Just binged all 10 episodes of Cyberpunk Edgerunners and its honestly quite good.

Maybe its because of the Japanese anime influence but got a lot of Gunnm vibes (although I guess that goes without saying since its cyberpunk). The animation was quite beautiful and loved the 2D focus compared to the current transition to CG 3D. I didnt like the basic trope of the manic pixie dream girl but the story was well told with the theme of pursuing dreams for others with proper foreshadowing of the impact of cyber-psychosis. Its not ground-breaking but given the state of current storytelling based on other shows I have seen, have to give props and say the story is quite to very good. The main themes of capitalism and the resulting discrepancy between the haves and the have nots was also great and although the show had some in-universe slang, somebody with no knowledge of the universe was able to pick up the meaning quite quickly.

I do hope CDPR can give us more stuff in this universe. The initial game may have been a disappointment to fans but the world is interesting and there are a ton of concepts that could be explored in both anime and video game form. Would like to see a season 2 or some continuation of the anime since TRIGGER did a great job bringing the world to life (I know the story ended with season 1 but Im thinking season 2 can focus on a whole other group or different *life path* of characters rather than a continuation of the story told in season 1.



Kind of Spoilers
I havent played the Cyberpunk 2077 game yet since Im waiting for the DLC and a GOTY version before diving in but read that there is a certain figure that is not as intimidating as his counterpart in the show. Hope with the update or DLC, CDPR can turn him up to 11 and give us a difficult fight to reflect how intimidating he actually is. Also honestly wish Cyberpunk 2077 was third person as well.

The world building is top tier, which is the credit of Mike Pondsmith. The aestetical style is clearly Cyberpunk 2077, and some of the music is amazing.

HOWEVER, I found the story dumb as shit, and the use of cameos was utterly incompetent, because if you don't know who you are looking at, you're left a little confused about the purpose of the vignette.

So basically, the series has the the same problem as the vast majority of anime... Incompetent story, amazing world building, insufficient budget for proper animation.

im guessing its not worth seeing / probably chock full of spoilers unless you have played CP2077 then?!

You dont need to have played CP2077 to enjoy the anime, nor are there any spoilers for the game or vice-versa.

cheers!
may give it a look if its released beyond streaming (or i get a review copy) then. ta!

no. it is a different style of animation, it is proper.

what you are refering to as "proper" is the western (Disney) style of animation. not all animations have to adhere to the aesthetics of the western style, especially when they are not meant to.

Eh, it was a fun little show. Wasn't crazy about how they glossed over David getting chromed, but, hey. It was written by CDPR, they like to skip over the character building for some reason.

I've seen worse, but it ain't no Cowboy Bebop or anything.

No, when I'm saying proper animation I mean PROPER animation. Dialogue scenes/establishing shots, where static images just scroll right or left for TEN seconds, while maybe a light sign flickers in the background, to trick you into beliving something more is happening... is NOT "proper" animation. When you have contracts, where the animation studio specifies restrictions such as 10.000-12.000 frames of animation per episode, and they then cut corners in some episodes, so that they can spend more frames in other episodes... is when I say "insufficient budget for proper animation".

I've seen plenty of anime, and it's easy to recognize cheapo animations, once you know what to look for. :P Agreed with Tokyo_Bunny_8990, I've not noticed any spoilers... though it might be some spoilers for the new Edgerunners quests added by the latest patch... that I don't know.

I thought it was a solid show with a great flow. The characters did lack depth, but it was more the message that was the focus. If you believe there is little worth to your life, then you are willing to sacrifice it for something that has meaning.