Gyakuten Saiban (film)



Gyakuten Saiban (逆転裁判 Turnabout Trial), also known as "Ace Attorney", is a Japanese courtroom drama film based on Capcom's Ace Attorney series, specifically the first game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. The film uses the video game series' signature style and was directed by Takashi Miike. The film stars Hiroshige Narimiya as the defense attorney Ryūichi Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright), Mirei Kiritani as the spirit medium Mayoi Ayasato (Maya Fey), and Takumi Saito as the prosecutor Reiji Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth).

The film was given a cinema release in Japan on February 11, 2012. , but screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam before that. Miike stated plans for an international release, and the movie premiered in the United States at the 2012 AM² anime convention in June 2012.

The screenplay was written by Takeshi Iida and Sachiko Oguchi, with music by Koji Endo. The Japanese male rock band Porno Graffitti provide the film's main theme song ("2012Spark").

Premise
Based primarily on the first game in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the film focuses on rookie defense attorney Ryūichi Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright), as he strives to protect his clients in various murder trials, including the death of his mentor, Chihiro Ayasato (Mia Fey), and the accusation of rival prosecutor, Reiji Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth). Naruhodō's greatest ally is Chihiro's younger sister Mayoi (Maya Fey), a spirit medium whose body is posessed by Chihiro to communicate with him. As well as the supernatural, sci-fi elements are also used, including attorneys bringing up projected images of evidence during trials as a representation of the in-game court record.

Cast

 * Ryuichi Naruhodou (成歩堂 龍一 Naruhodō Ryūichi) (Phoenix Wright) - Hiroshige Narimiya (成宮 寛貴 Narimiya Hiroshige)
 * Reiji Mitsurugi (御剣怜侍 Mitsurugi Reiji) (Miles Edgeworth) - Takumi Saito (斎藤工 Saitō Takumi)
 * Mayoi Ayasato (綾里 真宵 Ayasato Mayoi) (Maya Fey) - Mirei Kiritani (桐谷美玲 Kiritani Mirei)
 * Masashi Yahari (矢張 政志 Yahari Masashi) (Larry Butz) - Akihiro Nakao
 * Keisuke Itonokogiri (糸鋸圭介 Itonokogiri Keisuke) (Dick Gumshoe) - Shunsuke Daito (大東 俊介 Daitō Shunsuke)
 * Saibancho (裁判長 Saibancho) (the judge) - Akira Emoto
 * Chihiro Ayasato (綾里千尋 Ayasato Chihiro) (Mia Fey) - Rei Dan (檀れい Dan Rei)
 * Natsumi Oosawagi (大沢木ナツミ Oosawagi Natsumi) (Lotta Hart) - Mitsuki Tanimura
 * Shin Mitsurugi (御剣信 Mitsurugi Shin) (Gregory Edgeworth) - Takehiro Hira
 * Yukio Namakura (生倉雪夫 Namakura Yukio) (Robert Hammond) - Eisuke Sasai
 * Masaru Konaka (小中大 Konaka Masaru) (Redd White) - Makoto Ayukawa
 * Maiko Ayasato (綾里舞子 Ayasato Maiko) (Misty Fey) - Kimiko Yo
 * Gou Karuma (狩魔豪 Karuma Gou) (Manfred von Karma) - Ryo Ishibashi
 * Koutarou Haine (灰根 高太郎 Koutarou Haine) (Yanni Yogi) - Fumio Kohinata
 * Hoshio Yamano (山野星雄 Yamano Hoshio) (Frank Sahwit - ?
 * Sakura Himegami (姫神サクラ Himegami Sakura) (Dee Vasquez) - ?
 * Takefumi Auchi (亜内武文 Auchi Takefumi) (Winston Payne) - ?
 * Young Mayoi Ayasato (綾里 真宵 Ayasato Mayoi) (young Maya Fey) - ?
 * Young Chihiro Ayasato (綾里千尋 Ayasato Chihiro) (young Mia Fey) - ?
 * Sayuri (サユリ Sayuri) (Polly) - ?
 * Taiho-kun (タイホくん Taiho-kun) (the Blue Badger) - ?

General difference

 * Spirits summoned via the Kurain Channeling Technique do not seem to be visible to everyone.


 * A human-sized Blue Badger constantly follow police officers around and helps them with various tasks.


 * A giant machine is concealed in the court's ceiling that can display interactive holograms, analyze evidence thrown into the air, and throw confetti after a non-guilty verdict. Sometimes the court's janitors are instead the ones throwing confetti while cleaning the floor from a previous trial.


 * The film Miles Edgeworth appears to have a preference for the Jammin' Ninja (instead of being a secret fan of the Steel Samurai like he is in the games).


 * Trials in the film are seen as more of a "sport" or "attraction", where anyone can purchase tickets to see the trial. It also appears that to see a whole trial, three separate tickets are required (corresponding to the bench trials in the games having a limit of three days).


 * The only characters who show a similar breakdown to those in the games are Frank Sahwit and Winston Payne.

The First Turnabout

 * A judge different from the other cases is assigned to the trial.


 * The courtroom used in this trial is different from the other cases.


 * The murder weapon is no longer a clock made in the image of The Thinker.


 * Mia Fey is the one who presents Cindy Stone's passport as evidence to prove Larry Butz's innocence.


 * Butz sells copies of The Thinker at his Gourd Lake shop.
 * The victim is male,

Turnabout Sisters

 * April May, the Bellboy, and Marvin Grossberg are never seen or mentioned.


 * Redd White is a completely different character in appearance, personality, and profession. In the game, he is a smug, confident, and powerful businessman who blackmails various important figures. In the film, he has medium-length black hair and sports a black trenchcoat with sunglasses. He also breaks out a megaphone at one point when he loses his temper towards Wright. He is eventually manipulated by von Karma and later dies of poisoning while in detention.


 * The evidence hidden in The Thinker is the bullet from the DL-6 Incident (rather than evidence of White's blackmailing) and White fails to steal it.

Turnabout Samurai

 * The case occurs before Mia Fey's murder and doesn't involve Wright or Maya Fey at all. It is instead presented as an introduction to Miles Edgeworth as he finds Dee Vasquez guilty.

Turnabout Goodbyes

 * Butz's Steel Samurai balloon is much larger than in the game.


 * The stolen money that is at the center of the class trial does not belong to Miles Edgeworth, but to another student entirely.


 * Lotta Hart's camera takes three photos instead of two. Because the camera is set up to take a single picture instead of an entire roll, the additional photo is from the second gunshot that occurred during Miles Edgeworth's meeting on the boat.


 * Lotta Hart doesn't lie about taking pictures of Gourdy, nor does she make up the excuse that she was taking photographs of a meteor shower.


 * Maya is not detained after her outburst during Hart's testimony.


 * Wright and Maya's first visit to the caretaker's shack never occurs, including Polly's revelation of the caretaker's link with the DL-6 Incident.


 * The caretaker's shack itself is wildly different in appearance, and is in extremely poor condition.


 * The radio DJ that Butz was listening to during the murder was an older man, rather than a woman.


 * The stun gun attack occurs inside the caretaker's shack immediately after the discovery of Manfred von Karma's instructions by Wright and Maya. The circumstances behind the attack allows the attacker, von Karma, to conceal his identity as the mastermind until Wright's accusation.


 * Polly is a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, instead of resembling a Scarlet Macaw like she does in the game.


 * Polly's testimony is extended to include her owner's name, since the circumstantial evidence does not convince the judge of a pattern.


 * The letter containing the murder instructions are printed instead of being handwritten, and also include a bottle of acid which Yanni Yogi uses to burn his fingerprints off.


 * Yogi sees his wife's ghost after his confession. He is the only one to notice her.


 * During the discovery of what happened to the second bullet, Maya actually channels Mia.


 * The metal detector is provided by Butz instead of Detective Dick Gumshoe.


 * Von Karma is shot in the right shoulder instead of the left.


 * The DL-6 Incident occurs in the Records Room instead of the courthouse's elevator. This causes Miles Edgeworth to believe that his father was the one forging evidence, instead of von Karma. The truth is only revealed when Wright compares the second bullet from the DL-6 Incident with the forged evidence that triggered it.

Rise from the Ashes

 * The events of Rise from the Ashes are not mentioned or shown.

References to other cases

 * There are multiple references to Farewell, My Turnabout at the very end of the movie. Butz's Gourd Lake shop and merchandise are re-branded to that of the Jammin' Ninja. A trial is also seen with Wright as the defense attorney, Edgeworth holding the Jammin' Ninja's signature bright red guitar, and with a witness appearing to be Matt Engarde (albeit wearing a different outfit). A woman resembling Adrian Andrews can also be seen when said witness first appears.


 * The film's arranged version of Objection! 2001 contains a section that is a slower version of "Apollo Justice ~ A New Chapter of Trials!". The section is question plays during von Karma's arrest in the film and can be listened to here.

Cameo appearances

 * The film's director, Takashi Miike, as a court spectator.


 * Shu Takumi, creator of the Ace Attorney series, can be seen during the fourth case celebrating with Larry Butz.

Soundtrack
The film's music was composed by Kōji Endō, known for scoring other films by Takashi Miike. For the soundtrack, Endō chose to utilize various themes by Masakazu Sugimori from the original video game and re-arranged them for a musical ensemble consisting of strings, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet, and a choir. Additional background music was also newly composed in this manner. The soundtrack was later released on CD to tie in with the movie. The film's theme song, "2012 Spark", was composed and performed by the Japanese male rock group Porno Graffitti.

Reception
The movie earned over US$1,547,000 in its opening weekend, grossing over US$6,145,000 during its theatrical run in Japan. Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku praised the movie, calling it "the best video game movie ever," and "on its own a fun, engaging mystery/comedy." Paul Verhoeven of IGN gave the film a score of 8 out of 10, a "Great" rating, describing it as "explosive, high-camp melodrama, but it manages to work both as a legal thriller and a pitch-perfect adaptation of the game." On the other hand, Jay Weissberg of Variety referred to the film as a "dull production" that was "criminally long and generally lacking in [Miike's] playful visual hyperbole."

Home release
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 22 August 2012, in Japan. A German release of the DVD and Blu-ray is also planned in spring 2013.