Oct 26, 2022
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners- a Vibrant Action Cacophony Hindered by a Claustrophobic Plot
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners released in late September 2022 to positive reception worldwide. The ten episode Polish-Japanese anime is produced by Studio Trigger under the direction of Hiroyuki Imaishi and distributed by Netflix. The show is based on, and is a direct prequel to, the 2020 video game title “Cyberpunk 2077” by CD Projekt Red. The anime’s video game parent came under flak between 2019 and 2021 due to its tedious production process and multiple launch setbacks. Due to these delays and a slew of glitches, it was released unfinished and majorly unplayed, left forgotten by the
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internet. Against all odds, Imaishi’s anime story has brought back the world of “Cyberpunk.” With the release of the gritty, highly stylized anime the game has seen a doubling in its player base since, and now holds the title of the most played single-player game on Steam, the world’s largest video game distributor. The anime is also special because it appeals to the average anime fan- you don’t need to know anything about the game to enjoy and understand the show.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners redeems the failures of its videogame counterpart with a bright, unique visual style and gruesome animation that will make any anime fan’s jaw drop. However, despite its technical achievements, the teetering, claustrophobic story leaves something to be missed.
The story follows a young David Martinez, a boy living in the underworld of Night City: a distantly futuristic civilization where technology controls society. When gang violence leads to the death of his mother, David gets swept up in the criminal underworld, upgrading his body with weapon technology and joining a gang of mercenaries as an “Edgerunner.” The story is ambitious, hosting a cast of wildly different main and side characters. The plot is thick with gray area morality and themes of a “how far is too far” dilemna. However, the pacing and length of the show leaves much to be desired. During the midsection, the series slows down the initial burst of energy presented in the beginning and the plot becomes repetitive. Each episode starts with the team starting another hired job, something goes wrong on the job, and there are consequences. However, the consequences don’t feel like they affect the characters as much as they should. For example, an important member of the crew is killed off a few episodes in. In the moment, the death is a big deal to the rest of the crew, however in the next episode they have already moved onto the next mission without leaving enough time to address the character’s death. We’re meant to feel bad for the cast, however, without giving us enough time to “meet” the character, their death doesn’t hit us like it should since there isn’t enough time to make an emotional attachment.
The end of the show happens very fast compared to the slower paced middle episodes and the show could have benefited by a couple more episodes instead of its meager 10 episode format. The story, especially in the middle, becomes less of an anti-military/ anti-capitalist story of loss and becomes more of a typical shonen anime, using stereotypes often seen in that genre. Side characters are killed on missions, but we don’t really feel sad like the show wants us to, because we haven’t spent enough time with the character to make a n emotional connection with them. The only characters I felt emotionally attached to were David and Lucy; an attachment I slowly lost as the story went on. David goes from a poverty-stricken 15 year old boy trying to better his circumstances through crime, to becoming an overpowered ripped beefcake cyborg loved by everyone around him by the sixth episode. The other main character, Lucy, is a nuanced loner in the beginning with the same goals as David, leading the two to form a strong bond. But by the end of the show she’s reduced to badass eye candy and gets to lay in bed next to David while he vents about the latest team member’s death. All in all the story is strong in the beginning, yet bogged down by typically overused shonen stereotypes and up-and-down pacing. The bloody ending, while satisfying in multiple ways and partially justifying the slower bits of the plot, may not work in the eyes of some viewers.
As far as animation goes, each fight scene feels like an adrenaline kick on steroids, with over-the-top gore, blood, and flashy visual effects, similar to Studio Trigger’s other equally popular work, Kill La Kill from 2013. The animation is where the show really thrives and proves itself worthy of existence in the first place. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ animation director and character designer Yoh Yoshinari is well known for stylistic choices in action anime, working as a key animator for Kill la Kill, and mechanical animation director for the world famous series Neon Genesis Evangelion along with its feature film and reboot series. The characters are all uniquely designed, especially David’s iconic haircut and hi-vis coat/track pants combo. Yoshinari is most famous for the way he represents volume and perspective using spheres, and his dynamic and fluid body animation. Both of these are abundant in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, featuring vibrant explosions of blood and smoke during fights and fluid character movement. In an interview, the show’s director Hiroyuki Imaishi puts it: “Yoshinari-san’s key animation is the coolness of many different kinds of animators all bundled in a single vessel” (Wave Motion Cannon). Despite some of the show’s animation being recycled for dialogue scenes, the animation and art direction in general were the only parts of the show keeping me glued to my couch, pleasantly distracting me from the shortcomings of the plot.
All in all, the show was worth the watch for me. The over-the-top ending may be too ridiculous for some anime fans, but the animation alone is worth your seat on the couch, especially when the animation stayed fresh and still continued to wow me every episode. A month after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ release, the show maintains very positive reviews, currently holding an 8.4/10 on IMDb, a 100% “tomato-meter” and 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, a 9/10 on IGN, and an 8.7 on MyAnimeList.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is available on Netflix.
Works Cited
Oguro. (2013). YOH YOSHINARI INTERVIEW (ANIMESTYLE, 03/2013) PART 1/3. Wave Motion Cannon. other. Retrieved 2022, from https://wavemotioncannon.com/2016/12/19/yoh-yoshinari-interview-animestyle-032013-part-13/.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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