To all the wonderful guys and gals that have supported m.3.3.w and made my time here wonderful,

Life has finally gotten to the point where I simply can’t get all my real-life obligations taken care of and also sub anime at the same time. Lately, the only reason why projects have been stalling is me having conflicts working with classmates on projects, or as bassist for my new band, or chasing after girls, and subbing has taken a backseat. I don’t want to give you fans any less than you deserve, so in the interests of keeping releases up to the quality I know you’ve all grown to expect from us, I’ve informed the group that I am resigning as translation checker for the group. The only active project this affects is Kimi ni Todoke, and unfortunately, we don’t have a backup TLC, so we’ll be dropping the project. I’m really sorry about this whole disaster, but for the first time I feel like I really have a chance with a girl (not just mai waifu, Tohno Minagi), and I’m in my last year of college, so the projects are really difficult this quarter. Before you ask, no, we can’t just release the subs omitting the TLC stage — the quality subs you get are a result of several revisions to the script, and until we find another subber fluent in Japanese, we feel that the sub quality would suffer too much without my input. You might also wonder why I’m resigning, as opposed to just becoming inactive for a quarter or two until my schedule opens up again — and this is a valid point. I dunno what to say, anime just isn’t as appealing to me anymore. I mean, I was never a huge anime fan, but lately all these plots are starting to sound too much the same. Also, tun and xess aren’t around anymore, and they were sorta the reason I stayed around as long as I have. The new guys and I just don’t get along the same. Overall, I just can’t get as pumped to TLC stuff as I have been in the past.

tl;dr — KnT S2 dropped, asagao resigning.

Wish you all the best.

~asagao

In this episode, Yuuto is invited to a party for his services in episode 3, as personal attendant to that loli of fiery ice, Tennouji Touka. We are also introduced to the rest of the ranked members of the Nogizaka Family Maid Team. I must say, I was so happy, watching this episode of NHNH~P~, due to the overall consistency and, dare I say it, high quality of the Crunchyroll subbing. They even got the names right (except for the fourth ranked maid, who should be Minamo, not Minao (this is miswritten only once)). (To be frank, there are a few small errors (2 != 5, grammatical errors, internal inconsistencies, etc.), but other groups make errors like that too occasionally, so it’s okay right?)

Enough about CR errors, let’s talk about in-episode inconsistencies. There is an in-episode sign announcing the party as the 95th; however, Hazuki calls it the 59th (is this an error due to her being flustered, or an actual error in the script? it is difficult to tell).

So far, this has been the most enjoyable episode for me of this series (of the second-season episodes, anyway). I would actually recommend you watch this, even if you don’t like the series in general. Especially of note is the fact that Haruka herself has only a minor role, which is cool, because MEIDO >> Haruka. On a side note, it seems that Alice-chan (moe~~~~~~) has grown taller in this episode? — she seemed a lot smaller bef– Okay, maybe not.

NAISU RAISU.

P.S./TL Note: Hatano-san is the voice actor for Yuuto.

(sorry for the delays… I’ve been really busy…)

Christmas Special! Okay, so I’m reviewing this a few months late, oh well.

There was a movie released a few years ago, 1994 thereabouts — some of you young whippersnappers weren’t even alive back then, were you? A light comedy — well, Crunchyroll must really like that comedy, because they confused Ol’ Saint Nick with “The Santa Clause.” Now, this is understandable enough — I mean, we can’t really expect professional quality from Crunchyroll. After all, they’re busy people, with families, and psychological traumas early in their childhoods, a bunch of truly troubled indiv–

tl;dr CR sucks.

Also, “woot” is not English.

In other comedyroll, at 11:30-ish through the episode, see that line “You mustn’t underestimate overworking?” That’s nowhere in the episode.

Also also! This is really cool — according to Crunchyroll, Haruka’s never given a present to a man before. This is cool, because it’s previously unknown information, even to the producers of the show! CR is truly doing you guys a service (it could be that they have an early version of the script, before it was trimmed to fit in the 30min. time slot?).

(this really is nitpicking, I mean, they do a decent job. I have no beef with CR (edit: I changed my mind about this, CR really does suck). Just, as xess has said, fansubbing passing grade is 100% accuracy (grammar is also important). But, you know, commercial subs != fansubs. (edit: Actually, that’s insulting to real commercial subs. Crunchyroll is a farce, whom am I trying to kid?))

On with the episode. In this exciting fanservice-filled (read: softcore pr0n) episode of Nogi-etc. ~Purezza~, there are enough presents for everyone. I don’t care if you have a thing for little girls (just don’t get the FBI on your trail, ‘k? don’t want to make a bad name for us anime-watchers), high school girls (see above, unless 18+ and with consent), or older/matured women (we are not responsible for armed husbands with intents to kill or severely maim) — there is something here for you.

Also, I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this, but — Seto no Hanayome’s Seto Clan; NHNH’s Nogizaka family — same family dynamic? Even the voices are similar.

I’m sure you’ve already enjoyed this episode (especially the eyecatches), so I’ll do my best to catch up with all of you. See you next episode!

(also, prtscn 16:16 thereabouts — that’s a keeper)

P.S.: The last episode I TLC’ed for m.3.3.w was HanaSei 13, on September 3, 2009. That’s like, 6 months ago?

(I wrote this a long time ago, November sometime, forgot to post it)

At the risk of making this sound like a Coalguys rant about subbing techniques (maybe they don’t do this anymore, haven’t been to their site in ages), I’d like to take a line-by-line analysis of a Crunchyroll script (script courtesy of HorribleSubs):

Butler: Do you have any questions?
Yuuto: Well if not any, everything is questionable,
Yuuto: but…what should I do right now?

Now, that’s annoying because it’s unreadable. But don’t worry, it gets better (by which I mean that it gets worse):

Touka: When I say grilled fish, I mean Ma-Iwashi (true sardine)!
Touka: Why would you use Urume-Iwashi(imitation sardine)!?

TL note time: Ma-Iwashi == Japanese sardine; Urume-Iwashi == round herring. Both ma- and urume-iwashi are of the family Clupeidae, but while the Japanese sardine is of the genus Sardinops, the round herring is of the genus Etrumeus.

But what’s important isn’t scientific classification (please tell me if I’m wrong about this, by the way — I used Wiki as my guide) — it’s the fact that there’s no reason to leave ma-iwashi untranslated and *also* put a translation next to it. Even worse is the fact that CR calls urume-iwashi “imitation sardines.” Urume-iwashi aren’t imitation sardines, any more than cod is “imitation salmon.” Okay, well, that’s a bit further off, but you get the idea. (To my idea, the appellation “imitation sardines” implies the falsity that urume-iwashi are artificially processed, like imitation crab.)

But I think the thing that made me saddest about CR’s subbing this time was this:

Touka: Wh-who are you calling an underdeveloped pet tiger!?

Crunchyroll: please hire anime fans to do your subbing, and please treat us like we’re a bit more intelligent than fifth graders. We’d appreciate it.

Oh wait, this is an anime blog isn’t it — I’m supposed to talk about the anime. Well, in this episode, Ayase Yuuto takes the stocking off of a loli and touches her **** with a long stick. My brain was pretty much on loli-overload the entire episode, so I’m not actually sure what went on. (Speaking of which, NHNH has gotten more fanservice-y since last season, hasn’t it? I guess they have to compete with crap like Kanokon and such… Shame they’re stooping so low in the name of gaining a wider audience.) Sorry, guess you’ll have to stream the episode on Crunchyroll yourself (if you’re not from the United States of Manifest Destiny, guess you’re not blessed enough to watch it on their site — I’m sure you’ll find another way )

[Other translation notes: Khorosho (pronounced something closer to "khuh-ru-sho") is a Russian word that means, approximately, "good" or "fine", and is a word of praise (thank you to my linguist friend who helped me on that). A zanba-tou is a big sword (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanbat%C5%8D).]

You know, there’s something about Haruka’s personality that I don’t really like. I think it’s how she’s always saying sorry this and sorry that, and that “I’m so helpless without you, Yuuto,” blah blah blah. I understand that this show is supposed to be catering to losers who wish they had a girl who was completely submissive and dependent on them and all that, but, seriously, I get tired of it after a while.

Now, Haruna, on the other hand… is a mature, sexy lady who’s not afraid to set that lacrosse ball on fire with her well-executed shots. And that’s hot.

I’d like to note that Crunchyroll’s translation for this episode improved significantly. Good job guys, seriously.

In this exciting and slightly scandalous episode of Nogizaka Haruka’s Secret, Haruka and Yuuto… um…

(Haruka: “If you *** it ** so deep…”
Yuuto: “L-Like ****?”)

…Haruka and Yuuto attend a doujinshi fair! (TL Note: doujinshi are self-published works from amateurs and sometimes professionals primarily in the fields of manga and anime (note courtesy of CR)) Also, a couple tsundere from well-known anime make guest appearances, and… what else… Oh! You lolicons out there are going to love this episode. Just thought I’d mention that.

By the way, we all have a working understanding of Japanese sound effects, right? Koku koku.

[non-Haruka note: as a result of some poor studying choices I've made in the past couple weeks, I will not be able to work on Seto no Hanayome for the next month or so, unless I am extremely lucky. However, this does not mean the project is dropped.]

[semi-SPOILER/helpful note: "ireru" means to insert something; it can also be used in the context of coloring, to 'fill in' a space with ink or pencil or what have you.]

So, I was watching Haruka on Crunchyroll, where I have a one-year subscription, because I support the American anime licensing industry — after all, Crunchyroll has done everything we in the anime community have been asking for for years (“I’d stop watching fansubs if Japan would just give us legal subs as soon as the episode came out in Japan”, etc. etc.), and I have to respect that…

There’s a lot of steam in an onsen/rotenburo. I understand that. But it’d be nice if the steam didn’t cover the entire screen for minutes at a time.

Oh my, I’m getting ahead of myself. Anyway, in this first episode of the second season of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, Haruka and her friends (Yoshiko and Naha, and some others too) go to a hot springs to relax. Pretty typical episode, though we do have a new character (I think she’s new anyway — I didn’t finish watching the first season).

The opening and ending songs are pretty nice as well, if you’re lucky enough to know Japanese (since Crunchyroll didn’t sub the songs and all).

Also, lacrosse is the best sport ever (Haruna > Haruka).

P.S.: Sorry for the delayed blog post for episode 1. Episode 2 blog post should be very soon (within a day or two of Crunchyroll airing it).

xess edit: I love CR (This is just a screenshot of what I see from CR, not the actual video)

First, I’d like to state that any rumours of our (m.3.3.w’s) death have been greatly exaggerated.  Protip, people: Koda likes to troll.

If we ever decide to pack it up and close shoppe forever, then we’ll announce it here, on this blog.  This goes with any series that might be dropped.  We will always communicate with you guys about stuff like that.  And again, I’d like to re-emphasise the fact that, if we haven’t announced, on this blog, that we are dropping a series, please consider that series to be active.   Some series might take a bit longer to finish than others, but they’ll get done, eventually…

Anyhoo… As you probably know already, we finally got out the DVD rips for Earl and Fairy and, while there was no new content, the quality of the video is quite superiour to the TV version.  If you want to see some comparison shots, go to BiGGuY’s site.  Keep in mind that there are separate files for the OP and ED in a system we refer to as ordered chapters. It may not work well with all players, but it does save a lot of diskspace and bandwidth.  Just use CCCP and all will be well with life, the universe, and everything.

Here is the link to the Batch Torrent:  Earl and Fairy DVD

I wrote a short preview guide for the spring season, but never bothered with the summer one as that season didn’t seem very interesting. Well, again I’m going to write a little bit about what I’ve watched just like what I did last time. I will not write about the shows we’re doing, and sequels of past series: ef – a tales of melodies, Gundam 00, Nodame Cantabile, Clannad, etc.

The ratings I use are based on the first episode and the first episode only. It’s meant to give you a small idea about the story, and also to tell you my impressions of the first episode as a whole.

These are the ratings I will use:
Excellent – the show truly impressed me.
Good – I liked it.
Fair – Neutral, didn’t hate it, didn’t love it.
Poor – Not for me, but maybe you might like it.

The following are the random shows that I’ve watched:

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Name: Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka
Genre: High School
Subs: Eclipse
Score: Fair

High school romance based on a visual novel between the wealthy transfer student Katagari Yuuhi and her fiance the Genokiller, Nagase Jun’ichi.

Akasaka kinda disappointed me a little as I had higher hopes for it. The cast of voice talents is incredible in this show, but the story feels very stereotypical and unoriginal. Even though nothing is original nowadays, a good storyteller can tell the same story over and over again a thousand times and you won’t get sick of it. It definitely doesn’t have the x-factor that would make it truly shine. Well, that’s only the first episode, so I hope it’ll get better.

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Name: Kyou no 5-2
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Subs: Chihiro
Score: Excellent

Slice of life comedy about a bunch of naughty ten-year olds. Now, this one exceeded my expectations as I’ve never liked little kids much. The kids are very strangely drawn, but just ignore that. The comedy in it is very good. I guess you could compare this to Minami-ke, ‘cept this is more down to earth, and perhaps a bit funnier.

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Name: One Outs
Genre: Baseball, Gambling
Subs: none
Score: Excellent

Baseball + gambling anime. Superstar batsman, Kojima, who has failed to win any trophies despite his incredible skill, begins a final training camp at Okinawa. There, he meets pitcher, Tokuchi Toua,who specialises in a gambling form of baseball known as one outs.

This one is another which exceeded my expectations. If you enjoyed Akagi, the one with mahjong, you’d probably like this one too. Much of the cast and crew are the same(at least the main voice actor is the same). It focuses a lot on the mind games and how pitcher Toua outwits the batter using fear and such. Hopefully, some good group will pick this one up (instead of having 9 groups doing Tales of the Abyss).

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Name: Yozakura Quartet
Genre: Action
Subs: Sonzai
Score:

Will watch in full later. Doesn’t seem very interesting though.

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Name: Toradora
Genre: Romance (I think)
Subs: gg and others
Score: Good

High school romance about the tsundere palmtop tiger, Aisaka Taiga, and the snake eyed, Takasu Ryuuji.

This fell a bit below my expectations. I found the story to be a little confusing, as there were barely any introductions, and it felt like it jumped straight into the middle part of the story. Taiga’s behaviour was even more confusing. I guess she’s the ultimate tsun tsun girl? Very difficult to judge from the first episode.

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Name: Hyakko
Genre: Comedy
Subs: Ayako (sorta)
Score: Fair

About four girls who attend a super huge school. I guess it’s supposed to be a bit like Minami-ke or Azumanga Daioh? The girls are very nicely drawn and the voice talent line-up is also very impressive. Unfortunately, it’s just not very funny. Perhaps it’ll get better in the coming episodes. It’s hard to dismiss it after just one episode.

I’ve read the earlier chapters of the Hyakko manga beforehand. This may have had a negative impact on the rating.

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Name: Shikabane Hime
Genre: Action
Subs: Lunar-Anime
Score: Fair

Makina, the undead princess, specialises in asskicking other undead abominations. Witnessing her asskicking session is orphan, Kagami Ouri.

One thing that really stood out about this show is the rather bland voice acting. That’s little surprise, as this is Akiyama Nana’s debut role. She’s pretty hot in real life though, but that’s beside the point.

Either way, I’d give this a fair, as nothing really stood out in this show for me. The action was all right, but there were no intense moments like you’d get watching Hajime no Ippo or such. The enemy was easily dispatched, before he could even introduce himself, really. It might get better in episode two if they focused more on the day-to-day life of being an undead.

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Name: Skip Beat!
Genre: Shoujo
Subs: none
Score: Fair

Now, this is a rather famous manga (I think) about country girl, Kyouko, and two bishies, Tsuruga Ren and Fuwa Shoutaro (Sho). Ren is the most popular bishie (Ren is the actor from what I gather) in all of Japan and Sho (the singer) plans to take him down. Kyouko then joins the entertainment industry to have her revenge on Sho for breaking her heart.

The art in the Skip Beat! anime seems unusually old-school. Don’t know if it was intentional though, but I do remember Kyouko looking better in the manga. If you’re looking for another classic shoujo hit like Itazura na Kiss or Hana Yori Dango, I don’t think this one will deliver. I was rather looking forward to it too.

I suppose a lot of you watch Code Geass? Well, take a listen to this. This was actually sung by one of the GG staff. It’s much better than our Special fAil.

Have you guys read the anime previews from Anime News Network? Click here to read.

Either way, I’m writing this blog entry to talk about their previews and how their ratings are the total opposite of mine. I guess everyone does have different tastes. I received mixed comments in the m33w blog; some would rate the shows similarly to me, while others seem to completely disagree – perhaps they have similar views to those reviewers at ANN.

The female reviewer, Casey, rated the shoujo shows more positively, and the male-oriented fanservice shows more negatively. Well, that’s perfectly understandable. However, the other three male reviewers seem to be quite unanimous in their ratings – in that they all seem to automatically give poor ratings to fanservice shows (except one who gave 4/5 for Maid Guy), and automatically give high ratings to shows which potentially have deep plots.

Perhaps, their rating criteria is different. Do they look for originality? Story? Personally, the only thing I rate is enjoyment and entertainment value. Whether the show has but a shallow story, or lacks originality, cliched or whatever, isn’t a factor for me. There are so many shows out there, it’s hard to actually find a story which has never been done before in some form or another. And searching for a deep plot in an ecchi romantic comedy is asking for a lot, honestly.

We’re into the third week for most of the shows? What have you guys been following? I’ve not watched anything past whatever I reviewed here two weeks ago except Real Drive. After three episodes, let me give some updates of my thoughts and reviews.

For Kanokon, I’d still give it an excellent rating. I honestly thought that it’d go downhill quickly, but the show has kept me laughing all the way. The humour is simple, lewd, but yet, funny. It’s interesting to watch how the great Eros Dai Maou juggle between the asset heavy fox and the flat-chested, expressionless wolf. Also, one of the ANN reviewers gave some negative comments for the OP/ED songs. I thought that the ED song was really nice though.

For Kurenai, I’m still quite undecided about that actually. It still feels like too little of the story has been revealed. However, it does seem interesting enough to keep following. But, I find Benika to be quite annoying for some reason. Perhaps it’s her arrogant attitude? Good thing she doesn’t get much air time. Also, is there a reason why they put a dash in Kure-nai? I don’t understand what the dash is for. Kurenai is a single word meaning deep red, and also the main character’s name of course.

ToLoveRu: Some people asked why I rated Kanokon above ToLoveRu. Well, just because they’re both about big breasted non-human girls going nuts over some undersized school boy doesn’t make them the same. Bokurano and Gundam are both about kids piloting giant robots too; yet they’re quite different. I honestly did think that Kanokon was better than ToLoveRu. However, ep 3 of ToLoveRu was actually pretty good. Perhaps I’m biased because I like Haruna-chan more than LaLa.

Tower of Druaga: I felt pretty cheated that only the first episode was about nonsensical humour. However, as a big RPG fan, I kinda love how they’re living in a MMO type of world. Divided by classes, forming parties, and seeking treasures in dungeons. It looks like it’s going to start to get even more interesting as they begin to ascend the tower in episode four.

Neo Angelique Abyss: Episode two wasn’t as good as the first, I thought. I guess I must have been expecting too much. I hope it’s not all about fighting and that more romance develops. That would certainly make it more interesting. However, what drew me to the show was that Angelique is a very likeable character, and I’d like to see how her harem of men fight for her attention. Well, never mind the Thanatos and saving Arcadia thing.

Monochrome Factor: The ANN reviewers gave poor reviews mainly because it was too cliche? Well, what shounen hero show isn’t about a normal kid who suddenly one day became the chosen one to save the world or something similar? Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc. all started out like that. I don’t think that should detract from a show’s value automatically. Monochrome Factor certainly isn’t great in my opinion, but I’m sure it’s not extremely bad either. It kept me entertained. And certainly, shows shouldn’t be brushed off simply because of the genre. I know I made this mistake often. I dislike mecha in general, but Bokurano and Gun Parade March are some of my favourites. The mecha is simply a backdrop in the greater story.

Nabari no Ou: I actually expected a bit more from the show after the first episode. But, the fighting eats up 100% of the air time in episode three. I guess this really is a fighting anime. However, the fighting scenes are fairly interesting and it did keep me entertained. It’s always about the exciting wait before the hero unleashes his godly powers.

Maid Guy: It’s funny and over the top. Don’t really have much more to say about it. Maid Guy makes the most mundane things absurd. Reminds me a bit of Sagara Sousuke from Full Metal Panic – a guy with impressive skills who can’t function in normal society.

Vampire Knight: Ah, one of my favourites. Zero’s struggle to fight his lust for Yuki’s blood, and perhaps his affection as well, tainted by a high level vampire, really piques my interest. Yuki is charmed by the mystery that is Kaname, but is very compassionate to Zero, who is like her adopted family. Plus, it has a wickedly eerie ED song. I’m not sure why the ANN reviewers would think that this is a horror (though ep 3 was a little creepy). It is supposed to be a shoujo and the main plot of the story does appear to be about the impossible relationships of Yuki, Kaname and Zero.

As for the rest, I didn’t bother watching any more episodes. I do wonder why Allison & Lillia is so highly rated by ANN though. I thought that it was just okay. And I thought Oinari wasn’t all that exciting either. The breaking of the seal to release to fox god and the battle with the lightning snake spirit felt very anti-climatic. I hope they didn’t give it a 4/5 just because it’s in HD. Nah, I think he geniunely liked it.