06 Jun, 2008
What’s Your Reaction To The Controversial Fansub Documentary?
Posted by: Rachel In: Polls
Deviant artist, MightyOtaking has just released his five part “The Rise and Fall of Anime Fansubs“. In it, he breaks down the current state of fansubs and fansub groups. He bemoans how fansubs have become more flashy than an anime itself, and have become distracting and annoying.
Angry fans and fansubbers alike have responded furiously to his videos, calling his work everything from “arrogant” to a bit of “faggotary”. If you haven’t already seen it:
While the man may have taken the absolute worst examples of fansubbing to prove his point, he still manages to concisely make it by citing examples and contrasting them. He even goes so far as to research various experts in the field of translation and inserts their views on translation. MightyOtaking, aka, Paul Johnson, goes on to say that fansubs just ain’t what they used to be: clear and legible.
I personally don’t watch many fansubs, and have never encountered the wretched examples he highlights in his piece. But if I ever did have to sit through something as gut wrenching as the ones he chose, I too would be inspired to create an outlet for my pain.
To me, his video is one that isn’t meant to necessarily point fingers and condemn, although it really does, but to try and tell people to be more inclusive with their work. I believe what he’s trying to say is that if you love anime enough to want to share it by fansubbing it, make it so that newbies and veterans alike can get something from the experience.
I’ve also read in ranting responses to this movie that fansubbing is about “competition” and “fun“. If that’s what translation has devolved into, then fansubbers who believe in competition should call their work something else. Call it something like Hyper-Cultural Language Lesson x 1000!!!, but don’t call it translation. I totally back what he says about localizing the dialog, and that means translating it.
I also have to agree that the screen is not the place to explain a cultural reference. I’m of the school of thought that in order to learn, people need to work at it. Having something handed to you like that is just plain lazy. If someone’s curious about a reference, pause the DVD, write down the words and look it up. There are these vast stone building, filled with books and information called libraries. And then there’s the entire internet. Going to either or both will result in learning more than originally planned. That’s priceless. Sitting in front of a screen, hitting pause, and reading a cultural reference, that’s lazy. We don’t need anymore lazy.
Enough about what I think of what MightyOtaking is saying, what about you? Are you a fansubber? Has his video cheesed you off ten ways to Sunday? Does he make a valid point? Should we be grateful for the current state of fansubs or should fansubbers go back to the old school method of translation? Do you like the fansubs being put out, or do you agree with Mr. Johnson? What’s your reaction to the controversial fansub documentary?
