Opinion Piece: As If Things With Crunchyroll Couldn't Possibly Get Any Worse

You folks may remember I did a post about the Crunchyroll monopoly back in November last year, and since then, things with Crunchyroll have gotten worse. A whole lot worse. In a recent interview with technology news website The Verge on its Decoder podcast, Rahul Purini, the president of Crunchyroll, has confirmed the company is testing generative AI for its subtitles and closed captions, to assist users in personalising their experience and discovering titles, and in general for different workflows of the company. This does not sound good. 

AI translations have so many issues. The translations are done with a machine, which basically guesses the translations, and lead to either stilted or just outright inaccurate translations, and takes away the livelihoods of actual translators. In comparison, when humans do the translations, most of the time you can really tell that work has been put into them. Of course, not every translation has been perfect. There have been some questionable translation choices (e.g. certain localisations, certain words being left untranslated, literal translations that don't always make sense, etc.), and while I don't agree with certain translation choices, I would rather a human do the translations than a machine any day. And to be fair, there are certain factors for why certain human made translations were subpar (and for some, that might be putting it lightly), ranging from work conditions, tight scheduling, experience and pay (and Crunchyroll are notorious for underpaying their staff).

Crunchyroll already had complaints for using AI translations. Last October, when The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons came out on Crunchyroll on the day of its release, it had considerable errors in the subtitle translation, resulting in many complaints. Following this, Crunchyroll took the episode down without making a statement about it. Later that day, they restored it with the same subtitles in the United States, but not in other countries or territories. They later told Anime News Network the next day that they were working with the licensor of the series for updated subtitles. The following Wednesday, the episode was re-uploaded with an updated, more improved subtitle translation, so surely they should've known that AI translations were a bad idea since then.

But that's not the end of it. There were many subtitling issues on the Crunchyroll add-on on Prime Video. One example, as seen on this screenshot from the Anime UK News forums below, mentions various subtitling errors on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Entertainment District Arc, and within the first minute the character of Kyojuro Rengoku was misspelled as Goku and Rococo amongst other things. It was also mentioned that the subtitles occasionally read like the auto-translated subtitles seen on YouTube, which would mean the subtitles are possibly AI translations. Interestingly, they're not the same subtitle translations as on Crunchyroll itself, so it's unknown if either Crunchyroll or Amazon are at fault with this one. And it seems it's not an isolated incident as people have complained on Twitter about the subtitle translations in recent months as well.

Crunchyroll aren't the only offenders regarding AI subtitle translations. Recently, the official Garo Project YouTube channel has been uploading episodes of the currently-airing series Garo: Heir to Steel Armor, with English subtitles, the same way Tsuburaya has been uploading recent Ultra series as each one airs. The only problem is, however, the subtitles are AI translated. This has understandably caused upset for some tokusatsu fans, although others weren't as fussed about it and still chose to watch it with the AI subtitles anyway. From the bits I've seen (I only watched portions of the episodes to check the translation), the subtitle translation was a bit stilted. It's a real shame that something like this has happened. It should be noted that, as of this writing, only episodes 1, 2, 6 and 7 are available, with episodes 3, 4 and 5 taken down, so if people never got the chance to check out those episodes, or if they would rather not watch it with the AI translation, they might have to resort to fansubs (and yes, there is a fansub group out there, whose name I will not be mentioning on here, translating the series). And by the way things are going, if Crunchyroll makes AI translations a long term thing after testing it, it could lead to more people resorting to fansubs for these titles, and this can't be good for business.

I thought after the debacle with The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons that Crunchyroll have learnt their lesson. How wrong I was. People could lose their jobs because of this, all because a big company wants to save money by cutting corners on translations. Pure capitalism right there. And I don't think this will limit to their streaming service. I reckon home video releases will be affected later down the line too, but I would like to be proven wrong. I just hope the AI tests fail, because if they succeed, then I reckon more people will resort to piracy, and that won't be a good look on them at all.

Magical Senshi Takes a Look at Yuri on Ice

 

This post may contain spoilers, so please read with caution.

I held this off for too long. 8 years too long. Yuri on Ice first went to air in Japan from October to December 2016, was well received in Japan, and was the next most talked about anime series across social media, and gained praise from professional figure skaters, with some skaters even using music from the show for their performances in the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was also praised for its depiction of a same-sex relationship between the two main characters. I never gave myself the opportunity to watch it when it first came out on Crunchyroll, instead prioritising five other anime series (Long Riders, Scorching Ping Pong Girls, Nanbaka, Twin Star Exorcists and Bungo Stray Dogs Season 2), plus three tokusatsu series that were on the air at the time (Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and Ultraman Orb). After seeing how popular it was, I blind-bought the Blu-ray when it came out in the UK, and I kept meaning to watch it on multiple occasions, but ended up prioritising other shows in my back catalogue instead. But now, I finally gave it a watch to find out if it was as great as people say it is.

The anime series was produced by animation studio MAPPA (Banana Fish, Terror in Resonance), written and directed by Sayo Yamamoto (Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Michiko & Hatchin), with original scripts written by Mitsurou Kubo under the supervision of chief director Jun Shishido.

After a humiliating loss in the Grand Prix finals, as well as other competition losses, Yuri Katsuki was ready to give up his career in figure skating for good, and returned home to Hasetsu in Kyushu after five years overseas. At his visit to his local ice rink, Ice Castle Hasetsu, he perfectly mimics his idol, five-times Russian figure skating champion Victor Nikiforov, but after a secretly filmed video of Yuri's imitation was uploaded to the internet, grabbing Victor's attention, Victor travelled to Hasetsu and gave Yuri a surprising offer - Victor will become Yuri's coach. 

This news doesn't go down well for Russian prodigy skater, Yuri Plisetsky, who travels to Hasetsu himself to make Victor keep a promise he made to choreograph a programme for his senior debut. Following this, Victor made both Yuris compete against each other to decide who he will coach. Yuri K's performance wins over Yuri P's, with Victor becoming Yuri K's coach. With Yuri P returning to Russia, both Yuris vow to win the Grand Prix championship. As Victor starts coaching Yuri for the Grand Prix series, the two got more and more infatuated with each other, and their relationship takes a different turn.

We have a vast array of characters throughout the series, including those from different nationalities, such as Japan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, South Korea, the United States, Czech Republic and Thailand, giving us a diverse set of characters, without any obvious stereotypes implemented into these characters, instead giving each character their own identity.

Our main characters, Yuri Katsuki, Victor Nikiforov and Yuri Plisetsky (nicknamed Yurio sometime after his arrival in Japan) all have differing personalities, which makes their chemistries with one another more interesting. Yuri K is sensitive and shy, and as a result of his previous failures, lacks self-esteem and often becomes anxious, Victor is more carefree and whimsical, and can sometimes be forgetful, as proven when he had forgotten his promise to Yuri P, while Yuri P is often aggressive and arrogant, but he does have a kind side. They have shown some character growth throughout. Yuri K, through Victor's tutelage, slowly improves his skating skills, despite a few hiccups along the way, and gaining some confidence, although he still had shown signs of anxiety on a few occasions. Yuri P had a grudge against Yuri K at first, amplified when Victor became the latter's coach, but as the series progresses, Yuri P put his grudge behind him when he gave Yuri K as an early birthday present one of the pork cutlet pirozhkis Yuri P's grandfather gave to him earlier, showing an early sign of friendship. And in the Grand Prix Final, when Yuri K intended on retiring from figure skating after the GPF, Yuri P uses his free skate to convey to Yuri K that he desires to continue competing against him.

The biggest highlight of the series is the same-sex relationship between Yuri K and Victor. While other anime prior to this had same-sex relationships before, this one takes a different, more mutual approach. At first, the relationship appears subtle, but becomes more profound as the series went on, and often brought heartwarming moments, such as when Yuri bought matching rings for himself and Victor, who referred to them as "engagement rings" in episode 10, Victor being reduced to tears objecting to the idea of Yuri retiring near the finale, and probably the most notable moment of the series, is when they finally kissed at the end of episode 7 (although some people found this scene ambiguous, due to Victor's arm obscuring his and Yuri's faces). The end of episode 10 did bring us a funny moment in a flashback scene of the post-GPF banquet the previous year, when a drunken Yuri challenged everyone to a dance-off (this included pole dancing), and also revealed how Victor and Yuri first met.

The supporting characters, and there are a lot of them, and while they're not focused on as much, their differing personalities are enough to stand out amongst one another, and make them just as memorable as the main characters. This includes, but not limited to, Jean-Jacques "JJ" Leroy, known for his "JJ Style" pose, in addition as his egoistic personality, Phichit Chulanont, who was previously Yuri's rink mate and college roommate during their time in Detroit, Otabek Altin, a stoic individual who befriended Yuri P after attending the latter's coach Yakov's training camps, Michele "Mickey" Crispino, who has an unhealthy attachment to his twin sister Sara, and Christophe "Chris" Giacometti, who has a healthy rivalry with Victor and is known for his sex appeal. And we can't forget about the Nishigōri triplets, Axel, Lutz and Loop, who provide us with many funny moments throughout the series.

The choreography, and it's not something I normally say about an anime series, was provided by Kenji Miyamoto, a figure skating choreographer, coach and former ice dancer. And I have to say, utilising his choreography into the animation was one impressive feat, with Miyamoto giving each skater their own unique style. As the the performances themselves, you can really sense the emotion put into them by the characters, with each having their own little theme intertwined, including that of Georgi Popovich, whose performance represented the end of his relationship with ice dancer Anya. As for the theme song? Oh my goodness, what a song! The instruments, the lyrics, the vocals by Dean Fujioka, amazing! Definitely fitting for the ice skating theme of the series.

For voice actor enthusiasts, the series has the vocal talents of Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Mikado Ryugamine in Durarara!!, Hideyoshi Nagachika in Tokyo Ghoul) as Yuri K, Junichi Suwabe (Dandy in Space Dandy, Absolute Tartarus in Ultra Galaxy Fight) as Victor, Koki Uchiyama (Raku Ichijou in Nisekoi, Desast in Kamen Rider Saber) as Yuri P, Mamoru Miyano (Setsuna F Seiei in Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Ultraman Zero in the Ultra Series) as JJ and Ayumu Murase (Shoyo Hinata in Haikyu!!, Don Murasame in Avataro Sentai Donbrothers) as Kenjiro to name a few. And not only that, retired champion figure skaters Nobunari Oda (Japan) and Stéphane Lambiel (Switzerland) voiced themselves near the end of the series, with Lambiel speaking in his native French.

One thing worth mentioning, in April 2017, a Yuri on Ice film was announced, with the title announced in July 2018 as Yuri on Ice the Movie: Ice Adolescence, with the primary production staff due to return, including Yamamoto and Kubo. The film was due to be released sometime in 2019, but was delayed until a later date. A teaser trailer was released in Japan in January 2019 and the rest of the world in November 2020, but as of this writing, the delayed release date is currently unknown.

Overall, Yuri on Ice has stood the test of time, with characters you can really feel for, and their representation of same-sex relationships in a country where despite public support for it, same-sex marriage is still not legalised in Japan (as of this writing). Plus the stunning choreography and the captivating story really seals the deal. It was well worth the praise and if you haven't already, put it on your watch list, ASAP! And I just hope the movie actually gets a release one day.

Highly recommended!