Fansub Review: [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet (Episode 09)

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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The preview image ain’t from this episode, but I would like to note that I would fuck the grease right out of her hair. Goddamn, Kisara. Such best girl.

Table of Contents

Release Information

Visual Quality

Script Quality

Results

 

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (404 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: No honorifics. “Onii-chan” as “Brother”. “senpai” as “senior”.

English style: American English.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/Es6HvzNV

Speed: Quick (<48 hours)

Translation style: Crunchyedit.

 

External links.

Group website: http://damedesuyo.us/

IRC channel: #[email protected]

 

 

Visual Review

Karaoke.

[DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_01.34_[2014.06.08_14.13.38] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_00.56_[2014.06.08_14.12.34]

Opening. Not bad. Competent offering of font and effects.

Rating: Okay+.

[DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_22.37_[2014.06.08_14.49.26] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_23.10_[2014.06.08_14.50.11]

Ending. I can see what they were going for with the reflection effect, but it seriously doesn’t blend as well as they think it does. Colors/effects were solid elsewise.

Rating: Okay+.

 

 

Typesetting.

Spoiler:

[DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_02.17_[2014.06.08_14.15.00] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.21_[2014.06.08_14.19.57] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.23_[2014.06.08_14.20.03] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.25_[2014.06.08_14.20.09] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.28_[2014.06.08_14.20.18] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.40_[2014.06.08_14.20.43] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.47_[2014.06.08_14.20.54] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_07.26_[2014.06.08_14.21.45] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_07.53_[2014.06.08_14.22.16] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_23.31_[2014.06.08_14.50.37]

Everything important was typeset, and done so in a thumbs-up fashion.

 

 

Script Review

Main Script.

[DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.47_[2014.06.08_17.30.12] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.48_[2014.06.08_17.30.17] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.50_[2014.06.08_17.30.25]

[DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_06.53_[2014.06.08_14.21.05]

I have no idea what just happened, and that vague, Engrishy line isn’t really helping.

[DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_13.07_[2014.06.08_14.27.35] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_16.03_[2014.06.08_14.30.46]

Couldn’t decide between the American English name and the British English one, huh? Way to straddle that fence, DDY. Hope the spikes don’t do any serious damage.

[DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_12.37_[2014.06.08_20.13.16] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_12.40_[2014.06.08_20.13.22] [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet - 09 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [A8E8B747].mkv_snapshot_12.43_[2014.06.08_20.13.35]

That may be how you introduce people in Japan, but it wouldn’t fly in America.

“This is Nagisawa Shouma, a man who’s reached the eighth rank in the Tendou Style.”

“He’s my mentor in the martial arts.”

Now I’d like to point out, since I have the space (it’s a short fucking review), that the suggestions I offer in my reviews are just that: suggestions. Editing should make a script flow in a cohesive manner, and as such, an editor’s preference for phrasing is more important than copying in my fixes verbatim. What you should be taking out of these lines is that the word order and phrasing/localization need work.

Additionally, I only include representative screenshots in my reviews. There are more parts in the script where “senior” is used when “mentor” would make a much better choice, for example. And there were lines that gave me pause while watching, which weren’t really worth discussing in depth, but still contributed to my overall impression of the release.

Just keep all that in mind before you freak out in the comments about some grand conspiracy I’m conducting to make DDY the most beloved fansub group ever based on the score they get. (Feel free to go through the episode yourself and point out any more mistakes if you think you can find any blatant ones. I welcome your findings.)

 

 

 

Results

Watchability: Def watchable.

Visual grade: B+

Script grade: A-

Overall grade: A-

Not too much to say here. This was a solid Crunchyroll edit, unlike what the competition threw up.

Unfortunately, there’s no single screenshot I can point to as a silver bullet, where I can say “Hey look, they changed line A to be slightly better than it originally was and it saved the fucking show”. That’s why this review is as short as it is. Rather, it’s a compilation of a number of small changes that add up to great effect.

Kudos to DDY on this one. If the show was worth watching, these subs are what you’d want for it.

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24 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [DameDesuYo] Black Bullet (Episode 09)”

  1. Yay, a review. But I do kind of prefer senior to mentor because mentor implies a stronger connection than someone who was just a student before you. Just my opinion though

    Reply
    • Generally I think a senpai in martial arts is supposed to act as a mentor to his kouhai, so the term mentor should be sufficient here. At least, that’s my experience from what I’ve seen of martial arts manga/anime involving senior and junior students, which may be off from real life martial arts but should apply here since it’s anime.

      Reply
    • If you watch the show, they have a rather defined relationship. I wouldn’t use the term without being aware of the meanings associated with it.

      Reply
  2. I never found the defining line for interrobangs (I had to look it up, never knew it was a word), the way I’ve seen it most recently as !? indicating surprise, and ?! indicating yelling. Anything else is gray area, to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

    Reply

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