Netflix’s 100% RT Video Game Anime Is Officially a Sci-Fi Masterpiece

Welcome to Night City. In 2077, it’s going to be voted the worst place to live in America. Violence levels are through the roof, with more people living in poverty than anywhere else in the world. So why does everyone want to live there? Because the city comes with a promise. The anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, inspired by Mike Pondsmith‘s tabletop RPG Cyberpunk, is a standalone prequel to CD Projekt Red’s (CDPR) smash-hit video game, Cyberpunk 2077. CDPR, together with the animators at Studio Trigger, crafts a tragic, bittersweet sci-fi story about pursuing your dream in the most unforgiving city on the planet.

‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Beautifully Expands on the Video Game

Set two years before the events of Cyberpunk 2077, Edgerunners nicely fleshes out the concepts introduced in the game, offering a wholly unique vision of Night City through incredible animation. CDPR co-produced the anime series, which proved beneficial, and its own in-house writers, Bartosz Sztybor, Jan Bartkowicz, and Łukasz Ludkowski, oversaw the story. As a result, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners lines up very well as a companion series to the game, and players will no doubt identify some exciting Easter eggs and references to the game’s characters and events in the show. The worldbuilding of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is meticulous, from the lingo of Night City to the Ripperdocs and the roving mercenaries, or “Edgerunners,” who give the series its title.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners immediately immerses viewers in the bleak future of the 2070s and Night City, where privileges are exclusively afforded to the wealthy and corporate workers, or “corpos,” of the megacorporations. Gang warfare runs rampant in the streets, and civilians frequently undergo cybernetic augmentation, but in the world of Cyberpunk, implants come at a cost. Humans who undergo an overabundance of augmentation risk cyberpsychosis, causing them to lose their sanity and sense of reason.

‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Never Loses Sight of Its Characters and Relationships

No matter how over the top the show gets with its extreme violence and edgy thematic material, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners never loses sight of its characters and relationships. The true beating heart of the series, however, is the bittersweet love story between the Ivy League student-turned-unlikely Edgerunner, David Martinez (Zach Aguilar), and the mysterious netrunner, Lucy Kushinada (Emi Lo). After the tragic death of his mother, David undergoes a cybernetic implantation with some stolen military-grade hardware, which eventually leads his path to cross with Lucy’s. He ultimately proves himself to the leader of Lucy’s crew, Maine (William C. Stephens), and becomes their newest teammate.

While David finds a newfound family and sense of belonging, unlike his fellow Edgerunners, he doesn’t have a dream of his own. Lucy wishes to travel to Earth’s moon, while Maine wants to become a legend, even in death. Over the course of 10 episodes, David’s arc becomes darker as he continues to undergo more cybernetic augmentations, losing his grip on his sanity in the process. The storyline serves as an intriguing metaphor for addiction, reflected by Lucy’s concern as David pushes his tolerance for augmentation to its limit.

‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Is a Genre-Defining Masterpiece

Image via Netflix

The sci-fi subgenre of “cyberpunk” is generally defined as “high-tech equals low-life,” meaning that boundless technological advancement comes at the cost of humanity’s quality of life, leading to societal decadence and decay. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners sublimely interprets that theme with its depiction of how megacorporations, such as the Arasaka Corporation, are both at the forefront of cybernetic development and effectively run the country and society. The megacorporations’ unchecked control results in a class divide, and working-class individuals like David are treated like dirt as a consequence.

On a more intimate level, cyberpsychosis acts as the end stage for all humans who undergo extreme augmentations, representing not only a physical loss of humanity but a mental one as well. This can be seen through Adam Smasher (Alec Newman), a cybernetic super-soldier who appears in both Edgerunners and Cyberpunk 2077. Meanwhile, David desperately fights to maintain his tenuous grip on reason through his love for his friends and Lucy without losing himself along the way. Thanks to a combination of excellent worldbuilding, deftly crafted characters, and heartbreaking narrative, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners stands out as a genre-defining sci-fi masterpiece, making it a must-watch show on Netflix.