''Ace Attorney'', known in Japan as , is a mystery

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series produced by

A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation studio and production company founded by ex- Sunrise producer Mikihiro Iwata. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. History The company was established by SMEJ's animat ...

, based on

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

's video game series of the same name. It is directed by

Ayumu Watanabe is a Japanese animation director. After joining Shin-Ei Animation, he directed multiple ''Doraemon'' animated films. As a freelancer, he also worked on numerous animated adaptations such as '' Space Brothers'', '' After the Rain'', and '' Komi Ca ...

and written by Atsuhiro Tomioka, with ''Ace Attorney'' creator Shu Takumi serving as a script supervisor. The first season—which adapts the first two games of the franchise, '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'' and '' Justice for All''—aired in Japan from April to September 2016, and was simulcast by

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

. A second season by

CloverWorks is a Japanese animation studio that was rebranded from A-1 Pictures' Kōenji Studio. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. Establishment On April 1, 2018, A-1 Pictures rebranded its Kōenji Studio ...

aired from October 2018 to March 2019, adapting the third game, '' Trials and Tribulations''.

Premise

Based on the first three 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 and courts must reach a verdict within three days. Phoenix Wright is a rookie defense lawyer who works under his mentor,

Mia Fey ''Ace Attorney'' is a series of legal thriller comedy-drama Adventure game, adventure/visual novel Video game, games created by Shu Takumi. Players assume the role of a defense attorney in a fictional courtroom setting in the main series. Publish ...

. When Mia is murdered, Phoenix befriends her younger sister

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

, a spirit medium-in-training who can channel the spirits of the dead. Joined by Maya, Phoenix heads up the Wright & Co. Law Offices and stands up to defend his clients in court, often butting heads with several prosecutors, most notably his childhood friend

Miles Edgeworth Miles Edgeworth, known as in original Japanese language versions, is a fictional prosecutor in '' Ace Attorney'', a visual novel adventure video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. Initially introduced as a cold-hearted perfectionis ...

Production and release

''Ace Attorney'' anime adaptation was first announced during a presentation at the 2015

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publication ...

. Production of the series was handled by

, who had previously produced the animated cutscenes in the sixth main ''Ace Attorney'' game, '' Spirit of Justice'', and was directed by

with series composition by Atsuhiro Tomioka and character design by Keiko Ōta and Koji Watanabe. The first season adapts the first two video games in the franchise, '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'' and '' Justice for All'', alongside an original episode, though the cases "Rise from the Ashes", added to the DS release of the former game, and "The Lost Turnabout", the opening case of the latter, are omitted. ''Ace Attorney'' creator Shu Takumi also acted as a script supervisor for the series. The opening theme of the first 13 episodes is by

Johnny's West West. (stylized as WEST.), formerly known as (stylized Johnny's WEST), is a boy band consisting of seven members formed under the Starto Entertainment talent agency. The members are Daiki Shigeoka, Junta Nakama, Takahiro Hamada, Akito Kiriyama ...

while the ending theme is "Message" by

Rei Yasuda Rachel Rhodes (born April 15, 1993), known professionally as , is a Japanese singer and model. She portrayed and co-voiced the character Lumi, the fictional lead vocalist of Genki Rockets in 2006. She debuted as a solo singer in 2013. Early lif ...

. From episode 14–24, the opening theme is by Johnny's West, while the ending theme is by Tokyo Performance Doll. The anime began airing on NNS across Japan from April 2, 2016, replacing '' Kindaichi Case Files R'' in its initial timeslot. The series was simulcast by

, with multiple subtitle tracks featuring both the original Japanese names and localized English names.

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

distributed the series in North America and released the first Blu-ray and DVD set on January 23, 2018. A second season by

adapts the third game in the franchise, '' Trials and Tribulations'', as well as "The Lost Turnabout", the only remaining case from the original games that was not adapted in the first season, alongside several original stories. The season aired from October 6, 2018, to March 30, 2019, with many of the original production staff retained and Takumi returning as a collaborator. For the first twelve episodes of the season, the opening theme is "Never Lose" by

Tomohisa Yamashita , also widely known as , or Tomo, is a Japanese singer, actor, and TV host. Yamashita joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates as a trainee in 1996 and made his small acting debut for NHK's ''Shonentachi'' (1998). He made his musi ...

, while the ending theme is by Halca. From episode thirteen onwards, the opening theme is "Reason" by Yamashita while the ending theme is by Coalamode. A one-hour special aired on January 19, 2019. Funimation produced an English dub as it aired. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation by Naoyuki Kageyama was serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's ''

V-Jump is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine, focusing on manga as well as video games based on popular manga. The magazine's debut was in 1990 by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. History In the early 1990s, Shueisha directed ''Weekly ...

'' magazine from March 2016 to July 2017. It has also been collected into three volumes.

Reception

Jacob Chapman of ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

'' 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 " oesits best to adapt in beneficial ways", it fails to replicate the "surprisingly powerful impact" of playing the games and experiencing the characters' intricacies firsthand.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Series in V Jump 2016 anime television series debuts 2018 anime television series debuts A-1 Pictures Ace Attorney Anime television series based on video games Aniplex franchises CloverWorks Crunchyroll anime Funimation Japanese legal television series Manga based on video games Shōnen manga Shueisha manga Television series about lawyers Television series set in the 2010s Works based on Capcom video games Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation original programming