| Horseiuchi fan subs | Official HIVE subs | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retsuko (narrating) | My name is Retsuko. | My name is Aggretsuko. | The official subs make the common mistake of assuming the series' name is the lead character's name. (Most of the game's English text thankfully recognizes that her name is just "Retsuko.") |
| [Cut to an alarm clock going off. Retsuko jolts awake, disheveled.] | |||
| Retsuko (narrating) | I'm 25, single, a Scorpio, and my blood type is A. | I'm a single, 25 years old female. Scorpio, blood type A. | |
| [Over the next line, we see footage of Retsuko's commute to and arrival at work.] | |||
| Retsuko (narrating) | Every day I take a 30 minute ride in a cramped train to the company where I work. | I ride on a packed train everyday for 30 min. I am an office associate at this company. | The fansubs omit Retsuko's description of her position. One of the translators behind them explained that they felt that it was less acceptable to use the term "office lady" (or "OL") in common English. |
| [A shot of her workplace fades into the night. We see Retsuko working contently at her station.] | |||
| Retsuko | Alright, time to head home. | Alright, time to go home! | |
| [As she prepares to close her laptop, a huge stack of papers drops onto her desk (meriting a "Huh?" in the official subs).] | |||
| Buffalo (Boss) | Nice work. Finish these up for me too. | Working hard, I see. Finish these up as well. | Every new character in this episode is accompanied by a subtitle stating their name. This guy is "Section Manager Yagyū" in Japanese and "Buffalo Boss" in the fansubs. The official subs don't translate the text at all. The game itself refers to him as "Manager Buffalo", making him a curious exception to the official translations' tendency to leave character names as-is. |
| [As he says this next line, he drops yet more paperwork on Retsuko's desk...] | |||
| Buffalo (Boss) | Gosh, you're a real lifesaver. | Whew, thank you so much. | |
| [...and then leaves.] | |||
| Buffalo (Boss) | Well, have fun. | You're a life saver! | |
| [Screen wipe to another character:] | |||
| Komiya (Amir) | You know, I used to be a real ladies' man. | I used to be real popular with the ladies, you know. | This guy's "Komiya" in Japanese and the official translations, while he goes by "Chief Clerk Amir" in the fansubs. |
| [A wider shot shows that he's blabbering on as Retsuko works, to her displeasure.] | |||
| Komiya (Amir) | I was dating five hotties at once back then. | There was a time when I even dated five at once! | |
| Komiya (Amir) | One of them was a model. That chick was like... | One of them was a model, and she was head over heels for me... | |
| Retsuko (internally) | I just wanna go home... | Just leave me alone... | Slightly different intentions being expressed between these two translations. |
| [Cut to a clock, establishing that it's now very close to 9 PM. As Retsuko works, the lights abruptly shut off, leading her to panic slightly. The next shot makes it clear someone turned off the lights:] |
|||
| Ton (Hog Honcho) | You're wasting electricity. Who do you think you're impressing by working overtime? | You're wasting electricity. Working late doesn't mean you're working hard. | Once again: "Ton" in Japanese and official translations, "Hog Honcho" (including his job title) in the fansubs. |
| [As he says this next line, his voice begins to grow increasingly distorted and vaguely demonic.] | |||
| Ton (Hog Honcho) | We all know this job's just a stepping stone to you. | Ah, whatever. You're just a short timer, after all. | Ton describes Retsuko as a "腰掛け" (koshikake) here. The fan translators went with "stepping stone" (figuring that it's more familiar to English audiences and conveys more or less the same meaning), while the official subs followed the precedent set by the Netflix subs and went with "short timer." (Given that the term is in the very name of the game, it's not surprising.) |
| [As he laughs, Retsuko's brow furrows and "烈" ("rage") appears on her forehead. Amidst building metal, cross-fade to a karaoke bar, and then to:] | |||
| Retsuko (enraged & singing) | BULLSHIT BOSS, GIVING ME YOUR WORK JUST SO YOU CAN LEAVE ON TIME I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR SEX LIFE SHUT UP BEFORE I SHUT YOU UP MYSELF SO WHAT IF IT'S A STEPPING STONE? I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO WORK ALL NIGHT |
ASSHOLE BOSS DUMPING HIS WORK ON ME SO HE CAN LEAVE ON TIME STOP TALKING YOUR BREATH SMELLS LIKE SHIT SHUT UP WITH YOUR BULLSHIT STORIES YEAH, I'M A SHORT TIMER! GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT? I DON'T WANNA WORK UNTIL 9 PM |
It's not too often you see an official translation be significantly more vulgar than the fan-made alternative. |
| [Pause, then:] | |||
| Retsuko (enraged & singing) | BUZZ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFF | SCREW YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU | |
| [With the song concluded, Retsuko changes back into her regular self. After a suitably metal/cutesy title card, the last shot is Retsuko walking home, pausing only to briefly leap into the air.] | |||
| Retsuko | Gotta be reddy [sic?] for tomorrow, too! | Gotta get ready for tomorrow! | I'm genuinely not certain if the typo in the fan subs is intentional. (She is probably a bit drunk at this point, but...) |