Not Red Reviews

This show is supposed to be funny, but I was bored the entire time.

r/a/ge level: 20/100. It’s Crunchyroll, but it has a lot on its side. Honorifics are present! (Don’t tell anyone, but “sensei” is translated.)

There are no lyrics for the opening or ending. Crunchyroll uses Eastern/spoken name order.

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This is probably funny to someone. This show is like the Family Guy of anime. There are a plethora of references to anime, manga, otaku culture, and the Cthulhu mythos, but I don’t get any of them except for what others had already told me. It’s a niche show, I suppose, and I can’t really blame them for that. It’s just not going to appeal to all but the most hardcore fans.

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I’d like to thank Crunchyroll for being so kind as to translate potatoes (and the rest of the sentence) for me, but they conspicuously left wakame alone. Would it be so hard/blasphemous if they translated it to “seaweed”? I simply don’t like alienating the viewers for no reason because not everyone knows what wakame is. Although, I suspect the majority of true Nyaruko fans do know, so maybe CR was right in not translating it.

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“Galaxy” can be used an adjective, but I’m not entirely convinced that it could work here. Try “galactic.”

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Fantastic typesetting.

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If I were Dark_Sage, I’d be complaining about the lack of typesetting for the bus sign. Instead, this is just where I point out another unfunny reference.

Maybe I’d think it was funny if I knew what they were talking about half the time, but I can see how that might seem like a lot to ask for because they talk a lot in this show. This is the first time I thought, “You know, I’d really be okay with someone yelling, ‘Eeeeeeeehhh?!’ with a pan up to the sky right about now.” Or maybe a horizontal pan of the city as the characters walk to their destination.

There’s a lot of content in the show, probably even too much, is what I’m saying. But if you get everything, it’s probably the most hilarious thing ever.

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Bravo, Crunchyroll. You guys emphasized one word out of the entire script. There were many places italics would’ve really helped in the script, but they simply ignored it, not recognizing that italics are an excellent way of forcibly yet subtly guiding the viewer into reading a line the way you want them to. Sadly, it’s very underutilized in subbing.

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This really seems out of character for Mahiro. Sure, what he said was rude, but the translation is contrary to his characterization thus far. The rest of the episode also built him up as a no monkey business, super serious kind of character. I mean, he was being chased  by a demon at the beginning, and before he was seemingly going to die, all he said was “Damn it!” So, I’m not sure if he’d really call Nyaruko a bitch, even as a joke.

I would say something like “She would…” Like the original, it implies that he doesn’t agree and displays his contempt for her behavior as well. Unless there’s more characterization revealing that Mahiro is the kind of person who casually swears or some random development, I’d recommend keeping his dialogue in line with the information that has been given.

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Here’s one interesting line out of the lot.

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What I liked:

Save for the lines I pointed out, the script was great. These characters are in school, but they don’t really talk that way. It’s a part of the show, though, and Crunchyroll does what it can. There’s a lot of dialogue, and everything’s understandable and flows well—very important for a show like this with tons of dialogue.

+ Generally good dialogue that matches the characters

+ Flows well

What I didn’t like:

I could be completely wrong in my analysis of Mahiro’s characterization, but that one line of his really pulled me out of the experience. He whips out the B-word for an off-handed remark made by Nyaruko but won’t use “fuck” or “shit” when his life is on the line? I don’t buy it, and I’m disappointed in Crunchyroll for using it like that. One of the most important thing about subtitles and translations in general is capturing the emotion, intention, and what have you of the characters.

Oh, and as usual, Crunchyroll doesn’t have the most proficient proofreaders because there are a lot of punctuation problems as minor as they are.

– Ignoring characterization

– Minor problems with punctuation

– Show sucks

Overall Grade: 4 lights in the darkness… out of 5.

This entry was posted by brainchild.