Localization issues in regards to the subtitles have beset the recent Western theatrical release of the first live action Attack on Titan movie. So much so that Funimation has had to swiftly resolve the situation.
In a recent statement from Funimation on the issue it states that, “Both Funimation and fans of Attack on Titan have been waiting for the day when the live action movie would open in theaters in the U.S. Unfortunately, fans at a handful of theaters last night did not have the experience that we hoped they would have.”
“As reported online, there was a glitch in the middle of the Attack on Titan Part 1 which caused the subtitles to freeze on a single line of text for 10 or more minutes while the movie continued to play. Funimation became aware of the subtitle problem on Monday, September 28. All exhibitors were alerted to the issue and worked with Deluxe to provide a simple fix that same day to correct the software error. Funimation and Deluxe followed up with all exhibitors the next day – Tuesday, September 29.”
“The handful of theaters that experienced the subtitle problem last night did not implement the fix, which resulted in the glitch during their screenings. Our theatrical division and Deluxe are in contact with these specific locations to confirm the fix is being implemented and what, if any, assistance Funimation can provide to ensure this problem does not occur again during the remainder of the Attack on Titan Part 1 theatrical run. Funimation will be hardcoding subtitles on Attack on Titan Part 2 and other future releases to prevent this problem from happening again.”
The line in question that kept on getting repeated was apparently “I've been waiting for this day!" which is at least a decisive mistake in terms of the localization, though obviously bewildering for most viewers I'd imagine.
These kinds of subtitling issues are common to be fair and this sounds more like a technical fault than anything more untoward. At least Funimation were quick enough to step-in and try and get this fixed.
The film itself has had a mixed response in Japan and while it initially performed well in terms of its boxoffice the critical response has been pretty scathing, to the extent that the second film saw a notable drop in revenue.
Unfortunately, this localization based hiccup won’t have helped the movie much for its Western release but it will be interesting to see how it does in the coming weeks.
Follow me on Twitter and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii.
Read my Forbes blog here.
