Benefits of Fansubs over DVDs

I am a fan of anime, and I enjoy watching as much of it as I can get my hot little hands on. I also happen to be the kind of person who likes to support the things I like by paying for the services. I prefer to buy my anime on DVD because I know that encourages the market to continue to provide anime to Americans. I like believing that my money I spend on a DVD in some way helps out anime production overseas (though I highly doubt it). I also like to watch anime in a fansub format, that is to say people make digital recordings of the TV episode as it airs in Japan, share that file on the Internet, and groups in the US translate it and add subtitles. It’s a fascinating process with many people involved, and in some sense it is astounding to behold what a group of motivated fans can accomplish. I usually end up purchasing the DVDs of the fansubs I watch, especially those I like, and those I do not like I discontinue downloading, and save myself some money (and time). In comparing the fansub release to an official DVD release I have come to notice some things fansubs offer that I find to be benefits.

The first thing that is apparent in all modern fansubs are the karaoke style intro (and exit) scenes. Quite a number of groups are providing the ideograms, a transliteration, and a translation of the songs, with a "meter" to show progress. This is something I have never seen in a DVD, and I rather like it. It may not help me learn Japanese, but it is fun to see which characters are pronounced at what times and such. Sure it is rather useless to the enjoyment of the anime itself, but it is entertaining to my academic mind.

The second thing that becomes readily apparent are the subtitles themselves. Since the text is a part of the movie file the fansub groups are free to use any font, color, and style they choose. This has allowed for some easier to track dialog, easier to read dialog (i.e. adding outlines so the text does not get lost in the background), and even better looking subtitles. On quite a few series I have seen subtitles in a different color for an off-camera character’s dialog, which has made it easier to associate the subtitle with the character who spoke it. The same can be said for background conversations and other things that may not be important, but set a mood; I’ve seen these become supertitles, and I find that neat! DVDs only offer one color of subtitle, in one font, with little control for style and position. Don’t let me complain too much, because at least we have them! At least we can choose dubbed or subtitled when we watch it.

A third thing I have noticed is what groups can do with signs. It is not uncommon for me to watch a fansub and see a sign in Japanese with English next to it, or under it, or around it, but nearby so I know what the sign says. On DVDs I might get the sign in the subtitle, if the translator thought it was important, but if there are more than one sign on the screen it becomes nearly impossible to tell which subtitle is for which sign. I have greatly appreciated fansubs for translating signs, book titles, and the like in the animation itself, not just the dialog. It has made the episodes that much more enjoyable, for it makes me feel more a part of the world, and not an illiterate outsider.

A fourth benefit that is not always available are the transliterations instead of translations in the subtitles. More specifically it’s adding the “san”, “chan”, “kun”, and other honorifics. I know this might annoy some, but I love to see how the characters represent their relationships. Not only do you get to see the nature of the relationships and begin to see the societal structure in Japanese culture (assuming anime accurately represents it) but there are times that these honorifics have some bearing on the story, helping to you understand what is transpiring between characters, and why one might be more protective over another. I always find this fun and entertaining, and I miss it when I do not see it on DVDs. Even further are when they change which name a person uses to address another. The family name and personal name are reversed in Japanese culture (as far as I can tell) and on some DVDs (usually the dubbed version) they do not always follow what I can hear in the Japanese dialog, and that is upsetting, for it robs me of the culture behind the anime.

A final benefit not included in any DVD I have ever encountered are translator’s or editor’s notes as supertitles. I greatly appreciate it when a cultural concept or a loaded Japanese word is employed in a series and the fansub group take the time to explain it on the screen. Sure I have to pause the playback, but I end up learning something fun an interesting about Japanese culture, or even the meaning of a word (that I can only pronounce and not spell). This has made great strides in helping me appreciate and more fully enjoy anime as a whole. The insights into their culture can really tie a series together in a way dialog will not, for it is information the Japanese creators assumed the audience would understand, and as Americans we do not. Leaving some Japanese words in the subtitles but explaining their concept also helps to add some flavour to the story, letting us in on a nuance that we might miss if an English word or phrase was used. I for one want to see more of this!

I am sure the DVD format puts more limitations on the DVD producers than the fansubbers have. Subtitles on all of the DVDs I own all seem to be similarly formatted, leading me to believe raw text is included on the disc and the player renders the font and location. I do not expect the DVD format to undergo a change so us anime fans can get better subtitles and added features (although I do not see why they could not embed fonts, alter colors, and provide absolute positioning instructions on a disc and let players render that instead). Reworking the intro and exit songs can easily be done, for they do it anyway to give us English in the cast and credits, so why not add karaoke style lyrics to them as well? Most of all, why not take a cue from the fansub groups and change the video itself, adding color coded subtitles (with outlines), sign translations, and notes, and offer it as an alternative camera angle on the DVD? DVDs have the capacity, why not add features fansubs are offering. Shoot, why not even include fansubs on the disc too? I do not expect to see these changes, but it would be fantastic if they did. It would make my DVDs worth more, and I can delete the fansubs from my hard drive.