Ideas for 2021

After 2020, "plans" seems altogether too strong a word for Orphan Fansubs' projects in 2021. So rather than write down some impossible set of goals, or even an aspirational set, I'm listing some of the ideas that the team has for work in this new year. None of it, aside from actual projects that are underway, is guaranteed or even likely.

As I've written before, Orphan's work is governed by two primary factors:

1. The availability of, and the interests of, the staff, particularly the translators. No script, no subtitles. It's as simple as that.
2. The availability of good media. The Japanese market in second-hand analog media continues to be very lively, and more old shows appear on streaming every day; but some titles are only available as low-quality Internet raws.
   

So please, don't ask Orphan to translate or work on your favorite unsubbed show. And don't ask about a long series. Paraphrasing the immortal words of Danny Glover, I'm too old for that shit.

Work in Progress

This is the only part of the agenda where eventual release is pretty much a lock. However, the release schedule depends on resources, including editing, typesetting, and QC.

• Nine HD. A resub of Orphan's SD releases, using an HD web stream. In QC.
• Sangokushi movies HD. A resub or Orphan's SD releases, using an HD web stream. In editing and typesetting.
• Ohoshi-sama no Rail (Rail of the Stars). A resub with a revised script derived from the R1 subs. In QC.
• Coluboccoro 2019. An expansion of the TV special, using Commie's subs as a base, with five minutes of new footage and a new ending song. In typesetting.
• Milky Passion: Dougenzaka - Ai no Shiro. Not a hentai, despite its title. In typesetting.
• Sensou Douwa: Chiisai Sensuikan ni Koi o Shita Dekasugiru Kujira no Hanashi. In timing.

Typesetting is a bottleneck for many shows, because the signs tend to be hand-drawn and thus more difficult to set.

Lost in Translation (Check)

By far the largest group of potential projects are stuck in translation check limbo. A few are original scripts, but most are resubs; all need checking. DdD means the "Domesday Duplicator" laserdisc direct capture system; AIW means the All-in-Wonder VHS uncompressed capture system.

• Adesugata Mahou no Sannin Musume. DdD laserdisc encode; fansub script.
• Bakuen Campus Guardress. DdD laserdisc encode; fansub script.
  
• Bakumatsu no Spasibo. AIW VHS source; new script.
• Blue Sonnet. DdD laserdisc encode; R1 script.
• Fighting Beauty Wulong. R2J DVD encode; "professional" script but done for dubbing, not subtitles.
• Genji Part 1. DdD laserdisc encode; new partial script.
• Gude Crest. DdD laserdisc encode; fansub script.
  
• Hakujaden. Blu-ray source; fansub script.
• Kaitei Daisensou. Web stream source; fansub script.
• Love Position: The Legend of Halley. PPP DdD laserdisc encode; fansub script.
  
• Megami Paradise. DdD laserdisc encode; fansub script.
  
• Mother Saigo no Shoujo Eve. AIW VHS source; new script
• Nayuta. Laserdisc source; fansub script.
• Okama Hakusho. AIW VHS source; new script.
• Rumic World OVAs: The Choujo, Fire Tripper, Laughing Target. DdD laserdisc encodes; fansubs scripts.
  
• Ryukonohuno Labyrinth. DdD laserdisc encode; fansub script.
• Stardust Paradise. PPP DdD laserdisc encode; fansub script.
• Who's Left Behind. PPP DdD laserdisc encode; fansub script.
  

Orphan really needs translation check help. If you are a translator and one or more of these projects appeal to you, come help out, please!

 

Interesting Raws

 

The pile of interesting raws gets larger and larger, far exceeding Orphan's ability to deal with them. The team went on a holiday buying spree for media, and that only makes the problem worse. All of these are original media rather than Internet raws:

• Asatte Dance. Mixed DdD laserdisc/AIW VHS encode. 
• Ascending the Clouds. PPP DdD encode. This looks utterly batshit, in a good way.
• DAYS OAD. This is the two episode OVA. R2J DVD encode. The existing script is useful only for timing.
  
• Kentauros no Densetsu. AIW VHS encode.
• Koiko no Mainichi. AIW VHS encode.
  
• Magma Taishi. Tezuka Osamu! R2J DVD encode. Need I say more?
• MAPS (1987). PPP DdD encode.
  
• Mellow. AIW VHS encode.
• Ore no Sora. AIW VHS encode.
  
• Raiyantsuurii no Uta. VHS encode.
• Sugata Sanshiro. HD web source. A companion piece to Botchan.
• Takamaru and Shin Takamaru. PPP laserdisc encode.
  
• Tengai Makyou.
• Tezuka Osamu Kyoto Animation Theater. R2J DVD encode.Ten short works by the master. Japanese closed captions available.
• Tottoi. AIW VHS encode.

There are more, but the FTP is out of space to host them all.

If you are a translator and one or more of these projects appeal to you, come help out. Alternately, if you're a fansub group and want to work on one or more of them, let us know, and we'll put the raw out under the [Orphan-raw] label.

Encoder(s) Wanted

Source material that needs encoding, often posing knotty problems:

• Animated Classics of Japanese Literature. R1 DVD. These are the 12 episodes that CPM released in the US before it went bankrupt. I'd love to find the R2J DVDs, but no luck.
• Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2: Shiroki Ryuu no Miko. Orphan's release, which used another group's R2E encode, has multiple video glitches. We have the R2J DVD. For some reason, the Japanese release is really desaturated compared to the R2Es. The encoder will have to make a judgement call about color correction. 
• Sanada 10. R2J DVD. Complex issues around deinterlacing and variable frame rates. Dmon404 created a template for the work, but the last three episodes are not encoded.
• One Pound Gospel. R2J DVD. Like other Rumic World releases, it suffers from blending and interlacing issues.
• Mars OVA. R2J DVD.
  

It's Raining, I'm Stalling...

A few shows are stalled because I have lost the will to work on them or Real Life has overtaken other team members. These include:

• Chameleon. I've lost interest in this show, because it's gross-out humor doesn't work for me. All the scripts are translated, and transation checks are available but not integrated. It needs a dedicated editor and typesetter other than me.
• Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai! I've always been a bit suspicious of the early Ureshii scripts, and translation checks have validated my concern. The translation checks need to be integrated and edited, and the typesetting needs to be redone. Again, someone else needs to take this on.
• Perrine movie. I don't have fond memories of the World Masterpiece Theater projects I've worked on, so I can't bring myself to do the detective work required to find and extract the movie's scenes from the 50(!) TV episodes. If you like this show and want to pore over the TV scripts to assemble a movie script, the raw is published, and I'll provide the TV scripts.
• Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament. This needs a new translation resource.

Summary: Orphan Wants You!

Fansubbing is a shrinking hobby. Simultaneous streaming has taken away the primary impetus that fueled fansubbing a decade ago (and also absorbed some of the resources into paid professional work). Like every other group that persists in subtitling old shows, Orphan needs more good people: translators and translation checkers, but also editors, typesetters, QCs, and encoders.

If you'd like to help out, and you know what you're doing, then please contact me on IRC. Due to the pandemic, I spend most of my time in front of my computer screen these days, so I'm easy to find during normal Eastern time zone (GMT-5) hours.