Spider Riders FTW

A Spider Riders blog. May contain various different things, like meta, fanworks, or whatever. Note that I am always happy to chat about this show with anyone, so long as you're respectful.

[spiderridersftw]

Did you know?

Battle for Arachna, the old Spider Riders MMORPG card/dice battle flash game is making a comeback.

The game is already partly playable, including the main levels, bonus levels and mini games. 

The revival project is on the lookout for more help, especially if you’re a programmer or illustrator. We are also looking for a social media director.

Of course, if you can’t help but just want to play the game again, check out our Discord anyway for links and instructions to get it running.

Even if you’re not into the game, this is the only active SR Discord that I know of, and we do chat about the anime and fanfics and the like now and then, and I’d love to see some more fans here.

Check out the Spider Riders: Battle for Arachna community on Discord - hang out with 467 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

[authoratmidnight]

So, Spider Riders fans, did you know the series was (loosely) based on a series of novels? Not a manga. Not a Japanese light novel. But english kid novels?

Yeah cause they are! It's a series of three, tho from what I can tell only the first two were adapted into the anime.

Now you may have know that, you might not have. But what you probably didn't know was who the authors were.

See, I often wondered how in the world a very obscure, not Japanese book, got made into an anime. Cause usually anime are either based on an existing Japanese work (a light novel, a manga, something) or is a totally original work. And if you are going to make an anime adaptation of a, not originally Japanese work you're gonna go for something, well known yeah? So how on earth did Spider Riders of all things manage this?

Well. Turns out the authors (who are married) had worked in animation before. Like. That was their JOB, not writing kid's books.

Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron-Anasti have directing and writing/editing credits on shows such as The Smurfs (1983), Ducktales(the og one), Alvin and the Chipmunks, Beetlejuice, Dragon Tales, The Little Mermaid (the tv series), to name a few. Like, they have IMBD pages you can check out for yourself.

Like, those are some pretty darn well known works. Which probably explains how they managed to get these books adapted, they already had connections in that industry. Which is WILD to me.

Now, if it was produced in English or Japanese first, or if both productions happened at roughly the same time, I have no idea. It's hard to tell cause they came out around the same time but I cannot figure out which came first if either did.

[spiderridersftw]

Hey! While I don’t really use this blog anymore, mainly due to a severe depletion of ideas and it never getting much engagement, I still have a lot of Spider Riders resources in the archives.

I scanlated the first 6 chapters of the manga, which can be found in various posts in this tag:

Unfortunately never got to do the last three, because only the first 6 were published in a physical volume, and the web-rip raws are so low-quality I can’t read them well. And there’s actually a 10th chapter, allegedly, but it was never even on the website, just the magazine, so I don’t have that at all. Here is 1-9 raw:

Lastly, the production history of Spider Riders was well-detailed in the Directors book, which came with the Japanese DVD release. I also translated that, but the gist is that the manga and anime were produced roughly simultaneously. The English staff commissioned Bee Train and they had to follow some requirements, but mostly had the liberty to do their own thing and very much did. As far as I know, the first book was published before the anime actually started airing. Most likely it only happened because of Tedd Anasti’s influence (the getting to commission a Japanese anime studio in the first place part), but he used to post on fan communities and even said that he didn’t really know what made it into the anime until watching it. The English side of things had no real creative control on the show aside from the basic requirements, which is why the books and anime share a basic premise and some character names but really nothing more.

Directors book here:

The R2 DVD release came with something called a “Directors Book“, which contained an extremely long interview with some of the Japanese staf

[authoratmidnight]

OOooooh nice! Will definitely look over these later.

I had never heard about a 10th chapter (and the wikipedia page never mentioned a 10th one, so if it does/did exist it’s truly lost media).

And yeah, the novels were published first, book one came out in 2004 and the anime seems to have started in 2006. It’s the sub and dub where I don’t know which came first (given that apparently the dub changed stuff I would assume sub first) or if they were produced simultaneously.

[spiderridersftw]

Ah, in that case, the Japanese version definitely came first. However, the dub aired first. The second half of it, anyway. That was due to the show getting bad ratings and the original Japanese network dropping it. The second network that aired it started from episode 1, so the dub had nearly finished airing when they finally got to new content.

But yeah, there were whole scenes that were cut and changed in the dub (sometimes obviously just to make time for commercials, because there was nothing remotely questionable there).

They likely planned for the dub and Japanese version to air simultaneously, which isn’t too unusual considering how many simuldubs there are now. It was just a lot less common back then.

[authoratmidnight]

So, Spider Riders fans, did you know the series was (loosely) based on a series of novels? Not a manga. Not a Japanese light novel. But english kid novels?

Yeah cause they are! It's a series of three, tho from what I can tell only the first two were adapted into the anime.

Now you may have know that, you might not have. But what you probably didn't know was who the authors were.

See, I often wondered how in the world a very obscure, not Japanese book, got made into an anime. Cause usually anime are either based on an existing Japanese work (a light novel, a manga, something) or is a totally original work. And if you are going to make an anime adaptation of a, not originally Japanese work you're gonna go for something, well known yeah? So how on earth did Spider Riders of all things manage this?

Well. Turns out the authors (who are married) had worked in animation before. Like. That was their JOB, not writing kid's books.

Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron-Anasti have directing and writing/editing credits on shows such as The Smurfs (1983), Ducktales(the og one), Alvin and the Chipmunks, Beetlejuice, Dragon Tales, The Little Mermaid (the tv series), to name a few. Like, they have IMBD pages you can check out for yourself.

Like, those are some pretty darn well known works. Which probably explains how they managed to get these books adapted, they already had connections in that industry. Which is WILD to me.

Now, if it was produced in English or Japanese first, or if both productions happened at roughly the same time, I have no idea. It's hard to tell cause they came out around the same time but I cannot figure out which came first if either did.

[spiderridersftw]

Hey! While I don’t really use this blog anymore, mainly due to a severe depletion of ideas and it never getting much engagement, I still have a lot of Spider Riders resources in the archives.

I scanlated the first 6 chapters of the manga, which can be found in various posts in this tag:

Unfortunately never got to do the last three, because only the first 6 were published in a physical volume, and the web-rip raws are so low-quality I can’t read them well. And there’s actually a 10th chapter, allegedly, but it was never even on the website, just the magazine, so I don’t have that at all. Here is 1-9 raw:

Lastly, the production history of Spider Riders was well-detailed in the Directors book, which came with the Japanese DVD release. I also translated that, but the gist is that the books and anime were produced roughly simultaneously. The English staff commissioned Bee Train and they had to follow some requirements, but mostly had the liberty to do their own thing and very much did. As far as I know, the first book was published before the anime actually started airing. Most likely it only happened because of Tedd Anasti’s influence (the getting to commission a Japanese anime studio in the first place part), but he used to post on fan communities and even said that he didn’t really know what made it into the anime until watching it. The English side of things had no real creative control on the show aside from the basic requirements, which is why the books and anime share a basic premise and some character names but really nothing more.

Directors book here:

The R2 DVD release came with something called a “Directors Book“, which contained an extremely long interview with some of the Japanese staf

[totallyblooktacular]

local dumbass makes the canvas wayyyyy too small for something like this and carries through with it anyways

i think its probably been a while since i drew aqune so im back on my bullshit babeyyyy

[fakehappy96]

Felt like doing some Spider Riders screenshot redraws. Can you tell who my fave is?

[kisuminight]

Questions

Post-series, slight book elements. Hunter isn’t that much of an idiot, but he’s not that brave, either. A list of questions compiled over the course of the series and some musings about Hunter’s past before the Inner World.

Third Person POV, Hunter-centric, stream of consciousness. Notes at the end.

Keep reading

[kisuminight]

Rainfire

Sometimes you remember something you watched when you were a kid and then you go look it up. And then you get ideas.

This story addresses the idea that never gets covered in the Spider Riders anime that the Inner World might (and probably does) have very different diseases. And Hunter, being Earthen, has no immunity to them.

Third Person POV, centered on Igneous. Adds a couple book elements and headcannons. Notes at the end.

Keep reading

[spiderridersftw]

I used to watch the dub cuz it aired on tv, but now I'm watching the sub and like I love SR more cuz of it! Not to be offensive or anythin, but I honestly hated hearing their English voice actors. My impression of Sparkle and Corona (my two favourite characters) has changed (itgotbetter) because I'm now hearing their Japanese voice actors (so different/doesn't aggravate me as much!) Random rant over, who are your favourites? I only discovered your blog today so I haven't explored it yet, but 👍

Hi,

I know this blog is kinda dead. Sorry about that.

I’m not a big fan of the English dub either. Not even for the voices, but more for the changes. Seeing what they did to ep. 23 made me so mad.

Buguese,Aqune and Sparkle are my favorites. And Lumen and Igneous I love a lot too.

[rebootgirl-89]

Ummmm Crave TV has Spider Riders!!! Ahh!!!! I loved this show as a kid. I’m so excited!! I use to love playing the game.

[spiderridersftw]

I’ve never even heard of Crave TV, but reblogging this to signal boost if anyone has/uses it.

[totallyblooktacular]

She

[totallyblooktacular]

dark sr fandom give me the forbidden magma content

[totallyblooktacular]

wanted to see if i could get a good grasp on how his hairstyle works so heres everyones favorite dumbass

[totallyblooktacular]

a little messy but heres another excellent girl

[totallyblooktacular]

thot

[fakehappy96]

I think I need to work on how I do hair, or at least the adding colour bit. I was gonna use washi tape again but I don’t have one in his colour (someone buy me more washi tape please🛍)

ANYWAY this is the start of a project I’ve been literally dying to do for ages, where I redraw my old drawings of/straight up illustrate my childhood crushes, starting with the ones I would genuinely stay up crying about because they weren’t real. 😓 That said, I think I’ve only genuinely had a crush on like 4 irl people that I actually know, like, ever?? 🤔OH WELL THO RIGHT. This was a baaaad obsession, this is Prince Lumen from Spider Riders, one of the worst and best shows I’ve ever watched hands down. I certainly recommend watching it. Sub not dub. The dub makes grown men cry.

Did anyone else watch this as a kid? I need people to talk about it with. Considering doing more work for this show actually there’s literally n o t h i n g and I’m ashamed of you all for this

[spiderridersftw]

Awesome!

Yeah, I know a lot of people love the dub, but I just find it so cringey.

I’d be thrilled to see any more art for this show. There’s so little. And fic too. Or, just about anything. Even when the show was still on, the fandom was always a tiny one.

[fakehappy96]

Aaa thank you so much! I watched it loads when I was younger, I was outright obsessed for the longest time. I’m hoping to create more work for the show too, like fanart and fanfics and maybe even a comic at some point.

I’m glad there are still people around who remember this show. I’m hoping we can get some hype about it in hopes of it maybe being remade or having a comeback like Voltron has. Maybe.

[spiderridersftw]

I was crazy obsessed when the show was first airing. Then lost interest and then got dragged in again somehow.

A remake would be really amazing. Especially if they could do something more true to the books, or at least closer to the original scrapped outlines for the anime. There’s so much potential. But I guess since the original show never really caught on, there’s not much chance of that.

[fakehappy96]

I think I need to work on how I do hair, or at least the adding colour bit. I was gonna use washi tape again but I don’t have one in his colour (someone buy me more washi tape please🛍)

ANYWAY this is the start of a project I’ve been literally dying to do for ages, where I redraw my old drawings of/straight up illustrate my childhood crushes, starting with the ones I would genuinely stay up crying about because they weren’t real. 😓 That said, I think I’ve only genuinely had a crush on like 4 irl people that I actually know, like, ever?? 🤔OH WELL THO RIGHT. This was a baaaad obsession, this is Prince Lumen from Spider Riders, one of the worst and best shows I’ve ever watched hands down. I certainly recommend watching it. Sub not dub. The dub makes grown men cry.

Did anyone else watch this as a kid? I need people to talk about it with. Considering doing more work for this show actually there’s literally n o t h i n g and I’m ashamed of you all for this

[spiderridersftw]

Awesome!

Yeah, I know a lot of people love the dub, but I just find it so cringey.

I’d be thrilled to see any more art for this show. There’s so little. And fic too. Or, just about anything. Even when the show was still on, the fandom was always a tiny one.

[authoratmidnight]

Ok, general rambling done but I just, I gotta ramble about my favourite character from Spider Riders.

(warning for series spoilers on the off chance anyone plans to watch this show)

So, Grasshop. This loser is, probably my favourite character(or one of them). Like, he starts off like, a Team Rocket type villain. You know, woefully incompetent at their job and exists solely to get beaten by the protagonists and is really not that much of a threat, is really kind of a coward and tends to pull dirty, underhanded tricks in order to win. The butt monkey character. You know, that kind of character.

(my running headcanon is that someone submitted his name for promotion as a joke but then it went through now he’s a among the Mantid’s top four and whoops! cause joke or clerical error aside, idk how he got that position).

And yet, he has some of my favourite character interactions and my favourite character arc in the series.

I mean, truthfully his motivation boils down to ‘I just want to be someone my wife and kids can be proud of’. He wants to make them happy and provide for them. Cause he absolutely loves his family and is vocal about it (at least as far as the dub goes). Like, he straight up gushes about his wife and kids and is absolutely unashamed about how much he loves them (several characters remark about he talks about his family all the time). And likewise, despite her nagging, she does love him (I love her line about how he ‘may be be a goof, but he’s my goof’). Their reunions are adorable and it just solidifies how much they love each other.

And then in the second half of the show, after he’s been disgraced and basically kicked out, he has one heck of a character arc that culminates in a heel-face turn I sure never expected when I first started watching. All because, quite honestly, one person decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust him(granted this all came from a ~6 year old but, you know, someone had to do it). Which leads me to something else interesting.

He’s made out to be the most cowardly character in the series. When given the option to fight or run, he’d rather run and hide. He’s not a fighter (unlike Stags, Beerain and Buguese he never directly engages the Spider Riders in combat, he usually sends someone/thing else to do it) and as soon as a fight stops going his way he is out of there. So yeah, he’s a coward(and a self admitted one at that).

And yet, he pulls probably some of the bravest moves in the show.

Twice he puts himself between Sparkle and someone who was intending to kill her, even though he knows full well can’t fight them. First is against Scarab where uses his own body to intercept an attack aimed at the little girl, the second was against Beerain, who is arguably more dangerous where he does attempt to fight her. And I can almost guarantee that if someone threatened one of his kids in such a manner he’d do the same thing. Cowardly he might be, but he’ll suck it up when someone he cares about is in danger, he literally would not be able to live with himself if he let someone he cared about get hurt(he even states this, that if he allowed Sparkle to get hurt he’d never be able to face his family).

And in a case of ‘probably seemed like a good idea at the time’ he actually goes up to Mantid and straight up says ‘do what you want to me but spare the Spider Riders’. Like, dude(and wow the resulting scene, let’s just say it’s a good thing this show is not that dark and not aimed at an older audience). I mean, the moment Mantid takes him up on the offer he’s realizing that maaaybe that wasn’t the smartest thing to do but, he still did it nonetheless.

Like, I consider those actions hella brave, esp for a guy who normally turns tail and flees or hides. Like, he straight up willingly risks his own hide, for someone else.

And he gets some glorious character interactions during this heel-face turn process. My favourite being his relationship with Princess Sparkle. Cause she’s the first one to trust him and befriend him (even though at the time yeah he was intending to use this friendship for his own gain). Cause frankly, it’s adorable. And once he does make the turn you can see he just wants to live up to the expectations she has and not disappoint her. And the fact that she’s about the age of his own kids helps(I wonder if at some point his ‘dad’ instinct kicked in and so he was just like ‘I must make sure she never comes to harm’ cause she may be a Spider Rider but she IS still a 6 year old child, and he IS still a dad).

I dunno, when I started watching Spider Riders I just waved him off as ‘goofy comic relief villain’ but like, he ended up really winning me over and I have a soft spot for the guy. (also apparently in the sub he’s a lot more, self aware/4th wall break-y which sounds hilarious as all hell)