#bl subs

Some of us are getting two sets of subs on these two BLs, Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! (Japan) and Plus and Minus (Taiwan) both airing simultaneously on Viki (a Japanese company) & GaGaOOLaLa (a Taiwanese one) on Fridays. 

Never before have I had such luxury of choice! 

So I’ve been watching both shows multiple times on both platforms and just in case you too have a choice, or care, or are planning on binging, here’s my thoughts...  

First I should say that I don’t speak either nationalized Mandarin or Japanese. I know enough to get through a formal/business meet & greet in Japan but that’s it. But I do know English very very well. So I’m judging the captions based on how well they make sense to me, and seem to transmit what I believe is going on in the show AKA how good are they telling the story?

Plus and Minus 

(Taiwan Viki *rec* & GaGa Fri)

Despite the fact that this is a Taiwanese show airing on a Taiwanese platform, I like the Viki subs better for this one. Gaga’s are a little too slapdash (lots of English idioms, slang, and euphemisms) its almost like they leave too much information out in the interest of being “hip,” so sometimes it’s just confusing or they pick the wrong (business) word. 

So, for example, Aaron Lai’s character describes himself as radical but extreme would have been a better word choice. These two may sometimes be synonyms but not when applied to a person. Radical has political connotations, extreme has emotional and personality ones. (And actually what was probubly meant in this scene was agro or Type-A.) 

Also GaGa had more misspellings and homophones. Now, Viki’s subs are definitely stiffer and more formal, but in this instance for me, it makes the show easier to understand. 

So I’ll be watching this one on Viki first and Gaga second. 

Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! AKA Mr Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss!

(Japan GaGa *rec*  & Viki Fri) 

For this one I think GaGa is better than Viki! For one thing, they use last names (as they should) and are less awkward seeming the rest of the time with phrasing. That said, without question irozuku’s indie subs are the best. It’s just you have to wait for those, and they aren’t exactly legal. 

Going forward for Mr Unlucky, I’ll be watching GaGa first and Viki second. 

Different subbers and different teams work for both platforms, so I can’t say this is a hard and fast rule going forward for either platform with either language. 

I have a feeling I’ll be double watching double airings when I can, but I will probubly try to figure out and settle into orders so I can recommend that in the weekly updates going forward.