Gyakuten Saiban - Game Vocabulary

One very popular game that almost everyone knows from a certain meme is Gyakuten Saiban 逆転裁判, also known as Ace Attorney, where the lawyer Naruhodo Ryuuichi 成歩堂龍一, a.k.a. Phoenix Wright goes around lawyering miraculously. Since this is really fun game with a lot of Japanese text to read and that requires actually understanding the phrases to win, I decided to compile in this post some of the vocabulary you need to play the game in Japanese.

Contents:

• People and Their Titles
• Elements of a Crime
• Proofs, Testimonies and Evidences
• Interrogation
• Truth and Lie
• Court
• Murder and Death

Before anything else, I want to say that the game isn't that hard to understand to someone who's been learning Japanese for some time. Of course you need some knowledge of the language, and at least be able to read a mangao r another in Japanese. But it's a lot easier than reading a light novel, for example.

The style of the game is a visual novel. There's no action in real time, only text. So you can relax and use a dictionary as much as you want. Personally, I think it's a very fun story, and the interactions between the protagonist and other characters are great. Really an excellent series.

Atention: the first and second game has been adapted into an anime. Do NOT watch the anime! It's full of spoilers. The game is based on showing the right evidence at the right time, and the anime will tell you which they are, that is, it won't be challenging to play after that.

(besides that, whose idea was it to adapt a game a game where you stay in a court interrogating people for hours?)

Anyway, let's start with the most important vocabulary:

• gyakuten 逆転
  Reversal. (from losing to winning)
• gyakuten saiban 逆転裁判
  Judgement of reversals.
• sono "shinjitsu" ni igi ari その「真実」に異議あり
  [I] have an objection to this "truth."

(obs.: never translate titles)

People and Their Titles

• hikokunin 被告人
  Accused. Defendant. (you help this guy)
• higaisha 被害者
  Victim. (who died)
• shounin 証人
  Witness. (who saw the crime)
• kenji 検事
  Prosecutor. (who's convincing the judge the accused is guilty)
• bengonin 弁護人
  Attorney. Defender. (who's convincing the judge the accused is not guilty)
• saibanchou 裁判長
  The judge. (of the trial being held)

• saibankan 裁判官
  A judge. (any judge)
• bengoshi 弁護士
  An attorney. (not specifically the one defending)

• kawa 側
  Side. (suffix)
• kenji-gawa 検事側
  The prosecution. (side of the prosecutor)
• bengo-gawa 弁護側
  The defense. (side of the defender)

• irai 依頼
  A commercial order for a given service. A task. (like the one to defend someone)
• irainin 依頼人
  Client. (in the case of a bengoshi, probably the hikokunin)

• kankei 関係
  Relation. Relationship. (of someone with someone, something with something, etc.)
• kankeisha 関係者
  Someone related. (to the crime, a witness etc.)

• hakken 発見
  Discovery. First sight. (of the dead body of the victim, for example)
• hakkensha 発見者
  Someone who discovered something for the first time. (the person who saw the dead body first)

• keisatsu 警察
  The police.
• keikan 警官
  One police. (policeman)
• keiji 刑事
  Detective. (of the police)
• keibi 警備
  Guard. (of the court, for example)

• okasu 犯す
  To commit. (a crime)
• hannin 犯人
  The criminal. 
• shin han'nin 真犯人
  The true, real, actual criminal.

Elements of a Crime

• shitai 死体
  Dead body. Corpse.
• shiin 死因
  Cause of death.
• genba 現場
  Location of the crime. (where it happened)
• douki 動機
  Motive. (to commit the crime.)
  (You need this because apparently there are no psychopaths in the game who kill without motive)
• buki 武器
  Weapon. (with which the victim was murdered)

Proofs, Testimonies and Evidences

• shouko 証拠
  Proof. (that something happened)
• shoukohin 証拠品
  Physical proof, Evidence. Object that proves something.
• shougen 証言
  Testimony. What the witness said.
• shougen suru 証言する
  To testify. (the act of a witness making a testimony)
• shougen kaishi 証言開始
  Start of testimony. (shows before a witness speaks)
• shougen chuu 証言中
  Testifying. During the testimony. (shows while the witness speaks)

• kettei 決定
  Decision.
• ketteiteki 決定的
  Decisive. Conclusive.
• ketteiteki na shoukohin 決定的な証拠品
  Conclusive proof. Conclusive evidence. (with this we can basically stop the trial 'cause we're done)
• ketteiteki na shounin 決定的な証人
  Conclusive testimony.

• kiroku 記録
  Record. Registry.
• houtei kiroku 法廷記録
  Court records. (where you can see the shoukohin in the game)

• shitsumon 質問
  Question.
• shitsumon suru 質問する
  To ask.
• kotaeru 答える
  To answer.
• jouhou 情報
  Information.
• hakken suru 発見する
  To discover something for the time.
• mokushi 目視する
  To see (something). To have seen something.
• keisatsu wo yobu 警察を呼ぶ
  To call the police.

Interrogation

• jinmon 尋問
  Interrogation. (of a witness)
• tsukitsukeru 突き付ける
  To put in front.To thrust forward. To present. (an evidence)
• yusaburu 揺さぶる
  To shake. (someone for more words)
• igi ari!! 異議あり!!
  Objection!! (literally: "have objection")
  ("to object" and "objection" are court-lingo meaning "I don't believe any of this bullshit you just said")
• matta!! まった!!
  Wait! Stop! (from the verb matsu 待つ, "to wait")
• tsukkomi 突っ込み / ツッコミ
  Retort. Attack (when given chance).
  (of counter-attacking the prosecution through flaws in the evidences presented)

Truth and Lie

• shinri 真理
  Truth.
• shinjitsu 真実
  Truth. Reality.
• shinsou 真相
  Truth. (yeah, don't ask me the difference between these three words)
• shinjiru 信じる
  To believe. (in someone, or that something is the truth)
• hon no X 本のX
  The true X. (ex.: the true criminal)
• mujun 矛盾
  Contradiction.
• mujitsu 無実
  Lack of truth. Innocence (untrue accusation).
• uso 嘘 / ウソ
  A lie.

Court

• houtei 法廷
  Court. Where people are judged.
• nyuutei 入廷
  To enter the court.
• taitei 退廷
  To leave the court.
• shinri 審理
  Trial.
• saiban 裁判
  Judgement.
• bengo 弁護
  The (judicial) defense of someone.
• bengo suru 弁護する
  To defend someone in court.
• seishuku ni 静粛に
  Silence. Orderly. Order in court. (saibanchou says this after striking his mallet)

• tsumi 罪
  Crime. Sin. Guilt.
• muzai 無罪
  No crime. No sin. No guilt. Innocence.
• yuuzai 有罪
  To be guilty. To have crime, sin, or guilt.

Murder and Death

• jiken 事件
  Case. Situation. Justice case.
• satsujin 殺人
  Murderer. Killer.
• satsujin jiken 殺人事件
  Murder case.
• satsugai shita 殺害した
  To murder someone.
• satsugai sareta 殺害された
  To be murdered. (passive conjugation)
• koroshita 殺した
  To have murdered (someone).
• korosareta 殺された
  To have been murdered (by someone)

• nakunaru 亡くなる
  To die.
• nakunatta 亡くなった
  To have died.
• shindeiru 死んでいる
  To be dead.
• shibou 死亡
  Death. (of someone)
• sokushi 即死
  Sudden death. To have died instantaneously without time to scream or write a will.

Bonus

For those who have read everything, here's some music!

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