Subtitling preferences (not a sub versus dub thread)

Peachy

Bumpkin
"This is a straight up garbage release since it was handled by All The Anime instead."

Lmao. Hyperbole much? And potentiality just someone looking to criticise AL because they're not TRSI imo. Interested to see this "garbage" myself now

Bleh, that bold part is nasty.

I see no issue with the subs here, like others have said it must be because it's different to what the customers used to, which can be understandably irritating but still... so rude.
 
Could not care less about songs not being subtitled. It's G Reco for the UK. I'm simply happy with that.

However, if it was some crappy Neil Sedaka song that hadn't been subtitled...! [Shakefist]
 
Could not care less about songs not being subtitled. It's G Reco for the UK. I'm simply happy with that.

However, if it was some crappy Neil Sedaka song that hadn't been subtitled...! [Shakefist]

I'd rather not have song subtitles at all, especially given Funimation's tendency to lock them to the textless credit sequences in their extras. Do they not understand the meaning of the word textless? Both Assassination Classroom and Free Eternal Summer have some great credits sequences, and they've got the effin subtitles locked on them.
 
I'd rather not have song subtitles at all, especially given Funimation's tendency to lock them to the textless credit sequences in their extras. Do they not understand the meaning of the word textless? Both Assassination Classroom and Free Eternal Summer have some great credits sequences, and they've got the effin subtitles locked on them.


Actually, this speaks to something that REALLY irritates me. I hate it when a DVD or Blu Ray wont give me the option to watch a show without subs for signs. And don't even get me started on Sentai's annoying habit of putting notes on screen to explain details that ****** WRITING on a show couldn't be bothered to explain! That needs to stop. NOW.

I don't want that on my screen. Very seldom do I actually watch a show where a bundle of text appears unnanounced and leaves me thinking 'Oh, I really needed to know that. Thank you, subtitlers!'
 
I haven't really touched Sentai's stuff after bad experiences with Bodacious Space Pirates and the Gintama movie. Horrible dub translations which make mistakes the subs don't o_O
 
I'd rather not have song subtitles at all, especially given Funimation's tendency to lock them to the textless credit sequences in their extras. Do they not understand the meaning of the word textless? Both Assassination Classroom and Free Eternal Summer have some great credits sequences, and they've got the effin subtitles locked on them.
Those are really two separate issues though, not having song subtitles doesn't really solve the issue of locked subtitles (which is a frustrating problem in general). Optional subtitles would be the best of both worlds (and could still include song subtitles).

If it absolutely has to be a choice between no song subtitles at all or locked subtitles on the textless sequences then that might be a bit more difficult. I suppose it would partly depend on the OP/ED visuals. Still, at least you could look up the song lyrics but looking up the visuals would be far from ideal.

Actually, this speaks to something that REALLY irritates me. I hate it when a DVD or Blu Ray wont give me the option to watch a show without subs for signs. And don't even get me started on Sentai's annoying habit of putting notes on screen to explain details that ****** WRITING on a show couldn't be bothered to explain! That needs to stop. NOW.

I don't want that on my screen. Very seldom do I actually watch a show where a bundle of text appears unnanounced and leaves me thinking 'Oh, I really needed to know that. Thank you, subtitlers!'
I'm not sure I've seen subtitles explaining plot details before, that does sound kind of silly. I do find that some of the cultural notes/reference explanations can occasionally be interesting, although I'm not always sure they're worth it since they can also be distracting (especially if you already understood). The ones that come as a separate feature are probably the best but that doesn't happen so often these days. I guess I also appreciate efforts to translate puns, which is probably one of the toughest things to do.
 
Actually, this speaks to something that REALLY irritates me. I hate it when a DVD or Blu Ray wont give me the option to watch a show without subs for signs. And don't even get me started on Sentai's annoying habit of putting notes on screen to explain details that ****** WRITING on a show couldn't be bothered to explain! That needs to stop. NOW.

I don't want that on my screen. Very seldom do I actually watch a show where a bundle of text appears unnanounced and leaves me thinking 'Oh, I really needed to know that. Thank you, subtitlers!'

Once upon a time, distros used to print production and translation notes, on actual paper, which they put inside the Amaray case along with the disc. I really appreciated things like that. ADV used to be king of it. Ironic now that it's Sentai that clutter up the screen the most. Now, paper production notes are considered CE and LE bonus items.
 
To be blunt, I got by just fine without those kind of subtitled notes during the VHS era of anime. It bemuses me why anybody feels it's crucial that I should be left in no doubt that two characters are having a conversation outside a men's lavatory when a freaking huge block of text appears to tell me so.
 
Animeigo's huge sheets of cultural notes for UY were fantastic in the VHS days! I don't really care either way since I don't remember the last time an on-screen note (or sign translation, which is what it sounds like in this case?) either interfered with my viewing experience or told me something I didn't already know. Some people get quite upset if there's an untranslated "squiggle" (my apologies to the Japanese language, 'tis an actual quote) on the screen which might say something amazing. It can lead to wild conspiracy theories. So I understand why they do it.

Some companies do the cultural notes in the Extras (Nozomi has done this a few times IIRC) which mimics the old liner notes but has the disadvantage that you can't quickly consult them; you either read them in advance and spoil the content or try to remember everything after finishing the video when you've long forgotten the joke's relevance.

In an ideal world every release would have a separate signs track (and subs+signs) so everyone could get the level of translation they want.

R
 
This is a hard one, because I feel like Sentai occasionally go a little too far with what they do translate and add notes for, but equally sometimes there's stuff that might seem inconsequential, that could potentially be a much bigger deal than one would first think. I'm remind of the whole fan theory from Mr. Osomatsu about the show potentially taking place in the land of the dead, where some supporting evidence is a briefly visible station name in the background. It's hard to judge what is and isn't important, especially since everyone's opinion will differ completely. Equally, Crunchyroll were perhaps guilty of under-translation in their subtitles for the show. The lack of subtitling for the in-character spoken word EDs, was a source of disappointment for me.

Also, to perhaps interpret the title differently, subtitles should be large and wide. Thin and small subtitles, like those used by Aniplex of America and Funimation should be banned. Subtitles should actually be designed to be read more than a metre away from the screen...
 
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