Names, honorifics, and their significance to Narumitsu: A thread of how Phoenix and Edgeworth refer to each other in Japanese, what it means, and why the localization handled it correctly. (1/25)

I'm going to preface this by saying that this is about the first game as I haven't played the others. I might update this thread or make another one if there's any significant developments in later games with how they refer to each other. (2/25)

First of all, surnames. In Japan, you refer to pretty much everyone by their surname. With anyone you aren't particularly close with such as coworkers, superiors, acquaintances, professionals, etc., you use their surname followed by -san. San is a gender neutral honorific (3/25)

that's often translated to Mr./Ms. If you don't use an honorific with a person you don't know well, you will sound very disrespectful. Court would be one of the worst places to drop honorifics. Some jobs, like a prosecutor, have their own title that you use in place of an (4/25)

honorific. The respectful way to refer to Edgeworth is "Mitsurugi-kenji", kenji meaning prosecutor. You can drop the honorifics with friends, and you can use honorifics lower on the respect scale with subordinates and people younger than you (particularly -kun). Rarely are (5/25)

given names used in Japanese. They are used with family members, romantic partners (though not always when you first start dating), and sometimes with close friends. To call a coworker by their given name would be bizarre. So first off, in court. In 1-2 and 1-3, Edgeworth (6/25)

refers to Phoenix as bengoshi (lawyer), bengonin (defender), or Naruhodou. The first two are meaningless, and are usually translated as "Mr. Wright", "Wright", or "the defense". What's interesting is Naruhodou. No honorific. This is an intentional lack of respect from (7/25)

Edgeworth. He's referring to Phoenix by surname alone to show that he has no respect for him. In these two cases he typically uses Naruhodou when he's insulting Phoenix. Outside of court is where things are more interesting, because they aren't restricted by the need to be (8/25)

respectful in court. After the last day of trial in 1-3, right before the infamous unnecessary feelings quote, Phoenix refers to Edgeworth as Mitsurugi. Then, Edgeworth refers to Phoenix as Naruhodou. This is the scene where it's revealed that they know each other so this (9/25)

has a lot of depth. They are calling each other by their surnames alone NOW because they are rivals that don't respect each other. But it's also a reference to the past, to the time they would call each other by surname alone because they were close friends. Moving on to (10/25)

1-4, which I've just begun playing. Phoenix is now referring to Edgeworth as Mitsurugi to EVERYONE. Maya, Gumshoe, and Edgeworth himself. That seems strange, to refer to someone you are trying to help so disrespectfully. And that's what Edgeworth thinks at first too, that (11/25)

Phoenix is being disrespectful. He's not. Phoenix is clinging on to the idea that they are still friends, that Edgeworth is a friend he needs to save. And you'll notice, looking back, that through the whole game Phoenix has mentally referred to Edgeworth as Mitsurugi or (12/25)

"Mitsurugi no yatsu" ("That guy Edgeworth"/"Good ol' Edgeworth". It's ambiguous whether it's meant positively or negatively, until you realize Phoenix is clinging on to their friendship. Then it's clearly fond). He's seen Edgeworth as his childhood friend THE WHOLE GAME. (13/25)

In the recent games, they still call each other Naruhodou and Mitsurugi. This is typical of friends in Japan. Once they become friends again, the reason they refer to each other this way is because they are friends, not because they are rivals. Now, moving on to the (14/25)

localization, and why I think they handled this correctly. You're probably wondering "Okay Ari, I get that surnames are what's used with friends in Japan, but the localization is set in America. Wouldn't using given names be more accurate?" Here's what I think: (15/25)

First, the parts in court. It would be really out there to refer to the opposition in court by their first name in America, so it makes sense why they translated Naruhodou to Wright, even if "Wright" doesn't have the same level of disrespect that "Phoenix" would. (16/25)

When it comes to the post-trial scene in 1-3, that's where things get interesting. You might argue that Phoenix saying "Miles" here would be a better reference to the fact that they used to be friends, and that saying "Edgeworth" is strange because we don't call people (17/25)

by surname alone in America. Correct. But using Miles here doesn't have the same depth that Mitsurugi does. Rather, I think "Edgeworth" is the right choice. Combined with the new knowledge for the player that they used to know each other, it conveys the feeling of (18/25)

"we used to be friends but now I can't even call you by your first name". Which is similar to "we used to call each other by surname because we were friends, but now we do it because we are rivals", that's in the JP version. And now you may be thinking (19/25)

"That makes sense, but why doesn't Phoenix start calling him Miles during 1-4 then? He's trying to prove to Miles that he's still his friend and he wants to help him". Because it would have spoiled the whole game. Remember, Phoenix has been referring to Edgeworth as (20/25)

Mitsurugi in his head the WHOLE GAME. This is vague in Japanese. Until the player realizes they used to be friends, in the JP version they assume Phoenix is thinking of him that way out of disrespect, not because they are friends. If Phoenix thought of him as "Miles" (21/25)

through the whole game in English, it would have made it pretty damn clear that he knew him. And if he started saying Miles to Edgeworth's face out of the blue, despite mentally referring to him as Edgeworth the whole game, it also would be strange. This is one of those (22/25)

cases where the localization did the best they possibly could with the situation. Could they have switched it to Miles and Phoenix later on in the series to better fit with how people refer to friends in America? Maybe, but they've set a precedent. Suddenly changing to (23/25)

first names would imply a dramatic shift in their relationship, but no such thing has happened so far in the series. It's been more of a natural and slow progression to becoming closer friends. So in the end, I believe the localizers made the right choice using surnames. (24/25)

That... was longer than I expected it to be! I hope this was informative, and helped to explain some of the depth shown by Phoenix and Edgeworth's way of referring to each other that had to be lost in translation. (25/25)