[TV/Netflix/Anime?] Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

[UndedoKoleda]

A 10-episode anime story coming to Netflix in September 2022.

Dunno how I feel about this. I loved the game(I started playing it long after it first released, so many bugs and other stuff were already fixed at that point), the setting has A LOT to offer and I've been secretly hoping for a movie or miniseries based on it.

But.

I'm really no fan of this animation style... It just isn't my cup of tea. I guess I'll wait it out, and if it gets universally praised(similar to Arcane, for instance), I'll give it a shot.

[UndedoKoleda]

Finally finished it today. Overall, it is a decent show.

While the story itself is nothing exceptional, the message it sends, is very fitting to the world of Cyberpunk. The pacing, however, was very... off. I'm glad that they made it a stand-alone story, separated from the game. No cliffhangers and no loose ends.

I'm not really into anime, so can't give a fair judgement on the animation style and quality, compared to others in the genre. For me, it was alright, wasn't something over the top.

The setting itself was 100% true to CP2077. Imo, it perfectly catches the atmosphere of the world. I also loved all the references to the game(and I've read that CDPR put some in the game in the latest patch, which I haven't played just yet). I hope they keep making games and media set in the Cyberpunk universe.

I'd rate the show 7/10. Definitely do not regret watching it. Also, I'm hoping that they'll decide to make more seasons, even though I guess they will be with different characters and stories, unrelated to the first one.

[Tekko]

I'm not into anime but watched it because of the game and it was pretty good.

I liked seeing landmarks I recognised and the empty streets reminded me of all the memes.

There is also a funny line about the police coming out of nowhere.

[Fencers]

I thought it was sensational. Great visualizations and a solid story with very good writing and characterization.

Really impressed with the use of typography and musical score.

[StillMcfuu]

This show impressed me just because of the animation. Most of Netflix animation is cheaply done and cgi so it is nice to see it in a more traditional animation look.

I enjoyed the show enough, and that's from a complete noob to the cyberpunk world. I haven't bought the game yet but this has really made me almost pull the trigger on it.
I liked the story although the hook of psychosis being a main plot point and David, Maine, and heavily implying Lucy getting it (although Lucy feels more earned i suppose) kind of felt out of the blue each time. Idk if it's a heavy element in the game/novels or of that's just the spin the show wanted to go with, but as an outsider to the franchise it didn't feel fleshed out.

[Fencers]

I liked the story although the hook of psychosis being a main plot point and
kind of felt out of the blue each time. Idk if it's a heavy element in the game/novels or of that's just the spin the show wanted to go with, but as an outsider to the franchise it didn't feel fleshed out.

It's a big deal in CP2077 and CP TTG.

I wouldn't say it is out of the blue in the show. It's the first thing we see in the show and last. Psychosis is talked about in every episode, and every major plot point is related directly to psychosis.

What aspect of Cyber-Psychosis do you think was lacking narratively?

[StillMcfuu]

It's a big deal in CP2077 and CP TTG.

I wouldn't say it is out of the blue in the show. It's the first thing we see in the show and last. Psychosis is talked about in every episode, and every major plot point is related directly to psychosis.

What aspect of Cyber-Psychosis do you think was lacking narratively?

Biggest issue is with Maine, he gets it out of no where. He is fine for multiple episodes and in the course of 1 episode he goes from a little hand twitch to nuclear funeral pyre. The same could be said for David, but they throw a time skip in there and layer it with a ripperdoc telling him he's gotten a lot of chrome in the past few years. But a big plot point is that he should be highly resistant but the Ripperdoc gives him a medicine which he has clearly given to others and there are more people out there like David, Smasher not withstanding, who kind of defeat the purpose of David being special in the first place. Lucy also just shows up on the moon and starts having symptoms, which... and this goes for Maine as well. They never get anymore modifications, Lucy goes out of her way to avoid getting them, and Maine was supposed to get the Sandy, but seeing as a few months later he's fried with no additional load, it doesn't make sense why he'd even want it.
I thought maybe an emotional trigger would be the cause, but Maine just slipped, David's emotional trigger happens after he has a big episode, Lucy is the only one which was triggered emotionally.

That's why I asked if it's a bigger deal in the other media, is cyberpsychosis an inevitability and it just wasn't explained that way in the anime. Because in the show the explanation was either the person couldn't handle a specific tech or a confluence of tech or the xbd director guy purposely caused them for his clients.

[BloodyAngel12]

I wouldnt say Maine getting Cyberpsychosis out of nowhere is right, ever since him and David ate the emp from when they tried to capture Jimmy Kurosaki. Ever since then Maine didnt seem right.

[Raisei]

It was an amazing show. The animations were slightly over the top at points but it felt fitting for what it wanted to show. Having Esposito doing another slick buisnessman/villain is another treat. The guy might by now be 100% type cast, but damn does he do it well.

The fact that they pulled every location from the game and put it in perfectly also earns my respect, it shows a nice attention to detail that many shows wouldn't even bother with these days.

I also love that we are getting pieces from the show in the game now, like Davids jacket and Rebeccas Carnage. I just wish I could get Lucy's outfit somewhere for my Netrunner (I know there are mods, but it's not the same).

[Fencers]

Biggest issue is with Maine, he gets it out of no where

It is established when David first meets Maine that Maine is 'chromed-out'. The fact he was buying black market chrome from Gloria is another tip of the hat Maine was addicted to chrome.

Everything previous to meeting Maine in the show was the direct result, cause, or demonstration of Cyber-Psychosis;

* X-BDs of cyber psychos David is using and selling
* Gloria on the job chopping Psychos for cash
* Gloria dying due to a Cyber psycho rampage
* The Corpo dude sees David's potential to withstand psychosis
* Lucy warns David repeatedly about using the Sandy when first marking him
* Doc warns about the sandy and psychosis
* After Maine recruits David he lets David in on how they manage it with drugs, that Maine is reliant upon
* More and different forms of psychosis are introduced
* Maine starts showing signs the doses are not as effective anymore
* Maine falls to the same fate as other psychos despite insisting he would "not downgrade" or succumb to the psychosis

He is fine for multiple episodes and in the course of 1 episode he goes from a little hand twitch to nuclear funeral pyre.

That's how it works. You can manage it with drugs but they become less and less effective.

The same could be said for David, but they throw a time skip in there and layer it with a ripperdoc telling him he's gotten a lot of chrome in the past few years. But a big plot point is that he should be highly resistant but the Ripperdoc gives him a medicine which he has clearly given to others and there are more people out there like David, Smasher not withstanding, who kind of defeat the purpose of David being special in the first place.

David is special. He was able to go further than most. That doesn't mean he was an exception. The story's point is that of The Godfather's Sonny; No matter who you are, you get what is coming to you in the end.

David for his resistance couldn't prevent going psycho anymore than Maine or the Psychos. He just held out longer.

Lucy also just shows up on the moon and starts having symptoms, which... and this goes for Maine as well.

Lucy wasn't showing symptoms. Lucy was not chromed out. She was just tweaking.

They never get anymore modifications, Lucy goes out of her way to avoid getting them, and Maine was supposed to get the Sandy, but seeing as a few months later he's fried with no additional load, it doesn't make sense why he'd even want it.

Addiction.

That's why I asked if it's a bigger deal in the other media, is cyberpsychosis an inevitability and it just wasn't explained that way in the anime.

For the most part, it is inevitable. Some hold out longer than others. Some downgrade and keep it at bay. But if they keep the chrome it will take them in the end. It's a dead end. Cyberpunk is a no-hope dystopia.

Because in the show the explanation was either the person couldn't handle a specific tech or a confluence of tech or the xbd director guy purposely caused them for his clients.

Hm. The show is making the judgement that the characters are going to far and losing their humanity. Installing a specific part (the sandy) is only a plot device to get David to meet Atom Smasher. The former believes he is an exception (and isn't) and the latter is an exception that specifically is no longer wholly human. That is the contrast they are setting up artistically and the denial of when David passes.

"Tragedy is when the hero meets himself."

[dlld]

Not going to put a number on it but it's probably the best series, anime or not I seen this year. Only complaint I'd have is that the action could sometimes be hard to keep track of due to the animation style.

[BeepBoo]

I had next to no expectations due to the video game being mediocre, but holy crap I love it. It's so good.

[Kathandira]

Just got done watching this. I am beyond impressed. I really hope there will be another Season!

[Darkeon]

Easily a must watch.

[Easyclassictopkeklel]

Animation is top notch, but the voice acting is absolutely horrible in german and english. And I am also not a fan of asian cringe overacting.

[Northern Goblin]

Excellent show, visually stunning, haunting at times. The scene where Rebecca is just keeping him barely on the edge with vial after vial is going to live rent free in my head for a while.

Really hope we get more seasons of this, different stories, different crews.

[Cynical Asshole]

I can't help but associate this show with the anime version of Akame Ga Kill.

Both stories begin with a male main character, both assemble a bunch of side characters that make the viewer attach to them, both then kill the side characters one by one Game of Thrones style, both kill the initial main character that the show started with, both allow the main character's love interest to survive by the end.

[Airlick]

Pretty decent stuff, but it has problems. It's visually stunning and that must be the show's greatest strength, the story isn't ALL bad either. The main problems are that the show needed a few more episodes, mostly to flesh out all the gang members. As it was, there was little connection to them and I didn't see why should I care about whatever happens to them when they had 5 minutes of screentime each and little to none background. I would have put the character build-up episodes back where the time jump was. The ending was burning trash. The setup was good, though predictable, but then it fell into the nonsensical shonen anime "infinite escalation" trope. They already wrote up the beginning of David's slow fall into cyberpsychosis by episode 8. They only needed to go on with that combined with Arasaka conspiracy to have a well toned ending that could be basically the same minus the bullshit cyberskeleton (and possibly Smasher, could just be replaced by MaxTac or Arasaka soldiers) part that was completely unnecessary and ruined the show quite a bit for me.

Would have been 9/10, maybe even 10/10 if the writing was good, but that ending drops the score to 7/10 at best. As far as game adaptations go, Arcane blows this out of the water.

[Fkiolaris]

I just watched this show and even though my expectations were not very high, I really really liked it. I could see that as a player of the game I probably got more out of it than someone checking it cold, but still. I found the pacing and duration (and almost everything about it) great, it never got slow and when it finished it felt complete. Finally, by the end of the show my favourite character was Rebecca to my surprise, and that's saying something considering how much I liked all the rest of the crew.

[Kathandira]

I just watched this show and even though my expectations were not very high, I really really liked it. I could see that as a player of the game I probably got more out of it than someone checking it cold, but still. I found the pacing and duration (and almost everything about it) great, it never got slow and when it finished it felt complete. Finally, by the end of the show my favourite character was Rebecca to my surprise, and that's saying something considering how much I liked all the rest of the crew.

I feel like you need to either have played the game, or be savvy with Cyberpunk lingo to really get into the show. Within the first two episodes, I could see the look of confusion on my Mrs face. If you don't understand the lingo, it would be hard to get far in the show before giving up.