Fansub Review: [Kaitou] Blood Lad (Episode 05)

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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Kaitou vs. Oni: Battle of the Titans. Who will come out on top?

Table of Contents

Release Information

Visual Quality

Script Quality

Results

 

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (324 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: Honorifics. “Nii-sama” untranslated. “Aniki” translated as “Brother”.

English style: American English.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/gAViwinh

Speed: Slow (>48 hours)

 

External links.

Group website: http://kaitou-fansubs.com/

IRC channel: #[email protected]

 

 

Visual Quality

Karaoke.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_01.09_[2013.08.23_01.34.15] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_01.28_[2013.08.23_01.34.44]

Opening. They rolled this similar to how Oni did, except these colors actually made sense.

Rating: Good.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_22.42_[2013.08.23_02.40.33] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_23.11_[2013.08.23_02.41.08]

Ending. Someone wanna explain the logic behind the capitalization? Kara’s fine enough as-is, though I’m not sure where the inspiration for the fluttering petals effect came from. The flowers, maybe?

Rating: Okay+.

 

 

Typesetting.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_01.00_[2013.08.23_01.33.58] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_01.01_[2013.08.23_01.34.02]

The color changes with the title as does Kaitou’s typeset for it. Naisu.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_02.20_[2013.08.23_01.34.56] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_05.31_[2013.08.23_01.53.39]

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_06.58_[2013.08.23_01.55.56] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_07.19_[2013.08.23_01.56.31]

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_15.28_[2013.08.23_02.28.16] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_15.53_[2013.08.23_02.28.45]

Don’t act like you’ve never seen one before, Bell.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_24.24_[2013.08.23_02.49.06] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_24.35_[2013.08.23_02.49.23]

Everything was typeset and done decently enough. Nice.

 

 

Encoding.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_00.04_[2013.08.22_13.20.18]

Kaitou vs. HorribleSubs (big difference): http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/37910

Oni vs. Kaitou: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/37909

Like I said in Oni’s review, if your encode is worse than the HS one, use that instead. Groups do the same with Horrible’s scripts; no need to feel bashful about it.

 

 

Other.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_03.49_[2013.08.23_01.47.12]

Kaitou, you aren’t Funimation. Stop that.

 

 

Bell.

Hydra Bell

She’s wasted on a show like this.

 

 

 

Script Review

Karaoke.

There was too much wrong in the main script for me to bother with critiquing their karaoke.

 

Main Script.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_00.07_[2013.08.23_01.29.22]

It’s spelled “psych”. I would also take “sike” as an answer. Not sure where the fuck you came up with “psyche” from in this context, unless it was a really shitty psychology gag.

Wait a second. Cyanide and Happiness writers, is that you?

cyanide_and_happiness_top-tier_comedy

Oh, you jokers~

[Oni]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][E86E5C9B].mkv_snapshot_02.48_[2013.08.22_13.39.06]
Oni
Well handled, Oni. Wolfy’s freaking out over the prospect that tits-chan got knocked up by Staz, resulting in his words getting jumbled up. You adequately got the point across.

Kaitou… didn’t manage quite as well.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_02.45_[2013.08.23_01.42.29] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_02.46_[2013.08.23_01.42.34]

I don’t even. Not only did they fuck the joke up, they fucked English up too (good old random capitalization). If she gets pregnant from this and creates another ebonics, I’m never going to forgive you, Kaitou.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_03.09_[2013.08.23_01.45.10]

If only magic from a different type of demon lies inside her, then it’s not really a mixture, is it?

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_03.19_[2013.08.23_01.46.17]

What are “the demanding powers of a vampire’s magic”, even? I’m pretty sure you meant “the demands of a vampire’s magic”.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_08.54_[2013.08.23_01.59.49]

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_08.57_[2013.08.23_01.59.09]

>fact

>supposedly

Kaitou, don’t do this to me.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_09.04_[2013.08.23_02.00.14]

a “vampire relative”? He’s their fucking brother.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_09.49_[2013.08.23_02.01.49]

A mail order what? Don’t use words you don’t understand.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_10.48_[2013.08.23_02.03.51]

Like I told Oni, you aren’t removing the vampire, you’re removing its magic.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_10.51_[2013.08.23_02.04.43]

No! How do two groups independently mess this up? Yeah, I get he said “plain” in Engrish, but that’s not what’s being said here.

“plain old ghost”. Done.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_11.19_[2013.08.23_02.06.02]

“the entirety” would only work if used on a singular noun. Since “demon races” is plural, this is wrong.

“Every demon race could be wiped out from the Demon World.”

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_12.14_[2013.08.23_02.08.04]

What, exactly, won’t “it” match? And what the hell is “it” anyway?

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_12.32_[2013.08.23_02.09.18]

Spatial transportation isn’t “power”, it’s a power.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_12.51_[2013.08.23_02.10.26]

on->in

Also, stupidly redundant. Try

“If there’s a problem in my territory, I’ll personally deal with it until there isn’t one.”

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_12.53_[2013.08.23_02.11.25]

By saying “the rule” it implies he’s following one someone else put in place. Wrong. This dude does things his own way.

“That’s my rule.”

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_13.20_[2013.08.23_02.12.37]

“Using emergency treatment,”

The comma’s as necessary as a lobotomy for the editor.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_14.38_[2013.08.23_02.14.54]

That’s not good writing.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_14.46_[2013.08.23_02.16.50] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_14.49_[2013.08.23_02.16.57]

Staz didn’t break Blaz’s arm; he broke his wrist. Also, what the fuck reaction would there be? What, do broken wrists in the demon world start playing Top-40 hits or something? Were disco lights supposed to shoot out from the fracture?

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_14.54_[2013.08.23_02.18.31]

Not incompetent. Weak. There’s a difference.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_14.58_[2013.08.23_02.19.00]

Dear fansubs: Staz was not a stone.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_16.11_[2013.08.23_02.29.47] [Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_16.12_[2013.08.23_02.29.54]

Again, lipstick/nightstick for the joke.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_16.21_[2013.08.23_02.30.55]

Much like Oni, Kaitou can’t into human conversation.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_18.44_[2013.08.23_02.34.15]

I’ve seen enough. Please, no more.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_19.06_[2013.08.23_02.35.17]

More? Goddammit, and this line is practically the same as Oni’s.

There’s no point in doing an original translation if you’re just going to copy the worst lines from the HorribleSubs script.

[Kaitou]_Blood_Lad_-_05_[720p][10bit][2F4B9F27].mkv_snapshot_19.33_[2013.08.23_02.35.55]

They were off the second I started watching the release.

 

 

 

 

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: B

Script grade: D-

Overall grade: D

When it comes to Kaitou vs. Oni, I’d rather watch Oni’s release. But I’m not seeing any reason to wait for either of them. I recommend HorribleSubs for this show.

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14 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [Kaitou] Blood Lad (Episode 05)”

  1. >Someone wanna explain the logic behind the capitalization?

    All the words in katakana are in all caps. I remember seeing this style a lot in the past and it’s a shame it isn’t more common now, since I find it pretty charming.

    Reply
    • My understanding was that this was only done when the katakana in question was mimicking an English word, not for every single instance of the syllabary.

      Reply
      • Some people do it for all katakana. Lots of lyrics entries on animelyrics (for example, http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/ccsakura/ccscycm.htm) do it. Katakana in lyrics for words not normally in katakana draws attention to it, and as ugly as it may be sometimes, all caps does a similar thing.

        And yes, I know that animelyrics isn’t the OED, but this is otaku-style transliterations we’re talking about, where we don’t even use standard standards (like how we use Senjougahara instead of Senjogahara or Senjyogahara).

        Also, I think it makes more sense to apply it either to all katakana or to no katakana. The only time you use it for Engrish is when the word is being sounded out in kana-syllables, in which case it’s almost like a loan word, which basically means it’s Japanese, which basically means it’s the same as “kizuna”. If it’s the “actually trying to sound like English” Engrish, then you just spell it as it would be in English and don’t all-caps it (and maybe capitalize the first word of the phrase).

        Reply
        • Oh, and uh, I meant this more to be address to Dark_Sage’s thing down in the comments about how all-capsing things was “wrong”, not as a direct reply to you, Nyangoro, so don’t feel like I’m directing words and feelings at you.

          Reply
    • Hell no! All-caps looks fucking retarded – especially if it’s applied to random words like “kizuna”, which definitely isn’t English.

      Reply
  2. http://pastebin.com/HR3dbBZb
    As for the Funimation thing, I like it since it’s less distracting than putting a different color right over it. Also, the voices were heard in the background, so they aren’t even main dialogue.
    As for the Ending karaoke- it was because of the Sakuras flying around: http://i.imgur.com/fwZHx3s.jpg
    And it changes to black feathers at the end.
    There was also the bones effect: http://i.imgur.com/ybEOPUL.jpg
    All the words in katakana are in all caps.
    It’s a style thing; many groups have used it as Etoce said, but whatever.

    Reply
    • I don’t hate you for your naivete, but I do hate you for making me waste some of my weekend on this shit.

      I’m only going to address that which you disagreed with me about. Also, please note that these reviews are primarily intended for people who can speak English. I try to keep it a low level, but there’s only so low I can go.

      1. I do actually know my slang, and “up the duff” is not slang in my country. However, I also do quite a bit of research for these reviews to ensure I’m not mistaken. My problem is not with your use of British expressions in what is presumably and American English release (that critique would be more justified in a more competent release). Rather, your absurd capitalization and stale delivery of what’s supposed to be a humorous line is. Also, it would be “conceived”, not “conceiving”.

      2. My problem is not with her current magic being a mixture from two different demons. It’s the phrasing I take issue with. Your release implies all the magic in her body is from a different demon AND that all that magic from the other demon is somehow a mixture. Wrong.

      3. No, the phrasing doesn’t work that way. As written, you’re saying that a vampire’s magic has powers. Close, but wrong (and not even close from an English perspective). It’s the wielder of said magic that has powers.

      4. Mexed missages. If it’s a “fact”, then where does “supposedly” come in? “The fact that supposedly” is wrong in this context. It would be right if it were written, for example, as “The fact that the supposedly English-speaking fansub group leader Kaitou_Kid has never so much as even read a children’s book in English cannot be denied.”

      5. “a pure-blooded vampire relative” makes it sound like he’s a relative of the vampire race. Not only is that a stupid line to write, it’s also completely beside the point which is that he’s their brother. That’s what’s supposed to be conveyed to the viewer there.

      6. “mail order” in that context would be used as an adjective. However, you have no noun for it to modify, so it’s wrong.

      7. Plain is not the same as plain old. I went a bit into this in Oni’s review, but if you didn’t get what I was saying here, I doubt you’d understand my critiques of their release either.

      8. “my body needs higher quality parts or my body won’t match”? Really? The whole point of that motherfucker is that his body parts aren’t supposed to match — he just goes around, taking parts at random from people.

      9. No, that’s not stressing the point, that’s stressing out people who like English. It is poorly phrased and redundant.

      10. What are you talking about?

      Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.25,0:03:50.00,Default,,0,0,0,,Is it okay to apply the rules of the demon world?
      Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.29,0:03:53.12,Default,,0,0,0,,The rule where once you’ve entered another person’s territory,
      Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.16,0:03:56.04,Default,,0,0,0,,you can’t complain what they do to you.

      That’s all I’m seeing for rules. Or is there another part of the episode you’re talking about? It’s a moot point, since you’d be wrong for other reasons, including characterization and line flow, but I want to see where you’re pulling this from.

      12. You said he was expecting a reaction. What reaction? And keep in mind you didn’t say “Why didn’t you react?”, he was asking why wasn’t there a reaction — in the sense that he was expecting a reaction from the wrist itself. To highlight the absurdity of your dialogue, as well as to illustrate to the reader that I am as random as a penguin, I interpreted his statement as one of expecting music and lights to burst forth from Braz’s wrist.

      13. I don’t think you understand what incompetent means. The point is that he can’t tell the difference between their levels of strength and that he will be able to when he gets the bullet removed from his heart. That’s the point of this scene — “You’re weak now as you just painfully illustrated to me, but I can make you stronger. ”

      14. Then say that. In English.

      15. He’s holding a metal pipe. A night stick is visibly closer to what he has, which I guess means the joke works better in English than in Japanese. Awesome. Also, lipstick is a cosmetic.

      16. Well, first I’d ask your TL what the hell the line was supposed to say. But since your TL just copied the line from Viz

      http://www.crymore.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Oni_Blood_Lad_-_05_720pE86E5C9B.mkv_snapshot_19.05_2013.08.22_18.28.04.jpg

      I’d say even they don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s going for the “Let’s not complicate the deal any further by adding additional requirements.” Something along those lines.

      That you actually think this release was good and couldn’t understand any of my criticisms without having me painfully spell them out to you speaks volumes as to your value as a fansubber. Go back to subbing in your native language. English subs are clearly not the place for you.

      Also:
      Your kfx doesn’t look like sakura. Hatsuyuki’s leader could probably point you in the right direction for that.
      Color differentiation is standard. Funi only does that because they don’t have anyone of worth working for them and can’t figure out how to put multiple colors in a script.
      Like Kizuna and Nyangoro already stated, you’re wrong. The Engrish is thrown into caps. Not shit like kizuna.

      Reply
    • Just to clarify the mail order point so that you understand the context that D_S is talking about:

      Mail order can indeed be used as a noun. However, the problem is in the kind of noun. See, mail order isn’t a “thing;” rather, it’s that odd little fourth noun category known as an “idea.” In this particular case, it’s more of a process (or even more simply, a means).

      As such, when you say that you purchased something “from a mail order,” it sounds off. You can’t go to a mail order place to pick up whatever item it is that you ordered. You can’t pick up a mail order in a store and check the price listings.

      If you want to use it that way, then you’re using it as a “thing,” which doesn’t work because (again) that’s not what it is. You’d have to use it as a modifier to an actual “thing” type noun. For example, you could pick up a mail order catalog at the store (or wherever it is you’re supposed to get those things).

      To use mail order by itself, you have to use a different preposition that can work for ideas: “By.” You can purchase something “by mail order.”

      Reply
      • I think all we really need to say here is that “mail order” is an uncountable noun, like “water” or “clothing.” You can’t use an indefinite article with an uncountable noun (“I have a clothing” is nonsense) unless you pair it with another, countable noun (“a glass of water” or “a clothes shop”).

        Reply

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