Gundam 00 — Nyoro~n Translation Errors
I was quite alarmed by a comment posted by tsuki_Yomi in my previous entry. His understanding of the relationship between Ptolemaios and Gundams in Gundam 00 appears to be the complete opposite of what episode 3 revealed. I decided that some fansub group must have done everyone a huge disfavour and since Nyoro~n is the only group that has released so far (as of this posting)…
So yeah, here’s a comparison of all the major translation errors in episode 3 released by Nyoro~n Fansubs. Of course since I do translation checking for Mendoi-Conclave, you can say that I have a vested interest in doing this comparison. But keep in mind that I didn’t make anything up and all the errors are really there when you watch their release. Enjoy.
Original: よもや君に出会えようとは
Nyoro~n: Oh come now, this is just like when I first saw you.
Menclave: Who would’ve thought… facing you like this…
Original: おとめ座のわたしには、センチメンタリズムな運命を感じずにはいられない
Nyoro~n: You’re not going to end this fated battle without returning my sentimentalities.
Menclave: Being a Virgo, I can’t help but feel this is a sentimental destiny.
Comment: Completely missing out the first half of the sentence (Virgo part). I agree that “sentimental destiny” sounds really stupid, but at least it doesn’t alter the meaning.
Original: それとも、光の粒子を出していなかったから見つけられたのか……
Nyoro~n: Or perhaps you thought I hadn’t noticed that light that’s streaming out of you?
Menclave: Or was I able to find you because you forgot to send out those glowing particles?
Comment: An honest mistake, I’m sure.
Original: 手土産に…破片の1つもいただいていく！
Nyoro~n: I admire your strength… So I’m going to take you back in one piece!
Menclave: As a souvenir… I’ll take a piece of you with me!
Comment: WTF?
Original: いやはや、本当に予測不能な人だよ君は
Nyoro~n: Goodness gracious, you’re certainly someone who grasps your shortcomings far too late, aren’t you?
Menclave: My, my, you’re such an unpredictable character.
Comment: Nice…
Original: 今回の戦闘で得られたガンダムのデータは、フラッグ1機を失ったとしてもおつりがくる
Nyoro~n: We got some battle data on the Gundam, and your Flag was unharmed.
Menclave: Considering the data we obtained on the Gundam during this fight, even losing the Flag would have been a good trade.
Comment: Hey, at least all the important keywords are there!…This time~nyoro~
Original: それにしても若かったな…ソレスタルビーイングのパイロットは
Nyoro~n: I just did this to better understand… that Celestial Being pilot.
Menclave: Besides all that, he sure was young… Celestial Being’s pilot.
Comment: LOL~!! wakai (young) != wakaru (understand)
Original: モビルスーツの動きに感情がのっていたのさ
Nyoro~n: When you’re moving a mobile suit, you tend to lose yourself.
Menclave: I could read his feelings from the way he moved his mobile suit.
Original: 10分以内に速報配信！次のニュースは現地からの中継だ！3時間以内に人革主席の公式声明が出るぞ！
Nyoro~n: There’s got to be something that’s been leaked. Just run a recap for the next newscast; this time tomorrow you all better have something to give me!
Menclave: Send out this news flash within the next 10 minutes! Do a live on-site broadcast for the next news segment! The head of the Human Reform League is making an official statement in less than 3 hours!
Comment: Okay, Nyoro~n, now you are just making shit up.
Original: 枠を空けとけ！
Nyoro~n: Get your asses in gear!
Menclave: Keep that time slot open!
Comment: Mmmm…ass…
Orignial: 21世紀のセキュリティはあってないようなものだからな
Nyoro~n: Besides, there’s no way a man from the 21st century could be around today.
Menclave: Security in the 21st century was almost non-existent, after all.
Comment: Not even close.
Major WTF Errors
Actually I am sick of this. It’s only 5 minutes into the episode and a quick glance through the rest of Nyoro~n’s script reveals that the entire thing is full of nonsense. But I’ll just highlight a few more MAJOR MISTAKES, some of them which totally changed the entire plot. I have doubts that the translator speaks any Japanese at all.
Original: 僕たちに弱点があるとすれば、ガンダムがないとプトレマイオスの活動時間が極端に限定されてしまうと
Nyoro~n: If there was one weak point for us… It would be that our Gundams are severely limited by the need to periodically return to the Ptolemaios.
Menclave: If we have a weak point, it’s that, without the Gundams, the operational time of the Ptolemaios would be extremely limited.
Comment: This may sound counter-intuitive, but yes, the Gundams really are Ptolemy’s power source. The original Japanese dialogue made it very clear.
Original: アイルランドのアルスター地方では、散発的ではありますが、テロ行為が4世紀近くにわたって続いています
Nyoro~n: Ireland’s Ulster Volunteer Forces are scattered across the country, though those factions who engage in terrorist activities remain hidden.
Menclave: In Ireland’s Ulster region, though sporadic, terrorist acts have been occurring for approximately four centuries.
Original: 材質はEカーボン。最新素材ではありますが、構造上、目新しい技術は確認されていません
Nyoro~n: It’s well-reinforced with carbon, the technology on the inside is cutting edge, some of it’s unheard of.
Menclave: It’s made out of E-carbon. It’s made out of the most up-to-date material, but, in terms of design, we cannot find any new technology being used.
Comment: The whole point of this dialogue is to show that CB are really careful not to divulge their technological secrets. Great job missing the whole point, Nyoro~n.
Original: あの特殊粒子は、ステルス性のほかに機体制御にも使われている
Nyoro~n: If we obtain a sample of that special particle, we can achieve the same results.
Menclave: Those special particles, besides their stealth features, are also used for controlling the suit.
Original: おそらくは、火器にも転用されているじゃろうて
Nyoro~n: So you’re going to give a Flag the firepower to match him?
Menclave: They’re likely to be applied as weapons too.
Original: 恐ろしい男じゃ、わしらより何十年も先の技術を持っておる
Nyoro~n: He’s a wicked man. 70 years ago I learned of his deceit.
Menclave: A dreadful man… having technology that’s several decades ahead of us.
Comment: STOP MAKING THINGS UP!!!
Original: わしは麻薬などというものが心底嫌いでな！焼き払ってくれるというなら、ガンダムを支持したい
Nyoro~n: That’s not the role you’re meant to fill, you need to be remade before then. I want to teach you what you need to blow the Gundam away.
Menclave: I hate narcotics from the bottom of my heart. If they intend to burn that down, I’ll support the Gundams.
Comment: Uh… How the fuck did you even get that?
Original: エネルギー、ヴァーチェからトレミーへの転送準備完了、転送開始します
Nyoro~n: Virtue now drawing energy from the solar furnace.
Menclave: Energy, transfer preparations from Virtue to Ptolemy complete.
Comment: Once again, Nyoro~n totally fucks up the relationship between Ptolemy and Gundams. Oh well, at least they are being consistent about it. :)
Original: ソレスタルビーイングを利用する国。その国すら利用する国
Nyoro~n: Celestial Being begins to be received by countries. These countries become host nations.
Menclave: The nations who make use of Celestial Being. The nations who use those nations.
Comment: Once again, I admit the shortcomings of Menclave’s version. It sounds a little weird in English, but at least that’s what the original dialogue is saying. We didn’t make things up! Yay!
Conclusion
Keep in mind that beyond the first 5 minutes of the episode, I only chose to highlight selective mistakes because it would probably take me a few hours more to document the whole thing. There’s something wrong with at least 70% of the lines. The translator goes to great length to make it sound like he knows what he is doing, such that his so-called “translations” sound reasonable to someone who doesn’t speak Japanese. That is, in my humblest opinion, dishonest and disturbing.
If you don’t understand a single word of Japanese at all, it’s better for you to watch the raws than to watch Nyoro~n. I hesitate to call their release a “translation” because in reality it is closer to being a parody sub. It’s as if the “translator” decided to write his own story because he didn’t like Sunrise’s scriptwriters. If you are a Gundam fan, please, for the love of Haruhi and all that is good, wait for some other group to release. It doesn’t even have to be Mendoi-Conclave…
If my experiences are anything to go by, some commentators will start accusing me of being “elitist” and “not helping the situation” just about now. But this time I learnt my lesson. Rest assured that Nyoro~n’s translator has had his mistakes pointed out to him many, many times before I typed this blog entry. He continues to insist that he knows what he is doing. Fine, here’s my proof otherwise.
That said, Nyoro~n’s release does offer hours of quality entertainment for someone who speaks Japanese. It’s hilarious. :)
This has been a public service announcement from a guy with too much free time on his hands.
Trackback from
Menclave » CLAVEMEN MAKE QUALITYOctober 22nd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
[...] THIS IS WHY I DONT DOWNLOAD SPEEDSUBS! [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Guh… make posts like this sooner! I just finished downloading Nyoro~n’s version of ep 3… *sighs as he deletes it*
Thanks for the heads up though.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I don’t watch fansubs for Gundam 00. I did hear from other people that Nyoro~n had a lot of mistakes before this, but I didn’t realize it was so serious until I watched through one episode for myself.
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Doremi saga all over again! Maybe this is also gonna get slapped up on 4chan.
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
dang.. i started with nyoron b4 i moved on to mendoi-conclave from episode 2.. looks like i’ll have to download episode 1 from MC and rewatch it again @@
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:32 pm
facepalm.jpg
Well, 4chan’s down for the count, it seems. :V
Trackback from
ineser.net » Gundam 00 03October 22nd, 2007 at 4:32 pm
[...] oh btw read this [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Man, I’m so glad I dl Mendoi-Conclave fansubs for ef. I prefer people who I can trust to not make such bad errors.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I´ve tried different groups for these three eps and from what I saw Nyoro~n made the least sense even if I don´t understand all the words something still didn´t feel right when I watched this episode.
espacially when Setsuna and his rival(what´s his name again?) fought.
So no more Nyoro~n for me.
thanks for what to say contributing to my own thoughts that something were amiss.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:59 pm
hey, even Babelfish gets the meaning better!(though the words are not phrased properly)
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
^^;
OMG, well I just thought Nyoron~s MKV size are good enough and HD too~ Its not like I dun like Menclave but 300MB is painful if U live in country with slow net like mine~
I dunno that subs its really fatal~ thx DM
T__T now~ I should just wait SS? *sigh~
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:09 pm
驚きました I don’t watch Gundam but even with just a JLPT 2, those translations are just way off.
On a side note, does anyone else find the iaponicization (I think I just invented that, lol, Latin root iaponica) of Western words a bit weird? Πτολεμαίος is usually iaponicized to プトレマイオス directly from the Greek; the same goes for most other non-English European languages, like Caesar who is ガイウス・ユリウス・カエサル in Japanese. Strange that they took it from the English here. Virtue is also really weird, it seems that they took the mute e at the end as an エ
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:13 pm
@Gerrymon:
Er, the flag next to your post seems to indicate you live in Singapore.
Singapore = slow Internet? Who do you think you’re kidding?
SingTel Broadband: 10 mbps, unlimited, SG$70 / mth
BigPond (Australia): 1.5 mbps, 25 GB cap, SG$130 / mth
AT&T (USA): 6 mbps, unlimited, SG$50 / mth
As you can see, Singapore has broadband speeds and pricing similar and arguably better than than other countries…
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:24 pm
I think he’s from Indonesia. Or Poland. LOL.
And drama queen strikes back! I watch Chinese subs though and thus while I did get the correct translation, I dont know what is a Ptolaey or whatever lol.
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:26 pm
darkmirage makes sense and zepheris u arent really thinking.
the Ptolemaios cant use the GN drive because it emits those light particles. if the Ptolemaios uses the drive, it’ll be damn obvious that its the mothership for the gundams.
my theory is that the GN drive must be external. i believe that the light particles contain too much energy that if GN drive was installed in the interior, it’ll melt the interior hull and kill everyone in the ship due to its radiation.
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Good thing 4chan’s down
Since you can’t troll there, here’s a good place…
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:04 pm
spitxfire, I think you are replying to a comment in my other post.
Actually I hadn’t give much thought to it yet. But I don’t think it has anything to do with an external GN drive. After all, when the Gundams dock with Ptolemaios, they are essentially inside the ship, and the GN drives work just fine inside without leaving a trail of glowing particles behind Ptolemaios.
I think it’s just that the scriptwriter wanted to give the superpowers a fighting chance against Celestial Being… lol.
tj han Tsk tsk, everyone knows that Poland’s flag is the other way up.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Wow, I hate jargon. It makes me think that Firearms are Fire Extinguishers.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:15 pm
lol…well, im capped atm so i cant dl nething, at least itells me their translations are shifty….
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:15 pm
omg… i just wasted 23:46 mins of my life watching Nyoro~n subs… T.T
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Gyahaha.
This is just pure fun. Totally hilarious, especially the part that goes “wakai”= “wakaru”.(burst out laughing) Whatever that’s going into my Eyes doesn’t fit anything that’s going into my Ears. It’s just pure comedy effect.
Well, thanks DM ^_^ i’ll be looking foward to your group’s releases.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:21 pm
@Soulshift
Indonesia~ slow unlimited 20kbps for 75US$ sweet huh T__T and mine is time based~ cant afford unlimited~
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:30 pm
IS THIS THE DORAMA I’VE BEEN WAITING? WHERE’S THE FLAME? DAMNIT.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:38 pm
With episode 1 I first downloaded GundamS.net one. Even though I don’t know much japanese (just the random word here and there), I could tell the subs where off by a mile. Decided to try Nyoron’s, and halfway through the download another Gundam translator told me it was also bad. Since then, I wait for the Mendoi-Conclave one.
Sad thing is, a lot of spanish groups are basing their subs on the Nyoron one.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Dang… *adds nyro~n to ignore list…*
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:23 pm
I first noticed their problematic translations from the first episode, picking up errors in their translations that even a pseudo-Japanese-literate twit like me managed to find. I suspect that they are basing their translations on Chinese subs or something — makes no sense for such a huge warp unless, as you say, they’re making stuff up.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:30 pm
AJ >> Nyoro~n.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Lol. This shows that there’s a fansub group which can top odex’s bad subs.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Instead of criticizing their mistakes why not help them with them? I don’t see you doing anything DM since you obviously know Japanese a lot better than they do.
Though, some blame does rest with the fansub groups because to be honest I wouldn’t even get into fansubbing if I wasn’t 100% I wouldn’t make mistakes.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:50 pm
I believe I already said that I am doing translation work for Mendoi-Conclave’s release of Gundam 00, so accusing me of “not helping” won’t work this time.
Anyway even if I were not involved in translating Gundam 00 at all, why couldn’t I still criticize a bad fansub? Is that not the whole point of critics? Are movie reviewers obliged to “help out” lousy directors to make their next movie better? I think not.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Well helping them to admit their mistakes is 50% of the problem solved.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:16 pm
My Japanese isn’t stellar (although I have this vague notion/delusion that it gets better over the years), but those are some huge errors. Gundam’s not my thing but thanks for detailing the issues here. I just started watching Oh! Edo Rocket and I’m glad I didn’t start with theirs.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:46 am
Damn…what a waste of time ;-; But my biggest problem is, my computer can’t handle Mendoi-conclave’s subs! It does the frame skip thing. (I guess my video card is too lame to handle it? *shrugs* I don’t know…) *sighs* Anyone want to point out an alternate sub for me? Typically, I can watch raws with minimal problems, but keeping up with Gundam jargon just makes me lazy…
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:47 am
holy cow… No wonder I’m all confused…. one thing’s obvious, people form nyoro isn’t a natural English speaker. ‘better understand’ sounds like a east Asian direct translation to me.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:51 am
great, now i gotta rewatch episode 1 because i only picked up conclave’s releases after episode 2,
*smacks nyoron~n* >3
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:54 am
‘for the love of Haruhi’
Jokes.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:56 am
Wow, i was midway thru the episode when a friend contacted me about a #chan being down. Pausing gundam, I hopped on another to see wtf is going on and was linked here o_O. Coincidence?? Hell if i know, but Nyoro~n really screwed up that bad? I already watched 2.5 episodes of it and most of it is wrong? D: You have left me in despair! Cuz now i have to wait for another subber to pick it up.. if they do…. I guess I’m glad i caught this… Creepy how I found it at the right time…
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:09 am
The best thing you guys can do when you realize that Nyoro~n’s release is so bad is the SPREAD THE WORD.
Speedsubbers generally have the advantage because of how widespread the ‘first file out’ mentality is, and many forums rarely if ever know about any other versions that come out a few days afterwards. If everyone helps to spread the word, then maybe… just maybe we can turn the tide and get some real subs that are properly translated into those poor souls’ hands.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:22 am
OMFG, I’m lucky I didn’t watch it before knowing this news. Good work in revealing the subbing errors.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:25 am
Wait, GundamS is off on their subs too? Is that true DM? Or have you not heard anything about that? I thought they were okay, but then again, what do I know…
How do I tell which download has subs on the Mendoi site? Or do they all?
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:43 am
Good thing I never trusted in nyoro~n Fansubs from the very start.
I could only laugh
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:58 am
I’m from a Spanish language fansub staff, and at first we tried Nyoro’s Gundam 00 version… however, we could tell it was full of mistakes xD We also tried some other English versions, but the one that we liked the better was Mendoi’s. So, speaking as a Gundam fan, I can say that it is sort of great to know a reliable fansub.
I hope you are up to what we need xDD
And, of course… Thanks ;D
Mistwalker
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:40 am
Looks like they are trying to insert Yaoi themes where there are none. For kicks or something.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:57 am
@Aaron: At least their first episode was off. Second episode I didn’t bother with GundamS and waited for Mendoi-Conclave’s, so I don’t know if they got better or not.
@Mistwalker: What group are you in?
“For the love of Haruhi”?That does it. I’ve been trying to avoid it all this time, but now I’ll have to watch that series.
p.s. Why do I get a little US flag? It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I’m not in the US.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:12 am
I was watching this last night and I was like WTF is this gay reference doing in the middle of a battle?
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:41 am
So can anyone confirm if GundamS subs are any good? I watched 2 episodes of their subs. I want to know is they are also wrong, and if yes, by how much? Hopefully not this bad.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:42 am
Ya a lot of things in it don’t make sense like how only the Virtue went back while according to Nyoro~n Ptolemy powered all of them. That definitely confused me.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:44 am
Is there a way to compress those files? my computer simply cant take these 300+megabyte files episodes and it keeps skipping.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:54 am
@ fUN
http://bt.mendoi-fansubs.com/
Use the 170MB files, they are not HD. The 170MB are 700×400 instead of 1280×720
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:06 am
@fUN: The reason why your computer is skipping isn’t because of the filesize. It’s because your computer can’t handle decoding either the HD resolution or the high bitrate. Try looking for CoreAVC and installing that, making sure you disable H.264 decoding support in ffdshow or similar things first. If that still doesn’t work, then you should get the 170MB version as Fear said.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:28 am
*laughs* I knew it was a good thing I avoided those silly speedsubbers…
I still think that name should be Leif, though ;)
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:09 am
I’m too lazy to use bit torrent so I just direct download gundam 00, of course the site I get them from just picks up whatever it can first…. so I have 2 from gundamsnet and the newest one from nyoro~n sadly enough…….. but I’ll end up watching it in english when it comes out anyway…… hopefully they’ll get it right 8Þ
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:25 am
hey look, it’s a menclave troll criticizing Nyoro~n! How novel.
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:26 am
Hmm, another menclave troll trolling nyoro~n. I love you guys.
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:41 am
hi lolfang.
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:59 am
My japanese isn’t great but there were also errors all through out episode 2 I could pick up, insults in places where they shouldn’t be and such, quite annoying to watch.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:15 am
I’m happy to see some things never change.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:20 am
@Lolfang: Dude get it right. Menclave is our good side. Clavemen is our trolling side.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:35 am
This just in:
Nyoro~n teams up with Doremi just to spite DarkMirage. News at 10.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:46 am
Wow… Just wow….
I’m a fluent Japanese speaker and part of a fansub group myself, so I’m not very versed in what other groups do…
I can’t believe this type of garbage a fansub group will put out just to be ‘first on the block’… I had no reason to download subs of other series… but now I may just to laugh at the mistakes the low quality ones make.
- PrincessRydiamon/LNF Nuku-Nuku
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:57 am
Marek: You are right. It is Leif.
Anonymous: Attacking the person doesn’t make the message any less true. At least this troll speaks the truth. :)
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:11 am
BTW here’s what the translator has to say:
Taken from Nyoro~n’s blog. Some guy spammed this page there and he wasn’t too happy about it. But it wasn’t me. I guess there are a lot of pissed-off people out there.
Strangely, I don’t think I know this guy. I do feel kind of sad that he accuses me of being “not too good with Japanese“. :(
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:26 am
I don’t see how he can try to claim you are lying or trolling — you posted the original Japanese along with their translation.
I’ve only watched Ep3 raw, and I can see the inaccuracies myself. The energy transfer TO Ptolemae-whatever is in “plain Japanese”, and I thought the sentence about the Flag pilot being able to tell the CB pilot was young based on his movements was also pretty obvious.
(I’m certainly not totally fluent, but I can spit out a fairly accurate TL in around 6hrs … I tend to be anal about checking against my dictionary for everything to make sure I get it correct)
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:57 am
I quickly glanced over at Nyoro~n subs earlier (since I’m not that familiar with Gundam terminology) and noticed they translated “sister” as “mother, Anne.” WTH, Nyoro~n?!
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:01 am
Oh wow. Thanks so much for the insight into the wrong translations. I actually had downloaded Nyoro~n and was going to watch it when I came across this blog. After reading this, I would’ve have definitely had a wrong perception of some of the bigger points of the plotline in this series (i.e., Gundams giving energy, not the need to be recharged). Just, wow. Unfortunately, since I do not speak Japanese, I need to rely on subbers. But now that you have brought this up, I’m going to have to be careful on which groups I download from.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:26 am
Nyoro~n does speedsubs.
Your group does slow, methodical, higher quality work.
You are a tremendous faggot.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:35 am
@ggg: I understand that they’re speedsubbers, but when you’re putting opposite meanings in your subs, it’s closer to the realm of jokesubbing than speedsubbing.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:45 am
There’s a minimum quality to speed subs, and as DM demonstrated, this guy definitely does not meet that standard.
I don’t understand this “well he’s doing it for free” and “why don’t you help out instead of complaining” argument. If something is bad, it’s bad. There’s really nothing personal to it.
There’s also a difference between criticism and bitching, and DM clearly had done the former.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:52 am
I agree with “ggg” in saying that they are speedsubs.. But even if your a speedsub group, i think the only difference should be the quality of the language interpreted,
So i wouldn’t be expecting intricate jargon that ties it in (which Nyoro~n try to incorporate).
I think if they tone down the language, they might be looking at a more accurate translation,
Then again i have no idea about translating from Japanese, i just hav picked up a couple phrases here and there.
But i reckon the importance of translation, specially in a show that has technical explanations, and also a political view that it needs to convey, is pretty important, u not only misunderstand the plot line but the whole experiences of what the writer is trying to put across to the audience is lost, because in reality we get Nyoro~n’s Gundam 00…
For a couple of years now i have been following DBs Speedsubs for Naruto and Bleach, and for the life of me i have no idea if there subs are accurate or not. So once i downloaded another groups to compare the releases, and it didn’t flow as nice.. I guess really i could be in the same situation, the subs just flow well for DB or are the accurate o_0” No idea
my 2 cents worth in the bowl, mix it up, hop out the kitchen when it gets hot cause too many cooks spoil the broth, and there’s no point crying over spilt milk since all roads lead to Rome and it wasn’t built in a day, and if you change horses midstream you’ll be up the creek without a paddle, and we’ll be talking bout this till the cows come home.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 am
Nyoro~n didn’t just do a speedsub. They did a joke/troll/shit sub. Nyoro~n definitely know it’s wrong but they’ll defend because obviously each group has its sheep that’ll believe them. They get a kick out of it. Unfortunately, bad for the community. DarkMirage did a great service to all the English viewers.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:38 am
Looks like Anime-Junkies is back!
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:55 am
This is a real problem with bad speedsubbers, to see it in perspective, let’s see numbers:
Downloads of Nyoro~n version as of now: 26922
Downloads of Mendoi-Conclave version as of now: 10679
So, the QUALITY fansubs of Nyoro~n have a market share of 71%!! 71% of english fans who use fansubbers think that Graham Acre grasps his shortcomings!!
I see this post as a great service for the anime fandom around the world, as speedsubbers have the advantage of “first post” and a lot of people don’t care or even know the “speedsubbers” term. One will hope Nyoro~n will receive this as a good thing and use it to be better, but it seems is “cooler” to be part of the Anonymous Groupthinking (Even with 4chan dead).
Great work, DM
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:28 am
This is why I prefer zero-presence fansubbing.
There is no “market” - its piracy.
Fred, explain how “Anonymous Groupthinking” has anything to do with shitty subs. You are very ‘hip’ to internet developments. I gained a great deal of respect for you. Perhaps the next time I encounter your selectively portrayed internet-persona I will hold your opinion in higher regard than I would the opinion of a stranger. Yes sir you made an internet friend today. Relax, allow me to caress you e-peen, now, and in the future.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:52 am
How does Anonymous group compare to Conclave Mendoi’s?
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:16 am
If people are so concerned with the accuracy of the translations they should just go learn japanese, downloading something for free will always have its risks, including dodgy translations. Although i must say some of the mistakes are quite shocking, what use is it to list all their mistakes and insult them?
And um, soulshift, Bigpond is kind of known for it’s high prices, i’m with iiNet’s plan of $70($90SGD)/month 60gb cap.
Just a note, i’m not invovled in the fansubbing scenario at all, nor do i download english subs
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:19 am
thanks for the corrections those Nyoro~n retards better start picking up their act
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:21 am
^oops, forgot to add that it is 24mbps
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:22 am
Aww man…the reason I d/led from Nyoron is bcos they at least release theirs in HD avi format. Not that mycom doesnt support mkvs, I just prefer avi/mp4 over mkv…
Any chance of M-C releasing in mp4/avi?? Else I gotta wait for Shinsen…
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:24 am
Anonymous is pretty good too. If you don’t want to watch Mendoi-Conclave because you hate us or because you prefer Xvid, then I recommend Anonymous. But for the love of all that is good, stop trying to defend Nyoro~n.
There is a minimum standard of quality even for “speed subs”. I can honestly tell you that with Nyoro~n’s misleading “translations”, you are better off watching the entire thing raw even if you don’t know a single word of Japanese. At least then you won’t be under the false impression that you know what is going on with the story. Ultimately Nyoro~n’s release does a huge disservice to the community and contributes nothing to the series.
And judging from the Lolfang’s reaction to my accusations and those of other people before me, I find it hard to believe that he is unaware of his terrible translation. This is not a mistake, this is a deliberate attempt on his part to mislead and cheat. I find it highly despicable that he continues to defend his “translation”, especially when he knows that there are people out there who desperately want to continue to believe in Nyoro~n, who even now are trying to defend him. He is betraying their trust wilfully. I am disgusted.
The right thing to do now is to owe up that you have been making up more than half the dialogues and apologize to the people who wasted their time on your ego-trip.
That said, I don’t think zero-presence fansubbing has anything to do with this whole thing. Even if Lolfang had released his translations anonymously, I would still have done this comparison because I absolutely detest such forms of dishonesty in fansubbing. The only difference is that in that case we wouldn’t be able to find anyone to hold accountable for.
Once again, I find it weird that there are always people who accuse me of “not helping”. What more can I do? Lolfang had his mistakes pointed out to him in private numerous times before. He did nothing to improve and he showed no signs of regret. Would you prefer if I didn’t make this post and kept my mouth shut instead? I simply cannot understand this line of reasoning.
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:24 am
i don’t think he’s insulting them, he’s pointing out major mistakes so that the fans don’t run into continuity issues in the future, especially with that energy transfer thing. god even i noticed when reading the sub
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
DM, I haven’t watched this series, but from reading your article I can already tell which person has the correct translation and all that… not gonna try fighting that in the slightest. I also appreciate that you put this up on your site, it’s great for the general fandom to get to read ^_^x
However, I think I should point out that there is a possibility where he isn’t doing this to intentionally piss people off. Perhaps he did try his best (I sure remember my first attempts at translating, when I probably shouldn’t have even bothered thinking about it) and in the end puzzled together something he thought made sense?
If he fought that hard, some personality types wouldn’t be able to accept to himself that his work is bad. I’m not trying to defend him here, saying that he might be morally correct… just saying that perhaps you might want to remember he might not be “just” as bad as you make him out to be.
Again, I’ve never been interested in this show, never downloaded an episode and certainly never spoke to the guy, so I have no clue outside of this article ^_^x;
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Excellent post DM, I haven’t watched any subs other than Mendoi/Conclave, but now I’m glad I didn’t.
I do speak Japanese and fansub for certain groups and reading through the translations of Nyoron gave me a wonderful giggle, I mean everyone makes mistakes, but thats virtually changing the storyline.
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Menclave » DORAMA~October 23rd, 2007 at 2:33 pm
[...] a blog entry was posted by DarkMirage on his blog ( link ), featuring a short comparison between the Conclave-Mendoi release and the Nyoron release for [...]
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:41 pm
“He did nothing to improve and he showed no signs of regret.”
probably because showing regret isn’t going to help him to improve
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Not gonna defend nyoro~n, but from this we can conclude that
1) only a handful of people can do quality subs
2) only a handful of those handful of people would sub a project like Gundam
I’m pretty sure someday I’ll get owned by some lyric translation critic, but I also want to alert people that to send the meaning across, each translator would produce a different translation. Some would do it better than others.
It’s easy to distinguish a correct translation that one that’s not (especially from peer groups), but it’s up to the individual to choose the best one.
That said, you also need to know why DM is the best around. Usually a translator is either too on the literal side or the poetic side (in which I’m the latter), but DM is just about smack in the middle.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Well, as I thouht, nyoro~n is not geting any better. It was a piece of shit when it was translating Gurren-Lagann, and it is just the same piece now.
So, I’m really think that he (them?) is doing it on purpuse.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I knew there was a reason that I’m always watching the “quality” hroup versions of a shows sub - if available.
I don’t like the idea of speedsubbing in general (hell, the whole thing has to be translated and timed either way. Doing some QC and a proper encode is by far the least work).
And I’m not that big fan of zero presence subbing. Because I just don’t know how good the “Anon” subbing a certain show is. You can’t even know if it’s the same Anon who subs other shows with the same name-tag.
The only problem I have with regular groups is that they tend to become slower with their releases of a show and tend to drop them. No offense here, I