in the name of the pharaoh | by ravegrl

DM Episodes 98, 99, 100, 101, & 102 (HK DVD hardsubs)

Hardsubbed versions of YGO Duel Monsters episodes 98 through 102 have been added to my YGO DM subbed episodes page. Many, many thanks go to Ouji- for encoding and uploading these episodes!

Previously, the only versions of these episodes available were raws with external subtitles. Despite the benefits of having external subs or softsubs, in the end, the subtitles were still only from bootleg HK DVDs. They were not true fansubs.

The main reason I didn’t like those external subs, however, was that some of their lines had previously been edited by a non-Japanese speaking person (probably the original uploader of the subs). You’re probably thinking, “Wow, so they fixed the crappy HK DVD English?” No, not really. While attempting to fix the subs may initially seem like a good thing, the editor actually inserted additional mistakes during the editing, an unintentional result likely due to their lack of knowledge of the Japanese language.

I’m aware that HK DVD subs aren’t that good, but the fact that an “edited” version of the subtitles would have mistakes not present in the original HK DVD version is irritating. In a future post, I’ll talk at much greater length about the detriments of attempting to edit HK DVD subs, as well as give multiple examples of such attempts.

In the mean time, enjoy these episodes!

HK DVD episodes 185-198 added

During the KC Grand Prix, many strange cards were played. For example, in episode 186, the dueling computer played this Monster Card:

Err… New York? The dueling computer summoned the entire city of New York in Attack Position? Or maybe the entire state of New York? I wonder if there are cards that can boost the attack points of NYC cabbies.

Not to be outdone by the dueling computer, Yuugi played this Magic Card:

Wonderful, isn’t it?

Anyway, HK DVD episodes 185 through 198 are up!

HK DVD episodes 145-184 added

Yuugi and the gang’s encounter with Doma was a very stressful time. Yuugi, overcome by the stresses of having an occult symbol tattooed onto his forehead and having to wear red contact lenses, became more vulgar than usual.

Meanwhile, Jounouchi’s bowels started irritating him during the worst possible situation — in the middle of a duel.

Okay, seriously… “My guts are suffering with woes”? Geez, that sound like what happens to me after a Thanksgiving dinner with my family.

HK subbed episodes 145 through 184 have been posted! Enjoy!

HK DVD episodes 135-144 added

Before beginning any duel, it is important to cut your opponent’s cards… and wash them as well.

I recommend adding an organic liquid detergent and using only the gentle cycle. Otherwise, you might scuff the surface of the cards. If you do a good job washing your opponent’s cards, Scary-Looking Malik might even compliment you!

Anyway, HK subbed episodes 135-144 are up! These episodes wrap up the Battle City Finals. Enjoy!

(BTW… I’m aware that “washing” a deck of cards means spreading them face down on a table and mixing them up with both hands — it’s one method of shuffling. Of course, that’s not what you see going on in the pictures, and it totally ruins the joke anyway. :P)

HK DVD episodes 122-134 added

Hi, everyone. Links for HK DVD versions of episodes 122 through 134 have been added! These episodes cover about half of the Battle City Finals.

Here’s a gem from episode 124 for you:

And there you have it. Kaiba does not want to die with a chick. Who does he prefer to enter the afterlife with? I’ll leave that up to you. XD

Edit: I’ve just been told that today is Yuugi’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Yuugi!! Best wishes to you!

HK DVD episodes 98-121 added

Wonderfully subbed versions of episodes 98 through 121 have been added to the Episodes page! Nah, they’re just the HK DVD versions. =P

These episodes cover the Virtual World story arc. Here’s a screenshot from episode 113 to give you a taste of what’s in store.

Yogi? Someone on the show practices Yoga? Or maybe he’s talking about Yogi Bear, or the famous baseball player. I didn’t know they played children’s trading card games! Oh Otogi, you are so silly!

Before I forget, episodes 98 through 102 are a little bit different than the other episodes. The video files of these episodes are “raw” (they have no subtitles in the picture), and the subtitles themselves are in separate files. To get the subs to appear in the video, make sure you have the CCCP installed (a short explanation of what the CCCP is can be found in the FAQs). Then download both the video file (the .avi file) and the subtitle file (the .srt file), place them in the same folder, and give the files the same name. For example, episode 99 and its sub file could look like this:

• Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters – 099 – Deck Master – Warrior of the Deep Sea.avi
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters – 099 – Deck Master – Warrior of the Deep Sea.srt

Then play the video in Media Player Classic. Success! This is probably something I should add to the FAQs (which I will be updating in the near future — it’s one of my goals!), but I hope the instructions here are clear.

Oh yeah, I also fixed episode 76’s broken link. As always, let me know if you encounter any more broken links or if you have any questions!

Update (April 19, 2009): The raws-with-external-HK-DVD-subs version of episodes 98-102 have been replaced with hard-subbed HK DVD versions.

Duel Monsters: The HK Bootlegged Edition

There are 224 episodes of Duel Monsters, but not all of them have been English subbed. In fact, fansubs don’t yet exist for most of the episodes. So what are fans of the original, uncensored Japanese versions supposed to do when they run out of fansubs to watch? They turn to the HK bootlegs!

As you can probably guess, the HK bootlegged versions of Duel Monsters come from Hong Kong. Pirates copy the show from Japanese DVDs and TV broadcasts, then put them on region-free DVDs and sell them. All of the HK bootlegged DVDs contain the original episodes with Japanese audio, plus Chinese and English subtitles.

“English subs,” you’re probably saying to yourself. “That’s great!!” Well, not quite. While most of the time, the English subs are okay, you’ll nevertheless frequently run into some horrible English. Take a look this example from episode 84:

So why do the subtitles have this problem? Because the dialogue was first translated from Japanese into Chinese, and then translated again from Chinese to English. Keep in mind that these DVDs are made by some bootleggers trying to make money, not by some legitimate company or fans who actually care about the show. Don’t worry though. Most of the subs from these HK DVD episodes are actually somewhat understandable. ^_^;;

So, with this introduction to the HK bootlegs, I now invite you to visit the Episodes page, where I’ve added episodes 35 through 97. Some of the episodes were uploaded by me, while others by various members of the Janime Community Forum. Many thanks to artorious05, Aviad, bladeknight, coolykula_00, DARKMASTER, dirtydude16, Ekreth, Gato, latiasfan2004, Shiroki Tenshi, Usako, YamiNOYuugi, and the rest of the Download Forum gang who spent time uploading these episodes!

And, of course, I’ll continue to add episodes as they get fansubbed in the future, taking down any HK DVD version that they replace.