Forum - View topicNEWS: Ru Igurashi's 10th Fan Questionnaire Results Posted
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kokuryu
 Posts: 915 |
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Nice results - now if the anime industry were to perk up and take notice about these figures borne out then maybe the anime world would change for the better...
I especially liked three sets of figures: (1) shows that people are not buying anime because they think the storyline or plot sucks - cant please everyone all the time just because its anime - gotta appeal to them with the story too (2) shows that a good majority of people purchase the commercial products after watching fansubs ("unlicensed translations") (3) shows that the majority of people feel they must watch it first before deciding to buy it Great survey! |
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Starre257
 Posts: 90 |
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215 people think fansubs are BETTER than official subs? That is sad...
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child of Lilith
 Posts: 137 Location: Egg of Lilith ( the black moon) |
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It’s sad because sometimes that’s the truth. It’s not always that way but don’t kid yourself into thinking the official subs are always the best.
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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amen to that. |
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rumble14
 Posts: 3 |
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its interesting this shows that only a small percent has recently become anime fans but hundreds have been for at least 3 years now. does that mean that newer anime isnt attracting as much as it should or only older people take surveys? well i kinda like fansubs more than official subs because they seem more lively somehow.
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bglassbrook
 Posts: 1244 Location: Gaithersburg, MD |
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Reading through (ok, skimmed the ones with 10+ answers,) I like the results (kinda wonder if folks thought F14 related to the format war instead of just HD/SD) and hope industry really takes them to heart ... somebody make sure The Power That Be at Bandai Visual USA not only get a copy of this thing but READ IT. There is no good excuse for turning down free market research responded to by (at minimum) 2% of your entire customer base.
The results to B43 are kinda disheartening though. (Bonus points if you can spot the only two related questions where the results matched up perfectly as they should.) PS - Congrats to sentai for being the only listed category to score lower than yaoi on A15. Seems to me the Disney execs (as the current broadcasters) should take note: folks would rather watch two guys going at it then sit through yet another Power Rangers marathon. |
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Talon87
Posts: 89 |
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I can't tell you the number of times I've read blatantly incorrect translations involving fundamental grammar in official subs; on the other hand, when fansubs make mistakes, they tend to be either (1) issues of contentious debate amongst Eng-Jpns bilinguals or (2) innocent typos.
Am I generalizing? A bit -- it would be erroneous to say fansubs never make outright wrong translations or that all official subs are awful. But if you asked me, I would say that while I used to think official subs were the best back before I studied Japanese, that mentality all changed within a year of learning the basics and is long, long gone now. I think most anime fans are blissfully ignorant when it comes to official subs and they just assume that the dollars they're dropping on anime DVDs must at some point be going towards translators who do a better job with the title than some fat, basement-dwelling nerd on IRC. It's not necessarily a bad assumption (i.e. I can't fault the fans' logic); but it is an assumption, and it has proven to be a wrong one too many times. If you're still not convinced, I have one last thing to ask you: Firefox 1.0 versus Internet Explorer 5.0, you tell me which was better? Just remember: cheap in price is not always cheap in quality, and vice versa. |
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kokuryu
Posts: 915 |
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It is called the "Sad Truth". Why the fansubs are so popular is two reasons: (1) The show are unedited from the original Japanese TV or DVD versions, whichever base they are using to do the fansubs from - unlike the US releases, which are usually edited at various places (case to point is Green Legend Ran which Pioneer butchered and re-combined pieces to form a single long running compilation, rather than the individual eps - I was most abusive to them for that) (2) The fansubs take the time to explain Japanese cultural references, and keep them intact, rather than blatantly changing them to match where the DVD is being released, like Azumanga Daioh and Pani Poni Dash. Faithfulness to the artists (both screenplay writers and visual artists) counts big time. |
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MokonaModoki
 Posts: 437 Location: Austin, Texas |
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And 63 people said that they speak Japanese well enough to survive in Japan. *shrug* Only a small part of that result should be assumed to be related to actual translation, since only a small number of respondents know anything that would allow them to make such a judgement. Even in the case of those who speak Japanese moderately well, translation is at least as much art as science, and literal translations tend to get favored by those who could suss it out for themselves even if they don't provide the best timing or flow (or sense) in English. Appearance counts, and the DVD format allows for almost zero leeway in how subtitles can be presented on-screen. Fansub subtitles usually look better than those on DVDs unless they go with ridiculous font choices. There's also the on-screen translation notes noted by kokuryu. A lot of people like them, but unless you don't mind the clutter and need to rewind/pause to read them, the role is probably better served (if unfortunately rarely) by liner notes for DVDs. ADV's occasional use of their ADVidnotes extra feature (most notably on Nabeshin shows) is a nice alternative too. It's probably rude to mention (so apologies to any offended), but "fansub subtitle quality" is also frequently used as an excuse for not buying DVDs by people who only watch fansubs |
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