Cyberpunk Edgerunners
“Cyberpunk Edgerunners” (at least I had that impression) just suddenly appeared on Netflix. If there was any hype around its announcement, I missed it.
However, this isn’t bad news.
Just as it unexpectedly appeared, it also (somewhat unexpectedly) won the sympathy of audiences and film critics.
The series is set in the world of the video game “Cyberpunk 2077.” The explanation about creating this game, its (un)success, controversy, praise to the skies, resurrection, results that could have led to the downfall of the company “CDPR”… all this could be written about for days, so it’s better to google it yourself if you’re interested.
“Cyberpunk Edgerunners” is a prequel to the events in the game (i.e., it happens before the events in the game).
Is it necessary to have played the video game to understand “Cyberpunk Edgerunners”? Not at all. It would definitely help you get into the series, but this is, in the end, a cyberpunk world. If you’re a fan of this genre, you’ll easily get the hang of it.
In a dystopian futuristic world, where everything revolves around corruption, crime, business and cybernetic implants, lives young and talented (and very impulsive) David. Typical “street kid,” with his mother he tries to survive in Night City from her modest salary and his “hustling.”
However, in one gang clash, he and his mother end up as collateral damage from which only he barely escapes with his life.
Bitter, alone, and without a dime in his pocket, David doesn’t know what to do next. However, by chance in his modest apartment, among his mother’s things, he finds a military-grade implant (Sandevistan neuralware), for which on the black market very nice money can be gotten.
However, David’s conflict with a rich and spoiled student (who’s moreover the son of a high-ranking official in one of the city’s most powerful corporations), who managed to beat him with the help of an implant and then mock his mother’s death, pushes him “over the edge.”
In a fit of rage, he goes to a special kind of doctor for cybernetic implants (ripperdoc) and installs the previously mentioned military implant in himself (although the chance he’d die on the operating table was very high).
With the (now installed) extremely powerful implant, David realizes that his only chance for Night City not to “eat him” is to become an edgerunner – a mercenary on the other side of the law (cyberpunk) who does dirty jobs for corporations.
Though at first glance “Cyberpunk Edgerunners” seems like a quite “straightforward” series, there are several elements that give it “depth,” which make it interesting.
The first is, expectedly, the close connection with the game “Cyberpunk 2077.” Its cyberpunk world and extensive lore draw you from the start into the complicated and harsh life in Night City.
Then there’s the concept of cybernetic implants. Though various implants can enable you all kinds of (crazy) “supernatural” powers, their installation (and upgrade) carries serious risk. If you don’t have psycho-physical capacities (or don’t use a certain type of medication), implants can make you psychologically unstable, to the point where you become a psychopath (cyberpsycho). If you reach this extreme stage, you get on the kill list of MaxTac, a “specialized” unit within Night City police that deals only with cyberpsychos (and brutally solves this problem). Keep in mind, David installed in himself a military-type implant (not legally intended for civilians), which belonged to a notorious mercenary who himself became a cyberpsycho, which is why David also has serious predispositions to become one of them.
Interesting is also David’s relationship with the mercenary group (edgerunners) he joined. He builds a specific, friendly relationship with everyone, with the exception of Lucy (the secondary main character in the series, i.e., deuteragonist) with whom he manages to connect on a deeper, more emotional level.
Now, whether David can become someone/something in this fast futuristic world solving dirty jobs for corporations, or whether a harsh death awaits him, you’ll find out if you watch “Cyberpunk Edgerunners.” 😊
Since we’ve touched on the plot and world of the series “Cyberpunk Edgerunners” (which are interesting and hold attention), let’s look at other elements of the series.
The visual aspect of the series is top-notch. Studio “Trigger” (whose most famous title, at least for me, is “Kill La Kill”) was, by the way, founded by former employees of the former “GAINAX.” The founder, by the way, worked on the phenomenal series “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” (one of my “top 10 anime titles”) and decided that the visual style of the newly founded studio would go a similar path. So, excellent graphics await you, epic (and crazy) action scenes and explosions of psychedelic colors. Particularly interesting is how characters are presented when they “fall into” cyberpsychosis state, as well as when they activate their powers (and when they push themselves beyond the limits of possibility).
All this is accompanied by good music (complete with an excellent opening number).
As for the heroes, despite a decent number of supporting participants, everything revolves most around the romantic duo, David and Lucy.
David is the classic rebel who suffers and suffers… until the system and its (spoiled) individuals push him “over the edge” and then his true nature begins to be revealed. It’s interestingly presented how his personality changes over time as time passes in the company of other mercenaries, his advancement, as well as the loss of people close to him.
Lucy, on the other hand, is completely closed off and mysterious because of her traumatic past. She has a quite nihilistic view of the world and seems to have accepted that life sucks, but that you should still (sur)vive. David’s appearance in her life gives her hope that maybe she can emotionally open up to someone, as well as find her purpose in life.
“Cyberpunk Edgerunners” really proved to be an unexpectedly good (and short) series. What’s its plus is the “local” character of the series. David and his crew “shake the cages” and make chaos, but Night City is one huge city and parallel local (epic) events are surely happening. Combined with how Night City is presented in the game “Cyberpunk 2077,” this gives the series creators free hands to make completely new and unique heroes, both on the mercenary side and (maybe) on the corporation side.
And who knows, maybe (the rest of) David’s crew will get another season… maybe…
And why “maybe”… you’ll find out if you watch the series “Cyberpunk Edgerunners.”
Besides excellent ratings, the series also raised the video game’s popularity again. 😊
And you, dear reader, are you familiar with the “Cyberpunk 2077” world? 😊
Trailer
Imdb | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic
Release Date: 2022
Format: Series
Number of Seasons: 1 (10 episodes)
Average Episode Duration: 20 minutes
