Idol Densetsu Eriko Episode 22 released!

The folks at KiteSeekers were able to get this ready this morning, so we have a little Christmas present for you all, which is one of the best episodes of Idol Densetsu Eriko.

In this episode, Eriko is participating in a radio show, when someone calls in who wants to commit suicide.  Through Eriko's persistence and honesty, she is able to convince the girl not to go through with it.

On hiatus from 12/25 to 12/31

We will be on hiatus from Christmas until New Years.  2013 has been a wonderful year for us, and we hope that it will continue in 2014.

Idol Densetsu Eriko Episode 21 released!

In this episode, Eriko takes a well-deserved vacation in Karuizawa, where she runs into Asami and Shougo.

Tonde Buurin Episode 7 released!

In this episode, Buurin finds a unconventional way of dealing with an armed bank robber taking a child hostage.  By doing what she did, it gives the robber a means of learning an important lesson and gives him the resolve to become a changed man.

Batch torrents for Little Women II - Jo's Boys

Batch torrents for Little Women II - Jo's Boys are now available.  There are two new version 2 encodes provided with this batch torrent: one for episode 1, and one for episode 38.

Please assist in seeding if you are able.

Little Women II - Jo's Boys Episode 40 released!

In the last episode, Dan finally leaves Plumfield with Mr. Page.  Life goes on for the rest of the residents of Plumfield, until it is time for them to leave as well.

This concludes our work for Little Women II - Jo's Boys.  As per my usual custom, I would like to make some concluding remarks.

This series is actually one of our shorter projects, and yet it was a long and difficult journey for us to finish it.  I would personally like to thank my translator for this series, who has basically worked to get all the episodes to me in a timely fashion.  Something that is as simple as a story for children are often the most difficult series to get right, and it was a pleasure for us to bring this story to life.

We would like to thank you all for supporting us throughout this project, even when we were having trouble moving forward with it.  We would like to apologize for all the delays this project incurred as a result.

We will have a batch torrent available later this week after I do some version 2 encodes.  I do know for sure that episodes 1 and 38 will have version 2 encodes due to consistency issues.

Little Women II - Jo's Boys Episode 39 released!

In this episode, the mayor decided to act like a misogynistic idiot, which made Nan cry and Jo very angry.  To prove a point to Nan, she borrows a bicycle and attempts to learn how to ride it.

Little Women II - Jo's Boys Episode 38 released!

In this episode, Mr. Page makes a surprise visit to Plumfield.  Nan is still not dealing well with the fact that she would eventually have to leave Plumfield as well, so Mr. Page gives her some friendly advice.

Little Women II - Jo's Boys Episode 37 released!

In this episode, everyone faces the fact that they have to leave Plumfield someday, in their own way.  Nan in particular takes it very hard when she finds out Dan was thinking about leaving.

Little Women II - Jo's Boys Episode 36 released!

This episode corresponds to the chapter in the novel that involves Prince Charlie and how Dan was able to tame it.  In my opinion, I think this episode was very well done by the animators, and it definitely captures the essence of what was happening.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Episode 22 released!

In this episode, Rihito gives Lucia a music box.  Soon afterwards, the Pearl Piari is ransacked, and everyone goes after the burglar(s).

Hiatus for a few days

Due to some personal obligations, I will not have access to fansubbing materials for most of this week.  I apologize for the inconvenience.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure Episode 21 released!

In this episode, Lucia remembers that she has a key to Kaito's apartment, since she promised him that she would clean it for him while he was gone.  While she was at his apartment, Kaito shows up unexpectedly....

Idol Densetsu Eriko Episode 20 released!

In this episode, Kousuke cancelled Eriko's performance on stage in a fit of rage.  However, Eriko saw the stage on the top of the Marine Live Stage, and gave a performance just for her mother, almost reminiscent of her performance in episode 3.

The state of anime and my experience at various conventions

As most of you all know, I've been going to quite a few conventions recently, and it has been a bit of an eye-opener on the latest trends in the anime community, and the lessons that fansubbers of all kinds can learn about our target audience.

First off, I've attended these conferences as a fan.  I do not reveal that I'm a fansubber in any way (although what I was cosplaying, which I shall keep a secret, may have provided some clues for those people who knew who I was).

I'll try to divide my perspective on what I saw into several main categories.

Subs versus dubs

The quality of dubs versus watching a series with subtitles is often a source of contention between anime fans in the fansubbing community, with the vast majority of those in the fansubbing community believing subs are superior to dubs.  What I have noted talking to various folks at conventions is that for your average anime fan, that is often completely the opposite.  A lot of your regular anime fans in the United States would much prefer to watch dubs.  American anime voice actors are often very popular guests at conventions; there are very long lines just for autographs with them, and their panels are often packed to the gills.

Funimation/Crunchyroll

Funimation and Crunchyroll have been pretty much hated names in the anime "fansubbing" community.  However, without them, most Americans would not have had the exposure to anime that allows for explosive growth of anime convention attendance.  This dovetails into the accessibility of anime; things like the streaming model, are very accessible to your regular person, and provides an effective means of getting anime to a potential audience.  For those who don't like Funimation or Crunchyroll and want them to curl up and collapse, I personally don't see that happening any time soon; they have tapped into a very explosive market and are doing very well.  In essence, I feel that with modern fansubbers only releasing HD encodes in 10-bit h.264 and not providing for the average fan who wants to watch their series with older hardware or with alternative means of playback that isn't a Windows machine is tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot.

Cosplay and older anime

First of all, I love just about every cosplay that happens at these conventions.  It's not easy to do it even for a simple costume.  Cosplay can be an effective vehicle in promoting older anime series that folks have not watched before.

Attitudes towards older anime

The modern anime fan in the United States at these conventions has not heard of many of the series that we grew up on, which is the focus of a lot of the series that we work on.  Of course, people have heard of the various Gundam series, Dragonball, Sailor Moon, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and most of the Studio Ghibli movies, but beyond that, most folks have not heard of the World Masterpiece Theater series, or some of the other series that most of the old-school fansubbers work on today.  However, I would like to stress that you cannot force anyone to watch a particular series; all you can really do is to promote them through discussion, cosplay, and other non-threatening or coercive means.

Idol Densetsu Eriko Episode 19 released!

In this episode, Eriko's mother has been released from the hospital.  Kousuke gets nervous about this very quickly and begins to act irrationally.

So, what is next?

First thing, I apologize for not posting in a while.  I've had a bunch of extra work since I came back from vacation (which I really enjoyed).  I'm probably going to make a post about the state of anime based on what I have seen in the anime conventions I've gone to over the last few months.  I have two more conventions this year that I'm planning to go to.

So, I would like to update everyone on what we'll be doing next.

Little Women II - Jo's Boys

We already have the rest of the episodes translated, and I need to go through them to check the translation and to get them timed, edited, and encoded.  We will be focusing on that this September to get it all done.

Tonde Buurin

We have the next episode translated, and again I need to go through the translation.  That should be out soon as well.

Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow

I will resume work on that series in October after I get back from the last anime convention I'm going to this year.  I apologize for the delay.

Idol Densetsu Eriko

Episode 19 is in typesetting right now, and that should be done reasonably soon, and we should have episode 5 redone with the BD raws soon as well.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure

Episodes 21 and 22 are in QC and styling.  They should be out reasonably soon.

Will we be taking on another series after My Annette?

I have made the decision not to take another series for now after finishing My Annette.  I personally am not sure how much energy I have left to translate anime series.  I know I have at least enough energy left to do Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow, but anything past that is a big question mark at this point.  At the very minimum, we will need another dedicated translator in order to take on additional series.

My Annette batch torrents released, and hiatus

Batch torrents for My Annette have been released.  There are two more version 2 encodes in this batch torrent, namely episodes 3 and 21.

If you already have the episodes, please seed the torrents if you can.

In other news, I will be on vacation (going to an anime convention) for the next few days, so the group will be in hiatus until Monday, August 19th.  Afterwards, Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow will take over My Annette's slot, and it will be our main focus.

Normally, I would be deciding on another series to replace Lucy-May's slot.  However, due to the fact that I don't have as much energy to do these things, I will be postponing my decision on what to do with that until after my vacation.

My Annette Episode 48 released!

Lucien turned away, because there were tears in his eyes. He had been honored above everybody--his sin was forgiven and forgotten forever--Dani could walk just as though he had never fallen.

As Lucien turned he noticed that the almond tree on the platform had burst into flower at the top. Yesterday there was nothing but its bare branches; but spring had proved too strong for it, and straight from the bare wood had come the starry pink blossoms.

The winter was over and gone, the flowers had come to the north--and the birds had begun their singing.

- Treasures of the Snow, Chapter 26

The final episode pretty much neatly wraps up the story.  Everything in Rossiniere is back the way it is now that Dani's leg is completely healed.  Everyone is now contemplating their future lives, as if the accident had never occurred.

As per my usual practice, I would like to make some concluding remarks.

This project has been one of the most difficult projects we have ever worked on.  Between my having health problems throughout a substantial portion of this project, staff scheduling, and the sheer emotional strength of the storyline and the faithfulness of its presentation, progress on this project was very slow and difficult.  As I mentioned in my introductory post on this series, even though the series is adapted from a primarily Christian novel, the lessons that we can take away from the series of forgiveness and patience are lessons that all faiths and creeds teach.

I would like to personally thank everyone who have assisted us in making this project possible.  Again, the sheer number of folks that have contributed to this project in some way or fashion is too numerous to count.  It didn't matter what kind of obscure material that we needed help on, such as German language translation, or obscure Biblical references, someone stepped up and made this project better in the end.

I would also like to thank all of our supporters for sticking with us thick and thin, and it is for you all that we finally finish this series.  The series was definitely difficult to work with, but it was all well worth it in the end, for the storyline and for everyone who wanted this series to be subbed.

My Annette Episode 47 released!

In this episode, Pierre and Lucien head to Lausanne to visit Dani and Annette.  It coincided with the time when Dani's cast was to be removed, and the moment of truth of whether the operation really was successful made everyone really nervous.

My Annette Episode 46 released!

In this episode, Annette and Dani cope with post-operative recovery.  In particular, Dani's leg is in traction, which makes things difficult for him, and causes him to be in a very bad mood unless Klaus is with him, in violation of hospital rules.

My Annette Episode 45 released!

In this episode, Dani enters the operating room for his operation.  Thanks to Dr. Givet's skill, Dani's operation was a success.

(3rd Birthday Celebration) My Annette Episode 44 released!

In this episode, Dani was admitted to the hospital.  However, he instantly causes trouble right then and there...

This is the last of the releases for the 3rd birthday celebration.  We will have an post at a later time on our future plans.