Ace Attorney

Maya is the rightful heiress of the powerful Kurain family lineage, which practices the summoning of spirits. This trait regularly saves Wright's life in court:Summon Mia Fey's Spirit: At the most critical moments of the trials, when Wright is on the verge of total defeat, Maya temporarily summons the spirit of her deceased older sister (Wright's mentor). Mia's spirit enters Maya's body, and an experienced mentor tells Wright in which direction to look for the main lie of the prosecution. After that, the spirit leaves, and Maya becomes herself again.Link to the spirit world: Her mystical roots often become the beginning of new intricate criminal cases involving family magic, which is why Maya herself is unjustly accused of murders several times.

The person who coordinates the entire process and makes the final verdict: "Guilty" or "Not guilty".Features: The Local Judge is a rather comical character. He is wise, but at the same time extremely naïve, easily succumbing to emotions, confused in modern technologies and trends, and also easily believes in beautiful speeches. The lawyer and the prosecutor must sway his opinion to their side, literally chewing on complex chains of evidence for him. The blows of his referee's gavel often put an end to heated disputes.

These are the engines of each individual court case.Defendants: Most often these are completely innocent, frightened and eccentric people (for example, actors in ridiculous costumes or pop idols) who have no one else to turn to but Phoenix Wright.Witnesses: The most colorful group. Among them there are loser photographers, grumpy old ladies, psychics and even... parrots. During cross-examination, the lawyer must catch the witness in a lie, which often leads to the fact that the witness "breaks" - begins to shout, throws off the mask of benevolence and eventually turns out to be a real killer

They collect primary evidence at the crime scene and detain suspects.Role in plot: In court, detectives usually act as the first witnesses. They read out the scheme of the crime and the results of the autopsy.Features: Due to the rapid pace of the trials, the police often arrest the first person they meet who had a motive. Because of this, detectives (especially the good-natured Dick Gumshoe) constantly get hit by both prosecutors (for poor work) and lawyers (for false conclusions)

These are state prosecutors who are trying to prove the guilt of the defendant. In this universe, prosecutors are not just officials, but elitist, charismatic and sometimes very dangerous opponents with a unique style. Some of them (like Franziska von Karma) can literally beat a lawyer with a whip right in front of the judge, while others (like Godot) can drink coffee and throw cups at their opponent. For "good" prosecutors (like Miles Edgeworth after the evolution of his character) - to get to the bottom of the truth with a lawyer

Their main task is to protect their client at all costs. In this anime, lawyers take on cases even when all the evidence is against their client, and the police are already sure of his guilt. The main weapon of the lawyer is to search for logical holes and contradictions in the testimony of witnesses.Corporate identity: Confident pointing of the finger at the opponent, loud shouts of "Objection!" ("I protest!") and "Take that!" ("Get it!") The main philosophy: Trust your client to the very end, even if the whole world has turned its back on him

• Who is he: A ruthless loan shark, the owner of the front office "Cadaverini" and a crime boss who managed to fake the identity of Phoenix Wright in court.
• Appearance: A huge, muscular man with a menacing face, a scar on his cheek, and a giant orange mohawk. Wears a flashy tiger jacket unbuttoned, a huge gold chain and constantly holds a toothpick in his teeth
•Personality: A real gangster. He has a furious, short-tempered temper, roars in the courtroom like a wild animal and frightens witnesses with his gaze. He is completely ignorant of the laws, but because of his frightening aura, the Judge in his fake session was afraid to object to "Lawyer Tigre".

• Who is she: A young female police officer, the ward of Detective Gumshoe and a permanent defendant, whom Wright has to defend several times.
• Personality: Narcissist, braggart, and megalomaniac malingerer. He speaks in high-flown phrases, constantly sprinkles French words and laughs with his trademark laugh "Zvarri!". In fact, Luke is a brilliant manipulator who stages his own investigations for the sake of fame.
• Appearance: Possesses one of the craziest appearances in anime. He has a long, sharp, bird-like nose and wears a massive gold monocle with a magnifying glass on his right eye. He is dressed in a flashy yellow suit with a huge collar.

• Who is he: An eccentric private detective who calls himself the "Ace of Detective Detective" and acts as a witness in the case of the theft of a sacred urn.
• Personality: Narcissist, braggart, and megalomaniac malingerer. He speaks in high-flown phrases, constantly sprinkles French words and laughs with his trademark laugh "Zvarri!". In fact, Luke is a brilliant manipulator who stages his own investigations for the sake of fame.
• Appearance: Possesses one of the craziest appearances in the anime. He has a long, sharp, bird-like nose and wears a massive gold monocle with a magnifying glass on his right eye. He is dressed in a flashy yellow suit with a huge collar.

•Who is he: A professional, legendary third-generation assassin whose services were used by Matt Engarde.
• Appearance: An elderly but incredibly fit man who looks like the perfect British butler. He has gray hair slicked back, a neat mustache, and a deep "X" scar on his cheek. He is always dressed in an impeccable black tailcoat and white gloves.
• Personality: Cold-blooded, polite, and possessing a twisted code of honor. He never violates a contract and considers his "work" to be art. The most surprising thing is that de Killer sincerely appreciates the trust between the client and the performer. If the client tries to betray or frame him, the killer instantly terminates the contract and announces a hunt for the former customer, even helping the court to restore justice.

Who is he: An eccentric and powerful police chief of a fictional metropolis who appears in the season one finale.
• Personality: Possesses an incredibly powerful, overwhelming charisma. He is constantly smiling, laughing loudly and roaringly, slapping Wright on the shoulder, and giving the characters cute nicknames (e.g., calling Wright "Righty"). However, behind the mask of the merry man hides a ruthless, calculating and frightening manipulator who keeps the entire prosecutor's office at bay and uses the law as a personal weapon.
• Appearance: A tall, broad-shouldered man with a powerful build. He has slicked-back gray hair, thick eyebrows, and a neat beard. He wears a luxurious white police coat with gold epaulettes over a formal suit

•Who is he: A respected veteran attorney, former boss and mentor of Mia Fey, who heads his own law firm.
• Character: On the whole, a good-natured, eloquent and philosophically inclined person, who loves to remember "the days of his turbulent youth". Due to health problems, he often sighs noisily and complains about his hemorrhoids right during a conversation. Despite his authority, Grossberg hides a shameful weakness from the past - at one time he succumbed to the blackmail of Redd White, because of which the entire Fey clan suffered.
• Appearance: A very obese, bulky man of venerable age. He has a bald head with sparse gray hair on the sides and a huge, thick orange-brown mustache that covers his mouth. He always wears a chic brown three-piece suit and holds an expensive cane in his hands.

• Who is he: The powerful head of the spy and blackmail corporation Bluecorp, the main culprit of the tragedy at the beginning of the series.
• Personality: Narcissistic, cowardly and mean egocentric. He considers himself the king of the world because he blackmails senior officials, judges and prosecutors. In order to seem intellectual, he constantly invents non-existent pretentious words in English and distorts his speech. Faced with a direct rebuff from Phoenix in court, he quickly loses all his luster and slips into hysterics.
• Appearance: A large, incredibly pretentious man with a tan, slicked back hair and a thin mustache. He wears a flashy pink and white suit, and all his fingers are adorned with huge gold diamond rings

• Who is she: An elderly woman who works as a professional security guard at various facilities (in a film studio, in a large business center). A witness in many cases.
• Personality: A walking disaster for Phoenix's ears. He has an unbearable, grumpy and suspicious character. She is able to speak in machine-gun bursts without a single pause for a breath, dumping tons of unnecessary information on the court. At the same time, she is madly, unconsciously in love with Miles Edgeworth, affectionately calls him "my Spicy Micy" and constantly tries to flirt with him, which horrifies the genius prosecutor •Appearance: A short, lean old woman. She is often dressed in ridiculous futuristic guard suits, helmets with antennas or massive spacesuits. She almost always has a laser ratchet machine gun in her hands (a toy, but annoying)

•Who is she: The younger sister of District Attorney Lana Skye. She hires Wright to protect her sister and temporarily replaces Maya as an assistant.
• Character: A true fan of science and forensics. She is incredibly optimistic, intelligent and energetic. He turns each investigation into a scientific experiment: he enthusiastically uses powder to take fingerprints, searches for traces of blood with the help of luminol and loves to build graphs. He sincerely admires Phoenix.
• Appearance: A high school student with brown hair tied in a ponytail and a cheerful face. He wears a school uniform, over which he always wears a white lab coat. On her head, she wears conspicuous rose-colored glasses for scientific research.

• Who is he: The prosecutor that Phoenix Wright (and Mia Fey in the past) encounters in the very first, training cases of the series. • Character: Arrogant, but cowardly and boastful. He is called the "Rookie Killer" because he loves to mock inexperienced lawyers. However, as soon as the defense finds at least one lead, Payne instantly loses confidence, begins to scream comically and panic.
• Appearance: A short middle-aged man in a nondescript grayish-green suit and glasses. At the beginning of his career, he was proud of his perfect pompadour, but after crushing defeats to the Fei clan, his hair literally flew away, leaving a pathetic receding hairline and funny strands on the sides.

• Who is he: Legendary veteran prosecutor, menace to the judicial system, mentor to Miles Edgeworth, and father of Francisca.
• Appearance: An elderly, tall man with a predatory, aristocratic face, a stern look and smoothly combed back gray hair. He is dressed in a luxurious dark blue antique jacket with a huge white jabot.
• Personality: The main antagonist of the first season. An absolute tyrant, arrogant and ruthless pragmatist. For 40 years, he has not lost a single case, believing that the only value of a prosecutor is an ideal verdict of "guilty". For the sake of victory, he is ready to fabricate evidence, hide facts and intimidate witnesses. He has such a formidable voice that even the Judge trembles before him.

•Who is she: Maya and Mia Fey's younger cousin, an incredibly gifted medium girl from the village of Kurain.
• Appearance: Adorable little girl. Her black hair is tied in a giant, round, neat knot on top of her head, which is almost larger than her head. He wears a childish version of the Fey clan's purple kimono and a massive sacred orb around his neck. • Character: Well-mannered, polite, very modest and devoted to her culture. He has tremendous spiritual strength for his age. At the same time, she is completely unaware of the real world outside her village. Pearl is firmly convinced that Wright and Maya are madly in love with each other, and if Wright is just looking at another woman, Pearl can slap him in the face for "cheating".

• Who is he: The Supreme Arbiter, who leads almost all court hearings in the series.
• Appearance: An elderly man with a completely bald head and a huge, thick gray beard. He always sits at his high judge's podium in a classic black robe, holding a wooden gavel in his hand. • Personality: Honest and kind-hearted, but incredibly trusting and easily influenced by others. He is easily confused by the false arguments of prosecutors or the shocking statements of Phoenix. Nevertheless, in the end, he always strives to make a fair decision based on irrefutable evidence.

• Who is he: A childhood friend of Wright and Edgeworth, because of whom Wright once decided to become a
lawyer• Appearance: A guy with an eccentric fishtail hairstyle (hair sticking up and back). He is usually dressed in a bright orange jacket with an open collar. He often changes professions, so he can be seen in the form of a security guard, artist or salesman.
• Personality: Frivolous, hyperactive, amorous and incredibly unlucky. There is a saying about him among his friends: "If it smells like kerosene, then Larry is nearby." He constantly falls under suspicion of murder, but he does it not out of malice, but because of his phenomenal stupidity.

• Who is she: A young prosecutor-prodigy from Germany, the daughter of the formidable Manfred von Karma. He considers Edgeworth to be his "little brother".
• Character: Arrogant, despotic and extremely ambitious. She does not tolerate defeat and strives to be perfect in everything. In the courtroom (and outside it) he does not hesitate to whip witnesses, the lawyer, the detective and even the Judge himself if they say stupid things.
• Appearance: A fragile girl with short light blue hair and a stern look. She is dressed in an elegant white and blue suit with puff sleeves, a ribbon tie and short shorts. Its invariable attribute is a real leather whip

• Who is he: A mysterious and charismatic prosecutor who appears in the second season of the anime.
• Personality: A true philosopher, cynic and incredible coffee fan. He behaves imposingly in court, speaks in mysterious metaphors. He harbors a deep personal dislike for Phoenix Wright, believing that he was unable to protect what was dear to both of them.
• Appearance: A man with gray hair. The most noticeable detail is a massive electronic visor-mask with three glowing red stripes, covering the upper part of the face. He wears a dark green vest, a white shirt with rolled up sleeves, and a tie

• Who is he: A homicide detective in charge of the initial investigation of most cases.
• Personality: Good-natured, loyal, and diligent, but catastrophically clumsy. He often misses important details, which is why prosecutors constantly cut his already tiny salary. Because of poverty, it eats only cheap instant ramen. He genuinely respects Edgeworth and thinks Wright is a good guy.
• Appearance: A large, slightly clumsy man with eternal stubble and a plaster on his left cheek. He has disheveled dark hair. He always wears a worn, rumpled green trench coat over a brown suit.

• Who is she: Maya's older sister, a prominent lawyer and Wright's mentor, who taught him the basics of the profession.
• Appearance: A tall, stately and very beautiful woman with long brown hair. He wears a strict dark business suit with a deep neckline, a white blouse and a scarf. Accessories include a Magatama pendant around her neck
• Personality: Wise, confident, and unwavering. He has amazing intuition and the ability to see lies. Even after his tragic death at the beginning of the story, he continues to help the Phoenix, appearing in the world of the living through the body of his sister Maya.

• Who is she: Mia's younger sister, a hereditary medium of the Kurain clan and a loyal chief assistant to the Phoenix
• Appearance: A cheerful girl with long black hair tied up in a high knot at the top of her head with a ritual ribbon. She is dressed in the traditional purple kimono of the Kurain mediums, over which she wears a white scarf, and around her neck are massive beads made of sacred Magatama stones.
• Personality: Energetic, boisterous, eccentric, and childishly naïve. He loves to eat delicious food (especially burgers and ramen) and is a fan of superhero TV shows. Despite the tragedies in the family, he remains the main moral support of the Phoenix.

• Who is he: A brilliant prosecutor, Phoenix's main rival and childhood best friend.
• Personality: Cold-blooded, strict perfectionist with a razor-sharp mind. At first, he seems arrogant and cruel, as he sought to achieve a guilty verdict at any cost. Later he reveals himself as a noble man who sincerely seeks the truth. He is terrified of earthquakes and elevators.
• Appearance: An elegant young man with impeccable posture. He has gray eyes and neatly styled ash-gray (or maroon depending on the lighting) hair with a straight parting. He wears an exquisite burgundy Victorian suit with a snow-white lace jabot instead of a tie.

• Who is he: The main character, a young defense lawyer and the head of his own law firm.
• Appearance: The most striking feature is extremely spiky, smoothly combed back black hair, reminiscent of a hedgehog or porcupine. He always wears a bright blue business suit, a white shirt, a red tie, and a gold lawyer's badge on his lapel.
• Personality: Incredibly loyal, honest and optimistic. He often seems uncertain or panicked at the beginning of meetings, but at critical moments he shows an iron will. His main credo is to trust his client to the very end, even if all the evidence is against him.

• Berry Big Circus: A vibrant tent city with its own arena, troupe of eccentric performers, tigers and acrobats, where serious drama rages behind the scenes.

1. Crazy laws of the local judicial system
   The anime's legal process operates under a unique system called the System of Inquisitorial Trial.

• 3-Day Time Limit: Due to the dramatic rise in crime, courts are required to render a guilty or not guilty verdict within a maximum of three days. If a defense attorney fails to prove complete innocence within this time, the defendant is automatically found guilty. This is why Phoenix Wright always works under severe time pressure.
• Burden of proof: Unlike in the real world, here the lawyer is obliged not only to sow doubt, but to personally find and point out to the court the real killer in order to save his client.
• No jury: A person's fate is decided by one and only Judge.

The birth of a legendary cry:

• The characters' signature shouts of "Objection! / Igiari!", "Hold it!", and "Take that!" are accompanied by a powerful shockwave in the courtroom, physically knocking over opponents, ruffling their hair, and blowing papers off tables. In the world of anime, legal disputes are literally non-contact combat, where hard evidence packs a punch.

The main events of the anime "First-Class Lawyer" take place in Japan (in the original version) or in an alternate Los Angeles, USA (in the localized Western version, which fans jokingly call "Japanifornia"). The main setting is a fictional metropolis where the judicial system operates under accelerated rules.All key locations can be divided into three main groups:

1. Courtrooms
   • District Courtroom: The most recognizable location where fierce verbal battles take place. There are high stands for the defense lawyer, prosecutor and witnesses, and in the center on a raised platform sits the Judge.
   • Defendant Lobby: A room where Phoenix Wright communicates with his clients before the start of the sessions and during breaks, setting them up for victory and listening to the latest revelations.

2. Work Offices
   • Wright & Co. Law Offices: This was originally the office of Fey & Co. A small cozy room with a large window, a sofa, a desk and the famous flower named Charlie, which is cared for by the Phoenix. Serves as the headquarters for the protagonists, where they examine clues.
   • Prosecutor's Office: Miles Edgeworth's luxurious, austere, and impeccably furnished office, reflecting his high status and perfectionism.

3. Places of investigations and incidents.

• Kurain Village: A misty settlement hidden in the mountains, where the Fey Psychic clan originates. The place is filled with a mystical atmosphere, ancient temples and traditional Japanese buildings.
• Go Go Senpai Theme Park (Global Studios): A film studio where popular children's superhero shows (such as The Steel Samurai) are filmed. This is where backstage intrigue and pavilion killings take place
• Gourd Lake: A picturesque public park with a large lake, around which legends of the local lake monster "Gourdy" circulate. It becomes the site of a fatal Christmas murder.