Why no JAV with English subtitles?

fr0stbyte

Member
Former Staff
Apr 8, 2008
738
10
They don't exactly accept requests from other people. And no, they're not members here. They translate scenes that are, for them, very amusing and has been done with great attention to detail by the studio.

With that said, other members can not just ask them to translate any movie they want. They only do it when they have free time or when they feel like it. Kapish?

Standard tools for subbing applies. Aegisub (or any other subtitle making program) and a video editing software like AVIDemux. And let's not forget, you also need to possess vast knowledge and experience with regards to Japanese to English translation.
 

montiman

Enjoyer of Asian Ladies
Jun 12, 2008
564
12

Sakunyuusha

New Member
Jan 27, 2008
1,855
3
Your confusion confuses me, montiman! XD

I mean, think about it:
  1. Fluent speakers outnumber non-fluent speakers in professional translation jobs by a nearly infinite ratio. In other words, there is no such thing as a professional translator who is not fluent in either the one language or the other language with which he is assigned to work. When such a person does become employed professionally, he is usually exposed fairly quickly and fired just as quickly.
  2. Fluent speakers outnumber non-fluent speakers in amateur translation and fan translation jobs, too, although the ratios vary. Mainstream anime tends to scare away amateurs moreso than hentai does (a) because the vocabularly and grammar in pornography is much simpler to translate than that in mainstream media, and (b) because it is much easier to translate hentai in small one-man or two-man teams than it is to translate anime, and the smaller the group is the more likely the translator can get away with poor translations. (Fans complaining about poor subs are less powerful to get a TL fired than coworkers are!! But if you're a group of one, then you have only the fans to answer to: and you can pseudo-translate all day long.)

So first of all, you shouldn't doubt the fact that translators tend to be quite fluent (or at least have a modest understanding of the language in the case of pornography and hentai). Second, your question is essentially one of motivation. And this extends to fluent translators as well as to amateur translators. What are their motivations for translating hentai!? Some possible ones include:
  • money
  • fame
  • doing nice deeds for others makes them feel good about themselves
  • practice their translating skills
  • bored, nothing better to do
  • procrastinating on the job or at school
  • they think translation is fun in and of itself
  • they like to be challenged
  • they don't want an inferior translation that they saw circling the internet to become popular and pollute non-Japanese speakers' minds
  • they're doing it as a favor for the original artist
  • they're doing it to piss off the original artist
There are lots of reasons. You are definitely correct that if a person's reason is money and money alone then he is never ever ever going to translate hentai or porn if he is fluent in both Japanese and English: because if he is fluent in both, he is going to seek a job which pays him much better than leechers online would ever agree to. (e.g. make $15/hr as a translator for a firm or make $18/hr as a translator for a publishing house, etc. Wages are fictitious but are used to portray how professional jobs outclass fan-requests in terms of money earned). Besides, employment comes with health insurance and other benefits -- you sure as hell don't see that coming from the internet leechers! XD

But plenty of fluent speakers and non-fluent speakers love to translate hentai into English and do so without asking or wanting any money in return. Personally, I relate to the bullet about hating seeing pseudosubs and rewrites circling the internet. It makes me cringe every time one of my favorite stories is "translated" by desudesu. I also don't like how disrespectful SaHa has become now that money and fame have bloated his ego and given him the false impressions that (a) he has some intrinsic "right" to not have his illegal scans taken down if the original copyright holder reports them for copyright violation, and that (b) he has the right to talk down to his audience as if they're a bunch of no-good morons, what with all the cursing and frustration he posts these days about no one reading his stickies. People like those two make me want to translate hentai for free. But I don't have the fucking time, so I can't and I won't. I'll have to hope that someone else does it for me.

Also, I can relate to wanting to do authors a favor. I know, I know, they didn't ask for the favor and you could say it's piracy, but that's not true for pictures posted for free to publically-accessible websites of the artist's own. In other words, I like to translate (and have been on-again off-again working on translating) pictures that my favorite artists put up on their websites for the entire world to see but which have Japanese text that is required reading to get the full benefit out of the pictures. Sometimes they're jokes, other times they're stories, but every time the words are important and when English-speaking fans can't read them it means that they're missing out. And I don't want that. :( And neither does the original author. (Seeing as they've mentioned it before on their blog!!) So yeah. Stuff like that makes a guy want to translate hentai for free. And while I'm definitely not fluent, I imagine that motivators like these apply to fluent people, too.
 

montiman

Enjoyer of Asian Ladies
Jun 12, 2008
564
12
Mr. Sakunyuussha, first let me thank you for your very eloquent and well thought out response. :bow-pray:
But my comments to Mr. frOstbyte were given by me under the (misunderstanding?) that the people he was talking about (since he said he knows several individuals) were just normal peeps doing it for just themselves and not for distribution.

I know several individuals who translate their favorite scenes from certain JAVs. Like for example, *******7 translated Sarasa Hara's Nurse flick from IdeaPocket, specifically the last scene where she had it going for 4 patients in the hospital who were all asking if they could do her.
 

Sakunyuusha

New Member
Jan 27, 2008
1,855
3
Oh. Do you mean to say that you're asking why they don't translate the entire thing?

One, maybe they don't have vast knowledge of Japanese, and they are only able and willing to translate small segments with easy-to-understand words and grammar. This would not surprise me.

Two, regardless of fluency, translations take time and so the less they translate the more time they have available to do other things.
 

fr0stbyte

Member
Former Staff
Apr 8, 2008
738
10
Two, regardless of fluency, translations take time and so the less they translate the more time they have available to do other things.

Jackpot right there. They are very much fluent in Japanese but they just can't translate JAV all their life. Heck, they do it without payment. It's just that they also have jobs and families to attend to.

Regarding montiman's query, they actually distribute the subs for fellow members to use. You're a member of JAVtalk right? (I searched your name on the members list). Or am I wrong?
 

montiman

Enjoyer of Asian Ladies
Jun 12, 2008
564
12
Jackpot right there. They are very much fluent in Japanese but they just can't translate JAV all their life. Heck, they do it without payment. It's just that they also have jobs and families to attend to.

Regarding montiman's query, they actually distribute the subs for fellow members to use. You're a member of JAVtalk right? (I searched your name on the members list). Or am I wrong?

O.k. I can tell from what you guys have been saying that this discussion has gone WAY off track from what my original comments were in reguard to your statements about people doing some translations.
I will try one more time to ask my questions, but I will not post additional comments or reply to further postings on this thread (because it just seems to go on and on with misunderstandings and confusion).

1. From what I understood you said that some people translated some parts of some Japanese videos (JAV or Anime) for themselfs and that they were fluent in Japanese. So my question was, if they are fluent in Japanese then why would they bother to translate it since they already understand it???

2. Yes I'm a fellow member of the wonderfull JAVtalk site, but what does that have to do with my/your comments??? Are you saying that some of the videos that I have gotten or might get from JAVtalk have some subtitles from these people you are talking about?, if so then that is great, but I would like to know how/where on the site to get them!

I hope this clarifies my comments/questions, and I do appreciate the info given here.
 

fr0stbyte

Member
Former Staff
Apr 8, 2008
738
10
Answer #1 It's his "hobby" as quoted. Click here >>> http://www.javtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4530

Answer #2. For this question I already posted a link above. You're pretty much a lurker based from your post counts on JAVtalk and you're not even aware that tsunami7 subs JAV as a hobby.. The answer has been right under your nose all this time.

EDIT: For those who plan to request subs for their favorite JAVs, don't even think about it. He doesn't take requests.
 

montiman

Enjoyer of Asian Ladies
Jun 12, 2008
564
12
You're pretty much a lurker based from your post counts on JAVtalk
Well I said that I would no longer post further comments on this thread, but since you have turned to insulting me, I feel I must respond.

1. Just because my post count is not high on JAVtalk, I don't think that gives you the right to label me a luker. A true luker never posts, and further I always clicked the "thanks" button (when it was working) if I just looked at their torrent listings (even if I don't download a torrent from that list)

2. This thread was started by me to discuss JAV subtitles, not to discuss my activities (good or bad) on other sites.
 

Sakunyuusha

New Member
Jan 27, 2008
1,855
3
I think you are much too easily offended. I suppose saying that in and of itself will be offensive to you >_> , but I just wanted to share this with you for your own reference. :(

I do not think that calling someone a "lurker" is a stigmatizing label or a rude label. I think it's the word you use to describe somebody who only makes one post every 30 to 60 days or more, e.g. someone who has been a member for 2 years but only has 10 posts would be a lurker.

The good news is: at least you're not as easily offended as this user was. o_o;

Anyway, I will respect your request and not post in this thread again unless I have something to say about JAV subtitles.
 

fr0stbyte

Member
Former Staff
Apr 8, 2008
738
10
Well, I have to apologize if you're offended. I'd just like to add on what Sakun said. Lurkers exist in every forum. I was a lurker once. It's not a bad thing. But the more I posted, the more info I gained from fellow members. Back then I didn't even know we had a direct download section XD.

You can pm if you want to know more JAV sources (photobooks, direct download sites, even Chinese forums for JAV). But as far as I know, only JT has subtitles.