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)

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