Fansub Review: [Chyuu] Kuma Miko – Girl Meets Bear (Episode 02)

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This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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Motherfuck, Chyuu. You had an A, you just had to *not* screw up. This was supposed to be an easy get!

 

Table of Contents

Release Information

Visual Quality

Script Quality

Miko Miko Mii~

Results

 

 

Release Information

Kumamiko-Machi_-_PixivID-4152216

Spoiler for

Episode details.

Release format: 720p MKV (269 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: Honorifics. “Miko” used.

English style: American English.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/cwdFnL76

Speed: Slow (>48 hours)

Translation style: Funi edit.

 

External links.

Group website: https://chyuu.org/

IRC channel: #[email protected]

 

 

Visual Review

Kumamiko-Machi_and_Natsu_-_PixivID-14230436

Spoiler for

Karaoke.

Opening.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_01.56_[2016.04.20_13.50.45] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_02.11_[2016.04.20_13.51.06]

Webm link (Yeah, still trying to fix these damn things. Gomen.)

Rating: Okay+.

Having the letter in the red circle be separate from everything else only makes sense when that letter is its own word (so “I” or “a” or “O”). Otherwise, the letters should connect so you don’t have to read things as “dre s s” or “y ou”. Sure, the karaoke looks cute at first, but if you start paying attention, its welcome wears thin.

 

Ending.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_22.07_[2016.04.20_14.25.32] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_22.44_[2016.04.20_15.06.34]

Webm link

Rating: Good.

Character-based color-matching doesn’t always work, but Chyuu found a song where it works out perfectly quite well (green-on-orange hurts my eyecells even if it matches the visuals).

 

 

Typesetting.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_00.35_[2016.04.20_13.48.53] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_03.00_[2016.04.20_13.52.22] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_04.34_[2016.04.20_13.55.21] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_06.48_[2016.04.20_14.00.27] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_06.53_[2016.04.20_14.00.35] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_09.03_[2016.04.20_14.07.02] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_10.06_[2016.04.20_14.08.20] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_10.29_[2016.04.20_14.08.55] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_12.42_[2016.04.20_14.11.38] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_21.52_[2016.04.20_14.25.10] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_23.22_[2016.04.20_14.26.51] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_23.29_[2016.04.20_14.27.03] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_23.37_[2016.04.20_14.27.16] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_23.50_[2016.04.20_14.27.34]

One of the main reasons to go with Chyuu over Funimation is the typesetting. The show’s much more enjoyable when everything feels like it belongs and you don’t have to worry about ugly text blocking out screen real estate.

 

 

Other.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_05.57_[2016.04.20_13.57.12]

While cute in the karaoke, Chyuu pulled this out for a portion of the main dialogue in the show. Very distracting.

Chyuu (and fansubbers in general), please stop trying to make anime about you. Have your fun when you have a captive audience, sure, but if you pull this bullshit when people have a choice, don’t be surprised when your downloads begin to reflect your true relevance.

 

 

Script Review

Kumamiko-Machi_-_PixivID-17089321

Spoiler for

Main Script.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_03.48_[2016.04.20_13.53.16]

MDs or MD players

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_03.56_[2016.04.20_13.53.30]

This line implies he’s reminiscing on something far in the past, but the event just fucking happened.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_04.18_[2016.04.20_13.54.04]

That was a awful.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_04.41_[2016.04.20_13.55.46] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_04.44_[2016.04.20_13.55.54]

First off, the line placement is shit. You can’t tell who’s speaking because the lines jump from bottom to top and then back again, almost arbitrarily. I had to fucking pause this shit to get my bearings, which should never need to happen in a competent release.

Compounding the issue is Chyuu’s inability to retain a consistent translation. In this scene, Natsu’s repeating his diss across the adjacent screens, but in Chyuu’s version they translate his first line as “What a baby!” and then change the insult to “You dummy!” right after. How the fuck’s a viewer supposed to follow along in a confusing situation when the script’s inconsistent with the dialogue?

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_16.14_[2016.04.20_17.59.19] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_16.16_[2016.04.20_17.59.24] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_16.18_[2016.04.20_17.59.29]

Sounds like a direct translation that the editor took one look at, figured it’d be too much work to fix properly, and then left it as super Japanesey.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_21.11_[2016.04.21_16.31.10]

See above. Not terribly pleased.

 

 

But… Why?

Looking at Funimation’s script, a lot of Chyuu’s edits were superfluous at best. Which I guess highlights a flaw in my reviews — grades are given regardless of script complexity or editing ability. In one sense that’s fine — all an end user cares about is the final script. But it does mean you should be careful not to ascribe release quality directly to editing skill.

The following lines aren’t wrong, but I would say they’re worse than Funi’s. In a lot of these, you’re losing specificity or clarity to the shaky hand of an editor that doesn’t appear to know what they’re doing. It’s not a huge difference, and a lot of the lines are still technically correct, but there is a trade-off here that shouldn’t have to exist.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_08.16_[2016.04.20_15.29.55]

Original: “I wear my school uniform or PE clothes pretty much all the time.”

just just just just just just just

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_08.47_[2016.04.20_15.31.01] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_08.50_[2016.04.20_15.31.08]

Original: “Judging from those words… it must be a heater!”

See section title. I don’t understand why you’d make this change.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_09.08_[2016.04.20_15.31.54]

Original: “If it’s a hardware store, then I don’t have to worry about what to wear!”

Nobody speaks like this. Try replacing “hardware store” with something like “grocery store” and you’ll see how awkward it flows from the tongue.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_09.10_[2016.04.20_15.35.38]

Original: “My school uniform is good enough!”

“fine” is technically a replacement for “good enough”, but it’s a trade-down in terms of dialogue quality.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_12.34_[2016.04.20_17.10.25]

Original: “Auntie Etsuko!”

I don’t wanna say it’s likely the editor has never heard the word “Auntie” before, but there’s no other rational explanation for the change.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_13.42_[2016.04.20_17.17.00]

Original: “Isn’t this going too fast?”

Not a great idea to use “always” here, since the only constant is the path.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_16.49_[2016.04.20_18.03.42] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_16.50_[2016.04.20_18.03.47] [Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_16.52_[2016.04.20_18.03.52]

Original: “It’s dangerous, right? So I told him to stop fishing, but he says he won’t go home until he catches something. So I’m fishing for him.”

Really, only the middle screen is the issue here. But what an issue it is. Way to dumb things down, Chyuu.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_17.50_[2016.04.21_16.33.48]

Original: “And making that sake is a violation of the Liquor Tax Law.”

How the fuck do you let Funi have better phrasing than you, guys? Christ.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_18.15_[2016.04.21_16.33.14]

Original: “Ah, maybe I’ll buy something, too, like a pair of jeans.”

The “, too” in Chyuu’s version carries a subtle implication that someone else is buying jeans. You can read around it to get to the right interpretation, but the point of editing is to clearly get across the concept, not to leave it to the viewers to read past bad writing.

[Chyuu] Kuma Miko - Girl Meets Bear - 02 [720p][B00A5E2D].mkv_snapshot_20.03_[2016.04.21_16.28.49]

Original: “Well, I wish you had told me that from the start!”

Infuriating. Let’s move onto something less so for a sec:

 

 

Oh My Miko

<dabbing_sweat.jpg>

Spoiler for

MIKO_PLZ

The things I’ve done in the name of this screenshot are illegal in 12 states. Would risk jail again.

Okay, back to Salty_Sage:

 

 

Results

Kumamiko-Machi_and_Natsu_-_PixivID-64821

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: B+

Script grade: B- (Though don’t take this as an endorsement of the editing.)

Overall grade: B

All in all, I would say this release is the top pick for Kuma Miko. However, questionable script decisions, a slow release schedule, and a passable alternative all mean I’m not so bullish on saying everyone should choose this release over Funimation/HorribleSubs. I expected better from you, Chyuu.

 

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35 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [Chyuu] Kuma Miko – Girl Meets Bear (Episode 02)”

    • Yeah, I see comments like this when commie is picking up something. Well. “Official” subs are not always worse than fansubs, especially when groups like commie are “translating” (or rather muricanizing) something.
      The same situation is with Flying Witch. CR subs are whole universe better and MUCH closer to original than shitty DameDesuYo which is basically commie 2.0, but people are commenting “saved from CR”. It’s dumb.

      Reply

  2. Just saw episode 2 and gotta say that this is easily one of the best shows this season. Thanks for hyping it up in your previews, Dark_Sage.

    Reply

    • Glad you like it. I’m absolutely loving the thing — it’s a legitimate 10/10 for me. And they haven’t even gotten to the onee-san yet? Oh baby, I’m not sure my body will be able to take it.

      Reply

  4. I wish this show had more than a single joke. “This girl is a hick and also sexual harassment” isn’t enough to keep me interested.

    Reply

  5. “While cute in the karaoke, Chyuu pulled this out for a portion of the main dialogue in the show. Very distracting.

    Chyuu (and fansubbers in general), please stop trying to make anime about you. Have your fun when you have a captive audience, sure, but if you pull this bullshit when people have a choice, don’t be surprised when your downloads begin to reflect your true relevance.”

    THIS. TOTALLY THIS.

    Chihiro’s Aria AA did this so much that when I was fixing their self-advertisements and attention drawing text effects, I honestly thought that Kanade must be rolling in his grave right now.

    I don’t get what’s so hard about making a no-nonsense sub that accurately portrays the plot of an anime.

    Reply

    • Yeah dude same I saw that minor text effect and I got so fucking triggered I dropped the entire show and stopped watching anime for a month!!!!1 xD

      But seriously, quit trying to force your retarded whiny drama into everything.

      Reply

    • Smartass, why don’t you sub it yourself rather than stealing groups’ scripts and then whining like a baby whose pacifier dropped?
      Oh right, you can’t because you’re too busy being a drama queen all day, but also telling people they’re lapdogs and thus should shut up and do as ordered.

      Right, in all your delusional posts, you conveniently forgot to mention it and that this was the reason the staff evicted you by unanimous vote.

      Now I was the fool here, to have listened to you, rather than the staff’s desperate call, but you crossed the line last summer and that more than once.

      Anyway, this will be my only post here, I’ve better things to do.

      PS: pro-tip, get a good fuck once in a while, dammit. Perhaps you’d be less of a tight ass.

      Reply

      • Good job misrepresenting everything I said and lying about events, just like begna did. Especially that I said that The_Pretender is YOUR lapdog and does everything YOU order him to do.

        Nor was there any vote to evict me. A good number of people in the staff I was friendly with and had good times with. I quit the group, you removed my permissions after deceiving me into believing that you were for a joint, and that was that. Stop pretending that anything else happened.

        You are simply put far too controlling, too stubborn, and too power-hungry for all I care. The fact that you even went to an IRCop to try to force him to change the channel owner of #Chihiro is proof enough to this point.

        What’s funny though is how I told him I would if you stopped having such a stick in your ass, but you never have – instead vying to try and underhandedly insult me in your blog posts.

        Reply

            • Love is putting in more effort to make dialogue smoother, research the background, and do that piece of typesetting that requires a bit more effort.

              Love is not adding in jokes, self references, and obtrusive text effects because you’re bored.

              Reply

              • Well said. But smoothering dialogues too much is bad too ;) It’s better to have some “stiff” lines, but more acurate, than smooth with changed tone of dialogue.

                Reply

              • Yeah. Love is releasing Elfen Lied, Fractale, Bakemono, Hyakko, Koichoco… in the state that they are.

                Reply

                • 2 shows I didn’t even do, 2 shows that I completely revised because I wasn’t happy with what I had put out, and 1 show from 7 years ago that I did for some quick lulz. Not to mention of the ones I did do that you mentioned, 2 of the 3 I’ve never seen a criticism of.

                  Seriously, you can do better than that to find a horrible release from me. There was one in particular that I did an absolute horrendous job on and the only reason I haven’t fixed it is I didn’t care much for the show about 3/4 of the way through.

                  Because believe it or not, I don’t love all the shows I do. I like them all at the start (even Twin Angel), but that changes based on how good they are.

                  Reply

                  • Just look how much you love your groups. In both of them, you never even care enough to be fully involved, pushing out stuff you haven’t even looked over.

                    So what’s worse. Background TS, or pushing out incredibly shitty releases.
                    I bet I can guess.

                    Reply

                    • You can say that all you want, but it doesn’t make it any more true. Just because leechers don’t know what a scenebleed is, how to see shitty shifting, or have seen the source subs to see what terrible changes you made, doesn’t make the changes any less terrible.

                      It just means you’re cheating your leechers out of a good release.

                    • It actually just means that you are judging based off of evidence from years ago in order to troll. :)

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