Crymore.net

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (435 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: No honorifics.

English style: American English.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/4yeSWSzX

Speed: Slow (>48 hours)

Note: I used to QC for this group’s Shingeki, but I got tired of the shitty scripts they kept handing me (it’s not the QC’s job to edit), so I quit.

Since I have a tenuous relation with this release (due to my involvement in previous episodes), I should note I may be biased toward it. …or biased against it. Whichever fits the narrative you prefer.

External links.

Group website: http://lag.lawl.it/ http://www.takafansubs.com/index.php

IRC channel: #lag@irc.rizon.net #taka@irc.rizon.net

Fansub.co screenshot comparisons: http://fansub.co/shingeki-no-kyojin/

Subbusu screenshot comparisons: http://www.subbusu.com/view.php?id=6

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening. I fucking love this. The karaoke shifts through three types depending on what part of the OP it is. The color choice is perfect and the karaoke shifts keep people’s attention. When the OP gets crazy with the colors, the karaoke scales back, but when that’s over, the kara goes balls to the walls with the KFX. And the fire effects on the intro/outro are pleasing to the eye.

No complaints, only love.

Rating: Great.

Ending. Much like the OP, when the tone shifts, so does the karaoke. They still played it relatively safe with the font choice, but this is about as good as it gets for white with a black outline.

Rating: Good.

Typesetting.

Everything fits in very cleanly. Lag-Taka did pretty well here.

Script Review

Main Script.

If you’re looking for typos/grammatical fuck-ups to laugh at, you might want to keep your eyes peeled for another review. Lag-Taka’s problem is their shitty writing skills more than their inability to check for errors using Microsoft Word’s spellcheck.

instead. “I should have died instead!”

He’s not frustrated that he didn’t die — the issue is that Eren sacrificed himself to save Armin. Armin’s saying that he’d rather have Eren alive than himself.

This needs to be made clear or the scene doesn’t make as much sense.

These two lines come right after each other. The problem here is the use of “they”, because the lines refer to two different groups — the Titans and Armin’s comrades, respectively — leading to confusion.

You’re probably still going to get the gist of the scene, even with how it’s written, but that doesn’t mean Lag-Taka gets a pass just because you’re able to connect the dots. This isn’t Highlights for Kids.

The use of “for good” here indicates he was following a statement or sentiment that included “shut up”.

I think what Lag-Taka wanted to go for was “If you keep talking like that, I may just have to shut you up… for good!”

The line needs to be phrased in a specific way to match how people actually speak. I think it’s about time we come up with a term for that kind of thing, though. How about “grammar”?

This is supposed to be in response to a scene where lesbian-chan says Armin is a worthless piece of shit but then goes into “lol of course I was just playing around, look at me I’m so whacky” mode to defuse the situation.

Lag-Taka’s “Yeah.” here is the biggest issue, because there’s no reason for Connie to respond with that.

His line is closer to “All right, I guess she’s just messing around a bit more than she usually does.”

He’s kneeling.

Ineffective, stale dialogue is the name of the Lag-Taka game. And they apparently want to win.

“Why are you all just standing around?”
“Why are you people still here?”
“Why haven’t you all evacuated yet?”

All of those are vastly superior to the thoughtless dialogue displayed above.

It would be silly to say this example kills the release by itself. But take it into consideration with the rest of the episode. If all you’re getting is streamlined generitranslations, you’re not getting the full picture. May as well just try it raw and see if you get a similar experience.

You deserve decent scripts for this show, and you’re probably not going to get that with this group’s releases.

Do you even tense?

Protip: “others” can be used in place of “other people” here. It allows you to relay the same information while shortening the sentence and avoiding repetition. And there’s not a single downside to it. Good English is like a miracle drug~ ^_^

With the way this is phrased, it seems like Mikasa’s mom is referring to the embroidery that Mikasa just made.

Unless Mikasa is a time traveler, this is wrong. Try “Our family has practiced the art of embroidery for many generations.”

This sounds as villainous as a Team Rocket line.

It’s like Lag-Taka’s coming up with lines by throwing turnips at keyboards. And by turnips, I mean their staff (sorry turnips, that comparison was unfair).

“I believe you’ve met my father before.”

Eren went to Mikasa’s house so his father could give him a check-up? Thanks for clearing that up, Lag-Taka. I sure would’ve been confused if the line was “He took me along to visit you during your check-up.” {Do note it’s either “check-up” or “checkup”, but never “check up”.}

“shitty brat”. Lag-Taka: insult masters, 2013

Though these lines are back-to-back, “they” does not refer to the same group of people.

Yes, that’s problematic.

By repeating “home”, Lag-Taka is essentially having Mikasa say “I no longer have a home, because I don’t have a home.” While that’s technically accurate, I’m sure the more astute among you can tell why I don’t think it’s going to win a Fansub Pullitzer.

“I no longer have somewhere to return.”

Other stuff — I’m too tired to take more screenshots.

Spoiler:

Vary the word use. “you” shouldn’t be used four times in a row. :/

This is a very common issue in the release.

Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.78,0:01:48.87,SnK main,Springer,0000,0000,0000,,Have you snapped out of it?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.87,0:01:50.04,SnK main,Springer,0000,0000,0000,,Are you all right?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.04,0:01:52.13,SnK main,Springer,0000,0000,0000,,Were you hurt?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.13,0:01:53.37,SnK main,Springer,0000,0000,0000,,What happened to your squad?

This isn’t properly addressed.

Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.45,0:02:11.03,SnK main,Armin,0000,0000,0000,,Worthless piece of shit!

-> “I’m a worthless piece of shit!”

You might want to try writing “revelations” that make sense.

Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.41,0:03:55.08,SnK – Italics,Armin,0000,0000,0000,,The strong devour the weak.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.58,0:03:59.09,SnK – Italics,Armin,0000,0000,0000,,It really is that simple.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.98,0:04:02.84,SnK – Italics,Armin,0000,0000,0000,,It’s just that my friends tried…
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.59,0:04:10.18,SnK – Italics,Armin,0000,0000,0000,,…to join the strong ones.

I’m sure you can come up with something better than “small fry”.

Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.47,0:06:13.71,SnK main,fatso,0000,0000,0000,,Let’s see you try, small fry!

Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.51,0:08:38.58,SnK main,fatso,0000,0000,0000,,Just one word, and a small fry like you is going to see hell!

“owner” makes more sense here than “boss”. For some reason, “middle management” doesn’t scream “I’m super important!” in this line. Go figure~

Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.71,0:06:15.98,SnK main,fatso,0000,0000,0000,,I’m the boss of the local trade company!

“I told you to only kill the father!”

Dialogue: 0,0:14:35.30,0:14:37.22,SnK main,kidnapper2,0000,0000,0000,,I told you we’re only killing the father!

lewl. Yes, this is exactly the thing I’d say after killing a murderer/rapist/general meanie pants.

Dialogue: 0,0:16:24.60,0:16:27.39,SnK main,Eren,0000,0000,0000,,Never stand up again!

Fear not, Lag-Taka fans. Ignoring the other issues, this group does Shingeki justice.

Spoiler:

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: A

Script grade: C (there’s more to editing than just spellcheck)

Overall grade: B-

Though I am pleased that Lag-Taka managed to break the D-tier streak of reviews, my disappointment in fansubs still remains. I hope we’ll see at least one A-tier for Shingeki — the show deserves it.

Next up: Hatsuyuki-Kaitou (episode 6), Commie (episode 7), gg (episode 7), EveTaku (episode 7). Keep your fingers crossed but your expectations low.

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Anime Central 2013 – Cosplay Collection

Dark_Sage — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:39:51 +0000

I was only being mostly sarcastic in my previous post. Unfortunately, Anime Central didn’t have much cosplay we wanted to get pics of. (Part of this may be a consequence of going to cons for the panels.)

Half the pics are from Soup, half from me. Jakeman95 was rolling with us for some of these too. (Click the cosplay pics to enlarge if you want.)

Friday

Fucking dignified pose. (And the only pic worth grabbing on Friday. Thursday was non-existent except for Avengers costumes for some reason.)

Saturday

I think this is Teresa. Not sure, cuz they all look the same in the manga. But Claymore cosplay gets insta-respect, regardless of character.

Soup: “Because Ranka.”

Fair enough, Soup. Fair enough.

She’s from League of Legends, but I dunno which character. Gears-chan?

If there’s a girl in a dress, Soup’s gonna grab that pic. She was super fucking cute though, goddam.

Everyone loves Chinese Batman (except for me, truth be told; I found s2 to be the only watchable season).

Best RPG of all time. This was not gonna go un-pic-takened.

And he runs Dual Blades in-game too. Excellent taste.

We saw these two at Ohayocon this year but never managed to grab their picture, so Soup ran up with the quickness and snapped away.

I’m glad people actually bothered to go for Mondaiji cosplay. Top taste.

We thought the Yuno was a girl at first. But you know what? Still would, no regrets.

jakeman caught this girl Saturday night. Took me a second to realize she was cosplaying as the main character of Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, but I was pretty psyched when it clicked.

As a reward for recognizing her (due to us not being casualfags), she gave us stickers.

~Get~

Sunday

Those wings have gotta be a pain. Soup was all about this, but I didn’t bother grabbing a shot cuz I haven’t seen the show yet. (I know I should, but I’d rather watch Seikon no Qwaser or something better first.)

This girl was pretty stunning in that kimono. (I guess something good came out of Hell Girl.)

Sorry I couldn’t get a good enough pic to get that across, though. Fucking shitty S4.

And that’s it.

For a 25k+ attendee convention, I was thinking this would be cosplay mecca. Though there wasn’t a shortage of cosplay (half the people were in costume), I try to only take pics of the rarer stuff, or the really impressive outfits. So I didn’t end up grabbing much. And Soup came up pretty dry too.

Maybe if all the Homestuckers bothered to cosplay as actual anime characters, we’d have some more pics. Come on, anime fandom, get your act together.

Fansub Review: [FBI] Yondemasu yo Azazel-san Z (Episode 05)

Dark_Sage — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:40:18 +0000

“Sleeping” overnight at airports sucks. But this show does not, so it all evens out.

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (191 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: Honorifics.

English style: American English.

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

Speed: Slow (>48 hours)

External links.

Group website: http://fffansubs.org/ http://ibsubs.jp/

IRC channel: #fffpeeps@irc.rizon.net #interrobang@irc.rizon.net

Fansub.co screenshot comparisons: http://fansub.co/yondemasu-yo-azazel-san-z/

Subbusu screenshot comparisons: http://www.subbusu.com/view.php?id=14

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening. It’s white. And I’m white too, so we’ll give it a pass. (Oh, you thought I wouldn’t touch on the sensitive subject of race in this blog, did you? Well too bad, this Dark_Sage is a warrior of social justice!)

Rating: Okay.

Typesetting.

That phrasing is FaBuIous by ESL standards. (Yeah, it’s hard to fit FBI into a word. Just pretend it worked, please.)

Overall, it’s as mediocre as you’d expect.

Script Review

Main Script.

“meanie” is about as natural here as Undine’s acting skills. Go with “jerk” instead.

“half-assed” isn’t exactly the best adjective to use here. Undine’s mad because she thinks Glasses-chan (this site’s icon is actually of her eye – enjoy the trivia) is going to a mixer. So it’d be more like “You uppity bitch!”

This is so meme.

When in doubt, vary your expletive use. Too much shit actually constipates the subs.

>be the one being

Again, FBI has issues with writing non-repetitive dialogue. Fortunately, though this is a common issue, the writing can be imaginative enough that it allows you to forget about the more minor issues. (But I’ll touch on that later, after the issues.)

I trust WhyNot’s “but I think I’m rather the cool type” a lot more here than FBI’s line (even if WhyNot’s phrasing leaves much to be desired).

“My name’s not ‘Mai’!” is what this should read as. Currently, the line gives off the impression there is a Mai (known to both parties of the conversation) that she’s being confused with, which is not the case at all.

“caught up with” != “caught up in”

Actually, they’re pretty much opposites.

You’re not exactly getting top-shelf editing here, no.

FBI’s Saving Grace

Not seen in this episode: Azazel calling Akutabe “Señor Akutabe”. Happens quite mucho in FBI’s eps.

FBI’s colorful language use matches the choices Interrobang made with season 1. Alongside the lolrandom direction of the show, the inventive dialogue fits in perfectly.

This isn’t your typical “oh we fansubbers are so fucking hilarious, let’s put in super awesome sex jokes and laugh at the responses on 4chon”. These subs actually accentuate the show’s direction in a positive manner. It’s just unfortunate the attention paid to the lulz wasn’t paid to the quality of the more standard dialogue.

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: C+

Script grade: C

Overall grade: C

Though I had expected Interrobang’s joint with FFF to boost the script quality up by a significant margin from Interrobang’s season 1 release, it looks like I was hoping for a bit too much.

However, the clever dialogue is as good as it ever was. And when compared to WhyNot’s release, it’s pretty clear that FBI is the way to go if you can handle the wait.
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Fansub Review: [WhyNot] Yondemasu yo Azazel-san Z (Episode 05)

Dark_Sage — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:30:36 +0000

Expect posts. Enjoy.

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (198 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: No honorifics.

English style: American English.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/GAvK2Jmg

Speed: Quick (<48 hours)

Note: The show is only 12 minutes long.

External links.

Group website: http://whynotsubs.com/

IRC channel: #whynot@irc.rizon.net

Fansub.co screenshot comparisons: http://fansub.co/yondemasu-yo-azazel-san-z/

Subbusu screenshot comparisons: http://www.subbusu.com/view.php?id=14

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening. There wasn’t anything special about this and I can’t say I understand the color choice. However, I can say I liked it more than FBI’s, because just plain white doesn’t really do much for me.

Rating: Okay.

Typesetting.

You can trust WhyNot for accurate translations, brilliant typesetting, and top-tier editing.

Other.

Both scenes have multiple people talking, but only the second has a different color for the text.

I’m gonna assume they’re not just going about this arbitrarily and simply forgot to color-code the top screen.

Script Review

Main Script.

Maybe I’m just ignorant, but I didn’t know what a metastatic nodule was until after I looked it up. FBI went with “The tumor is spreading.” which gets the same point across, but much more clearly. There’s little value in complicating this line.

FBI handled this scene better (a common theme in this episode) with

“The best you can do for her is to grant her dying wish.” // “She’s only got three centuries left, if she’s lucky.”

FBI’s version is a lot more descriptive than WhyNot’s and handles the comedic absurdity of living for 300 more years as being an imminent death. Of course, this only matters if you want an enjoyable script for this show. If you don’t, I think you can already guess which release I’m going to recommend.

What do you mean, “I think”? I’m trying to wrap my head around this, but about the only way the line could work is if she’s someone’s fuckbuddy and thinks that sort of counts.

But that’s not even remotely the case here. Because no one would fuck her. Because she’s fugly.

>abrogate

Oh, WhyNot. I get that you want to make your own unique imprint on this anime, but I don’t think throwing a thesaurus at every other line is the best way to do it. FBI at least attempted to make the flavor they added to the show match the comedic intent (and it does work, for the most part).

Might want to put more thought into these things than whatever will impress your middle school peers.

Wow.

“Until now, but now”? What varied word choice.

Okay, it’s math time! every day + the other = ?

Why don’t you tell us, WhyNot?

The word you’re looking for is “glared”. Unless incompetency is what you were going for. In which case, two thumbs up.

What’s the heat, WhyNot?

A translation you really won’t get anywhere else. WhyNot should win a medal to the head for this.

Another example of WhyNot’s great writing skills.

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: C+ (my standards always win when it comes to the limbo)

Script grade: D

Overall grade: D+

Not particularly impressive or enjoyable, this release is notable only for its inability to match FBI’s. Though WhyNot tends to release this faster than FBI, the script is poorly written and doesn’t even come close to giving the group a favorable imprint on the show. It’s best to wait for FBI on this one.
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Anime Central 2013 – Friday Cosplay Pics

Dark_Sage — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:54:58 +0000

We have some downtime while waiting for our pizza to be delivered, so I thought I’d throw up a collection of all the cosplay pictures I grabbed from this day of the convention.

And here they are…

Oh, I’m sorry. You were expecting passable cosplayers at a 25k+ person convention? Nope, not a single one (male OR female).

I’ll be on the lookout tomorrow, but based on tonight’s results I can’t promise anything.

Yeah, this con sucks. Save your money and avoid it in the future if you have the option. You’re better off looking at yourself in a mirror and putting the moves on the pretty thing staring back at you.

Anime Central Pre-Con Post

Dark_Sage — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:38:17 +0000

I got really fucking blitzed since Thursday nights at anime cons suck, so forgive the lack of info.

If you’re going to Acen this weekend and are cool enough to hang out with SoupRKnowva and me, toss me an email and we can work something out during a panel or something.

Obligatory “I’m not as big an asshole IRL as I am online.” comment. (Apparently I’m pretty intimidating.)

So yeah, no posts until after the con. I’ll be too busy doing awesome stuff here. (Like visiting useless panels and taking pics of cute girls.) Shinegki Kyojin reviews will have to come when I have more free time.

Everything will be okay, just calm down

tl;dr: No new posts this weekend due to an anime con. Please don’t kill yourself.

Fansub Review: [Chihiro] Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko (Episode 05)

Dark_Sage — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:03:37 +0000

So I guess Hatsuyuki wins. Fansub brandfags gonna mad.

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (286 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: With lines like “Nee-san. Senpai is my guest.” take a guess.

English style: American English.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/DZ0MQCfv

Speed: Slow (>48 hours)

External links.

Group website: http://www.chihiro-subs.com/

IRC channel: #chihiro@irc.rizon.net

Fansub.co screenshot comparisons: http://fansub.co/hentai-ouji-to-warawanai-neko/

Subbusu screenshot comparisons: http://www.subbusu.com/view.php?id=15

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening. The karaoke colors at the top constantly change to fit the scene, and the result is impressive. However, while the colors are all kawaii and shit up top, the carpet don’t match the drapes. What results is an oftimes confusing mis-match of colors when everything’s taken in at once.

Assuming you only read the Japanese bits, you’ll be perfectly fine, but fair warning if your eyes drift elsewhere.

Rating: Okay+.

Ending. Chihiro went with a similar philosophy here with the ED — party up front, business in the back. However, with the shifting images and everything, it works out a whole lot better here. And the karaoke effect blends in perfectly with the ED. Well done.

Rating: Great.

Typesetting.

Who wants to bet they just used gg’s translation and called it good? I can’t see two groups coming up with “planned”. This level of stupidity is rarely so coincidental.

I’d wager most typesetters would find this release’s typesetting to be absolute shit, but I thought it was a passable effort. Can’t say I put much thought into the typesetting section other than “does it sort of match?” and “did they bother to typeset most things?”

Script Review

Karaoke.

I didn’t check. Probably should have.

Main Script.

Chihiro: seting the mood just right.

“He’ll somewhat come.”? Yeah, no. Try “somehow”. Unless he’s able to phase in and out of dimensions, in which case Chihiro would have it right.

“Little Bean”, huh? You can tell it’s a direct translation, because it makes no sense.

Do note that just because it’s a direct, literal, word-for-word dictionary match, that doesn’t make it the best choice to use as a nickname. For example, as someone viewing this line in English, what does “Little Bean” mean to you? I’d wager it doesn’t mean anything other than an awkward title that has to be explained away as untranslateable.

For some reason, I don’t believe that was the intended effect when the Japanese writers were coming up with the original script.

They have it as ouji here, but then use “prince” later in the episode. Make your minds up, plzthx.

Ooh, perfect up until the last line where it falls apart worse than Shades of Jenga.

By using “that”, that which he’s referring to must be obvious in the viewer’s mind. And it’s really not clear here. Yes, we know he’s talking about the house disappearing, but there needs to be a specific line or something to refer back to or this doesn’t work out.

Specificity is important.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if we didn’t have groups putting stuff out like this.

But then I realize even fansubbing needs a mudsill class. Thanks for taking one for the team, Chihibros.

Glad to see you’re attempting to erase the stigma behind your name with lines like these, Chihiro. Reach for the stars.

“It might be too big for just I.”

Yeah, great editing.

Girl games? Like Disney Princess Barbie Adventure? Well localized, Chihiro!

the man -> any man

“faint” doesn’t really get the point across. The deal is that he has a HUMONGOUS, Dark_Sage-tier penis. Make the contrast clearer by using “little” instead of “faint”.

Chihirobots, now with 12% fewer human emulation capabilities.

Chihiro consistently left words that should have been italicized in an unformatted… format.

And while we’re on the subject of consistency, I should also mention the timing in this episode wasn’t the sugoiest.

Oh, so it is possible to write this line correctly. Fancy the fuck out of that, gg!

The line you’re looking for is, “You push yourself too hard.” Try it next time you find yourself on a cliff!

Yeah, Chihiro has some issues with sentence pacing. The group members have such an aversion to commas you’d think they were raped by grammar Nazis.

Close, but no English.

“I know you didn’t mean any harm.”

“You actually just wanted to do something nice for me, right?”

Anyone wanna guess what the point of this scene is? Chihiro guessed too, but they made sure to try and get it wrong.

Present tense, peaches.

“You aren’t asleep yet?”

This would be accurate if “sunk” weren’t a word. I guess Chihiro played the retard version of Battleship.

Oh come on, at least try to act like you’re putting some effort into this.

“If she catches me, I’m dead meat…”

“If I get caught, she’ll kill me for sure…”

or something that’s not so bleh.

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: B

Script grade: D

Overall grade: D+

Hatsuyuki put the most (positive) effort into this release. I’d suggest going with theirs if you want the least bad potential release for the show.

Or you can roll the dice and hope one of the other groups realized paste isn’t a proper substitute for breakfast. But I wouldn’t count on them achieving that level of sentience in this millenium.
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Fansub Review: [gg] Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko (Episode 05)

Dark_Sage — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:23:30 +0000

And Incompetency Fest 2013 continues! Unfortunately, if you don’t speak English natively, I doubt this is going to be a helpful review for you. These lines are so fundamentally fucked, it would take a paragraph to deconstruct each one, so I’m gonna forgo much of my normal explanation. Blame gg for sucking so bad.