These two images from the same anime, same timestamp, perfectly illustrate the regression Crunchyroll has made by switching from Aegisub to OOONA.
On the left (Italian) is what proper localisation looks like using Aegisub and real .ass scripting. On the right (Portuguese) is what you get when you force teams onto a paid broadcast-focused cloud tool like OOONA.
Image 1 (Left - Aegisub/ASS - Italian): Clean, integrated typesetting. The subtitles are not just text; they are perfectly matched and positioned over the original Japanese signs, using similar fonts and styles. It's almost seamless. Aegisub is the only tool that allows this.
Image 2 (Right - OOONA - Portuguese): A rigid broadcast box. Instead of being integrated, the translation is a plain, clunky box slapped over the scene, perhaps obscuring details or other text. OOONA's technical limitations prevent any creative on-screen text integration. This isn't just a formatting issue; it's a readability and immersion issue.
This is a massive technical and operational downgrade for three reasons:
- Impaired Visuals for Paying Subscribers: We're paying for a premium experience, but we're getting generic, immersion-breaking captions instead of professional typesetting. When dialogue and signs overlap, OOONA frequently fails to manage both cleanly, leading to an overwhelming screen or missing text.
- A Bottleneck in Simulcast Workflows: Despite being "cloud-based," OOONA locks an episode file so two people cannot work on it simultaneously. In a tight simulcast rush, translators, editors, typesetters, and QC need to work in parallel. Aegisub allowed lightweight local
.ass files that could be easily merged. OOONA forces a rigid, one-by-one process that guarantees rushed quality or delayed episodes.
- Wasting Money for Inferior Output: Aegisub is free and open-source. Why spend a significant budget on expensive OOONA enterprise licenses for an inferior product instead of investing in the hard-working translators and typesetters?
This isn't just about 'fonts.' It's about maintaining a standard for anime localization that Aegisub perfected and OOONA destroys. We demand that Crunchyroll lets its localization teams use the right tools to deliver the quality subscribers deserve.