Of late, I've seen much air and some mud being tossed about regarding the quality of Arctic Animation subtitles. I guess each user has their own views . Most of the arguments surrounding Arctic Animation subtitles revolve around their older subtitle works which were competed using a dated Amiga 500 - a computer since replaced by a Macintosh ][cx (which in turn will be replaced by a Quadra in coming months). I think it was way back in 1989 when the Amiga and Genlock was bought to subtitle some television series called "Kimigure Orange Road". Fan subtitling was nothing more than a novelty which groups of enthusiastic fans translated their favorite Japanese animation video (which wasn't available in English) and subtitled those lines onto video using whatever computers they could afford. Macintosh machines cost over the $4000 range and a decent IBM clone was hovering the $3000 range... plus tax, mind you. Anime fans weren't exactly rich people then, and even now, most are watching their budget like wolverines over their kills. The Amiga Genlocking system seemed the only affordable choice which gave a half decent result. Well, next to a T.I. which burped white text in black rectangles, the Amiga was a God-send... I wasn't part of the staff that subtitled the KOR Project, but one of the fans that first saw the product. To my surprise, after viewing a horribly done Char's Counterattack with ilegible white computer-font text on large black rectangles, I could actually understand what the heck was going on. There were timing errors and the English wasn't exactly going to win an award, but being that no other fan subtitle even came close in viewability, this was great! Little did I know how many problems the Amiga had until I tried working with one. The clock was like a dog on a leash... when it felt like chasing cats, it'll do just that; program and all in tow. Crashing was an daily fact of life. You could almost sense an impending crash on the Amiga... just when you think things are fine, [Boom!] the system jumps off the deep end along with your precious data and time-out files. Which is why there are so many deroggative lines bent on bashing the Amiga... After that, I never touched an Amiga machine ever again. In fact, I ran out and bought an IBM compatible. Others didn't have the luxury of seeing the KOR subtitles when they were first minted. Now, when computer equipment is selling at the fraction of the prices half a decade ago, it seems that we've short memories and have forgotten that Amigas were heralded as the best graphics machine ever built. And as a result, there have been many complaints about the three year old KOR subtitles. Heck, there have been complaints about comic book fans bashing Jack Kirby because he didn't draw like Jim Lee! It's very easy to criticize, especially if you're ignorant of all the facts. Few know that the KOR series has been resubtitled in better quality using a Macintosh. Two years ago, I was among those who complained and complained and complained about AA subs and the quality they were dished out in. One day, William Chow suggested that I work on a subtitle. I guess it was time to put up or shut up. Well, after five weeks of work, around 90 computer crashes and clock crap-outs (the real count was lost after 70, I think...), I has subtitled two hours of video. Yes, I had the thing done the way I wanted it to look. But looking back at it, I see flaws I hadn't picked up before. I guess nothing can ever be perfect... =) However, I learned my lesson: subtitling takes countless hours of work which condense into only minutes or perhaps seconds of the final product. My equivalent is this: if you can play Mortal Kombat and win EVERY battle with a successful "Fatality", then you have the ability to subtitle. Timing makes up half the work, each mistake doubles your workload (you have to start from the beginning again). Since then, I've been slowly successfully steering AA toward more improvements in the quality of their final product. When I hear complaints of people who've seen the old KOR subtitles denounce ever watching AA subtitles ever again, I pity their decision. They're cutting themselves out of a very large source of subtitled Japanese animations which aren't easy to get for free. Another thing I've found is a growing population of people doing much complaining (in the belief that sufficient complaining can solve their gripes) and little work towards a solution. I won't argue that one... I believe the U.S. government system speaks for me already (lots of hot air, very little improvement). Fan subtitling is an ego thing, really. The rewards of doing a fan subtitle goes right to the ego, no matter how you look at it. Even after half a decade, fan subtitlers are still stuck in the middle class or lower income bracket. I've heard of fan subtitlers "doing a much better job than anyone else", but have seen little more than a handful of episodes and much more stale air than I'd care for. Some find it more work than they bargained for and simple evaporate and try their hand again later (presumably with more money and better equipment?). Well, he who has the biggest ego better have something to back it up with... or you'll look like the biggest fool. I advise anyone who has ever seen or criticized a fan subtitler to keep in mind the following (presumably to assist in keeping that darned tongue from tasting the manure on the shoe): - Fan subtitlers spend their own money and resources to subtitle a given movie, OAV or television series. Mind you, on average, it takes around 30-60 minutes to finish each minute of subtitled work. - You're probably getting this free. - Instead of fostering growth, man has a history of being a more of a festering growth. Fan subtitling has seen much growth due to sponsors, contributors, volunteers and other benefactors. Still, despite all these efforts, hot air still spews from a growing number of critics who aren't capable subtitling. - Go earn $5,000 and get yourself a decent computer system, a Genlock, a good S-VHS machine, an LD player, a Japanese animation LD, pay a translator to translate the LD (or if you're out of money already, copy the script from a finished subtitle), and subtitle that video while making sure your final product is better than the subtitle you didn't like. If you've succeeded, buy more LDs and keep on doing that for five years with a minimum output of 30 hours of completed subtitles per year. - It's easy to criticize, tough to cover your butt afterwards. - Fan subtitlers always want to improve. Like life, some can afford to while others can't. Put some change into hat while you're here. - It's a known fact that if you insult someone, they'll treat you with the same. Attempt to assist, and more often that not, you'll gain their friendship. Hot air never gets much done. - This isn't some commercial venture (fan subtitling), but the efforts of enthusiasts. You can bash them, but they're likely to split up and pop up in several other places. You can sue them, but you're likely to get more from shooting ants using an elephant gun. - What if there weren't any fan subtitlers? Where would you get your videos from? How would you understand them? Moreover, can you afford them? - Go learn Japanese (for whatever it'll cost), watch the Japanese version of Zillion and the English version. Not even commercial translations are perfect. - It's easier to criticize fan subtitles because they usually can't afford the same resources as commercial ventures can. - You probably had a bad childhood. Calm down...seek a psychiatrist. Sure, looking at the early subtitles of KOR, I can see how they can be improved. I take a look at most of the critics and also see much improvement there as well. I can see the advancements made in AA... I don't know about the latter...