Fansubbing
From Mod Mania
Daniel Ong S3228366
Fansubs, derived from “fan-subtitled”, are foreign media that has been translated and subtitled, into a language other than the original language. The purposes of these fansubs are for non-commercial use and are for the purpose of letting others, who do not speak the language, enjoy the media.
Fansubs are most commonly done on Japanese animation, or as it is more commonly known, Anime. Anime is basically Japanese cartoons and it is released usually on a weekly basis. In order for an anime to officially reach overseas, it takes considerable time for licensing and translation to occur.
Process
The process of fansubbing consists of many stages, namely acquisition of the “RAW” file, translation, timing, typesetting and finally distribution. Groups of such people are known as fansubbers, with the term for the group itself being a “circle”.
As the name implies, a “RAW” file is the anime is its raw state. This can be obtained by copying the media from a DVD/CD or, as it is more commonly done, via a recording from television stations in Japan. The RAW file is then sent to the translator.
Translators usually consist of native Japanese or non- natives who can speak Japanese. Translations are usually done by ear and thus sometimes unfamiliar terms or names are mis-spelled, thus resulting in different spellings of a certain character’s name being used among fansubbers. Generally, there are 2 styles of translations. Basically it is either sticking as close to the original as possible (changing only spelling and grammar) compared to making it more understandable (changing words and sentence structure entirely). Conversations are the main things to be translated but certain groups also translate the text that appears onscreen.
Once translations are done, timing and typesetting comes into play. Like their names imply, timing is just adjusting the subtitles to appear at the right time and typesetting is the placement of text for different situations (e.g. For conversations on and off screen, for text shown, etc.) Different groups have different orders of doing these 2 things, with some even doing them simultaneously. Varying programs are used but most commonly the text is positioned onto the media and then encoded directly onto the file. This is termed as a ‘hard sub’. With new media, a ‘soft sub’ can now be created, in which the subtitles to be encoded into a data file attached to the anime. This allows multiple subtitle languages to be put into one file.
Once these are completed, a quality check, or QC, is done. A QC before the encoding is termed as a ‘soft QC’ and after encoding is a ‘hard QC’. Translation, timing, editing and possible encoding errors are checked for in QC. Once this is completed it is then distributed, which is current done most commonly via the Internet. Such fansubs are available via torrents, direct downloads (from the fansubber’s own sites) or streaming from certain websites.
In the long run, some fansub circles also ultimately become the official subbers of the anime, sometimes starting their own companies to distribute anime.
Ethical and Legal issues
Due to the fact that such releases by fansubbers are unofficial, it is considered illegal and likened to piracy. However, fansubbers themselves have an ethical code of conduct. Fansubs are usually not for profit and usually fansubbers only work with titles that have not been licenced for domestic release in their country. Also, when it has been licenced, the circle removes the fansubs from distribution. During the intended breaks for advertisements, the text “This is a free fansub: not for sale, rent, or auction” pops up, to prevent people from charging for the fansubs. Certain fansubs also ask the watchers to remember to support the authors and buy the original when it is released.
Fansubs on the whole promote the anime, allowing people to view said anime when they would otherwise not know about it at all. It was in fact fansubs that created the initial buzz overseas about anime, this being due to very few animes being licensed overseas. Thus anime clubs started fansubbing and distributing them on VHS tapes, starting the boom of anime overseas. The argument that fansub supporters give in order to back fansubs is that fansubs provide revenue to the creators of the anime via other means, like the figurine and merchandise market, saying that if not for the fansubs such items would not sell as well overseas, or even not at all. There are a few prime examples of fansubbing driving a fan base, a good one being the anime “Gintama”. There is a huge fan base but there are no signs of any license holders releasing the title in the new future.
The license holders of course disagree. The relationship between fansubbers and license holders can be described as one of tense equilibrium. Generally the license holders, with some exceptions, ignore fansubbers. In the cases where they are not ignored, the license holders generally ask the fansubbers to cease subbing a particular anime and the fansubbers generally comply. Some fansubbers even cease subbing even before they are told to, simply because they know that the license holder have started to do a good job and they should respect that. On the other hand, there are fansubbers that completely ignore the license holder’s wishes and continue to fansub even after receiving a request to cease subbing.
The community also has it own sense of justice. When fansubbers refuse to cease subbing after being asked by the license holder, or when people try to make profit from fansubs, a boycott of the subs or the site is done. It is not absolute but basically it discourages people from visiting the parties in question and gives the reasons. Of course with the justice system comes loopholes. Nothing is to stop another fansub circle from subbing the anime in question should they choose to do so, until they receive a request to cease subbing.
Of course there are some license holders that side with fansubbers, as they can see the good in the buzz that has been created for the anime title, in some cases openly thanking them and then requesting that the people buy the original. Then there are also license holders that take the other extreme and start persecuting people for watching, like the license holder in Singapore. Basically in 2007 the license holder “Odex” began to sue people for downloading fansubs and it received the backing of a few anime companies. The response from the community was anger, both due to the lack of warning and the bad quality of the subs provided, thus resulting in a boycott of the products from Odex.
There are exceptions to when fansubbers do not heed if the title has been licensed. Such occasions are when the released version of the title has been heavily or badly cut, or when the translations are badly done, due to the nature of the title conflicting with certain issues in the country, e.g. religious, or altered to achieve a media certification tailored to a wide audience, e.g. cutting or changing text related to violence. However, overall people tend to prefer fansubs as their translations are not limited by anything, thus fansubs tend to be more accurate compared to offical releases.
Fansubbers also provide a unique service to the anime. Due to cultural differences, sometimes people from other cultures cannot understand the jokes and puns in an anime. When this happens they include explanations within the anime to explain what is happening. Beginning and ending scenes of the anime are also given a karaoke effect, to allow the viewer to learn to sing the songs.
As sort of an evolution of fansubs, there now circles subbing other forms of media such as live action shows and dramas. There is also another aspect of fansubbing, which is scanlation. Basically it is the scanning of comics (or in the Japanese term “manga”) and translating it, replacing the text with the desired text. Often such manga are the basis for animes.
Websites information directly sourced from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fansub
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/editorial/2003-06-08/2
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-11-21/dattebayo-to-stop-fansubbing-naruto-on-january-15
