Several years ago, I wrote a now-prophetic post about how simulcasts were killing fansubs, but expressed optimism given that at the time, at least everything was getting a CR edit. Looking back, you can really see just how much has changed since then, and what I wrote is really showing its age. Unfortunately, the Subpocalypse came to be, and things are only getting worse. With Sentai, Amazon, and Netflix ruining everything, I’m almost nostalgic for the simpler times with just CR and Funi (which have since merged their simulcasts). But just saying that isn’t very convincing, so I’ve compiled a short list of egregious errors and unacceptable practices just from the first half of this season. This is of course by no means comprehensive. Just take it as a sample of what innocent anime fans are wasting money on. I didn’t bother labeling what anime each are from.
Crunchyroll/Funi
Unacceptable grammar
She says “17 straight wins”, not “17 years old”
ショタッ子 (shotakko), while technically correct, should never ever be translated literally like this
Tanuki. Why not just use raccoon dog? Less of a mistake than a horrible editing choice
Every single other dragon’s name is translated as the color: Red, Blue, Gold, and so on. So why is this one Kuro and not Black?
Actually… this one is 100% accurate
Sentai via Amazon/Anime Strike/HIDIVE
General complaint: Hardsubbed signs in terrible font
This is not English
Absolutely terrible TL. I wonder how much time I spent thinking of the perfect insult for Lotte just for this to happen half a year later. Try, I don’t know, figurehead?
Sengoku-senshu, meaning athlete. Normally you ignore it totally, but these assholes added an honorific that never existed
Remember that people pay for this. It’s unacceptable in a professional context
Got English and Math signs backwards
She says “B cup”, and if you think it’s because American and Japanese sizes are different, then the subs should’ve said “A cup”
“How do you extract the voices [and get rid of the music]?”
I sure love TL notes. The messed up appearance is due to HS’s ripping, I hope
“It’s not demonstrating the appeal [of our town] at all”, not “the website is unappealing”.
At least CR uses italics instead of this capitalization garbage. Also, you’ll notice that em-dashes (—) are often replaced by double hyphens (–) for some reason
She says Nejima-kun and Riri-chan, so why are they racist against male honorifics?
When you use “sensei” in the context of a doctor, you’re supposed to say Doctor Naoki in real English. Only leave it when it’s a teacher
Those last two Ririna are supposed to be いいな (“iina”), meaning “good” or “lucky” or “I like this”
Netflix
Don’t you worry, they’ll ruin Fate/Apocrypha and Kakegurui just like they did Little Witch Academia, I assure you.
Japanese says 彼女 meaning “girl”—oh wait, this is just UTW being trolls
So there you have it. The power is in your hands to bring fansubbing back and save anime. Ask almost anyone still actively involved and they’ll likely give you a hand. Or don’t, but at least be aware of the trash these companies are feeding you. We are not subhuman, and we deserve better.
I thought those days of dubtitling where over but sadly not..
I’m glad you guys are still translating anime..
This happens a lot. When watching anime through simulcasts I can notice many mistakes just by listening to the audio. Tho the quality of most seasonal anime subs seemed questionable to me even in the fansub era.
The monkey thing in Sakura Quest was probably made because the translator actually thought it was a one time thing and a monkey comparison made more sense to the general viewer than raccoon dog. It backfired when it was actually important to the plot next episode though.
I’ve noticed this recently as well and have been for the past few months which is why I am not renewing my CR subscription once it ends. On a related note and I think I speak for others as well, we really do appreciate your work, commitment and dedication.
Especially for Aikatsu! <3
Who subs horriblesubs or do they do it their self’s?…
anyway i was watching one piece “cant remember which episodes” and who ever translated these episodes called the straw hats “the twirly hat crew”..
That bit about One Piece is actually correct though.
the twirly hat crew?
HorribleSubs rips their subs from streaming sites like CR.
I don’t even watch anything now except Aikatsu Stars, everything else just doesn’t compare. I’m glad you guys are still subbing
One word: “Laura”. You’re as bad as any of them with your self-righteous and pigheaded persistance in this and your many other pet “localization” ideas – only worse now, because you’re trying to hypocritically call out others for the very same things you do on a weekly basis.
Also “a happening” is a term from the mid-20th century involving performance art.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happening
So its not a reference to the 2008 M. Night Shyamalan movie?
because seriously, that would have been an insult!
If you listen closely when people say her name, you her them called her Loura, not Rola. The difference between R and L in Japanese is small, but sometimes you can hear it. Other hearible examples include PriPara’s Falulu when Unicorn calls her, like Falyulyu. Then listen to Laala calling her, it’s Faruru.
This was an interesting read!
I can understand how it would be frustrating to see so many mistakes in a service you’re paying good money for. It varied wildly by the fansub group, but I wouldn’t say fansubs as a whole were always more accurate with translations. When you encounter an error in fansubs, it’s a lot easier to shrug it off since you’re consuming a free product that was produced by fans in their free time.
The other part is that there isn’t really much incentive for these services to improve. Only one service carries a show at a time, so you can’t choose between different releases if you like one translation better than the other. On top of that, The fanbase wants these products and most viewers are going to accept a mediocre translation over no translation. I wonder how much different things would look if every show wasn’t restricted to one service…
I think that one of the issue about the old fanssubers was that since some of them were busy fight over credit they never made sure to leave proper successors, and now when they start to get back to their lives as they see that nearly everything aside movies and ovas/specials became simulcast, they don’t feel like they must submit anything as most people just go to watch random subs, and needless to say that the new generation don’t appreciate (i’m look at you boruto) these things and just go with the flow, don’t really give much of a dam as long as it got subbed at time, subbing also become harder in legit way since mosts show being licensed right away after or in the current airing season, making some people afraid to be sent to jail for subbing few eps (it rarely though but back at the day we sawill some groups take X and Y shows out of their download list after it been licensed).
some may also complain that the groups take too much time to sub especially when they have things to do and out of motivation, and that they encoded stuff in a way that won’t work on their toster (thankfully it really rare at this day and age but I must admit I also hate when they do.. let’s say 1080p only as it take more space in my hdd and the different size between 1080p and 720p without the right encode is noticeable…)
anyway we need to work really hard to bring fansub back and make sure to show people why it wroth it so they will be more encouraged to sub things or at least prefer fansub over the current shit
This like this is like I will always prefer serious fansubbing.