AniDB Scraper - Anime Database & Ratings

Scrape anime data from AniDB, one of the most comprehensive anime databases with 15,000+ anime entries, detailed metadata, community ratings, and rich tag taxonomies.

What does AniDB Scraper do?

This scraper searches AniDB for anime titles and extracts structured data including:

• Basic info: Title, original Japanese title, AniDB ID, type (TV Series/Movie/OVA/etc.), episode count
• Dates: Air date, end date
• Ratings: Weighted rating, temporary (average) rating, review rating with vote counts
• Detail data (optional): Full description, tags, genres, staff/creators, studios, and related anime

Rate Limiting

Important: AniDB aggressively rate-limits requests. This scraper enforces:

• Maximum 1 concurrent request
• 2.5-second delay between requests
• Realistic browser headers

This means scraping is slow by design. A search returning 20 results with details enabled will take approximately 1 minute. Plan accordingly.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchQueries	string[]	["Naruto"]	Anime titles to search for
maxListings	integer	50	Maximum total anime to scrape
scrapeDetails	boolean	false	Visit detail pages for full metadata
proxyConfiguration	object	none	Proxy settings (recommended for large scrapes)

Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
title	string	Anime title (English/Romaji)
titleOriginal	string	Official Japanese title
anidbId	number	AniDB anime ID
type	string	TV Series, Movie, OVA, TV Special, Web, Music Video, Other
episodeCount	string	Number of episodes (or "TBC")
startDate	string	First air date
endDate	string	Last air date
rating	number	Weighted community rating (1-10)
ratingCount	number	Number of rating votes
temporaryRating	number	Average (temporary) rating
temporaryRatingCount	number	Number of average rating votes
reviewRating	number	Average review rating
reviewRatingCount	number	Number of reviews
userCount	number	Number of users who have this anime listed
tags	string	Comma-separated tags (from detail page)
genres	string	Comma-separated genres
description	string	Plot synopsis (detail page only)
studios	string	Animation studios (detail page only)
creators	array	Staff credits with roles (detail page only)
relatedAnime	array	Sequels, prequels, side stories (detail page only)
searchQuery	string	The search query that found this anime
scrapedAt	string	ISO timestamp of when the data was scraped

Example Output

Search only (scrapeDetails: false)

{
    "title": "Naruto",
    "titleOriginal": null,
    "anidbId": 239,
    "type": "TV Series",
    "episodeCount": "220",
    "startDate": "03.10.2002",
    "endDate": "08.02.2007",
    "rating": 5.7,
    "ratingCount": 17468,
    "temporaryRating": 7.55,
    "temporaryRatingCount": 18436,
    "reviewRating": 7.4,
    "reviewRatingCount": 52,
    "userCount": 25441,
    "tags": null,
    "genres": null,
    "description": null,
    "studios": null,
    "creators": null,
    "relatedAnime": null,
    "url": "https://anidb.net/anime/239",
    "searchQuery": "Naruto",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-25T12:00:00.000Z"
}

With details (scrapeDetails: true)

{
    "title": "Naruto",
    "titleOriginal": "NARUTO",
    "anidbId": 239,
    "type": "TV Series",
    "episodeCount": "220",
    "startDate": "2002-10-03",
    "endDate": "2007-02-08",
    "rating": 5.7,
    "ratingCount": 17468,
    "temporaryRating": 7.55,
    "temporaryRatingCount": 18436,
    "reviewRating": 7.4,
    "reviewRatingCount": 52,
    "userCount": 25441,
    "tags": "action, adventure, comedy, manga, martial arts, ninja, shounen, super power",
    "genres": "action, adventure, comedy, manga, martial arts, ninja, shounen, super power",
    "description": "Naruto closely follows the life of a boy who is feared and detested by the villagers...",
    "studios": "Studio Pierrot",
    "creators": [
        { "role": "Original Work", "names": ["Kishimoto Masashi"] },
        { "role": "Direction", "names": ["Date Hayato"] },
        { "role": "Series Composition", "names": ["Sumisawa Katsuyuki", "Takegami Junki"] },
        { "role": "Character Design", "names": ["Nishio Tetsuya", "Suzuki Hirofumi"] },
        { "role": "Music", "names": ["Masuda Toshio", "Musashi Project"] },
        { "role": "Animation Work", "names": ["Studio Pierrot"] }
    ],
    "relatedAnime": [
        {
            "title": "Naruto Shippuuden",
            "anidbId": 4880,
            "relation": "Sequel",
            "info": "TV Series, 2007-2017, 500 eps",
            "url": "https://anidb.net/anime/4880"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://anidb.net/anime/239",
    "searchQuery": "Naruto",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-25T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Use Cases

• Anime research: Build a database of anime metadata for analysis
• Recommendation engines: Use tags, genres, and related anime data
• Community analytics: Track rating distributions and popularity trends
• Content aggregation: Combine AniDB data with other anime databases
• Watchlist management: Export anime lists with full metadata

Tips

1. Start small: Due to rate limits, test with 5-10 results first
2. Use proxies: For larger scrapes, enable proxy configuration to avoid IP bans
3. Detail pages are expensive: Each detail page requires an additional request with 2.5s delay
4. Multiple queries: You can search for multiple anime in one run, but the total is capped by maxListings

Cost Estimation

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

• Each scraped anime item costs $0.005
• Example: 50 anime = $0.25
• Detail pages add time but not extra item cost (same anime, more data)