Greetings fellow media enjoyers! 👋

This is my first post in this community. 🙌 However, I am a seasoned reviewer so I felt the fit was natural. More so, I wanted to talk about this show, sue me. 😅

This will be a spoiler-free review, although I will be referencing stuff from the game and/or tabletop RPG. Follow me choom. ⏬⏬⏬

Linking the soundtrack has become a staple of my reviews. And just so happens that this one is the bomb. 💣 We'll get more into it later, but for now, I recommend you take a listen while reading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnnbP7pCIvQ&list=PLaNqY_pCL5SdzD5Vl4BcOgicZbgztwJnt

I am a massive cyberpunk fan (the genre not the game), started with Ghost in the Shell then it transitioned to reading William Gibson's work and the rest is history. 🙂 Now, I am also a hue Cyberpunk fan (the game not the genre), which has had its ups and down but recently has been trending up. 🔼

TRIGGER is an animation studio littered with legendary animators. While I haven't been fond of the shows they've been putting out, the talent they possessed cannot be denied. 💯 On the other hand you got CD Projekt Red might have destroyed their reputation with the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, but their handle on story telling is undisputed.

Suffice to say, I was looking forward to this show. And I am so glad that it didn't suck. Not only did it not suck, but it was a damn good show to boot. 😮 It went above and beyond any of my expectations, and today I wanna tell you why.

Let's start with the main character, and no, it ain't who you think. 😅

Cyberpunk Edgerunners is set in Night City. A sprawling mega-city set in the free state of North California. It is the setting of not only this anime, but the aforementioned game, and the original tabletop RPG that all these newer releases are based off of.

In other words: its central to this world and its themes.

There is no difference here. Above David, and Lucy, and Maine, Night City is the main character of this show. Everyone else is just a sidekick to its magnificence. 😤 Each one of the characters, heroes and villains all, serenade the city in hopes that it will reciprocate and make them a legend. The poor fools. 😎

The thematic repercussions of the story all revolve around Night City. What are these thematic repercussions, you ask? As with any true Cyberpunk IP, they are: high tech, low life. 😬 What it means to be human, what it means to live in a world where your life means absolutely nothing in the grander scheme of things. Sure, you might say we already live in such a world - and I wouldn't debate such points. But Cyberpunk takes it to an extreme that's both uncomfortable to witness and mesmerizing to behold.

Out "main character" is named David Martinez, a promising student in the Arasaka academy. Him and his mom are living off "minimum wage" as his mom is trying to make a better life for her son. Needless to say, David has grander dreams for himself and his mom. 🏞

Lucy is a Netrunner (hacker) with dreams of her own. She meets David after an unfortunate accident befalls him, and provides much needed support and stability in his life. 💪

That is as much as I can say without giving away major spoilers. If you are unfamiliar with the Cyberpunk world, then you are in for a treat. 😄 If you've read Neuromancer by William Gibson, then you'll understand the lingo if nothing else. This franchise borrows a lot from Mr. Gibson's work. (as do all Cyberpunk properties if we're being honest)

One spoiler-free nugget that I can add is that all the characters are layered. Living in a Cyberpunk world should never be easy, and their characterization reflects that. Even the smaller parts that only show up for an episode have their own motivation and background. You can feel this through CDPR's amazing writing, and TRIGGER's stunning visuals. 🎨

As for the plot, its a tried, and true, and tested, Cyberpunk formula. We're following the lowly mercs (outlaws, Edgerunners) as they try to make a difference in a city that doesn't care for them. It's paced in such a way, with cliffhangers and such, that you have to watch the next episode as soon as you finish your last. By the end of it, you are left with the void. And you know you've watched something dope. 😁

Sorry to break it to you, but this show looks amazing.

I've never been a fan of TRIGGER's plots in previous shows, too anime for my tastes. 😅 But no one can deny they're animations are breath taking. The animation style of this show reminded me a lot of Redline (an amazing racing movie that you should def try if you haven't)

Apart from the stunning visuals, this anime feels like its set in the Cyberpunk universe. The meticulous detail, from sound effects to car models, is truly commendable. 💪

To add to these connective tissues, the soundtrack of the show is the same from the game. And it has made me appreciate Cyberpunk's music even more. 😃 A lot of the tracks used gain new meaning after the show. An experience I haven't been privy to before Edgerunners.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the obvious budget-cuts this show had to make. The animation gets noticeably choppy at times. This is intentional, of course, to cut down on costs. As the action scenes take up the budgetary load.

In other words: if it sounds like Cyberpunk and looks like Cyberpunk = 👏😍

Cyberpunk Edgerunners makes hefty promises in its premise, and manages to fulfill them in a satisfactory way. Allt he while not losing its identity or structure. This is harder and harder to pull of nowadays, where most media is agenda driven, and not writing focused. 😓 It is what it is though, and I'm still grateful for the unspoiled great works of art we still get.

Make no mistake, Edgerunners is one of those shows.

It makes required sacrifices for its plot and pacing - problems that could've been avoided with a bigger budget. These pacing issues are a common pitfall for most anime, as they try to bite off way more than they can chew. 😅

I'm about to grade this thing and I want to put on record that I don't think numerical scores are good for media enjoying. As they do not accurately reflect the objective quality of a piece. Then again, they're fun, and this is my review. So ye. 😂

Thanks for reading chooms! 👋

Obligatory shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

👊 Follow me on my HIVE blog 👊

All images were captured by me and are taken from the first episode.

Have a great weekend and stay safe! 🍻

Return from CYBERPUNK Edgerunners 💵 A Beautiful Tragedy to Јоцко's Web3 Blog