Cyberpunk Edgerunners Review

Cyberpunk Edgerunners is an anime series set in the same world as Cyberpunk 2077 (2020), one of the most popular video games in recent years. Rafal Jaki wrote this and according to his IMDB, this is his first and only work thus far.

The synopsis of the series according to IMDB is as follows “A Street Kid trying to survive in a technology and body modification-obsessed city of the future. Having everything to lose, he chooses to stay alive by becoming an Edgerunner, a Mercenary outlaw also known as a Cyberpunk.”

I’ve been a fan of the Cyberpunk 2077 game since it was released back in 2020. Although the game was criticised quite a bit at launch for some technical issues, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the message and the lore the game offered its players. With this animated series, I was looking forward to watching it just to see what they would do with the Cyberpunk 2077 world in an animated series but wasn’t sure if it would be any good as it’s using completely new main characters. Video game adaptations aren’t always great when it comes to their stories and although they make for some fun watching like the recent Resident Evil series was, I’ve rarely seen any of them done well.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners is something that surprised me in 2022. Not only was the animation decent, but the story and the overall telling of that story over the 10 episodes the series has, was exceptionally good. I’ve watched the series twice now, the first time with the Japanese dialogue and English subtitles and the second time with English dialogue. It’s great in both languages and really it just depends on what you prefer there. For me, I found the English audio to be a lot easier to follow.

Characterisation is the strongest element of the show. As the story progressed I really felt for David Martinez, the street kid whose life has gone wrong. I also appreciated the romance elements between David and Lucy, which the series fleshed out fairly well. I don’t want to spoil the ending of this show or go too much into the plot because I want my readers to go in as fresh as possible. But I have to say, this series ends very strongly. I felt for the characters a lot and I was sad when the show ended.

The animation is decent. I don’t watch that many anime shows, so I’m not the best person when it comes to comparison. There are certain scenes in the show though where the bright yellows, purples and light blues really do look amazing. If you do have a nice new TV with HDR colours, this show will look very nice on it. Cyberpunk Edgerunners is beautiful at times.

The only negative I can see about the show for some people is possibly the nature of the story. The themes this show covers might be just a little too strong for young audiences and I would definitely recommend watching this show only to mature audiences. It might even be too strong for some adults out there. The show can be strong and hard to handle. I felt sad when the show ended and I’m not saying that in a bad way, it’s just the kind of emotion it seems to leave you with. Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a sad story, that is not a bad thing though, it’s very well done. I’m just trying to let you know this will put you in a bit of a sad mood, it’s not a happy story.

One big plus for this series is the music. The series has an excellent soundtrack. Some music is from the original Cyberpunk 2077 game, which fans will easily recognise. But the new themes they added for this show are very memorable. I enjoyed the opening credits a lot. The music fits well with the storytelling. Some moments felt very special and the use of music and sound did a lot to bring out the emotional parts of certain moments in the series.

Overall I’d say that this show is a must-watch for any Cyberpunk 2077 fan. There’s a tonne of lore in this show that is super interesting for anyone who loves the world of Cyberpunk 2077. The characters are built up fairly well over the 10-episode story and you will really feel for them towards the end. I liked that it had a bit of a love story to it to keep things interesting. The themes are a bit strong though and it’s definitely for a mature audience only. The story is a bit sad, but I really enjoyed watching it. I was surprised this series turned out as good as it was. It’s very deep and emotional, very well put together. If you have spare time this week I’m happy to recommend Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

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