Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (サイバーパンク エッジランナーズ) is a Japanese-Polish cyberpunk original net animation (ONA) miniseries based on the video game Cyberpunk 2077 by Polish studio CD Projekt Red. The series was animated by Japanese animation studio Trigger under the supervision of CD Projekt and premiered on Netflix in September 2022. Set in the Cyberpunk universe created by Mike Pondsmith, the anime serves as a prequel to the game and takes place about a year before the events of Cyberpunk 2077.

Upon its release, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners received critical acclaim, with praise directed at its characters, animation, and worldbuilding. In October 2022, CD Projekt announced that the anime would not be receiving a second season and stated that, while they were open to collaborating with Trigger for future projects, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners had always been planned as a standalone work.

Setting
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is set in Night City, a self-reliant metropolis located in the Free State of California that suffers from extensive corruption, cybernetic addiction, and gang violence. The city is split into six districts, each of which has its own precise living requirements, and is controlled by several megacorporations, including Arasaka and its rival Militech. The anime's story is primarily set in Santo Domingo, the oldest, poorest, and most industrial district of Night City, and takes place during the year 2076.

Plot
In a dystopia overrun by corruption, crime, and cybernetic implants, an impulsive but talented street kid named David Martinez, after losing everything he has in a drive-by shooting, makes the choice to survive on the wrong side of the law as an "edgerunner": a high-tech, black-market mercenary also known as a "cyberpunk".

Characters

 * David Martinez (デイビッド・マルティネス)
 * A Latino American teenager who is a top student at the prestigious Arasaka Academy. Due to coming from a very poor family, he is relentlessly bullied by his classmates and feels like he does not belong at school. A sudden and devastating tragedy leads him to abandon his education and puts him on the path of becoming an edgerunner.
 * A Latino American teenager who is a top student at the prestigious Arasaka Academy. Due to coming from a very poor family, he is relentlessly bullied by his classmates and feels like he does not belong at school. A sudden and devastating tragedy leads him to abandon his education and puts him on the path of becoming an edgerunner.


 * Lucyna "Lucy" Kushinada (ルーシー)
 * A young and mysterious netrunner who becomes romantically involved with David and introduces him to the criminal underworld of Night City. She has a particular hatred towards Arasaka and dreams of traveling to the Moon.
 * A young and mysterious netrunner who becomes romantically involved with David and introduces him to the criminal underworld of Night City. She has a particular hatred towards Arasaka and dreams of traveling to the Moon.


 * Maine (メイン)
 * A veteran edgerunner who commands his own crew. He is one of Gloria's clients and allows David to join the crew under his guidance.
 * A veteran edgerunner who commands his own crew. He is one of Gloria's clients and allows David to join the crew under his guidance.


 * Dorio (ドリオ)
 * Maine's girlfriend and second-in-command.
 * Maine's girlfriend and second-in-command.


 * Pilar (ピラル)
 * A foul-mouthed techie and a member of Maine's crew. He is also Rebecca's older brother.
 * A foul-mouthed techie and a member of Maine's crew. He is also Rebecca's older brother.


 * Kiwi (キーウィ)
 * A veteran netrunner who is often cold and stoic, and a member of Maine's crew. She is also Lucy's mentor.
 * A veteran netrunner who is often cold and stoic, and a member of Maine's crew. She is also Lucy's mentor.


 * Falco (ファルコ)
 * A member of Maine's crew who works as the group's getaway driver.
 * A member of Maine's crew who works as the group's getaway driver.


 * Rebecca (レベッカ)
 * A young and trigger-happy edgerunner and a member of Maine's crew. She is also Pilar's younger sister.
 * A young and trigger-happy edgerunner and a member of Maine's crew. She is also Pilar's younger sister.


 * Faraday (ファラデー)
 * A fixer who works for Militech. He has a business relationship with Maine's crew and often hires them to conduct jobs that usually involve them performing corporate espionage against Arasaka.
 * A fixer who works for Militech. He has a business relationship with Maine's crew and often hires them to conduct jobs that usually involve them performing corporate espionage against Arasaka.


 * Adam Smasher (アダム・スマッシャー)
 * A bloodthirsty and fully cybernetic supersoldier who works for Arasaka as their chief of security. His English voice actor, Alec Newman, reprises the role from Cyberpunk 2077.
 * A bloodthirsty and fully cybernetic supersoldier who works for Arasaka as their chief of security. His English voice actor, Alec Newman, reprises the role from Cyberpunk 2077.


 * Ripperdoc (リパードク)
 * A local ripperdoc who helps upgrade and install David's cybernetic implants, as well as providing him with the required immunosuppressants.
 * A local ripperdoc who helps upgrade and install David's cybernetic implants, as well as providing him with the required immunosuppressants.


 * Gloria Martinez (グロリア・マルティネス)
 * David's mother and a paramedic who works herself to the bone to pay for his tuition at the Arasaka Academy.
 * David's mother and a paramedic who works herself to the bone to pay for his tuition at the Arasaka Academy.

Production and release
The series was announced during a "Night City Wire" livestream for the game on June 25, 2020, as a collaboration between CD Projekt and Trigger. Hiroyuki Imaishi directed the series, with Masahiko Otsuka and Yoshiki Usa writing scripts, Yoh Yoshinari designing the characters and serving as animation director, Yuto Kaneko and Yusuke Yoshigaki serving as assistant character designers, Hiroyuki Kaneko serving as assistant director, Hiromi Wakabayashi serving as creative director, and Akira Yamaoka serving as the show's composer. The anime's opening theme is "This Fffire" by Franz Ferdinand, while its ending theme is "Let You Down" by Dawid Podsiadło. Edgerunners also utilized songs from 2077's in-game radio stations. Rosa Walton's song "I Really Want to Stay at Your House" was featured prominently and critically praised.

Reception
In its first week, the show debuted on the Netflix top ten with 14.88 million hours viewed. Its success helped increase the sales of Cyberpunk 2077 to 20 million units sold.

Critical response
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was acclaimed by critics and fans.

Jonathon Wilson wrote for Ready Steady Cut that in "many ways, this is the Cyberpunk story the Cyberpunk game wanted to tell and couldn't." Matt Kim of IGN praised the exploration of the hostile life in Night City, specifically the visual effects, noting more of the focus was on the city rather than on some of the characters, and calling it "a wild ride, but worth every blistering second". In a review for Polygon, Kambole Campbell praised the "visual language for various in-game concepts," as well as the "sonic diversity in its score" and found that the show's best aspect was "[its] ability to depict the psychological unmooring of its characters without feeling inauthentic."

Video game director Hideo Kojima lauded the show as well, calling it "a miracle of squeezing the trigger to the world", and compared the art and world design favorably to the 1990 OVA series Cyber City Oedo 808. Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the original Cyberpunk role-playing game also praised the show, writing "It's like seeing my brain in a big screen anime." The publisher of the tabletop Cyberpunk game, R. Talsorian, announced plans for an Edgerunners-based expansion in November 2022.

Future
In an interview with Famitsu, CDPR community manager Satoru Honma said of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners that no plans exist for a second season but that if ever there would be, it would not be a continuation of the first season but "something completely different."

Other media
Lucy is scheduled to appear as a playable character via downloadable content in Guilty Gear Strive.