7 ms·

> That’s why the best subs, are always fan subs! It's wild to hear someone - especially someone in the industry - say that. Fans definitely bring the most enth

by wk_end 1y ago

> That’s why the best subs, are always fan subs! It's wild to hear someone - especially someone in the industry - say that. Fans definitely bring the most enthusiasm to their work, but fan subs are notorious for mistranslations and awkward hyperliteralism.

bonecrusher2102 1y ago
That’s why I said the SUBS are awesome… not the translations ;-)
- gchamonlive 1y ago
  Could you use fan subs to help AI models better sync your actual subs?
bnjms 1y ago
I used to like what I assume is the hyper literalism and f fan subs. The certain phrases with consistent and repeated translations would gain their own color. I don’t know but it felt like that context was somehow carried over. Similarly there are some phrases which are probably unavoidably awkward. Like when translating vaguely as “that guy”.
Barrin92 1y ago
>but fan subs are notorious for mistranslations and awkward hyperliteralism. funny to see the comment. I was rewatching JoJo, this time in dub, and just came across a line like this. (the context is a fight between two 19th century British characters in a very theatrical setting): Sub: "Stop the futile, useless resistance. Don't hide in the curtain's shadows and come out!" Dub: "You're behind the curtain, like Polonius. And, like Polonius, it is there that you shall meet your end." I was so surprised that they threw in the Hamlet reference it's what made me look up what the original Japanese line was. The English dub writing often strikes me just as straight up better the more I watch of it.
- orthozato 1y ago
  Well, but that's the work of localization, which is a whole art itself. It is quite tricky and this Shakespeare reference might be a little bit out of context...
- aidenn0 1y ago
  Watching anime dubs with subtitles enabled can be interesting. I've literally seen the dub say "yes" with the sub saying "no."
  - rmunn 1y ago
    Was either "yes" or "no" clearly the right translation in context? I'm very curious to know which one was correct, the dub or the sub. Or was it one of those ambiguous situations where either one would be a correct translation of the text, but with different subtext? P.S. For an example of when "yes" might really mean "no", I heard an anecdote. An American guy had been hired by a Japanese company to work in their offices in Japan and be a liaison to foreign businessmen. He was attending a meeting once where everyone but him was Japanese. The boss presented an idea. There was silence for about 10-15 seconds, then people said things like "Yes, that's a good idea, let's do that." The American left the meeting thinking that the idea had been approved, only to have his Japanese colleague explain to him that the key part was the silence. The boss clearly heard and understood the message that his employees didn't think it was a good idea, and the idea was dropped and never mentioned again. So I could see a case where the character says "Yes" but the subtext is "No", and that would be clearly understood by a Japanese viewer. Different translators would choose different approaches there; some might translate the text, and some might translate the subtext. I'm curious to know if this was a case like that, or if it was a clear-cut case of one translation being right and the other one being flat-out wrong.
    - aidenn0 1y ago
      It was unimportant; in the subs the waiter asked if she wanted tea, in the dubs it was if she wanted coffee after her meal. IIRC it was the DVD release of Tenchi Forever.
baobun 1y ago
Let's just say the variance is high. Great stuff and groups out there but the bar has been lower (until now, I guess). Just according to keikaku. Translator's note: "Keikaku" means plan
xboxnolifes 1y ago
There are a lot of bad fan subs, but the best subs I come across are always fan subs.
kalleboo 1y ago
To be fair, official translations are equally notorious - "Jelly Donuts Are My Favorite" and so on
- wk_end 1y ago
  That’s from a dub, though. Whole other ball game.
Ekaros 1y ago
I take hyperliteralism over agenda pushing any day. I do not want my foreign media to be entirely rewritten to some other foreign media. Just so that some overly political person can make a point...

by wk_end 1y ago

bonecrusher2102 1y ago

That’s why I said the SUBS are awesome… not the translations ;-)

gchamonlive 1y ago
Could you use fan subs to help AI models better sync your actual subs?

bnjms 1y ago

I used to like what I assume is the hyper literalism and f fan subs. The certain phrases with consistent and repeated translations would gain their own color. I don’t know but it felt like that context was somehow carried over. Similarly there are some phrases which are probably unavoidably awkward. Like when translating vaguely as “that guy”.

Barrin92 1y ago

>but fan subs are notorious for mistranslations and awkward hyperliteralism. funny to see the comment. I was rewatching JoJo, this time in dub, and just came across a line like this. (the context is a fight between two 19th century British characters in a very theatrical setting): Sub: "Stop the futile, useless resistance. Don't hide in the curtain's shadows and come out!" Dub: "You're behind the curtain, like Polonius. And, like Polonius, it is there that you shall meet your end." I was so surprised that they threw in the Hamlet reference it's what made me look up what the original Japanese line was. The English dub writing often strikes me just as straight up better the more I watch of it.

orthozato 1y ago
Well, but that's the work of localization, which is a whole art itself. It is quite tricky and this Shakespeare reference might be a little bit out of context...
aidenn0 1y ago
Watching anime dubs with subtitles enabled can be interesting. I've literally seen the dub say "yes" with the sub saying "no."
- rmunn 1y ago
  Was either "yes" or "no" clearly the right translation in context? I'm very curious to know which one was correct, the dub or the sub. Or was it one of those ambiguous situations where either one would be a correct translation of the text, but with different subtext? P.S. For an example of when "yes" might really mean "no", I heard an anecdote. An American guy had been hired by a Japanese company to work in their offices in Japan and be a liaison to foreign businessmen. He was attending a meeting once where everyone but him was Japanese. The boss presented an idea. There was silence for about 10-15 seconds, then people said things like "Yes, that's a good idea, let's do that." The American left the meeting thinking that the idea had been approved, only to have his Japanese colleague explain to him that the key part was the silence. The boss clearly heard and understood the message that his employees didn't think it was a good idea, and the idea was dropped and never mentioned again. So I could see a case where the character says "Yes" but the subtext is "No", and that would be clearly understood by a Japanese viewer. Different translators would choose different approaches there; some might translate the text, and some might translate the subtext. I'm curious to know if this was a case like that, or if it was a clear-cut case of one translation being right and the other one being flat-out wrong.
  - aidenn0 1y ago
    It was unimportant; in the subs the waiter asked if she wanted tea, in the dubs it was if she wanted coffee after her meal. IIRC it was the DVD release of Tenchi Forever.

baobun 1y ago

Let's just say the variance is high. Great stuff and groups out there but the bar has been lower (until now, I guess). Just according to keikaku. Translator's note: "Keikaku" means plan

xboxnolifes 1y ago

There are a lot of bad fan subs, but the best subs I come across are always fan subs.

kalleboo 1y ago

To be fair, official translations are equally notorious - "Jelly Donuts Are My Favorite" and so on

wk_end 1y ago
That’s from a dub, though. Whole other ball game.

Ekaros 1y ago

I take hyperliteralism over agenda pushing any day. I do not want my foreign media to be entirely rewritten to some other foreign media. Just so that some overly political person can make a point...