Subtitle Comparison: [CMS vs Crunchyroll vs Mao vs Mori] Wakaba Girl (Episode 02)

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This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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CMS and Mao aren’t entirely relevant at this point, but that doesn’t mean I can’t include them in this post just for the hell of it.

Note: CMS and Mao are Crunchyroll edits, whereas Mori is an original translation.

 

Visuals

Wakaba_Facial

Karaoke

Spoiler for

Wakaba_Girl_Karaoke_01 Wakaba_Girl_Karaoke_02

I’d like to crown Mao the victor here, but with every fucking line colliding awkwardly into the next, CMS and Mori simply had better options. Visually, I liked Mori’s better of the two, but I’ll give the nod to CMS here since they at least didn’t spell “friendship” wrong.

[Mori] Wakaba Girl - 02 [60202D17].mkv_snapshot_01.17_[2015.08.31_19.27.07]
Wrong in two fucking languages.

 

The Fidgets

Spoiler for

Wakaba_Girl_Fidgets_01 Wakaba_Girl_Fidgets_02 Wakaba_Girl_Fidgets_03

CMS and Mao are pretty even here, but due to discolorations in Mao’s release…

[Mao]_Wakaba_Girl_02_[575A7BC6].mkv_snapshot_04.05_[2015.08.31_20.01.37]

[Mao]_Wakaba_Girl_02_[575A7BC6].mkv_snapshot_05.54_[2015.08.31_20.04.15]
I think you can guess what happened with these two.
…and some stupid font choices…

Smap?
Smap?

…I’m gonna give this one to CMS.

 

Other Signs

Spoiler for

Wakaba_Girl_Typesetting_01 Wakaba_Girl_Typesetting_02 Wakaba_Girl_Typesetting_03

CMS is the only one that avoided a mistake in these three comparisons (unless you count leaving the classroom names in Japanese as a mistake). I’d be leaning their way even in spite of that, though.

 

 

Script

Wakaba_Nommery

Gyaru

Spoiler for

Gyaru

Since they all used gyaru here, I thought I’d look back to episode 1 and see if any of them actually explained what the fuck a gyaru was. Turns out, none of them could figure out how to accomplish that with their scripts. So I checked their release posts to see if they could even be assed to include a link to a wiki explaining what the term means. Again, I was let down.

Wakaba_Yandere
Image unrelated. I just wanted to post it.

Until “gyaru” becomes a standard fixture in the Western otaku lexicon, groups should either attempt to explain the term in the subs so that context informs the viewer of its meaning, or attempt to relay the information directly via release posts or as a TL Note in the release itself.

As-is, “gyaru” is basically nonsense to most viewers.

 

Dialogue – CMS

Spoiler for

CMS handled things… differently from what you’d expect. In addition to adding more flavor to character lines…

[CMS] Wakaba Girl - 02 [720p][92DF6D9F].mkv_snapshot_06.01_[2015.08.31_20.16.44]
Crunchyroll: This is dangerously good…
…they also revamped the CR script to be super Japanesey:

[CMS] Wakaba Girl - 02 [720p][92DF6D9F].mkv_snapshot_07.20_[2015.08.31_20.19.03]
Crunchyroll: Let’s see… Any ideas, Mother?
So altogether, they left it in kind of a weird spot to judge on a literal/liberal basis. I did like it, but I imagine the mixing of styles could be disconcerting to some.

 

Dialogue – Crunchyroll

Spoiler for

I watched through the episode with CR’s subs first and found I got everything out of the show that I wanted. Nothing in particular to talk about here, but on Crymore, that’s usually a good thing.

That mouth... <3
That mouth… <3

If you end up watching the show (and it’s a fun one) with CR’s subs, I doubt you’re gonna have too many complaints.

 

Dialogue – Mao

Spoiler for

The most stable of the script options, Mao offers minor improvements to the original script and then leaves the rest well enough alone.

Except for adding double spaces to the script! Double F-!
Except for adding double spaces to the script. Double F-!

There aren’t any asterisks I need to put before a recommendation for this release, so I imagine this is probably the one most people would want to archive.

 

Dialogue – Mori

Spoiler for

As you’d expect from an original translation, a lot of the lines don’t tend to match up with the Crunchyroll-based scripts. Can’t say the comparisons end up favorable to Mori.

Crunchyroll:
Crunchyroll: You must be really rich.

“posh girl” is a weird fucking thing to call someone.

She’s not agitated so much as she is anxious. The CR scripts used “antsy”, which summed it up in a deliciously flavorful way.

[Mori] Wakaba Girl - 02 [60202D17].mkv_snapshot_04.20_[2015.08.31_19.31.47]

I’m not sure what this is, but it’s certainly not English.

[Mori] Wakaba Girl - 02 [60202D17].mkv_snapshot_05.14_[2015.08.31_19.32.57]

If you want an image to sum up how Mori handled the script, this is the one. Avoid this wapglish for the sake of your sanity.

 

 

Best Girlsubs

Best concept.
Best concept.

In order of least bad to most bad:

  1. Mao/CMS (Go CMS if you’re feeling wappy and adventurous, otherwise go with Mao, which is a slightly more stable product.)
  2. HorribleSubs/Crunchyroll
  3. Mori

As I mentioned in the intro, only two of the four releases are even close to being current. As such, you should be fine watching with Crunchyroll and archiving Mao/CMS (if either of them finish the show). Just so long as you avoid Mori, you’ve made the right choice.

 

26 thoughts on “Subtitle Comparison: [CMS vs Crunchyroll vs Mao vs Mori] Wakaba Girl (Episode 02)”

  3. Mori has the best translation though. At least they don’t leave signs in Japanese or have canerous typesetting. They’re the ones you should be archiving not Mao/CMS.

    Then again you seem to think it’s possible for HS to be good so your taste are questionable to begin with.

    Reply

    • My taste are questionable, huh? Sure got me good there Mr. Mori. Almost thought someone was stupid enough to legitimately want your subs.

      Reply

      • Sure is a good thing I’m not the guy running Mori then. I’m just someone who watches their subs because they were recommended to me by others and have a good score on MAL.

        Reply

        • Well it was a toss up between shill or retard, so I’m glad you cleared that up at least.

          Whoever recommended this abortion of English to you deserves to be culled, as do you for your clearly sub-functional mental faculties.

          Do the world a favor and drown yourself in a sewer. At least you’ll be of use for once in your life when you feed the rats.

          Reply

          • The same could be said of you. At least I’m not going around recommending HS to people. Even if Mori are bad they’re still better than HS.

            Reply

            • I recommended CR over a fucking guesslation some nobody who figured out how to use Google Translate shat out in about the same amount of time it took your parents to realize you were a mistake.

              If you don’t understand why Mori is the worst option for the show, your only hope is to end your life and pray reincarnation is a thing. Maybe you won’t be born into an inbred boudy next time.

              tl;dr: Fucking kill yourself you fucking leech.

              Reply

              • Any group that treats the people they serve like they do (check their about us section) is not somebody I would support. It doesn’t help that they seem to have no love for the medium (shitting on OPs and EDs) and don’t care for those following their releases. They are the worst.

                Reply

                    • OK, then you’re actually silly.

                      HS aren’t a fansub group. HS are a ripping group. They rip from Crunchyroll, Funi, etc. They don’t do the OPs and EDs because CrunchyRoll don’t do them.

                      Their ‘about us’ page is a devious ruse, I’m afraid. One which stitched you up like a kipper.

                      For your own sake Jason, please don’t reply to E-mails from people claiming to be Nigerian millionaires.

                    • lolwut hit the nail on the fucking head.

                      Jason, I think you’ve been misled regarding what, or rather, who HorribleSubs are. They literally just distribute officialsubs. And yes, 99% of the things they say is bullshit and shitposting.

                    • Don’t listen to them.

                      HS is a real fansubbing group, just like it says on their website. They translate everything themselves. These people are just haters.

                  • There fansub groups that are nice to their downloaders. Just because you haven’t seen them doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.

                    Granted I apparently fell for their ruse but frankly the fact that their ‘about us’ page is a joke wasn’t obvious to me.

                    Reply

  4. Well, I would have gone with CMS but they seemed to stop at ep4. I obviously had to stoop to the level of CR to not get 2 months behind…

    Reply

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