The anime genre has always been a tough nut to crack, what hasn't been done before, what's new and inventive, how to make a masterpiece? These are questions all studios ask themselves, and many hit and miss the mark on separate occasions, but one studio, who has never failed to miss the mark - Studio Trigger, decided to take up the gauntlet in their 100% perfect record of a game that has a near 0% perfect record - Cyberpunk Edgerunners, the anime series set in CD Project Red’s futuristic world of Cyberpunk 2077.
When I say I went into this anime with low expectations I meant it. I was aware of studio triggers previous works and their success, but having felt and seen the disaster that was Cyberpunk 2077 for myself first hand, I had my doubts. Boy was I wrong. Not only did they deliver, they smashed it straight out of the cybernetic park! And boy, the show is “PREEM” to quote the citizens of night city.
The story takes place before the events of 2077, and we follow the protagonists David Martinez and Lucy, in their journeys to become edgerunners. This show is completely filled with thrills from the get go, you can truly feel night city around you sprawled out for the eye to see, each character has been written in depth, and the true essence of cyberpunk is encapsulated from the first minute you start watching.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners however, is primarily a love story between our two protagonists, and a bittersweet one at that, jam packed to the brim with action, drama, and emotion in 10 20ish minute episodes, and for such a short run, the pacing is perfectly done. You get to become really attached to the characters and the world around you, and become deeply involved with them, almost cherishing every moment you have, and will leave you on tender hooks from the get go. The only downside? Studio Trigger is known for doing spectacular one season anime, so it's not looking likely for a second season, but maybe future projects later down the line?
But what does this mean for the series as a whole?
Well first of all, the game itself was hard pressed from the start with a shoddy release, and as such many gave up on it, so the anime could potentially revive the love for the series in their hearts, As mentioned previously, you really connect with night city, and i found personally after returning to the game after watching the anime i had a deeper more profound connection and experience with the world around me, and was truly able to embrace it.
Furthermore, content wise Cyberpunk 2077 now has added content for edgerunners like David's jacket, and I'm hoping they bring in Lucy’s hair too . Furthermore, they are gearing up to release their first paid DLC, now that their game is finally fixed (I will note here, fixed on next gen consoles and PC, unfortunately there are still a few hiccups with the previous generation) but speaking from experience on the ps5, i can say i haven't had any graphical glitches or any crashes, and the game looks even more beautiful than before.
I don't think it will be an overnight fix, but if Cyberpunk and CD Project Red can keep up this winning streak, they'll be onto a winner and a revival of the series, after all, look at CDPR flagship title “The Witcher” - another prime example of an amazing game with a huge following, that was an abysmal, buggy mess at launch. Credit where credit is due, CDPR don't give up, and they always deliver in the end.
Cyberpunk edgerunners rating -
Graphically - 9/10
Story - 10/10
Characters - 10/10
Voice actors - 10/10 (eng dub)
Pacing - 9/10
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