Fansub Review: [Saitei] Chihayafuru (Episode 08)

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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These guys would sub the entire show in TL Note format if they could.

Release format: MKV (315 MB, 8-bit)

Japanesiness: Had a ton of TL notes, but at the same time did things like translate “hontou da” as “Oh shit”. I was very confused.

Timing: When there are scene changes and the characters’ voices continue onto the next scene, they tend to immediately cut the subtitles off. This is a good tactic to use when characters’ voices barely go into the next and stop very quickly, but when the voices last a while, the cut-off becomes quite noticeable.

Ending scene: Unlike the other groups (or maybe it was just this episode), they included the ending scene… to no good effect because it wasn’t translated. ._.

 

Karaoke.

Opening. The top part was fun to watch and they had great color choice. The bottom, though… I kinda of like my subs where I can read them. Any time it passed a black part in the scene, the bottom line became unreadable.

NyanTaku had it right when they put the two Japanese lines on the ends of the top bar. The karaoke feels too cramped like this.

 

Typesetting.

They threw a lot of effort into this one.

~

lol

Yep. Glitched “typesetting” AND a needlessly long line. Hey guys, N exists for a reason.

(Note: For my non-fansubber readers, N is a type of command you can enter for subtitles to force the line into two parts. That would make this readable.)

When you see what they do for their TL notes, the comparative lack of effort here is going to be hilarious.

 

Script.

They waffle in between calling it “Karuta Club” and “Karuta club”. Make a damn choice. IMO, “Karuta Club” is the best option.

It begins. And no, I don’t know why they called it “yakisoba-bun” and not “yakisoba bun”. We sure as fuck don’t call things “hamburger-bun” or “sesame-seed-bun”.

Oh god, what? Note that they do this for a LOT of lines in the show.

“substitute for”, not “substitute to”.

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Relatively certain you could just go with the English part here… But this could be a positive thing for people who really love keeping their Japanese anime Japanese.

This is done for every line during the karuta game. What the fuck?

This is stupid.

“In the meantime, become the national champion!”

I… what?

Listen, I like TL Notes. No really, I do. But they have to be added intelligently. They have to appear on the screen when it’s necessary for the viewer to understand something that really fucking matters. This does not matter. We know who won. We can see the sizes of their fucking trophies. This is the same damn thing as going “TL Note: Fat kid lost”. It distracts from the anime itself and hurts the viewer experience.

This is the fansubbing equivalent of whipping out your dick (if you have one) at a funeral for an 11-year-old cancer victim and getting yourself off while screaming obscenities in German — it’s distracting and moderately impolite.

N

For the love of your gods, N

 

Watchability: Watchable… if you can stand super hardcore TL Notes.

Overall grade: D+

I don’t think I emphasized enough how much the TL Notes distract the viewer from the anime itself and don’t provide any value. This is not a good way to do things. The only way I could recommend Saitei is if you’re an extreme Japanophile who doesn’t know how to look things up on Google and instead relies on fansub groups to provide them with information.

Commie is really the only choice for this show.

0 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [Saitei] Chihayafuru (Episode 08)”

  1. ” The only way I could recommend Saitei is if you’re an extreme Japanophile who doesn’t know how to look things up on Google and instead relies on fansub groups to provide them with information.”

    I thought you were against TL notes because they distracted you from the anime; however, your advice is for people to look up stuff they don’t know in Google, which I’m pretty sure distracts you even more.

    Either way, it does seem like their TL notes weren’t really needed.

    Happy new year!

    Reply
    • In this case, the only information they provided which couldn’t be derived from the subs is the entirety of the poems in the anime. One could simply look up the Hundred Poets poems, read them, and be provided with all the information they’d ever need — far more than could be received from Saitei’s release.

      I suppose I didn’t phrase the line properly. When it comes to TL Notes, if they can be done sparingly and in good taste, with necessary information being relayed to the viewer so it improves their viewing experience… I’m all for it. When there is a lot of information, the TL Notes should be provided on a static screen, preferably at the end of the show, so people can choose to read or not. Even beyond that, information can be provided on groups’ websites, though that should DEFINITELY be used only when the information is more of an addendum that’s not particularly needed for the anime — for example, the meaning of Chess moves in Last Exile.

      That’s how I feel about TL Notes.

      Reply
  2. “For the love of your gods, N” — Dark_Sage

    Or they could simply set a sane value for the horizontal margins – N should be saved for when you need/want to override the default wrapping options. Subs right to the edge of the screen like that should not be happening, regardless of N use.

    Oh, and are you writing these up in American or British English? It appears you go with American spelling, yet use British grammar rules, as all too many fansub groups do (albeit inconsistently). Yes, the British grammar rules make a lot more sense than the American ones, but you can’t go picking and choosing the bits you like from different standards; you need to pick the one you want and stick with it, regardless of its idiosyncrasies.

    Reply
    • Good point on the margins.

      I only use British English as it applies to quotation marks. It simply makes no sense otherwise. I refuse to edit without thought, so I make one compromise when it comes to quotation marks. I think it’s a fair choice to make, but you’re free to disagree.

      Reply
  3. I think it’s better to stick with one standard than to pick and choose, but it’s acceptable as long as it remains consistent, and you do seem to be mostly consistent, apart from the odd mishap here and there.

    Reply
  4. Don’t you have anything better to do than pick on american/brittish english, Comic Sans, capitalized or not etc. This isn’t a review, you need to look up the qualifications for that. Some criticism to what they could improve would be far more beneficial than all the crap you don’t like. You do realize they aren’t doing this for YOU? They are a bunch of people who translate and subtitle anime in their sparetime for their own enjoyment and for the enjoyment of others. They don’t get paid for this, they don’t get educated. Its all trial and error. If you want to spew negativism on anime subtitles, do it on the commercial sale ones where they actually get paid for their efforts.

    The difference in american/brittish english occurs with usage of internet as people are connected all over the world. American, Brits, Aussies, people who have learned english as their second, third, fourth language. I’m a european, unless TV is in our native language, it is subtitled. I imagine native english speakers, as I assume you are, may have some difficulties with following subtitles all the time. Europeans tend to be used to it. Try going to the cinema where the movie is in english, and subtitled into two different languages at the same time – that you both know. Distracted much from listening to the english, and reading both sets of subtitles? Heh.

    And here you compare some extra lines of text to being “equivalent of whipping out your dick (if you have one) at a funeral for an 11-year-old cancer victim and getting yourself off while screaming obscenities in German”. Isn’t that a tasteless comparison. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t go further in your description than that. I hope that you will at the least consider making more helpful reviews than the ZOMG-I-hate-this style which you have adapted.

    Reply
    • >> Some criticism to what they could improve would be far more beneficial than all the crap you don’t like.

      To be fair, D_S -does- offer his own versions of lines he doesn’t like, as you’ll notice he did for almost all of the screenshots in this post.

      He exaggerates and uses colorful metaphors in his reviews, and you may not appreciate his sense of humor. It’s not the sort of humor that I’d usually appreciate, either, but I can respect that there’s valid criticisms behind what he says. If you go back and read that paragraph, you’ll find he makes a lot of legitimate points:

      “Listen, I like TL Notes. No really, I do. But they have to be added intelligently. They have to appear on the screen when it’s necessary for the viewer to understand something that really fucking matters. This does not matter. We know who won. We can see the sizes of their fucking trophies. This is the same damn thing as going “TL Note: Fat kid lost”. It distracts from the anime itself and hurts the viewer experience.

      (I have no idea if HTML works in these comments so that might come out looking a bit stupid)

      He can be harsh, and you might find his humor in bad taste, but I for one can say I’ve learned a lot from his reviews, both for other groups and for releases I’ve worked on. If you’re willing to look beyond the sarcasm, you might just find some relevant critique.

      Reply
    • Forgive my rudeness but I honestly have no idea what the heck are you trying to accomplish by posting the same goddamn wall of text three times already.

      Reply
      • He’s a fucking moron, that’s the problem. Deleted the excess comments, so perhaps he’ll delete himself from life in turn.

        Reply
  5. I haven’t seen this many TL notes in a fansub release in a long time. Also, the “Red Bean Bun” typesetting is both odd and funny.

    Reply

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