Let’s face it. None of the promotional tie-ins or over-the-top publicity stunts that the Cyberpunk 2077 video game received before its release (including the massive announcement that actor Keanu Reeves would be one of the main characters in the story) helped soften the blow that came out of the disastrous December 10th, 2020 glitch-ridden launch. From the first step taken in the futuristic, cyber-engulfed world of Night City, players were either greeted with some sort of game-breaking bug or catastrophic performance issue. These massive missteps completely broke down the fully immersive, first-person experience promised to fans years before by the developers of 2077, CD Projekt Red.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

With gamers holding their heads in shame each time they witnessed their own avatar suddenly fall through the floor, a car slowly fusing with another upon collision, or NPCs who would casually walk right through what was supposed to be closed doors, Cyberpunk 2077 was downright unplayable in early versions. But rest assured, this was just not acceptable for the same studio that brought us the award-winning series of video games, The Witcher.

CD Projekt Red is working hard on its promise to make amends to its loyal fans. Starting from even a week before launch and almost every other month thereafter, patches were sent out to players that repaired any defects that initially hindered the gameplay mechanics and visual display. Fast-forward two years later, and with only a handful of bugs remaining within the game, CD Projekt Red decided that it was in their best interest to go the extra mile in restoring trust between publisher and player.

First announced on June 25th, 2020, during a promotional “Night City Wire” Cyberpunk 2077 official livestream and exclusively releasing on Netflix on September 13th, 2022, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a ten-episode anime series created out of a joint effort between CD Projekt Red and Studio Trigger, a Japanese animation studio.

Among many prominent actors and actresses, Zach Aguilar was cast as David, the main character, Giancarlo Esposito (of Breaking Bad fame) would voice Faraday, the main antagonist, and Matthew Mercer (of Critical Role fame) would bring life to Falco, an older member of the gang that trains David.

What Happens in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners?

     Netflix

Expanding on the already dark and bleak lore of Night City, the plot of Edgerunners revolves around David, a poor Hispanic teenager. He chooses to dive headfirst into the life of being an Edgerunner after going through the traumatic event of losing his mother to some reckless gang warfare that they are both innocently caught up in.

Choosing to be implanted with a military-grade body modification called a Sandevistan that his mother was hiding in their small apartment, David is soon coaxed by a woman named Lucy to join up with a band of mercenary outlaws who all work together on heists to steal hi-tech data and weaponry which they then turn around and sell on the black market. Things turn from bad to worse as David and his crew quickly become entangled in a conspiracy involving two of Night City’s most powerful corporations, Arasaka and Militech.

As the story progresses, we also see that David has to be infused with increasingly more immunosuppressants to counteract the physical and neurological toll that the cybernetic enhancement is taking on his biological body.

Making Amends with Anime

Since Cyberpunk: Edgerunners premiered, positive reviews began pouring in from across the board. Being praised for its animation, characters, and storyline, CD Projekt Red succeeded in recapturing the hearts and minds of those who were strongly discouraged from anything that the world of Cyberpunk 2077 had to offer due to the initial release fiasco. Not only is the game itself surging back into popularity because of the anime’s success, but the series has a 100% average score on Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of Google users reported liking the show, and even Forbes called Cyberpunk: Edgerunners a “phenomenal series, taking the potential. Evens Night City and running wild with it in a gory, sexy, strangely sad and compelling action series."

Anybody who has seen the show can quickly agree that even though Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is still relatively new on the scene and has yet to reach its full audience of casual Netflix viewers and pop culture fans alike, the series can easily stand next to other legendary anime productions such as Ghost In The Shell which was released over twenty years ago or even Akira which was released over thirty year ago.

With the ten-episode first season already receiving so much favorable acclaim, the question that is on everybody’s mind is if we will see any more Edgerunner adventures coming out of Night City in the near future. While no official announcement has been made from either CD Projekt Red, Studio Trigger, or Netflix, we can keep our fingers crossed that the Cyberpunk anime will continue sooner rather than later.