@darkmirage
yea politics would be extremely boring, wonder why PAP almost always wins an election? if not,mayb you should watch discovery channel’s HISTORY OF SINGAPORE to understand why…

Editor: Please direct further comments to here.

And wthis: yes, I do agree that politics in Singapore is really boring because you can only earn the “right” to criticize the government if you can do something better than what the PAP is doing. I also agree that America politics is much more interesting because you can say anything you want without having to much your words with actions.

It is important for the people involved to know the reason why some of us can’t stand a poor release. Yes, I’ve watched Doremi’s subs on Mai-Otome, and they seem reasonably accurate. But that’s what makes this poor release even harder to stand. The fact that you guys have done a reasonable job so far means that people have become accustomed to your standard, and as such they expect at least this standard of work from you guys in the future. So when this sub came out, some of us felt cheated.

Yes, you are doing a good job by subbing something that other groups don’t. We, the viewers, get used to your reasonable levels of translation. Thus, we put our trust in you to deliver subs of this level. Yes, it is also our fault for being angry due to the poor quality of the sub, as we have no right to be. Still, that is only human. What I am trying to say here is that people expect a certain level of work from you, and when the quality drops below this level, people feel betrayed. But that is what happens when you give services to the public. It’s unfair to you, but the world isn’t fair to begin with. ;)

I’m not saying that Doremi sucks or that you guys should stop subbing. What I personally feel that you could do is to pull a good v3 or make sure your next sub is back up to reasonable quality to prove that our trust in you is not misplaced. I will still continue to watch Doremi, so I hope that quality will be back up to normal. :D

On the other hand, I believe that some of the people who criticise DM for his post should review their stance carefully. Some of you claim that you should only be allowed to criticise if you can propose a better solution. As DM has said in a post already, that is wrong. I can understand your mentality, but does that mean if there is no better solution people should stay happily ignorant of the problem. No matter what kind of problem it may be, it will surface eventually. Alerting people to the problem is important even if you do not propose a solution to it. Yes, DM may have been a little too harsh in his post, but still, the problem cannot be avoided. Perhaps he cannot stand that people who do not understand japanese are being cheated as he has been through that experience before. His post helps to alert people to the existing problem of flaws within this translation process in general. But that does not mean he should be compelled to go back to subbing just because some of you feel that his talents could be used that way. That is being unreasonable. Just because you have the ability to do something doesn’t mean you must.

For those of you too lazy to read through, this is the summary: 1. It is unfair to fansubbers in general that the public expects good work from them, but it is unavoidable. 2. You do not have to propose a solution to a problem if you want to criticise the situation. 3. DM is a person too. He is entitled to choose what he wants to say and do.

Fansub groups should really have at least 1 who is good at speaking and listening to Japanese language in order to ensure no mistake OR minor mistake on translation is made on the subtitles.

Imagine if there are some kids here watching some animes and they learnt all the wrong stuff… when they grow up and speak on their own, they will embaress themselves.

They are not usually paid with money, yes. But they are paid with recognition. Whether it is worth anything is another business.

I don’t get the logic that I have to produce something better to criticize an existing problem. If that was how the world worked, politics would be an awfully boring field of discussion.

Makes sense. I’ve only worked with other translators on the same level or higher than myself on projects so it’s never been an issue for me. If they say something needs to be rechecked, I’ll go recheck it and the same goes the other way. I don’t have a TQC stage because of that normally or if I’m working alone, I generally meticulously check the translation several times before and after it’s inserted in a timed script or before I input it into a scanlation.

Most of the groups I see with a dedicated TC also require or suggest that they offer suggestions. Maybe that’s the difference between good groups and bad ones, or slow ones and fast ones. No matter what the situation is, a group will always follow their method of operation to focus on what they want to focus on, be it speed, quality, or compromising both severely for some sort of a middle ground.

Good for you then. However, I stand by my statement that folks that do the TQC work don’t need to make it right. It may be what you do (I do it as well if I’m checking a translation) but it’s not something that is regularly required of people. Besides, if the translator is so self-assured that you need to back up a claim of an error, then there really isn’t a point to having someone else check the quality of the work.