Recruiting Translators

Let me emphasize that even if we are unable to recruit translators, we will still continue to work on the series that we have active right now.  We have the resources to continue as is.  Comments are locked in this post because I would like potential candidates to not contact me through here.

Licca Fansubs is recruiting translators.

As everyone knows, Licca Fansubs is an extremely small group.  I feel that this would be a good time to begin recruiting people, in particular translators, so we can potentially expand on the number of series that we can do.

We are looking in particular for Japanese to English translators.  We do have A Dog of Flanders and Pastel Yumi as projects if you would like to take those on, plus a few of the Licca-chan OVAs.  If you don't want to do those series and want to do another WMT or mahou shoujo series, we can probably accommodate that as long as it's not being done by another fansubbing group or is licensed in the United States, and if I can easily get the raws either through importing or download. (As the encoder, I personally prefer to have the raws imported so I can get the best quality source material to start out with.)

I will, of course, test all translators on their proficiency level.  This is a volunteer position.

If you are proficient in another language other than Japanese, we may consider that on a case-by-case basis.

The best way to contact me is through IRC; our channel is listed in the sidebar.  Note that we're on ChatSpike, not on Rizon.  I tend to not check our e-mail address that often, so use that only if you can't get on IRC.  I'm usually at my computer around 6pm to 12am, GMT -6.

We are also looking for other positions as well.  However, I will not be accepting people for those positions until I can find translators first.

Let me reemphasize that even if we are unable to recruit translators, we will still continue to work on the series that we have active right now.  There is no obligation to help us; we are here to serve you.  Personally, I can understand why people are reluctant to participate in fansubbing, and I respect that.

Pollyanna Episode 5 released!

"Poor little lamb! And you must be hungry, too. I—I'm afraid you'll have ter have bread and milk in the kitchen with me. Yer aunt didn't like it—because you didn't come down ter supper, ye know."

"But I couldn't. I was up here."

"Yes; but—she didn't know that, you see!" observed Nancy, dryly, stifling a chuckle. "I'm sorry about the bread and milk; I am, I am."

"Oh, I'm not. I'm glad."

"Glad! Why?"

"Why, I like bread and milk, and I'd like to eat with you. I don't see any trouble about being glad about that."

"You don't seem ter see any trouble bein' glad about everythin'," retorted Nancy, choking a little over her remembrance of Pollyanna's brave attempts to like the bare little attic room.

Pollyanna laughed softly.

"Well, that's the game, you know, anyway."

"The—GAME?"

"Yes; the 'just being glad' game."

"Whatever in the world are you talkin' about?"

"Why, it's a game. Father told it to me, and it's lovely," rejoined Pollyanna. "We've played it always, ever since I was a little, little girl. I told the Ladies' Aid, and they played it—some of them." 

- Pollyanna, Chapter 5

 

In this episode, Pollyanna jumps out of the window, causing her to miss supper.  Nancy goes and looks for her.  Aunt Polly wanted to punish her by only allowing her bread and milk, but Pollyanna doesn't mind.

In addition, she's gotten Nancy to play the Glad Game.  

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

Irregular release schedule

We will be on a irregular release schedule for Pollyanna for the next week due to scheduling issues.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Pollyanna Episode 4 released!

"Are you Miss—Pollyanna?" she faltered. The next moment she found herself half smothered in the clasp of two gingham-clad arms.

"Oh, I'm so glad, GLAD, GLAD to see you," cried an eager voice in her ear. "Of course I'm Pollyanna, and I'm so glad you came to meet me! I hoped you would."

"You—you did?" stammered Nancy, vaguely wondering how Pollyanna could possibly have known her—and wanted her. "You—you did?" she repeated, trying to straighten her hat.

"Oh, yes; and I've been wondering all the way here what you looked like," cried the little girl, dancing on her toes, and sweeping the embarrassed Nancy from head to foot, with her eyes. "And now I know, and I'm glad you look just like you do look."

Nancy was relieved just then to have Timothy come up. Pollyanna's words had been most confusing.

- Pollyanna, Chapter 3

Pollyanna arrives in Beldingsville, but is met with a rather cold reception from Aunt Polly.

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

Pollyanna Episode 3 released!

"Nice? Well, that isn't exactly the word I should use," rejoined Miss Polly stiffly. "However, I intend to make the best of it, of course. I am a good woman, I hope, and I know my duty."

- Pollyanna, Chapter 1

In this episode, we start actually covering the first chapter in the novel after John Whittier's funeral.  How do you apply the Glad Game when your father has died?  Unfortunately, this episode doesn't really tell the whole story about that, but that theme will develop as we go through the series.

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

We also apologize for the slight delay and any inconvenience caused by that.

Slight delay

Due to circumstances beyond our control, Pollyanna episode 3 will be slightly delayed.  It is scheduled to be released on Wednesday.

We apologize for the inconvenience.  We should be resuming the regular release schedule after this delay.

Batch torrent for Les Miserables

A batch torrent is available for Les Miserables.  The contents of this torrent consists of all the episodes done by Aoi-Anime, Wasurenai, and Licca.

If you have the files, please assist in seeding this torrent. 

Thank you in advance.

Les Miserables Episode 52 released!

Cosette and Marius fell on their knees, in despair, suffocating with tears, each beneath one of Jean Valjean's hands. Those august hands no longer moved.

He had fallen backwards, the light of the candles illuminated him.

His white face looked up to heaven, he allowed Cosette and Marius to cover his hands with kisses.

He was dead.

The night was starless and extremely dark. No doubt, in the gloom, some immense angel stood erect with wings outspread, awaiting that soul.

- Les Miserables, Volume 5, Book 9, Chapter 5

In the final episode, Jean Valjean is dying, and asks to see Marius and Cosette.

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

This concludes our work with Wasurenai on Les Miserables: Shoujo Cosette.  As per my usual practice, I would like to make some concluding remarks.

First, I would like to thank all the other groups that have worked on this series.  Their efforts have paved the way for us to finish.

Second, I would like to thank the folks at Wasurenai for all the manpower and support to this series.  To have the dedication to finish a series of this length is simply not easily found.

Third, I would like to thank everyone who has supported us in our efforts.

There will be a batch torrent of all of our episodes, plus the episodes that Aoi-Anime worked on.  That should be out tomorrow.  I also expect that BakaBT will have someone offering this as well.

Les Miserables Episode 51 released!

"An assassin and a thief. Remark, Monsieur le Baron, that I do not here speak of ancient deeds, deeds of the past which have lapsed, which can be effaced by limitation before the law and by repentance before God. I speak of recent deeds, of actual facts as still unknown to justice at this hour. I continue. This man has insinuated himself into your confidence, and almost into your family under a false name. I am about to tell you his real name. And to tell it to you for nothing."

"I am listening."

"His name is Jean Valjean."

"I know it."

"I am going to tell you, equally for nothing, who he is."

"Say on."

"He is an ex-convict."

"I know it."

"You know it since I have had the honor of telling you."

"No. I knew it before."

- Les Miserables, Volume 5, Book 9, Chapter 4

 

 

 

Thenardier's last attempt at extortion ends in failure, as Javert comes on the scene.  This is a deviation from the novel. 

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

Les Miserables Episode 7 released!

 

In this episode, a traveling merchant from Paris stops by the inn and causes some unexpected trouble.  In the meantime, Fantine has resorted to pawning off items and trying to find any work she can....

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

Pollyanna Episode 2 released!

How do you play the Glad Game when you don't feel well?  How did the Glad Game even come about?  This episode answers both questions.

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure Episode 1v2 released!

We have released v2s of episode 1 of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure.  They address an encoding mistake where the version of TextSub/VSFilter I was using was clobbering one of the style overrides.

The h.264 version also now has the audio encoded in AAC.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Expectations for Pollyanna

The rest of the DVDs are stashed away....

After doing A Little Princess Sara and going through the rather brutal (yet wonderful) story, we felt like we needed to do something quite a bit happier to counteract that.  Because of this, we chose Pollyanna, the epitome of optimism and happiness.

For those of you who have read the two novels (the anime series covers both of them), you would understand the true nature of what Pollyanna really signifies.  Unfortunately, in today's society, due to a drastic misinterpretation of the character itself, the word "Pollyanna" has taken a rather negative connotation that is warped and not to the spirit of the novel.  As part of our efforts to sub Pollyanna, we wish to try to convey the true meaning of what it means to be a Pollyanna and how her attitude can make everyone's life a lot more happier.

Again, we will try to maintain, as much as possible, a release once every other day, although circumstances may make this difficult over the next month or so.

We have added the VP8/WebM format as one of our release formats.  As the encoder, I am aware of the fact that VP8 is technically inferior to h.264 and I am very well aware of the reasons why.  The reasoning why we chose to add it to our release formats is not because of the patent encumbrance of h.264, nor it is because of the open source nature of the code.  Instead, I personally feel that VP8 deserves a chance to shine. 

In my opinion, "technical superiority" is only part of the equation on how good a codec is.  The other part of the question is "is the quality of the video good enough that Mr. John Q. Public would be able to enjoy it?"  We can go into all sorts of technical discussions on whether VP8, h.264, or XviD is better, but the final judge is the viewer who will watch the video.

We hope that everyone will enjoy Pollyanna and find something to be glad about in everything.  We also thank everyone for your continued support.

Pollyanna Episode 1 released!

For our new World Masterpiece Theater project, we have selected the WMT from 1986, Ai Shoujo Pollyanna Monogatari (The Story of Pollyanna - Girl of Love).

 
We start the series right before the novel begins.  We introduce Pollyanna, her father, and the people in the small Western town where Pollyanna grew up, and we see how Pollyanna makes life fun (and difficult in some cases) for the people living there.

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

This release is in three formats: a XviD AVI version, a h.264 hardsubbed Matroska version, and a VP8/WebM version.  If you need assistance with VP8/WebM playback, please consult the link on the top of the page.

Release of unannounced WMT project soon

The release of our next WMT project will be in about 4 hours.

The reason why fansubbing groups do not release on a consistent schedule

When I say "fansubbing groups", this does include Licca Fansubs.  We try to release on a consistent schedule, but we often do not.  This post is not meant to criticize any group; it just illustrates a point that most people are not really aware of.

Many people who talk to members of fansubbing groups ask when a certain episode of a certain series is released.  Often the response is "when we get to it", or some other vague and useless response.  To explain why, I will use a hypothetical situation.

Imagine that you are an employee of a company.  You are the project leader for some really important product, and you have 10 people working under you.  The market conditions and research say that you need to create a product once every so many days.  You are, of course, given all the tools and equipment needed to accomplish this.

However, the policies of the company, and by extension the people working under you, are rather strange.  You may ask your people working under you for a 40 hour week, but HR and company policy say they can work any number of hours per week.  They may work anywhere from 0 hours to working all the time without sleeping or resting.  They may take as long of a vacation between working days and not lose their job.  The people working for you are not paid, or if they're paid, they aren't paid very much.  If your people show up at the office, they may spend an hour doing actual work, and 7 hours watching movies on cable TV.  Your people may just conduct other "personal business" while they're in the office.  You cannot fire them (regulations), dock them in pay (they're not being paid and they have a much better paying job elsewhere), or use physical force to make them work.

As the project leader... how do you manage your team of people, as described above, and keep a consistent schedule?  The answer is you cannot.  You are at the whim of your team.

What I just illustrated is your typical team of subbers in a fansubbing group.  It is literally a project management nightmare.

Update on the unannounced WMT series

I'm doing test encodes on the first episode right now so I can adjust the compression settings.

We will definitely have the first episode out by Saturday.  If we're lucky, we may have it out sooner depending on how it looks.

Again, we apologize for the wait.

Les Miserables Episode 6 released!

Cosette's birthday is coming up soon, but things go from bad to worse for both Fantine and Cosette.

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

Les Miserables Episode 50 released!

Marius and Cosette are getting married!

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.

Les Miserables Episode 5 released!

The cart was sinking deeper into the earth every moment, and crushing the old carter's breast more and more. It was evident that his ribs would be broken in five minutes more.

"It is impossible to wait another quarter of an hour," said Madeleine to the peasants, who were staring at him.

"We must!"

"But it will be too late then! Don't you see that the cart is sinking?"

"Well!"

"Listen," resumed Madeleine; "there is still room enough under the cart to allow a man to crawl beneath it and raise it with his back. Only half a minute, and the poor man can be taken out. Is there any one here who has stout loins and heart? There are five louis d'or to be earned!"

Not a man in the group stirred.

- Les Miserables, Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 6

In this episode, Mayor Madeleine lifts the wagon that was pinned against Fauchelevent.  Fantine's coworkers become even more suspicious, and Cosette is involved in a bit of a misunderstanding between her and Eponine.

You can obtain this episode from your standard anime torrent indexing sites.