[entameSubs] is a group that currently only subs Bridge-era Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Releases should be 1-2 days after air date, though there may be raw delays. Please read the FAQ first.
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Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.
Thank you for three years of Go Rush!! There are notes from the team under this cut alongside the translation notes.
These three years have been a blast, and I hope you enjoy the last episode as much as we did!
Go Rush!!
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"Wings and Courage"
Yuuhi and Yuamu's names in Japanese are written as 遊飛 and 遊歩, respectively. The first kanji in their name is the standard Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonist yuu- (meaning "game"). The second kanji is what Yuudias refers to when he calls them his wings and courage.
Yuuhi's second kanji is 飛, meaning "to fly". Meanwhile, Yuamu's second kanji is 歩, meaning "to walk". By flying with Yuuhi's wings and walking forward with Yuamu's courage, Yuudias is complete.
遊天亜守
Yuudei Asu
Yuudias' old-timey name as revealed at the end is Yuudei Asu, complete with kanji. Altogether, the kanji seem to have mainly been picked just as a way to "spell out" the sound of "Yuudias" rather than for meaning.
However, if there's anyone that can wrangle meaning out of a couple mismatched kanji, it's me.
This can be read, liberally, as "cosmic protector of games" or, more simply, by taking out the yuu- kanji that every Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonist has, "defender of the cosmos".
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Messages from the entameSubs Team
"i love you go rush and yuamu you will always be famous to me"
- Tessa (aka batsugeemu, proofreader and pinch translator)
"Thank you for watching Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens and Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush with our subtitles. I remember being six and watching Duel Monsters episodes split into three parts on Youtube--I never could have imagined actually working on any of the series myself. Even so, I'm really grateful for the past five years with entamesubs. I made irreplaceable friends, and my Japanese, which I had only learned lightly as a hobby, was able to help spread a series I love with so many people, and grow into a skill I'm proud to have. It's strange to think of a future filled with weekends without a new episode to watch or work on, but my love for Yu-Gi-Oh will never die! Until the next series, let's rush, rush, go rush!"
- Yona (aka angelthinktank, proofreader and translator)
"one last pu-puku-pu"
- Quas (aka quasthecat, quality checker)
"Rest easy yall knowing Yuga and the crew got their happy ending while Otes lived out his dumb old man life at the mercy of kuaidul"
- Merlin (aka merlinwizaa, timer)
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At the end of a long five year journey, my work on Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS and Go Rush!! has now come to an end.
I don't quite know how to put my feelings into words, but first let me express my gratitude. Rush era Yu-Gi-Oh! saved my life in more ways than one, and has let me meet new friends and create wonderful memories with many people. Every episode that went by, and every week that passed as I worked on this series was a blast. My Japanese has improved considerably since I began, and I was able to flex my own writing muscles with the over-the-top summon chants that I always enjoy translating.
I remember being one of the only people that kept holding onto belief that Go Rush would get a third year - a belief that turned out to be true in December of 2023. It has been so very exciting to work on Go Rush and share my joy and passion with others.
In a similar vein to one of Arthur's tweets, aka the VA of Yuudias, I kept thinking to myself "once I type this last line, once I translate this final word, it'll all be over". At the push of a publish button, my work as part of [entameSubs] will come to a warm and bittersweet end.
Yuudias and the cast of Go Rush have truly been my sources of joy for the past three years, and I am sad to see them go. I am overwhelmed with emotion about the implications of the final episode, as Yuudias endured 500 long years to meet with the twins again.
I have cried in the middle of translating, and even while I was writing this, I delayed the final word of my translation just a little so it won't be "over" just yet.
As someone who has been watching Yu-Gi-Oh! live as it aired in Japan since 5Ds, I have to say this is the most emotional ending that has ever affected me so much in a Yu-Gi-Oh!. I am overcome with an appreciation and fondness for Go Rush, and it has become my absolute most favorite Yu-Gi-Oh!, bar none. And I have seen every single one without fail.
Once again, thank you for three years of Go Rush! Until the day I die, this series will stick with me into forever. The people I have met, the journey I have been on alongside these characters, growing up with them, and of course the entameSubs team has been a great source of happiness. I will miss all of it.
My fellow Go Rush countrymen! Let us meet again!
- Ciel (aka "entame", the main translator and head of entameSubs)
Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.
There are translation notes below, so spoilers ahead.
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Teke teke teke
The thing Sur Ferko is repeating is a reference to another urban Japanese cryptid.
You take 1000 Lagrange points worth damage!
"Yeah, sure, whatever Manabu." - Tessa
Majesty of OuTerverSe's summon chant
I had a terrible time trying to parse this. Another strike on the already long list of crimes Otes has committed and can't be forgiven for.
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I still can't believe that the end of Go Rush is near! I wanted to try and get this all out so that people could watch the last episode live with context.
We will be doing a normal release for the final episode. Hope you look forward to it!
In the words of one of the many Japanese tweets I've seen about the end of Go Rush -
"[When Arthur said] 'My fellow countrymen! Let us meet again!' I almost felt tears burst from my eyes. But we can still meet once more next Sunday [for Go Rush's last episode], so it's not time to cry just yet."
Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.
There are translation notes below for 142+, so spoilers ahead.
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臼と黒 / usu to kuro
Usu and Dark
When Yuuhi accidentally reads it as "White and Black" during the preview, it's because 臼 (usu) and 白 (shiro, which means white) look very similar in terms of kanji, so Yuamu is chastising him for reading it wrong as they're two different characters.
翁丁臼
Otei Usu
Here's a funny one. Otes' "old-timey" name can be read as "old guy with mortar". Do with that information what you will.
There's some liberty taken with the titles the characters use in this arc as there's really no good English translation of them.
First, "Honored Lord" can mean a high minister or a lord (or both, it's not exactly exclusive). One of the synonyms given was "daimyo", but that is very much something completely different (and also, if they really wanted to call him a daimyo, they'd have just said it).
Second, Yuudias refers to himself as a 武将 (bushou), though as I researched it, 武将 (bushou) is normally translated to "warlord" which was fitting for that time. However... Yuudias is not a warlord. He neither has his own soldiers nor his own land. Given that he's basically trying to introduce himself the old-fashioned way to "fit in", and as a nod to his own military accomplishments, he probably just thought it was the right word to describe himself.
Though, it also felt strange to try and translate that as "military commander" considering that "Commander" is a real position in real life, and in the context of the show, was also something that Zwijo used to be titled with ("Supreme Commander"). We know that Yuudias' official military designation within the Velgearian army was "Captain" (from episode 20 & later 49).
Anyway, I went back and forth on this in my head. It was genuinely a little hard trying to think of appropriate titles that didn't make me feel as though I was mislabeling them. This strict adherence to the correct military title is the reason why Zwijo is usually referred to as "Lord Zwijo" in the subtitles when Dinois and Myuda address him as Zwijo-sama. They're still showing him the due respect he deserves as their Supreme Commander, I cannot call him "Commander Zwijo" since he is no longer part of the army.
It goes against what I personally would like, but given that I have no other ideas, "military commander" had to do for Yuudias.
This is basically a lot of words to say that the original idea was the best one, LOL. I guess Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu were also known as "military commanders" back then, so it's not that bad... I just have a little bit of a complex about correct titling.
Speaking of Ieyasu...
Ah, how pleasant! Two awakenings and one sleep.
This dream of a fleeing world! The roseate hues of early dawn!
Otes' summon chant for Outerverse Oblivion is a nod/reference to Tokugawa Ieyasu's death poem. It was customary back in the day to compose a poem on the verge of death by learned men (noblemen and monks, mainly).
This translation was taken from Phillip Johnston. While translating SEVENS/Go Rush is my forte, I defer to the professionals for poetry-related matters. It is so much more complicated translating poetry than it is some dialogue from a card game anime.
"The Yuudias Incident"
I cannot give a crash course on Sengoku era Japan in the span of a single translation note, but basically the era was very hectic due to the different lords fighting over land and to rule Japan. These lords also betrayed each other constantly, backstabbing and overthrowing the masters they served like changing clothes.
When Otes said that Yuudias rebelling is "fitting" for the time, he's referencing that same backstabbing endemic to the era.
The title of the episode is also a reference to one of these betrayals, known as "The Honnouji Incident". It was when Oda Nobunaga was betrayed by one of his vassals and forced to commit seppuku (kill himself).
from the hour of the rooster until the crow’s evening cries
The "hour of the rooster" is mainly known as around 5-7pm. I'm not quite sure when "the crow's evening cry" is supposed to be, but I assume around 9-10pm. Zwijo makes his proclamation as a way to say "children have to work until this time, then they can play" (as was the case back then).
Episode 145
Not really a TL note, but just wanted to point out something really cool about this episode.
The episode is a reference to "Blink" from S29E10 of Doctor Who (the season where David Tennant was the Doctor and the main female lead was Martha Jones).
Yuamu font changes
Baloo 2 -> Sephora Sans Serif Medium
This is the same font that all the Darkmen (+ Dark Meister) use, but now with Yuamu's old colors. I felt like it was a cute change to recognize who she was before and how she's changed since then while still retaining her old flair.
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Well, if the dub is to be believed, we have anywhere from 6 to 7 episodes of Go Rush left. It feels kinda strange being so close to the end and yet not quite seeing where the end could be, but I suppose the same thing happened with SEVENS.
Due to the amount of people who harassed us for our "delay in advance" post where we went over the specified time due to unforeseen circumstances (life happens!), we are and have been practicing a complete hands-off approach to communication.
This will not change.
We will not let you know in advance if delays happen. They will simply happen when they do. We also will not be responding to any emails or messages asking us if we're still around.
Yes, we do have plans to finish Go Rush in its entirety. This has not changed. If it did, we would make a post about it.
We are simply sick and tired of people pestering us for updates, and after the fiasco back in November, we have decided to take our time and not worry about speed any longer.
Once again, at the end of the day, we are not paid for our labor or work, and this is a volunteer of our free time.
Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.
We went on vacation for the holidays and are still in the midst of it. No ETA for the new arc episodes.
There are translation notes below, so spoilers ahead.
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時空 / jikuu
"Space-Time"
This seems like a very late place to bring it up, but since Kuaidul finally expanded on this concept this episode, it's worth mentioning!
I've seen a few people try to "correct" our translation of 'space-time' to 'dimension' because, in the context of that arc, it's basically what it was. A little Kuaidul pocket dimension.
However, if they really wanted to say dimension, they would've just called it ディメンション or 次元 (jiken).
I have written in many other notes before that I believe that all of Go Rush's vocabulary, speech, and word choices are extremely deliberate. They didn't call it Kuaidul's Dimension for a reason, and with his monologue of how things worked in this episode, it was finally explained to us why it was named that way.
It's his "space-time" because he was experimenting with space and time and their relation to each other in order to harness their powers. That "space-time" was his experiment, just like how the relic travelling to the future in the Ryugu brothers arc was also an experiment.
Hope that clears things up.
Empty Space vs Empty Canvas
This was one that I turned over in my head for a long while. While "empty space" is the most direct and literal translation of what Kuaidul uses to address Yuudias' special quality, I don't believe it's the best one.
A long time ago, while I was still very new to subbing in general and was working on SEVENS, I used "empty space" to refer to the hole in the Rush Duel code that Yuuga left that Neil later exploited.
I believe that was the best description of it because that is what it was, a blank space in the code. I bring this up because Kuaidul talking about Yuudias' "blank space" is an expansion of that same concept in SEVENS.
However, Yuudias is a person, and Rush Duel is a program. While "empty space" can be used to refer to code, it feels strange to also use the same thing to refer to Yuudias when it's in reference to his personality and special trait specific to him. Especially when that thing is something that allows him to grow and develop, aka allows that canvas to be filled.
It was with that thought that I decided to translate it as "empty canvas", implying that it's meant to be expanded/painted on.
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Anyway, Kuaidul's monologue once again caused some delays as I wanted both proofreaders to check on it before I hit post. The team had already scattered for the holidays when these episodes aired, so it was simply waiting for people to be free and available again.
We are still scattered right now, so please be patient. Once again, there is no ETA on the newer episodes.
Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.
A content warning is needed for this episode:
Mention and depiction of self-harm and self-harm tendencies.
Otherwise, there are translation notes below, so spoilers ahead.
The notes will also touch upon the content warning.
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鬼神 / kishin
"Devil God"
I want to make a distinction here, that the word they use to refer to Yuudias with doesn't simply mean something like "evil god", nor that he's possessed.
If he were just evil, they wouldn't call him a "kishin", but an 悪神 (akujin). If he were just possessed or "demonic", they would just call him an 鬼 (oni) or 魔神 (majin). They chose to use none of these words to describe Yuudias.
Read literally, 鬼神 is the combination of demon (鬼) and god (神) slapped together. Put together, and read as kishin, it attains two other meanings.
The first is "a terrifying and angry god", in the same vein as a monster (化け物, bakemono). Specifically, it is a formerly non-hostile or non-malevolent god that has been transformed into such a state, not the state of being terrifying and angry and divine itself. The implied transformation is important.
The second is "the soul of all things in the universe" (天地万物の霊魂). Notably, it means something that holds tremendous power, and can be considered both dead and alive. It can also be a Buddhist term to refer to someone who has attained supernatural abilities.
Both meanings imply a sense of movement. Yuudias is becoming a devilish god, someone who is terrifying and angry, and holds great power. They both imply that Yuudias has been "changed", not simply that he is angry. It's that "great transformation" Kuaidul mentioned 2 episodes ago.
I didn't want to go with "demon god" because it implies that Yuudias is nothing but a demon, something angry and evil. At the same time, there isn't a good way to really imply that sense of change in English that the Japanese does.
Eventually, "devil god" was chosen. It feels simple, but I hope by differentiating it from a demon and instead going with devil, it helps imply that there is more to Yuudias. Maybe something like "deal with the devil" or "cunning like a devil" in terms of association.
I write all this mainly because I think it's interesting the way they decided to use this to refer to Yuudias. Whatever conclusion you draw from it, I provide my knowledge just to get the juices flowing.
傷つくことが自分自身への戒めなの
"All of this harm and injury is a punishment to himself."
When I got to this part, I knew the first thing I needed to do was provide a content warning for the episode. I know I sure as hell would've appreciated one.
There is a tangible difference between a character knowingly getting hurt as a result of trying to achieve something else (like Dark Zexal), versus purposefully seeking hurt as the main goal (Yuudias).
When Luge describes this, he is laying it very plain and clear that Yuudias is trying to self-harm in his angry and frenzied state. He describes it as Yuudias' punishment to himself. This is why he proceeds with such an aggressive push that hurts him.
Anyway, hope I made myself clear and that the warning was helpful.
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Contractions and Yuudias
As Yuudias gets angrier and angrier, we will be consciously using contractions for him. We're keeping it to a minimum outside of his outbursts in hopes that it hits just as hard as it does in Japanese.
Hearing Yuudias shout ダマレ and ジャマダ were like critical hits to my soft tofu heart. I only hope the contraction use conveys the same amount of shock.
Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.
Thank you everyone for your support and patience! We are back, and now all caught up to the recent episodes.
Below are only translation notes for 135, and no other episodes. Spoilers ahead.
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熟れていく
"Maturing"
Since Yuudias is being "pickled", the word I chose for this part was "maturing" or "aging" since that's essentially what happens when you pickle food/vegetables.
However, 熟れていく can also be translated as "becoming better" at something, or even "being digested". All of these meanings work in this context. Just a fun thought!
儀式 / リチュアル
"Ritual"
When Kuaidul does the Ritual Summon, he is saying "ritual" in English as opposed to "gishiki" in Japanese. A fun fact!
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As an aside, I think 135 has been one of the hardest episodes to translate across the entirety of SEVENS and Go Rush!!, mainly due to Kuaidul's extremely fast-paced monologue. He speaks like he's reading from a college textbook.
Interestingly enough, despite this, 135 also has one of the shortest scripts. The more you know, I suppose.
Also, yes, Yuudias' contraction use in 135 is intentional! He's angry!
Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.
There are no translation notes for these episodes.
There is no ETA for the other current episodes.
Thank you for the kind messages for our delay! There's been significantly more outpouring of support which has made working on these a lot less stressful.
Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.
There are LONG translation notes below, so spoilers ahead!!
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ではこれがし？ 貴公？おぬし？ おんどれ？
Then, this one? You over there? Young man? This guy?
There are a lot of different ways to address someone else not you in Japanese, just as many as there are personal pronouns to refer to yourself. For example, お前 (omae) is one you'll hear a lot of anime characters use, however this is rarely used in real life due to how rude and casual it is between anyone that's not your close friends.
In any Japanese class, you may learn あなた (anata) instead, which is slightly more formal and neutral. You may also hear other characters use キミ (kimi), which is slightly softer and cute-sounding.
All of these, in essence, mean "you". However, their tones and connotations are extremely different. Due to how rarely Japanese as a language even needs to use pronouns (the first rule of "you" in Japanese is not using "you" at all!), busting out any form of "you" is meant to be something you do only when you need to address someone directly, to get their attention. Similar to saying their name.
In fact, "you" and forms of it in Japanese can also count as swearing (especially for a language that really doesn't have swearing the way other languages may*).
You may have heard some anime characters ground out a テメエ (temee), 己 (onore), or 貴様 (kisama) when they're pissed off or angry. This also means "you", but in such a way that it shows extreme displeasure and informality/rudeness. You would never use this with anyone in real life in daily conversation. It occupies the same space and feeling as saying "you piece of shit".
In fact, くそ (kuso), which many people may recognize as "shit!", used to be an old way to say "you"!
Anyway, small language lesson aside, Yuudias is basically using a whole bunch of different variants of "you" in order to figure out how exactly The Creator addressed Kuaidul. I tried my best with picking out a few modifiers, but the Japanese "you" is never going to be perfectly translatable, unfortunately.
これがし (koregashi) - also Kuaidul's personal pronoun, literally means "this one"
貴公 (kikou) - stuff you might hear in a period drama, usually used by a nobleman to refer to a male servant
おぬし (onushi) - also archaic and something you'd hear in a period drama, usually used by samurai to address other samurai
おんどれ (ondore) - kind of rural country-sounding, very casual
(* In modern times, though, "swear words" have actually been created in Japanese slang. This wouldn't be a language lesson if I didn't teach you how to curse!
"Fuck!" as a modifier/adjective ("that fucking thing" / "I hate this so fucking much") can be クソデカ (kusodeka) in Japanese. As with all things, it depends on context.
For how to conjugate it, it's kind of a na adjective. So, くそデカ大声 ("that fucking loud voice") would be fine.
If you're wondering why this episode took so long to get subbed, you can blame these two words. There's actually a funny story involved!
When I first stumbled on it, I had zero clue what Yuuhi was trying to say. Me and Tessa (batsugeemu) scoured like crazy on different websites and weird Google searches trying to get a hit, but no dice. So we kind of just put the script aside for a couple days.
Then, the Chinese fansub team reached out to me. They also had zero clue what the hell "eperubashii" or "eperubeino" meant, and were wondering if we knew. Unfortunately, we didn't.
However, they did mention to us that they thought "eperu" may refer to iper (meaning hyper-) in Italian. They just couldn't decipher the rest of it.
We then asked an Italian person for their opinion and they said that the words don't sound like anything they know. However, they redirected us to look at Greek instead, since yper is also the same thing in Greek.
And finally, after a long couple days, we got a hit! The two words Yuuhi's saying are υπερβασία (ypérbasi) and υπερβαίνω (ypervaíno̱) in Greek. Since I don't know Greek, I just took the first meaning in the dictionary that came up and used it.
It was a team effort but we got to the bottom of it!
I guess becoming Otes teaches you Greek. After all, karutamata is a combination of "karuta" meaning card and "mata" from automata (automation, etc), both Greek words. Zwijo also has a lot of Greek stuff in his deck, as does Yuudias. Well then!
ナウい / naui
"Hella happening"
This is just 80s Japanese slang for something that's "current" and "trendy". It comes from English! From "now-y".
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Anyway, another great arc done and very excited to see what happens next! Thanks as always for sticking with us.
Also, happy Go Rush world launch in Duel Links!! 🎉
The delays have brought about speculation and misinformed assumptions of how our work is done.
This post explains our entire process to put this misinformation to rest, and also informs those curious of how fansubbing works.
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For those unaware, each subbed episode comes with a section of credits at the very end that are specific to that particular episode. For example, EP124 was translated and timed entirely by me (entame), while EP122 was translated jointly by tessa (batsugeemu) and yona (angelthinktank), while I took a proofreading role. Each episode's credits are different, and I always make sure to credit properly based on who worked on what.
Step One: Translation
The job of the translator is to just get from point A (Japanese) to point B (English). One full run-through of the script, no stops in-between. Work is not edited, proofread or checked in any way, it is simply translated and then moved onto the next phase of the assembly line, so to speak.
Leave typos in, leave mistakes in, leave phrases you cannot translate or parse alone and move on. Awkward or literal translations are fine. The goal is to finish the whole script. A couple lines missing here and there is fine - they will be caught later. The first step is just to get it done.
Translating a full script can take anywhere from 2-6 hours, depending on the episode or any extraneous circumstances. To be clear, 2-3 hours is the absolute fastest that it can possibly happen, and it is an outlier. I can count the amount of times it has taken 2-3 hours on one hand. Those are usually reserved for our dedicated "speedsub" episodes, where we have everyone on deck to work continuously, without break. This is not a norm, nor should it be assumed so.
A normal episode will usually take around 4-6 hours working time to translate. Sometimes this is done a couple hours on one day, and another couple on a separate day. Sometimes it's done all in one sitting. It varies depending on the translator's schedule.
Step Two: Proofreading
After that, the proofreader then goes through for a second or third watch to do edits and checks. The proofreader is strictly in charge of making sure the translation itself is correct as well as fixing any missed lines from the translator. Grammar, typos, various other minor corrections are not expected to be done in full here, the main job of the proofreader is to just make sure the Japanese to English translation is complete, correct, and makes sense.
Is the subject correct? Is this the right verb to use in English? Are they talking about themselves or someone else? Is the context the original translator took correct/accurate? A second/third pair of eyes is essential to making sure everything comes out properly.
The translator may mark specific lines that stumped them or they need a second opinion on for the proofreader to pay special attention to. Maybe the translator can't think of an appropriate way to make something work, or need pun ideas.
Proofreading and translation roles are entirely switchable on request, because both proofreader and translator must know Japanese.
Step Three: Timing
At the same time, the timer begins the tedious work of timing the subs to the episode itself, making sure sentences show up at the correct place, for the right amount of time.
They ensure subs cut at scene changes, that the lines shown on screen are properly broken up if a character pauses, and are instering forced line breaks where necessary so subs don't awkwardly fill the entire length of the screen and are instead always centered.
Step Four: (not) "Final Check"
"Final Check" as I'd like to call it, is always done by me. Once proofreading and timing are both done, the sub files are sent to me.
I add in the opening and ending, I do all the fancy text effects if need be (such as scrolling text, rainbow text, gradient text, translating signs or posters shown on screen and blending them into the episode, etc - this is all under "Typesetting"), and I also do a third check of the script on a watch through to further edit any lines that may feel awkward to read on screen or I have thought of a better translation for.
The state that the subs come in pre-final check are subs that only contain the very middle of the episode itself. This means the prologue, the opening, the ending, UTS Report and preview are entirely unsubbed, alongside any signs or extraneous text on screen. Subs are not done pre-final check. There is a reason they must go through me first and that is because I am the only typesetter on the team.
To be clear, timing and typesetting are two entirely different skill sets. Getting the subs timed properly is one thing, getting the subs to look nice, flow well, and not feel awkward to read is another.
Typesetting is usually known as an "invisible" job. When it's done poorly, you notice it. If it's done well, you don't.
At this point, I also go over and double check things like character voice and make sure it's following our style guide. While this is a consideration made during step one and two as well (translating and proofreading), this is the point where things are tightened up.
Extraneous TL notes may also be added here in-episode if needed.
Step Five: Quality Checks
After everything has been bundled together and ready-to-go, it gets sent to our Quality Checker for the very last and final run-through. QC checks spelling errors, typos, grammar, weird English, missed casing, missed lines, style guide errors, etc.
The QC does not need to know Japanese (though it is a nice bonus if they do!), they only need to know English so they can check for grammar and weird phrasing. At this point, all of the translation work and check has been done, it is just making sure stuff makes sense to an English audience now.
After QC sends in their changes (or lack thereof), the timer usually goes back to fix up the final file for publishing.
Step Six: Distribution & TL Notes
Finally, the person who hits publish and uploads the episode file to all relevant sites is me, since I know how to setup, run, and seed torrents.
A lot of people may not know this, but all anime pirate sites (R.I.P.) pull their content from Nyaa's feed. If it's not on Nyaa, it won't be on a pirate site. In order to actually ensure proper distribution of the episode, it needs to be uploaded through Nyaa. Once it is on there, the pirate sites will all update of their own volition.
Translation notes, if any are necessary, are also written entirely by me, even if the episode may not have been translated by me initially. These are usually only written if I have time or if there is a specific concept/idea that I really want to make sure comes across properly.
Final Words
I hope this gives you better insight into the entameSubs process and how episodes are usually worked on/made.
A lot of our team is scattered across different timezones, with one person being 9 hours ahead, and another one being 6 hours ahead. This means things are done at different times and at the leisure of whoever is in charge of their role. If someone is busy, then there is nothing else anyone can do but wait.
It may be that after waiting for someone to finish, someone else in the chain becomes busy, and the process of waiting starts all over again. Steps are done like this so that we have appropriate checks in place. This is just how it is. None of us are paid, and all of us are doing this for fun.
Most of all, I take a lot of pride in the team's work. If something is not up to snuff, or I don't feel comfortable publishing it until we've been able to correct something that's been bothering us (whether that's a line, typesetting, or etc), it doesn't get published. These subs are not just "my" translations, but the work of the whole team.
Call it arrogance, but I'd much rather put out something we're proud of than something rushed through the wringer just for the sake of getting stuff out. You may disagree with lines or certain translations, but they are our work at the end of the day.
For the past couple of weeks, we have received extremely concerning emails and messages from people demanding us to release subs faster.
For the record, asking us to divulge personal information just for the sake of knowing why subs are delayed is not only stupid and invasive, it is also grossly entitled. Knowing why is a privilege, not a right.
In the past, when I gave reasons for delays, it was not out of obligation but just being nice as a fan who understood other fans. No one needed to know but I said why anyway. However, I realize now that giving so much information bred a culture of entitlement to the team's personal matters.
From now on, delays will not be given reasons. They will simply happen when they do, come what may. No one needs to know why.
The entitlement that people have for our free, unpaid work that we offer to the community out of love for the series and nothing else will not be tolerated. I am done being nice or silent about it.
In the middle of this long delay-break, we also had someone leave the team due to no longer having time to help. The reality is that we are all people with full-time obligations elsewhere, and life will always take priority over fansubs for an anime. This is normal, and you do not need to know why. Unless you begin bankrolling the entire team for the cost of labor, no one deserves to know why but the team itself.
So stop harassing me, my team, anyone close to us, or making up weird unfounded rumors to suit your delusions of us.
I also feel like I shouldn't have to say this, but death threats will not make the subs come out faster either.
A spot of light in all this was a single email wishing us well and hoping everything was alright. To this single email, I say thank you. It was truly wonderful to read such kind words after an onslaught of hate for not doing free work fast enough. These subs are for you.
As always, there are translation notes below, so spoilers ahead for this batch of episodes.
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"How can a sparrow know the ambitions of a swan?"
"Her worldly desires..."
"One is the beginning of everything."
Over the course of these couple of episodes, Zeyet and Sabyuas both begin speaking strangely and in a lot of idioms. These are a mix of old Chinese idioms and Buddhist belief.
It reads like the Darkmen are slowly achieving a form of "enlightenment" (satori) in the Buddhist sense. After speaking about satori in a previous translation note, it begins to make more sense.
When Fukamura speaks about Sabyuas and Zeyet gaining "wisdom" (知恵, or chie), he is actually using the Japanese term for prajna, which means the knowledge you must gain in order to actually achieve enlightenment in Buddhism.
You could say that Zeyet and Sabyuas have found religion, haha.
