Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Netflix's anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is the embodiment of '80s and early '90s anime. It's overly-dramatic, ridiculously bombastic, ...

It builds on the world of Night City and the characters from the underworld that live within it. It's a lot of neon. However, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is sentimental for the past while creating its own path with a story and look that is reminiscent of anime like Akira, Battle Angel, and other sci-fi action content from that time. The action is over-the-top, featuring shootouts with hundreds of bullets flying across the screen in a matter of seconds and wildly-violent deaths where blood comes out of the dead like geysers. The amount of attention that's paid to where things and people are framed is incredible. Netflix's anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is the embodiment of '80s and early '90s anime.

In Cyberpunk 2077, V's ascent into the criminal underworld was explored in a five-minute cutscene. In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, David Martinez takes about ...

Based on the acclaimed tabletop franchise and set in same universe as the video game Cyberpunk 2077, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is an animated series which tells a standalone, 10-episode story about a street kid trying to survive in a technology and body modification-obsessed city of the future. When the story becomes too grim, the art style helps lift it up to maintain the hyper-reality of the cyberpunk genre, while the mature storytelling also reigns in Studio Trigger from going too overboard tonally. These relationships are front-and-center of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, with David’s rise within this food chain serving as a fascinating vantage point to take in this setting. That time gives Studio Trigger and creator Rafał Jaki breathing room to explore Night City and the broken dreams of its inhabitants in an exhilarating 10-episode series that makes a strong argument that CDPR might have something solid to build on for future Cyberpunk stories. Whereas V’s mercenary adventures are quite literally hijacked when their body and mind become a living space for Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand, David’s storyline is almost exclusively focused on the criminal elements of Night City. When David has to begin fending for himself, Edgerunners takes the time to explore how Night City can be terrifying in ways that go beyond psychotic cybernetically enhanced street gangs, which is to say capitalism.

'Promare' director Hiroyuki Imaishi's ultraviolent action is colorful and kinetic, but it's the quiet moments—lovely, sad, and otherwise, that make this ...

And without scolding the audience for enjoying its well-choreographed and bloody setpieces, Edgerunners makes a point of paying heed to the consequences both physical (what’s left behind is grody. And David and Lucy’s romance, fraught and thorny, is genuinely lovely. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is at its best when David and Lucy get to be still, in the comparatively brief moments of peace they dig out of their lives. He finds deliverance from his malaise in a crew of Edgerunners (cyberware-wielding mercenaries and outlaws) who, despite a guns-drawn introduction, take him on and teach him their world. And, though Edgerunners is David, Lucy, and their fellow Edgerunners’ story, it’s just one of many merciless tales in Night City—a place so stubbornly resistant to change that it bounced back from a nuclear bombing more or less intact, a place that devours people. Acknowledging that a well-done romance is catnip to me, David and Lucy’s tale is damn fine catnip. Maine is a teacher and brother figure. It’s a downright downbeat show and one that gets bleaker as it progresses. Night City—the California megalopolis where Edgerunners and 2077 take place—is merciless. [numerous](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/reviews/cyberpunk-three-months-later/) and [significant](https://www.polygon.com/2021/1/13/22229626/cd-projekt-apology-cyberpunk-2077-post-launch-roadmap-patch-107) failings of 2077‘s development and launch, the game as it currently stands features some [tremendously impressive character work](https://www.thegamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-judy-alvarez-story-romance-masterpiece/) and [a defiant melancholy](https://wapo.st/3BECwcZ) that, to get personal, has meant a great deal to me during a rough personal time) I’ve repeatedly come back to Pondsmith’s observation. “Cyberpunk is about that interface between people and technology, but not in that transhumanist way where it’s all about the technology changing or improving them. He’s a smart, anxious, lonely young man teetering on the edge of oblivion.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane: the 1980s were a wild time within the anime medium, with films such as Akira, Demon City Shinjuku, M.D. Geist, ...

As mentioned earlier, Edgerunners is a series that isn't shy about its ultra-violence, and while some of the stars will meet gruesome ends, TRIGGER was able to help make those scenes hit that much harder when they inevitably happen to a member of the crew that we came to know over the ten episodes. The animation here is as energetic and exciting as is necessary for a story involving androids leaving behind light image versions of themselves while holding onto a gun bigger than their own arm, and I was reminded of visuals from the classic anime film Redline when witnessing some of the battles displayed here. The series isn't afraid to explore some dark territory, but what works so well about David's story is the light-hearted family he eventually finds in a gang of "Cyberpunks," a.k.a. Another key takeaway from David's story is that he also happens to be a high school dropout who finds himself in a criminal world in which he messes up...a lot. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners feels like the spiritual successor to these properties, presenting a world of technological advancement which is also mired in decay, and in embracing this landscape, takes first place for original David might not break the mold when it comes to your typical anime protagonist, but he works well as an avatar for the viewers, who could easily see themselves in his shoes, even though those shoes are typically moving at light speed thanks to the new spine implanted in his back.

Back in 1982, a film by Ridley Scott, and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young, called “Blade Runner,” was released.

The way Kenn showcases David’s transformation from a person with just apathy in his veins to a leader who is reeling with the pressure of unfulfilled dreams is masterful. Also, if possible, try to watch it on a big screen, accompanied by the best sound system at your disposal, and in a darkened room. As mentioned before, even though every episode is 25 minutes long, it takes a toll on your senses (in the best way possible). His voice chemistry with every single actor in the show is palpable, especially Hiroki and Aoi, who are excellent in their own right. Because there’s a subplot about a character (keeping it vague here), who dreams of going to the Moon because they think that’s the only place, they’ll find solitude. But some of the not-so-obvious ones are (and this is a big guess on my part) “Cowboy Bebop” and “First Man.” The beautifully done opening title sequence, edited to the tune of “This Fffire” by Franz Ferdinand, really reminded me of “Tank!” by Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts; because of the use of silhouettes and its overall vibe. Not just because it’s one of the only positive things in the plot, but also because of the visually dynamic way it is portrayed. Whether or not that’s overly sexualized or a sign of the character’s sexually liberated traits, I’ll leave that to the experts. Just like the plot, the entirety of “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” is kinetic. And while David’s effort to find his family in Maine’s team to overcome the loss of his mother is certainly endearing, the beating heart of this series lies in his and Lucy’s romance. Hit jobs that a broker for the corporation called Arasaka (whose rival is the corporation called Militech) named Faraday (Kazuhiko Inoue/Giancarlo Esposito) gives to Maine. And it seems like the writers and creators of the show are aware of that.

The Netflix and Studio Trigger anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077. Here are the connections to the video game and ...

But while Cyberpunk: Edgerunners may lack a firm chronological connection to CD Projekt Red’s original game, it makes up for it by telling a story through the character of David Martinez, which parallels with V’s own story in Cyberpunk 2077. By far the strongest aspect Cyberpunk: Edgerunners shares with its video game counterpart is a focus on centering their respective stories on the precipitous rise and inevitable fall of a flawed, well-meaning, and doomed protagonist. While an exact year and date is never specified in the series, it’s possible to infer from both context clues and the appearance (and non-appearance) of certain characters that Cyberpunk: Edgerunners takes place before the events of Cyberpunk 2077. David can later be seen visiting Lizzie’s Bar, the “braindance” club located in Watson and owned and operated by the Mox, one of the eight major gang factions in Night City. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners takes place in Night City, the futuristic metropolis that serves as the primary setting of Cyberpunk 2077. Following a tragedy that leaves him orphaned, David submits himself to being implanted with an experimental cyberware augmentation and turns to the only life left for him: becoming an edgerunner, a cybernetic mercenary for hire who joins a gang of fellow “cyberpunks’’ in search of fame and fortune.

Netflix and Trigger's video game adaptation is a kinetic, colorful sci-fi hit—but not without a few glitches.

Here’s what we thought of the series—the good and the bad, with a few spoilers thrown in for good measure. [Cyberpunk: Edgerunners](https://gizmodo.com/cyberpunk-edgerunners-netflix-series-nsfw-new-trailer-1849474957) is a peculiar sidestep for one of the most lauded animation studios out of Japan. and a few things to love a little less.

The time has come! It has been some time since fans learned Cyberpunk 2077 was getting an anime spin-off, and Studio Trigger just released it for everyone ...

[Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Releases Ending Theme Music Video](https://comicbook.com/anime/news/cyberpunk-2077-edgerunners-netflix-ending-theme-music-video/) [Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Is Now Streaming on Netflix](https://comicbook.com/anime/news/cyberpunk-edgerunners-netflix-watch/) Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is balls to the walls insanity with gratuitous sex, violence and unrestrained profanity. Or is it on your to-watch list? The show is the most recent project released by Studio Trigger following work on BNA and Promare. And as you can see below, the show is one of the strongest yet of this year.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners introduces us to David Martinez, another Night City legend who dreamt of reaching the top of Arasaka.

In that case, the creators might decide to bring back David to one of their upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 projects. In the final moments, Adam Smasher breaks every part of David's body and eventually kills the boy. After that, Falco grabs Lucy and escapes the scene, while David decides to fight Adam Smasher. So, even after witnessing several people losing their minds because of cybernetic implants, David continued exploiting the power of Sandevistan for several years. The story kicks off with the introduction of David Martinez, a gifted student at the Arasaka Academy. The animated series from Studio Trigger introduces us to David Martinez and Lucy, who are forced to survive the horrors of the city's underworld.

Yesterday, Netflix released yet another video game anime adaptation, though this one with a lot of baggage attached. That would be Cyberpunk Edgerunners, ...

The animation and character design here from Trigger is stunning, and the writing from the CDPR team who scripted the series is excellent as well. Everyone involved here, Netflix, CDPR and Trigger knocked it out of the park with Edgerunners. She introduces him to her crew, and his ability to withstand the installation of a stolen augment makes him invaluable to the team. I really felt like my time with the show was enhanced by the game, though I think you could probably also make the argument that the game could be enhanced if you watched the show first. The show is set in Night City and while it does not directly cross over with the game, that’s somewhat misleading to say. But through it all, you could tell that at the very least, the world they’d built was an interesting, engaging one, and that’s what Edgerunners is exploring.

Created by Rafal Jaki, the show follows David (Kenn/Zach Aguilar), a high school student who lives with his mother, Gloria (Yurika Hino/Gloria Garayua), in ...

Another time jump occurs, and we see Lucy on the Moon (is that a “Lucy in the Sky” reference?), which is a tourist spot, if it wasn’t clear before. So, Faraday apparently double-crosses Militech again and tells David to show Arasaka that he is the only one who can wield the Cyberskeleton by killing the oncoming soldiers. Since Lucy and David departed on a sour note, he doesn’t check up on her for a while and instead heads into the mission to get the Cyberskeleton. He thinks that he is built differently, as if he’s a “chosen one” character, and he is not going to meet the same fate as Maine (or any of the cyberware users). According to his agreement with Arasaka, Faraday kills Kiwi because she knows about the Cyberskeleton and starts to proceed towards the Arasaka HQ. Faraday uses Lucy to get David into the Cyberskeleton. Lucy is apparently in retirement because she hasn’t shaken off Maine and Dorio’s death, and the things about David’s past that she saw in ICE. Meanwhile, Arasaka wants Faraday to eliminate everyone who knows about the Cyberskeleton and bring in the netrunner (Lucy), who has been killing Arasaka’s netrunners whenever they get close to finding David’s identity. He keeps thinking that he could’ve done something to stop Maine from going over the edge, despite knowing the inevitability of it all. Maine is so formative to his growth that he doesn’t get to shake off the fact that his cyberpsychosis was inevitable. Something that is set up from the very first frame of “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” is the concept of cyberpsychosis. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that his romantic relationship is one of the reasons for David’s cyberpsychosis.

Netflix's new Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime series is a big step up from the video game on which its based — and the early reviews are extremely impressive.

In many ways, this is the Cyberpunk story the Cyberpunk game wanted to tell and couldn’t." It’s still got plenty of flaws but it’s a far cry from the disastrous video game we were served up almost two years ago. It's important to note, the show doesn’t follow the protagonist of the 2077 video game but instead focuses on a new character named David (Zach Aguilar). All of this early buzz is pretty exciting because while Cyberpunk 2077 wasn’t quite the experience gamers were promised, there’s no doubt that the world of Night City is ripe for further exploration. [Cyberpunk Edgerunners](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/netflixs-cyberpunk-2077-show-looks-seriously-awesome-heres-your-first-look) is here, and it's seemingly aiming to atone for the sins of the controversial video game it’s based on. The series is enjoying some seriously impressive early reviews just 24 hours after it hit the big red streaming service.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners puts more focus on Cyberpsychosis, a mental illness that comes with Cyber implants.

David always believed that he had better tolerance than everyone else, and this disbelief of David was used by Arakasa and Faraday, who wanted to test their most advanced implant - Cyber skeleton - on the boy. David always thought that he was special in some way or the other, and he was constantly reminded of that by his known ones. Also, let's not forget that his endurance was a bit higher than the others. Some Cyberpsychos have to deal with split personalities; some become burglars and bandits, while some are seen becoming compulsive liars. One such term was Cyberpsychosis, a condition that many characters from the show had to suffer from, including the main character, David. Those who deal with this condition are known as Cyberpsychos, and they slowly start to lose their senses, ultimately leading them to their own destruction.

The new Netflix anime series by Studio Trigger and set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot to say, and it reminds us of the 2022 indie video game hit ...

In centralizing the precarity of poverty, the pernicious predatory nature of privatized health insurance, and the importance of communities and friendships as support systems at the heart of David’s story, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners lives up to the potential set forth by those four guiding principles, culminating in a series that is not only visually scintillating but expands on the promise of Night City in ways that Cyberpunk 2077 never quite dared to. look to David not only to pull his weight as a member of their crew, but as a comrade in arms. All of this comes to a head the following day, when David is told by the hospital that his mother died due to a combination of her injuries from the crash and the physical strain of her work. To be clear: the Sleeper is emphatically not a gun-toting cyberpunk mercenary, just as David is not a digitized indentured servant on the lam, but what these two strange bedfellows share is a common appreciation for the bonds of friendship forged in the face of adversity. Aside from their shared focus on the physical and mental toll incurred through poverty, David’s and the Sleeper’s plights are similar in another aspect: the strain of maintaining an artificial body. In Citizen Sleeper, players assume the role of the eponymous “Sleeper,” a digitized human consciousness housed in an artificial body. [set within the same shared universe](https://www.polygon.com/e/23113399), Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Cyberpunk 2077 could not be more different in their respective depictions of poverty and social precarity. When David’s mother is taken to a run-down hospital for treatment, David is denied his request to see her, being told by the presiding physician that visitation rights are not covered by his insurance plan. David regains consciousness in their overturned car just in time to watch helplessly as Trauma Team — the series’ in-universe equivalent of privatized health insurance — passes over his mother’s motionless body to recover their actual client: a corporate policyholder. David doesn’t have much in the way of a stable home life. Worse yet, it can cost not only your life, but the lives of your loved ones and those closest to you. When audiences first meet David, he’s just a street kid from the Santo Domingo district of Night City, trying to make it as a student at the Arasaka Academy.

So it is with great excitement to proclaim that Studio Trigger's collaboration with CD Projekt Red is exactly the salvation this franchise needed. FEATURED: CD ...

If anything, it's a way of living that he fights for in spite of the hardships, trying to figure out how to do it right. The way that phone calls were written and visualized on screen led to line reads that sounded more like dictation of text-to-speech than a natural conversation. The only time the performances seemed to suffer, whether as a result of the directing or the script, was in one of the last episodes. The vocal performances across the board are on par with the vocal talent in Cyberpunk 2077, a blessing considering how vulgar and dark the dialogue can get. This is to say nothing of Lucy, the deuteragonist and romantic partner to David, who is the catalyst of David's most important lesson, one that doesn't get learned easily. [Edgerunners presents itself as a character study](https://gamerant.com/cyberpunk-edgerunners-2077-possible-connection-night-city/), watching as the city and its dogmatic narratives of success and worth build up and chip away at David, his friends, and his relationships. And in 2077's defense, such a plot point may not have been necessary for the story they were telling, where the protagonist was a "Solo," a cyberpunk working mostly alone. The more implants and the less flesh, the quicker the mind begins to go. Life is life, and being a merc in Night City is just like any other job, but it leaves one feeling as if they've actually accomplished something more meaningful, as macabre as the means are. Its story was one that sought to strike at the heart of what being a Cyberpunk means; it's about legacy, dreams, and living in spite of capitalism's venomous miasma. The only solution is to become a Cyberpunk himself, chip up some experimental hardware in his body, and start carving a name for himself. [that have continued to plague the game](https://gamerant.com/cyberpunk-2077-npc-building-fall-glitch-bug/) and its reputation since launch, Cyberpunk's story was one that resonated with players, and not just because of Keanu Reeves (though that helps).

Netflix's "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" brings viewers to Night City, and there are more than a few Easter eggs to the hit video game "Cyberpunk 2077."

Seeing as the Studio Trigger anime is a prequel to "Cyberpunk 2077," one might assume that the series might feature a cheeky cameo from V, Johnny Silverhands, Jackie, Panam, or any of the game's beloved characters. The character provided V with several main and side quests in "2077," so it isn't surprising that the underground criminal crosses paths with Martinez. "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" makes excellent use of the larger world created by Mike Pondsmith and CD Projekt Red. After years of anticipation, the anime series has finally been released on Netflix, making it the first non-gaming project in the larger "Cyberpunk" multimedia franchise. In Episode 4, "Lucky You," Martinez visits the iconic Afterlife club, where he brushes shoulders with the owner Rogue, who was once Silverhand's ex-lover. [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2022/09/14/netflixs-cyberpunk-edgerunners-is-absolutely-incredible/?sh=7bcf04cd5285) as "absolutely incredible," the writer described "Edgerunners" as "a beautiful, haunting realization of Night City" that captures the authenticity of the CD Projekt Red game. "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" is set before "Cyberpunk 2077," though the Netflix series isn't specific as to how much time takes place between the two. ["Cyberpunk 2077"](https://www.looper.com/296119/small-details-you-missed-in-cyberpunk-2077/) proved to be a massive success, selling over 13 million units during the first two weeks of release (via [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/cyberpunk-2077-sales-top-13-million-2020-12)). Adapting Mike Pondmith's tabletop game of the same name, the studio released "Cyberpunk 2077" in 2020. Indeed, one of the highlights of the Netflix anime is how it recreates the world of Night City for the small screen. "I've always loved cyberpunk as a genre, but always found it difficult to create as an original work," said Studio Trigger CEO Masahiko Otsuka in a 2020 statement (via Perhaps the biggest instance of cross-promotion was the studio teaming up with Netflix to work on an anime series set in the world of "Cyberpunk 2077."

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is out, and it seems the adaptation is an unmitigated success. It wasn't long ago fans learned Netflix and Studio Trigger were ...

– [IGN](https://www.ign.com/articles/cyberpunk-edgerunners-review) [prev](#6) – [GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/cyberpunk-edgerunners-review-a-hugely-successful-netflix-anime/1900-6417956/) [prev](#3) [next](#5) [Cyberpunk: Edgerunners](/category/cyberpunk-edgerunners/) tips the scales in a significant way toward proving that, when the right people are behind a project, the streaming service can be a force to be reckoned with in the anime sphere." Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a phenomenal series, taking the potential of CDPR's Night City and running wild with it in a gory, sexy, strangely sad and compelling action series that I would recommend to absolutely anyone (uh, anyone over 18, that is)." But, in addition to the repetition on all those game's names, there's also a funny redundancy in the title of the animated series itself which feels like an encapsulation of the franchise's ethos – in the world of the show, "edgerunner" is another word for "cyberpunk," so in a sense this is called Cyberpunk: Cyberpunks. Its story was one that sought to strike at the heart of what being a Cyberpunk means; it's about legacy, dreams, and living in spite of capitalism's venomous miasma. [Cyberpunk: Edgerunners](/category/cyberpunk-edgerunners/) is good. The 10 episode series from Studio Trigger (Star Wars: Visions, Promare) arrives on Netflix on September 13, and for an anime series taking place in the world of a video game, it has no right to be this good." "The 10 episodes of Edgerunners run anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes each, and the show does a nice job of fitting a satisfying amount of action, storytelling, and world-building into each chapter without feeling overstuffed. "Despite myriad technical problems that have continued to plague the game and its reputation since launch, Cyberpunk's story was one that resonated with players, and not just because of Keanu Reeves (though that helps). With a slew of hits under its belt, the team at Studio Trigger gave hope to millions that And of course, ComicBook's own [Evan Valentine had nothing but love for the release](https://comicbook.com/anime/news/cyberpunk-edgerunners-review-netflixs-best-anime-series-to-date/).