Time Travel Contest (& Merry Christmas!)

・Streaming / Download on MEGA: Time Travel Contest
・Streaming on VK: Time Travel Contest

Merry Christmas, everybody!
I announced this quick Christmas comeback a while ago, after watching this new Gaki episode, Time Travel Contest, and laughing my ass off.

Our gaki dudes still got it. This episode cracked me up and made me wanna go back for one last episode, which I subbed completely alone. I even put some really nice effects on it! It’s my statement against A.I. subs… or maybe not. Maybe I just wanted to waste my time on uselessly detailed on-screen texts. I’m a simple man.

This, however, doesn’t mean I’m going back to a regular schedule. My life is pretty busy and I don’t really have time for subbing Gaki. I’m not the type of guy who likes to share his personal life, but you always showed me great support and kindness, and I feel like I owe you few words about me and this website, on what I’ve been doing during the last two years and what is most likely going to happen to shion-no-tsukai.
But first…

Notes:
Pretty much everything is already explained in the TL Notes inside the episode (except for one), but let’s see them in detail:
– 3:33 Fun fact: I used this very sentence (Hasta la vista, baby – jigoku de aou ze, baby) as an example on a section from my master’s degree thesis about adaptations and subtitles in japanese media! I think the japanese version is way cooler (lit. “see ya in hell, baby”).
– 13:12 As the onscreen note, it’s a long-running japanese travel-focused TV show. Shinjuku Piccadilly is a famous movie theater for mainly western cinema, probably that’s why it’s an acceptable answer for Downtown (being Terminator a western movie).
– 21:14 I’m pretty sure you all know about Kinpachi-sensei, the No Laughing Enthusiastic Teachers / Furiwake’s episode 1 parody we all know and love. Komoto is referring to the original j-drama’s opening, which starts with Kinpachi-sensei shouthing “Class 3-B!” to the sky, from a similar camera angle. Take a look.
– 21:52 By now I’ve lost count on how many Miyasako scandals there have been in the last few years. I think Fujimoto is referring to some beef they had which resulted in him (Fujimon) crying on live television or something? I don’t know much (and I don’t care). It still made me laugh.

Info:

episode #1675, aired 10/15/2023

Ok, what was I saying?

First off, Gaki no Tsukai meant the world to me, and it still does a lot.

I’ve been working for more than two years as a professional JP -> IT translator (my mother tongue is italian), and while I can’t reveal much informations about my current job(s), I’ll just say that I’m working both as a subtitler for japanese TV shows / anime / dramas / etc. for a major streaming service, and as a manga translator for an italian publishing company. I’ve also translated and published a novel (proper novel, not light novel lol), and I wish I could do more projects like this one, being japanese novels my biggest interest in terms of translation jobs.

Subbing Gaki has always been my passion, and while I’m not working on Gaki / j-comedy itself as part of my job (for now, hehehe), investing myself on subbing Gaki as a passion helped me to become familiar with the tools I’m using right now as a professional translator. Yes, believe it or not, but I somehow managed to connect my college years passion to my actual job… sort of!

That’s exactly why I don’t have much time for Gaki anymore. Switching from my job to subbing Gaki (which is kinda like my job) isn’t really the best thing to do, my mind can’t just relax. Same old stuff. That said, I really enjoyed working on today’s episode so… yeah, I guess you can expect another subbed episode in, like, months. Or a year. Who knows? I surely don’t!

But that’s not everything. Lots of things have changed in my life during the last 4 years, and some things keep on getting more difficult to handle. I guess that’s just part of growing up. There were things I wish never changed, but did anyway, and other things which simply slipped away from my grasp. I need time to focus on my life and on my personal relationships, without having the need to spend most of my already scarce free time behind a PC screen, alone. You need it too, actually. We all do.

Working on this episode felt really good, to be honest. It showed me how some things never change, no matter what, it felt reassuring in a way. I know subbing Gaki forever or trying to bring back my long gone past days isn’t the right solution, but, on the other hand, there’s nothing wrong in turning back for a while, and taking a look at what you left behind. Just make sure it’s once in a while.

And with today’s once in a while, shion-no-tsukai goes back to sleep. Hope you’ll still be here when someday it’ll wake up again!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, beautiful people.
I owe you a lot.

Let me thank you again for everything. Your support, your donations, your likes, your comments, your typesets, your collabs, everything.

Special thanks to everyone who follows my facebook page & twitter and to all my patron / ko-fi donors so far (ko-fi first, patreon last, oldest to most recent donation order): Juan, Tom, Kenny, Eduardo, J, Whysochangry, Jason, Pablo, Tymorafarr, Evilone135, Justin, Adrian, Slackforce, J_J, Akash, Julia, Kate, Aj, Jacks, Gyoza, Ethan, Zan, Ronnie, Wing, Brendan, David, Hiro, Kramdos, Riccardo, Fruitpunch, Arniel, Andrew, Jordan, Blaine, Aaron, Dan, Tekno, Lyner, Ravi, Jothan, Abdulmalik, Alex, B-4, Damon, Gakidave, Elena, Sean, Dylan, Mruczek, Dasmug, Dennis, Trax Neil, Prong, Garo, Bipedal, Erik, Mike, Kevin, Patrick, Ken, Pagaki, Christian, Eric, FL, Vidy, Mark, Kirumi, Rtil, Paul, Dps, Thea, Edwin, Powerofdusk, Ulala, James, Recovs.

Also special thanks to Kedomas, Tiny_paw, Huh009, Otviss, Martin, Riddel, Amria, Mattee53 and every Tofu Panda Fansubs / Team Gaki member for all the collaborations so far.

…And special thanks to you! I hope 2024 will be a good year for you.

Well then! See you again… I guess!
Love,

– Shion

Curtain Call

Let’s be honest: we all knew this project wasn’t bound to last forever. Nothing is infinite. Except for the rewatchability of Matsumoto’s Haunted Hotel. I’d watch that shit for all eternity. Too bad I won’t be able to live that long.

I could give you lots of reasons for why I can’t do this anymore, but I’ll only give you one: time. Long story short, I don’t have a significant amount of spare time as I used to back then. Even writing and posting this thing here took me an absurdly long time, I was planning to post it several weeks ago but I just couldn’t do it.

I’ve been working as a freelance translator for more than a year by now, and I have lots of projects I’m working on and many others I can’t wait to begin and even find out about. Subbing Gaki used to be a hobby to me back then when I had different (mostly part-time) jobs and used to be an university student. I really enjoyed spending some of my free time translating and subbing content I really care for and – most importantly – people actually appreciated.
I haven’t lost interest in Gaki no Tsukai (even if, lately, I haven’t been following the latest eps) and it’ll always have its special place in my heart. It kept me motivated during my student years and made me even more passionate to learn and translate this language I love so deeply it’s ridiculous.

But, as of today, I’m working as a translator. I can literally say it’s a dream coming true (18-year-old me wouldn’t believe me if I’d tell him I’m translating stuff from japanese for a living). I do also occasionally work with subtitles, aside from other types of translation (such as novels, articles, etc.), and, at times, I’m not left with much spare time for my personal life. And, you know, how can I see subbing Gaki as a hobby if it’s translation again, something I do for several hours on a daily basis?

Not only that. The pandemic hit me pretty hard in a crucial moment of my life, and I can feel it made lots of things harder for me. Now that my job is literally doing what I used to do for free throughout all these years and that I’m left with not much spare time which I don’t really want to spend by staying behind the same ol’ computer screen, I think it’s the right time to call it a day. [update: and now there’s also a potential global war around the corner, oh geez]

This project gave me a lot, but now I want to focus on getting back something else, or something I don’t even know yet.
I don’t want to let it all slip by with the usual “ok, I’m taking a break, I’ll eventually post again, yadda yadda yadda” stuff, it’s stupid. I’ve never been that much active in the Gaki community nor even on the internet (seriously, I have no idea why I opened that facebook page I barely even used), there’s an infinite list of project I’ve promised to complete (Remember Isho Project? Or the Manzai Skits? What about Soramimi Hour?) but I’ve left behind, but I can see there are many talented subbers who are still bringing tons of subbed content online. You’re all in good hands.

And now, completely contraddicting what I just spat out, who knows! Maybe, one day, if my life will be different and I’d feel like subbing Gaki again, who knows, you know? Who knows. But I can’t put the effort I used to put in this website the way I did some years ago anymore, I just can’t force myself to think of it as some kind of duty I have to fullfil.
Of course, this website isn’t going anywhere: everything will still be available, and you can always reach me out (on twitter please, that’s the best way to grab my attention) for anything, from dead links reports to simple chitchat.

But this time, I made up my mind and I’m resolute with it.
After 8 years of activity, this is going to be the last year for Shion no Tsukai.

I want to thank everyone who watched and enjoyed the content I’ve subbed, everyone who donated on my ko-fi or subscribed to my patreon (by the way, feel free to unsubscribe), TofuPanda, WD Project, Team Gaki, Shappuri Agemasu Subs and every other Gaki project I’ve worked with, and of course all the typesetter who helped me bringing you all lots of content: Tiny_Paw, GakiDave, Amria, RIDDELL, Mattee53, WA and, last but not least, Kedomas, who helped this website so much I just can’t thank him enough.
Thank you so much for following, guys!!
I hope you’ll enjoy your life to the best of your possibilities.

Oh, by the way.
Pending stuff won’t be left pending. There are few episodes I still have to bring you before I’ll be done, They were kindly typesetted for me before I took this decision and I won’t let the typesetters’ efforts to go to waste.
So, within this year (2022, for those like me who can’t remember it), there are still going to be few new subbed episodes, but I don’t really know when I’ll release them (could be in a month, could be in 10 months). They’re definitely coming out, that’s for sure.

Let me spoil them for ya:
Downtown trip do Amagasaki (short, coming most likely within this month)
Impromptu Shinkigeki (24 min. ep., TBA)
More Gottsu Ee Kanji (few skits, TBA)
Bikkuri Grand Prix pt. 2 (24 min. ep., TBA)

So… see you next time, I guess?
It’s not really the best way to end a LOLBYE tearjerkish post, but it is what it is. Gotta sub the stuff I promised I’ll sub. Gotta deliver. Gotta go fast. Gotta catch em all. Gotta no Tsukai.

Love love love love love love, my sweet, sweet gakifolks.

– Shion

Lincoln – No-SATNAV Rally II

・Streaming / Download on MEGA: Lincoln – No-SATNAV Rally II
・Streaming on VK: Lincoln – No-SATNAV Rally II

Hey there, folks! It’s been a while, right?
Needless to say a lots of stuff happened and for one reason or another I couldn’t find much time to work on a new episode.
That until I set myself to finish this pending project Kedomas, as always, kindly typesetted for us, and, oh boy, it’s a big one.
I’ve always wanted to translate an episode from Lincoln, a tv show I’ve always deeply loved and which I still miss a lot to this very day. Amazing cast of comedians, tons of hilarious skits and ideas, long formats for maximum entertainment… what a show that was!
Today we’re here to bring you No-SATNAV Rally II, second installment of one of the most popular Lincoln recurring series.
This episode would have been impossible to do without Kedomas help, and I’ll never stress this enough. Maybe we can talk more about it by the end of this year!
Anyway, I also edited this episode a lot, way more than usual. I wanted to make up for the recent lack of uploads, and we really hope you’ll enjoy this!
As for future uploads, don’t worry, they’ll come. We have a new Gaki episode scheduled to be released… hopefully within January 2022, if possible. The only thing we’re lacking is time, not motivation or passion for Gaki. We’ll try our best to keep on releasing stuff without having you wait several months between episodes.
That being said, I’ll leave few notes and… That’s it! Merry Christmas, folks! Hope you’ll spend some wonderful holidays, we’ll catch up soon enough, I promise.

Notes:

– 25:43 may sound confusing, but “FUTAKO-TAMA” and “NIKOTAMA” are the same place, the latter being a different way to read its kanjis. The “correct” name is Futako Tamagawa, as you can see written in letters on the street sign.
– 37:53 this bit too may sound confusing, Mimura refers to “Tokoton Toshiko” as a manga “barber shops have”. Barber shops in Japan have shelves full of mangas, usually really old ones, much like we have magazines in any waiting room. In a way, Mimura says that to remark how old / unknown this serie is.
– 38:10 “My Neighbor Totoro” is titled “Tonari no Totoro” in japanese, so even by adding “My Neighbor” (“Tonari no”), the answer starts with the “to” syllabe.
– 38:40 Matsumoto is singing a parody of My Neighbor Totoro’s main theme, replacing “Totoro” with “Toshiko”.
– 39:01 they say that “Thomas (the tank engine)” doesn’t start with “to”, because in japanese “the tank engine” is “kikansha no”, but it comes before the word “Thomas” (“kikansha no tomasu”). That’s why they make that remark.

Info:

episode #270 (from Lincoln), aired 06/05/2012

Soramimi Hour (空耳アワー)

This is a rare non-upload post, which I decided to write to introduce you to a non-gaki, non-downtown j-comedy show I’ve found about about during my days in Tokyo and quickly grew on me: Soramimi Hour.

As you can see by its logo, the name is a word made of two kanjis: “sky” (空) and “ear” (耳). The world “Soramimi” can also literally translate to “empty ear”, but the idiomatic meaning of its expression is “to mishear“, or “to hear something wrongly”, and that’s exactly what this show is about. Do you remember back in the early youtube days all the “misheard lyrics” videos you could find online? That’s basically it!

Soramimi Hour is an old segment from the late-night variety show Tamori Club, which started in 1992 (I wasn’t even born yet!) and it’s still being aired once in a while, as special episodes. The show is hosted by Tamori-san, probably one of the biggest and most influential japanese showmen ever, together with his co-host Hajime Anzai and occasional (sometimes even international) guest stars.

On each episode, they watch, comment and reward short skits based off misheard foreign songs lyrics, which seem to say something completely different in japanese, to different degrees. I don’t think this show is well known outside from Japan, but I’ve found this subbed compilation of some of the most famous skits, without commentary.

I’ve decided to sub this clip myself too, featuring a “soramimi” of Don’t Piss Me Off by David Lee Roth. I’d love to sub more of those once in a while so ,if you’re interested, keep an eye on my YT channel (not going to post any of them here from now on). I’d love to do a compilation myself, there are tons of Soramimi clips I really like that I wish to share with those who’d like to see them. Maybe in the future, who knows! Regardless, if you’re interested in unsubbed Soramimi, than you’re in luck! All you have to do is search for it on youtube, it’s full of segments and complete episodes (for whatever reason the copyright banhammer hasn’t hit them yet).

Anyway, hope you’ll have a lovely day! Cya soon enough (I hope so).

Shoji Murakami’s Class – Feudal Lords

・Streaming / Download on MEGA: Shoji Murakami’s Class – Feudal Lords
・Streaming on VK: Shoji Murakami’s Class – Feudal Lords

Shoji Murakami is a genius, but not everybody seems to realize it.
I personally love the Shoji Murakami Classroom series, and so does our typesetter Kedomas. I’m sure we’re not the only two fans around here!
This time, Shoji is going to teach our members how to become a Tono-sama, a japanese feudal lord from the Sengoku Era.
There’s an expression in japanese, 文武両道 (bunburyoudou), which literally translates into “walking both streets, that of military arts and that of literature”. That’s the path a Feudal Lord should follow, and the path Murakami-sensei is willing to teach to his pupils. Or maybe not.
By the way, this episode includes unseen footage from another episode, Music Memory Drive.

Also, in case you missed it, we’ve translated other Murakami Shoji’s episodes in the past. If you haven’t watched them yet, what the HECK are you waiting for?!

Ninja Classroom ft. Girolamo Panzetta (referred to in this episode)
Michael Jackson Classroom
Ghostbusters Classroom

Notes:

– 4:56 “Hina Matsuri” is the traditional japanese Doll Festival, held in March. For this festival, dolls are displayed on a stand pretty much like the one appearing in this episode. For more, see Wikipedia.
– 5:08 Francis Xavier was a Navarrese Catholic missionary and saint who was a co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Wikipedia). He’s one of the pioneers who introduced Japan to Christianity. Also, in my subs it’s spelled as “Saverio” because his italian name is “Francesco Saverio”, and, as you may know, I’m italian, so… whoops (well, it’s not 100% wrong).
– 15:13 could be referencing to the Chairman and Representative Director Ryohin Keikaku Co., but I’m not sure. That’s the only thing I could find online. But it’s Shoji we’re talking about, it’s ok if it doesn’t make much sense.

Info:

episode #1058, aired 06/12/2011

TANAKER

・Streaming / Download on MEGA: Tanaker
・Streaming on VK: Tanaker

“We live in a Batsu-game…” – some reddit comment which cracked me up.
Hey! Didn’t expect to see me this early, right? Well, it can’t be helped.
As soon as I saw this episode, which only aired last week, I knew someone had to translate it ASAP. And thank god we have Kedomas on this planet, to prove us there’s still hope for humanity.
This episode is part of the usual Tanaka’s Anger series, which also counts some episodes I’ve already worked on, such as Our Tanaka’s Unreasonable Thai-Kicks or Tanaka’s Breakdown II.
After reviewing some of the worst performance of the other “four idiots” (some of the featured episodes: Tanaka’s Badminton Prank, Hamada’s 2nd Aging Trial, New Year (Shinnenkai) Specials, Keep Reading Without Breathing, No Laughing Prison, Life of the “Ogoo” Endo Pteranodon, Hamada’s “No-Trick” Magic Show, Hot-Blooded! Hamada’s Cram School III, Yoshimoto Shinkigeki KOKE Challenge…), it’s finally time for Tanaka’s revenge.
Hope you’ll enjoy this fresh 神回!

Info:

episode #1570, aired 08/21/2021

First Jiji-nuki Game

・Streaming / Download on MEGA: First Jiji-nuki Game
・Streaming on VK: First Jiji-nuki Game

When I’m not spending my time working or harassing wild animals, I’m subbing Gaki. Yeah, I know, it took me a while to post a new episode, but what can I do about it? Harassing wild animals is a full-time job.
Anyway, this episode is an high-requested one, part of a fortunate serie which counts several episode: It’s Jiji-nuki (Old Dude) Game time, baby!
This episode wouldn’t have been possible without Mattee53‘s help, who kindly typesetted and reviewed the whole thing. Thank you so much! ❤
Now, what is jiji-nuki? It's a variant of baba-nuki, a card game in which each player draws an equal amount of cards from a deck composed of several pair of cards, except for one. Once you get a pair in your hand, you can discard it. The last person who ends up with the unpaired card on their hand, loses.
And here's the Gaki part: the loser has to face two challenges in this episode: the classic "make up a fake story" starring the celebs drawn on the jiji card, and the even more classic batsu game.

I haven't added the captions for each character name and batsu list, so here's a list of names and a picture of the translated possible batsu-games, featuring Bunny-chan. Can you guess which one is going to the one they'll get?

Celebrity Cards:
– Tatsuro Yamashita (musician)
– Miyuki Nakajima (singer)
– Oh Sadaharu (baseball player)
– Justin Bieber (singer)
– Dean Fujioka (actor)
– Hidetoshi Nakata (soccer player)
– Haruka Ayase (actress)
– Sayuri Yoshinaga (actress, first “old dude”)
– Akira Ikegami (journalist)
– Yumiko Udo (reporter)
– Kenshi Yonezu (singer)
– Tiger Woods (professional golfer)
– Bae Yong-joon (actor, second “old dude”)
– Yusaku Maezawa (entrepreneur)
– Kin’ya Kitaoji (actor)

Batsu-game list:

And that’s it for today!
We have lots of other Gaki episodes scheduled for future releases, you can take a peek on my patreon page if you feel like supporting this website (and getting early access on content / schedules).
Thanks for watching, hope you’ll enjoy this episode and have a wonderful day ❤

Info:

episode #1502, aired 04/20/2019

Gottsu Ee Kanji – SET II (Company President, Snow Freesia, Sky Hanglinger)

Three new Gottsu Ee Kanji episodes for you!
・Company President: vk | MEGA
・Snow Freesia: vk | MEGA
・Sky Hanglinger: vk | MEGA
+ Bonus episode: The Copper Beeches Murder Case

Not really sure about what “Gottsu SET” means, I’ve already subbed a lot of Gottsu episodes before.
But anyway, here’s the second collection of longer Gottsu Clips I’ve subbed with Kedomas, we already have another set scheduled for a future release, but it’s not coming before at least a couple more full-lenght Gaki episodes.
By the way, if you want to know what’s coming next and see everything before – or you just feel like supporting all of this – consider subscribing to my patreon. Or don’t. I mean, it’s up to you lol

I’m already working on a new Gaki episode, which I hope I can manage to finish and upload within the first half of July, but can’t say anything for sure ATM. Stay tuned, and thanks for everything! Hope you’ll enjoy today’s Gottsu episodes.

Hosei’s Fake Birthday Letters (pt.2)

・Streaming / Download on MEGA: Hosei’s Fake Birthday Letters (Part 2)
・Streaming on VK: Hosei’s Fake Birthday Letters (Part 2)

THIS EPISODE IS THE SECOND HALF OF A 2-PARTS EPISODE. PART 1 (TRANSLATED BY DCSUBS) IS AVAILABLE HERE: Hosei’s Fake Birthday Letters (Part 1)

Heyo! How are you doing?
It’s time for another Shion & Kedomas subbed episode! It’s an highly requested one, and I bet lots of you couldn’t wait to watch it. Make sure to watch part 1 first, there’s a link up above!
Not really much to add, it’s just them reading 100% fake thank you letters Hosei wrote himself, for himself. Yeah, I know. It’s the best!
Anyway, we have new episodes to drop soon enough. I’m trying my best to find more spare time from work to sub more Gaki, and I’m so glad I can still do it, it’s really therapeutic to me. Expect more Gaki & extra stuff soon!
Right, don’t forget you can support me on my patreon, where news and new episodes are published earlier than usual! Oh, and if you feel like it, subscribe to my youtube channel. I don’t have anything on it yet, but I plan on releasing misc. Gaki-related subbed vids (such as audio clips, collections of famous sayings) and j-comedy extra stuff (secret!), hopefully not heavily copyrighted stuff.

Notes:

– 12:54 TEAM-0 used to be Yamazaki’s former manzai duo, together with his ex partner Hiromitsu. I’ve subbed a skit by them (with tiny_paw) some time ago.
– 14:42 He’s referring to this old clip I’ve subbed 1000 years ago. The subs aged poorly.
– 16:53 Bamiyan is a chain of chinese restaurants in Japan.
– 20;31 I used to live there. BRB, crying forever.
– 20:38 I’m sure everyone knows it already by now, but regardless, Japanese asset price bubble.

Info:

episode #1244, aired 03/01/2015

Booby-traps Battle Royale (from Wednesday Downtown)

・Streaming / Download on MEGA: Booby-traps Battle Royale
・Streaming on VK: Booby-traps Battle Royale

Hey there! It’s been a while. A month, more or less. How are you doing? I’m fine. And by fine I mean I think I’m slowly going insane. But it’s still ok, ‘cause we’re all on the same boat.
I’ve started working on this episode a few months ago (I originally cropped it around October 2020), but I never actually got to finish it, for one reason or another.
I’ve been very slow at typesetting it, but then Kedomas reached me out and typesetted the remaining video faster than light. It literally took him one day, while, on the other hand, I’ve been spending weeks for its first half lol. Big big big big thanks to him for completing it so quickly, this episode wouldn’t be here without him.
As you’ve guessed, yep: it’s yet another Wednesday Downtown “theory”, and, again, one of my personal favorites (hope you didn’t miss my previous theories: “Matsumoto Hitoshi is a Russian spy” and “A person who doesn’t know golf rules will end up believing any rule they impose on”).
It’s kind of a parody of the Battle Royale series (there’s even Takeshi Kitano at the beginning of this episode!), and we’ll see 5 (+ 1 secret one?) contestants (Kotohge from Viking, Takashi from Trendy Angel, Miyazon from Anzen Manzai, Akemi Matsuno and Mari Yaguchi) trying to lead their opponents inside their own booby-traps, scattered around an open field.
A psychological warfare game full of action, twists, deception, shenanigans, idiots. I really hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂

Info:

From Wednesday Downtown, aired 04/26/2017