The Way of Pon (Pon no Michi) – 01

…and like a sparrow mahjong spirit from the ashes, we’ve returned for one more swing at things.

Nyaa

So, that stuff about us winding down operations a few months ago? Heh, well…
This series went unlicensed this season and it’s a shame. I and a few others were planning on watching and y’know, when a bunch of fansubbers are interested in a title that isn’t getting a (good) English release… it was the perfect storm of things needed for a fansub project.

We’ll go for as long as we can, but hopefully we can actually finish this one.

We hope you enjoy!

NovaWorks releases are designed for playback in mpv. Other media players have not been tested and may result in playback issues.

That’s (almost) all, folks!

Hello everyone!

It is with mixed emotions today that I announce we will be winding down activity.

I think many of you saw this coming and to be honest, so did I. I mentioned a few months ago I was falling disillusioned with fansubbing but wanted to persevere through these feelings and get back to the hobby I dedicated hours of my time to over the past four years of my life. I started to wonder if I was ever gonna get the spark I needed to work on fansubs again. Unfortunately, I just don’t see that spark returning anytime soon, so I’m calling it quits.

On top of that, it’s no secret that our projects were not managed well and that is totally on me. I have learned through my hiatus that I’m just not cut out for this kind of thing, and that’s okay. Sorry if this sounds like I’m self-loathing. I don’t really mean for it to. I just want to publicly own up to it and admit where I went wrong and apologize for being stubborn about not being wrong.

Anyways, due to it being close to completion and it being managed by a different person, Gunma-chan releases will continue under the NovaWorks tag until Season 1 is complete. All other series have been dropped as of today and most group activity will effectively cease following Gunma-chan’s completion. This website, our Public Discord, and all of our releases will remain available for the foreseeable future.

I’m using the word “effectively” here because I wouldn’t rule out a potential NovaWorks resurrection. After all, I can’t see far into the future and for all I know, there may come a time where I’m interested enough to come back. But as I see it currently, I highly doubt it’ll happen. Not with me behind it, at least.

Regardless, I’d like to thank the many people who spent hours upon hours working with me on releases and subs for sticking with me and contributing, and I’d like to thank followers for their support. Please look forward to the last couple releases of Gunma-chan.

-Neon

The Future of NovaWorks

Dropped not with a bang, but a whimper

As we announced on our Twitter and Discord last week, we have made the hard decision to drop Komi from our releases (as well as Takagi-san for the 10 people still waiting for that).

This was a particularly bittersweet decision because Komi is basically what launched this group into relevance, and without it, it’ll probably fall back into obscurity again. I’m sure many of you upon hearing the news instantly left our Discord or unfollowed us on Twitter. That’s valid, and it’s okay. Not all of the shows in our catalog appeal to everyone and it was clear to the majority of staff that people were here for Komi and not much else.

For those who are still here or want to know why before they leave, I will detail the events leading up to the drop.

In April, I (the group leader) took a break from fansubbing, mainly so I could process changes in my private life and to finish out the semester strong. Following the conclusion of my semester in mid-May, I didn’t immediately go back to fansubbing. It wasn’t necessarily on my radar. Later in the month, I began to start again, but felt very put off by using the software and working on anything.

I think the break in fansubbing let me properly realize how large the workload was. During my break, I felt less stressed overall. That all returned when I began working on Komi again. At first, I tried to push past it because in my head it needed to get done despite how I felt, but then I looked back at the rest of our releases. Time and time again, the gap between them got longer and longer. We were losing staff due to lack of interest or high intensity. I’ve had many other people from other groups tell me Komi always seemed to be the biggest pain in the ass to work on from a typesetter’s perspective, and it’s true. But we didn’t know it was going to be this bad going in, and we should have put up the white flag long ago.

Because now, we’re at this point. We dropped Komi after nearly two years of releases. People are disappointed. We barely got halfway through before calling it quits. It always sucks when you have to drop a show, especially if it’s a show or series you like and wish you could finish. But the writing was on the wall long ago and I turned a blind eye to it. It really is a wonder what a bit of time can do to change your perspective on things.

I didn’t mean for this post to feel somber or whatever. Mainly I just want to discuss what happens now.

Roboco, Kubo, and Gunma-chan will continue. These shows require substantially less work than Komi ever did and are far along enough that we’re confident we can finish them eventually. We were looking into picking up a show from the Summer season, but I wouldn’t count on it now. It would basically have to go unlicensed for us to reconsider.

As for the future past this summer, we’ll see what happens. Fansubbing isn’t getting any less dead, really. Anything that people cares about gets an official release that’s good enough for the majority of people, and I would bet the ones who won’t watch those official releases want nothing to do with our stuff.

For those who will be moving on from us now that Komi is out of the picture, thanks for your support.
For those of you who will continue supporting us, thank you as well. We hope you still find our releases entertaining.

Komi Can’t Communicate – 07

Photo courtesy by our QC, bucket3432.

Nyaa

And we’re back! And Komi is at the pool with her friends! Welcome to Komi’s pool episode! Let’s be adults about this, please.

We have a BD source now, too! Expect that in the next decade.

NovaWorks releases are designed for playback in mpv. Other media players have not been tested and may result in playback issues.

Me and Roboco – 09

Rowboco!

Nyaa

In today’s episode of Roboco, she holds a secret! Does it have anything to do with the Bermu4? Or her ability to mimic Shigaraki? Or maybe she’s the reason we were stalling? Who knows!

NovaWorks releases are designed for playback in mpv. Other media players have not been tested and may result in playback issues.

Me and Roboco – 08

All of you when you saw how stalled Roboco got over this past month.

Nyaa

We’re a little late with this one. Lots of factors as to why, but we’ll get back on track eventually. I hope. Anyways, in this episode, we meet Gachigorilla’s family! Including his little brothers who are kinda forgettable, his pushover mother, and his dragon manga artist little sister, Ruri!

NovaWorks releases are designed for playback in mpv. Other media players have not been tested and may result in playback issues.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 04 + 05

Who’s gonna tell them?

Nyaa (04)
Nyaa (05)

That’s right! Dual release for Kubo this time! Stalling does have its merits sometimes, gotta admit.

Thanks for remaining patient while we try to catch up! Episode 6 will be out sometime this week hopefully, and then after that we’ll be playing the waiting game until May!

NovaWorks releases are designed for playback in mpv. Other media players have not been tested and may result in playback issues.

Me and Roboco – 07

She may be the ultimate weapon, but she’ll never be the ultimate life form. That honor goes to Shadow.

Nyaa

Knee Jesus has emerged from the stalling dungeon for a sakuga-filled episode of fun and dark pasts!

NovaWorks releases are designed for playback in mpv. Other media players have not been tested and may result in playback issues.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 03

Yeah, you’re telling me. Here I thought we were on top of things enough to not fall behind.

Nyaa

No! H-Honest, ma’am! I wasn’t going to buy that magazine with the boobs on the cover! I was gonna buy the other one with the boobs on the cover!

As you probably heard by now, Kubo will be going on hiatus next month due to production issues. We don’t expect the series to return until May, but we’ll still be here when it does. We’ll keep them coming as they come to us.

NovaWorks releases are designed for playback in mpv. Other media players have not been tested and may result in playback issues.