Fansub Review: [Pomf] To Love-ru Darkness (Episode 04)

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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I don’t like this show, but I *will* masturbate to it.

Table of Contents

Release Information

Visual Quality

Script Quality

Results

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (305 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: Guess.

English style: American English.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/YY2MSGbu

Speed: Quick (<48 hours)

 

External links.

Group websites: http://fffansubs.org/    http://rorisubs.com/

IRC channels: #[email protected]     #[email protected]

SubCompare screenshot comparisons: http://www.subcompare.com/to_love-ru_darkness/

Commie’s fansub reviews: http://notredrevie.ws/autumn-2012-reviews/#tlrd

 

 

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening. It’s just… pink. That’s it. I mean, it’s okay, but that’s all it is.

Rating: Okay.

Ending. The ED worked really well when the girls had outlines and the karaoke copied them over. But in the parts where the karaoke didn’t have the colored background, it got pretty ugly.

Rating: Okay.

 

 

Typesetting.

Sutai and Eien are both supposed to be known for their typesetting, so why does this release hardly have any?

 

Script Review

Karaoke.

What.

???

Doesn’t “piinchi” usually mean “in a pinch”?

The fuck am I reading? No, really, could someone translate this into English? Cuz it doesn’t fucking resemble anything like it.

 

 

Main Script.

Rito’s panting and “Momo!” screams were untranslated.

Come on, Pomf. Deaf people need to fap/schlick too.

this -> that

Reading this straight, she gets the same warm feelings with Mikan that she does with everyone else at school… which can’t be right. The entire fucking episode is all about how Yami and Mikan have a special relationship.

Maybe that’s a direct translation, but it certainly doesn’t seem very accurate. Generally in these shows it’s a “I don’t deserve to be happy.” kinda thing. But Pomf’s saying that it’s more of a “being happy wouldn’t work with my personality” deal.

So I don’t really trust what Pomf wrote here at all.

Quality!.

“No such thing!” ? I… what? How in the hell is “No such thing” a response to the previous line?

 

 

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: C+

Script grade: B+

Overall grade: B

This felt pretty phoned in, which was disappointing. But I can’t say I blame them, since the show is basically mindrot. (I’ll be watching the blus, though. Heard the plot improves.)

Up next is Commie’s review and then Doki’s. (Spoilers: Commie’s release sucked.)

14 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [Pomf] To Love-ru Darkness (Episode 04)”

    • That’s one interpretation, but I’m sure you can see how it could be read the other way too. And that’s an issue.

      We shouldn’t need to do literary analysis for fansubs; the subs should be perfectly clear the first time you read them.

      Reply
      • To be honest, not really. When there’s an ellipse, usually only one component of the sentence is removed, not two or more. In addition, to be a general statement about her feelings it’d need to be something akin to “Like {I do for} everyone else at school”, which would mean that two and a half components were removed – and that strikes me as strange. Admittedly, there might be some simple way to read this that I’m just not seeing, but as it is “Like everyone else at school {does}”, seems to be by far the most logical way to read the sentence.

        Reply
    • I’m actually a pretty big fan of it myself. What’s the alternative, taking out the senpai, etc. or making it “Rito, the upperclassman”, or perhaps “Big Sis Yami”? I think it’s far better left in, because it can’t be translated without awkwardly extending the line, and the honorifics are kinda important – I generally like to know how the characters address each other, because it says a lot. Not in this show so much, but in general. I can still hear the honorifics in the audio, of course, but I’d prefer them to be in the subs as well. However, if this was a dub and they left the honorifics in, then I’d agree with you.

      Reply
      • I’d just take them out. Referring to people as ___-oneechan or ____-senpai is a Japanese thing that doesn’t really translate.

        Reply
        • It doesn’t translate into English, but it’s not really supposed to. It’s a cultural thing. Subs are just meant to translate for those that do not know the native language, not to transform the show into an American remake like what some well-known sitcoms did. Honorifics have inherent meaning and intent within Japan.

          Using specific ones denote a general sense of the relationship those two have. Not just that using -senpai means that it’s an upper/underclassman relationship, but that the underclassman either respects the other person enough to use it, or is using it in a sarcastic or provocative manner because the relationship is more venomous. Both achieving the goal of detailing a relationship with only a few syllables and inflection.

          That’s the usual reason I prefer having honorifics and cultural-specific terminology left in. Yeah, in translating to English we don’t have a lot of parallels, so it wouldn’t make sense. But it’s part of the whole essence of what is going on, so removing them also detracts from the content. Keeping with the cultural aspect and in doing so the original intent of the creators is important to me. It’s fine if not everyone else feels the same.

          Reply
  1. >Sutai and Eien are both supposed to be known for their /superb/ typesetting, so why does this release hardly have any?

    (a) Sandy
    (b) Mikan
    (c) both a and b

    Reply
  2. >I don’t like this show, but I *will* masturbate to it.

    I tried man but all them fog and lightbeams just stopped me.
    It did however made me notice Saki’s pelvis in ShinSekai.

    Reply

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