Cyberpunk: Edgerunners review

    CYBERPUNK 2077 is a game that I keep close to my heart but it's a bit like Night City itself in that it is a relationship that is probably toxic for both of us. She's a beautiful lady with all the pretty chrome, neon hair, and bad attitude but we've had our ups and downs. She wrecked my apartment, there were accusations of cheating, and then we hooked up again but I was already in another relationship. Harsh words were exchanged. Okay, sorry, this metaphor has wandered way off topic.

    In any case, I played Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4 Slim, PS4 Pro, and PS5. I've put five hundred hours into the game and I have read a lot of the spin-off comics, played the tabletop RPG that proceeded it, and have always been a cyberpunk. Hell, I write cyberpunk fiction in general and wrote Daughter of the Cyber Dragons in anticipation of the game. However, it is a game that also disappointed me with its massive bugs, lack of promised features, and incrediby railroaded plot that didn't live up to what could have been.

    So I approached Cyberpunk: Edgerunners with trepidation. Anime and cyberpunk have a long and well-documented history with Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Cyber City Oedo 080, and Bubblegum Crisis being some of my favorite of both. I'd also heard good things about Studio Trigger, even though I wasn't familiar with any of their works. Still, I had to ask myself whether or not they'd be able to produce something truly up to snuff. Did they?

    For the most part, yes. This is going to be one of those "power metal" series. Which is to say that it's not going to be for everyone but those people that do like it, will love it to an absurd degree. It is an ultra cynical, ultra violent, hyper-stylized series that perfectly encapsulates the Earthly Inferno that is Night City, California. Those who aren't familiar with the games will not be fine but should note that Night City is basically Frank Miller's Sin City except with better technology as well as a (slightly) more respectful attitude toward women.

    The premise is David Martinez is a poor kid attending a rich kid's school due to his mother somehow making enough Eddies on the side to send him there. David doesn't want to be there, doesn't care about becoming a corpo, and swiftly earns the everlasting enmity of his peers. His bad attitude doesn't help him when a horrific accident claims the lives of his mother and he is left bankrupt by the medical expenses that weren't enough to save her.

    Not to get too deep into the series but David finds crime as a lucrative-seeming alternative to school and ends up joining a group of cyberpunks AKA Edgerunners. They're a semi-friendly group at the best of times but David is deeply in love with a beautiful mercenary-thief named Lucy. Unfortunately, David is addicted to the power he feels getting his body cybernetically upgraded and doesn't care about building a future for himself. 

    Generally, I really liked the characters with David being as close to a "canon" Street Kid V as can get without actually ruining anyone's internal canon. Well, canon and about ten years younger. Lucy also incorporates elements of Evelyn and cyberpunk female characters that make her an ideal femme fatale for the younger set. The other characters are enjoyable as well with Adam Smasher finally being treated as the terrifying monster he is in lore.

    There's quite a bit of violence and nudity in the anime, which can sometimes feel a little try-hard but the story is extremely well-told. It is a story about the economic and social pressures of a exaggerated version of America that drives people to do desperate things as well as the trauma this can inspire. It also is about the bonds of friendship and moments of humanity we forge in life.

    David is a great character and easily relatable to as he does some things that take him from "generic anime protagonist" to someone with a really fascinating arc with both tragedy as well as poignancy. Lucy and Rebecca are characters I also came to love to a ridiculous degree as well as the former reminds me a lot of my own femme fatales while the latter is like Tiny Tina from Borderlands crossed with Harley Quinn. Even smaller characters like Maine and Pilar, though make big impacts for their time onscreen, though.

    If I had to say there's one weakness to the anime, if you're not opposed to copious gore and animated fanservice, I'd say its villain is fairly weak. Giancarlo Esposito's Faraday is a smug, whiny, obnoxious twit but never really inspires much in the way of actual fear. Then again, the fact he's such an obsequious little weasel is probably the point. Our heroes cause the majority of their owb problems in the end.

    The animation is not remotely "realistic" but it is kinetic and eye-popping when on screen. Night City is beautifully realized and players of the video game will be able to spot numerous locations from the story. It is a story that can be an excellent introduction in the world of Mike Pondsmith if you haven't played the games but will not be for the faint of heart. Also, "wrong city, wrong people" if you're looking for everyone to end up rich as well as happy. 

Available on Netflix