A Collaboration between Gyakuten Saiban 4 (3DS ver.) and Wanzhuji, Running Now! Takumi (Director) and Eshiro (Producer) Review the Food!! And We Ask About The Future of the Gyakuten Series (2018)

Title: A Collaboration between Gyakuten Saiban 4 (3DS ver.) and Wanzhuji, Running Now! Takumi (Director) and Eshiro (Producer) Review the Food!! And We Ask About The Future of the Gyakuten Series / 「3DS版『逆転裁判4』×万豚記コラボ実施中！　巧D＆江城Pが食レポ!!　『逆転』シリーズの展開も訊く」

Source: Famitsu 

 

Summary: Following the release of the 3DS port of Gyakuten Saiban 4 ("Ace Attorney 4 - Apollo Justice") in December 2017, the Chinese-style restaurant chain Wanzhuji, with restaurants all across Japan, featured a special collaboration with that game, with special sets recommended by Gyakuten Saiban 4 characters Odoroki Hōsuke (Apollo Justice), Garyū Kyōya (Klavier Gavin) and Minuki (Trucy), which also came with special stickers for each time you ordered one of these sets. Editors of Famitsu interviewed the producer Eshiro Motohide and director Takumi Shū in Feburary 2018 as they tried the food, but also asked them about special memories they have of Gyakuten Saiban 4 as well as about the future of the series.

Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to the respective owners.

Producer Matsukawa and Director Takumi Shū talk about Gyakuten Saiban 4!! (2006)

Title: Producer Matsukawa and Director Takumi Shū talk about Gyakuten Saiban 4!! / 「『逆転裁判4』について松川プロデューサー＆巧舟ディレクターが語る!!」
Source: Famitsu

Summary: On June 23rd, 2006, Famitsu posted an interview on their site with producer Matsukawa and scenario writer Takumi Shū about Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 – Apollo Justice), which was still in development. The interview had originally been posted in June 30, 2006 issue of Famitsu, but the online version includes parts that had been cut from the paper version due to page constraints. At this point in time, the new protagonist Odoroki Hōsuke had been announced together with his assistant Minuki (Trucy), and it had also been revealed the game was set seven years after the finale of the previous game, but little more was known at that point about the game, as this interview was also set before the bigger Tokyo Game Show presentation several months later. A lot of the interview therefore focuses on how this project got started, about Odoroki and Minuki’s roles in the game and about how the story will turn out. Interestingly, the interview title refers to Takumi as the director, even though he isn’t the director of Gyakuten Saiban 4, whereas the introduction of this article (not translated here) refers to him as being responsible for the scenario of the game.  

 

Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to the respective owners.

A Long Interview With the Developers: The Core Truth of the Gyakuten Saiban series (2007)

Title: A Long Interview With the Developers: The Core Truth of the Gyakuten Saiban series / 開発者ロングインタビュー『逆転裁判』シリーズの真理』

Source: Gyakuten Saiban 4 Official Guidebook

 

Summary: The official guidebook for Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 - Apollo Justice) includes a very long interview on the development of the game with three core staff members of the team: series supervisor Takumi Shū, art director Nuri Kazuya and producer Matsukawa Minae. Many questions are asked and answered, from topics regarding how the game was promoted to how characters were designed, how the story of the game was written, to Takumi's favorite mystery stories, how gameplay elements changed the way they had to work, and basically all aspects of the whole development cycle. The three are also asked about their favorite characters and stories in the series, as well as about when things didn't as initially planned. 

 

This article contains spoilers for the game.

 

Secret Footage – Final Episode: Become Stained In The Colors of Surprise (Odoroki)! (2007)

Title: Secret Footage – Final Episode: Become Stained In The Colors of Surprise (Odoroki)!/ 『極秘動画　最終話　オドロキ色に染めろ』
Source: Source: Gyakuten Saiban 4 official website (not available anymore due to site renewal)

Summary: The official Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 - Apollo Justice) website started posting “Secret Footage” late March 2007 in anticipation of the game’s release. These videos were dated October 2005 and were recordings of the earliest meetings of the development team. The third and final video is set a few months after the initial announcement. The design of the main character Odoroki Hōsuke is almost finished, but there are still some points that haven’t been decided on. Endō Mitsuru (Director), Nuri Kazuya (Designer) and Yamazaki Takeshi (Planning) are holding a meeting to decide on the basic colors of Odoroki’s clothes while Takumi Shū (Supervision) is in Tokyo for work. Nuri has prepared several color variations for them to pick from and it doesn’t take long for the three to decide on a color, but not everyone seems to be happy with their decision.

This article is a full transcript of the video. The video is not available here.

Secret Footage - Episode 2: The Night Before Odoroki Hōsuke‘s Birth (2007)

Title: Secret Footage - Episode 2: The Night Before Odoroki Hōsuke‘s Birth / 『極秘動画　第2回　王泥喜法介　誕生前夜』
Source: Source: Gyakuten Saiban 4 official website (not available anymore due to site renewal)

Summary: The official Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 - Apollo Justice) website started posting “Secret Footage” on March 30, 2007. These videos dated October 2005 were recordings of the very first meetings of the development team. In the first meeting, the team was told they had to have an illustration for the game ready by next week for use during the reveal. In the second part of the series, designer Nuri Kazuya shows off the sketches he worked all night on to the rest of the core members, being Endō Mitsuru (Director), Matsukawa Minae (Producer) Takumi Shū (Supervision) and Yamazaki Takeshi (Planning). Together they have to decide which sketch to use for the public announcement of the game on October 11, 2005.

This article is a full transcript of the video. The video is not available here.

Secret Footage - Episode 1: The First Face-to-face Meeting Was A Cruel Trap (2007)

Title: Secret Footage - Episode 1: The First Face-to-face Meeting Was A Cruel Trap / 『極秘動画　　第1回　初顔合わせは苦いワナ』
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 4 official website (not available anymore due to site renewal)

Summary: On March 30, 2007, “Secret Footage” was posted on the official Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 - Apollo Justice) website. The video gave a very rare glimpse at how meetings go within the development team of the game and was the first in a series of three that would reveal how the protagonist of the game, Odoroki Hōsuke (Apollo Justice), was created. This first entry is dated October 2005 and shows the first very face-to-face meeting of the core members of the development team Endō Mitsuru (Director), Matsukawa Minae (Producer) Takumi Shū (Supervision), Nuri Kazuya (Designer) and Yamazaki Takeshi (Planning). They don’t have time for formalities however, as the producer has an assignment for them already: they have to decide on their protagonist for this by next week due to planned promotion events.

This article is a full transcript of the video. The video is not available here.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - A Romantic Adventure Of Reminiscence With The Development Staff Vol. 1 (2017)

Title: Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - A Romantic Adventure Of Reminiscence With The Development Staff Vol. 1  / 「『大逆転裁判２』開発スタッフと回想する冒險浪漫談 Vol.1」
Source: Nintendo Dream, October issue, 2017

Summary: The October 2017 issue of Nintendo Dream featured a long multi-part interview with the development staff of the 2017 title Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 (The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve). In Volume 1 of this feature director/scenario writer Takumi Shū, art director Nuri Kazuya and producer Eshiro Motohide discuss the game in general. They explain how the game had to be produced under very limited circumstances, but that everyone was eager to get the game out to provide the players with the answers to lingering mysteries from the first game. They also talk about Takumi’s understanding of the characters had changed and how the main visual art was conceived. In the second part of the article, the interviewer showed Eshiro and Nuri columns Takumi had written for Nintendo Dream when the first Dai Gyakuten Saiban  (The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures) was released in 2015 and asked them about the same topics like how they first gotten interested in games and what their hobbies are.

Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to their respective owners.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - A Romantic Adventure Of Reminiscence With The Development Staff Vol. 4 (2017)

Title: Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - A Romantic Adventure Of Reminiscence With The Development Staff Vol. 4 - Episode 3: The Return of the Great Departed Soul / 「『大逆転裁判２』開発スタッフと回想する冒險浪漫談 Vol.4　第3話「未来科学と亡霊の帰還」」
Source: Nintendo Dream, October issue, 2017

Summary: A long multi-part feature starring the development staff of the 2017 game Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 (The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve) was published in the October 2017 issue of Nintendo Dream. In the fourth part of this series, director/scenario writer Takumi Shū, art director Nuri Kazuya and producer Eshiro Motohide look back at the third episode of the game, The Return of the Great Departed Soul. They discuss how the characters were designed and what the concepts behind them were, how the story was written and other tidbits. The article features slight spoilers for this episode.

Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to their respective owners.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - A Romantic Adventure Of Reminiscence With The Development Staff Vol. 3 (2017)

Title: Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - A Romantic Adventure Of Reminiscence With The Development Staff Vol. 3 - Episode 2: The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro / 「『大逆転裁判２』開発スタッフと回想する冒險浪漫談 Vol.3　第2話「吾輩と霧の夜の回想」」
Source: Nintendo Dream, October issue, 2017

Summary: The October 2017 issue of Nintendo Dream featured a long multi-part feature with the development staff of the 2017 game Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 (The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve). In the third part of this unique feature, director/scenario writer Takumi Shū and art director Nuri Kazuya talk in-depth about the second episode in the game, The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro. The duo discusses how the characters were designed, what the original concepts behind this episode were and how things changed over the course of the development process. The article features slight spoilers for this episode and the fourth episode of the first Dai Gyakuten Saiban.

Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to their respective owners.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - A Romantic Adventure Of Reminiscence With The Development Staff Vol. 2 (2017)

Title: Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - A Romantic Adventure Of Reminiscence With The Development Staff Vol. 2 - Episode 1: The Adventure of the Blossoming Attorney / 「『大逆転裁判２』開発スタッフと回想する冒險浪漫談 Vol.２　第1話「弁護少女の覚醒と冒險」」
 Source: Nintendo Dream, October issue, 2017

Summary: The October 2017 issue of Nintendo Dream featured a long multi-part feature with interviews with the development staff of Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 (The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve). In this unique series, director/scenario writer Takumi Shū, art director Nuri Kazuya and producer Eshiro Motohide sit down together to talk about in-depth about specific episodes of the game. In this second installment, the team talks about the first episode of the game, The Adventure of the Blossoming Attorney and talk about how this episode came to be, how the characters appearing in this episode were designed and how things changed along the way. The article features slight spoilers for this episode.

Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to their respective owners.

The Grand Trial Inquiring Into The Development Team’s Resolve - Part 1 (2017)

Title: The Grand Trial Inquiring Into The Development Team’s Resolve - Part 1 / 「開発陣の覚悟を尋ねる大法廷（インタビュー）　前編」
Source: Famitsu, August 10 issue, 2017

The August 10, 2017 issue of Famitsu featured the first half of a long interview with director Takumi, art director Nuri and producer Eshiro on the upcoming release Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 - Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Kakugo (The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve), which was scheduled for release for the following week (the magazine itself is always released before the date on the magazine). This first half of the deep interview includes topics like how this project first started, what the graphical challenges were, reflections on the first game and how elements like the characters have changed for this game.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban - The Adventure of Designing (2015)

Title: Dai Gyakuten Saiban - The Adventure of Designing / 「大逆転裁判 デザインの冒險！」
Source: Capcom

Summary: In the 35th entry in the Capcom Legends column on the Capcom site, where they interview Capcom staff members, designer Nuri Kazuya is invited to talk about his career and about Dai Gyakuten Saiban (The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures), where he worked as the character designer and art director. In this interview, dated July 2015, Nuri talks about the games he worked on before he came to work on the Gyakuten Saiban series, about his favorite characters and about the thought process behind the designs of the main characters in Dai Gyakuten Saiban.

Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to their respective owners.

4 Isn’t A Change From The Old To The New, But A Fusion Between The Old And The New (2007)

Title: 4 Isn’t A Change From The Old To The New, But A Fusion Between The Old And The New /  「「４」は新旧交代ではなく、新旧融和なんじゃないか？と思うんです」
Source: Nintendo Dream, May Issue, 2007

Summary: In this 2007 interview published in Nintendo Dream, scenario writer Takumi Shū, producer Matsukawa Minae and character designer Nuri Kazuya talk about Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 – Apollo Justice). The three worked previously together on Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten (Ace Attorney DS). Gyakuten Saiban 4 was to be a new chapter in the series, featuring a new protagonist. In this interview, the three talk about the atmosphere in the game and the troubles they had with writing the story and designing the characters for this new, but familiar-looking entry of the series.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban - Special Discussion With The Developers To Celebrate Completion & Release (2015)

Title: Dai Gyakuten Saiban - Special Discussion With The Developers To Celebrate Completion & Release / 「大逆転裁判　完成＆発売記念　開発人特別鼎談」
Source: Dengeki Nintendo, September Issue, 2015

Summary: In this long post-release interview published in the September 2015 issue of Dengeki Nintendo, producer Kojima, director Takumi and art director Nuri talk about their recently released Dai Gyakuten Saiban (The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures). Now the game is ready, the team is free to talk about all kinds of things, like how smooth development actually went. They talk about the earlier days of the project, about the length of the original scenario of the game, about voice acting, about overall art design, motion capturing and character modeling and even the marketing campaigns in Japan.

Turnabout Interview 2 – Development Staff Discussion (2005)

Title: Turnabout Interview 2 – Development Staff Discussion / 「逆転インタビュー②　開発スタッフ座談会」
Source: Turnabout Crossover

Summary: A discussion interview about the first DS release of the Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney) series with director Takumi Shū, producer Matsukawa Minae and character designer Nuri Kazuya. The interview was included in the booklet Turnabout Crossover (2005), which was part of the Limited Editon of the Nintendo DS release of Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten (Ace Attorney DS). This was the first game in the series to be released abroad, and the three talk about this new challenge for the series in the interview. Other topics include Takumi definitely not wanting to do anything for the DS port, looking back at the first game, the things they changed for the DS version, character design and more.