It is directed by Ayumu Watanabe and written by Atsuhiro Tomioka, with Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi serving as a script supervisor.

The first season—which adapts the first two games of the franchise, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Justice for All—aired in Japan from April to September 2016, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll.

[3] Production of the series was handled by A-1 Pictures, who had previously produced the animated cutscenes in the sixth main Ace Attorney game, Spirit of Justice, and was directed by Ayumu Watanabe with series composition by Atsuhiro Tomioka and character design by Keiko Ōta and Koji Watanabe.

[10] The anime began airing on NNS across Japan from April 2, 2016, replacing Kindaichi Case Files R in its initial timeslot.

[a] The season aired from October 6, 2018, to March 30, 2019, with many of the original production staff retained and Takumi returning as a collaborator.

[24] Jacob Chapman of Anime News Network said that popular reception was "subdued at best and outraged at worst, in ways usually reserved for radically altered adaptations".

Chapman was critical of the animation quality, calling it "constantly off-model and slideshow-minimal but still watchable at least", whilst being more receptive to the adaptation's faithful recreation of the game's events and removal of "extraneous gags and details".