Forum - View topicNEWS: HIDIVE Streams Chihayafuru Anime's English Dub
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moogrin
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Wow, nice. Didn't expect this dub to get streamed anywhere. I'm gonna buy the blurays anyway but I'll have to check out this streaming service as well.
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#Verso.Sciolto
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Edit to add - Aug. 30:
First things first, belatedly - Unfamiliar with HIDIVE and only just saw that the company is based in Houston, Texas. Hopefully their staff -and premises- weathered the storm. (Not sure if Hurricane Harvey prevented this and other series from going out as previously planned.)[/edit] Based on the published「クランクアップ」announcements accompanied by photos of cast members holding flowers - and based on the state of the shooting-schedule website for volunteer extras- I would say that principal photography for Chihayafuru-Musubi has been wrapped. The news about streaming the dub is another exciting Chihayafuru announcement. Although I won't be able to see or hear this on HIDIVE, because of location, I'm happy to know these streams will expose many more people to the series. People who might have given Chihayafuru a pass without a dub or those who were previously unaware of its existence altogether. I was not really aware of this HIDIVE company's existence but after seeing this news on ANN looked around a little and became curious what the nature of the relationships is between HIDIVE, Sentai Filmworks and other parties involved, some of whom may have previously been operating under different names. Hopefully their licenses for translated content will continue to be expanded to extend streaming rights to different parts of the globe. I didn't see confirmation of HIDIVE streaming a subtitled version of Chihayafuru although other series are provided there with subs. Still mostly curious about this dub in order to find out how the translation of poetry will be handled in this new English version. Curious how easy it is made for new audience members to find their way back to the language of the original poems in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu collection (primarily) - one of the recurring questions whenever Chihayafuru is introduced to anyone unfamiliar with the manga, the adaptation into the two seasons of anime and the soon to be three live action films. All of which differ in some respects but not in that central and unifying component. New watchers need to be made aware from the outset that competitive karuta and the poetry on which karuta is based are central elements of Chihaya's universe in any format. In articles and reviews, in documentation for streaming services and box sets and particularly on screen. This is a new release of Chihayafuru but the series has been around for a while. From here there will be mild spoilers about expectations in this comment. My laymen's observations about marketing and promotion. In the original ANN reviews and their respective comments sections for the original TV broadcasts it seems to me a recurring theme how it caught so many people by surprise how much of the series - and second season especially- was focused on karuta practice and matches. Perhaps that is my skewed perspective on the series and the reviews but I get the slight impression that this -to me- palpable sense of slight disappointment among the audience could have been avoided if it had been made clear how important karuta is for the story and its protagonist(s). For that reason, I think it was mistake of the animators not to adapt the very first pages of the manga right at the beginning of the animated series. I think it is a mistake not to include karuta in the first clip released to introduce the characters and this series by Sentai as well. Perhaps that approach works because the series has a solid fan base and karuta popularity has increased remarkably because of Chihayafuru ... nevertheless, I still think too many people are given the impression that the series isn't about karuta from the way the show is promoted and quite a few new watchers are once again going to be frustrated and somewhat disappointed when the series as advertised doesn't immediately deliver on the "elements" given focus instead... Still, exciting developments and I'm glad Chihayafuru is getting this new release in English. Hopefully not too many people will see this re-direct and message when they go to the HIDIVE site to sign up and to look for content. https://www.hidive.com/content-not-available "YOUR REGION IS CURRENTLY NOT SUPPORTED" I will Check back frequently for updates.... 
Last edited by #Verso.Sciolto on Tue Aug 29, 2017 10:01 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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yuna49
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Chihayafuru continues to be available with subtitles on Crunchyroll as it has since its release. Since I never watch dubs, I'm perfectly happy with CR. I might buy the discs if they are affordable just to support licensing shows like this.
That said, I doubt marketing of Chihayafuru to Western audiences will ever stress karuta over the romantic aspects of the story however slight. They could focus on karuta as a sport, I guess, but it's just too obscure a game to have much leverage with audiences outside Japan. I thought Oh! Edo Rocket was "too Japanese" to ever get a Western release, but Funimation proved me wrong. I see Chihayafuru in the same category, but maybe the high school setting and romantic hints will drive some sales for the dub. |
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#Verso.Sciolto
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STREAM (SUBTITLED) ON HIDIVE *: https://goo.gl/CBMQYa Maybe it is also made clear on the linked page on the HIDIVE site itself but I can’t see most of that website -or Crunchyroll's site either for that matter- due to geo-blocking and therefore can’t read most of their documentation for Chihayafuru, unfortunately. It looks like a subbed stream will be provided and perhaps that means newly translated subtitles as well ... The aim of that specific clip was probably to highlight these three voices for the dub. I can't escape the nagging suspicion that I wouldn't have watched this series if I had been introduced to Chihayafuru based on the selected scene. Perhaps the advertisement at the end would have changed my first impression and piqued my curiosity after all ... "Enter the world of karuta". Still happy it has been picked up at all. Hope Im wrong about second guessing those who're introducing Chihayafuru to a new and unfamiliar audience. * The shortened url: https://goo.gl/CBMQYa is for: https://www.hidive.com/tv/chihayafuru but clicking that link will redirect if region is not supported. The actual page has been saved with the Wayback Machine so those outside the supported regions can get an an idea what HIDIVE's Chihayafuru web pages look like. The first season with subtitles appears to have premiered on June 15, 2017, based on this: Webarchive url That does perhaps also give an indication about the way the poetry is handled, going by the English Episode titles as listed there. Good to know. The archived pages also show that all the episode summaries are about Karuta and that was a relief to find out because it pretty much takes care of some of my main concerns about the focus of the presentation and promotion for the series as expressed above... |
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#Verso.Sciolto
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If the archived pages from HIDIVE are good indications then it can be concluded that "they" (Sentai / HIDIVE) commissioned new translations for the Episode Titles as presented on the HIDIVE site. I can't watch the footage but perhaps the new translation isn't limited to the web site text but extends to the subtitles -and whatever on screen notes they may be providing- as well. Since translation of poetry inevitably involves interpretation you may also find it useful and interesting to watch and compare the subtitled version as broadcast by Crunchyroll and the subtitled version as broadcast by HIDIVE. The recently announced dub is only offered to paid HIDIVE subscribers but the subbed first season of the series has apparently been freely accessible since June - provided you live in a supported region where this content can be streamed. To continue this rambling speculation ... If the subtitles are different on the streaming site that may also indicated that Sentai's box sets / disks will have these newly translated subs as well. [Aug. 30... did HIDIVE staff manage to get the dub streamed as scheduled, despite Hurricane Harvey?] |
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#Verso.Sciolto
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I've been informed that "Chihayafuru" now appears in the HIDIVE thumbnail catalogue with a "Dubbed" tag over the image. On the series' page, "Poem 1: This flower has Bloomed at last" -as the first episode is apparently titled in English for this localization- is now listed with these options in a drop down menu:
- Japanese with English Subtitles - English Dubbed - English Dubbed with English captions |
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#Verso.Sciolto
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Based on a comment by SpecsKingdra on Reddit and the response from the poster to follow up questions, more of my initial concerns have been confirmed to have been unnecessary worries. Sentai/Hidive translators are using the Japanese reader's voice while providing romaji as well as a new English translation for the poems as recited in the subtitles/captions on screen.
According to SpecsKingdra's report based on S1. E1, the visible cards have not been altered either but appear with the text in hiragana as on the cards used in karuta competition. The inclusion of romaji is already a very strong point in favour of this particular localisation, as far as I'm concerned. |
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