My thoughts on subbing 99.9

...I am never subbing a drama again.

Thank you - seriously - thank you to everyone who commented on my subs, who downloaded them, who has used them and kept up with me the whole ten episodes. I loved the drama, every inch of it. 99.9 is my most favourite Jun drama ever besides Hana Yori Dango. But the only reason I manage to create subtitles for all ten episodes was because of you guys in the comments.

I'll put it bluntly - I don't think I did a good job in translating the drama, nor did I do a good job in making the subtitles. I really, really, encourage those who have access to the other subs to check them out.

Translating a drama is very different from translating a variety show, or translating a magazine article, a novel, an essay etc. All of these things I have experience in -- dramas? Nothing. You might be wondering what makes a drama so different than a variety show--it's still TV, and that's because in a way, a drama is halfway in between a variety show and a novel. I'm translating a script, and the language required for script writing, is very different than the language required in something as casual as a game show, or as literary as a full blown Japanese novel. I couldn't be too casual, but I also couldn't be too formal with my language. The middle ground? I still haven't found it.

It didn't help that this drama was about lawyers, which meant a ton of specialized vocabulary and phrases that I had to look up and research, on top of all the god damned puns (which I loved hearing, did not love translating).

But... all of these reasons was actually why I decided to sub the drama. Because, I never would have known this if I hadn't tried.

Also, I got to learn a bit more about how subs are made. Usually I just send my translations in to whatever sub group I'm helping out and I've never bothered to watch the finished product. So after I translate, I literally have no idea what happens to my translations, but now I kind of do? And let me tell you... wow. I do not like making subtitles. At all. Timing is so boring and I'm not good at remembering the codes and stuff for typesetting. Also, figuring out what to do when lines overlap? Yeah--if you haven't noticed, I still haven't really figured out how to deal with that and I'm sorry. I looked through all the anime I have subbed, dramas, and... I just couldn't figure out how to do it nicely.

Also, not having someone to check over my translation was terrible. You guys actually have no idea how many times I've updated the subtitles because I've found so many typos. I've found small errors. I've changed up lines for sounding awkward. I try so hard every week to go over my translation with a fine comb -- as if I was proofreading a final essay for one of my university courses and I still miss typos. I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

All in all though. I just want to say thank you, again. Thank you. I can't say that enough.

This project was a huge learning experience for me and... well, I didn't have a ton of fun doing it, but I'm glad I did it and I'm super happy I was able to finish it.

Again, are these subtitles top quality? No. No, they really aren't, and I'll probably keep going back to them and fixing them for the better part of the summer (even though no one will care by then), but I tried. :D

...and I will end by saying that if they do release an SP episode later in the year...... I'll think about whether I'll release subtitles for it. For now, most of me is saying "no", but I'm a completionist at heart, and I'd feel bad subbing the drama and leaving the SP out. So. When (because I firmly believe it's a when) the time comes, we'll see.