Spider Riders: Oracle no Yuusha-tachi

Synopsis:

Episodes:

• Episode 1: The Inner World (Aired: 04/05/2006)
• Episode 2: Never Give Up (Aired: 04/12/2006)
• Episode 3: First Impressions (Aired: 04/19/2006)
• Episode 4: Smells Like Team Spider (Aired: 04/26/2006)
• Episode 5: Memories of Champions (Aired: 05/03/2006)
• ... and 21 more episodes

Characters:

• Corona (Main) - Voice Actors: Chiba, Saeko, Silvestri, Marcella, Corbeil, Claudia-Laurie, Barboza, Jhaidy, Depass, Stacey
• Shadow (Main) - Voice Actors: Kondo, Takashi, Motiki, Joe, Balzarotti, Marco, Beaupré, Jean-François
• Steele, Hunter (Main) - Voice Actors: Kumai, Motoko, Lemieux, Julie, Castiglia, George, Dolan, François-Nicolas, Bringas, Jorge
• Aqune (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Kobayashi, Sanae, Pacotto, Emanuela, Court, Alyson, Noguera, Judith, Cohen, Lin
• Beerain (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Asakawa, Yuu, Séguin, Christine, Cohen, Lin, Bolívar, Maite, Ray, Elley
• Buguese (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Seki, Toshihiko, Bonino, Giorgio
• Grasshop (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Chiba, Shigeru, Sabre, Diego, Melville, Carman
• Grey (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Katsu, Anri
• Igneous (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Koyasu, Takehito, Iacono, Gianluca, Hamaguchi, Tim, Charbonneaux, Nicolas
• Lumen (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Higa, Kumiko, Novara, Renato, Ansell, Cameron
• Magma (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Smith, Lyon, Kotani, Kinya, Scattorin, Lorenzo
• Mantid (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Chouinard, Patrick, Yanaka, Hiroshi, Belisario, Ledner
• Narrator (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Picard, Daniel
• Sparkle (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Shimizu, Kaori, Isambert, Laetitia
• Stags (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Miyake, Kenta, Rivard, Stéphane, Petronijevic, Dan

Staff:

• Arie, Yuuki (Producer, Episode Director, Storyboard)
• Azuma, Fukashi (Producer)
• Ishiyama, Takaaki (Director)
• Mashimo, Kouichi (Director, Storyboard)
• Hirata, Yutaka (Episode Director, Storyboard)
• Itoga, Shintarou (Episode Director, Storyboard)
• Kurokawa, Tomoyuki (Episode Director, Storyboard)
• Takamura, Yuuta (Episode Director)
• Taillon, Nadine (Script)
• Ishihira, Shinji (Storyboard)
• Kurosawa, Masayuki (Storyboard, Editing)
• Sakata, Junichi (Storyboard)
• Watanabe, Masaki (Storyboard)
• Chevrette, Hugolin (Theme Song Performance)
• Yamada, Tamaru (Theme Song Composition, Theme Song Performance, Theme Song Lyrics)
• Anzai, Fumitaka (Music)
• Aoki, Takashi (Director of Photography)
• Chiba, Takaaki (Key Animation)
• Hirayama, Osamu (Key Animation)
• Imaizumi, Yuuichi (Sound Manager)
• Itagaki, Shin (Key Animation)
• Katou, Tatsuya (Music)
• Kikuchi, Tsutomu (Animation Director)
• Kikuchi, Youko (Key Animation)
• Koizuka, Masashi (Key Animation)
• Kojima, Makiko (Color Design)
• Koyama, Toshihisa (Art Director)
• Kuroda, Yousuke (Series Composition, Screenplay)
• Lee, Mi-yeong (Animation Check, Key Animation)
• Miyamae, Shinichi (Animation Director)
• Naraoka, Hikaru (Key Animation)
• Ogawa, Tamotsu (Key Animation)
• Ooshita, Tomoyuki (Key Animation)
• Reding, Sébastien (ADR Director)
• Saiki, Yasuhiro (Animation Director)
• Shigekuni, Yuuji (Animation Director)
• Sunada, Shigeki (Key Animation)
• Takehara, Kenji (Director of Photography)
• Teraoka, Kenji (Mechanical Design)
• Tsubata, Yoshiaki (Animation Director, Key Animation)
• Tsuruta, Hitomi (Key Animation)
• Tsutsumiya, Noriko (In-Between Animation)
• Urahata, Masaru (Sound Effects)
• Watanabe, Asami (Key Animation)

Reviews:

• User soaker87 (Score: 9/10):
  Another of my favorite anime goes unreviewed, so I'll try my best. Spider Riders is an anime that gets a lot of negativity, at least from the few people who have actually heard of it. This is somewhat justifiable, considering the butchered dub that most viewers were exposed to. However, the original Japanese version is worth giving a try. Note: Although SR was aired as 2 separate series in Japan due to ratings, it was intended to only be one, and was properly aired as such in the rest of the world. Thus, this review will reflect the entire series, not just the first 26 episodes. Story:I watch a lot of anime aimed at children, and story usually isn't their strong suit. Spider Riders is an exception to the rule. It's about a boy who, following his grandfather's journal, discovers an alternate world where the humans are at war with humanoid bugs called Insectors. Thus, rather than a systematic monster-of-the-week, unending quest show, Spider Riders has an overall objective; to win the war. There's some pretty interesting twists as the story goes on, so it's not even as straightforward as my explanation would imply.nnThe plot is somewhat derailed in the dub, but explaining why here would spoil one of the best of these twists.nnArt: Studio Bee Train does a great job with the art. The character designs are bright, cute and appealing. The spider designs all manage to be unique and intricate as well. I can only think of one episode offhand where the animation quality is noticeably weak, which is always a positive. nnSound: The music, while not incredible, still manages to be quite catchy. It's a bit of a shame no OST was ever released for this series. It has some very nice BGMs with vocal, reminiscent of Yuki Kajiura. The OP and ED themes are generic, but not bad, my personal favorite being the second ED theme, Koi no Keshiki.nnThe english dub replaces the OP with rap, and has a fairly grating soundtrack.nnAs far as the acting goes, the voices suit the characters quite well. Shigeru Chiba as Grasshop (as well as his wife and two kids) is worth mentioning, simply for the amount of nonsensical bantering he does whenever he comes on screen. Toshihiko Seki's Buguese reminded me why I consider him one of my favorite seiyuu.nnThe dub acting, of course, is less appealing. While the actors most definitely improve as the series goes on, some sound quite awful and unfitting in the earlier eps.nnCharacters: The protagonist, Hunter Steele, is as idealistic as your typical shounen hero. He tends to see everything in black and white. However, the characters on either side of the war are in a much more grey area, and that helps make them interesting. While some of the characters are rather flat (the spiders other than Shadow, for instance) others are incredibly strong and dynamic. Most notably, Aqune, Buguese, and Corona. It's also hard to fit the cast into any type of…
• User Kida54 (Score: 10/10):
  There is actually a total of 52 episodes. This is a much underloved and underrated series. It has a great, unique and interesting story line. It has some great character development and growth as well. It's fun action filled and it even manages to throw in some neat twists and turns. I highly recommend looking it up and watching it for yourself. The characters are fun, full of personality the Inner World is imaginative. A select group of warriors are chosen by the Spirit Oracle (basically like a goddess) to obtain a manacle and become a Spider Rider. These warriors ride on hugespiders. Each spider has a unique design and ability. I just love this show and wish more people would watch it and talk about it. It is a great Adventure Fantasy

Forum Topics:

• Spider Riders: Oracle no Yuusha Tachi Episode 1 Discussion

External Links:

• Official Site
• AniDB
• ANN
• Wikipedia
• Syoboi
• Bangumi
• Baidu Baike
• Douban

Related Anime/Manga:

• Spider Riders: Yomigaeru Taiyou (anime - Sequel)