With July ending very soon, it’s time to share some interesting posts and some thoughts during the month.
Crunchyroll Translators not receiving fair pay?
Earlier this month, The Canipa Effect put out an interesting video about translators not receiving fair pay by Crunchyroll. In the past before legal anime streaming, especially in the 2000s, fan translators translated a good amount of titles for free out of passion. Sure, it’s definitely a feat to translate these titles since one not only have a strong knowledge of Japanese, the translations have to match how the author convey the story.
While most younger generations might not know, but Crunchyroll started off as an illegal streaming service charging for HD videos. People uploaded illegal fansubs to the service. Apparently, a company called MX Media who is a translation firm started by Ken Hoinsky, who was a fansubber. The firm is known for ridiculously low payouts of $80 per episode.
Eventually, Crunchyroll bought MX Media and Ken became the vice president at Crunchyroll before leaving years later. Back then, licensing companies pay professional translators higher pay since these translations are going to physical releases, which usually have three episodes per disc.
Yes, besides the huge scandal about Ken’s Kickstarter on a book promoting “rape culture,” which I do not condone, I felt that this is a big race to the bottom. Yes, Crunchyroll is kind of blame for it since their competitors, Funimation and Sentai Filmworks pay higher rates to translators. To make matters worse, translators who work on subtitling anime are mostly freelancers, just like animators in Japan.
Given that they have raised the yearly and monthly subscription rates in 2019, I think Crunchyroll should probably get away from the rates that MX Media gave them. After all, without translators, the anime industry won’t be making any money without the international fanbase. Moreover, translators like animators and voice actors/actresses in Japan received a brunt of the impact caused by delays from the Covid19 pandemic. As a result, I think they deserve a raise, especially since most translators are freelancers.
Funimation and Sentai pay their translators multiple times more than CR and credit them, too. Netflix also credits and pays the translation agencies they work with well (whether that fair/good pay is passed on to the actual translator probably depends on the particular agency).
— Jake Jung (ジェイク・ヤング) (@jake_j_jung) July 8, 2020
Our Blog’s Domain Turns 10 Years Old, Almost
Believe it or not, time flies so quickly. My blog’s domain is close to reaching the 10-year mark on the 11th of August. In the first two years of blogging, my site was on free hosting on two different occasions. As a result, I didn’t have my own domain, but a sub domain, which is bad for SEO. Having your own domain name is very important if you want to improve your search rankings.
Believe it or not, it’s not very expensive since you pay yearly to maintain the rights to the domain name. Still, this shows how far my blog has gone in terms of longevity, especially after reaching my 10-year anniversary last year.
Irina on the CGDCT Genre – In Defense of the Genre
Sure, it seems that she had a sour taste towards the genre in a recent editorial. I don’t think I necessarily agree. Of course, most CGDCT shows are actually Iyashikei, the term used for healing. These shows are basically the escapism from the harsh reality we are living in after working 9 to 5. This is something some fans in the United States needs given what is happening recently and Covid19 getting out of control.
Yes, I get that in a way, Iyashikei shows are positive with not much conflict. However, there are some dramatic moments as well. Just take a look at any title from the Manga Time Kirara Forward, which some works have some drama. Thankfully, it’s not to the point where you want to grab a tissue box.
I think the problem is of course with some people in the fandom who look down at fans who enjoy this genre. Since I am in my early thirties, of course I experienced some of this in the past. This was especially the case in the early 2010s. Of course, their opinion does not influence my views in the genre, and you shouldn’t the same happen. Don’t let people tell you what genres of shows you can or cannot enjoy. I wrote a whole editorial defending the genre against a vocal minority in 2010, so you aren’t alone. At the end of the day, just watch whatever genre you enjoy. Also, do not be afraid to critic shows that you enjoy. Most importantly, do not let opinions from the vocal bunch bother you. After all, opinions are highly subjective.
What Have I Been Up to Lately and Plans for This Month?
Earlier in July, I finally went back to New Jersey to visit my parents. This is after spending like close to 4 months in my townhome and not going anywhere. Believe it or not, I have not left my house besides buying food or getting takeout. It’s a nice break to visit my parents and my little sister again as we ate some takeout together and such.
Also, I picked up most of my belongings that I couldn’t put in my car during my last visit in February. I have mostly everything moved at my new place. Sadly, I couldn’t go to Mitsuwa since I am not going to stand on the line to get in. Maybe next time when the pandemic settles down.
Sadly, it seems that people are having quarantine fatigue, including the 4th of July weekend. Maryland saw a huge uptick of cases. This is in despite of the positivity rate and increased testing. As a result, our state went on the mandatory quarantine list for the tri-state area. That means that the possibility of visiting my parents on Labor Day weekend is questionable as of now. Of course, things can change if the state I live in will clean up its act. Remember, Covid19 is not over until there is a vaccine and most people take it. In other words, don’t be an idiot and protect your health.
Aside from that, I have finally finished the first part of the Pocket Monsters Sword and Shield Expansion Pack. Now that Gust and Tecmo Koei have finally announced a sequel to Atelier Ryza last week, it’s time to start working on it during the weekends. Also, the first phase of setting up my home lab is now complete and you can read more about it on my side blog.
With that, feel free to share your thoughts on the topics I shared. In case you missed it, I have written a similar posts for June and July, so I suggest checking them out.
