Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Cyberpunk 2077 was a video game that promised the world and did not deliver. Cyberpunk Edgerunners is an anime that came out of nowhere but is probably one of the best animes to come out this year, possibly the best anime made by Netflix.
I try to make this review as spoiler free as possible.
Story
Cyberpunk Edgerunners takes the world from the video game and brings it to life (anime life). The beautiful yet gruesome, futuristic, and dystopian--Night City. Everything is lit up, all of the people have cybernetic implants fixing any deformities, there are nice cars, and every and any type of food you can think of. Sounds great, but death is hidden around every corner. No one expects to live long in Night City unless you become an elite at one of the few corporate powerhouses. That's where the main character of Edgerunners comes into play. David Martinez is a young man from a single-parent home. The show talks about the fact that he is an all-A student but he is never portrayed as a super genius, just a quick learner. David hates life. He is broke, an outcast at school, and watches as her mother works hard to support their family. Although David’s life is rough, he is on the path to success. Even when tragedy strikes David’s life, he can stay on track to a safe and boring life. But he chooses not to.
Themes
One theme is belonging. David is obviously an outcast at school. One particular group is always bullying him. In the beginning, we believe it's because David is poor, but the bully says that it's because David doesn't fit in with the group. He doesn't even try to assimilate. You can assimilate somewhat without compromising your morals but David refuses to even try and the uninterest and dislike for his classmates are obvious.
Another theme is autonomy over how to live your life. David had a choice to live a safe, secure life, but that didn’t interest him so instead, he chose to a life rife with action and adventure. Unfortunately, this life does not always have the happiest of endings.
The last theme I would like to talk about is violence--one of the most immediate realizations when watching the show is its hyper-violent nature. At first, the violence is enjoyed or done matter of factly, but as time goes on the violence turns to sheer horror. The adventures where the heroes take out a bunch of bad guys, go from fun, to emotionless to despair.
Visuals and music.
Studio Trigger is the anime company that created the visuals, and they were able to do so beautifully. Some of the other shows that they made were Kill la Kill and Daling in the Franxx. Everything is animated with high quality. The action is fluid. The music for the anime is a mix of original songs and classic rock that perfectly compliment the show.
Ending thoughts
What makes Cyberpunk so appealing but scary at the same time is that it's an extreme parody of modern-day society. In Cyberpunk people modify their bodies similarly to how today people are constantly getting surgeries and taking substances to look “better.” In Cyberpunk people engage in activities that will mostly end up in you getting rich and getting killed just like how we glorify music and tv shows about drug dealers and gangsters. Finally, the characters living in the dangerous city of Night City/ A city rife with extreme poverty and wealth is similar to cities all over the world. Just in the United States the most popular cities are also the most dangerous. So we can use Cyberpunk as a cautionary tale and avoid this perverted future or we can link up with some of our best chooms, grab our iron and get ready for a flashy, yet extremely short, life.
Also please check out my Tik Tok Video on the Anime
@cinema.ology #cyberpunk2077 was a game that promised the world and didn’t deliver. #cyberpunkedgerunners was an #anime that came out of no where and is arguably one of the best of the year. #cyberpunk #videogames #netflix #netflixoriginal #animation #xbox #playstation #pc ♬ This Fffire (from "Cyberpunk Edgerunners") - Power Trackz 4.0
