Year 1 Issue 4

Arcadia Dragnet, Year 1, Issue 4

January 22-28 2020

I have finally decided that in order to be as complete as possible, Arcadia Dragnet needs to also cover fansub projects for Japanese animations of a sexual nature. I will be using the colloquial term "hentai" to refer to these. Unfortunately hentai fansubs are not nearly as well-documented or -collated as other fansub projects so there is every chance my coverage will be incomplete or flawed, please bear with me. Any feedback is, as always, much appreciated!

Beginning this week, I will be including a segment called Featured Fansubs, I think its name is pretty self-explanatory. This week I would like to Pandora to Akubi, fansubbed by HRI. This anime "movie" (it's really 2 loosely-connected shorts) is a joyous callback to the mid-70s, featuring piles of goofy cameos from classic Tatsunoko shows and excellently stylish animation. I've been waiting excitedly to watch this ever since the Japanese BDs released over 2 months ago, thank you so much HRI for maing that a reality! HRI seems to be a new group led by Myaamori, one of the regular translators for PA-Subs. Hopefully this won't be the last time I get to feature their work on Arcadia Dragnet.

Contemporary Anime- Unlicensed Shows

Thanks to akemilena, Kuutei Dragons is saved! This fansubber is working on the show at a ridiculously fast rate, releasing the first 5 episodes in the last week alone. Now is definitely the right time to give this charming little show a look!

This week AnonimOT released their fansubs for the final episode of Star Twinkle Precure, Shomentoppa Subs fansubbed the third and final episode of Battle Spirits Saga Brave, and Heroku finished their work on Iya na Kao Sarenagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai 2. Other groups continued with their weekly projects: Mezashite released episode 16 of Aikatsu on Parade, BuriBuri released episode 15 of Super Shiro, Some-Stuffs released episode 10 of Pokemon 2019, Impatience subbed episode 3 of Breakers, LCE subbed episode 4 of Hentatsu TV, and an anonymous fansubber released episode 3 of Dorohedoro. Nanatsu no Taizai- Kamigami no Gekirin is being worked on by two groups, with tenshisubs releasing episode 15 and Chyuu releasing episode 13. MoyaiSubs released Kiratto Pri-chan episode 77.

Contemporary Anime- Licensed Shows

Commie Subs continues their impressive track record for scheduling consistency, released Chihayafuru Season 3 episode 15, Ace of the Diamond Act II episode 43, and Haikyuu! To The Top episode 3. GoodJobMedia on the other hand only released Toaru Kagaku no Railgun 2 episode 3 this week.  Inu released Kyokou Suiri episode 3 and Asenshi released Heya Camp episode 3. For Madoka Magica: Magia Record, YameteTomete released subs for episode 2 and Doki Fansubs released subs for episode 3. Finally, Kaleido-Flax returned from a long hiatus to release Kimetsu no Yaiba episode 22.

Unfortunately for those waiting for good-quality releases of Ishuzoku Reviewers, Okay-Subs appears to have dropped the show. A group named OWO seems to be basically taking over where Okay-Subs left off.

Classic Anime

At the beginning of the week, Orphan Fansubs released Hiatari Ryoukou! Kasumi: You Were In My Dream, and with it they have now completed fansubbing Hiatari Ryoukou. Inka-Subs also completed a project, releasing episode 2 of SD Gundam's Counterattack, and a blogger named iklone released  fansubs for the Naoya Ishikawa short Docchi mo Maid.

This week was an especially productive one for classic anime-focused fansubbers. OldCastle released Paris no isabelle episode 11, BuriBuri released Crayon Shin-chan episode 30,  ParadiseHamsubs released Jewelpet Sunshine episode 49, LonelyChaser Fansubs released Powered Armor Dorvack episode 4, NoraInuG released Moeru! Oniisan episode 13 and Time Bokan Series: Otasukeman episode 18, Johnny-englishsubs released Dream Fighter Wigman episode 10, SenritsuSubs released Mahou no Princess Minky Momo episode 4, and SubsDeLaRosa released Red Baron episode 23. SakuraCircle also released their fansubs for Fortune Quest L episode 1, although they have made it clear that they do not intend to continue with the project.

Finally, I have a project of my own I would like to show off. My friends and I at TwinStarSubs are very happy to release Kiki & Lala in- The Princess of the Cygnus Constellation, the second Kiki & Lala OVA ever to be subtitled in English. This project was a multi-month struggle for us to complete, but I'm so happy to present our finished work now and I only hope that others enjoy it.

Hentai

As I learn more about this segment of the anime fansubbing scene, this section will get more fleshed out. For now, here is what I know enough about to share. SakuraCircle is a very productive fansub group- this week they released Overflow episode 4, Fukai ni Nemuru Oujo no Abaddon episode 1, Niplheim no Karyuudo: Branded Azel episode 1, and Chii-chan Kaihatsu Nikki episode 1. Puff meanwhile is a fansubber committed to releasing higher-quality edited versions of other groups' fansubs. This week they released improved versions of Aibeya the Animation, Aikagi the Animation, and Hitozuma Life One Time Girl.

Donghua & Aeni

As the need arises, this section will sometimes discuss English fansub projects for "aeni", or Korean animation. This week episode 6 of the aeni Closers: Side Blacklambs was fansubbed by an anonymous user. In terms of donghua, sacredgold released Douluo Dalu (Soul Land) episode 88, HaxTalks released Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices) Season 3 episode 9, and GuodongSubs released Hu Yao Xiao Hong Niang (Fox Spirit Matchmaker) Season 8 episode 9.

***

Again, if fansubbing at all interests you (and especially if you can speak Japanese) please leave a comment here and I will get in touch with you. This week approximately 14 hours' worth of anime that had not been available in English beforehand was fansubbed, but this is hardly anything compared to the absolutely vast amount of anime that is still left to translate. There is always room for new interested people to join in, and so long as we can continue maintaining the cycle of hard-working fans inspiring hard work in other fans, fansubbing is certainly not dead!

Year 1 Issue 3

Arcadia Dragnet, Year 1, Issue 3

January 15-21 2020

As I continue to figure out how to make Arcadia Dragnet most comprehensive and useful, I have realized that my arbitrary limitations to my coverage of contemporary anime fansubbing was not necessary. From now on this blog will be covering fansub projects for current anime that use official translations but significantly improve on the typesetting. This blog is and will always be a work in progress, please feel free to comment for any reason but especially if you have suggestions / omissions!

In order to increase readability, I will be highlighting anime names in bold. I will also be splitting the Contemporary Anime segment into two sections- Unlicensed Shows will cover all the anime for which there are not other official English subtitles available, while Licensed Shows will cover all the anime for which there are official alternatives.

Contemporary Anime- Unlicensed Shows

I feel the need to start with some editorializing because a very special show to me is coming to an end. Star Twinkle Precure is the third Precure series I have watched weekly and in these last few episodes, it has quickly become my favourite. I have loved watching Hoshina Hikaru reconcile her boundless imagination with her desire for grounded friendships, it's meant so much to me to see Amamiya Elena learn how to care for both herself and her family. Over-Time did such a wonderful job translating the first 32 episodes, when their member Frumix went missing I shared in the community's worry and it was such a relief to hear they were still okay. AnonimOT has done an excellent job picking up where Over-Time left off, only one or two episodes remain...

Anyway, back to the report! Mezashite, BuriBuri, Impatience, LCE, and Some-Stuffs have continued their weekly work, releasing Aikatsu on Parade episode 15, Super Shiro episode 14, Breakers episode 2, Hentatsu TV episode 3, and Pokemon 2019 episode 9. Some-Stuffs has also begun subbing the Pokemon Twilight Wings web anime (it's really good!), releasing episode 1. Hoshi-no-Yume FS released Beyblade Burst GT episodes 41 and 42, MoyaiSubs released Kiratto Pri-chan episode 76, Doremi Fansubs released Ojamajo Doremi Comedy Theatre episode 20.

As promised last week, let's talk about the Dorohedoro fansubs. Currently, two groups are working on the show- a group called PodiSubs, and an anonymous group. In my opinion, the anonymous group's subs are far superior to PodiSubs', they are grammatically more consistent and tonally match the characters better (and according to comments, their subs make far fewer mistakes!). A group named hyasub also subbed episode 2- these subs seem to lack most punctuation and also opt for a more literal, less easily-readable translation. I would recommend the anonymous fansubs over this too.

Finally, a group called... um... (́◉◞౪◟◉‵) fansubbed the third and final episode of Gundam vs. Hello Kitty, as well as the Gundam 40th Anniversary G40 Special.

Contemporary Anime- Licensed Shows

For those of you waiting for NBA's number24 fansubs, please be aware that the group has officially dropped the show. Official subs will continue to be available.

For many established fansub groups, this week was business as usual. GoodJobMedia released Eizouken episode 3 and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun 2 episode 2, while also beginning work on the 22/7 anime, releasing episode 1. Commie Subs released Chihayafuru Season 3 episode 14, Ace of the Diamond Act II episode 42, and Haikyuu! To The Top episode 2. Inu released Kyokou Suiri episode 2, Asenshi released Heya Camp episode 2, tenshisubs released Nanatsu no Taizai- Kamigami no Gekirin episode 14, DameDesuYo released episode 3 of the ReZero Director's Cut, and Okay-Subs released Ishuzoku Reviewers episode 2. Finally, Davinci released their fansubs for Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan- Shidou-hen.

Sometimes two strong fansub groups decide to work on the same show. This week, YameteTomete released their fansubs for the first episode of Madoka Magica: Magia Record- compared to Doki Fansubs, this group seems to be using much higher-quality video and is putting more work into their typesetting, but YameteTomete is only building off the official subtitles while Doki is working off an original (and in my opinion more readable) translation. I am disappointed that neither group is comprehensibly translating every scene with witch runes, instead only translating the witch names. Personally, I will be sticking with Doki, but we will see how things develop as the season continues.

Let's quickly talk about AnimoTv Slash...listen, if you desperately want to watch Hibike Euphonium: Chikai no Finale and Kuutei Dragons episode 2 then you can go there to watch it, but please be advised, this group's fansubs are so poor-quality they are unintelligible, they will hardly aid you with comprehension, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you avoid this group's work... but regardless, Arcadia Dragnet is committed to completeness, and I will continue covering this group so long as the anime they translate are not picked up by other better groups.

Classic Anime

OldCastle completed their fansubs for Saint Tail this week, releasing episode 43 along with Paris no Isabelle episode 10. Kiteseekers and Licca Fansubs meanwhile are reaching the end of their own fansub project- with this week's release of Idol Densetsu Eriko episode 50, there is now only one unsubbed episode of the series remaining!


BuriBuri released episode 29 of Crayon Shin-chan, SquareSubs released Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go!! WGP episode 17, ParadiseHamsubs released Jewelpet Sunshine episode 48, /m/subs released Metal Armor Dragonar episode 41, and The Skaro Hunting Society (building off the work of the defunct ILA Fansubs) released SF Saiyuki Starzinger episode 15. After a lengthy hiatus, Stardust Fansubs released Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne episode 15. YZS Softsubs continued their work making improved fansubs for the Detective Conan series, releasing episode 165. Finally, Butter Fansubs has done the extremely hard and arduous work of fansubbing Katsudou Shashin, the oldest-known surviving Japanese animation.

I must also mention Anonymous Russian Ripper's release of Wakusei Robo Danguard Ace episodes 18-26. I do not, however, recommend watching this- ARR is a notoriously poor and shady fansub group, their translations are usually machine-translated or translated from non-Japanese sources, their grammar and punctuation are almost always very poor, and on top of that the group has been recently engaging in suspect activities like selling unlicensed DVD releases of old mecha anime with their fansubs. Not everything this group puts out is poor-quality, but in general I would recommend choosing any other group's fansubs if the option is available.

Donghua

Unfortunately, donghua fansubs are in a very disorganized state compared to anime fansubs. As a result, I am not completely sure whether these groups are releasing their own translations, another group's translations, or official translations. Regardless I will continue sharing these releases here- donghua are not nearly as well-known as anime in English-speaking circles, and I feel like I need to do my part to continue introducing hopefully-interested people to them.

sacredgold released Douluo Dalu (Soul Land) episode 87, HaxTalks released Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices) Season 3 episode 8, GuoManTeam released Zhen Hun Jie (Rakshasa Street) Season 2 episode 5, and GuodongSubs released Hu Yao Xiao Hong Niang (Fox Spirit Matchmaker) Season 8 episode 8. GuodongSubs also released their revised subtitles for Xiang Ling Ji (Tales of Exorcism).

***

If you yourself are interested in getting involved in fansubbing, especially if you can speak Japanese, please leave a comment and I'll contact you! Fansubbing is such a great hobby, it's so great to fall in love with a story and then share that story with people. So long as there are motivated fans willing to share their love with others, fansubbing is certainly not dead.

Year 1 Issue 2

Arcadia Dragnet, Year 1, Issue 2

January 8-14 2020

Arcadia Dragnet is, and always will be, committed to sharing all the great work English-speaking fans are doing to localize anime. The issue of curation, however, has put this blog at a bit of an identity crossroads. Should Arcadia Dragnet be an uncritical platform for sharing fansub projects, or should I exercise my taste and aesthetic considerations in some form? I have still not yet found a good balanced solution to this conundrum, please bear with me as I experiment with the blog's format over the coming weeks.

Contemporary Anime

There are many anime airing this season that, if not for fansubbing efforts, would be completely inaccessible to English-speaking anime fans. One project I would like to highlight is SpecterSubs's work subbing Youkai Watch episodes 176-178. For the longest time, this three-episode fansub gap has frustrated fans wanting to experience as large a continuous chunk of Youkai Watch as possible. With this work now complete, the first 191 episodes of the original Youkai Watch anime are available in English, and with episodes 200 and 214 already being fansubbed, that leaves only 21 untranslated episodes! It's exciting to see this project come on step closer to completion.

In terms of more regular weekly projects, Mezashite, AnonimOT and BuriBuri have been doing excellent work fansubbing Aikatsu On Parade, Star Twinkle Precure, and Super Shiro respectively. Some-Stuffs has continued subbing the new Pokemon anime now that the show has completed its one-week break, and likewise Hoshi-no-Yume FS has returned to fansubbing Beyblade Burst GT after a very short break. Breakers, a new anime about paralympic sports, has been picked up by the group Impatience, meanwhile Yamanaideoneesama (who last week subbed Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara) have picked up Natsunagu, a Kumamoto Prefecture PR anime meant in part to commemorate the horrific earthquake suffered by the region in 2016. LCE has continued subbing Hentatsu, and Flysubs completed their fansubs for Shoujo Conte All Starlight. Finally, the second omake for Senki Zesshou Symphogear XV was fansubbed by YameteTomete.

This week saw many established fansub groups pick up more projects. GoodJobMedia begun subbing A Certain Scientific Railgun T in addition to Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken. Commie Subs, in addition to continuing their work on Chihayafuru season 3 and Ace of the Diamond Act II, subbed the Haikyuu OVA Land vs. Air and picked up Haikyuu! To The Top. NBA has picked up number24, Asenshi has picked up Heya Camp, and a group called Inu has picked up Kyokou Suiri. Doki Fansubs has continued subbing Magia Record, and tenshisubs has continued subbing Nanatsu no Taizai- Kamigami no Gekirin.

Now I must discuss some fansubs that I do not recommend you watch. If you want to watch Iya na Kao Sarenagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai 2 or Rebirth, your only current choice is to seek out fansubs done by a primarily-Arabic group Heroku. These fansubs are simply horrible, the grammar is impenetrable and many lines do not feel like they could possibly be accurate. Similarly I would recommend you avoid AnimoTv Slash, the newest rebranding of the infamous "fansub group" Spring Animes 2018 HD. This group came to infamy after applying their watermark to LEGOF's fansubs for the Takagi-san OVA (an incident which resulted in LEGOF swearing to never fansub anime again), and since then they have been banned from fansub aggregator sites many times for their consistently poor subs and their frequent toxicity in comments sections. Unfortunately this "group" is the only one to have put out any English fansubs for Kuutei Dragons, but I would beg you to please wait until a more competent and ethical group works on it.

I am not yet ready to discuss the Dorohedoro fansubs. There seem to be anywhere from one to three fansub group attempting to localize this show, but from what I have seen so far none of them appear to be doing an especially good job. I hope to have some clearer information to share next week.

Classic Anime

This week, two especially exciting fansub projects released. Firstly, shiteatersubs released Let’s Go! Anpanman – Sushi-roll Maki-chan and Gold Kamameshidon Movie, the 2002 companion to the 14th Anpanman movie. Anpanman is a massive franchise in Japan that hardly ever sees discussion in English-speaking areas, shiteatersubs has always focused on fansubbing anime that never got to be known outside of Japan and I hope they keep doing their good work for a long time to come. Not long after, TenshiSubs took a surprise break from their re-releases to provide subs for the almost-lost episode 33 of Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel. Fansubs, through sharing otherwise-obscure media to larger audiences, are a vital link in the fandom process of media preservation, it is so good to see fansub projects like these elevate unknown media to a place of exposure and appreciation.

Many classic fansub projects continued as planned this week. OldCastle again released 2 episodes of Saint Tail and 1 episode of Paris no Isabelle. BuriBuri released episode 28 of Crayon Shin-chan, NoraInuG released episode 12 of Moeru! Oniisan, ToranSubs released episode 38 of Deltora Quest, Inka-Subs released episode 12 of Jungle Emperor 1989, and honobono released Goldfish Warning! episode 48. I neglected to mention Aniclub's Blu-Ray releases of Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru (with edited official subs) last week, but this week they completed episode 3 and they plan to continue. South Wind Subs and GANGO returned to work on Wandering Girl Nell, releasing episode 5. Zorori-Project released Tetsunoshin episode 31, their first release for the show in over 5 years. Finally, LonelyChaser Fansubs released the first episode of Choriki Robo Galatt.

Donghua

I was thrilled this week to see that a user named Troy had uploaded an English subbed version of the Luo Xiao Hei movie. The Legend of Luo Xiao Hei is one of the most exciting Chinese animated franchises right now, its action scenes exhibit a kind of dynamic and bouncy and frenetic motion I have never seen anywhere else, I would reccomend anyone to watch this movie! (And the webseries too but that's a bigger commitment)

This week sacredgold released Douluo Dalu (Soul Land) episode 86, HaxTalks released Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices) season 3 episode 7, GuoManTeam released episode 4 of Zhen Hun Jie 2 (Rakshasa Street 2),and GuodongSubs released episode 7 of Hu Yao Xiao Hong Niang (Fox Spirit Matchmaker) season 8.

***

As I look back on the last week's worth of fansubs, I am struck by awe at the amount of passion and work fans give freely to this community and this medium. Everything I have catalogued here is only available to us because of the cumulative hundreds of hours of work people did to translate these goofy cartoons, I hope Arcadia Dragnet is sufficiently expressing the appreciation I feel for my peers in the anime fansubbing community. I am also excited to announce that a fansub project of my own is currently nearing completion! I can't wait to share it with you all.

Fansubbing is certainly not dead.

Year 1 Issue 1

Arcadia Dragnet, Year 1, Issue 1

January 1-7 2020

Let's begin with a mission statement:

Fansubs have been an integral part of English-speaking anime fandom for as long as there has been an English-speaking anime fandom. In this age of increasing access to anime via streaming, it's becoming easy to forget our roots and overlook the important fan-driven localization work still being done. Arcadia Dragnet seeks to preserve interest in anime fansub culture by cataloguing and showcasing all the newest English-speaking fansub projects.

Now for some personal details. Hi, I've been an anime fan for about 4 years and a participant in fansub culture for about 2. I've enjoyed fansubs, befriended many fansubbers, helped make fansubs. Most of my favourite anime would not have been available to me were it not for fans putting in many hours of thought and effort into creating fansubs for them. This small segment of anime fandom is very important to me, and I hope this blog serves to give back to the community in at least a small way.

Contemporary Anime

A new season has started, and with it many news shows, but for most fansubbers this week it was business as usual. Mezashite continues to release quality subs for Aikatsu on Parade while AnonimOT has admirably continued work on Star Twinkle Precure. MoyaiSubs (the source for the delightful screenshot above) have been valiantly attempting to keep up with Kiratto Pri-chan season 2, although at time of writing they are 15 episodes behind airing. BuriBuri, a Crayon Shin-chan focused fansub group, released the latest 2 episodes of Super Shiro, and JapariSub has continued to translate Chokotto Anime Kemono Friends 3. Tatsuki fans would probably be very interested in knowing that the new Hentatsu anime is being fansubbed by a group called LCE. Finally, the Tenka Hyakken English-speaking fan community completed their fansubs for Tenka Hyakken: Meiji-kan e Youkoso.

Now that most new popular anime get official subtitles, many fansub groups have stopped attempting to create fully-original subtitles for new shows. There are many groups that touch up official subtitles or re-time subtitles for Blu-Ray / DVD sources, but there are too many of these for Arcadia Dragnet to effectively cover them. GoodJobMedia (GJM) is one of the few exceptions to this new norm; last season they provided original translations for Ascendance of a Bookworm, and this season they will be working on Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken. This week GJM also released episode 7 of Fairy Gone, one of their ongoing backlog of projects. Doki Fansubs meanwhile has decided to fansub Magia Record, making this their first fansub project in over a year.

In terms of more finite projects, the Fate/strange Fake commercial was subtitled by Kaleido-subs and Butter Fansubs translated CoMix Wave Film's tourism commercial Attakai, Fuyu Canada. Two movies also got fansubbed: Some-Stuffs, a Pokemon-focused fansub group, provided subs for the 22nd Pokemon Movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back! Evolution (it's not a very good movie), while Jaon, a translator for the manga translation group Oniichanyamete, subbed the beautiful Science Saru movie Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara under the group name Yamenaideoneesama.

Classic Anime

OldCastle has had a commendably-consistent release schedule for the last 2 years, and this week they kept on course with 2 episodes of Saint Tail and 1 episode of Paris no Isabelle. Kiteseekers (source for the image above) and Licca Fansubs have continued their collaboration on Idol Densetsu Eriko, releasing 2 more episodes (only 2 more to go!). BuriBuri released episode 27 of Crayon Shin-chan, NoraInuG released episode 11 of Moeru! Oniisan, SquareSubs released episode 16 of Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go!! WGP, Elusive released episode 10 of KochiKame, and Rat Hat Subs released episode 89 of GeGeGe no Kitaro 2007.

In terms of more iterative work being done on classic anime, Inka-Subs completed their improved subtitles for Panzer World Galient, and ChimuwakuSubs and ZetaRebel collaborated to release an improved version of Sherlock Hound. TenshiSubs meanwhile have begun releasing improved versions of their Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken fansubs using a newer raw video source, the first 2 episodes released this week.

Donghua

As Chinese animation becomes more popular and more discussed in anime circles, I think it is important to recognize the work of the fansubbers who are helping English-speaking audiences enjoy these shows.

CrimsonSubs is a quite prolific group that recently completed their work on Spirit Sword Sovereign aka Ling Jian Zun. A group named sacredgold has been translating Soul Land aka Douluo Dalu, episode 85 released this week. HaxTalks released 6 episodes of the 3rd season of Way of Choices aka Ze Tian Ji. Finally, GuoManTeam has subbed the first 3 episodes of Zhen Hun Jie 2 aka Rakshasa Street 2 (poster featured above).

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This week, approximately 10 hours of Japanese animation were given new fansubs by committed fans. In addition, 2 shows got touched-up releases. Fansubbing is certainly not dead