This April I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo at the same time as pixiv Zingaro was exhibiting a special 15th Anniversary Ace Attorney Gallery. 

Ace Attorney it a visual novel series that started on the gameboy advance before being rereleased on Nintendo 3DS and for smartphones. It tells the story of Phoenix Wright, a rookie attorney who defends clients wrongly accused of heinous crimes (usually murder). Despite the seemingly depressing subject matter, the series is known for it’s quirky humour and larger than life characters.

I've been a massive fan of the series ever since I picked up Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney from my local video game shop way back when I was in secondary school.

Pixiv Zingaro is located in a small shopping centre close to Nakano Station called Nakano Broadway「中野 ブロードウェイ」. 

Nakano Broadway is crammed with electronics shops and small otaku stores. Glass windows display intricately sculpted figures, themselves encased in glass. People milled in an out of this small shops, politely muttering their apologies as they vie for position in the tiny stores. It's almost like the customers get in the way of the figures.

Alas, I could not join the figure fans in their paradise. I had a bullet train to catch, and thus headed straight for pixiv Zingaro. 

You couldn't miss the entrance to the gallery even if you wanted too. A massive billboard sign greets anybody who passes by.

The gallery itself was small. No more than 40 by 40 metres, and was a single room. On the left wall of the gallery by the entrance was a sign explaining the exhibition.

Welcome to the Ace Attorney 15 Year Anniversary “Turnabout Trial Gallery”.

On the 12 of October 2016, The Ace Attorney series became 15 years old. 

In honour of these event we are proud to present the Ace Attorney Gallery. Here you can see 15 years of Ace Attorney art created for the series, magazines and events.

Please take a look and keep looking forward to the future of the Ace Attorney series.

What is Ace Attorney?

Released in October 2001, It is a courtroom battle game.

To date, the series has collectively sold 6.3 million units. The player becomes a defence lawyer and takes to the courtroom, trying to prove their clients innocence. The player acts as a detective gathering evidence and in the courtroom uncovers witnesses lies and contradictions, in order to reveal the truth of the case.

The hero of the game is Phoenix Wright, a lawyer who uses his heroic sense of justice and ability to bluff as weapons in his fight for the truth.  

Phoenix is helped my his Sprit Medium assistant Maya Fey.

His rival is genius Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. 

Interesting and unusual characters help to liven the game up.

The popularity of the game has led to manga, stage plays and movies based on the series.

In 2016 an Ace Attorney anime series began. 

Beneath this explanation was a brief note written by Fuse Takuro, the  lead character designer and art director on Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice.  

About the door illustration 

This image has been specially created for the pixiv Zingaro gallery. Because it is the 15th anniversary of the series I wanted to create a happy image, but I also wanted to show the history of the series and the path that Phoenix Wright has travelled in the last 15 years.

To the right of the image, Phoenix starts as a new lawyer, working under Mia Fey at her law office. 

On the left at the front we see Apollo and Athena, I wanted to give an image of the connecting of two generations.

Phoenix is surrounded by his friends and colleagues at his law office, and I wanted the image to also show the passing of the baton to the new generation. 

Although Edgeworth is not a member of the office, he is the reason why Phoenix became a lawyer, and acts as his rival through the series. As such I added him to the image.

I wanted to the characters to be going into the entrance of the gallery as the patrons who will visit the gallery would, so they are heading towards the door.

Fuse Takuro

-Translation by Peter Bagley (me)

The art on display in the gallery consisted of pieces from all six games in the main series.

That's everything that was on display. I took these pictures bought myself an overpriced cup, and headed back to Tokyo station to catch my bullet train.