not have known of a glass light stand in his testimony. However, Edgeworth counters this by claiming White was there planting the wiretap, believing he could have seen the light stand during this time. Just as it seems Phoenix is out of options, Maya's power as a spirit medium awakens, allowing her to channel Mia's spirit. With her help, Phoenix uses the receipt with the bloody message to prove that the light stand was bought on the day of the murder, months after White purportedly saw it. Edgeworth attempts to extend the trial further, but Mia writes down a list of White's blackmail victims, leading White to confess his guilt to avoid having it read out. After Phoenix is acquitted and Maya returns to normal, Mia arranges for Maya to stay with Phoenix at the newly named Wright & Co. Law Offices.
5	"Turnabout Samurai: 1st Trial" "Gyakuten no Tonosaman: 1st Trial" (逆転のトノサマン 1st Trial)	April 30, 2016
Will Powers (Saburō Niboshi), star of the television drama Steel Samurai, is arrested for the murder of his co-star Jack Hammer (Takeshi Ibukuro). Deciding to defend Powers, Phoenix and Maya visit the show's studio to interview witnesses and search for evidence. As the trial begins the next day, the studio's overly talkative security guard, Wendy Oldbag (Kaoru Ōba), presents a photo that allegedly shows Powers in-costume as the only one at the crime scene at the time of Hammer's death. However, Phoenix points out that someone else could have worn the costume because the photo subject's identity is concealed, and he implicates Oldbag as a suspect. Infuriated by the accusation, Oldbag reveals that others were present at the studio during the crime.
6	"Turnabout Samurai: 2nd Trial" "Gyakuten no Tonosaman: 2nd Trial" (逆転のトノサマン 2nd Trial)	May 7, 2016
Court is adjourned after Oldbag identifies producer Dee Vasquez (Sakura Himegami) and director Sal Manella (Takuya Uzai) as potential witnesses to the murder. Resuming their investigation, Phoenix and Maya go to Studio 2 to meet with the two, who claim they could not have gone to Studio 1 where the body was found as the path was blocked by a broken mascot head. Later, after hearing Oldbag mention an accident that took place five years ago, Phoenix and Maya come across a boy named Cody Hackins (Kyūta Ōtaki), who claims to have witnessed the incident. The next day, after Phoenix spends the entire night watching Steel Samurai DVDs, he deduces from Cody's recollection of the day that the "Steel Samurai" he saw that day was actually Jack Hammer wearing his costume. Cody then explains what he saw and shows Phoenix one of the photos he had left, showing that Hammer had went to Studio 2, leading Phoenix to suspect Vasquez as the murderer.
7	"Turnabout Samurai: Last Trial" "Gyakuten no Tonosaman: Last Trial" (逆転のトノサマン Last Trial)	May 14, 2016
As court resumes, Vasquez is brought to the witness stand, with Phoenix presenting the evidence and testimony he received from Cody. Vasquez claims that she could not have used the alleged murder weapon, the Samurai Spear, as it is too heavy. Phoenix deduces that the spear is not the actual murder weapon, but lacks the evidence to prove it. Cody stands up for his sense of justice, inspiring Oldbag to give Phoenix a photo of an earlier studio accident used by Vasquez to blackmail Hammer; the picture also reveals the actual murder weapon to be the spiked fence outside Studio 2's trailer. When challenged with finding Vasquez's motive, Phoenix posits that Hammer had attempted to murder Vasquez in revenge and was killed in self-defense; however, Phoenix still lacks evidence. Realizing Vasquez's guilt, Edgeworth has her testify about what happened after the body was found, providing Phoenix with the opening needed to expose her as the true culprit.
8	"Turnabout Goodbyes: 1st Trial" "Gyakuten, Soshite Sayonara: 1st Trial" (逆転、そしてサヨナラ 1st Trial)	May 21, 2016
On Christmas Day, Edgeworth is arrested on suspicion of shooting a man on Gourd Lake. Despite being warned by Edgeworth to stay away from the case, Phoenix investigates Gourd Lake, where Gumshoe begs Phoenix to defend Edgeworth. Phoenix meets photographer Lotta Hart (Natsumi Ōsawagi), who has been taking pictures of the lake using a sound-activated camera in the hopes of finding the fabled monster Gourdy. Lotta discovers she has photos taken during the murder, but decides to take them to the police instead of showing Phoenix. Later, Grossberg identifies the victim as Robert Hammond (Yukio Namakura), a former lawyer in his firm who served as defense attorney for the DL-6 Incident, a 15-year old case surrounding the death of Edgeworth's father, Gregory (Shin Mitsurugi). Phoenix once again approaches Edgeworth, deciding to take his defense in order to both prove his innocence and solve the mystery surrounding the DL-6 Incident. Edgeworth accepts Phoenix's offer, revealing that the prosecutor will be his undefeated mentor, Manfred von Karma (Gō Karuma).
9	"Turnabout Goodbyes: 2nd Trial" "Gyakuten, Soshite Sayonara: 2nd Trial" (逆転、そしてサヨナラ 2nd Trial)	May 28, 2016
The trial opens with Gumshoe presenting the murder weapon: a pistol with fingerprints from Edgeworth's right hand. Lotta's testimony further implicates Edgeworth when she claims to have seen him and Hammond after being awoken by a loud noise. Under von Karma's threat of being held in contempt of court, Phoenix is unable to find any beneficial information in Lotta's testimony until Maya questions its validity, causing Maya to be ejected in Phoenix's place. This allows Phoenix to determine that Lotta was too focused on finding Gourdy to pay any attention to the murder. Lotta then presents an enlarged photograph of the incident to show the pistol being fired from the attacker's left hand, contradicting Gumshoe's statement. After court adjourns for further investigation, Phoenix discovers "Gourdy" to be a deflated Steel Samurai balloon belonging to Larry that flew into the lake in an air tank accident. Grateful for learning the truth from Phoenix, Lotta gives him a second photo of the incident and directs him to another witness: the elderly caretaker of a boat rental shop who, unbeknownst to them, has connections to the DL-6 Incident.
10	"Turnabout Goodbyes: 3rd Trial" "Gyakuten, Soshite Sayonara: 3rd Trial" (逆転、そしてサヨナラ 3rd Trial)	June 4, 2016

Manga

A manga adaptation by Naoyuki Kageyama will be serialized in Shueisha's V-Jump magazine.

Reception

Ace Attorney's anime adaptation received mixed reactions from critics and viewers upon release. Jacob Hope Chapman of Anime News Network said that popular reception was "subdued at best and outraged at worst, in ways usually reserved for radically altered adaptations". Chapman was critical of the animation quality, calling it "constantly off-model and slideshow-minimal but still watchable at least", whilst being more receptive to the adaptation's faithful recreation of the game's events and removal of "extraneous gags and details". He added that while the adaptation "[does] its best to adapt in beneficial ways", it fails to replicate the "surprisingly powerful impact" of playing the games and experiencing the characters' intricacies firsthand.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Ace Attorney (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia