Fansub Review: [gg] Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 01)

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 by Dark_Sage

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

Shaft’s targeting that Chuu2 market it seems.

Release Information

Visual Quality

Script Quality

Results

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (509 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: No honorifics.

English style: American English.

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

Speed: Quick (<48 hours)

External links.

Group website: http://www.ggkthx.org/

IRC channel: #[email protected]

SubCompare screenshot comparisons: http://www.subcompare.com/sasami-san@Ganbaranai/

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening. Not sure Japan made the best of choices with their credits color, but gg matched it and it looks good when both are on the screen at the same time.

Rating: Good.

Ending. Well, I’d consider it more “insert song” than ending. They have vocals in the background as the credits scroll, but it’s hard to hear so I don’t blame gg for skipping it. (FFF skipped it as well.)

Typesetting.

Not bad at all.

I liked it~

What’s the point in subbing a Shaft show if you can’t even typeset the signs that are on the screen for seven fucking seconds?

No, gg didn’t typeset the “Beautiful Sunday”. They did do the next sign though.

I’m not sure what standard they used for their capitalization or their English, but it doesn’t make much sense. “felt” and “ate” are uncapitalized on two different days, but all the other days have full capitalization for everything. Contrary to gg’s belief, using the Shift key is not that difficult a task.

“The Day Sasami Licked” and “The Day Sasami Munched” are the main English problems here because they need something to act with. She has to lick/munch something (both at once is a potential for disaster in many ways), so having them unspecific like that really stands out.

If the Japanese doesn’t say what she licked/munched, then write in something generic, like… “something”.

“The Day Sasami Licked Something”//”The Day Sasami Munched Something”

We already know what “Kanshi” is, so I wouldn’t say this is all that important to typeset.

Pretty good pick again with the decayed font (or whatever you typesetters use to describe this).

Good thing I didn’t want this translated or I’d be pretty disappoint. (Checking with FFF’s release, it appears to be just a text depiction of what he said, but that’s not the first conclusion someone watching this might jump to.)

^o^

Well, you get the gist. There are a ton of screens in this section (10) that could have been typeset. It’s not really a huge deal, though, since Sasami reads them off the viewer anyway and gg did translate that.

There were four signs like this that they typeset.

I don’t know why they added a dash here.

Don’t have a problem with her using “normalfag”, though. She’s a NEET, so of course she’s gonna bring out dat netspeak every now and then.

None of the text in the main boxes was typeset. Not really an issue, though, since Sasami read it to me us.

In general, they put their focus toward what they needed to. Not bad at all.

Other.

Super wap groups take note: This is what you should be including at the end if the show has it. Art, not sponsor screens.

Script Review

Karaoke.

The whole song translation is garbage. Beyond the bad English and grammar, it simply does not make sense. Go ahead, try to decipher it:

It all starts at the tips of gods’ fingers
They are where my seasons begin
Disturbing me from a long slumber
Slumber so long, longer than the stars
When I covered my ears walking in the crowd
It felt as if I had disappeared
Yes, I want to express my true feelings,
but I’m too immature to use pretty words
I see flowers blooming in the wild
They’re fearful and gentle
The moment I brush through them,
it turns dioramas into realities
The map of my future is drawn by the gods
Drawn by mere whims of the gods
It rings with thousands of sounds
And breaks through tomorrow, chasing after today
When we tightened our bonds under the watch of the stars
I found your warmth
Our bond forms with the blood we shed
But it’s the kind of bond I’m compelled to protect

I’m glad gg tried (in the sense that I like seeing English on my OPs), but I wish they had a translator that knew what they were hearing.

~~It’s also possible the song is just shit, but that doesn’t really excuse the bad English.~~

Edit: Having watched Commie’s version, the song is most assuredly able to be translated into English. gg just fucked it up, hard.

Main Script.

Except it’s present tense for this sequence.

“I’m surprised you know I bought pudding.” // “But I suppose I should know better by now.”

I get that you love Highschool of the Dead. I do too. But you have to move on. The word’s “high school”, not “highschool”. If you graduated from one, you’d know this.

This is a necessary screenshot. Don’t ask why. Just… let me have this.

Pretty confident this is not the best way to handle it. Not that FFF did any better with their “you loli-hag“.

If the goal here is to insult her “undeveloped” body while also calling her old, then “you flat-chested hag” would get that across perfectly. If there needs to be more of a full-body diss, rather than a chest-targeted one, “you undeveloped hag” would work better. Though, “flat-chested” is still my number one choice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjKeubR7EUo

This is fucking weird. Unless she really means “life in general is impossible for me so I may as well be dead”, I got “going to high school/going outside/being normal is too difficult for me so I’m gonna keep being NEET” from it.

“Looks like I’m just not cut out for that kinda life.”

“The more I try, the more I fail.”

I think gg has issues with repetition.

Tense issues again.

“RE: I was told I wouldn’t be able to succeed in life unless I joined the Chocolate Party.” (Unless they used “went” in the sense of going to a party and not joining one in the political sense. I can’t tell, which isn’t good for a release that purports to be in English.)

No pun made.

“Mild chocolate”? Maybe you’re the ones who need to get out of your houses, gg, cuz that ain’t a thing.

“You’re too mild.” -> “You have no taste.”

This doesn’t make sense. If she’s restoring the world to its original state, she isn’t copying it. Rather, she’s pasting the world she already copied before.

“Kagami, reflect the real world.” would use similar terminology, but I’m not really confident in that edit. I’d need a TLC to explore additional vocab options.

This could easily be interpreted as “I have the song recorded from when it was playing in the background.” You have to rely on the context, not the subs, to get that she recorded herself singing the song earlier and it’s now playing on repeat in the background.

“I recorded myself singing earlier. It’s playing in the background.”

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: B+

Script grade: C-

Overall grade: C

gg didn’t have a bad release here, they just didn’t have a good one. The show is completely watchable with their subs and if they had put a little more effort into error management and fixed up their OP translation, this would have been a decently solid release. Unfortunately, they didn’t, so it isn’t.

From the very few screens I used to compare with gg’s version, I can’t say I’m altogether confident in FFF’s release being a whole lot better. Let’s hope it is though.
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46 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [gg] Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 01)”

Nanda

January 11, 2013 at 2:13 pm

>show of the season
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  January 11, 2013 at 2:23 pm
  
  It really is.
  Reply
  - MuscleSpark
    
    January 11, 2013 at 6:35 pm
    
    I already knew it was before even watching it; months ago when I heard it was announced.
    Glad to see you have the same opinion.
    Reply
kayserlein

January 11, 2013 at 2:50 pm

> I think gg has issues with repetition.

I think think they are not alone with that…
Reply
- Nevreen
  
  January 11, 2013 at 4:56 pm
  
  Pretty confident that was intentional.
  Reply
- FalseDawn
  
  January 11, 2013 at 5:05 pm
  
  Pretty confident that was intentional.
  Reply
Anon

January 11, 2013 at 2:59 pm

Not enough typeset gg, it’s a big part of the show. It’s like leaving the effects untranslated in JoJo.
Reply
nINJAkECIL

January 11, 2013 at 3:40 pm

>The episode title in Japanese shakes, and gg has theirs shake as well. Good stuff.
Are you sure they are moving?

>I think gg has issues with repetition.
Except that was what being said. Listen to the audio. Pretty much you get the same with FFF’s.
Reply
- Qrius
  
  January 11, 2013 at 3:51 pm
  
  Judging by the moonrunes, the last “and” seems to be unnecessary (not that I actually know what’s written there).
  Reply
  - nINJAkECIL
    
    January 11, 2013 at 4:00 pm
    
    Yea my bad I didn’t see the double and.
    Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  January 11, 2013 at 4:02 pm
  
  1. On second thought, you’re right, they’re not moving. Man, undue praise. What am I doing?
  
  2. Look closer at those subs. I wasn’t referring to the Choco repetition. [Edit: Though looks like you caught that as I was writing this post.]
  Reply
  - nINJAkECIL
    
    January 11, 2013 at 4:26 pm
    
    I was referring to the ‘and’ repetition though. But nice ‘repetition’ screenie there.
    Reply
2ColouredEyes

January 11, 2013 at 4:06 pm

>This is a necessary screenshot. Don’t ask why. Just… let me have this.
Nice try D_S, but she’s already mine. I already sent a Purchase Order to SHAFT.

>In general, they put their focus toward what they needed to. Not bad at all.
then why didn’t they received a B? Is it typesetting issues?
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  January 11, 2013 at 4:43 pm
  
  They typeset what they needed to (generally) and they did well on the karaoke. Typesetting/karaoke generally are the only things that affect the visual score unless groups really fuck up shit on the font or encoding ends. I didn’t see any reason to drop them down to a B just because they didn’t typeset what was already being read to us as viewers.
  Reply
  - Qrius
    
    January 11, 2013 at 4:59 pm
    
    I think he actaully meant the overall score.
    Reply
    - Dark_Sage
      
      January 11, 2013 at 5:12 pm
      
      Oh.
      
      2colors: Fucked-up English and a gibberish song TL drops the script score down. The script is the most important part of the show, so I had the visuals weighted less. It’s not a 50-50 split like it used to be a few seasons back.
      Reply
    - 2ColouredEyes
      
      January 11, 2013 at 5:35 pm
      
      as Qrius said.
      
      so it’s not 50/50. Thanks for clarifying it.
      
      I watched their release. I do not care for the song translation, unless the single is out. Remember the Engrish songs from Jormungand? Other than that, I agree that /it/ could have been on the QC stage a little more.
      Reply
Akatsukin

January 11, 2013 at 5:27 pm

http://crymore.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/gg_Sasami-san@Ganbaranai_-_01_257674C1.mkv_snapshot_02.39_2013.01.11_08.27.36.jpg

Her response actually does make sense if you think of it from the perspective that her brother wants her to go to school for his own purposes. Also, it might just be the most literally translated line in their whole script; it’s not an error.
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  January 11, 2013 at 6:01 pm
  
  How would you translate it? Currently it doesn’t carry across that meaning unless you’re specifically looking for it.
  Reply
  - Akatsukin
    
    January 11, 2013 at 6:12 pm
    
    Hmm, FFF uses “Don’t expect anything from me.” Without changing anything too much, I think both gg’s and FFF’s takes on the line are fine. If you want to be a bit more lenient, then maybe something like “Do something about it (i.e. your boring life) yourself”, or if either group had left the “rose-colored” part of the line in previously and had the brother say “…boring job as a teacher would become rose-colored”, Sasami could respond with “Get your {\i1}own{\i0} coloring set” or “Get your {\i1}own{\i0} [damn] rose[-colored] glasses.” Basically, “it’s too much of a pain to go to school, quit bitching about it to me and go help yourself.”
    Reply
    - Qrius
      
      January 11, 2013 at 6:20 pm
      
      Ahhh, rose-colored sure brings back memories.
      http://www.crymore.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Mazui_Hyouka_-_01_8529356F.mkv_snapshot_00.20_2012.04.23_22.35.57.jpg
      Reply
      - Novles
        
        January 11, 2013 at 6:50 pm
        
        Why would they keep that as ‘rose-colored’? I think it would be better if it was ‘rosey’ or ‘peachy’ (I don’t know if those terms are used in other parts of the world, but they are here). =-\
        Reply
        
        Nevreen
        
        January 11, 2013 at 6:53 pm
        
        There was a pretty lengthy debate about the whole thing in that review. You can look it up if you’re interested, but I don’t think anyone wants to open that can of worms again.
        Reply
        
        Dark_Sage
        
        January 11, 2013 at 6:57 pm
        
        http://crymore.net/2012/04/24/prelude-to-my-hyouka-reviews/ 167 comments on the post before the actual reviews. Enjoy.
        http://crymore.net/2012/05/04/prelude-to-hyouka-reviews-part-2/ Here’s part 2.
        Reply
        
        natuskashii-ne
        
        January 11, 2013 at 9:09 pm
        
        Not again.
        Reply
    - Dark_Sage
      
      January 11, 2013 at 6:38 pm
      
      Well all right, I’ll take your word for it. Review adjusted accordingly.
      Reply
      - kokujin-kun
        
        January 11, 2013 at 8:06 pm
        
        “Spare me.”
        
        Short, caustic to the point, works in so many different ways, and it’s not a goddamn literalTL.
        Reply
    - Communard
      
      January 11, 2013 at 6:59 pm
      
      I think gg has the best version of this line, I liked it quite a bit. It’s dripping with irony and serves to highlight the dynamics of the relationship between Sasami and her brother. Also it helps the less astute viewer realize that the dependency on her brother Sasami exhibits during the entire opening is mutual, albeit on a different level. But then again I don’t even Nihongo so I might be full of shit.
      Reply
      - Dark_Sage
        
        January 11, 2013 at 7:00 pm
        
        No, that interpretation makes sense. My brain just fucked up when it came to that point.
        Reply
    - etocetera
      
      January 11, 2013 at 7:25 pm
      
      I wasn’t totally comfortable with the way gg translated that line, either. Partially because what she’s saying is more like “stop acting like a child pestering his mom to play with him” and less “stop depending on me emotionally”.
      
      Come to think of it, I think the main cause of my dislike of gg’s line is the “stop” part of the line (implies she’s been indulging him, which she probably hasn’t). “Don’t depend on me so much” would be a nice translation, I think. The irony from the line is important so I think the usage of “depend” is fine.
      Reply
      - dude
        
        January 11, 2013 at 8:25 pm
        
        “Stop being so needy”?
        Reply
        
        Communard
        
        January 11, 2013 at 8:27 pm
        
        You win the prize.
        Reply
kokujin-kun

January 11, 2013 at 8:14 pm

http://crymore.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/gg_Sasami-san@Ganbaranai_-_01_257674C1.mkv_snapshot_05.09_2013.01.11_08.37.28.jpg

They didn’t do the Dead End sign that represented her dead-end life? Really?
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  January 11, 2013 at 8:24 pm
  
  Oh, that’s what it was for? FFF had “road closed” and Commie had “no entry”.
  Reply
  - kokujin-kun
    
    January 11, 2013 at 9:06 pm
    
    Yeah. Normally I’d go with the other two options, but here I’d just pretend it’s one of those temporary orange “Dead End” signs you see in construction zones.
    Reply
corocoro

January 11, 2013 at 9:15 pm

It should totally have been “wee hag”.
Reply
littlejinx

January 11, 2013 at 9:41 pm

could you review commie’s version first before FFF, i want to know what i can watch, and FFF isn’t really a choice for me already
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  January 11, 2013 at 9:42 pm
  
  I’m in the process of reviewing Commie’s right now. Gimme an hour or so.
  Reply
  - littlejinx
    
    January 11, 2013 at 11:09 pm
    
    thank you! i was in a dilemma, since both aren’t what i would say perfect or even close to satisfactory
    Reply
  - Daniel
    
    January 11, 2013 at 11:19 pm
    
    Why Commie first then FFF second, FFF did release before Commie did?
    Reply
    - Dark_Sage
      
      January 11, 2013 at 11:26 pm
      
      I explain that great mystery in my opening lines of Commie’s review. It’s… mostly written. I’m just trying to touch it up a bit since it got kinda tl;dr in places.
      Reply
faganon

January 11, 2013 at 11:10 pm

D_S who is that animu girl you use as your avatar? This is very important.
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  January 11, 2013 at 11:16 pm
  
  You’re the third person to ask me that in the past 24 hours. Is there a scavenger hunt going on somewhere?
  
  Anyway, I have no fucking clue. Found the image on 2chan one day and saved it.
  
  This is the best I can find: http://hohheiho.tumblr.com/post/29197514913/yozora-1344643645578-jpg
  Reply
- natuskashii-ne
  
  January 12, 2013 at 12:03 am
  
  I went for a while not knowing who was in my avatar…
  Reply
Raikiri

January 11, 2013 at 11:23 pm

This anime is interesting…
http://i.minus.com/idnoeQSbjm0Yq.gif
Reply
yo

January 15, 2013 at 1:05 am

A couple other points that stood out to me, were during the ‘[y]ou’re too mild,’ pun series.

Firstly, what does ‘choco dake ni’ mean (if I transliterated that correctly)? After watching Kagami’s sequence a few times, I get the puns occur as ‘__ __ no des, choco dake ni’, but the switch between ‘[n]o pun intended’ & ‘[p]un intended’ seems awkward since the same phrase is spoken during those lines.

Now that I think of it, the first half of the puns feel slightly off as well, because the Japanese sounds more or less consistent while the English has a different structure each time. Something that comes with the translating territory?

Second, after the last pun, aka the back & boob missile launchers, why does the teacher say ‘[y]ou idiot! That was the perfect moment to use your boob missiles!’ ….Isn’t that what she just did?

As an aside, geez animators, how does a person with wings & rocket boosters fly horizontally at something like ten MPH? Couldn’t you have her glide or something? Heck, the wings aren’t even horizontal in those scenes – they’re pointing UP! It stands out because the two running & one flying goes on for like thirty seconds.
Reply

Fansub Review: [gg] Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 01)

Table of Contents

Release Information

Episode details.

External links.

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Typesetting.

Other.

Script Review

Karaoke.

Main Script.

Results

46 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [gg] Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 01)”

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