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).

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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.