this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
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See that’s the kicker, for the longest time it was basically all fan translated subtitles, and only recently have payed for translation become the norm.
So it’s really quite pathetic for them to try and save a few bucks by replacing a proper translator with a LLM, given that there are still plenty of passionate fans who would have done it for free. Especially given that translating between Japanese and English in a cultural context heavy situation is something these LLMs are really bad at.
I'd imagine this is a non-starter from a corporate standpoint. I know if I were in charge I'd be terrified of the idea of just trusting community-submitted subtitles to not have random slurs or something inserted. That said I still think it would be super cool if they'd let people source and use their own subtitle files; I now it's possible because I have a tampermonkey script that lets me do just that.
That’s the core of the issue, crunchy roll has sat its self as a corporate middleman, buying the rights to distribute shows and then charging consumers a subscription for access.
But they can’t be bothered to do the only actual damn work their position would realistically demand, beyond renting server space; providing translations for the foreign media they’re distributing.
That’s without even discussing the fact that not a single penny users give them will end up in the hands of any of the exploited artists who actually made the shows, since the industry doesn’t work on residuals or any other kind of profit sharing, the licensing fees crunchy roll pays essentially going straight to financiers.
So pirate the shit and use whatever subtitles you want.