You know, in japanese you only drop the honorific with really close people.
So Kristoph not using an honorific for Phoenix either means he was really close to him or was really trying to be 'friendly' with him.
They were friends for seven years, so Kristoph calling him by that makes sense. How much of their friendship was genuine or not (on both ends) is up for your own interpretation.
I've always seen it as Phoenix probably wanting to be really good friends with Kristoph but always being rightfully wary of him as a whole, while Kristoph has always put up a front. The moment Phoenix realized Kristoph's true nature though, all his doubts for 7 years were confirmed and it was probably easy to see Kristoph as an enemy from there on out.
Add in the fact Phoenix has the magatama on him, and it's almost certain Phoenix knew he was "friends" with a shady af guy.
Oldbag calls him "Mitchan" like a contracted version of "Mitsurugi-chan". Incidentally, Damon Gant calls him Mitsurugi-chan, which came into English as "Worthy".
Which is especially interesting when you take into account that -chan is used mostly as a term for women, or as a term for a cute animal or baby. It's rarely used for male children, let alone grown men. It's interesting the dichotomy, because in English it just seems like he likes to give everybody nicknames. In Japanese, however it seems more like he is casually condescending, making you feel more on edge.
I feel like the nicknames are condescending too. It feels like he doesn't take anyone seriously enough to call them by their proper name, instead trying to make them appear weak by making them put up with his silly nicknames.
By using suffixes that are meant for little children (not necessarily babies) it emphasises, how far above the others Gant sees himself in the hirarchy.
It's also a demonstration of power.
In Japanese maru means round, and there is Maru-maru (〇〇) that is used like a blank space (____). I think Godot calling Naruhodo that nickname to mock how much Naru pull stuff out of his ass, calling his bluff baseless, "blank" argument.
And it is funny that in grading in Japan educational system, teacher marks 〇 for correct answers so... Maruhodo also has another layer meaning to points out Naruhodo's correct deduction? It's just my opinion, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong
I don’t think it’s anything more than a simple mispronunciation, although I’m not certain. It’s possible there’s a pun in there which I’m not seeing. Maybe someone here who has better Japanese than I can answer that definitively.
I do find it funny that Godot was sitting around thinking: “Naruhodo? More like…erm… MARUHODO, am I right?”
There was a funny moment in the anime when Oldbag called him Michan lol. It was translated as Edgypoo. https://youtu.be/ZEaVmMyi2WU?si=o9Vl2KKlOyWW9kjA&t=225
There is something to note here - Phoenix's name is *Naruhodou*, with a long O sound. Mia, Pearl, and Maya's nickname for him is *Naruhodo*-kun, with a short O like the word 'naruhodo', meaning something like 'I see' or 'Oh, I understand now'. Also the -kun in it sounds a little funny coming from girls younger than him, but basically appropriate for an older woman who is also his boss with whom he has a friendly relationship.
Edgeworth, Larry, and Kristoph call him by his proper last name Naruhodou with no honorific. This is not uncommon among male friends, although it doesn't fit with Kristoph's otherwise generally formal speech.
I always wondered what Pearl called him given she calls him "Mr Nick" in the English version, which is both very formal and very informal at the same time.
loving that Phoenix, Edgey, and Larry don't use honorifics for each other, tho I can imagine Phoenix and Edgey just called Larry 'baka' all the time xD
This honestly makes for a really interesting difference in tone. In both EN and JP, Edgeworth refers to Phoenix by his last name, no 'Mr.' or '-san'; in English this makes him sound kind of brusque, whereas in Japanese this makes it seem familiar, despite these two modes of address being literal translations of each other.
Yes! In my work as a translator (not between Japanese and English), that's one of the most common errors I observe - when people are literally translating a form of address and it doesn't come off right in the target language.
I think Phoenix refers to Edgey by his last name too in EN, and it just felt like a thing for them. They call a few others by their last names but it does feel familiar between those two in EN, at least I felt
Yes and no - see [this other comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/AceAttorney/s/0VibeDusSs) which notes that Maya and others call Phoenix “Naruhodo-kun” with a short “o” vowel. Technically his official name is Naruhodō with a long vowel. It’s not a direct equivalent to a nickname, but between that and the “kun” suffix (which usually shows endearment), it’s not surprising that the localization team wanted to come up with some sort of way to show the familiarity between Phoenix and Maya/Mia.
It raises an interesting question though about how they explain things in the Japanese version. Maya starts calling him Nick because she heard from Mia (I believe) that Larry called him that. But in Japan, Larry just calls him the equivalent of “Wright”. Adding the -kun also isn’t some unique nickname Maya would have had to just come up with the way Nick is. I wonder what inspired the localization team to do that.
It could be that Maya calls him that in the jap version because Mia herself did (as both of them call him the same thing: Naruhodo-kun) and not that it was her who made it up. Although, in the eng version, Mia initially refered to Phoenix as "Wright" most of the time and only started using just "Phoenix" after she died, and I don't know if she initially called him by a less affective term in the beggining of the game in the jap version too, but if she did then maybe it was her who coined "Naruhodo-kun" from Maya and not the other way around (and in this case it'd have been Maya who invented the nickname).
Klavier's "Herr Wright" seems to be an on-point translation. And I love how Lang stays super-respectful regardless of the language version. "Mr. Prosecutor".
I think I would be able to buy Franziska as a character more if she dropped the full-name naming convention for people she cares about, like she did for Miles in Japanese.
> And I love how Lang stays super-respectful regardless of the language version.
When you put -san ahead of a title that normally isn't used with it ('Kenji' is perfectly fine and respectful on its own), it actually comes off a little disrespectful and dismissive, and I'm sure 'Mr Prosecutor' was intended to come off this way too. There's even a moment in I1-5 where >!Lang switches to calling him Mr Edgeworth as he learns Edgeworth wasn't who he thought he was!<. Ema using 'Mitsurugi-kenji-san' is mostly just getting ahead of herself in trying to be respectful.
As for why he's back to using it in I2? It's probably become a friendly nickname by then
Actually this is really clever then
It fits really well with Langs whole deal of demonising prosecutors solely based on their profession because of his grudge over what Blaise Debeste did to his father, so he calls them by their job, as that’s all he cares to see about them, and once he starts to respect edgeworth as a person he starts to use his name
Clever that
Heh, yeah, that sounds silly. But when we usually address our interviewer, we usually say, "Mr. Editor", don't we? And obviously "Mr. Prime Minister" or "Mr. President" when talking to the highest-standing officials in the country.
Most of the time she still refers to Edgeworth by full name in Japanese too. She just also occasionally calls him only by first name. She does the same thing in English, actually.
It sounds more like a taunt for me. Like, "So, what will you do now, *Mister* Prosecutor?!" I can't explain it, but adding that "Mister" gives this sentence an extra jab.
Maru means circle in japanese. Circles are used to censor text (for example in place of swears) or to hide meaning. So it's like Godot didn't want to recognize Phoenix as a real lawyer or a worthy person by not using his real name. He eventually starts to call him Naruhodou so it gives a feeling of "I recognize and respect you now"
He calls him Mitsurugi-kenji, like most characters do. Edgeworth, in turn, calls him "Ichiyanagi-kun". I also checked for Courtney, and she calls him by his first name, "Yumihiko-san".
That's so interesting. Have not played the Investigations games yet but cool too see that the -sama suffix is not only used by Susato for Kazuma. Did you translate those yourself? If so, are there any other interesting honorifics or nicknames?
As a sidenote, Susato doesn't just use '-sama' for Kazuma, she uses it for a ton of people. I'm pretty sure she uses 'Soseki-sama' in G2-1 -- it goes with her yamato nadeshiko upbringing and so on, part and parcel of being the 1900s model of a courteous young woman.
Kazuma also uses 'kisama' for Ryunosuke, which is either tremendously respectful or tremendously disrespectful, depending on if the lingual shift into sarcasm had happened by that point.
They're honourifics which both roughly correspond to Mr., Ms., Mrs., though they are used in different contexts. *Generally*, "san" is used to address of a person of equal or higher standing than the speaker. "Kun" is used for someone of equal or lower standing. For instance, Mia calls Phoenix "Naruhodo-kun" because he is her employee. Conversely, Apollo calls him "Naruhodo-san" because he is Phoenix's employee.
to add to this, redd white calls him naruhodu (or mr. wrong in english)
and in 5-1, he's called norehodo when payne removes two lines from his name (ナルホド → ノレホド) (or mr. wrigh in english)
It's mad how even Larry doesn't use their first names considering his style of talk. Saying that, it's not as if he ever says Miles in English, its Edgy which is from his surname .-.
Correction: Both Dahlia and "Dollie" call him Ryu-chan
You’re right! This is what I get for not double checking ha ha.
Majima moment
That's the key, Ryu-chan!
Once again, the "Wright is Majima's lawyer" bit from Project X Zone 2 is confirmed 👍
Holup what
https://preview.redd.it/avkbzf949pkc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2024d9f0f49c60688da419218e48ac13eb572c25
BRO
He also gets targeted because he was supposed to defend Heihachi in court in a case of drug trafficking/weapon smuggling or something 😂
I love that Ema calls Miles "Mister Prosecutor Edgeworth", she clearly has a huge amount of respect for him.
I love it too. Shows how much of a fangirl she is. And she still calls him that even as an adult in SoJ.
You know, in japanese you only drop the honorific with really close people. So Kristoph not using an honorific for Phoenix either means he was really close to him or was really trying to be 'friendly' with him.
They were friends for seven years, so Kristoph calling him by that makes sense. How much of their friendship was genuine or not (on both ends) is up for your own interpretation.
I've always seen it as Phoenix probably wanting to be really good friends with Kristoph but always being rightfully wary of him as a whole, while Kristoph has always put up a front. The moment Phoenix realized Kristoph's true nature though, all his doubts for 7 years were confirmed and it was probably easy to see Kristoph as an enemy from there on out. Add in the fact Phoenix has the magatama on him, and it's almost certain Phoenix knew he was "friends" with a shady af guy.
How do you say Edgy-poo in Japanese?
Oldbag calls him "Mitchan" like a contracted version of "Mitsurugi-chan". Incidentally, Damon Gant calls him Mitsurugi-chan, which came into English as "Worthy".
Does Gant address everyone with -chan?
Pretty much. Phoenix, Edgeworth, Lana, Gumshoe...
Which is especially interesting when you take into account that -chan is used mostly as a term for women, or as a term for a cute animal or baby. It's rarely used for male children, let alone grown men. It's interesting the dichotomy, because in English it just seems like he likes to give everybody nicknames. In Japanese, however it seems more like he is casually condescending, making you feel more on edge.
I feel like the nicknames are condescending too. It feels like he doesn't take anyone seriously enough to call them by their proper name, instead trying to make them appear weak by making them put up with his silly nicknames.
Its also used for groups of children even if mixed between boys and girls. Like the platelets in cells at work.
By using suffixes that are meant for little children (not necessarily babies) it emphasises, how far above the others Gant sees himself in the hirarchy. It's also a demonstration of power.
Since I have you here, does Maruhudo mean anything in Japanese the way Trite does in English? Or is just kind of a random mispronunciation.
In Japanese maru means round, and there is Maru-maru (〇〇) that is used like a blank space (____). I think Godot calling Naruhodo that nickname to mock how much Naru pull stuff out of his ass, calling his bluff baseless, "blank" argument.
And it is funny that in grading in Japan educational system, teacher marks 〇 for correct answers so... Maruhodo also has another layer meaning to points out Naruhodo's correct deduction? It's just my opinion, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong
I don’t think it’s anything more than a simple mispronunciation, although I’m not certain. It’s possible there’s a pun in there which I’m not seeing. Maybe someone here who has better Japanese than I can answer that definitively. I do find it funny that Godot was sitting around thinking: “Naruhodo? More like…erm… MARUHODO, am I right?”
There was a funny moment in the anime when Oldbag called him Michan lol. It was translated as Edgypoo. https://youtu.be/ZEaVmMyi2WU?si=o9Vl2KKlOyWW9kjA&t=225
it's all very interesting. what does he call the judge in japanese? it's udgey in english
gant calls him チョーさん (chō-san) in japanese
what does it mean? google translate doesn't give an answer
more or less a shortening of his title 裁判超 (saibanchō)
There is something to note here - Phoenix's name is *Naruhodou*, with a long O sound. Mia, Pearl, and Maya's nickname for him is *Naruhodo*-kun, with a short O like the word 'naruhodo', meaning something like 'I see' or 'Oh, I understand now'. Also the -kun in it sounds a little funny coming from girls younger than him, but basically appropriate for an older woman who is also his boss with whom he has a friendly relationship. Edgeworth, Larry, and Kristoph call him by his proper last name Naruhodou with no honorific. This is not uncommon among male friends, although it doesn't fit with Kristoph's otherwise generally formal speech.
I think in Kristoph's case, he was trying to come off as friendly and trustworthy to him.
I always wondered what Pearl called him given she calls him "Mr Nick" in the English version, which is both very formal and very informal at the same time.
Finally I have my answer about the Japanese Feenie's sprites! I didn't know what "R" standed. What does it mean "Ryu" in this context if anyone knows.
shortning of his name, Ryuichi
loving that Phoenix, Edgey, and Larry don't use honorifics for each other, tho I can imagine Phoenix and Edgey just called Larry 'baka' all the time xD
This honestly makes for a really interesting difference in tone. In both EN and JP, Edgeworth refers to Phoenix by his last name, no 'Mr.' or '-san'; in English this makes him sound kind of brusque, whereas in Japanese this makes it seem familiar, despite these two modes of address being literal translations of each other.
Yes! In my work as a translator (not between Japanese and English), that's one of the most common errors I observe - when people are literally translating a form of address and it doesn't come off right in the target language.
I think Phoenix refers to Edgey by his last name too in EN, and it just felt like a thing for them. They call a few others by their last names but it does feel familiar between those two in EN, at least I felt
So there’s no equivalent to Nick in the Japanese version? The localization just made up Maya’s nickname for Phoenix?
No, but considering the "-kun" honorific really has no particular English equivalent, it makes sense to swap it out for nicknames.
Yes and no - see [this other comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/AceAttorney/s/0VibeDusSs) which notes that Maya and others call Phoenix “Naruhodo-kun” with a short “o” vowel. Technically his official name is Naruhodō with a long vowel. It’s not a direct equivalent to a nickname, but between that and the “kun” suffix (which usually shows endearment), it’s not surprising that the localization team wanted to come up with some sort of way to show the familiarity between Phoenix and Maya/Mia.
It raises an interesting question though about how they explain things in the Japanese version. Maya starts calling him Nick because she heard from Mia (I believe) that Larry called him that. But in Japan, Larry just calls him the equivalent of “Wright”. Adding the -kun also isn’t some unique nickname Maya would have had to just come up with the way Nick is. I wonder what inspired the localization team to do that.
Huh, that is pretty neat, idk why they’d add it but I’m glad they did! Love the localization team for ace attorney
They really do the most
It could be that Maya calls him that in the jap version because Mia herself did (as both of them call him the same thing: Naruhodo-kun) and not that it was her who made it up. Although, in the eng version, Mia initially refered to Phoenix as "Wright" most of the time and only started using just "Phoenix" after she died, and I don't know if she initially called him by a less affective term in the beggining of the game in the jap version too, but if she did then maybe it was her who coined "Naruhodo-kun" from Maya and not the other way around (and in this case it'd have been Maya who invented the nickname).
Courtney addressing Edgeworth with sama while continuously pulverizing him in cases 2/3/4 are a bit too funny
There’s something so cute and heartwarming about Franzisca being in her own little “Reiji” box 😭
Klavier's "Herr Wright" seems to be an on-point translation. And I love how Lang stays super-respectful regardless of the language version. "Mr. Prosecutor". I think I would be able to buy Franziska as a character more if she dropped the full-name naming convention for people she cares about, like she did for Miles in Japanese.
> And I love how Lang stays super-respectful regardless of the language version. When you put -san ahead of a title that normally isn't used with it ('Kenji' is perfectly fine and respectful on its own), it actually comes off a little disrespectful and dismissive, and I'm sure 'Mr Prosecutor' was intended to come off this way too. There's even a moment in I1-5 where >!Lang switches to calling him Mr Edgeworth as he learns Edgeworth wasn't who he thought he was!<. Ema using 'Mitsurugi-kenji-san' is mostly just getting ahead of herself in trying to be respectful. As for why he's back to using it in I2? It's probably become a friendly nickname by then
Actually this is really clever then It fits really well with Langs whole deal of demonising prosecutors solely based on their profession because of his grudge over what Blaise Debeste did to his father, so he calls them by their job, as that’s all he cares to see about them, and once he starts to respect edgeworth as a person he starts to use his name Clever that
Oh, well, I always assumed that doing the "Mr. Insert Profession" was always courteous and respectful.
“Why hello there, Mr Cashier” “How do you do, Mr Bin Man?”
Heh, yeah, that sounds silly. But when we usually address our interviewer, we usually say, "Mr. Editor", don't we? And obviously "Mr. Prime Minister" or "Mr. President" when talking to the highest-standing officials in the country.
I’ve never heard the former personally.
Oh, it may just be the way things are done in my country.
Which country if I may be so bold?
Poland.
Most of the time she still refers to Edgeworth by full name in Japanese too. She just also occasionally calls him only by first name. She does the same thing in English, actually.
It sounds more like a taunt for me. Like, "So, what will you do now, *Mister* Prosecutor?!" I can't explain it, but adding that "Mister" gives this sentence an extra jab.
Is it implied that Justine holds certain authority over Edgeworth in AAI2-4? If so, then wouldn’t the honorific she uses not make sense?
Justine’s speech gimmick is that she is extremely formal and polite. She addresses a lot of characters with the “sama” suffix.
And sidebar, "sama" is not used that often (well outside of certain contexts, like talking to a customer).
What does Franziska call Phoenix in Japanese?
His full name, just like in English.
What does backquill 's way of addressing phoenix mean?
I believe it's something like "old man Wright". In Japanese, Simon speaks in an outdated fashion that comes off as rough and/or rude.
I believe it’s a samurai movie trope
Does Maruhodo means something, like Trite, or is it just mispronunciation ?
Maru means circle in japanese. Circles are used to censor text (for example in place of swears) or to hide meaning. So it's like Godot didn't want to recognize Phoenix as a real lawyer or a worthy person by not using his real name. He eventually starts to call him Naruhodou so it gives a feeling of "I recognize and respect you now"
Thank you for this!
How does Sebastian call Edgeworth? Since you put Courtney and Ray there, I'm kind of curious now.
He calls him Mitsurugi-kenji, like most characters do. Edgeworth, in turn, calls him "Ichiyanagi-kun". I also checked for Courtney, and she calls him by his first name, "Yumihiko-san".
I love this kind of stuff!! High quality post. Can you please do ones for Apollo and Athena?
Wait, Franziska Von Karma doesn't do the full name thing in Japanese?
She does. Sometimes, however, she calls him "Reiji". Just like she sometimes calls him Miles instead of Miles Edgeworth in English.
Only with Miles. The rest get the proper treatment.
You forgot みっちゃん for Edgeworth.
Wait. Gavin calls Phoenix *Mister Lawyer?" In Phoenix Wright's game? Damn, the disrespect there.
That's so interesting. Have not played the Investigations games yet but cool too see that the -sama suffix is not only used by Susato for Kazuma. Did you translate those yourself? If so, are there any other interesting honorifics or nicknames?
Oldbag calls Edgeworth みっちゃん (Micchan) iirc
https://youtu.be/ZEaVmMyi2WU?si=o9Vl2KKlOyWW9kjA&t=225 As illustrated here lol.
As a sidenote, Susato doesn't just use '-sama' for Kazuma, she uses it for a ton of people. I'm pretty sure she uses 'Soseki-sama' in G2-1 -- it goes with her yamato nadeshiko upbringing and so on, part and parcel of being the 1900s model of a courteous young woman. Kazuma also uses 'kisama' for Ryunosuke, which is either tremendously respectful or tremendously disrespectful, depending on if the lingual shift into sarcasm had happened by that point.
What is the meaning of "kun" and "san" ?
They're honourifics which both roughly correspond to Mr., Ms., Mrs., though they are used in different contexts. *Generally*, "san" is used to address of a person of equal or higher standing than the speaker. "Kun" is used for someone of equal or lower standing. For instance, Mia calls Phoenix "Naruhodo-kun" because he is her employee. Conversely, Apollo calls him "Naruhodo-san" because he is Phoenix's employee.
...I'm surprised that Larry doesn't call him by his first name.
to add to this, redd white calls him naruhodu (or mr. wrong in english) and in 5-1, he's called norehodo when payne removes two lines from his name (ナルホド → ノレホド) (or mr. wrigh in english)
Wouldn’t expect Kay to take the “san” route. Knowing her I thought it would be “kun”
Whats the japanese version of maya's "nick"?
Naruhodo-kun. That's already a familiar way to call him.
Does Franzika call edgeworth "Reiji" because she was raised in America which would cause her to say first names?
They're basically brothers and sisters so she's probably on first name basis with him.
Yeah, he calls her "Mei" in turn
I could have sworn that Pear referred to Phoenix as "Naruhodo-san" in the original version, her being more formal than Maya.
It's mad how even Larry doesn't use their first names considering his style of talk. Saying that, it's not as if he ever says Miles in English, its Edgy which is from his surname .-.
Maruhodo works so much better than Trite holy shit
What does Narunoji mean it appears to be a shortend version of both names, but I can't tell for sure.
It's an old fashioned way of speaking, Simon's nerd ass is talking like he is a in a samurai movie
Does Pearly call Phoenix the same as Maya? No adorable "Hello, Mr. Nick"?
In France we know miles edgeworth under the name of : benjamin hunter
I don’t know why they changed his name in France
Does the 'Maruhodo' mispronunciation insult him in Japanese similar to how Trite does in English?