Quick fan sub comparison (Mai-Otome)

[Zafo]

I like Doremi's keeping closer to the original Japanese, even if is does mean we have to deal with words like "Shuwarutsu," because consider the alternative of groups that try to westernize the dialouge.

In Karin episode 9, they sub "Itadakimasu" and "Gochisosama" both as "Compliments/thanks to the chef," but they leave "oneechan" as "oneechan". That drove me mad. How many groups and subs have any of us seen with little subnotes that show up to explain a Japanese word or joke most of us aren't familiar with? School Rumble and Mahou Shojou Tai have more fansub notes then subs themselves. (sorry for the quick off-topic, but why couldn't Suck be as good as when they subbed Uninhabited Planet Survive?)

IMHO, Doremi is doing a fine job with Otome, if thier only problems are with the spelling of some words that never belonged in Japanese anyway ("Shuwarutsu"? "Asuwarudo"?). Doremi may not haev pretty subs, but they're subs graphically are easy on the eyes, you have to admit. Static's not as bad as Suck is at Karin, not by a long shot, but pretty subs don't make you a winner.

And this is not bragging, but this is coming from an obsessed fanboy with no life that watches the raw, the Doremi sub, and the Static sub of every episode.

[ZippyDSM]

Zafo
Ya I HATE that it dose grind on me....thier better off leaveing Itadakimasu as Itadakimasu....and if its a lesser knowen japanase word then by all means jsut add a note I been whatching Yu yu hashuo by funimation and OMG the dub is off and the subing wants to amke me cry....its gettign to the point if I buy soemthign I will get its fan subs becuse they at least try and respect the show more....

[xat]

Originally Posted by babuji

In my opinion, I have tried both fansubs and found that by vidoe quality Static Subs did a better job and on top of that thier wordings are much easier too be read....however, as for Doremi Fansub, thier translation are top notch. They follow most of the words accurately maybe only for 1 or 2 episodes. Doremi Fansub retain the original words and it is more japanize. But for SS thier traslation are base more of the western way of conversation.

Conclusion: Both fansub are doing very good and by speed Doremi wins. Keep up the good work guys.

Unfortunately, this is in part result of our effort to get the episode to you by Sat/Sun. The initial airings and raw captures tend not to be of superb quality, and that's what we have to work with. I try to refine them without actually damaging them, though evidently it still ends up being visually inferior to a later raw capture--at least it isn't terrible.

It's a shame I lack the bandwidth to distribute the uncompressed versions; they look fantastic.

[coefficientX]

Originally Posted by Starks

Bubbly? Like Erstin's rack?

The Arial font is here to stay as far as I know. It's unobtrusive and easy on the eyes. Besides, hair-color-matching is fruity and doesn't suit this anime. The harem needs to be larger for it to work (Large = Negima sized).

Yeah i know arial font is easy on the eyes, but it's just too simple looking.
I'm not asking for hair-color-matching either. Hmmm let's see...

Fonts like the above example are easy on eyes too right?

Maybe it's just me only. But i think the subtitles typeface do have effect on making an anime more enjoyable.
Pffft i'm just a greedy fan. And a crazy fan who watches raw, chinese sub, both doremi & SS sub of EVERY mai-otome episodes.

[Zafo]

Originally Posted by coefficientX

Yeah i know arial font is easy on the eyes, but it's just too simple looking.
I'm not asking for hair-color-matching either. Hmmm let's see...

Fonts like the above example are easy on eyes too right?

Maybe it's just me only. But i think the subtitles typeface do have effect on making an anime more enjoyable.
Pffft i'm just a greedy fan. And a crazy fan who watches raw, chinese sub, both doremi & SS sub of EVERY mai-otome episodes.

Actually the font and style you use here has an example is not very good. Don't just think computer monitor, think of anime clubs using a projector, or a LOT of people gathered around a small computer or TV. First, you want a "Sans Serif" font. One without the extra little flourishes on the end of the characters. Compare Times New Roman (with Serifs) to Ariel (which has none). You also want the letters clear and blocky. Look at a capital "A", you want the horizontal stroke the same thickness as the two diagonal parts.

Second, you want at least 14-16 point text.

Finally, colour and shadow. Light text (white, red, yellow, or bright green) with a dark border (black, blue, dark green) is best, and you want a *border* not a *shadow*. The example you have shows a very thin border, maybe 2 pixels, with a 6 pixel shadow in the down-right angle. Shadows are bad because they distract. A border should just allow the bright text to always have a consistant contrast they can stand out againt regardless of the colour of the video behind them, and never be distracting.

A border that is as thick as the strokes of the characters, with no shadow (ie, is even around the letters), and that is a dark colour to contrast the bright colour of the text itself, it best.

Teh best subtitles are easy to read, at reduced resolution or on a projector while you stand in the back of the room, and have simple no-nonesense fonts that get thier information across quickly and let you get back to watching the video.

[Tremalkinger]

Originally Posted by Starks

The Arial font is here to stay as far as I know. It's unobtrusive and easy on the eyes. Besides, hair-color-matching is fruity and doesn't suit this anime. The harem needs to be larger for it to work (Large = Negima sized).

Mai Otome isn't too far off. Negima is like... 30 girl characters, and Mai Otome has in the low to mid twenties (too lazy to actually count). Mai HiME was the first sub I'd ever seen using hair-color-matching text, and I loved it.

[Timeless Enigma]

In a series like this with high anticipation I usually watch the raw, then the quickest sub out. Doremi does a good job with the short amount of time they allot themselves (raw on Thursday, translation on Friday, release on Saturday or Sunday).

I must admit I am a fan of Static-Subs' hair-sub colour coding and font style (I think the first time I saw it was Hani Hani: Operation Sanctuary or Kannaduki no Miko), but now I realize that can be a problem when I decide I want to watch on my TV instead of my monitor. Plain Jane Arial works nicely on my TV . I can't say much about actual translation accuracy since my knowledge of Japanese is poor and anything I said would be very subjective. Let me just say that I prefer a consistent lexicon rather than changes every episode or so, but
I realize you have to improve everyday.

I participate in the dynamic Doremi QC Team and what I concentrate on the most is the dialogue phrasing aspect after translation. Actually that sounds more like what an editor would work on, but oh well .

[Maceart]

Considering the fact that my group has no typesetter, the reasons for Arial 36 bold is pretty obvious.

[ladholyman]

Typesetting takes time... well so does everything else. But people like our Saturday releases no?

[Radiosity]

Originally Posted by ladholyman

But people like our Saturday releases no?

Damn right we do

[Catgirls]

Originally Posted by ladholyman

But people like our Saturday releases no?

You bet we do!

[lana3007]

From my personal experience so far: Doremi as far as fonts are conserned are pretty equal to that of Static Subs (the color coding thing is nifty, but not a must). For translation quality I don't know enough japanese yet to really compare, though I've had a couple of annoyed moments with both groups as far as spelling or akward sentences although there are fewer of those in Static Sub but that's due to the slower speed (unfortunatly I can't remember any specific examples since I deleted most of the episodes already). The only point on which I can specifically say that I prefer Static for is the video quality. I am not sure if this is my computer's fault or not, but I've downloaded two or three episodes of Doremi already where the video quality was unwatchable, and that is yet to happen with Static sub, therefore for now anyway I am sticking with them.

[Tremalkinger]

Originally Posted by ladholyman

Typesetting takes time... well so does everything else. But people like our Saturday releases no?

You bet we do

[-KarumA-]

i preffr Doremi for this, but wasnt it Doremi that had a mix up with the school name ?

Garderobe was Galderobe or soemthing?

[Eclipze]

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

i preffr Doremi for this, but wasnt it Doremi that had a mix up with the school name ?

Garderobe was Galderobe or soemthing?

They corrected it in episode 12 or 13 I believe.

[Zafo]

Originally Posted by Maceart

Considering the fact that my group has no typesetter, the reasons for Arial 36 bold is pretty obvious.

The sub are great and easy to read at present. The most I'd suggest is that when two subs are going to talk over each other (like in Otome #1 when the fat guy is chewing out the guards for losing Mashiro, and Aoi is talking to Mikoto) make one a differnt colour, like bright yellow. Close enough to white to still work as a sub, but differnt enough to contrast with the lines of the other person talking.

If you'd like any help with the typesetting, I have some experience in that area. (avidelite) (at) (yahoo dot ca)

Originally Posted by ladholyman

Typesetting takes time... well so does everything else. But people like our Saturday releases no?

It's been said before but I'll say it again: "damn right we do!"

[-KarumA-]

Originally Posted by Eclipze

They corrected it in episode 12 or 13 I believe.

now ir ememebr their spelling Galdelobe o.O;
ife never got it how they ever came to that translation/spelling, i could perfectly hear that they said Galderobe, but even in common sence not any author would call a school Galdelobe it sounds soo... one word.. thats simple = stupid!

[dznutz]

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

i preffr Doremi for this, but wasnt it Doremi that had a mix up with the school name ?

Garderobe was Galderobe or soemthing?

It's not thier fault that the Japanese R's are pronounced "lr."

It's like FMA's Winly/Winry/etc

I like Doremi because of the speed subbing but Static would translate everything on the screen.... at least that was the case for Mai Hime

[Sian]

looking away from the first couple of episodes i have only seen Doremi and haven't looked back ... granted ... at the first 2-4 episodes Doremi had their share of the child diseases, but since most of the child diseases was cured they have been about just as good or at some points better than SS's subs ... yeah ... there is still some errors here and there ... but it aren't all that fair to hit people in the head because the first big series have some minor cosmetic errors

[Maceart]

Yah, "Gerald Roberts" and "Fifth Tier People" still haunts me...