He is german... thats why the name seems odd to you. But if were going to pick on dumb names: Gumshoe, Fulbright and other are alot worse.
And you wouldnt want to know what they are called in japanese cause its completely ridiculous. I feel like you are taking the game a bit too seriously Rol. Alright i'll tell you just phoenix... he is called literally translated "I see/I understand". Thats where the play with words on right/wright (i'm right) comes from.

^

English: "Phoenix" comes as a reference to his uncanny ability to turn around cases which were almost lost (as the phoenix comes back from the dead). "Wright" is simply a pun ("Is that right, Mr. Wright?").

Japanese: "Naruhodou" comes from the Japanese word "naruhodo," which means, "I see" or "Is that so?" Ryuuichi is simply a name the creator liked (though its use of the kanji for dragon is played upon in GS3).

In Phoenix Wright, the Feys call Phoenix "Nick," as a shortened form of "Phoenix." In Gyakuten Saiban, they call him "Naruhodo-kun."

Also, for the record:

Dick Gumshoe is called Keisuke Itonokogiri on Gyakuten Saiban.

On that note, Apollo is called Housuke Odoroki, with Odoroki meaning surprise.

Apollo comes from just uncleverness and Justice comes from Fool bright's catchphrase.

Having just finished that case, I can tell you for sure that he never touched the piano in that case either. But then Case 3 in particular was a complete mess from start to finish, possibly worse than the circus case, and going through this replay I'm even more baffled by how you could tolerate, let alone like, that game. I presume the American translators just saw the game's script and decided to mirror the writers' effort.

Well, I could be a practitioner of black magic. Either that or Apollo Justice has redeeming qualities.

I feel as if stupid names befit popular rock band members.

PM'd you to not further derail: my fault for getting us off-track to begin with.

I'm not particularly concerned about getting off topic over discussing a case from the past game; a debate is rather fitting for an Ace Attorney thread.

Despite 4-3 being my least favorite case in the series, and 4-2 being subpar, I still like AJ, due to how excellent 4-1 and 4-4 are. 4-1 is by far my favorite opening case in the series, the entire mystery behind Phoenix Wright's disbarment is executed and explained very well, and the resolution at the end is fantastic. It's a shame the rest of the game was mediocre.

4-1 is one of the best cases in the whole Ace Attorney saga. Not only it is the longest first case (I think), but also the most twisted one. 3-1 comes pretty close.