This is a little shout-out to the fansubbers out there. We have a website that hosts the raw files for many classic anime series, including two masterpieces from the Isao Takahata-Hayao Miyazaki canon - Heidi, Girl of the Alps and 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother (Marco).
The Live-Evil fansub group that has been slowwwly working on translating Marco, and they are currently up to episode 12. Unfortunately, this project has been moving at a snail's pace, and 3000 Leagues remains a low priority. They need some help.
Heidi needs help most of all. Currently, no effort has been made to translate and fansub Heidi. Supposedly, there was one attempt made many years ago, but only the first episode was tackled. That translated episode has since been lost.
This site contains the downloadable raw files for Heidi and Marco. I would ask anyone who is willing to pitch in and help. Do get in contact with the Live-Evil crew if you can. If they were provided with translations, that would help immensely. Or perhaps more fansub groups would like to join in?
No English subtitles for Heidi exist anywhere in the world. The Taiwanese DVD box set for 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother is the only version to include English subtitles, so I would strongly suggest buying that DVD set and revise those subs.
I think this is a very doable project, if we work steadily to chip down these behemoths. There should be enough global demand, and these two series are landmarks in television anime. We should make it a priority to get it done this year. So what do we say?
19 comments:
Does not this just amount to:
1. Get those Taiwanese boxes (are they "legal", "official"... ?)
2. Rip out the subs from DVD to SRT (SubRip software)
3. Revise translation (optional?)
4. Resync (if needed) with video raws from Saiei.
(Or rip to avi the Taiwanese DVD?)
5. (Optional) Mix sub + avi (MKv?) or make torrent with avi + external subs.
Are there any legal issues?
I have the spanish dubs of both, and I understand english, I might cooperate with revisions (I do not understand japanese; but there does not seem to be much translations dilemmas in this series, no japanese idiosincracies or anything ambiguous)
Actually, yes, that's exactly what it means. Having Spanish dubs would be very interesting. It's not uncommon for fansubs to include multiple language soundtracks, not just the English subs.
The technical hurdles is something that the computer techies could solve. The fansub crews know what to do; I think it's mostly as you describe.
The English subs on the Marco box set - and, yeah, this is the official DVD release in Taiwan, part of the World Masterpiece Theater series - are good, but need some revising.
As to the legal side of things....hmm, mumble mumble mumble. That's a grey area at best. The fansub community, however, follows a certain ethics in these matters. These are always done for the sake of sharing anime that otherwise is not commercially available on our shores. You can't buy Heidi, Marco, or Anne anywhere in America; Heidi and Anne have no English subtitles on any commercial release anywhere in the world.
The ongoing rule is that once an anime property becomes licensed for domestic DVD release, the fansubs are scuttled, or at least no longer actively promoted. Remember that this was a practice for many years before the World Wide Web was even imagined by the average American. We'd just swap vhs tapes.
If you have any other questions, my advice is to track down some of the fansub groups themselves. Nearly all of them are understaffed, and they do this as a labor of love. I'm sure they'd appreciate the help.
I remember growing up with Heidi in Austria, and as far as I can remember, have nearly the whole series recorded on tape. I would need something that would allow me to transfer video cassette tapes onto my computer, but it wouldn't be any problem trying to figure out an English translation of the German version (after all, in my experience the German dubs of Japanese animes were almost always far truer to the original source material than anything brought out in the States).
Problem is simply the necessary machinary. Any suggestions?
vcr + video capture card?
I once had a similar dilemma. I wanted to make a backup of Warriors of the Wind and Lupin III's Greatest Capers, which were on VHS. I upgraded my graphics card on my computer so I could connect my VCR, and basically made a digital recording. It wasn't that hard at all. The only trick is not to get stuck with some arbitrary file format that won't work on anybody else's player. But that sort of thing can be easily dealt with these days.
Basically, hackers have tools for everything. And making digital backups of old videotapes is more common now than ever. You'll notice that Lupin III is in the Download section. Ali Baba's Revenge is another VHS that's available at the Download section.
The best way to handle a fansub is to translate the original language. Translating from a second language depends on how good that original translation was. But it has been done before.
I'm watching Heidi RAW right now. Would love to see subs.
World Masterpiece Theater is a wonderful series even the ones Miyazaki and Takahata didn't work on. I'd love to see entire series subs for others like Katri Girl of the Alps, Rascal Raccoon, Porpy, Before Green Gables.
WMT's unavailability in America is beyond my comprehension. It's classic children's lit! You'd think someone like PBS would pick it up or something. And even US anime DVD distributors snub it over stupid robot and big boob girl garbage.
What's wrong with the Taiwanese Marco? I watched it and thought it was great.
Best I have is a DVD box of the Heidi series I bought sometime ago of the show that has Japanese and Chinese subs (though it's a bootleg set since it appears to be taken from a legit set and stuck in one of those oversize boxes).
I have made AVI's of both Warriors of the Wind and Lupin III's Greatest Capers myself!
I have direct links to buy the Taiwan DVD sets for Heidi and Marco. They cost around $25 each. Just check under the "Buy These DVDs" section.
I keep telling myself to stock up a small warehouse of the 3000 Leagues sets and give them away at the end of the year. If I was smart and managed to appear at anime conventions, I'd probably give them away.
I've tried to make as much of this available as possible, and you have no idea how difficult it was just to find this on my own. Thank goodness there's a handly list on this blog.
Ah, yes, Warriors of the Wind. Heh heh heh heh... I think it's funny how none of the people responsible for that will ever cop out to it. None of the voice actors or the US producers or the vhs cover artist. I wonder what the story is on that cover?
Daniel, you should also add a "Buy this DVD" link to the UK Region 2 The Little Norse Prince DVD. It's worth picking up a legal version of this.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Norse-Prince-Isao-Takahata/dp/B000B9PWEO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1251209077&sr=8-2
I've the complete DVD of Heidi with the Italian dub (as I've already written in a different post, Heidi is by far and large the most popular cartoon ever televised in Italy), and I know the original dialogue almost by heart. If you need, glad to help.
Ah, yes, Warriors of the Wind. Heh heh heh heh...
"A band of young warriors, on the wings of their greatest challenge!"
I recently posted a mp4 file one can stick on their PSP of that version on a friend's forum, he said "despite the cuts, this version still works, Sure, it's not all there, but the heart of it is still intact." I beg to differ however as I hated some of the edits made involving Nausicaa's character I felt were needed in her development in the film, especially Yupa's discovery of her secret room, or when she dreams of her childhood memory of keeping an ohmu from the grown-ups. Those were important in developing her character and why she does what she does. WotW as it is is more like an action film that doesn't stop. There is no time for you to sit back and think about things as Nausicaa would do within it's running time.
I think it's funny how none of the people responsible for that will ever cop out to it. None of the voice actors
Having watched it a while back, that one guy who does Asbel's voice (called Milo in the dub) sounds like Cam Clarke, best known for such roles as Max Genius in Robotech, Kaneda in Akira and perhaps Leonardo in TMNT.
or the US producers or the vhs cover artist. I wonder what the story is on that cover?
You just wonder. I get the impression they only told the guy one or two things about the film and said "go", and this is the result of an imagination no doubt too stuck up with standard sci-fi tropes. Even the title gets the Star Trek font as if that would definitely bring 'em in.
@chris sobieniak: Yeah, I posted the WOTW poster here on the blog. I also made a digital backup of the VHS tape years ago, but deleted it because it was stored on some proprietary file system that wouldn't work on any other media player, except the software program that also enabled the VHS rips.
Basically, yes, all the slower scenes were chopped out, and I did recognize Leonardo's voice in the cast. I couldn't spot anyone else, although two characters were strikingly close to Rocky & Bullwinkle, heh heh.
The downside to the WOTW debacle, of course, is that Miyazaki cut out the American market for the next 10 years. Considering how much time it's taking to bring Ghibli to Americans, that decade was sorely needed.
But, still, two points to the cover artist for using the "Wrath of Khan" font. They should have got Shatner to play a role.
@chris sobieniak: Yeah, I posted the WOTW poster here on the blog. I also made a digital backup of the VHS tape years ago, but deleted it because it was stored on some proprietary file system that wouldn't work on any other media player, except the software program that also enabled the VHS rips.
That must've sucked. Best I have right now is a WinTV card I hooked my VCR to and have hardly much problems with that for the moment.
Basically, yes, all the slower scenes were chopped out,
Yes, anything that might bore our toddlers to death!
and I did recognize Leonardo's voice in the cast. I couldn't spot anyone else, although two characters were strikingly close to Rocky & Bullwinkle, heh heh.
I know what you mean. There was that rumor that went around that "Princess Zandra" might've been done by June Foray, but that's about it. Yupa sounded like someone I expect to sell sugary cereal Saturday mornings. :-)
The downside to the WOTW debacle, of course, is that Miyazaki cut out the American market for the next 10 years. Considering how much time it's taking to bring Ghibli to Americans, that decade was sorely needed.
It was.
But, still, two points to the cover artist for using the "Wrath of Khan" font. They should have got Shatner to play a role.
At least we got someone perfect for Yupa later on (though I hardly watched TNG that much).
One of these days I'll probably end up picking up that poster to stick on my wall for s--ts 'n giggles!
The first four episodes of Heidi were fansubbed by minor janai. They're not lost.
regarding the legality, Pimgroup, the Taiwanese company, actually licensed some of those titles from the German company EM.TV Merchandising. That was the company that distributed the titles in Germany and some European countries.
So some titles are licensed from EM.TV and others directly from Nippon Animation.
They're also CSS protected, so they are legal. No encrypting company would risk to provide services to unlicensed titles.
The taiwan dvd set doesn't have english subs mentioned on the site, link at http://www.yesasia.com/us/heidi-vol-1-52-end-taiwan-version/1004483856-0-0-0-en/info.html
Do they actually have english subs aswell as chinese?
The Taiwan box set for Heidi DOES NOT include English subtitles.
The Taiwan box set for Marco DOES include English subtitles.
Glad to sort that out. No Englis subs exist for any Heidi release.
I'd like to add that there seems to be a shortage of the Heidi sets. It's been gone from jsdvd for a while (by the way, you need to make new links since they've been changing their site adress. It's dvd.jsdvd.com now) and the only one available is:
http://dvd.jsdvd.com/product_info.php?products_id=347
it says 1-52 on 3 discs. Not sure if that could be true. you'd have to put 17-18 episodes on one DVD. It seems like Little Women is out of stock as well. I have the Marco box and that has good subtitles. The Family Trapp box has fairly ok subs but it seems like the timing of the subs is made for the Chinese dub instead of for the Japanese. The subs are too quick. They disappear too quickly. Also, the DVDs have a strange structure. The have cut up the episodes in two files and the audio is mustly quite out of sync. I'm sure that might be one reason why the L-E team have had a lot to do in editing.
Anyway, I might get the 3-disc set of Heidi just to see what it is. Downloading over 12 GB through bt is quite tricky.
ericf
I first got introduced to Ghibli's Heidi about 8-10 years ago, when Cartoon Network Asia played the entire series with English voice over in the Indian Subcontinent. Is there a way to find which company made this voice over, and if this version is available for release?
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