Fansub Review: [FFF] Assassination Classroom (Episode 03)

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015 by Dark_Sage

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

No need to freak. See? You’re still gonna be getting fansub reviews. Just fewer than I would produce if I focused on them 100%.

Release Information

Visual Quality

Script Quality

Results

Release Information

Episode details.

Release format: MKV (419 MB, 10-bit)

Japanesiness: Honorifics. “Sensei” as “Sensei” (e.g. “Hey, Sensei!”)

English style: American English. Well, mostly. While there are a lot of phrases clearly nicked from American media (“You cruisin’ for a bruisin’, pal?”) some of the lines betray the editor’s dirty foreign credentials.

Encoding details: http://pastebin.com/TUycPSh3

Speed: Slow (>48 hours)

Translation style: Funimation edit.

External links.

Group website: http://fffansubs.org/

IRC channel: #[email protected]

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening.

Webm link

Rating: Good. It’s a bit hard to tell what they’re doing with the colors in still shots, and describing it would take two more sentences than I’m willing to expend here, but it was enjoyable. They get extra credit here for the OP typesetting, which I’ll get into shortly.

Ending.

Webm link

Rating: Okay+. I’ll never give standard black&white karaoke a high score, but this sufficed for what became a very busy ED.

Typesetting.

OP typesetting. I may have missed a sign or two, but this should be the vast majority.

Spoiler for

I’m impressed. Too bad the low quality of their visual source will distract you from all the work they put into the signs.

Other typesetting.

Spoiler for

All good. Most groups would have skipped out on typesetting Koresensei’s gym shirt, but FFF put in the effort to do it in each scene. Much appreciated.

Other.

The OP’s visual fidelity is distractingly unpleasant.

Much like Cthune’s and Commie’s The Rolling Girls releases, it’s not like FFF can do much to fix this, but that doesn’t change the reality of the situation. Luckily, it’s just the OP, so it doesn’t matter like it would if it affected the entire episode. Otherwise this would be tiered a bit lower than it is right now~

Script Review

Main Script.

The script was excellent for the most part, but a few clunky lines got in the way of my enjoyment.

“my P.E. activities”? “Your physical abilities are too far out there”?

This is too much.

“our”? Maybe, maybe you could get away with that if he meant “our” super figuratively. But calling Korosensei a “Mach-20 teacher”? Eh…

“butt heads”? The person saying this is some middle schooler, not a naively kind old man.

To sparkling what? Sparkling ain’t a noun. I think you were looking for “polished to perfection”. Luckily you have me to help you find it.

You probably wanted to reference the hopeless boss fight trope. An invincible boss would be an apt comparison. “impossibly tough video game” is too wordy for too little pay-off.

The gist I get with the script is the editor knows what they’re doing, but never went back to edit their own work. “Splendid assassination attempt.” is all that’s being said here, but we get a whole bunch of extra words, arranged in a way that confuses the point.

Delinquent, maybe. But hypocritical? No, that would be every fansubber that’s sworn off Crymore, yet still visits whenever they can. By the way, hi guys. Thanks for the hits; your jealousy sustains me. <3

Don’t get me wrong, though. I still liked the script.

Results

Watchability: Def watchable.

Visual grade: A. The OP typesetting pushes them into this score. I look forward to seeing the karaoke when they can find a good video source.

Script grade: B+

Overall grade: A-

As with most A-tiers, you are best off waiting for it rather than going the official subs route. Funimation’s subs for this show are… not very good. They’re definitely watchable, but they’re something close to the D+/C- range, which is the point where I’d really suggest looking elsewhere.

These are the first lines in Funimation’s release, and they’re a good example of what you can expect in the rest of the episode. While you can easily understand what’s going on, the lines don’t look or sound good.

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23 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [FFF] Assassination Classroom (Episode 03)”

RevyRevolver

February 6, 2015 at 3:46 pm

Nice job FFF…

Now if you would only get your shit together and finish up Sword Art Online that be great.
Reply
- Commenter
  
  February 6, 2015 at 7:20 pm
  
  >Now if you would only get your shit together and finish up High School DxD New that be great.
  I fixed it for you.
  Reply
Mehrwerfer

February 6, 2015 at 6:05 pm

The OP webm link is dead.
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  February 6, 2015 at 6:16 pm
  
  Rezzed.
  Reply
HarleyGorillason

February 7, 2015 at 10:04 am

“By the end of the day, your body and mind will be polished to sparkling”
To sparkling what? Sparkling ain’t a noun.

The manga translations used a similar style of line, albeit done better
“Before school lets out, I will polish your body and spirit until they shine.”

http://mangafox.me/manga/ansatsu_kyoushitsu/v01/c005/22.html
Reply
- Dark_Sage
  
  February 7, 2015 at 10:26 am
  
  Yes, but that’s grammatically correct. “to sparkling” is not.
  Reply
  - fnord
    
    February 7, 2015 at 10:38 am
    
    “It was served in thin glasses that were polished to sparkling.”
    
    – Mildred Walker, “The Brewers’ Big Horses”, Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.
    
    “[…] and dusting the shop is like painting the Sydney Harbor Bridge – all those rows of meticulously labelled jars have to be kept polished to sparkling and their shelves wiped […]”
    
    – Bary Dowling, “Mudeye”, Wakefield Press
    
    “They were full accoutred, armoured and armed. The men-at-arms’ ringmail and the chivalry’s hauberks were all polished to sparkling. The archers padded, quilted full-length jerkins […]”
    
    – Harvey Beach, “Blood and Land”, Penguin Random House
    
    ———————————————-
    
    That said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this being used figuratively, so the criticism somewhat stands.
    Reply
    - Dark_Sage
      
      February 7, 2015 at 10:51 am
      
      Implying you’ve seen it used in literature is deceptive at best, since those are the same results that popped up on Google when I was doing research on the phrase myself. While a few odd books do use the term, you probably found that most used it as an adjective. And comparing the number of results for “polished to sparkling” to “polished to perfection”, it’s pretty clear what the superior option is. Not even sure why you’re bringing it up, unless you just -have- to white knight for your buddies at every chance you get.
      Reply
      - fnord
        
        February 7, 2015 at 11:01 am
        
        I did this search because I remembered seeing it used. I don’t do a Google search for everything I believe might possibly be wrong in your reviews or I’d still be doing Google searches next week.
        
        I’m bringing this up because you’re wrong in claiming that this is grammatically incorrect usage. The last citation is admittedly a bit weak, but Mildred Walker was nominated for the National Book Award and HB&C were known to employ excellent editors. This expression is simply not grammatically incorrect.
        
        I don’t like the line either, because I don’t think you can use it figuratively. You’re wrong in the criticism you level at it, however, and if you don’t like being proven wrong then you shouldn’t be publishing your shit on the internet.
        Reply
        
        Dark_Sage
        
        February 7, 2015 at 11:13 am
        
        And Faulkner won a Nobel Prize, but I don’t think the dipshit could even spell “comma”. If you wanna use literary references as a bible, go for it, but at that point we’re getting into the speleen reformm bullshit that silver spooners like to talk about when they’re not too busy denying vaccinations and protesting meat. No thanks, bro. If you’ve got something that “proves” me wrong, try a little harder.
        
        For someone who clearly hates this site so much, you seem to visit it quite often. You’d think I could get a little more dere for that kinda tsun.
        Reply
        
        fnord
        
        February 7, 2015 at 11:27 am
        
        All language is convention. If you don’t accept literary references, then we all stand on linguistic quicksand, and none of what is written on this blog has any value. Now your English is just as authoritative as SEA pidgin. Enjoy.
        
        Anyone with more than half a brain cell for themselves can tell you lost this argument, and are now hoping personal attacks will avail you.
        
        And who ever said I hate this site? I don’t hate anybody.
        
        The fundamental problem with you has always been your lack of education.
        Reply
        
        Dark_Sage
        
        February 7, 2015 at 11:42 am
        
        Pretty sure I already refuted the literary references as evidence piece by pointing to a counter-example. Or did I need to spell it out more slowly?
        
        I would also never personally attack you, fnord. I mean, I’ve always considered you a friend. Well, in the same sense that guy who always hangs around the group when no one really wants him there is a friend. But a friend nonetheless!
        
        I also graduated elementary school, so my English education is as good as anyone else’s. Unless you think literary analysis is actually valuable. (Though at this point we’re getting into an entirely different argument, and I really don’t want to waste my time on it when I have posts to write for my readers.)
        Reply
        
        fnord
        
        February 7, 2015 at 11:44 am
        
        “Refuted”.
        Reply
        
        Darais
        
        February 7, 2015 at 5:05 pm
        
        >All language is convention. If you don’t accept literary references, […]
        
        Merriam-Webster says:
        Convention: a custom or a way of acting or doing things that is widely accepted and followed
        
        Being “widely accepted” should be easily determined by seeing how many results a particular usage returns in a Google search. The most “widely accepted” has the most usage, and therefore the most results. Thus, by your own admission, Sage is correct in saying “polished to perfection” is more correct than “polished to sparkling” here.
        
        As for literary references, I could easily point at Emily Dickinson as a “literary reference” to say the fucky capitalization seen in fansubbing is completely fine. It isn’t.
        Reply
        
        Hairy
        
        February 7, 2015 at 11:23 am
        
        Do you think that just because something appears in literature, it’s grammatically correct? Do you think authors always strictly adhere to the rules of grammar? Do you not think they ever tread outside standard English conventions for stylistic reasons? The argument that “it appeared in literature, therefore it’s correct” is ridiculous.
        
        Go read As I Lay Dying, and then come back and tell me that authors always follow grammatical conventions and so should be used as an authority for what is and is not correct in the English language.
        Reply
        
        fnord
        
        February 7, 2015 at 11:31 am
        
        >Using a stream of consciousness narrative to argue what is and isn’t grammatically correct.
        All of my why.
        Reply
        
        Anoyimous
        
        February 8, 2015 at 8:51 pm
        
        You guys don’t have any institution you can rely on to get over this silly discussions? I mean, Google? Seriously?
        
        Because I know for a fact, at least in Spanish, that if everyone says something some way, doesn’t make it to be right (happens a lot with regionalism). In our case it might eventually get accepted by RAE (Royal Spanish Academy est. 1715), but if it is fundamentally wrong, it has more chance a snowball in hell.
        Reply
        
        Dark_Sage
        
        February 8, 2015 at 9:05 pm
        
        In English? The closest thing you can get to that is “style guides”, but there are a bunch of those and they all disagree with one another. There are enough commonly accepted practices that everyone can agree are correct, but when we get into the more arguable areas of English, “common use” is the best source we have for determining whether something is acceptable or not. So that’s where Google comes in.
        Reply
Lady Matoi Ryuko

February 7, 2015 at 11:30 am

“Funimation edit” = “Fakesubbery”

Simple like that! :-P
Reply
- Googol
  
  February 7, 2015 at 11:44 am
  
  What, jealous your shit doesn’t compare to this?
  Reply
  - Lady Matoi Ryuko
    
    February 7, 2015 at 11:56 am
    
    Jealousy? HAHAHHAHAA I love FFF! <3
    Reply
Anoyimous

February 8, 2015 at 8:28 pm

I know we must support the creators but.. I wouldn’t pay a dime for Funimation.
Reply
mugen10

December 14, 2017 at 9:25 pm

Well, Its too late for me to comment now, but I just start watching ansatsu kyoushitsu. I do compare fansubs subtitles whenever available.

The question is:
Do you want a full translation or do you want easy understanding translation? I want both.

Some fansubs simplify/shorten subtitle sentences. Lots of the translation are a bit off, not as close as it supposed to mean.

some fansubs translate it fully, but usually end up with strange/difficult words + broken grammar. This is because the Japanese grammar is totally different + use of “convenient language”

Rather than debating the grammar/literature error, we better pay attention to the translation

“Polished to sparkling”
If there is “sparkling” in japanese audio. I will keep the “sparkling”. preferably “polished till sparkling”
Reply

Fansub Review: [FFF] Assassination Classroom (Episode 03)

Table of Contents

Release Information

Episode details.

External links.

Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening.

Webm link

Ending.

Webm link

Typesetting.

Other.

Script Review

Main Script.

Results

23 thoughts on “Fansub Review: [FFF] Assassination Classroom (Episode 03)”

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