Fansub Review: [FFFpeeps] Sengoku Collection (Episode 01)

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This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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I know I said I’d do quality shows first, but at 20kbps download here, I have to review the first thing I got.

Release format: MKV (273 MB, 8-bit), MKV (10-bit)

Japanesiness: Honorifics. Japanese name order.

English style: American English.

Group website: http://fffansubs.org/

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/Xzmw4RDQ (for the 8-bit version)

8thsin’s translation critique: N/A

Ji-hi’s screenshot comparisons: N/A

 

Table of Contents

Visual Quality

Script Quality

Timing

Results

Visual Quality

Karaoke.

Opening. The Japanese text is transparent which appears nice at first, but actually prevents you from reading ahead because the letters are too muddled to make out. Black is a suitable color for the font, but I’m not a big fan of the shadow here — it kind of distorts the text when you’re watching.

Insert. They sure put a lot of effort into this.

Ending. The colors shift to match the characters’ hair colors. Good call.

 

 

Typesetting.

Really? Not even a token effort was made? Lazy.

Damn, FFF. I thought you guys were known for your willingness to typeset a lot of signs. Guess not.

 

Script Quality

Karaoke.

To match the tense, this should be “when you said you loved me.” If you want it in the present tense, do something like

when you said, “I love you.”

“fret” is an interesting word choice here. It should really be replaced by whatever “fretting” is supposed to mean in this situation. I’m going to assume in this context that “pout” is the closest to what they were looking for. Either way “fret” just doesn’t convey a strong meaning here at all and should be replaced with something that has more oomph to it.

Nonsensical. How do you “mesmerize” a horoscope?

 

Main Script.

Well, this is a first. I’m relatively certain I’ve never referred to him as King Nobunaga. It’s usually Lord Nobunaga. Also, considering the Japanese didn’t have “kings”, this is pretty much a retarded-as-fuck translation here.

This is good phrasing for the line. While “This is good!” would be acceptable as well, it’s missing out on the flavor of the English language. Relying on a bevy of stock phrases for various situations is one of the worst things an editor could do. “This isn’t half bad!” contributes to the flow of the script in a way that “This is good!” just can’t.

Right now it reads

“I was thrust into this weird place, and for the moment, it feels like you’re the only one whom I can communicate with.”

This is a bit longer, but it’s already split up over three lines. This links all the thoughts in the sentence together more nicely because the first line’s flow stops right after the first comma.

“Since I was thrust into this weird place for some reason, for the time being, it looks like you’re the only one whom I can communicate with.”

This is a combination of good phrasing (“so does it honestly matter?”) with poor repetition (“so many here, so”).

“You have a ton here, so does it honestly matter?”

Clothing is typically “worn”. You’re looking for “worn-out”.

I don’t know what the fuck this is, but if it’s an actual plant, you don’t need to capitalize it.

This doesn’t convey the intensity of her lecture at all. It’s akin to condensing the “Gentlemen, I love war” speech into “Hey, war is pretty good. That’s all I have to say about that.”

In general, I found the script had issues with matching line length to the Japanese voices. This was just the worst time when it happened. And yes, this is a problem for subtitles. When the audience can’t be assured of a smooth reading experience, something is wrong.

One doesn’t go “within” debt.

“puts them deeply in your debt.”

Timing Review

Listing on Entire Changes: http://pastebin.com/eaHYYJjK

Scene Bleeds None.

Key-frame Snap Errors: 1 Minor Error.

Linking Errors: 2 Errors total; 2 Major.

General Timing Fail: 1 Derp Error.

Total Errors: 4

Overall Grade: 3.5/5

This was pretty well done overall. I was hoping to catch at least one scene bleed, but good job, not a single one in sight. Just one issue while watching this, LEAD-INS, Y U ALL OVER THE PLACE? When you have dialogue, don’t make lead-ins like 10–50ms, it feels shit awful to watch it like that.

Also, PRODUCERS, Y U SUCK WITH AUDIO? There are SO MANY times in this anime where audio extends over a scene change, but it’s too short to extend the line without it looking like absolute piss shit. Please don’t do this producers, it’s annoying as hell to watch when it’s like this. Especially during dialogue.

Results.

Watchability: Watchable.

Timing Grade: 3.5/5

Visual grade: C+

Script grade: B-

Overall grade(timing results not factored in): B-

I wasn’t altogether impressed with this showing from FFFpeeps. The show isn’t great, but I think it could have deserved a bit more attention than it got from them.

0 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [FFFpeeps] Sengoku Collection (Episode 01)”

  3. I think “worn clothing” is perfectly grammatically correct. It’s a little old fashioned and not as easy for kids these days to understand as “worn out” would be, but there’s nothing wrong with it as a choice for that line in the strictest sense. You can argue that for ease of understanding they should have chosen a different phrasing but your critique of the line reads like you are saying “worn clothing” isn’t grammatically correct when it is.

    Reply

    • D_S criticized the meaning of the phrase, not the grammar. “Worn clothing” conveys nothing about the clothes’ state of being, but rather the idea that they was worn by someone.

      Reply

      • Actually, worn can mean what you said but it is also another way of saying “worn out” or “ragged”. My issue with his statement is that he is saying it’s not a correct usage of the word when it certainly is, although not the best choice for that line IMO.

        Reply

      • To make what I’m saying more clear, some examples.

        What you are saying and Dark Sage said in the review is that “worn” is the past tense of “to wear” as in the sentence “I have worn these shoes hundreds of times.” But the word also has another meaning of something looking old and battered, as in the sentence “These shoes are looking very worn around the edges, I should take them in to have them repaired.” It is this second meaning of the word that the subs in this case were using and it’s a completely legitimate use of the word, if not a little awkward in this particular case.

        Reply

        • I understand what you are saying Beckett but I think “worn-out” is more common (at least in American English). Using “worn-out” also seems to flow much better.

          Reply

          • I agree, I would have phrased it differently, all I’m saying is that DS is leveling the wrong complaint against that line. He should be subtracting points for using a word that doesn’t flow well with the sentence, not for using a word incorrectly ;).

            Reply

    • Fansubs are generally better in the sense that you get better fonts, typesetting, editing, and song translations/karaoke. Sometimes these things make the release worse than HorribleSubs, but you can assume in most cases that the group isn’t incredibly retarded.

      As for my answer here, I don’t know if they fucked up the CR script. But I would say that in general, this release is going to be better.

      Reply

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