Tried watching a classic anime from 1988 on a modern streaming service and the subtitles felt completely off

I popped in Gunbuster on a whim last week since it's been on my list forever. The subs were using modern slang like 'no cap' and 'bet' in scenes that clearly took place in a serious military setting. I ended up digging around and found a fan translation from 2005 that matched the tone way better. Has anyone else run into this where new official releases change the vibe too much?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota_singh3925d ago

Man, 'no cap' in Gunbuster? That would have me reaching for the remote instantly. My brain would short-circuit trying to reconcile that slang with Noriko screaming about space monsters. I gotta admit, I've had my own cringe moments though. Back when I was in high school, I edited a friend's fan sub for Sailor Moon and thought 'word up' was the perfect translation for a serious speech. We all think we're cool translators until we watch it ten years later and want to crawl under a rock. It's embarrassing how fast our slang ages, especially when a show tries to stay timeless. So yeah, I feel your pain but I also know I'm not blameless in the history of bad subtitle choices.

wren_carr24d ago

Oh man, Dakota, 'word up' for Sailor Moon is brutal lmao, I'd have to delete that hard drive.