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Anime Fansubber Engrish Showdown! Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni ED!

why or why not.jpg

A lot of anime have funny engrish in their OP and ED themes. The ironic part of this is that English fansubbers have to figure out exactly what is said in the Engrish of the Japanese songs! Sometimes the lyrics are pretty straightforward, and sometimes it’s impossible to figure out what is being sung. When the latter happens, the conditions are prime for an Anime Fansubber Engrish Showdownâ„¢!

why or why not.jpg

A lot of anime have funny engrish in their OP and ED themes. The ironic part of this is that English fansubbers have to figure out exactly what is said in the Engrish of the Japanese songs! Sometimes the lyrics are pretty straightforward, and sometimes it’s impossible to figure out what is being sung. When the latter happens, the conditions are prime for an Anime Fansubber Engrish Showdownâ„¢!


Since “why, or why not,” the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni ED, theme was released recently, the song’s lyrics are no longer a mystery! I believe that only three groups had attempted to sub Higurashi: Ayu, Triad, and wind. I’ll give each group one point for each correct line (or line closest to being correct). Get the MP3 if you don’t have it, and let’s go!

Ayu: To get my happiness I found out everything
Triad: To get my happiness I have done everything
wind: To get my happiness I have done everything
Actual lyric: To get my happiness I had done everything

Triad and wind tie for getting the closest, two points each!

Ayu: 0
Triad: 1
wind: 1

Ayu: but had I nothing to be blamed or accused of.
Triad: but have done nothing to be blamed and accused of.
wind: but had done nothing to be blamed and accused of.
Actual lyric: but had done nothing to be blamed and accused of.

wind gets the point for getting it exactly correct!

Ayu: 0
Triad: 1
wind: 2

Ayu: The sound of footsteps are getting louder everyday
Triad: The sound of footsteps became louder everyday
wind: The sound of footsteps became louder everyday
Actual lyric: The sound of footsteps became louder every day

Triad and wind tie again with the exact lyric. Ayu adds a syllable…

Ayu: 0
Triad: 2
wind: 3

Ayu: Then I wanted to fly, there was no time.
Triad: Then I noticed the fact there was no time.
wind: Then I noted the fact there was no time.
Actual lyric: Then I noticed the fact there was no time.

Triad gets a point for the exact lyric. Sorry, wind. Close, but no cigar. Ayu has some weird fascination with flying.

Ayu: 0
Triad: 3
wind: 3

Ayu: I want to be river in life to be myself always
Triad: I was a believer in life to be myself always
wind: I want to believer in life to be myself always
Actual lyric: I was a believer in life, to be myself always

Triad gets another line exactly! wind is close again. Ayu wants to be a river now…

Ayu: 0
Triad: 4
wind: 3

Ayu: I was asking but I will be alive.
Triad: and was asking whether I will be alive.
wind: I was asking whether I will be alive.
Actual lyric: and was asking whether I would be alive.

Yet another point for Triad! Way to go! Ayu drops a syllable.

Ayu: 0
Triad: 5
wind: 3

Ayu: Give me a reason why now, do I act in this way
Triad: Give me a reason why not to adapt in this way
wind: Give me a reason why I loved who I left in dismay
Actual lyric: Give me a reason why not to adopt in this way

Triad gets the closest, so a point to them. wind’s translation is the most touching, though. Ayu’s lyric makes sense, at least.

Ayu: 0
Triad: 6
wind: 3

Ayu: oh judge me to be guilty, tonight in through all those scenes.
Triad: or judge me to be guilty of so many incurable sins.
wind: or judge me to be guilty oh to my incurable sins.
Actual lyric: or judge me to be guilty of so many incurable sins.

Triad takes another point! Ayu thinks the ED is referencing scenes from the episode?

Ayu: 0
Triad: 7
wind: 3

Ayu: Tell me why, why now do i fly anywhere to live
Triad: Tell me why or why not come blaming way too much
wind: Tell me why or why not (insert line here ;_;)
Actual lyric: Tell my why, or why not. Complaining way too much

Triad gets closest. wind gets a point for being honest. Ayu still wants to fly.

Ayu: 0
Triad: 8
wind: 4

Ayu: maybe I hope and innocence feel, let it so be.
Triad: maybe I overlooked something fatal to me.
wind: maybe my happiness set sail waiting for me.
Actual lyric: maybe I overlooked something fatal for me.

Triad gets the last line and wins it! wind’s lyric conjures up the image of happiness on a boat! Ayu sounds like Yoda!

Final Score:
Ayu: 0
Triad: 9
wind: 4

Final Thoughts:
Triad did a really great job of figuring out what the heck Rekka Katakiri was singing. wind got close on quite a few occasions, and Ayu was in intergalactic space. Despite this, Ayu’s translation actually sounds the most Engrishy. I also liked how wind just gave up on a line and put “(insert line here ;_;)” Note that this competition is all in good fun, and does not necessarily reflect the true quality of a fansub group.

Until next time, Let’s singing!

36 replies on “Anime Fansubber Engrish Showdown! Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni ED!”

I can’t believe you took the time to figure this out XD

On a side note, I really love this song. The full length completely blew away all of my expectations.

Man, I wonder whether it’s better if you can guess what they say they are saying or what they actually sound like they’re saying. Ayu sounded like they were a hell of a lot closer to the actual words than the actual words in a lot of places.

I have to hold my laughter so hard reading this, since I can’t be seen or heard laughing so hard in my current place..
“Intergalactic space”.. I can still giggling so hard when I think about it..
XD XD XD

You know, I was just thinking the other day how nice it would be if fansubbers would just give up on trying to translate OP/ED lyrics… at least until the single is released and the lyrics can be confirmed. That way, we’re spared both the ridiculous translation and the clutter of subtitles and karaoke effects.

I’ll probably have to keep on wishing, though.

You forgot to mention, that WinD changed some lines with upcoming episodes, and came closer to the original lyrics. What you checked was from the first 2-3 eps.
And it looks like Triad dropped the series, they made only the first 4 episodes.

Big lols ^_^

The biggest worry for me is that Ayu translated “Oyashiro-sama” as “Shrine God”

Though surely the point is thathe is not all shrine gods, but a specific shrine god ^_^. Maybe I’ll just download wind’s subs while I’mwaiting for Triad. From the lyrics it looks like they work pretty hard…

I haven’t seen it been announced anywhere(eg. their website) that Triad has dropped the series, perhaps you didn’t bother to actually try to read up on any news about that. So it seems like the project is active but they’re probably just going at their own pace etc.

Now that I listen to the song, I realise that it’s really hard to get the English words out of the song. Credits to the fansubs for even trying to put up the karaoke.

Tell me why or why not complain in your word to mean. Maybe I overlook something better for we.

I found the last two lines were much closer to this, which I found elsewhere..
And after I heard the song closely, I think that yours last two lines appears on the next half of the song.. Not on the first half (anime ED)..

I keep reading people mention translations. But of what? The song was already in Engrish so there’s no need to translate anything. All the groups have done is transcription. How you can judge a group’s translation on their performance in the transcription of a song with really bad Engrish I don’t know.

Disclaimer: I’m not involved with Ayu nor do I watch their subs. I’ve stuck with Triad’s version since they started. And they have released ep5 btw so they’re still going, aimed at whoever it was that made the comment about them dropping it.

They’re not, you’re missing the point. The point is that this song is so horribly accented that its hard to tell what the heck is being said. It was all in the spirit of fun.

hmm, i compare the lyrics in the album with the song,

the lyric
wind: maybe my happiness set sail waiting for me.
Actual lyric: maybe I overlooked something fatal for me.

i REALLY disagree with the “actual lyric”
my EARS (and my 7 friends) hear really clear, that Rekka Katakiri sing something like “SAIL”

“maybe my overlook set sail waiting for me”. is the correct lyrics, (althought its still not make any sense)
not “maybe I overlooked something fatal for me”

hehe xD

Yes, but for the line “Tell my why, or why not. Complaining way too much,” she pronounces the word “much” to have a freaking “i” sound (which is no wonder why Ayu heard “live”). I think she just has horrible pronunciation, evidently.

>> wind: maybe my happiness set sail waiting for me.
Actual lyric: maybe I overlooked something fatal for me.

Bad lyricist on their part.
Maybe Wind should be the lyricist instead.

WinD changed their lyrics a bit over the episodes. Other than some minor punctuation changes and getting the “guilty of so many incurable sins” line correct (plagiarizing from Triad? =P), there is one major change to highlight:

Episode 01:
Episode 02: (Got lyrics? #[email protected] thx ^_^)
Episode 05: Come play anyway, to live..

Actual lyric: Give me a reason why not to adopt in this way

strange.i hear
give me a reason why now do i act in this play.
no matter how many times i listen it,i don’t hear the word adopt

where this actual lyrics came from?

he he… Funny stuff but I agree – pointles at sense…Maybe they should’ve all tried to translate credits instead lol?

My that was great. Saw this entry a little late though, didn’t I? xD
Gave me a good laugh… very bad for when I should be asleep and it’s 3am though. Nonetheless, it’s hilarious.

well, I actually hear all the lyrics rightly, except for one word:
“live” instead of “much”
(in the line “complaining way to much”)

“wind: Tell me why or why not (insert line here ;_;)”

PFFFF. You know a song is Engrish-y when Even The Subtitler Is Stumped.

I can’t figure out for certain the lyrics to this line, so I’m going to make up my own version of what I “believe” she said.

“Tell me why, or why not, to play the words to mend.”

I guess I’ll find out for sure when I buy the DVD…

I loved the (insert line here ;_;) when I watched it~

I actually managed to get almost (excluding that line XD) all of that correct on my own though I had to ignore the subtitles most of the time!

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