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Yes, it all comes down to user preferences and I think we can clearly say that we prefer different things. I don't personally mind subtitles and they don't distract me the least bit (unless they are really, really, horribly styled, but fortunately I think I've only seen this kind of horror for once or twice at maximum). Like I said, in my opinion the translated text should be "highlighted" in some way so the viewer can quickly find it from the original text. That's why I used a thicker font than what the original writing is.
Also, regarding that particular scene: How important are those two short lines to the overall plot? I haven't watched School Days myself, so I couldn't know. But judging from the process you listed, I'd say it would take pretty long time of work just for those two little lines, and I'd rather have a little faster release with "rougher" sign typesetting than have "perfectly fine-tuned stroke widths" (I don't think anyone else would even notice this, because I didn't notice these little things when looking at the picture, so how would you do when viewing it for only a small time in the actual video?) and a release that takes forever.
And like I said, if I was the actual typesetter for that, I would most likely use two different fonts and spend some time looking for good handwriting fonts, but since I just made an example, I used what I already had. The point anyway was to demonstrate how a "highlighted" font is easier for the viewer, since it's recognized faster (in other words, it has a better readability in my opinion, and readibility is pretty important in a video that is constantly moving forward. In the ideal situation, you wouldn't have the need to stop the video in order to read on-screen signs).
One another thing though, if you really want font perfection, couldn't you just overwrite the original text after you achieve it? I don't think it would make a dramatical difference to lose the japanese writing, but it would make a huge difference when it comes to readability.
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