Fansub Comparison: [Commie vs HorribleSubs vs Kaitou vs Mori] Military! (Episode 01)

January 10, 2015 by Dark_Sage

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

“It’s a three-and-a-half minute show. How bad could fansubs make it?” – Dark_Sage, before his innocence was taken.

Releases compared:

[Commie] Military! – 01 [49B6037A]
[HorribleSubs] Military! – 01 [720p]
[Kaitou]_Military!_-_01v2_[720p][10bit][D4A7B8F7]
[Mori] Military! – 01 [720p]

Commie and Kaitou are both edits of the HorribleSubs/Crunchyroll release, whereas Mori’s release is an original TL.

Visuals

Typesetting

Commie

As you check the rest, it’s gonna be pretty obvious that Commie wins this comparison.

HorribleSubs

I’m quite pleased Crunchyroll is at least trying to typeset their shows. Due to needing a standardized font for their streams, this is probably about the best they can do.

Kaitou

It’s worth noting this is their v2.

Mori

Mori is a one-man group that appears new to the scene, so it’s reasonable to expect typesetting quality will improve going forward. But they don’t get a pass based on potential — this is the worst typesetting of the four choices.

Karaoke

Commie

My fucking eyes. You’re damn right I’m mad. Christ, the fuck were you thinking? Use borders, for the love of me.

HorribleSubs

As this is the official release, it can be inferred this ending does not exist in Military! canon. Official subs fans, please shield your eyes for the 30-second duration of this ED; it is not for you to experience.

Kaitou

I’ll take it.

Mori

Based on Mori’s blog, I do not believe he intends to add karaoke to future releases.

Encode

Commie

Have to give this nod to Commie.

HorribleSubs

It’s acceptable.

Kaitou

Between this release and Commie’s, it was a bit difficult to decide which was better. The scale tipper for me was the lines — they looked blurrier in Kaitou’s than in Commie’s.

Here’s a screenshot comparison link. …in case you’re incapable of saving the images and comparing them yourself: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/108500

Mori

Even if you’re not autistic about encode quality, Mori’s release is unacceptable. Compare this screen to any of the others and you’ll see the issues pop out like zits on a white kid.

Script

Commie

How do you screw this up when Aegisub fucking tells you it’s wrong?

It’s highlighted in fucking red, you imbeciles.

If you’re colorblind or something, then learn to use the Spell Checker feature. It takes all of ten seconds to not look as retarded as you actually are.

That’s a grenade.

HorribleSubs

Oh, this is a civil strife kinda deal? Interesting, considering your fucking site’s synopsis spells out in no uncertain terms that it’s not.

“The Krakozhia Dukedom and the Grania Republic are at war” — sauce: http://www.crunchyroll.com/military

Kaitou and Mori got it right, but Commie also got this wrong.

Kaitou

Why not something like “Every day can be a battle!” for the dual meaning? Reads awful right here.

For a karaoke comparison, Commie’s is more entertaining though obviously way more liberal, and Kaitou’s is rather standard. It’s a personal choice as to which is better, though I’m partial to the one that fits in a comedy anime.

Mori

Compared to HorribleSubs and its edits, this is rather… dull.

“What are you hiding there?! Take it out!” // “No way! Taking that out would get me in trouble!”

And Mori doesn’t exactly follow standards. For an original TL by a newcomer to the scene, I was expecting worse, though.

Verdict

It’s a bit difficult to draw too many conclusions from releases of this length, but Commie and Kaitou come out as the obvious choices. They’re pretty even, but I’m leaning toward Commie cuz I like their ED better, and they didn’t fuck up their v2. Either should suffice, though.

25 thoughts on “Fansub Comparison: [Commie vs HorribleSubs vs Kaitou vs Mori] Military! (Episode 01)”

jonwoo

January 10, 2015 at 5:32 am

The Kaitou v2 typesetting was correct when I watched the release earlier though MPC. However, It was broken when I loaded it up in VLC just now. I don’t exactly understand the reason for it, but I’m down for still blaming Kaitou.
Reply
- returnity
  
  January 10, 2015 at 7:48 pm
  
  libass?
  Reply
  - Solaristics
    
    January 10, 2015 at 8:08 pm
    
    Wb from the dead.
    Reply
  - jabashque
    
    January 10, 2015 at 10:18 pm
    
    Nope. No font renderer is going to change the fact that a typo in their typesetting results in the renderer trying to find a font called “FrankRuehl1a&HFF&”, which doesn’t exist, so the typesetting renders in Arial.
    
    What I can’t understand is why some viewers (D_S and me) also see the extra serif text while others (Kaitou_Kid, jonwoo, and Dozo) don’t see it. (And this is with xy-VSFilter)
    
    Regardless of the result, both versions are wrong because of the incorrect font. I can’t be bothered to look into it though.
    Reply
MK

January 10, 2015 at 6:44 am

Compare this screen to any of the others and you’ll see the issues pop out like zits on a white kid.

I wonder what would have happened if you swapped the word “white” for “black” in this sentence…
Reply
- PP
  
  January 10, 2015 at 7:03 am
  
  It’d be racist.
  Reply
  - MK
    
    January 10, 2015 at 8:22 am
    
    Reality…
    Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  January 10, 2015 at 10:55 am
  
  Red on white sticks out more than red on black, so it would’ve ruined the joke.
  Reply
  - Dark_Sage
    
    January 10, 2015 at 11:18 am
    
    Hmm… albino would actually work better, now that I think about it.
    
    I’d change the line, but then I’d be setting a precedent for editing my posts based on how offended people get. So, let’s not start down that path.
    Reply
  - QuasImouto
    
    August 16, 2019 at 9:27 pm
    
    Nah, white head zits on black skin = greater contrast.
    (Just my interpretation)
    Reply
Kek

January 10, 2015 at 6:56 am

Mori used the Ohys-Raws video for his release, as it was the only one available when he subbed it. Blame them for the bad encode.
Reply
Anonymous

January 10, 2015 at 7:44 am

It’s pretty cool to see CR trying to typeset things, and hopefully they continue to improve in that division.

I downloaded Kaitou for this since they released faster than Commie.
Reply
Dozo

January 10, 2015 at 8:27 am

Commie’s Typesetting and ED will be fixed next episode. I was waaayyy to tired when I did everything.

Also expect a release a lot faster since I picked up the show a day after it aired.
Reply
- Nyara♥
  
  January 10, 2015 at 9:15 pm
  
  Good to know then, good luck in that~
  Reply
Solaristics

January 10, 2015 at 8:50 am

I’d just go with Commie.

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/108442
Reply
- name
  
  January 10, 2015 at 1:01 pm
  
  Ctrl-Alt-Shift-I
  Reply
- name
  
  January 10, 2015 at 1:16 pm
  
  Also, that’s I as in India, even though the shitty font on this website makes it look like a lowercase L, it’s an uppercase I.
  Reply
- Xavier
  
  January 13, 2015 at 2:24 am
  
  kaitou’s military release lookin like a fuckin tumblr gif lmao
  Reply
Kaitou_Kid

January 10, 2015 at 9:49 am

I would’ve caught that typesetting error if MPC had told me: http://i.imgur.com/90sHi7z.png
V2 fixes the encoding issue Solaristics pointed out there.
Reply
- jabashque
  
  January 10, 2015 at 3:06 pm
  
  To be honest, I’m not sure why some have that extra serif text (like when D_S and I watched it) and why some don’t (like when you, Dozo, and jonwoo watched it). But at the end, it’s not supposed to be in Arial, so you’re still seeing an error anyway.
  Reply
  - begna112
    
    January 13, 2015 at 7:16 pm
    
    inb4 u have a serif font called FrankRuehl1a&HFF&
    Reply
    - jabashque
      
      January 13, 2015 at 7:26 pm
      
      So I was about to post this as a joke: http://i.imgur.com/SsFkvIe.png
      but as it turns out, I do in fact have FrankRuehl installed.
      
      And the serif text that showed up for only D_S and me happened to be the only line that didn’t have the typo.
      
      I guess now we know that the release didn’t have FrankRuehl in the first place, so it ended up rendering in Arial for those that didn’t have the font, looking like this: http://i.imgur.com/90sHi7z.png
      Reply
      - begna112
        
        January 13, 2015 at 7:39 pm
        
        that would explain it. considering, I assume, that kaitou did the TSing himself, he should have had the font.
        Reply
hagamablabla

November 6, 2015 at 11:39 pm

I’m pretty sure Mori’s scripts were the most interesting if you look at the right one.
Reply
- anon
  
  November 7, 2015 at 10:53 am
  
  A mental patient shitting his pants and embarrassing himself is also “interesting” but I wouldn’t recommend it to people
  Reply

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