This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.
As the release I’m reviewing is their LQ release, please keep in mind that the encoding probably won’t be as shit for the regular version. For what it’s worth, this is one of the best scripts I’ve seen from Doki.
File size: 128 MB (for the LQ version)
ETA from air date: This was a pre-release, so this came out before it aired on TV. Therefore, proper data’s not available.
Japanesiness: Honorifics and Japanese name order. Bento is kept as bento rather than something like “lunch”. Religious chants are kept in Japanese. TL note for the sword’s name (Goshintou).
Release format: LQ MKV, (and presumably) HQ MKV
Timing: Timing tends to be cut off whenever the scenes shift, even if the speaker’s voice continues into the new scene. It’s jarring to have the text torn away when a new visual pops in.
OP/ED karaoke: Notably missing. Presumably included in the HQ release.
Typesetting. This was the only thing that needed to be typeset. It’s not amazing, but it really doesn’t need to be.
“Were you able to learn anything about it?”
“I tried, but it evaded me.”
Do you know what an oracle is? You don’t “get” oracles. You don’t get them as presents and you can’t go to a store and buy them.
The line should be phrased
“Your mother, a shrine maiden like you, also saw an oracle when she was half-asleep.”
Yes, you can cause troubles. But it’s accepted that trouble can be interpreted in the plural in this case, so there’s no need to add an “s” here and cause trouble for me. :X
You’re working hard. Really hard.
Alternatively, you can keep it at two sentences if you make it “You’re working really, really hard.”
eggs
._.
Overall grade: ? (Assume a B+/A- for the HQ version)
I assumed that Doki skipped out on the karaoke due to time constraints, so I was a bit worried that the editing would be affected as well. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. I’m not sure what their HQ release will be like, so I’m going to withold an official grade until I see what their encoding/karaoke are like.
Doki: “We’ll just try harder in the batch.”
Epic true here. Lol.
“Oracle” is just the wrong word altogether. An oracle is a person. “Vision” would be better. Or “premonition”, or any number of other words.
Well, blow me. My dictionary claims that an oracle can be a message, as well as the person who conveys the message.
But if it’s a message, it’s an oral one (my dic says “an utterance”); so “got an oracle” is in fact more accurate than “saw an oracle”, if we’re talking about a particular message and not the deliverer.
But I suspect (only suspect, since I don’t know what the Japanese was) that “vision” comes closer.
Interesting. Regardless, confusion was caused as a result of the word choice and it is an editor’s responsibility to mitigate confusion and make the subs easier to read.
In that regard, I would still recommend changing the word, even if its least-used definition technically works in that situation.
Thank you for the review. I had no idea this was pre-airing until it was thrown at me for edit, and I was SO not prepared to work on it.
I have one question for you based on your review. The TL’d script originally separated “really hard” into its own sentence, as well. However, since “really hard” doesn’t have its own subject or verb and is still modifying “working” from the previous sentence, I combined it in with a comma. I have high respect for your ability and take your reviews very seriously, but I also take my job as editor very seriously, and would like to see a bit more justification on this so it makes sense to me.
Thank you.
True. “Really hard.” would not qualify as a sentence in and of itself. However, lines in fansubbing need not always be proper sentences. This is something I grappled with for a long time in editing (it took me about three years), so I don’t expect you to immediately change your mind. But let me put it this way:
Subtitles are meant to capture the speech of characters, right? Grammar is absolutely one of the most important things to making it understandable. But as you and I both know, sometimes natural speech isn’t always grammatical. If we accept this, then we have a bit more freedom in aligning our subs to speech.
In this case, the natural way of speaking this phrase would use a period – something more concrete of a pause than a comma. “You’re working hard (pause) Really hard” as opposed to the comma which would make it read “You’re working hard (weaker pause) really hard”. This way, I feel that more emphasis is placed on the last part, which is how I would say it if I were speaking the line.
Even after writing all this, I’m not so sure that I effectively communicated my point. Basic gist is that I see each part of that sentence as being separate from each other. If you’re still unconvinced (and I completely understand why you would be), I’ll go ask a couple of good editors that I know what they think of the situation.
Thanks for asking for confirmation on my reasons, btw. I sometimes feel that I don’t properly address exactly why I make the changes I do, although I try my best.
You need to revise your system if non-translated words, lines, and TL notes are “B+/A” worthy
So, this is A- in your books?
lolwat.
Dark_Sage confirmed for ESL.
You’re welcome to point out any errors that I missed. I only counted three serious errors and two moderate ones.
If another group provides a superior release, I will let you know. I have, in fact, recommended one group over another even when the group I recommended had a lower score.
I’m not going to list examples, not because I’m copping out, but because I’m simply too lazy for that.
Most things you complain about are actual mistakes, no doubt, but you have a lacking sense of style.
Certainly, your site is useful since you fish out the most horrendous lines of a particular release, but grading people based on their typos and grammatical mistakes is ridiculous.
A release with any notable number of mistakes is an immediate fail. This isn’t debatable. All passing grades are merely shades of phrasing and elegance, yet people get above-average passing grades by you for simply managing to get some English correctly. One should assume that much, not reward it.
Suffice to say, this release is severely lacking in what people would call nice English in contrast to simply good English, and should consequently get something like a C.
But then again, I’m kind of casting pearls before swine, am I not?
I am indeed guilty of vast amounts of grade-inflating. You may blame me for being a product of the American grading system.
If I were to follow your suggestions – where releases with a notable amount of mistakes get an F grade – I’m afraid that I’d be failing nearly everything that comes into my sight. This “good English” is unfortunately a rarity in fansubbing and I don’t see the benefit of a site which fails everything it sees.
Like it or not, people need some measure of differentiating between releases and when it comes to F vs. F, how exactly are they supposed to choose? Then, when they watch and it’s okay, what are they going to think of my credibility?
Perhaps it’s more fair to say my reviews are based on Watchability rather than Quality although the two seem similar.
I do agree with you that releases should not be judged solely on crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. For shows which have multiple groups, I will state which group I felt did the best job (regardless of the grades). You can see these comments on the newest reviews for each show and in my weekly Fansub Wrap-Ups.
This season, I’ve started to provide information at the top which might help people make a decision one way or another For example, you may note that Honorifics vs. No Honorifics has zealot fanbases on each side. That’s why I note the level of Japanesiness in the scripts.
If you have any suggestions for how to make my reviews more relevant, I would love to hear them. It’s just F’s all around isn’t going to work.