How ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Nails The Vibes of ‘Cyberpunk 2077’
My first impressions of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners were probably unique, because I inexplicably watched the third episode first. In a completely airheaded mistake, I began the series in the middle, more or less, but the episode still made sense. When I realized my mistake, however, I went back to the pilot episode, and from there I was completely hooked. Whereas I intended to watch episode one before signing off for the night, I binged the entire series in one sitting.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners completely nails the vibe of the game. And though I can’t speak to the underlying universe of Cyberpunk’s TTRPG origins, my experience with Cyberpunk 2077 completely enhanced my appreciation for Edgerunners. I think this success happens at multiple levels, some of which are subjective, like the fact that Studio Trigger, who is ultimately responsible for this anime adaptation, has produced some of my favorite anime of all time like Kill la Kill. But I also think some of these successes are objective, from the manner in which Night City is used throughout each story to the deeper commentary about soul-crushing capitalism.
Edgerunners doesn’t trade in cheap cliffhangers or filler; rather, it slams the gas pedal down to the floor and doesn’t let off until the series ends. I don’t intend to spoil the anime here, but some discussion of late episodes is inevitable, so proceed with caution, because I think that part of the value of Edgerunners is experiencing it freshly for yourself.
A New Story in Night City
The series introduces a new protagonist, David Martinez, a socioeconomically poor kid whose hardworking mother puts in shifts around the clock to cobble together tuition for his enrollment at a corpo school. David’s status as an unwealthy kid is immediately apparent, from his social disconnections to his distrustful attitude towards authority. And we see the brutal ways that capitalism has manifested in cyberware, resulting in David getting absolutely obliterated in a school fight with a rich kid early on. Edgerunners shows repeatedly that meritocracy is a joke, a myth that somehow still perpetuates into the cyber future. People who naively believe in their ability to rise through social classes through effort are unsympathetically punished, and David learns how firsthand.
David doesn’t give up, however, and we see him adopt a piece of cyberwear that makes the video game feel like an underpowered vector of realism. Somehow, David is not psychologically corrupted by his cybernetics, like the cyberpsycho whose murderous rampage begins the series, and David’s eager confidence evolves to a point of devolution; that is, by the series’ end, he is nearly a husk of his former self, with a spark of his true consciousness duct taping the whole thing together.
The True Protagonist of Edgerunners
Edgerunners shows more of the cracks within Night City than 2077 does, and I think it’s a better story for it. While I loved the Johnny Silverhand story with V in the game, David’s story is a more honest and intimate look at the ways in which Night City both allures and corrupts. It also does a better job of showing camaraderie through the netrunning gang David joins, and his budding relationship with the character Lucy Kushinada also tugged at my heartstrings far more than my V’s relationship with Judy Alvarez ever did, as beautiful as that relationship was. Like plants growing through the pavement, the world of Edgerunners never veers its gaze from the ruthlessness of reality, but also remains focused on the fragile humanity that still persists within it.
Night City is the true star of both Edgerunners and 2077. Though I enjoy the writing in both, the joy to be found here is ensconcing yourself in the atmosphere, letting the all consuming feeling of the city swallow you whole. One of my favorite things about the anime is seeing locations that I have spent hours with in 2077 appear shot-for-shot within Edgerunners. And as a lifelong fan of anime, that level of attention to detail truly pays off as a viewer. The anime could have reinvented the setting, or vaguely focused on it during establishing shots only, but the anime succeeds so well because of how grounded in its sense of place the relationships between these characters are. You might go as far as to say that Night City is a character itself.
Other Brilliant Facets of Edgerunners
The music throughout Edgerunners is also phenomenal, outpacing the game in terms of how curated the use of songs is. Especially evidenced by the sheer volume of listeners expressing their emotions on YouTube, the song “I Really Want to Stay at Your House” by Hallie Coggins and Rosa Walton clearly devastated other viewers as much as it devastated me. I know this song appears in 2077 as well, but the use of it here, especially considering the story arc, tone, and payoff within the narrative of Edgerunners, hits a thousand times harder than the game’s use of the song ever did.
There are problems with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, I will admit. And I think they almost exclusively take the form of pacing issues. From the outset, the show leans into exposition dumps more than I would have liked it to, and especially within the relationship between David and his mother, I think that arc closed far sooner than it ought to have. I think of Studio Trigger’s other work like Kill la Kill and, though it takes the same narrative structure as Edgerunners, it has much more room to breathe. I do not believe ten episodes was enough to properly tell the story we received with Edgerunners, but I am willing to overlook those rushed or overtly explained moments because the truly emotional beats, when they hit, are crushing.
Should Studio Trigger Make More Cyberpunk?
Readers of Epilogue will remember my troubled history with Cyberpunk 2077, how I first boycotted the game and then later purchased it at half price during my summer break. The game itself, not the shady marketing, won me over. Despite my resistances, Night City drew me in, and Cyberpunk 2077 remains one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent memory. But I would be far pressed to suggest that 2077 is flawless. The same is true for Edgerunners. Because of the mixed reception of 2077, I think I entered Edgerunners with much more caution and therefore my expectations were lower. That lack of expectations allowed me to properly enjoy and be impressed by the story Edgerunners tells.
Oddly, I do not want another installment of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime, despite my love for it. I think the story the writers wanted to tell is finished in a satisfying, if heartrending, way. I think you could roll the proverbial dice and tell another story in Night City within the anime medium, and I would lap it up. But I also think you can leave it where Edgerunners left it. And I always prefer stories that end rather than stories that extend.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was a delightful surprise, and a great excuse to revisit Cyberpunk 2077 whenever I next feel the itch. The game released a patch that contains winks and nods to the anime, and I think there would be genuine joy in seeking out the locations present within Edgerunners with a fresh pair of eyes. It’s an astonishing success, and I hope Edgerunners brings in both non-anime fans and people who haven’t played 2077. Both stories deserve a chance. I’m so glad that Edgerunners was able to be told, despite the tragedy of 2077’s launch.
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