Viper's Creed

Viper's Creed
Viper's Creed title card
ヴァイパーズ・クリード
(Vaipāzu Kurīdo)
Created bySony Pictures Entertainment Japan
AIC Spirits
Digital Frontier
Anime television series
Directed byShinji Aramaki (Chief)
Hiroyuki Kanbe
Produced byTooru Miura
Hidenori Ueki
Written byMasanao Akahoshi
Music byTetsuya Takahashi
Naoyuki Horiuchi
Rinka
Shōgo Ōnishi
StudioAIC Spirits
Digital Frontier
Licensed by
Original networkAnimax, BS11
English network
Original run January 6, 2009 March 24, 2009
Episodes12 (List of episodes)

Viper's Creed (ヴァイパーズ・クリード, Vaipāzu Kurīdo) is a mecha action anime series created by Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan[1] with animation by AIC Spirits and Digital Frontier.[2] Though Hiroyuki Kanbe is the main director of the show,[3] Shinji Aramaki is solely responsible for the creation and conception of the show.[2][3] G4 aired the show in the United States, but later pulled it from the schedule after only four episodes.[citation needed][4]

Plot[edit]

With most of the Earth's cities underwater due to the onset of global warming followed by a third world war which brought calamity and turmoil to the people, various PMCs are one of the few remaining organizations able to provide law enforcement and self-defense protection for cities that are trying to rebuild again from the war and the floods.[5] One of the PMCs providing law enforcement is the Arqon Global Security corporation, responsible for protecting Fort Daiva City from terrorism, armed crimes, and renegade unmanned machines called Bug Mechs,[6] by deploying its elite military unit called ViperEp 02 led by its operatives called Blademen.Ep 01

Cast[edit]

Viper's Creed major cast
Role Japanese English
Lead roles
Rudra Schenkel Shinji Kawada Brendan Hunter
Sakurako Kariya Megumi Toyoguchi Carol-Anne Day
Saiki Creed Takaya Kuroda Jonathan Love
Norma Nguyen Junko Minagawa Meredith Taylor-Parry
Gharib Svarogue Mitsuaki Hoshino Michael Dobson
Haruki Oguma Jun Fukuyama Scott Roberts
Recurring roles
Telesia Strauss Yuki Kaida Onalea Gilbertson
UIla Chiaki Takahiro Sakurai Frank Zotter
Walter Henderson Hiroshi Yanaka Don Brown
Fuyuhuko Oguma Tamio Ooki Paul Cowling
Ageha Nana Akiyama Leda Davies
Kelly Treag Rina Satou Melanie Ridson
Chris Ladd Kana Ueda Laura Rushfeldt
Sabrina Canudd Hina Sakurai Angie Beers
Zaliche Shunsuke Sakuya Noah Umholtz
Jill Merneau Sachiko Kojima Emily Bachynski
Doc Kinryuu Arimoto Doug DeNance
Gilles Dai Matsumoto Mike Shepherd
Utsugi Kazuki Yao Doug McKeag
Jimmy Tetsuhara Oota Adam Hunter
Maika Sachiko Kojima April Banigan

Mecha[edit]

Maneuver Blades[edit]

Maneuver Blades are humanoid mecha employed by Blademen, possessing the remarkable ability to transform into motorcycles. These mecha are equipped with essential weaponry, including an assault rifle, a rocket launcher on each shoulder, and a left shoulder-mounted missile pod consisting of six tubes. While in motorcycle form they can easily reach speeds over 80 kilometers an hour. Most maneuver blades are equipped with a secondary weapon depending on the combat tactics of the pilot including a grenade launcher attachment to the assault rifle, heat chainsaw, a gatling gun, or a sniper rifle. The head of the mecha also serves as cameras with highly detailed targeting scanners.

Bug Mechs[edit]

Bug Mechs are unmanned mecha based on insects that were used as autonomous war machines during the great war. However, due to their AI they became unable to differentiate between friend and foe and became very difficult to be reprogrammed. The bug mechs are usually armed with gatling guns and homing mines called Spider Mines or "Ticker Bombs" in which they use their spider-like legs to attach to enemies before exploding. As demonstrated in episodes 2 and 11, bug mechs are very versatile and can easily move around in dark and underground environments. Five types of bug mechs were used during the events of the series and with the exception of the sputnik every bug mech returns in the final episode by the military.

  • Mega Soma: Armed with twin gatling guns, ticker bombs, spider mines, and spear legs.
  • Gelus: Armed with twin gatling guns.
  • Sputnik: Armed with twin gatling guns and spear legs.
  • Acromantis: Armed with scythe arms, a gatling gun, and spider mines.
  • Mobilius: Armed with spider mines, back missile pod, a left arm machine gun, and a right arm claw.

Production[edit]

News of Viper's Creed went on the internet when screenplay writer Ai Ōta announced on her official blog that Shinji Aramaki would be involved in the creation of the series.[7][8] An announcement was then circulated on November 11, 2008 that Hiroyuki Kanbe would direct the series with Shinji Aramaki being named as the main chief director.[2][9] The roles of Saiki Cryde and Kariya Sakurako were given to voice actors Takaya Kuroda and Megumi Toyoguchi, respectively.[10][11]

A special advance screening was shown on Animax on December 30, 2008.[8][12] Viper's Creed was subsequently broadcast on Animax and BS11 channels, the former being the first to air it on January 6, 2009 at 10:00 PM before BS11 aired it on its channel on January 10, 2009 at 11:30 PM.[1] The opening song is called R.O.C.K. by iLL[13] with a CD single released on January 28, 2009[14] while the ending song Ai no Oto is sung in English by moumoon.[15] It was released as a CD single and as a CD single with a DVD on February 25, 2009.[16]

An official podcast webpage dedicated to Viper's Creed was subsequently established.[17]

Zee Cafe India airs the show in India on March 21, 2023.[18]

Media[edit]

DVD[edit]

Region 2 DVDs of Viper's Creed have been released in Japan with 3 episodes each. As of October 2009, Volume 1 was released on August 5, 2009[19] with Volume 2 released on September 2, 2009.[20] Volume 3 was released on October 7, 2009.[21]

In 2018, Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete series in Region 1 as part of their Anime 3-Series Collection along with Kurozuka and Ultraviolet: Code 044.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "VIPER'S CREED-ヴァイパーズ・クリード-" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  2. ^ a b c "Viper's Creed Sci-Fi Anime's Pilot Footage Streamed (Updated)". Anime News Network. 2008-11-14. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  3. ^ a b "Staff/Cast Section, Official BS11 Viper's Creed Page" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  4. ^ The appearance of Viper's Creed on G4 follows the North American television debut of Marvel Anime.
  5. ^ "Official Animax Japan Viper's Creed summary" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  6. ^ "Official Animax Japan Viper's Creed Features Page" (in Japanese). Animax. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  7. ^ オンエア予定 (in Japanese). 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  8. ^ a b "Appleseed's Aramaki to Direct Viper's Creed in January". Anime News Network. 2008-10-31. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  9. ^ "『VIPER'S CREED』製作発表会の模様をストリーミング配信" (in Japanese). 2008-11-14. Archived from the original on 2009-03-28. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  10. ^ "ヒロインに豊口めぐみ、総監督に荒牧伸志! 『VIPER'S CREED』制作記者会見" (in Japanese). 2008-12-05. Archived from the original on 2009-03-28. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  11. ^ "「VIPER'S CREED」製作発表記者会見開催!" (in Japanese). Sony Pictures Japan. 2008-11-10. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  12. ^ "Animax Japan TV Schedule for December 30, 2008" (in Japanese). Animax. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  13. ^ "R.O.C.K. - iLL" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  14. ^ "Official iLL Discography" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  15. ^ "アニマックス開局10周年記念作品 VIPER'S CREED 2009年1月6日(火)放送開始" (in Japanese). Sony Pictures Japan. 2008-11-10. Archived from the original on 2010-12-30. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  16. ^ "moumoon's official new release index" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  17. ^ "Official Viper's Creed podcast page" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-02-06. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  18. ^ "Zee Café Airs Viper's Creed Anime in India".
  19. ^ "Amazon Japan's Viper's Creed DVD: Volume 1 Page" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  20. ^ "Amazon Japan's Viper's Creed DVD: Volume 2 Page" (in Japanese). Amazon Japan. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  21. ^ "Amazon Japan's Viper Creed: Volume 3 Page" (in Japanese). Amazon Japan. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  22. ^ "ANIME 3 SERIES COLLECTION". Millcreekent.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.

Episodes[edit]

  • ^ "dokugan -cyclops-". Viper's Creed. Series 1. Episode 1. January 6, 2009. Animax and BS11.
  • ^ "shin hei -unknown-". Viper's Creed. Series 1. Episode 2. January 13, 2009. Animax and BS11.

External links[edit]