Ramble: What are Ace Attorney Characters like in the original Japanese Version?
(Originally posted on tumblr in 2016)
hello!! i found your AA “pronoun” and honorifc post in the tag and it was really interesting!! i was wondering if you could expand on blackquill, edgeworth, and klavier in particular when it comes to how they refer to themselves/what others call them? i am INSANELY curious.
This is an interesting Question I got a while back. Now that I’ve replayed some of the games AND am playing Spirit of Justice I feel more up to try and answer it. That said, I am going to go through all Ace Attorney main characters, meaning Defense Lawyers, Detectives, Assistants and Prosecutors, and will give you a profile of how they were written in Japanese, comparing it a little to the original.
This post might be edited when I realize I misremembered something or learn something new.
That said, let’s go!
Currently on this list:
Phoenix Wright
Mia Fey
Maya Fey
Miles Edgeworth
Dick Gumshoe
Pearl Fey
Franziska Von Karma
Ema Skye
Kay Faraday
Apollo Justice
Trucy Wright
Athena Cykes
Klavier Gavin
Simon Blackquill
Phoenix Wright
Japanese Name: 成歩堂龍一(Naruhodô Ryûichi)
Japanese Name Meaning: “Naruhodô” is a pun on “Naruhodo”, a Japanese phrase akin to the English phrase “I see(what you mean).” “Ryûichi” means “Dragon”, and the ending of the name indicates that he was the firstborn son of his family. This “Dragon” is presumably what served as the inspiration for naming him “Phoenix” in the English localization.
Refers to himself as: “Boku”, a rather soft-sounding way for men to say “I”, albeit it’s still less formal than “Watashi” would be. This makes me sound younger than a professional who would be using “Watashi”, since older men tend to prefer “Watashi” in their work life. While we’re at “Boku”, contrary to what you may have heard, women *do* use it veeeeeery rarely, albeit women using this in real life are usually seen as eccentric and odd. It’s more common for women to use it in poetic writing, though. In any case, Phoenix’ “Boku” is written in Hiragana, indicating that it sounds especially soft, hinting at his generally mild-mannered personality.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Naruhodo”, with a short “o”, openly acknowledging the pun.
Referred to by others as: Maya, Pearl and Mia call him “Naruhodo-kun”, with the short “o”. Trials and Tribulations indicates that Phoenix tried to stop Mia from constantly cutting off the “O” in the end of his name, but she never did, so the punny nickname stuck. Larry and Edgeworth both call him by his last name, “Naruhodô”, without a honorific, which is common among male friends. Apollo and Athena correctly refer to him as “Naruhodô-san” (with the long “O”). Trucy calls him “Papa”, which explains the writing on his beanie. The Judge calls him “Naruhodô-kun”. Blackquil calls him “Naru-no-ji”.
His Speech-style: Somewhat casual, he does sound like a pretty typical, mild-mannered young man, using less polite forms when talking to Maya and more polite forms when talking to certain witnesses or the Judge. He uses the very common, polite “Desu-Masu” forms (which most people in Japan use when they’re talking to anyone other than their closest friends and family) a lot more frequently than a lot of other characters in the series.
Notes: Probably the character who carried over best in the translation. His averageness definitely helped.
Mia Fey
Japanese Name: 綾里千尋(Ayasato Chihiro)
Japanese Name Meaning: The family name “Ayasato” doesn’t have any special meaning, though it does sound somewhat old-school, hinting at the Fey Family’s long legacy.”Chihiro” means “A 1000 questions” and refers to the game’s cross-examination mechanic, even sharing a Kanji with it.
Refers to herself as: “Watashi”, in Kanji. The most standard way for anyone to refer to themselves by. It’s probably a sign of her professionalism; she doesn’t let quirks get in the way of her job.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Chihiro”, her first name. You will quickly find that the Japanese version has a habit of having text-boxes refer to female characters by their first names but to male characters by their last names. This may have something to do with how using a female friend’s first name is somewhat more common in Japan than using a male friend’s first name.
Referred to by others as: Phoenix calls her “Shochô”, which means “Head of the Office”. He keeps calling her that for a while, even after she’s dead, though I think he eventually stops and switches to “Chihiro-san”. Maya calls her “Onee-chan”, big sister. Pearl calls her “Chihiro-sama”. The Judge and Grossberg call her “Ayasato-kun” (Despite what Anime will tell you, it is not uncommon to refer to woman as “-kun”, especially in business contexts)
Her Speech-style: Veeeery average. She speaks in a pretty typically female way, with “wa”s at the end of her sentences making them sound softer. She’s probably one of the people in the series who come closest to sounding like a person that could actually exist.
Notes: None, really.
Maya Fey
Japanese Name: 綾里真宵 (Ayasato Mayoi)
Japanese Name Meaning: “Mayoi” as a name is a little paradox, since it means “Midnight”, but is written with a Kanji that usually refers to the evening hours, thus making its meaning roughly “Midnight in the Dusk”. However, there’s another, far more relevant meaning to it: Phonetically, “Mayoi” means “Doubt”, probably referring to her role in helping Phoenix “doubt” witnesses’ testimonies.
Refers to herself as: “Atashi” in Hiragana. Since “Atashi” is just a contraction of “Watashi”, writing it in Kanji would be impossible, but the Hiragana still give it a soft vibe. “Atashi” is what happens when a women slurs “Watashi”, and in Anime it’s usually used for feminine, spunky characters. It sounds very soft and feminine and men wouldn’t be caught dead using it, unless they wanna be the laughing stock among their peers.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Mayoi”
Referred to by others as: Most people refer to her as “Mayoi-chan”, though Pearl and Morgan call her “Mayoi-sama”. To Mia, she’s just “Mayoi”, without a honorific. Edgeworth refers to her as “Mayoi-kun”.
Her Speech-style: Super casual. She likes to use short, dynamic sentences, drop unnecessary elements from her grammar and uses a lot of “aizuchi” (”Back-channeling sounds”.) All in all, her speech screams “Teenage Anime girl”, albeit she’s still more low-key about it than most other video-game characters of that type.She also sounds more “Early Teens” than the “Late Teens” she’s supposed to be.
Notes: A detail that can easily pass by is that Maya’s hairstyle resembles those of noblewomen in historic Japan, which hints at her being the heir of the Kurain Mastership.
Miles Edgeworth
Japanese Name: 御剣 怜侍(Mitsurugi Reiji)
Japanese Name Meaning: “Mitsurugi” means “Honorable Blade”, meaning “Edgeworth” was a more or less direct translation. “Reiji”, from the Kanji used, means “Wise, noble servant”, which pretty much sums up his personality, especially post-character development.
Refers to himself as: “Watashi”, in Kanji, underlining his formality and professionalism. The way he stays neutral, using “Watashi” even towards his friends, shows that he cares more for being professional and rational than sounding masculine.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Mitsurugi”
Referred to by others as: Phoenix and Larry call him “Mitsurugi”, no honorific, pretty much everyone else calls him “Mitsurugi-kenji”, “Kenji” meaning “Prosecutor”. The exceptions are Kay, who calls him “Mitsurugi-san”, Tateyuki Shigaraki, who calls him “Reiji-kun” and Franziska calling him “Reiji”, the later two being the only characters to use his given name.
His Speech-style: Very formal, but *not* very polite! Now, this might sound contradictory, but it isn’t: Edgeworth uses a lot of professional language and terms that make his speech sound more serious, and rarely ever drops anything from his grammar or uses any sort of slang. However, at the same time, it’s also rare for him to speak in “Desu-Masu”, meaning that his verbs don’t ring polite. That has the effect of him sounding constantly condescending.
Notes: I’ve taken notice that he has a tendency of starting his sentences with “Ma,”, which can probably translated as “Well”, but is more like a sort of sigh. He’s also one of the few characters who refers to female characters he’s acquainted with almost exclusively with “-kun”.
Dick Gumshoe
Japanese Name: 糸鋸圭介(Itonokogiri Keisuke)
Japanese Name Meaning: None especially, really. The “Kei” in his first name is probably just meant to sound similar to “Keiji”, “Detective”. The whole joke with his name is that it’s so long that nobody can ever pronounce it right. Even Edgeworth says it in Katakana, meaning that even his pronunciation sounds stiff.
Refers to himself as: "Jibun”. That word originally means “Myself”, but has been used as a word for “I” as of recent, especially by men. It still sounds rather slang-ish, which goes well with his general way of talking.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Itonoko”
Referred to by others as: Edgeworth and the Judge are pretty much the only ones who ever manage to pronounce his whole last name somewhat. To Maya, Nick, Pearl and several others, he’s “Itonoko-keiji”, “Detective Itonoko”, dropping the “Giri” to make it easier to pronounce. Kay takes it even further, calling him just “Noko-chan”.
His Speech-style: Dialect, dialect, so much dialect. Not only does he use a word that isn’t even supposed to mean “I” to refer to himself, he also speaks a very distinct Tokyo-dialect and slurs the ends of his sentences whenever he’s trying to speak in “Desu-Masu” (which is a lot), so his attempts at sounding polite just end up sounding lazy. If you ever wondered where the “Pal” comes from, this is the answer; his constant slurring of sentences he’s meaning to say in a polite way.
Notes: Try saying “Itonokogiri-keiji” a few times fast. I dare you.
Pearl Fey
Japanese Name: 綾里春美(Ayasato Harumi)
Japanese Name Meaning: Her name means “Spring Beauty”. It just expresses that she’s adorable, really.
Refers to herself as: “Watakushi”, an even more formal form of “Watashi”, which is usually only used in customer service nowadays, if at all. This is part of Morgan’s overly formal upbringing for her. It’s written in Hiragana, since in Kanji it’d, again, not be distinguishable from “Watashi”.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Harumi”
Referred to by others as: "Hami-chan” by Maya, “Harumi-chan” by most others.
Her Speech-style: She constantly speaks in “Desu-Masu”, and her sentences are unusually complex and “complete” for her age, with a rather formal vocabulary, meaning she sounds more formal and polite than a lot of the adults in the series. Often times, words she says will be written in Katakana though, hinting that she’s pronouncing them a little wrong.
Notes: In the Japanese version, it’s said that she can’t read Kanji yet, hence why she put the urn of Ayasato “Kyôko” (供子) together to say “Kodomo” (子供, child). She didn’t realize that the Kanji could be a name too, rather than just a noun.
Franziska Von Karma
Japanese Name: 狩魔冥 (Karuma Mei)
Japanese Name Meaning: "Karuma” not only sounds like “Karma”, which was clearly intentional, it also literally means “Hunting Demon”. Her first name means “Darkness” or “Bitterness”, hinting at her bitter feelings.
Refers to herself as: “Watashi”, same as Edgeworth, for similar reasons.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Karuma” in the main series, “Mei” in AAI and GK2
Referred to by others as: “Mei-chan” by Larry, “Mei-san” by Maya, sometimes “Mei” by Edgeworth. Everyone else always uses her full name or calls her “Karuma-kenji”; “Prosecutor von Karma”.
Her Speech-style: Very similar to Edgeworth, albeit slightly more feminine in places. She’s also more prone to using aggressive expressions. Her infamous calls of “Foolish fool fool fool!” are originally… “Baka”. Yes, THAT “Baka”. There’s a reason the Japanese side of the fandom loves playing her up as a Tsundere Queen.
Notes: It’s noteworthy that her first name, “Mei”, is pronounced identically to the English name “May”. I always thought this was probably a hint at her having spent a lot of time in America.
Ema Skye
Japanese Name: 宝月 茜(Hozuki Akane)
Japanese Name Meaning: "Hozuki” means “Jewel Moon” and “Akane” means “Deep Red”. I once heard that Ema’s name is a reference to a poetic phrase and supposed to tie back to Maya’s name meaning “Midnight”, but I can’t confirm this myself.
Refers to herself as: “Atashi”, same as Maya, albeit in Katakana, making it seem “harsher”.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Akane”
Referred to by others as: "Akane-chan” by Phoenix, “Akane-kun” by Edgeworth, “Akane” by Lana, “Akane-san” by Apollo, Trucy and Athena, “Hozuki-Keiji” (Detective Skye) by everyone else. Klavier also had a tendency to call her “Ojou-san” (Miss).
Her Speech-style: Even more of a typical Anime teenager than Maya, in fact, she sounds her age, especially once she’s an adult. Her speech is very feminine, yet spunky, and she sometimes uses slang terms. Of course, once you get to talking forensics, her speech is suddenly laden with overly long Kanji-compound-words and other specific terminology. Her favorite word is “Kagaku-teki”; “Scientific”. At least as an adult, she’s also rather rude to people around her, referring to them as “Anta”, a slurred form of “Anata”.
Notes: Her infamous “Snackoos” are actually Karintô, a traditional Japanese type of snack food, made mostly of flour and sugar.
Kay Faraday
Japanese Name: 一条美雲 (Ichijô Mikumo)
Japanese Name Meaning: “Ichijô” means “First Paragraph”, which may be a reference to how her father was employed in law enforcement. “Mikumo” means “Beautiful Cloud”, and is probably a reference to the cloud pattern on her shirt (which, by the way, is a stereotypical pattern for the sack of a thief in Japan). The name was probably picked for the rhyme alone, hence why the localization replicated it.
Refers to herself as: "Watashi” in Hiragana, which is odd for her tomboyish personality, but might be due to her wanting to be taken seriously in her “profession”.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Mikumo”
Referred to by others as: "Mikumo-kun” by Edgeworth, “Mikumo-chan” by Gumshoe, Ema, Larry and Shigaraki. “Ojou-chan” by Shi-Long Lang.
Her Speech-style: Similar to Ema, albeit with any signs of restrain removed and a lot more affectionate to those around her. I feel like her speech style was probably inspired by Magical Girl Anime, since the way she speaks often makes me think of the heroines of these shows.
Notes: There is an ‘ahem’ incident in GK2 where all of this information changes entirely for the duration of one case to indicate a shift in her personality. I personally was not a big fan of said “incident” and would thus prefer to not elaborate on it…Ahahaha…
Apollo Justice
Japanese Name: 王泥喜法介(Odoroki Hôsuke)
Japanese Name Meaning: The Kanji in “Odoroki” are nonsensical in this context and were picked only for their phonetic sounds: “Odoroki” is the Renyô-form of the verb “Odoroku”, which means “To Surprise”, so his last name can roughly be taken to mean “Surprise®”. This gives him a theme naming with Trucy and Athena, whose Japanese names are also Renyô forms of verbs. (More on that when I get to them.) His given name, “Hôsuke”, means “Law”, “-suke” just being a generic ending for boy’s names. So basically he’s “The Surprising (force of) Law”.
Refers to himself as: “Ore”, in Katakana, which is actually a lot more common for teenagers to use than for grown men and underlines that he’s still immature and trying to be a show-off in a lot of ways. The Katakana put additional “harshness” and emphasis on it. It makes him sound like a teenage boy trying way too hard to be taken seriously, even though he’s in his 20s and using more professional language in court would probably be more appropriate. It shows that his hot-headed emotions often overrule his common sense.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Odoroki”
Referred to by others as: “Odoroki-kun” by Phoenix, Kristoph, and the judge. “Odoroki-san” by Trucy, Juniper and Pearl. “Odoroki” without honorific by Clay. “Senpai” by Athena. “Odeko-kun”(Mr. Forehead) by Klavier. “Doro-no-ji” by Blackquill.
His Speech-style: He…. Makes an *attempt* to sound like a professional lawyer, but his teenage-style dialect comes through a lot, with a lot of “ze”s making their way into especially his internal monologue. He’s also quick to make a variety of surprised noises when anything he didn’t expect or didn’t ant to happen happens. It’s actually kind of adorable. While he can speak in “Desu-Masu” just fine when he wants to, in private his way of talking is anything but polite or formal, and he’s a LOT more prone to yelling “curse-words” such as “Kuso” or “Chikusho” when something bad happens than any other of the playable characters so far are.
Notes: Because not much from his speech style described above carried over into the translation all too well, he ended up sounding like Phoenix in the English version. I assure you, that is not the case in Japanese. Japanese Phoenix sounds like a calm, mind-mannered young man with a snarky streak. Apollo sounds like a short-tempered, sarcastic little shit, who’s trying way too hard to stay rational and constantly fighting his own temper doing so.
Trucy Wright
Japanese Name: 成歩堂みぬき(Naruhodô Minuki)
Japanese Name Meaning: As I said, she has a theme-naming with Apollo and Athena, albeit she’s the only one among the three where the theme is in her given name, rather than her last name: “Minuki” is the Renyô-Form of the verb “Minuku”, which means “To see through (a trick or a lie)”. It’s what the “Perceive” System is called in Japanese as well, so her name can be roughly interpreted to mean “Perceiver”. It’s also written in Hiragana, since without the connection to the verb, the name is nonsensical and doesn’t have a meaning. With Phoenix’ last name, her name can be taken to mean “I see, I’ve discovered your lie”.
Refers to herself as: “Minuki” - In English you’d say that she’s talking in 3rd Person. I’ve spoken about this before, but it’s seen as typical “Little kid talk” in Japan to have someone use their own name instead of “I”. It’s part of Trucy’s super-cutesy stage-persona. She’ll rarely switch to using “Watashi”, but that’s pretty incidental at best.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Minuki”
Referred to by others as: “Minuki” without honorific by Phoenix, “Minuki-chan” in Hiragana by Apollo and Jinxie and most of her audience, “Minuki-chan” in Katakana by Athena (which implies that she’s pronouncing it weirdly.), “Minuki-san” by Pearl and Ojou-chan (young lady) by Klavier.
Her Speech-style: Overly cutesy. She uses a good amount of little-girl-talk, using a small vocabulary, few Kanji words and short sentences. However, this is all just part of her stage-persona: As soon as you talk magic to her, she’ll suddenly be using a whole lot more Kanji-words and professional vocabulary and make a lot more complex sentences. She also partially drops the act when she needs to help someone with a situation in court or elsewhere; her “cutsey little girl”-persona seems to be mostly part of her “art of misdirection”: By making herself sound like a grade school girl, she gets people to underestimate her, which leads into the tricks she’s pulling on them having an a lot bigger effect. It’s also what makes it so easy for her to get vital information out of people. Apollo fell for that a lot early in AJAA, though he eventually got used to it. Athena still falls for it sometimes. However, it should also be noted that, even in her cutsey-talk, Trucy still speaks in “Desul-Masu” for the most part, treating everyone around her politely like she would treat an audience-member, even while teasing them.
Notes:Again, Trucy’s way of expressing herself was incredibly distinct from that of any other character in the series in the Japanese version, due to her entertainer-attitude towards life, however, the translation failed to carry that over, making her sound almost identical to Maya in a lot of places.
Athena Cykes
Japanese Name: 希月心音 (Kizuki Kokone)
Japanese Name Meaning: Again, she has a theme-naming with Apollo and Trucy: “Kizuki” is the Renyô-form of “Kizuku”, which means “To notice”, making her the “Noticer” among the three. However, unlike Trucy and Apollo, her family name also has a meaning aside from that: “Wishing/Rare Moon”, obviously a reference to her Moonstone earring. Her given name, “Kokone” means “Heart Sound”, which is a reference to her ability to hear people’s emotions.
Refers to herself as: "Watashi”, same reasons as Mia.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: “Kokone” - Which is odd when you play as Apollo, because he never refers to her by her first name, out of respect for her as a co-worker.
Referred to by others as: "Kokone-chan” by Phoenix, “Kokone-san” by Trucy and Pearl, “Koko-chan” by Juniper, “Kizuki-san” by Apollo and most other people, “Kizuki-kun” by the Judge, “Tsuki-no-ji” by Blackquill.
Her Speech-style: Very energetic, but also professional. She knows when to stay in Desu-Masu and when to drop it. I’d say she’s somewhere between Mia and Maya, professional about her work and just polite enough, but also perky and will often fall back into teenager-ish behavior. However, when you get her seriously angry, she will switch into an entirely different speech style, yelling about in slang like a delinquent. She also always stays very polite and respectful towards Phoenix and Apollo, even when she is teasing them. Her speech seems a little more affectionate around Apollo and Trucy than it is when she’s with Phoenix. She uses Engrish, but it’s not too prevalent, only happening, like, once or twice a case, at best.
Notes: Widget’s speak is almost entirely in Katakana in Japanese, making it feel unnatural and robotic. Imagine Microsoft Sam or a Vocaloid, basically.
Klavier Gavin
Japanese Name: 牙琉響也 (Garyû Kyôya)
Japanese Name Meaning: The Kanji in "Garyû” mean “Fang made of Lapis Lazuli”. It’s a homophone of two different terms, one meaning “Going my own way” and the other meaning “Someone who’s secretly exceptional”, both of which describe both Gavin brothers well in different ways. “Kyôya” is more straightforward, it means “Echo”, obviously a reference to him being a singer.
Refers to himself as: “Boku” in Katakana, making him sound humble and calm, yet with a certain “edge”.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: I think it was “Kyôya” in AJAA and “Garyû” in Dual Destinies, but I might be misremembering here.
Referred to by others as: “Garyû-kenji” (Prosecutor Gavin) by pretty much everyone, though Kristoph calls him “Kyôya”, for obvious reasons. Ema calls him “Jirajira”, meaning “Rattling” from the chains on his clothing, comparing him unfavorably to Edgeworth’s “Hirahira” -Aka, his frills.
His Speech-style: A typical J-Rock star type of personality. If you’ve seen any Anime about celebrity fame, you’ve seen this character: Smooth-talking, cool, using very poetic language… That’s him, pretty much. His whole vocabulary can probably found on a Gakt Album. He sounds a lot more lose and youthful than the likes of Edgeworth, but still reasonable. I can’t remember if he speaks in Desu-Masu, but I think he generally doesn’t.
Notes: He uses Engrish in Japanese, and a LOT more of it than Athena does. It can get irritating at times, albeit it’s still far more subdued and less annoying than the Gratuitous German he was given in the localization. The Japanese version makes it clear from the start that he only studied in America for a couple of years and never claims that he’s American. By the way, The Japanese title of the “Gavinners” is “Garyû Wave”.
Simon Blackquill
Japanese Name: 夕神迅 (Yûgami Jin)
Japanese Name Meaning: “Yûgami” means “Evening God”, but is also a pun on “Yugami”, meaning “Distortion”. “Jin” means “Swift”.
Refers to himself as: “Ore” in Kanji. The Kanji make it sound more natural, so unlike with Apollo, Blackquill seems self-confident and rather masculine for using it, if pretty rude.
Referred to by the Textboxes as: "Yugami”
Referred to by others as: “Yugami-kun” by “Fulbright”, “Yugami-san” by Athena, “Yugami-chan” by Robin, “Jin” by Aura, “Yûgami-kenji” by everybody else.
His Speech-style: Very, VERY rude and harsh. Has no care for any kind of courtesy and says things in the bluntest way possible. “Desu-Masu” is not in his vocabulary, it seems. Honestly, in a real life court, his speech-style would probably get him thrown out. He sounds like he escaped from an Action Anime.
Notes: He calls the lawyers he goes up against “[Kanji from last name]-no-ji” for some reason. It literally just means “Written Symbol X”. After writing this post, a few of helpful users informed me that [Kanji]-no-ji is medieval slang, usually used in Samurai movies when they are speaking informally or teasing somebody, and though it’s actually nonsensical language, it *does* make Blackquill’s speech sound like he escaped from a movie set in the Sengoku era. Honestly, I think the translators were just as confused as I was, hence why they made him act like a stereotypical Samurai instead. In Japanese, he was instead supposed to be a “Ronin”, a wandering warrior who has lost his ideals and master.
Not currently on this list:
Godot
Skipping him for now. Haven’t plaid enough of T&T in Japanese yet for him.
Manfred Von Karma
Skipping him for now. Don’t remember enough details to fill out the profile for him.
The Payne Brothers
SKIP
Everybody else not here is skipped as well for now. I might go back and add them later.
