Spider Riders is a pretty generic show. In all honesty, I wouldn't even care about it if the dub weren't so hilariously awkward. It's about Hunter Steele, a kid with a cool name and a personality you'll recognize instantly if you've watched a single shounen anime that was made within the past 25 years. He accidentally lands in a parallel world (stop me if you've heard this one) and has to collect four super important macguffins (so innovative!) to save it from destruction (vhat a tweest). There's also a prophesy about him. Like seriously, can you imagine something so utterly original?
But anyway, on to the dub. What makes this one really special is the voice director apparently felt that it was absolutely vital that the actors' lines match the lip flap exactly. This was apparently emphasized at highest priority, at the cost of such trivial acting techniques as showing emotion or properly inflecting one's sentences. The result is a hilarious trainwreck of a bunch of William Shatner impersonators being repeatedly punched in the gut. Here, have a sample:
Anyway, that's why I'm doing this. Feel free to follow along if you must. The series is available through Netflix Streaming or any number of illegal Youtube uploads because no one gives a shit about it. Before I begin, though, have some character bios. I'll focus on the riders and their mounts for now. Maybe I'll cover the villains in another post.
