Why did Crunchyroll's subtitles just get worse?

Perceived causes of worsening subtitles

• Many tie the decline to recent Crunchyroll layoffs, especially in operations and localization, plus a shift to cheaper contractors.
• Several point to documented cases where AI- or machine-translated scripts from Japanese rights-holders were used with little or no proofreading, then blamed on third‑party vendors.
• Some say this is part of broader “enshittification”: cutting skilled staff, replacing with AI or lowest‑bid vendors, while prices stay the same or rise.

User experience regressions

• Viewers report:
  • Proper nouns and terminology frequently wrong or inconsistent, especially in English captions under dubs.
  • Missing or poorly handled on‑screen text (banners, signs) unless subtitles are manually enabled over dubs.
  • Older or external channels (e.g. Prime’s Crunchyroll channel) often having even worse caption tracks.
• Outside subtitles, people complain CR’s apps stagnated after developer layoffs, while features like comments/community and useful queues were removed or degraded.

How subtitling actually works

• Former subtitlers explain:
  • Timing and typesetting are largely manual; AI can assist but can’t reliably align English to Japanese timing/structure.
  • High‑end work (positioning, colors, matching signs, karaoke) can take 2–4 hours per 25‑minute episode; “bare minimum” timing ~30–35 minutes.
  • Most anime on CR use softsubs in ASS format; only one video per resolution plus audio/sub tracks.

Economics, monopoly, and licensing

• Several argue that extra labor per episode (~a few hundred dollars) is trivial compared to production cost and total viewership, but internal cost‑cutting still wins because CR faces little direct competition for many titles.
• Exclusive streaming licenses mean in many regions each show is on exactly one platform; viewers can’t “switch for better subs,” only cancel or pirate.
• Others compare to music: ideal world would have multiple platforms all licensing most content, competing on features/quality instead of exclusivity.

Fansubs, piracy, and alternatives

• Many recall that the best-timed, most lovingly typeset subs historically came from fan groups, even if translations were sometimes literal or error‑prone.
• Some now prefer high‑quality fansubs or Blu‑ray rips over official streams, arguing that passionate volunteers routinely outdo corporate work.
• Examples like Viki’s user‑driven subtitling are cited as a model: leverage fans’ enthusiasm instead of fighting it.

Localization and translation disputes

• Discussion covers tricky issues: Japanese word order, ambiguous name romanization, Japanese vs Chinese name variants, and titles like “Attack on Titan” whose intended meaning emerged only later.
• There’s a split between those angry about perceived “political” or slang‑heavy rewrites and others who see such cases as rare, emphasizing the need for good localization rather than raw machine output.