Fansub Review: [Doki] Hanasaku Iroha (Episode 01)

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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This took me longer than I wanted to write up. Sorry ’bout that. Before I even get to the English of this review, let me tell you this: the Crunchyroll version and Doki’s version both have their good points.

The English is better in the HorribleSubs release, but the karaoke and song translations provided by Doki along with a few choice translation differences makes them my choice for which subs to archive. Take that however you want. They’re both great choices.

Examples of translation differences (Doki on the left, HorribleSubs on the right):

(note: she clearly says one piece in English)

Yes, I would like to know what “sou” means in English.

This one’s actually in favor of Crunchyroll. :S

Enough of that, onto the review. Oh, before I start, did anyone want me to review the Hatsuyuki-Tsuki release of this episode?

No OP in this episode, but here’s the ED.

The heck? May I make a motion to remove all ‘heck’s, ‘darn’s, ‘cripes’, and ‘gee’s from fansubbing entirely? This isn’t Puritantopia; you can swear.

I made a note about this in my HorribleSubs review. This feels more natural, but it’s still a bit janky with the whole “deadline reminder call” thing.

This line had me search my head for a good 30 seconds. “By way of one or another” sounds like something a person would conceivably say, but I can’t shake off the feeling that it could be rephrased better. It doesn’t make too much sense as-is. Perhaps “For some reason, I’m actually quite realistic.”

This harks back to an earlier conversation, but “it” should be replaced with “the can” because otherwise it implies that the corn is being flooded with water.

Different face? How about “other side” or something?

1. Can a mood be like a tunnel?

2. If a mood was like a tunnel, wouldn’t it be dark? If so, why would she be “still” excited?

I avoided most of the nitpicking errors involving commas in this episode, but this really needs to be “You can’t do that, Mi-chan!”

The plural of garlic is garlics. (Note: I actually had to look this up because I wasn’t sure about it myself.)

You’re the daughter of some woman I don’t know.

It’s Hyphen Man! He’s here to show you how to turn two words into one adjective! Ready, kids?

One, two… hypen!

If only she was a candy-giving grandmother…

grudges

Is Satsuki-san sloppy like he is?

I’m talking about her lower body.

This doesn’t fit the time allotted. Either half of the sentence would do just fine by itself.

I probably would have missed this one if not for

<&gamma> i have one too in the release at ~20 but i cant just go back and change it like that, it’s “should should” so you can put that in the review

Thanks, bro. (>_O)b

Overall grade: B

Doki did a pretty good job on this one. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. Hanasaku Iroha is in good hands no matter which group you get.

Oh, if you got this far, you’re probably cool enough to check out my review of the anime.

8 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [Doki] Hanasaku Iroha (Episode 01)”

  1. “You can look at it however you want, but I’m actually quite realistic.”
    ^ that would actually be an incorrect translation since she is literally saying “somehow, I’m actually quite realistic”

    Different face? How about “other side” or something?
    ^ I originally wrote “now different/changed”

    Reply
  2. Will you also be doing the Underwater-Commie release for this (and Nichijou)? Underwater edits the CR subs to improve them, so I’d be interested in how that actually works out. ;)

    Reply
  3. About the one-piece comment, I believe that term is actually used for dresses (one piece) so the crunchy sub is actually correct.

    How do I know? I recall watching several different anime where the characters always referred to a dress as a one-piece.

    I also did a search on google to confirm it:

    http://books.google.com/books?id=2OK1G_AVnCUC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=japanese+term+one+piece+dress&source=bl&ots=0fU1jxMAWI&sig=vR6NsJNpJX89NnHD0KNZLi6hIMc&hl=en&ei=LcGuTYafDIe2tweO0vHbAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=one%20piece&f=false

    Reply
  4. It is not up for debate. “one-piece” is the Japanese term for “dress.” I just read this in my Japanese textbook.

    Reply
    • Of course it’s not up for debate, it’s a simple dictionary look-up. Japanese wanpiisu (one-piece) is a dress, not a swimsuit. A swimsuit is usually mizugi.

      For a reviewer commenting on the quality of translations, starting off by assuming you can directly translate a loanword, without knowing how it’s used in Japanese, is a pretty egregious mistake. :D

      Note: She clearly doesn’t say anything in English, she just happens to say something in Japanese that includes an English loan word. ;)

      Even if she _were_ speaking English, one-piece could be a sundress just as well as a swimsuit – it would depend on the context.

      I always enjoy your reviews by the way, they’re a good place to start. :)

      Reply

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