Ask John: Why Don’t Professional Subs Use Fan Translations?

Question:
As I buy and watch commercial releases to sit beside my unlicensed versions of the same anime, I sometimes find myself preferring the fansub English, especially if Japanese honorifics & certain words are included still. Also if there is less jargon & American idioms to read as well. And better accuracy. Some fansub translations seem better – though not always consistently – to their commercial equivalents. So I wonder why US anime companies do not use good fansub translations, especially those known to be good, when one is there, instead of paying for their own version.

Answer:
I suspect that American distribution companies generally refuse to use fansub scripts or translations because doing so acknowledges the legitimacy of technically illegal fan distribution of anime. The general opinion I’ve consistently always gotten from discussions with industry professionals is that fan translations show the quality of fan translations and simply aren’t high calibur enough to be adequate as professional translations. Of course, there are many factors ignored in this argument including concerns over proper grammar and the suitability of often time “hardcore” fansub translations compared to mainstream licensed translations intended for mainstream audiences. Professional translators and translation editors I’ve discussed this topic with often argue that professional translations provide a more accurate English language adaptation of the meaning and intent of the original Japanese dialogue than fansub scripts, which often provide a very literal and sometimes awkward direct translation of the Japanese dialogue.

But there’s no reason why existing fan produced translations cannot be slightly modified for use as official subtitled translations. While the American market seems to consider this virtually taboo, the Japanese market seems to have little hesitation toward doing so. For example, the official, authorized Japanese DVD versions of the live action movies Versus and Wild Zero include pre-existing fan produced translations as optional English subtitle tracks. However, the American anime industry seems to dislike the idea of relating non-profit fan produced translations with official, legitimate commercial releases. There are examples of this occuring, but the examples are rare. Veteran fansubbing group Team Abcb has publicly accused Central Park Media of plagiarizing the fansub script to Aika for CPM’s official English subtitle translation. TOKYOPOP has officially announced that in order to achieve the best possible subtitle translation, they will use fansub scripts of Initial D as reference material during the creation of their own English subtitle translation. However, this comes as a result of fan subtitling group Central Anime offering their scripts and extensive translation and research notes to TOKYOPOP, not TOKYOPOP actively seeking input from experienced amateur anime translators.

It may seem logical to fans to expect licensing companies which market to anime fans to seek input and assistance from these same fans, especially when translation assistance may be available from experienced but non-professional translators who have faithfully translated a particular anime as a labor of love rather than as a paying job. However, I suspect that American distribution companies prefer to keep official, professional, commercial releases entirely professional. Utilizing fan produced translations, even as the basis for revised professional translations, tacitly endorses the existance of fan produced translations and fansubs, which at best are only tenuously legal. The professional American anime industry has always had a love/hate relationship with the fansub community. And even though cooperative effort between the American commercial industry and amateur American anime fans may benefit the cultural and artistic integrity of anime translated for American release, I suspect that the American commercial industry would prefer to prioritize its own internal solidarity and professional interests over increased commingling with the amateur fan community.

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