Cyberpunk Edgerunners: Review

Edgerunners is the latest Cyberpunk anime to hit Netflix and let me  tell you, it does not disappoint. This Cyberpunk review of Edgerunners will not only review the series. It will also explain its critical response from the community and the world, and why that’s important for the Cyberpunk genre in general.

Set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red, Edgerunners tells the tale of David, a student at Arasaka academy who feels he doesn’t fit in with the rest of the rich corpo kids because he’s being raised by a single mom who works as a trauma medic. After running out of money, he loses almost everything, and becoming increasingly desperate. He then comes across some cyberware that changes his life forever, bringing him into the world of Edgerunners or Cyberpunks.

Stunning Cyberpunk Anime Visual Style

Edgerunners is a feast for the eyes. The first thing that hits you hard is the visual style of this anime. It feels very cyberpunk in and of itself, reminiscent of the color slashes of Akira except even more frenetic. For those that like slower anime like Cowboy Bebop or Ghost in the Shell, this may feel overwhelming at times. But if you like the mad mix of color and action (again, more similar to Akira), then you’ll absolutely love Edgerunners, particularly as a natural next progression in the genre.

Great Critical Response for Cyberpunk Edgerunners

And that’s good because the response to this series has been overwhelmingly positive, which might point to a season 2 in the near future.

“It’s absolutely incredible” says Paul Tassi from Forbes. “A wild ride worth every second” affirms Matt Kim for IGN. “It feels exciting and new” adds Kambole Campbell for Polygon. Not just critics, creators also love this new series. “Awesome! Great! This is a miracle of squeezing the trigger to the world” lauds Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear Solid franchise. And as for the original source creator himself, the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020 founder Mike Pondsmith? “Nailed it” he says, “It’s like seeing my brain in a big screen anime”

Lucy: A New Fan-Favorite Cyberpunk Character

Inevitably when a great series like Edgerunners comes out people will start to talk about it online. We don’t see Lucy until episode 2, but I had already heard from Twitter that people loved her character and relationship with David. Well, not only is their relationship deep, complex, and interesting, but fans are already loving to cosplay as her too. Comicbook.com was quick to report on two great cosplays, one from Kan.Alyss posted September 22nd and another from Irine Meier that was posted on the Edgerunners’ twitter itself.

A 100% Cyberpunk World

Edgerunners is set in the world of Night City, and acts as a standalone story with very little crossover into the video game story from Cyberpunk 2077. In fact, due to its success, a lot of players have been returning to Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City or playing it for the first time. Some in particular to exact revenge on a certain character who makes an appearance in the show, Adam Smasher.

We have so many details that remind us of the video game, that it’s set in the same world. The sound of an incoming call or message, and the font and graphics of incoming messages are identical to its videogame predecessor, for instance.

We also see hacking done in the same way as the videogame.  And most, if not all, weapons in the anime  can also be bought and used in the video game too.

Night city remains as high tech and low life as its Cyberpunk source. With characters unable to pay their washing machines, they live in virtual reality more than real life, and are bombarded with corporate capitalist propaganda every day. I particularly liked when David had to use black market tech just to join the virtual class with his Arasaka classmates because his mother didn’t have the funds.

Final Verdict for Cyberpunk Edgerunners: 10/10

I am beyond pleased with this series and I can’t wait to see what comes next. I am crossing my fingers that Trigger comes back to collaborate with CD Projekt Red to make a season 2, although they began and ended it quite nicely in a bittersweet self-contained way. This series is a visual feast for the eyes, in all its blood and glory bits. It shows the typical Cyberpunk dangers of relying too much on cyberware and cybertech in a very real, understandable way. Its storytelling and character development is master class quality, and you really feel for the characters by the end. The soundtrack is also excellent, with Franz Ferdinand’s FFFire theme song embodying a perfect representation of the angry punk energy with the series. The final ending song “Let You Down” represents a bittersweet, but wonderful, peaceful coda. The latter song actually came with a music video released on Cyberpunk 2077’s  YouTube channel. It provides an additional prequel-esque side story to the Edgerunners main plotline. You can check it out below:

What did you think of Cyberpunk Edgerunners?

Did you like it as much as I did? Was the gore too much, did you like the motivations behind the characters and their development, were the visuals too much or just the right kind of crazy?

Let me know in the comments below!