Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

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Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
File:Cyberpunk Edgerunners poster.jpg
Promotional poster
Genre Cyberpunk
Created by Rafał Jaki (characters)
Mike Pondsmith (scenario)
Based on Cyberpunk 2077
by CD Projekt Red
Screenplay by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Masahiko Otsuka
  • Yoshiki Usa
Story by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Bartosz Sztybor
  • Jan Bartkowicz
  • Łukasz Ludkowski
Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi
Creative director(s) Hiromi Wakabayashi
Voices of <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Opening theme "This Fffire"
by Franz Ferdinand
Ending theme "Let You Down"
by Dawid Podsiadło
Composer(s) Akira Yamaoka
Country of origin <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Japan
  • Poland
Original language(s) Japanese
No. of episodes 10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Rafał Jaki
  • Dylan Thomas
  • Taiki Sakurai
  • Yoshiki Usa
Producer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Bartosz Sztybor
  • Saya Elder
  • Satoru Homma
Editor(s) Masato Yoshitake
Running time 23–26 minutes
Production company(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Distributor Netflix
Release
Original network Netflix
Picture format HDTV 1080p
Audio format Stereo
Original release September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Japanese: サイバーパンク エッジランナーズ Hepburn: Saibāpanku Ejjirannāzu?) is a 2022 Polish–Japanese cyberpunk web anime series based on the video game Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red.[1] The series was animated by Studio Trigger under the supervision of CD Projekt and premiered on Netflix in September 2022.[2] Set in the Cyberpunk universe created by Mike Pondsmith, the anime serves as a prequel to the game and takes place about a year before the events of Cyberpunk 2077.

Upon its release, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners received highly positive reviews, with praise directed at its characters, animation and worldbuilding.[3]

Premise

In a dystopia overrun by corruption, crime, and cybernetic implants, an impulsive but talented street kid named David Martinez, after losing everything he has in a drive-by shooting, makes the choice to survive on the wrong side of the law as an edgerunner; a high-tech, black-market mercenary also known as a "cyberpunk".

Characters

David Martinez (デイビット・マルティネス Deibitto Marutinesu?)
Voiced by: Kenn[4] (Japanese), Zach Aguilar[5] (English)
A Hispanic teenager who is a top student at the prestigious Arasaka Academy. Due to coming from a poor family, he is constantly bullied by his classmates and feels like he does not belong at school. A sudden and devastating personal tragedy leads him to abandon his education and puts him on the path of becoming an edgerunner.
Lucy (ルーシー Rūshī?)
Voiced by: Aoi Yūki[4] (Japanese), Emi Lo[6] (English)
A young netrunner who becomes romantically involved with David and introduces him to the criminal underworld of Night City. She has a particular hatred towards Arasaka and dreams of traveling to the Moon.
Maine (メイン Mein?)
Voiced by: Hiroki Tōchi[4] (Japanese), William C. Stephens[6] (English)
A veteran edgerunner who commands his own crew. He is one of Gloria's clients and allows David to join the crew under his guidance.
Dorio (ドリオ?)
Voiced by: Michiko Kaiden[4] (Japanese), Marie Westbrook[6] (English)
Maine's girlfriend and second-in-command.
Kiwi (キーウィ Kīwi?)
Voiced by: Takako Honda[4] (Japanese), Stephanie Wong[6] (English)
A veteran netrunner who is often cold and stoic, and a member of Maine's crew.
Pilar (ピラル Piraru?)
Voiced by: Wataru Takagi[4] (Japanese), Ian James Corlett[6] (English)
A foul-mouthed techie and a member of Maine's crew. He is also Rebecca's older brother.
Rebecca (レベッカ Rebekka?)
Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa[4] (Japanese), Alex Cazares[6] (English)
A trigger-happy edgerunner and a member of Maine's crew. She is also Pilar's younger sister.
Faraday (ファラデー Faradē?)
Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue[4] (Japanese), Giancarlo Esposito[6] (English)
A fixer who works for Militech. He has a business relationship with Maine's crew and often hires them to conduct jobs that usually involve them performing corporate espionage against Arasaka.
Gloria Martinez (グロリア・マルティネス Guroria Marutinesu?)
Voiced by: Yurika Hino[4] (Japanese), Gloria Garayua[6] (English)
David's mother and a paramedic who works herself to the bone to pay for David's tuition at the Arasaka Academy.
Ripperdoc (リパードク Ripādoku?)
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda[4] (Japanese), Borge Etienne[6] (English)
A local ripperdoc who helps upgrade and install David's cybernetic implants.
Falco (ファルコ Faruko?)
Voiced by: Yasuyuki Kase[7] (Japanese), Matthew Mercer[8] (English)
A member of Maine's crew who works as the group's getaway driver.

Production and release

The series was announced during a "Night City Wire" livestream for the game on June 25, 2020 as a collaboration between CD Projekt and Studio Trigger.[9][10] Hiroyuki Imaishi directed the series with Masahiko Otsuka and Yoshiki Usa writing scripts, Yoh Yoshinari designing the characters and serving as animation director, Yuto Kaneko and Yusuke Yoshigaki serving as assistant character designers, Hiroyuki Kaneko serving as assistant director, Hiromi Wakabayashi serving as creative director, and Akira Yamaoka serving as the show's composer.[11][12] The anime's opening theme is "This Fire" by Franz Ferdinand,[13] while its ending theme is "Let You Down" by Dawid Podsiadło.[14] Edgerunners also utilized songs from the in-game radio stations.[15] Rosa Walton's song "I Really Want To Stay At Your House" was featured prominently and critically praised.[16][17]

Episodes

No. Title Storyboarded by Directed by Screenplay by Story by Original release date
1 "Let You Down" Yoshiyuki Kaneko Yoshiyuki Kaneko Yoshiki Usa Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
David Martinez is a young man who attends the prestigious Arasaka Academy at his mother Gloria's behest in the year 2076, despite their financial struggle. David illegally modifies his cyberware to avoid paying for a required update to keep attending class. However, the modifications end up crashing the school's system, and Gloria agrees to pay for the damages. On the way home, David gets into a brief argument with his mother before they are caught up in a drive-by shooting, leaving Gloria badly wounded. David manages to access Gloria's savings account to pay for her medical costs and discovers she had stolen a military-grade Sandevistan implant. After getting assaulted by his classmate Katsuo, David finds out, to his dismay, that Gloria's condition has worsened, and she dies in the hospital. Now completely broke and enraged at Katsuo for insulting Gloria, David meets up with Doc, a local ripperdoc who he regularly buys black market goods from, and requests to have the Sandevistan installed into his own body.
2 "Like A Boy" Yoshiyuki Kaneko Yūichi Shimodaira Yoshiki Usa and Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
Doc agrees to install the Sandevistan, which grants David superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes. With his new abilities, David returns to school and takes revenge on Katsuo by assaulting him in broad daylight, which results in his expulsion from the Academy. Katsuo's father Tanaka, an Arasaka executive, notices that David is able to utilize the Sandevistan with no apparent side effects, which would make him a valuable test subject for their latest product. Meanwhile, as David aimlessly wanders the city, he encounters a young netrunner, Lucy, who agrees to take him on as a partner. After a night of pickpocketing marks on the subway, David collapses due to overuse of his Sandevistan. Lucy takes David back to Doc, who prescribes him immunosuppressants and warns him not to use his Sandevistan more than two or three times a day, although he notes that David appears to have a remarkable tolerance to it. Lucy invites David to her apartment, where she confides that her dream is to migrate off-world to the Moon. She shows David a virtual reconstruction of the Moon's surface, but it turns out to be a ploy to sell out David to a gang of edgerunners.
3 "Smooth Criminal" Akira Amemiya Mai Ōwada Yoshiki Usa and Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
David is confronted by the gang, led by a man named Maine, who reveals that Gloria had sold the Sandevistan to him a day before her death and that he is an acquaintance of hers. David reveals he's Gloria's son and offers to work for Maine, demonstrating his compatibility with the Sandevistan. Intrigued, Maine decides to honor his friendship with Gloria by giving David a chance to prove himself. David then returns home, having lost his trust in Lucy. The next day, David meets up with the gang, and Maine introduces him to the other members: Kiwi, Dorio, and Pilar. David then participates in a heist to steal navigation data from Maxim, a driver for Arasaka. The plan goes awry due to unexpected complications, and David and Lucy are forced to steal Maxim's limo to gain the navigation data instead. Maine rescues them from a Tyger Claw biker sent by Maxim to kill them and officially inducts David into the gang, having been impressed by his performance on the job. David also meets Maine's fixer, Faraday, who brought them the job of stealing Maxim's navigation data to obtain information on Tanaka's movements. David then receives a message from the Academy offering to let him return, but he bluntly turns them down.
4 "Lucky You" Yoshiyuki Kaneko Akira Furukawa Yoshiki Usa and Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
As a new recruit, David receives training and instruction from the other gang members, including running errands for Pilar and his sister Rebecca, learning how to drive from Maine, and jogging at night with Lucy. He also participates in several jobs with the crew, such as taking out a gang of Scavengers, rescuing Rebecca from the Maelstrom gang, and helping Lucy with her pickpocketing heists. He learns that Lucy is a talented netrunner but not much else about her past. David confides with Maine that he has feelings for Lucy, but he's certain she doesn't feel the same and has trouble figuring out whether he should trust her. Eventually, David begins to feel at home with the gang. However, on the way home from a bar, Pilar begins harassing a homeless man peeing on the street. The homeless man is revealed to have cyberpsychosis and suddenly kills Pilar with a concealed gun. When the cyberpsycho targets Lucy, David uses his Sandevistan to approach the cyberpsycho and shoot him, with Maine finishing him off. David takes Lucy home while the gang stays behind to take care of the mess, where Lucy reveals her dream to go to the Moon is genuine. David promises Lucy he will take her to the Moon, and they kiss.
5 "All Eyez On Me" Kōdai Nakano Kōdai Nakano Yoshiki Usa and Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
The gang tries to find more leads on Tanaka, and Kiwi mentions she discovered that he secretly indulges in illicit braindances created by "JK." David recognizes that as the handle of Jimmy Kurosaki, a famous BD director who also custom-tunes BDs for special clients, including Tanaka. Seeing a potential to ambush Tanaka, the gang attempts to kidnap JK, but he outwits them, captures David, and flees the scene with Lucy and Dorio in pursuit. JK subjects David to traumatic BDs in an attempt to induce cyberpsychosis before he is stopped and captured by Lucy and Dorio. With no other choice, JK agrees to lure Tanaka in, but not before cautioning David that the Sandevistan will inevitably make him go cyberpsycho. Tanaka arrives to meet with JK and is subsequently captured, but not before JK is mortally wounded in the crossfire. With the Trauma Team incoming, the gang is forced to quickly evacuate with Tanaka while David remains troubled by JK's words.
6 "Girl on Fire" Kai Ikarashi Yoshiyuki Kaneko Yoshiki Usa and Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
Maine begins developing signs of cyberpsychosis as he starts having trouble controlling his implants, randomly blacks out, has hallucinations, and has significant mood swings. This culminates in him losing his self-control and assaulting Kiwi as she tries to hack into Tanaka's cyberware, seriously injuring her. Lucy agrees to take Kiwi's place, but only under the condition that Maine be kept away, and David accompany her. As Lucy dives into Tanaka's mind, Tanaka regains consciousness and begs David to let him go, telling him that he was responsible for rescinding his expulsion from the Academy, he still has a future there, and that the edgerunners will kill him after they extract his information to tie up loose ends. This causes David to hesitate long enough that Tanaka's neural implant shorts out, risking killing Lucy too. Dorio disconnects Lucy safely, but their jammer was disabled, resulting in Trauma Team receiving Tanaka's vitals and en route with the NCPD as support. Maine sends David and Lucy to their escape vehicle first while he and Dorio take Tanaka to distract the authorities. However, during the battle, Maine begins to succumb to his cyberpsychosis, resulting in Dorio's death when she attempts to protect him. David tries to rescue Maine but can only watch helplessly as a regretful Maine blows himself up along with Dorio's corpse. All David can do is flee with Maine's arms.
7 "Stronger" Yoshihiro Miyajima Tomoyuki Munehiro Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
A few months[18] After Tanaka's botched kidnapping, David has become the new leader of Maine's edgerunner group, having taken on more implants, including Maine's arm implants, and becoming a well-renowned edgerunner himself. However, he has been unable to convince Lucy to rejoin the crew. After successfully completing a job for the fixer Wakako to rescue a VIP from the Maelstrom gang, David is approached by Faraday, who offers him a job from Militech against Arasaka as a test to see if he is worthy of inheriting Maine's last job to recover the data Tanaka was hiding. Faraday also requests that David try to recruit Lucy again. Returning home, David talks with Lucy, wanting to know more about her past. She reveals that she used to be part of a special team of Arasaka netrunners raised and trained to delve into the Old Net to recover lost data. However, the work was hazardous as it exposed them to rogue AIs and malware, which killed much of the team. Eventually, Lucy was able to escape Arasaka and ended up in Night City. She also admits that while she used to only worry about herself, she is now more worried about David's health. Later, Lucy kills an Arasaka agent investigating data about a test subject that was mysteriously erased from Tanaka's records.
8 "Stay" Yoshihiro Miyajima Yūichi Shimodaira Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
Taking on Faraday's job, David murders an Arasaka lab director but shows signs of cyberpsychosis in the process. Meanwhile, Arasaka Counterintelligence is investigating the mysterious deaths of Arasaka personnel. Believing Militech to be involved, they arrange an assassination attempt on Faraday, who narrowly escapes. With Militech refusing to provide protection due to his lack of results on recovering data on Arasaka's cyberskeleton project, Faraday makes contact with Arasaka instead. Arasaka is willing to forgive Faraday for Tanaka's death in return for him tracking down the netrunner responsible for hiding Tanaka's data and killing their agents. Meanwhile, David continues to show more symptoms of cyberpsychosis and suffers from trauma over killing an innocent secretary that reminded him of his mother. Doc recommends that David scale back on his implants, only to be attacked by David, thus souring their relationship. David once again tries to recruit Lucy, but she insists there's something she has to take care of first, and David considers breaking up with her. Lucy then detects another Arasaka agent looking for Tanaka's data and heads over to kill him, only to fall into a trap set by Faraday and Kiwi.
9 "Humanity" Yoshiyuki Kaneko Akira Furukawa Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
After interrogating Lucy, Faraday and Kiwi discover that Lucy has been actively hiding Tanaka's data on David as a potential test subject for the cyberskeleton, and was responsible for Tanaka's death to ensure his silence. Realizing this, Faraday plans to offer Lucy and David up to Arasaka to secure his position in the company. Faraday assigns David a mission to assault an Arasaka convoy to carry this out. David recruits the help of Kiwi, Rebecca, and Falco, and they manage to seize the convoy's main cargo, which is revealed to be the cyberskeleton. A Militech force then arrives, thanks to a tip from Faraday, who intends to force David to install the cyberskeleton and use it to destroy the Militech force as a demonstration of its power. Kiwi makes her escape as Faraday impersonates Lucy to trick him into installing the cyberskeleton. Lucy is able to escape briefly and warns David about Faraday's duplicity before being recaptured. Angered, David uses the cyberskeleton to annihilate the Militech force despite its massive toll on his body. He then tells Rebecca and Falco they will rescue Lucy and get revenge on Faraday.
10 "My Moon My Man" Yō Yoshinari, and Sushio Kōdai Nakano Masahiko Ōtsuka Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)
David fights his way through Militech, Arasaka, and MaxTac forces as he, Rebecca, and Falco head for Arasaka Tower. All the while, David's condition continues to deteriorate as he runs out of immunosuppressants. Meanwhile, Kiwi has second thoughts about working with Faraday and decides to cut ties with him, so he has her killed as a loose end. Before she dies, Kiwi tips off David and the others on Faraday and Lucy's location. David attacks the tower, killing the Arasaka guards, rescuing Lucy, and incapacitating Faraday. Realizing the situation has spiraled out of control, Arasaka deploys the legendary cyborg Adam Smasher to put down David. During the fighting, Faraday falls to his death and Rebecca is crushed by Adam Smasher. David tasks Falco with getting Lucy to safety while he stays behind to hold Adam Smasher off. Despite having the cyberskeleton, David is no match for the more experienced Adam Smasher, but he dies content with the knowledge that Lucy is safe and has no regrets. Sometime later, Lucy fulfills her dream of traveling to the Moon but is despondent that David is not there with her.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 12 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Booting up Night City with frenetic action and awe-inspiring visual flair, Edgerunners is an exceptionally stylish anime adaptation of the world Cyberpunk established."[19] Jonathon Wilson wrote for Ready Steady Cut that in "many ways, this is the Cyberpunk story the Cyberpunk game wanted to tell and couldn’t."[20] Matt Kim of IGN praised the exploration of the hostile life in Night City, specifically the visual effects, noting more of the focus was on the city rather than on some of the characters, and calling it a "a wild ride, but worth every blistering second".[21] In a review for Polygon, Kambole Campbell praised the "visual language for various in-game concepts," as well as the "sonic diversity in its score" and found that the show's best aspect was "[its] ability to depict the psychological unmooring of its characters without feeling inauthentic."[22]

Video game director Hideo Kojima lauded the show as well, calling it "a miracle of squeezing the trigger to the world", and compared the art and world design favorably to the 1990 OVA series Cyber City Oedo 808.[23]

Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the original Cyberpunk role-playing game also praised the show, writing "It's like seeing my brain in a big screen anime."[24]

References

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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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