Fansub Review: [Vivid] Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 05)

August 28, 2013August 27, 2013 by Dark_Sage

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

Apparently Commie v2 likes this show. I just wish they liked it a bit more than this effort indicated.

Release Information

Visual Quality

Script Quality

Results

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (251 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: No honorifics, because this show isn’t very Japanesey at all. “onigiri” as “rice balls”. “Yajirou-onii-san” as “Yajirou”. “sukiyaki” is sometimes “sukiyaki” and sometimes “stew”.

Hell, I was surprised they didn’t translate “tanuki” as “squirrels”.

English style: American English.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/DhQCqqJ9

Speed: Quick (<48 hours)

External links.

Group website: N/A

IRC channel: #[email protected]

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening. For a visually intense OP, this karaoke surprisingly kept up with it all.

Rating: Good.

Ending. While I appreciate the dedication to color-matching, readability is more important.

Rating: Okay-.

Typesetting.

This was part of the OP. Well, the typesetting wasn’t. You get what I’m saying, though.

There was enough prominent Japanese text here that the scene lingered on to warrant typesetting. He ends up banging on the door here, so it’d be nice to know what the hell this place is.

The first screen displays all the translations Japan did in-house. You can play “find the differences” with the second screen to determine what Vivid added.

And that’s it.

Other.

If Japan’s going out of its way to tell you how to handle this show’s title, maybe you should listen to them. Otherwise you may as well just go full wap and call it “Uchouten Kazoukuu”.

Those eyes are fucked.

Ah, a marked improvement.

Script Review

“This Line Sounds Perfect; Let’s Not Fix It.”

With most CR edits, the general goal is to improve mistakes you find in the script. Vivid, being trailblazers in the fansub industry, decided against that.

“that humans are the ones who are on top of the food chain.”

This isn’t going to be a good release, is it, Vivid?

By “have a nightmare”, the implication is that it is literally a nightmare in the dreaming sense. But since these guys actually eat tanuki, “nightmare” is being used in the literal sense, and the verb used should reflect that.

have -> experience

didn’t -> don’t

Tense confusion is a common issue in anime subs, but that doesn’t mean it’s excusable.

This would be a great line if he had talked about that thrill earlier. But he didn’t.

“Close calls like that one can really get you pumped up.”

And I’m shaggy sad.

You probably wanted to say something like “He was bristling with anger!” because that’s how you use the term.

Source: English.

Why not, “Honored guest, Lady Benten has arrived”//”to provide you company.” or something? This phrasing doesn’t work.

Whilst cows can eat straw, unless you’re trying some low-cost, Unit 741-style experimentation on them, that’s not generally going to consist of any significant portion of their diet.

http://www.wikihow.com/Feed-Cattle

Try “hay”, which is not the same thing, regardless of what your editor thinks.

Year-end bashes aren’t hosted by month. Rephrase to avoid potential confusion.

“The year-end bash next month is tanuki stew, huh?”

We’re given less than two seconds to read this. Not nearly enough time.

Was this not QC’d?

“Let’s Make the Script Worse Because Fuck This Shitty Show.”

A sentiment I agree with.

“peerless” doesn’t preclude someone from having problems. Try something like “oh-so-perfect” so the sarcastic phrasing makes sense.

…Well, that would be assuming this line wasn’t a reference to episode 3, where Benten wore a shirt that said “peerless” {“unparallelled invincibility” in the Crunchyscript}, so you can’t quite do that.

Gonna have to accent the “peerless” to get the proper meaning across, then. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best you can do with what you’re given.

>marks, marks

>exactly identical

poorly phrased phrasing

Original: “They’re both burned in the same spot and they’re dirty in the exact same way.” {Not that this was a good line either, though.}

Fuck-up one: “beef sukiyaki” is used as an important differentiator at first (since I guess there are other kinds of sukiyaki?), then “beef” is missing from the description halfway through, but magically it comes back into play at the end. Be consistent; you’re painting the wrong picture with how it’s written.

Fuck-up two: “How befuddling.” In this context, you’re using it as “How confusing.” when he’s really commenting on her taste. The line you want is “Well, that’s strange.” I’d change the last line into “I find beef to be much tastier.” to make his replies flow better.

Original exchange:

Do you like sukiyaki?
>Besides tanuki hot pot, there’s nothing in this world I don’t.
I like tanuki hot pot better than sukiyaki.
>How whimsical.
>Beef is infinitely tastier.

headed -> head

Original: It’s about time we head into the entertainment portion of the evening.

Well, how about that.

Since you were so set on using American style for the quotation marks earlier in this episode, you should know that you never leave a quotation ending without any inner punctuation. ~~Also, you’d want to move into the quote with another comma.~~ Vivid fucked this up a few times throughout, and then got it right at other times. (For example, at 3:33 they had, Dialogue: saying, “I’m through with bowing my head to Master!”)

Make it: “the words, ‘It’s so sad. It’s so sad,'”

Original: “Then as she drank the cocktail in her hand, for some reason she murmured, ‘So sad, so sad.'”

Fun fact: If you demux the script, they originally had it right on their end. Then some dipshit commented out the proper way to display it.

the words{,} “It’s sad. It’s so sad{,}” escaped her lips.

It doesn’t matter what standard you use, just be consistent.

Jokes

Apart from the issues, Vivid also added some jokes into the script. Since I didn’t want to blow my brains out by the end of the show, I’d say Xythar finally learned how to restrain himself when it comes to these things.

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: B+

Script grade: B-

Overall grade: B-

I was originally going to review the HorribleSubs 05 script, but since Vivid started doing Crunchyedits for this show, I’m not seeing any reason to waste time reviewing the original version of the script.

Unfortunately for viewers who like their subs instantly, after looking through the HorribleSubs script in-depth, Vivid’s comes out better, even with the added mistakes. Goddamn, was the original bad.

I highly suggest avoiding the HS release. Vivid’s the way to go for this show.

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22 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [Vivid] Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 05)”

Xythar

August 27, 2013 at 8:12 pm

The half-baked/wannabe tengu line was referring to Benten, as I recall. Hence the “wannabe”, because she flies around like one, but she’s actually just a human.

The difference between “Uchouten Kazoku” and “Uchouten Kazoukuu” is that the former is a valid (and more specific) romanisation. Just because the Japanese studios frequently decide that the difference between お, おお, and おう is far too culturally complex to be expressed in English letters doesn’t mean I have to agree – I’ll always differentiate the romanisations of each unless there’s already a very well-known spelling out there that doesn’t (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, etc). Kazoku is just kazoku, though.

I actually did go into this show intending to use honorifics, but CR didn’t in episode 1 and there were barely any in the spoken script either way, so I just kind of rolled with that. There’s not much reason not to translate “onigiri”, though CR apparently couldn’t make up their minds (they used “onigiri” once and “rice balls” once this episode, referring to the same rice balls even)

Now that Vale is back we might go back to original TLs for ep9-13 if he has time. I’d much rather edit him than CR, anyway.
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  August 27, 2013 at 8:19 pm
  
  I think you’re right on the wannabe line. Just rewatched that scene. Fixed.
  Reply
Nevreen

August 27, 2013 at 8:13 pm

Personally, I thought the “can’t have your tanuki and eat it too” line was brilliant.

As for the peerless Benten thing, I don’t think Yasaburou would have the guts to openly mock her, especially considering the very thin ice he was already treading. Stressing the sarcasm here would probably have landed him in the stew pot.
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  August 27, 2013 at 8:17 pm
  
  In that scene, he was talking to the rodent in the dresser, not Benten.
  Reply
  - Nevreen
    
    August 27, 2013 at 10:50 pm
    
    Ahh, it’s been a few weeks since episode 05; my memory fails me.
    Reply
Eyes

August 28, 2013 at 12:44 am

> Those eyes are fucked.

As is the entired show. I feel with you for the pain you must’ve had going through this crap.

Here, much better eyes (and much better tongue, too):
http://imgur.com/QLvtgOI

The all caps OP romaji is just plain ugly, as is the OP English font.
ED font is much better, but readability is shot to hell. Whee!

> I have no beef with any food.

Dumbest joke I’ve heard in a very long time.
I do have beef with these subs, and with their kindergarten jokes. Just glad I don’t watch this crappy show.
Reply
- Xythar
  
  August 28, 2013 at 1:24 am
  
  Sorry about that. In future, I will do more to tailor my subs to the preferences of people who don’t watch them.
  Reply
  - Xythar pls leave
    
    August 28, 2013 at 11:25 am
    
    Feb 02 01:14:56 <Dark_Sage> I still like Xythar. I think he’ll be back.
    Feb 02 01:15:14 <Dark_Sage> If not, that would be unfortunate, but that’s how these things go.
    Feb 02 01:15:40 <Dark_Sage> His status in his groups would be better if he didn’t associate with me anyway.
    Feb 02 01:15:58 <noteventhrice> I’ve been banned from #commie-subs on all my accounts
    Feb 02 01:16:05 <noteventhrice> if he doesnt show up here
    Feb 02 01:16:14 <noteventhrice> ill never see him again
    Feb 02 01:16:39 <noteventhrice> It’s my only hope in life
    Reply
    - Dark_Sage
      
      August 28, 2013 at 11:56 am
      
      Crushed hopes, like the bottom of a bag of Doritos.
      Reply
- Solaristics
  
  August 28, 2013 at 2:20 am
  
  Don’t like them? Edit yourself. OHOHOHOHOHOOHH.
  Reply
- Aru
  
  August 28, 2013 at 8:03 am
  
  http://i.imgur.com/m8pp9mx.jpg
  
  Kanon still best eyes.
  Reply
Xythar

August 28, 2013 at 3:25 am

By the way, I checked with our QC and there is no comma preceding “It’s sad” because it’s a restrictive phrase:

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Punctuation/faq0010.html

Obviously, the quotation here is not parenthetical to the meaning because “The words escaped her lips.” would not make sense.

You could add one to the end (though it’d look kinda weird), but leading into it with a comma is definitely wrong.
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  August 28, 2013 at 8:53 am
  
  Ooh, my least favorite style manual came up with a rule. And what a rule it is. By their standards, “Go fuck yourself,” would not require a comma preceding it.
  
  But then we’re left with “By their standards, would not require a comma preceding it.” Turns out, most sentences require their component parts. Huh.
  
  If you gave me something written by someone literate like this
  http://sesquiotic.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/commas-before-quotes/
  I wouldn’t have needed to search for something like it on my own. The tl;dr for that site is “there’s wiggle room”, which I’ll accept.
  Reply
  - Xythar
    
    August 28, 2013 at 9:25 am
    
    Uh, isn’t that consistent with what they say?
    
    If removing the clause would change the meaning of the sentence (or make it not make sense), it isn’t parenthetical and is therefore a restrictive clause that doesn’t take commas.
    
    For example:
    My younger brother, who is fifteen, goes to high school. -> My younger brother goes to high school. -> nonrestrictive, takes commas
    
    I ran into the man who lives down the street the other day. -> I ran into the man the other day. -> restrictive, doesn’t take commas
    Reply
    - Dark_Sage
      
      August 28, 2013 at 10:12 am
      
      By removing anything, you’re necessarily changing the sentence. I’d say your brother being 15 is an important detail.
      
      That’s a terrible rule to go by.
      Reply
      - fnord
        
        August 28, 2013 at 10:17 am
        
        It’s not an important detail grammatically.
        
        I agree with Xythar here.
        Reply
        
        lolno
        
        August 28, 2013 at 10:13 pm
        
        One Commie dude agreeing with another Commie dude? Surprise, surprise!
        It definitely *is* a terrible rule.
        Those “Chicago manual of style” creeps should be kicked in the head for writing that dribble.
        Reply
        
        Xythar
        
        August 28, 2013 at 10:22 pm
        
        Don’t worry, Shimapan. No matter how many times you change your name, your idiocy will always shine through.
        Reply
      - temp_late
        
        August 28, 2013 at 10:32 am
        
        Xythar’s example could stand to be clarified because it actually depends.
        
        If there are multiple little brothers, “who is fifteen” is then a grammatically restrictive phrase that identifies the brother that you’re talking about.
        
        If there is only one little brother, then grammatically it is side information (regardless of whether or not the info’s important in some other sense) and correctly set off with commas.
        Reply
        
        Xythar
        
        August 28, 2013 at 10:35 am
        
        Yes, it also depends on context (hence the “changes the meaning” part). Removing the clause shouldn’t necessarily be your sole means of determining whether it’s restrictive or nonrestrictive, but it’s a good litmus test.
        Reply
tormaid

August 28, 2013 at 8:28 am

Shouldn’t it be “…regularly-scheduled nightmare…” too?
Reply
- Xythar
  
  August 28, 2013 at 8:48 am
  
  Nope. “Regularly” is an adverb that modifies “scheduled”, not part of a compound adjective. See rule 3:
  
  http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/2008/03/hyphen-rules-dont-let-misused-hyphens-muddle-your-adjectives-or-your-writing/
  Reply