Fansubbers please die in a fire
Mar. 18th, 2009 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seishunI’ve been watching Utahime, a drama about a man who was found washed up on the beach near a remote village. Stricken with amnesia (the on/off movie variety, not the real kind) he is taken in by a family which runs the local movie theatre. They name him Taro and he goes to work for them. Many years go by and through the usual set of preposterous coincidences, his wife shows up. There’s the expected tension between him, his wife and the younger daughter of his host family, who has fallen in love with him. The most appealing aspects of this show are its setting (a small costal town in the 1950’s) and the theatre. I worked in a small theatre back in Huntington, and it’s rather nostalgic to see the old side-by-side projectors.
Anyway, tonight I’m watching the last episode. Generally I don’t like watching fansubs. I’d rather avoid the aggravation which inevitably accompanies the horrible, rushed translations and the idiotic inclusion of asides giving cultural references or the translator’s observations about what’s going on. I decided tonight to chance it. Wish I hadn’t, but I wanted to have a better idea of what was going on than I usually do.
The people who did these subs can please fuck off and die in a fire. They’re awful. Grammatical errors. Spelling errors. Constant punctuation errors. And of course the inevitable “Oh, we’re so great that we’re PRESENTING this show to you! Worship us!” ego tripping which seems to walk hand-in-hand with fansubbing these days. These boneheads are in for a real shock if they go into translation as a profession.
What’s also irritating is that my Mac has deteriorated to the point where it can’t play the video with the subtitles running without overheating. The fan’s been howling at me ever since I put the subs on. I really wish I could get a new computer, but the money’s just not there right now. Oh well, maybe in a few months.
ETA: Oh, and fansubbers? You don't actually need to "translate" exclamations. When someone says, "Eeeeeeeeh?" in disbelief, you don't really need to add it to the subs. Also, PLEASE for the love of fucking GOD translate EVERYTHING. YOU know what "kanpai!" means, and *I* know what "kanpai!" means, but maybe just MAYBE someone else doesn't know that it means "Cheers!"
*sigh* Kids these days.
ETA: Oh, and one last thing. When you're translating, think about what the characters are saying. What sounds natural in one language may sound stilted in another. Accuracy at the expense of legibility is worthless. Read your translation. Does it sound natural to you? Does it sound like something you'd say? Does it FEEL right? No? Then you need to examine what you've written and then translate THAT into natural English. Yes, that can be difficult. Yes, it will take longer. So what? Which is best: delivering your subs first, or delivering the BEST subs possible? Your answer will say a lot about you.
Anyway, tonight I’m watching the last episode. Generally I don’t like watching fansubs. I’d rather avoid the aggravation which inevitably accompanies the horrible, rushed translations and the idiotic inclusion of asides giving cultural references or the translator’s observations about what’s going on. I decided tonight to chance it. Wish I hadn’t, but I wanted to have a better idea of what was going on than I usually do.
The people who did these subs can please fuck off and die in a fire. They’re awful. Grammatical errors. Spelling errors. Constant punctuation errors. And of course the inevitable “Oh, we’re so great that we’re PRESENTING this show to you! Worship us!” ego tripping which seems to walk hand-in-hand with fansubbing these days. These boneheads are in for a real shock if they go into translation as a profession.
What’s also irritating is that my Mac has deteriorated to the point where it can’t play the video with the subtitles running without overheating. The fan’s been howling at me ever since I put the subs on. I really wish I could get a new computer, but the money’s just not there right now. Oh well, maybe in a few months.
ETA: Oh, and fansubbers? You don't actually need to "translate" exclamations. When someone says, "Eeeeeeeeh?" in disbelief, you don't really need to add it to the subs. Also, PLEASE for the love of fucking GOD translate EVERYTHING. YOU know what "kanpai!" means, and *I* know what "kanpai!" means, but maybe just MAYBE someone else doesn't know that it means "Cheers!"
*sigh* Kids these days.
ETA: Oh, and one last thing. When you're translating, think about what the characters are saying. What sounds natural in one language may sound stilted in another. Accuracy at the expense of legibility is worthless. Read your translation. Does it sound natural to you? Does it sound like something you'd say? Does it FEEL right? No? Then you need to examine what you've written and then translate THAT into natural English. Yes, that can be difficult. Yes, it will take longer. So what? Which is best: delivering your subs first, or delivering the BEST subs possible? Your answer will say a lot about you.
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Date: 2009-03-23 05:51 am (UTC)Which is best: delivering your subs first, or delivering the BEST subs possible? Your answer will say a lot about you.
It's a fucked-up system, all right. It's why I'll never fansub, because by the time I knock out something decent, everyone will have already watched Crapoku's God-awful, unnatural, fangirl-Japanese-filled garbage. And the majority of viewers don't seem to care, anyway. >_<
And of course the inevitable “Oh, we’re so great that we’re PRESENTING this show to you! Worship us!” ego tripping which seems to walk hand-in-hand with fansubbing these days.
I'm not averse to a credit line. A credit line being the operative words. By all means put your name to it, since you're not getting paid, but there's no need to be as ostentatious as some of these fansubbers are.
These boneheads are in for a real shock if they go into translation as a profession.
I kind of want to start my own agency (or work at one) just for the lulz. Someone on BigDaikon said they were epic.
When someone says, "Eeeeeeeeh?" in disbelief, you don't really need to add it to the subs.
Or - and I know this may seem like a strange concept - think about what English people say when they exclaim in disbelief. I'd volunteer what I say when I see your fansubs, but it'd be a little too profane.
YOU know what "kanpai!" means, and *I* know what "kanpai!" means, but maybe just MAYBE someone else doesn't know that it means "Cheers!"
I hate this most of all. Especially when they then put a footnote saying "Kanpai means 'cheers'". Well, if you KNOW that, why the fuck didn't you fucking translate it?! I don't care if you think it sounds ~*~*~*EXOTIC*~*~*~. The characters are not BEING exotic, you dumbasses, they're just having a fucking drink!!! Like I want to when I see your subs. And I don't even like alcohol!
Does it sound like something you'd say?
I think you may want to revise that statement to "Does it sound like something a normal, non-weeaboo native speaker of the English language would say?" ;)
Wee-a-boo! Wee-a-boo! Wee-a-boo!
Date: 2009-03-23 06:35 pm (UTC)Re: Wee-a-boo! Wee-a-boo! Wee-a-boo!
Date: 2009-03-23 10:39 pm (UTC)