This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.
Dear Sentai, falling forward only works when you’re not faceplanting into a pile of shit.
Table of Contents
Release Information
Episode details.
Release format: Fucking awesome LE box.
Japanesiness: Western name order. No honorifics. “Senpai” used. “Chunibyo” used. It’s… a unique combination, to be sure.
Translation style: Separate TL from the dub script.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuz-Qe4kEFQ
I wouldn’t say either is super.
Visual Review
Karaoke.
Opening.
Ending.
I know I shouldn’t have been expecting much from Sentai, but it’s 2015, guys. What the fuck is with your fetish for bumblebee subs?
Also, why don’t English VAs sing OPs/EDs anymore? I’m all about that shit.
Yeah, Chu2’s undoubtedly would suck, but they’d at least be funny.
Typesetting.
Whenever I asked English anime companies at cons why they didn’t do typesetting, every single fucking one of them said it was “impossible”. They couldn’t fucking do it. So what the shit is this, Sentai? You lied to my beautiful face?
Three fonts at once? Differing sizes? I mean, I’m shocked in a good way (thanks for trying), but I’m fucking confused at the same time. If you’re capable of this, then you clearly have the tools needed to make Chu2 look good. So why doesn’t it?
Bluntly, how on earth did it take two fucking people to make your subs look so ass? Like, was there a business case presented somewhere that said “Yeah, Javier-san on translation will be good enough, but holy fuck we better put our two best dudes on subtitle styling cuz that’s gonna be where we prove we aren’t just the rejects who couldn’t get a decent job after ADV collapsed.”? Cuz if so, you didn’t do a good job of it.
So what were Dwayne and Luke doing instead of trying? I mean, I already know, but if you’re gonna make angels cry, it better be for a good reason.
Script Review
Main Script.
To Sentai’s credit, they do explain what Chunibyo is (in episode 1).
Also to Sentai’s credit, I needed a laugh to get through the rest of the release.
By the way, the dub handled the “fancies” line with “What a wild imagination.” You know, because someone actually cared about the dub’s script. (The voice acting, much less so.)
Comrade.
If I had to choose the number one for Chuunibyou, it wouldn’t be you, Sentai.
Sentai’s metaphor game is more than a bit rocky.
A bit hard to enjoy my lunchtime when lines like this make me taste my breakfast again.
Notice fucking what? Clearly, the TL-kun just fucking translated each line in a vacuum and figured everyone would watch the English dub and not give a shit. Looks like you forgot about LoveMore, Sensei Lopez.
This is Sentai’s translation for riajuu.
gg, help the professionals out.
Sentai, you were outdone by a few community college kids who subbed this in like 6 hours. Get your shit together.
Disabling a “magical” code by… entering a “magical” code. Is this satire? I sure fucking hope it is.
What a miss. You’re supposed to be making subs that match the Japanese audio; not making dub prompts that fit Rikka’s awful VA. By the way, Margaret McDonald, Rikka is a fucking high schooler, not a 30-year-old soccer mom. Do some research before opening your stupid mouth.
How about some field research on how they taste, Sentai?
Yuuta’s hyped, yes. But do any of you know any fanatics who would ever phrase a line like that? Of course you don’t, because there aren’t any humans who would phrase a line like that.
Jesus Christ, you’re supposed to be creating a script here — something that the characters would actually say. It’s really not that hard a concept to grasp.
Maybe you were thinking of a bridge, cuz generally people don’t cross walls.
She’s being forceful here — “sore dake da”: “That’s just how it is.” And no, that’s not the same as what Sentai has.
What the fuck is this? She’s fucking 20-something-IDK, so why does her line read so fucking out of touch?
I could see this as the intro line to A Serbian Film 2, but anywhere else? No.
Look… Rikka’s not supposed to make sense. But she’s not supposed to make sense in a sensible way. She ain’t the fucking retard from anime club who thinks yelling random shit makes them pocky desu kawaii; she’s the kid who read too many Magic the Gathering novels and had her autism validated by tumblr when she self-identified as Planeswalker-kin.
A dunderhead, Sentai? At this point, the only way you can detox your stupid is by taking a bath in hydrofluoric acid.
EVERYONE WATCHING THE SHOW KNOWS WHAT A DEATH FLAG IS YOU SOULLESS FUCKING INGRATES
You know how long it’s been since I fucking all-caps’d a line? Well it doesn’t matter now, does it? Cuz you fucking ruined it like you did your release. Dunderfucks.
Only under very fucking specific circumstances is “real” considered a noun.
The word you were looking for is… reality. You know, that place where people like you shouldn’t exist.
Rikka’s delusions are not FGC approved, you ignorant shitballs.
Results
Watchability: I wouldn’t say it ranks too high on this scale.
Overall grade: Fail.
You know what really pisses me off here? Javier Lopez is not new to the translation game; he’s been professionally translating since the early 2000’s. The guy should know what the problems with this release are, and he should have realized if he phoned it in this badly that he might get called out on it.
So here I am, Javier Lopez, calling you out. Mausers at dawn?
If you prefer your anime subbed, get a BD release with URW’s subs. I know Final8 did one, and I’m sure others did too. And if you prefer dubs, while I only briefly touched on the dub in this post, it’s about as bad as the subs were. The “professionals” botched this release worse than Japan botched the show’s ending.
Hopefully Sentai can use this review as a guide to get back on track for their next effort. They certainly need all the help they can get, and I’m more than willing to assist in my own sagey way.
You’re welcome.
I really can’t get over how awful Yuuta’s voice is. Hearing that wimpy kid where I should be hearing the voice of Zero is just too much.
Did Sentai do the dub of Dekomori correctly (inserting “death” and related puns into most of her sentences)?
Uhh, no. But Deko’s VA was the only good one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVTKVnv9apY
If someone told me this was a fandub before playing it, I’d believe them. Fucking Sentai.
Holy shit, I never knew this show was a dragon ball sequel. At least the 5 seconds of the above I could tolerate listening to made it feel like one.
I would like to kill myself now, if that’s okay with you.
Those voices don’t fit the characters at all, I haven’t even watched this but man are those voices off.
http://www.crymore.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Love-Chunibyo-and-Other-Delusions-02-Librarian-01.jpg
Of course it’d have a black border.
http://www.crymore.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Love-Chunibyo-and-Other-Delusions-02-Librarian-02.jpg
What the fuck is happening with these subs, I don’t even.
>Dunderfucks
Woah.
No punches pulled. I mad.
“I know Final8 did one, and I’m sure others did too.”
FFF did, and unlike Final8 they’re not so incompetent that they break every release they touch.
Cannot wait to put that box on my shelf and to never actually watch it.
No box picture? Come on, Dark_Sage, I expected much better!
I put it in the buyfag post. Come on, Solar. I try not to repeat shit if I can help it.
When you say the ending was botched, do the sequels make up for it? If not I’ll skip this, I hate when I’m enjoying an anime and the ending just sucks.
Pretty sure the problem was the sequel itself.
The sequel is godawful. Makes you regret ever liking the series even a little.
Personally I loved the ending of the first season, so it just relies on your personal preferences really.
I wrote this a while back, but it sums my feelings up pretty well: http://www.crymore.net/2012/12/20/chuu2s-ending-sucked-and-you-need-to-accept-that/
Not that there’s any point in reading it until you’ve seen the series.
>I could see this as the intro line to A Serbian Film 2, but anywhere else? No.
what even…
Also those voices *shudders*
“Planeswalker-kin”
Tell me that’s not a real thing.
Considering every MTG tourney I’ve been to has had a ratio of 20 dicks to 2 boobs, I think it’s safe to say tumblr hasn’t discovered this is an option yet.
There WAS that thing about meeting and marrying Snape on the astral plane back when Tumblr was on Livejournal. I think they called themselves Snape’s wives or something.
> he’s been professionally translating since the early 2000’s
Maybe that’s the problem. He hasn’t realized that this is 2015.
What exactly is the reasoning behind thinking piss-yellow subs are a good idea?
Don’t want to alienate dub fans now, do we?
I asked that question at a con once — took the presenter aside after his Sentai panel and asked him for a candid answer.
His response? “Studies say yellow on black is the best color for reading subtitles, and we have received a lot of positive feedback on our subtitle coloring.” Not even kidding you.
Yeah, it’s surprising but the yellow subs are actually more popular on the whole than any other font colour variation for some reason [citation needed]. I’ve even seen some groups who sub old-skool series arguing their validity (CentralAnime springs to mind). I personally don’t get it because I think it looks horrible, but it is more readable than Funi’s god-awful font styling so maybe it’s not *totally* useless :/
I asked the CentralAnime guy the same thing, got the same response. I fix their versions to be watchable on my own personal bluray ports. Their errors include:
1. line breaks
2. grade-school punctuation (Wow ! Amazing ! Did you know that if write sentence like this, you will not succeed 1st grade ?)
3. two complete sentences on the screen at once
4. grammar because of strange literal lines like the ones shown on #2.
5. finally the horrid yellow styling
All of which I fix for my own use. I usually do a quick restyle of subs styled in a way I don’t like when there is no other options. However, the level of work I have to put into any CA’s release is the worst. They seriously need a real quality checker.
I have a feeling that they’re confusing “reading” with “noticing”. Bright yellow stands out for sure – that’s why it’s used for safety jackets, guardrails, etc. But distinguishing the contents of bright yellow text? I seriously doubt it.
And I’m guessing the “positive feedback” is from viewers who haven’t experienced anything better.
I guess Sentai is thinking about the seriously colourblind people (or they could just make the subs bolded, a bit more black on the borders and white smeared over the rest, and everyone can live a happier life…).
The thing is that the yellow color of the subtitles is hard to happen in the video, so it will stand out in almost every scenary. White subtitles with black borders can blend in some common scenarios and be harder to read.
Once, a group that I don’t remember the name and that subbed one piece decided to put papyrus-colored(like those of an old map) subs with dark-brown borders and it worked like a charm. It was easier to read than white on black and less fugly than a yellow on black. Double points for them that it also went nice with the anime theme.
I have never, in my 100 years of sitting on my ass and watching shit anime all day, not been able to read white subtitles.
Whatever evidence there may be to support it, anecdotally it’s a style of subtitling I’ve seen gradually fall out of favor over the years, at least in other media. I’d be hard-pressed to name the last TV show, recent movie, VoD, or net video that used yellow subs. Of course, it’s not surprising to see the American anime industry hopelessly cling to outdated ideas.
Well, actually, Sentai is right with what they are saying. Yellow is the color most easily seen by the eye, and will always jump out at you over every other one. Colors tend to get well with their opposites, so yellow jumps out well with purple, red with green, and blue with orange. However, black is commonly used instead of purple so as to be more neutral in appearance. That’s why many commercials and billboards you may see use yellow text, as it is more likely to catch your attention.
Doesn’t mean that yellow subs don’t look like crap though.
Creating styling per-show is much more effort than just making things yellow.
You really don’t read anything I write and just try to spout things to be counter to me, don’t you?
I was agreeing with you, you know…
Well, they used cyan subs in Campione! since the show has too much yellow in the video i.e. golden divine stuffs and etc.
It still looks like crap though. So “creating styling per-show” doesn’t automatically make it any better than this. An average human can read about 25 cps without a problem. White subs at 10-15 cps are hardly an issue even when the readability is affected by the video.
However the horrible dubs are far bigger issue than the color of the subs. Since most games have decent voiceover and Aniplex manages to put some good dubs from time to time I can assume that there are good english voice actors. Sentai and Funi just don’t want to pay for them
“Since most games have decent voiceover and Aniplex manages to put some good dubs from time to time I can assume that there are good english voice actors.”
Yeah, it my experience most games, even ones dubbed from Japanese, manage to not have cringingly bad voice acting. Like, I was totally fine with the Tales of Symphonia dub (it was a little funny hearing Robin as Lloyd, but I eventually got over that), and the Megaman X Command Mission dub was damn good (Megaman 8 or X4 less so, heh). Yet somehow time and time again anime manages to produce dubs I’d never want to touch outside of a few stellar examples like Big O.
Well…
We all have learned that we can’t judge a blu-ray for its package.
Am I the only one who snorted at the “Here, take this” dub part in the first video? It’s almost like they did that intentionally… but why would anyone deliberately troll anime fans within their own territory…
Right? Who would do such a thing.
Yeah, like they’re commies or something.
Why would you buy this shit, D_S? You’re basically supporting this crap.
The packaging is sweet, though.
D_S, pls. Pls.
One of the reviewers from ANN had this to say about the dub:
“Shelling out for the mega-box is also currently the only way to get you hands on the English dub, which offers strong performances across the board. Margaret McDonald handles Rikka’s emotional range nicely. I actually prefer her take on the character, as there’s a more palpable difference between the character’s chunibyo persona and the awkward teenager hiding underneath it.”
“Emotional range” is the absolute last combination of words that I’d use when talking about Rikka’s dub actress.
Consulting ANN about dub quality is like consulting Ronald McDonald about food quality.
But… I like McDonnalds.
I’m like 99% sure that in the narrator’s intro video it says that Yuuta had it in middle school. You know, like when he would actually be in 8th grade? How does both the dub and sub version mess that up? They even said when puberty kicks in. They’d fail the TL test I prepared but haven’t gotten to use yet.
The only thing I can think of is that they’re from some area where grades 1-8 are all just considered elementary school, and there’s no such thing as middle school. And yes, such places do exist. I grew up in one.
It’s been an hour since I read the review and I’m still laughing at “Dunderfucks”.
Dubs with OP/ED sung by dub VAs have always the minority, particularly with shows not meant for kids or mainstream broadcast.
ADV/Sentai and Rightstuf/Nozomi have been doing this kind of typesetting on their discs for ages, but they’re constrained by font licensing costs and the technical limits of the disc standards. Disc subs can’t do movement, transformation, clipping, shearing, blurring, or any other TS/karaoke effects, at least not without hardsubbing.
As for the yellow text, it’s a color that’s easily readable and doesn’t blend in with backgrounds. Fansubs used yellow until 2003 or so, and I find it hard to believe that the human eye has evolved so much in 12 years that this once-acceptable color is now “eyecancer.” If Sentai switched to white with black outlines, their subs would get hated on just like white subs with black outlines from other companies do.
As for the rest of the stuff, I’m not surprised by Sentai’s many failings at this point. Too many R1 companies just care about dumping out raw translations in subtitle form, with some QC to catch spelling/grammar/usage errors if we’re lucky. There’s no concept of creating a script that’s enjoyable as a piece of entertainment. Given the lackluster dubbing and subbing, Sentai’s not getting my money for the show until they put out a standard-priced dual-language DVD version.
Okay, but we can still dream of a day where OP/EDs are at least handled in an interesting way.
Font licensing is a problem, sure, but I have trouble believing that disc limitations are as big of an issue as you claim. The thing is, if they really wanted to, they could easily just hardsub the typesetting, could they not? It’s not like anyone would buy an English release and complain that the video was permanently altered so they could actually understand it and in a visually appealing way, right? There’s no reason not to do it besides laziness, and laziness is no excuse with the price tags they put on this shit.
On the yellow text topic, yeah, fansubs used them for a long time too. But it’s always been “because studies show it’s the most easy to read.” Even if this statement is true, that doesn’t mean it’s aesthetically pleasing. They would be sacrificing a slight amount of readability, and I really do mean slight, for a major boost in the area of not looking absolutely horrible. Again, no real excuse for keeping it the way it is when doing it the way the fansub community requests wouldn’t have a very negative effect on the one thing that the way Sentai does it has going. Also, “their subs would get hated on just like white subs with black outlines from other companies do.” Uh, what? Please show me where people are hating on companies for using black and white as the colors for their subtitles.
The rest I agree with, since we all know how rare it is for a pro to actually put some heart into a translation.
Funi’s font looks pretty awful to be fair, but I think that’s the styling of the font rather than the fact that it’s black and white. The people who’d hate on the fact it’s black and white would be the people who like yellow subs (and yes, they are out there).
I remember watching Korean dub somewhere around the YouTube, that was better than the original and English dub combined, I would be more happier if the English dub of this anime never existed in the first place
SpongeBob edited (pre-2012 era before those greedy cunts from Viacom started to removing them) + Haruhi Suzumiya English dub > Chuunibiyou English dub
“We will carry out the new creation of deletion through the power of hatred against English dubs. Bad acting… Bad direction… Bad discs sets… all will be erased. This is the new state ‘A World Without English Dubs’ we’ll create. No English dubs not even Cowboy Bebop deserved to exist. We will erase those unnecessary trashes for good. The World Without English Dubs will pen a new story on the anime community. The world will change.”