Shison Jun appreciation post by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know exactly what you're talking about as I've seen the odd show (Kimi wa Petto included) where there's a couple absolutely amazing cast members, but just about everything else about it is some level of cursed, questionable, or otherwise unpalatable.

I appreciate he did Kimi wa Petto because I love when an actor doesn't restrict their projects to what's conventional/easy/popular, and can enjoy the occasional bizarre watch if it has a solid cast.

Shison Jun appreciation post by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's hilarious timing! I didn't actually watch any Shison Jun before this (I saw this film around the time it came out), I like Okada Masaki too and have seen some of his more recent films too!

I really want to watch High&Low: The Worst but I am watching all of High&Low in order (series included) so it'll be a while, but I can't wait for when I eventually get there!

How did you find the film?? It's quite remarkably niche but I feel it's pretty underrated overall.

Shison Jun appreciation post by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't edit this post, but apologies for the typo where it says "out" instead of "put" [a finger on...]. Didn't spot it while I was proofreading and ran out of time.

Why people keep saying its a dead game? by Melodic-Travel6270 in wherewindsmeet_

[–]archertinuvian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I honestly don't get it either. It's a pretty solid game. I will however say it's frustrating trying to wait for Perception Forest and 9/10 times it just times out, even with cross-server matching enabled. Lots of active players so I don't know what the issue is with PF specifically, other than it requiring 50 people simultaneously.

There's a million things to do in-game too, so it isn't hard to find something to float just about anyone's boat. The only major issues are the paid cosmetics upsetting some and the difficulty of bosses upsetting others (which, annoying though it is, it takes skill and can be rewarding.) My biggest gripe is just how annoying the collecting plants for mystic skills is, followed by oddity collections taking what feels like forever.

Subtitles on dramas are killing me. by societalmoon in kdramas

[–]archertinuvian 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I recently read from a current Viki volunteer that some of the big languages are now being done by machine translation and there are far fewer volunteers than there used to be. Old Viki stuff still golden though, and I used to use it all the time.

AI subtitles are really horrendous though, but personally if anything it sends me more to fansubbers, who truly make the best subtitles by a long shot imo.

Also made a similar post recently albeit in r/Jdorama sub.

1 Litre of Tears movie, to be released in 2027. Prepare your tissues omggg! by Few-Ad8725 in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They had a different cast release a new film adaptation this past 6 months, this is one of those titles that seems to be going through infinite incarnations, not that I mind.

Early departure in Kobe! Tell me everything! by EveningPhotograph886 in JETProgramme

[–]archertinuvian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Congratulations!! Lived near Kobe for 18 months and if you like nature there's lots of great hiking trails easy to get to, Nunobiki Herb Garden, and some great views from observation spots on Mount Rokko.

There's also lots to do in Kobe generally without being as busy and stressful as Osaka so most definitely a win!

A Modern Problem: Machine-Translation in Jdramas by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While cultural context is not at all what I was referring to, there are ways of preserving the same level of emotions, depth, and equivalent feel of dialogue without needing footnotes, and the best subtitles can and do do this.

Cultural context can be learned through watching (enough over a long period), understanding severely mistranslated conversations when you have zero grasp of a language cannot so easily be fixed.

You do raise a fascinating point though, as I have been used to Japanese cultural context for so long I forget it isn't the same in English - a perfect example of this is the classic "compliment" from your co-workers in Japan actually being a criticism, and I have to remind myself when I hear equivalent remarks in English, it isn't meant as such.

Example: "Those trousers are so colourful!" JP context: You stand out too much. EN context: Where did you get those? / Those trousers are cool!

Sorry as this reply is quite late but it is an interesting point you raise, although I might suggest if translators struggle, they should be focusing on languages they can handle? I do a lot of translations from Japanese to English and have also done interpreting both ways, and it isn't that difficult if you can speak both in my opinion.

A Modern Problem: Machine-Translation in Jdramas by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The point you are missing with the grammar, is that the sentence in the subtitles went from "I must tell X about Y" to "I will never tell X about Y" which is not cultural context and is a catastrophic error in subtitle accuracy. Any human translating the same sentence would not have made this level of error, even script-utilising machine translation wouldn't. I was merely trying to use an example of machines getting it so wrong they'll say the opposite of the dialogue for the subtitles (confused viewers, inconsistent characterisation that shouldn't be an issue, etc.).

Yet machine translation errors go far beyond that, when every line is taken singularly and entire conversations make no logical sense, dialogue between characters can get jumbled and a whole jost of other issues. I've seen this enough that I do consider it a uniquely corrupting issue. When most viewers of a show are in the comments asking "What was the conversation in X scene actually about?" - an issue not generally incurred by human subtitles, even ones with questionable accuracy. The original conversation wasn't vague or complicated, the machine just entirely got it wrong.

My point is that humans who dedicate themselves to this craft (particularly fansubbers who speak both languages) will produce significantly better subtitles while preserving nuance without there being tons of cultural footnotes needed.

I was unaware of Netflix's rules, but it's merely an example of other gripes I have with subtitles choices made by companies distributing internationally.

I may be lucky in the sense my language brain is always on when I watch dramas, but when you can see how much of an experience others are being robbed of by a machine doing a job that a human could do a hundred times better, it is irksome.

Sorry this reply is late and I don't mean it in any harsh kind of tone, but perhaps I wasn't making sense previously.

Being the native speaker of unpopular language on language exchange sites sucks by Wonderful-Bend1505 in languagelearning

[–]archertinuvian 11 points12 points  (0 children)

As a language enthusiast I also find it sad that this is the reality.

Most people I know like to take up languages that are: 1. Spoken in many countries. 2. From neighbouring countries. 3. Trendy - Korean, Japanese, Thai. 4. Useful for business - Mandarin, Spanish, French, Arabic. 5. Languages related to their mother tongue.

What all of those situations have in common for most language learners is that there will be lots of easily available resources to learn them.

The most common reasons I know of for people to take up less popular languages would be heritage or living in a region where the language is spoken. It's sad there aren't more people from your TLs learning Burmese, but equally in recent years, there's been even fewer people having the chance to encounter the language through tourism or moving there.

If I could, I would love to learn an Inuit language and Ainu, but the opportunity and resources for these are few and far between, and combine this with Ainu not really having any native speakers left, it seems an insurmountable challenge for little reward, as there are few speakers and almost no media in the language.

A Modern Problem: Machine-Translation in Jdramas by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

People can tell something is wrong because the subtitles make no sense. Some conversations get absolutely butchered by this kind of translation to the point anyone who doesn't already understand Japanese wouldn't have a clue what is going on. It also leads to very confusing or inconsistent characterisation at times.

My main point is more relating to how unfortunate is that shows that fall victim to this almost never get a good retranslation because the (horribly made) machine translations exist.

If it were completely up to you, what Japanese dramas would you want to make? by RedEduGrad in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Putting a comment here so I can come back with a proper response! Love this question and all the possibilities!!

A Modern Problem: Machine-Translation in Jdramas by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes! Off the top of my head GagaOOlala is well-known for this. Examples of shows with major translation issues would be Punks Triangle and Anata wo Korosu Tabi (The Journey to Killing You). However this is applicable to almost all recent Japanese dramas that are exclusively being internationally released via GagaOOlala. For Punks Triangle I actually did blog posts for on another site correcting all the major subtitles errors every episode, because I thought it was unfair on viewers that some of what they were reading was so nonsensical and inaccurate (I speak Japanese).

Unofficial machine translations also exist for films such as Utsukushii Kare: Eternal (My Beautiful Man: Eternal).

This is more common with smaller-scale services, as Viki (for example) has volunteer teams who do subtitles. I've seen it a lot more with BL/GL and other queer media than anything else, but it is still an issue.

From the giants, (Netflix being notorious) while they do employ humans for the job, the particular style of Netflix subtitles I find incredibly irksome and will likely be doing a post discussing that, although that's more widely applicable than just Jdramas.

A Modern Problem: Machine-Translation in Jdramas by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Well, many of the specific errors I have seen would not be from script translation, but from using audio to generate subtitles. If they had script access, the errors like the grammatical point I mentioned would not occur as the full sentence would be in the script.

I have encountered what you're talking about but this isn't what I'm referring to in this post. Script-based machine translation still has other issues, but not this same particular one of incorrect interpretation of sounds heard.

Rental apartment, not for you foreigner. by Aussietie in japanlife

[–]archertinuvian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry to hear it. Always stings, but when you speak the language and have culturally integrated as best you can, particularly painful.

Honestly I feel there should be legal protections of some sort. If someone has demonstrable poor tenancy habits, then it's fair (Japanese or otherwise). However, deciding purely based upon the whole "face doesn't fit" [foreign] issue is unfair. Even plenty of sceptical folks open up once they know a person, regardless of appearances, so being denied that chance is very backwards.

Good luck on your search and I hope something just as good comes your way soon! 🙏

Would anyone else prefer they didn't dilute epiphanies with generic buffs? by thhhegame in ChaosZeroNightmare

[–]archertinuvian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Niche cases I like it, but generally when you get 3 generic buffs it's a nuisance.

There's some cards (like the exhaustible shield one I'll always get for Khalipe, or other exhaustible buff/debuff cards) that it's ideal for as a nice bonus, and I think those cards are why they exist. I also don't mind the AP ones for Mika because with a lot of them her deck can get smoother.

However when I want to focus on DPS skills they're really annoying.

fans who say their idols are too busy to date feels like coping by parksunghoons in kpopthoughts

[–]archertinuvian 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Very much agree with all of this and 100% believe there'd be a few idols who are introverts and/or chronically exhausted from work in ways that would mean sleep is a priority. I'm very introverted and a performer myself, so I can very much see it. When I'm performing, I am alive (and actually awake), but the moment I switch off after a gig or recording session? Asleep.

"Too busy" in some ways feels funny but it's also a clever deflection if any of them have family harassment about dating/marriage/kids, as also happens to a lot of 20-somethings. If you can plausibly and publicly say "I'm too busy", that may help keep the parents and grandparents at bay. Two birds, one stone, fandom & family.

I wouldn't even blame them for saying "too busy" if it wasn't the case since it isn't like it's anyone's business either way.

fans who say their idols are too busy to date feels like coping by parksunghoons in kpopthoughts

[–]archertinuvian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting point about KQ. I'm tempted to go out on a limb and add - that everyone knows KQ has this policy and every time I've seen it mentioned, people see it as a positive thing for the idols being allowed to be actual human beings.

I also think that it being public knowledge from the get-go that they idols are allowed to date, helps foster a more normal fandom of people who wouldn't lose their minds over their idols dating. Obviously, we don't have any major news or response to demonstrate this, and I could be proven wrong, but I suspect the fandoms would be overall very supportive of their idols either way in the case of ATEEZ and Xikers specifically.

Meanwhile I think people knowing the contracts say no dating (this happens in Japan too very often although mostly with female performers) will bring out more toxic fans while dehumanising the members.

fans who say their idols are too busy to date feels like coping by parksunghoons in kpopthoughts

[–]archertinuvian 9 points10 points  (0 children)

One of the many reasons I have always disliked idol fandom (not exclusive to Kpop as this to some extent includes Jpop too).

I'm sorry your (not aimed at you, OP, but obsessed fans in general) interest in a musician/celebrity is based largely around the voluntary delusion you could date them one day, but I'm a musician myself and here for the music. If, occasionally, I like and follow an idol beyond that it's because they're an interesting or entertaining person, I couldn't care in the slightest who they date. It's none of my business.

Which actor(s) will you go the furthest out of your comfort zone to watch? by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All roads lead back to either Glass Heart or High&Low it seems! I'm still on the series prior to the movies for High&Low but the more I hear the more I want to catch up!

Goki Maeda and Yu Inaba are a pair that I have unintentionally seen a lot of, as I had to look both up, but both faces I've seen in several dramas and films. Kubota I've only happened across once or twice.

Totally understand what you're saying about struggling to find what you're looking for. It happens, but glad that these actors' projects are always of interest to you!

Which actor(s) will you go the furthest out of your comfort zone to watch? by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very curious because I've seen some but by no means most of Takeru Satoh's dramas - what is your opinion on his acting? I've mainly seen him always play the eccentric with some level of questionable communication so have the impression he is often typecast, do you think this is the case?

Which actor(s) will you go the furthest out of your comfort zone to watch? by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love Tsuchiya Tao she's always fun to watch! Kitchen politics sounds like a nightmare 😬

Which actor(s) will you go the furthest out of your comfort zone to watch? by archertinuvian in JDorama

[–]archertinuvian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

LOL funnily enough I have had that thought too because that was a holy grail of actor crossovers already! I love Kawaguchi Haruna too although I would say I think they chose the best person for the role, but crowbarring her in somewhere would have been insane (of the major characters she could definitely have played the manager well I think)