Asenshi Subs

Final box! What a lovely show. I’ll try to spare you from all of my thoughts (not the least as I’ve forgotten most of them, having finished it myself months ago), but it’s one of those quiet gems that are always the best in their seasons (unless you count Sunshine 2, yeah boiii). The whole post-apocalyptic aesthetic, the slice-of-life format until the last two episodes, the military setting… It’s more than a little depressing, but in an optimistic way? It should all remind you of the best anime ever made, and it’s a great show for similar reasons. Go out there and find some joy and meaning in your life, even if there isn’t any. Fun things are fun, but terrible things are fine too.

What I’m trying to say is that cute girl shows are a pure expression of the Dao. And the still water in this pool is bright and clear.

Anyway, for acknowledgements, I’m indebted to the Amazon subs, terrible as they are. A thank you also to whoever produced this reference to the stylized kana, which saved me a lot of time in deciphering the signs. The biggest thanks to tkmiz and White Fox, of course. Do do your part to support the creators of the work, and why not check out the manga, which wasn’t totally adapted? And of course to joletb, who foolishly agreed to this project (a year and a half ago!) and did the other half of the work.

Speaking of manga, there’s a bonus chapter that came with the BDs, which we’ve translated and put up as well. It’s really a lovely addition to the show that captures its essence pretty well (unlike the shorts…), so do give it a read (thanks also to eli, who typeset it). There’s one small note about it (mentioned also in a TL note on the manga itself), which is that the poem referenced is by one Hermann Hesse, titled Auf Wanderung (Dem Andenken Knulps). I think tkmiz did an original translation into Japanese, and I used that Japanese (not the German) as the base for the English. Poetry does tend to be harder to translate, and so I took even more liberties there. As always, @ me with your complaints, I’m game.

On a personal note, this is my (tsuru’s! Not joletb’s or Akatsukin’s or Asenshi as a whole’s or anyone else’s!) last project for the foreseeable future, so good news for you if you hate lengthy noteposts (bad news if you like cute girl shows!). It’s been a real privilege to be able to work on the shows I’ve done with the people I have, and I really do appreciate all, like, thousand of you that actually watch my stuff (and all ten of you what read my posts). It’s been a wild ride. I’ll probably miss it.

Please do continue to support the group, and thanks as always for watching Asenshi.

Edit: It’s just me, tsuru, what’s retiring! Asenshi is more than one person! Yagate will get done soon, probably, and Violet is up to the whims of Vivid, and with neither of those shows was I even involved to begin with! I was out here doing Yuru Camp and Yama no Susume and such. Those might still eventually get batched. That’s a big might. And don’t act like I’m dead!