Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. When you were a kid and thought about the future, what did you think it would look like? For me, I always imagined flying cars, hoover boards, robots and aliens walking around, and hologram projections so authentic you thought they were real. But honestly, in today’s culture, I think something like Cyberpunk 2077 is where we’re headed. Okay, a little backstory. Cyberpunk 2077 was a game developed by CD Projekt Red the same developers that gave us The Witcher series. It was one of the biggest games that was hyped up in 2020 and with the terrible year people were having, everyone got excited about this game. Now I own the game but have only played a little of it so my knowledge of the whole series is scarce, but even I know about all the problems it had at the beginning. Come launch day what we got was one of the biggest disasters in videogame history. Horrible bugs, glitches, crashes and T-posing. It was terrible and an obvious sign that the game was rushed out before it was ready and turned a lot of people off. Thankfully, after two years of patches and updates, the game was finally playable and once it was you could see the world CD Projekt Red created and. . .it looks amazing. The world is vibrant and full of interesting characters with the potential for a lot of cool stories to take place in. CD Projekt Red thought so as well and decided to make an anime set in this world. What studio did they partner up with? Shizuku.
(Shizuku): The one and only Studio Trigger.
(Nitsuj): That’s right. Studio Trigger was called in to animate the story for this anime. I have to admit I was a little worried about this. Over the last few years, Trigger has been in kind of a slump. While their projects weren’t bad per se they left a lot to be desired and felt like they were repeating the same tropes over and over again. Working in a world that would constrict their creative freedom seemed like a bad move on their part.
(Shizuku): Thankfully, that wasn’t the case as this anime was a huge hit on Netflix in 2022. So huge in fact that it pretty much revived the game as people started to download it on Steam and play it again. It even made the list of the best animes of 2022. Let’s see how good this anime was and take a look at it. This Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners.
(Nitsuj): And we’ll be looking at the dub version as it is the overall better version.
Opening and Ending Theme
(Nitsuj): The opening is surprisingly a hit from the past “This Fffire” by Franz Ferdinand. I actually remember listening to this song back in college when it came out and enjoyed it. I never would have expected to be used as an anime opening, but the visuals match up with the song perfectly and the song goes well with the anime and the main character.
(Shizuku): For the ending we have “Let You Down” by Dawid Podsiadło. Once again a great song that matches up with the series perfectly. There’s this hint of sadness in the song and as the anime continues the song becomes sadder and sadder as we see these characters unfortunately start to fall. What awaits for them at the end is either death or sadness.
Episodes 1-5
(Nitsuj): We open the anime up in Night City where the game takes place in. We see a mysterious assailant blow a cop’s head off (well this hits close to reality) and then goes on a killing spree like something out of GTA before he gets taken down (scene here: https://youtu.be/x2oC5ZJYjVU). We see that this was all a virtual reality experience being played by our main character David voiced by Zach Aguilar (Tanjiro from Kimestu no Yaiba). He’s your standard teenage boy who comes from a poor single-parent family and gets bullied because of it. One day in class he illegally modifies his cyberware to avoid paying for the required update (Shizuku: We’ve all been there. . .and regretted it) which crashes the whole school’s system (Shizuku: Impressive malware) and his mom agrees to pay for all the school damages. David thinks it would be better if he dropped out and found a job, but his mom doesn’t want that. As they continue to drive home, they get caught in drive-by shooting where the mom gets badly injured (and she has no insurance. Is Night City based in America? Scene here: https://youtu.be/QQqa_FGzgzY). David manages to log into his mom’s savings account to pay for her medical bills but isn’t allowed to see her because it’s not in the plan (again, is Night City based in America?). As if that wasn’t bad, he gets locked out of the apartment because of the rent being overdue but manages to sneak back in. Once he goes through his mom’s stuff, he discovers some stolen cyberware which we later find out is a military-grade Sandevistan implant (I’m just going to assume that’s a big deal in the game). The next day he gets beat up by some of his classmates (https://youtu.be/5gsKtA-7_kA) and then finds out his mom’s condition worsened and she passed away. Completely broken, at the end of his rope, and filled with rage, David goes to Doc a local ripperdoc to get the Sandevistan installed into his body.
Episode 2 opens up with David getting the Sandevistan installed (scene here: https://youtu.be/k6RIZD5iwdA. (Shizuku): Shouldn’t he be asleep during this process? (Nitsuj): Not in the insurance plan). The operation was a success which gave him super speed, strength, and reflexes and David heads to school to get some much-needed revenge on his bully. He of course gets expelled (scene here: https://youtu.be/f6WGu3i2F0c. (Shizuku): Worth it). The next day as he rides the train he meets the lovely Lucy voiced by Emi Lo, a netrunner who seems to carry a grudge against the Arasaka corporation (scene here: https://youtu.be/HI8ubzVgvio). She agrees to partner up with him and pickpocket people on the subway where David collapses from overusing his Sandevistan. Lucy takes him to Doc after escaping some corrupted paramedics (scene here: https://youtu.be/BIymrma2VFI) where he’s told to only use his Sandevistan 2-3 times a day. Any more and he risks scrambling his brains. However, Doc notes that it is impressive that his body was able to sustain using the Sandevistan so many times in one day. After some pills, Lucy invites him back to her place (Shizuku: This girl moves faster than this game’s developers making the first patch) where they chat a little and she shares with him her dream of leaving the city and traveling to the moon (Shizuku: Take your shot. *Nitsuj drinks his shot of bourbon* (Nitsuj): Goddamn Hiroyuki and his obsession with space). She shows him a virtual reconstruction of the moon which was all a set up to deliver him to some edgerunners who want the Sandevistan (scene here: https://youtu.be/JJV6-2QUEto).
In episode 3 the edgerunner, Maine, reveals that David’s mom was going to sell the Sadevistan to him before her death. In fact, she’s sold him a number of stolen cyberware (Shizuku: She orders David to live a proper life yet she engages in criminal activity? Hypocrite. (Nitsuj): A huge hypocrite). While Maine gives him his condolences, he still wants his money, so David offers to work it off by performing jobs for him. At first Maine is hesitant but once David shows how good he is with the Sandevistan he decides to give him a chance. The next day David receives his mission which is nabbing some navigation data from Maxim, a driver for Asakara. David nabs his data chip but Maxim gets called in by his boss before the data can be copied and they’re forced to go with plan B, stealing Maxim’s limo to gain the data. While at the bar, we get the appearance of the mad loli herself, Rebecca voiced by Alex Cazares. Rebecca is easily the best character in this whole anime. The funny thing is CD were against Rebecca being in the show saying she didn’t fit in the Cyberpunk world but Hiroyuki was insisted on letting her stay. Not only does she fit into the Cyberpunk world but she embodies it entirely. Without her all the fun and real drama gets sucked out of this series. Anyway, David and Lucy break into Maxim’s limo where they get the data only to get discovered by Maxim himself. This forces them to steal the limo where they get chased by some bikers. We get a good chase on the highway where David manages to lose them (scene here: https://youtu.be/Zq4zTcIM0yQ) and make it back to the hideout only for one of the bikers to attack them. Luckily, they get saved by Maine who kills the biker and welcomes David into the gang. That night, they all party where we get to meet Maine’s fixer, Faraway, voiced by Giancarlo Esposito (Shizuku: Wait, Giancarlo Esposito? The Giancarlo Esposito? As in the same guy who voiced Anton Castillo from Far Cry 6? The Dentist/Dr. Helmann from Payday 2 and Stan Edgar from The Boys? How the hell did they get him to agree to this anime?). He’s not pleased with how the operation went which has brought him and his boss back to square one (scene here: https://youtu.be/bbmW9o49Eek). After he takes his leave everyone continues to party where Rebecca formerly introduces herself to David. As the episode wraps up David receives a call from his principal who is offering him a scholarship to return to the academy. Apparently, the bully’s dad works for Asakara and knows about the Sandevistan within David. Since David has a high tolerance from the side effects, he wants to use David as a test subject and is pressuring the school to get him back. David says up yours and hangs up (Shizuku: He’s a streetkid now. (Nitsuj): Now that reference I do get from the game).
Episode 4 sees David get some much-needed training from Maine in the others. He runs an errand for Rebecca and her brother Pilar (scene here: https://youtu.be/NyyLKsY5jcg), does some night jogging and pickpocketing with Lucy, learns to drive from Maine, and even starts to put a little muscle on his body. Before long he starts to earn his place in the gang and fit right in. He also confides in Maine about his feelings for Lucy and wonders if he can trust her or not (Shizuku: My advice, don’t listen to your dick. That’s what gets you in trouble). One night while the group is returning from the bar, they come across a homeless man urinating in the streets. Pilar harasses the guy who reveals he has cyberpsychosis (basically, a mental illness caused by an overload of cybernetic augments in the body. Raises your psychotic tendencies) and kills Pilar with a concealed weapon. When the man targets Lucy, David leaps into action and shoots the guy to save her with Maine coming in to finish the job (scene here: https://youtu.be/h6C49HbyiZ0). David takes Lucy home while the rest of the gang deals with this mess. Once they arrive at her place they talk where Lucy admits that her dream to go to the moon is real. She also acknowledges that David will make it as an edgerunner but doesn’t think it’s the right life for him (Shizuku: Yeah well he burned his bridge to the school life. Now that I think about it, his principal might be dead because of him). David makes a vow to take Lucy to the moon (one of these days Lucy, pow! Straight to the moon) and they kiss (scene here: https://youtu.be/VRe0uiqVTTs. (Shizuku): Are they official now?).
In episode 5 the gang is trying to get intel on Tanaka, the suit Maine’s fixer wanted them to track. They don’t find much except his braindance fetishes which are created by Jimmy Kurosaki. David recognizes the name as he helped push brain chips for him in the past and believes they can use him to catch Tanaka. They try to catch Jimmy, but he outmaneuvers them and captures David where he subjects him to traumatic BDs to induce cyberpsychosis. Jimmy also warns him that the Sandevistan will turn him into a cyberpsycho eventually. Lucy and Dorio come to his rescue and capture Jimmy who agrees to lure Tanaka out for them. The plan works as they catch Tanaka (Shizuku: Give the guy credit, he didn’t go down quietly) but Jimmy gets hit in the crossfire and bleeds out. The group takes Tanaka and leave Jimmy for the trauma team to handle.
Episodes 6-10
(Shizuku): Things take a bad turn for the group in episode 6. We start with Maine showing signs of cyberpsychosis. He can’t control his implants, random blackouts, hallucinations, and mood swings (Nitsuj: Oh God, the mood swings). Things get really bad when Maine accidently knocks out Kiwi while she was trying to hack Tanaka’s cyberware and putting her out of commission (he has a strong backhand). With a little convincing from David, Lucy agrees to hack into Tanaka’s cyberware but only if Maine is kept away and David accompanies her (aww, he’s become her security blanket). While Lucy hacks into Tanaka’s cyberware, Tanaka regains consciousness and tries to convince David to let him go. While David refuses, he stalled him long enough for his neural implants to short out and he begins to flatline. Maine and Dorio come in where they pull Lucy out, keep Tanaka alive, and Maine gets in David’s face for almost fucking up (Nitsuj: You fucked up first, so you have no right to diss him). Before the two can go at it, their jammers go down meaning the trauma team will be on them shortly. David takes Lucy and prepares the escape vehicle while Maine and Dorio secure Tanaka. Once Lucy regains consciousness she tells David that Tanaka was a bust, he has no data (well we can always use him as a good ransom. What? I’m trying to salvage this fucked up situation). Maine and Dorio get surrounded by the trauma team where they start shooting and Maine starts hallucinating again. This results in the death of Dorio who was trying to protect him. David tries to save Maine, but it’s too late. He’s completely succumbed to cyberpsychosis. He kills Tanaka and starts going on a killing spree and blows himself up with Dorio’s corpse leaving David to flee with Maine’s cybernetic arms as a parting gift (scene here: https://youtu.be/s3PGgFNbC4I). David and Lucy escape while the gang is pretty much gone.
In episode 7, months have gone by and David has taken over Maine’s gang with Rebecca as his right-hand (Nitsuj: She is so thirsty for him). We also see he’s got more implants in his body and has become a well-known edgerunner with some of the younger ones looking up to him. The only thing missing in his life is Lucy. She’s distanced herself from the group and David has been unable to get her to rejoin. After completing a job, he gets called in by Faraway who wants to hire him to complete the job Maine started. However, David has to prove himself and Faraway gives him a job from Militech, Arasaka’s archrival. David returns home (nice place) where Lucy is there to greet him (Nitsuj: Nice company). They do some stargazing outside the city (nothing beats the real deal) where Lucy opens up about her past. We find out that she was born in another country and raised in an Arasaka facility. Ever since she was a kid she was raised to be a netrunner and tasked by Arasaka to dive into the Old Net to recover lost data (talk about a death trap. (Nitsuj): Is the Old Net that bad? (Shizuku): Are you kidding me? The Old Net makes the Dark Web look like a kiddy pool. Rogue AIs, dangerous malware. Peeps be getting deleted left and right). Many children died but Lucy managed to survive and escape where she eventually ended up in Night City. Lucy admits that she’s worried about David’s life and health (Nitsuj: As she should be, the man’s more chrome than human now. It ain’t right! Next thing you know he’ll be speaking with an Austrian accent and making one-liners). Later on, we see her kill another netrunner who was going through Tanaka’s data where he came across a corrupted file which seems to be related to Lucy.
Alright a lot happens in episode 8. Taking on Faraway’s job, David murders an Arasaka lab director all while displaying signs of cyberpsychosis. He even attacks Doc later on dampening their relationship (Nitsuj: Oh please, he acts like that’s the first time anyone has ever attacked him) and even kills an innocent bystander who reminded him of his mom (I wonder what she would say if she saw her boy right now?). Even Rebecca starts to pick up on him acting strange and has a heart-to-heart talk (scene here: https://youtu.be/tS1sE8A6G-Y). Arasaka begins investigating the deaths of their personnel believing Militech is involved when really it was Lucy. They send an assassin after Faraway who narrowly escapes with his life and goes to Militech for protection. Militech says no because he hasn’t made any headway in recovering the lost data on Arasaka’s cyberskeleton project (did they not see Terminator? This is what leads to Terminator). Since Militech won’t protect him, he decides to switch sides and goes to Arasaka who will forgive him for Tanaka’s death if he can track down the netrunner killing their personnel. David once again tries to recruit Lucy but has no luck and even thinks about breaking up with her (Nitsuj: Dude, if you do that you are dead to me. And I will clearly know you are crazy). Lucy detects another Arasaka agent looking into Tanaka’s data and goes to take him out only to fall into a trap and get captured by Faraway and Kiwi (you double-crossing bitch. (Nitsuj): DTA. That’s the number one rule in Night City).
Episode 9 starts off in the desert where David and the others are going to assault an Arasaka convoy under Faraway’s orders. Little do they know this is all a trap to capture David. After interrogating Lucy he found out that she’s been hiding Tanaka’s data on David. Because he responded so well to the Sandevistan, Tanaka wanted to use David as a test subject for the cyberskeleton (Nitsuj: Woah, I was just kidding about the Austrian thing. (Shizuku): And I was kidding about the Terminator thing). Not wanting David to get captured (because she loves him) she hid the data and killed off Tanaka hoping Arasaka would just give up on him. Sadly, they didn’t, and Lucy started killing their netrunners to keep David safe (Nitsuj: Only to get betrayed by a person she trusted). Returning back to the desert, David and the others seize the Arasaka cargo which happens to be the cyberskeleton. Then a Militech force arrives to seize the cargo themselves thanks to a tip from Faraway (this guy knows how to play both sides). Faraway intends to force David into installing the cyberskeleton as a demonstration of its power. Using a voice modulator, Faraway tries to get David to install the cyberskeleton while pretending to be Lucy, but Lucy escapes and manages to warn David about Faraway’s plan before being re-captured. Angered by this and ignoring the consequences, David installs the cyberskeleton and mows down the Militech force within seconds (scene here: https://youtu.be/iTiZgp4rmWc). He now sets his sights on Faraway and saving Lucy.
In the final episode, it’s death galore and explosions (Nitsuj: A fitting end for a series like this). This is definitely where the series goes all out on the animation as David and the others race to Arasaka headquarters to rescue Lucy. Along the way they fight against Militech and Arasaka forces with David unfortunately gone mentally (scene here: https://youtu.be/0tBtIbwFHQQ). Meanwhile, Kiwi gets double-crossed by Faraway because she knows too much (Nitsuj: She hast discovereth the sacred cyberskeleton) and gets killed by his men, but not before giving the others his location so they can rescue Lucy. Faraway makes it to Arasaka and so does David who attacks Faraway and gets attacked by the legend himself, Adam Smasher (so dumb and yet so cool at the same time. If Brock Lesnar was an anime character, he would be this guy). David saves Lucy and Faraway plummets to his death but Adam Smasher is right behind them. He kills Rebecca (scene here: https://youtu.be/4_G2aoNjuyc. (Nitsuj): Bastard! I can’t wait to kill you in the game) and then fights against David who sacrifices his life while Falco and Lucy escape (scene here: https://youtu.be/jBEXVIN6NFE). Sometime later, Lucy fulfills her wish and travels to the moon but is despondent because David is not there with her (you said it yourself girl. There’s no happy endings for anyone in Night City).
Final Thoughts
(Nitsuj): So that was Cyberpunk Edgerunners and it was way better than it had any right to be. This anime was great from beginning to end. The first half does a good job of introducing the characters and forming a connection to them. It really did feel like this was going to be a simple story of a boy adapting to a new way of life he was introduced to. Only for the second half to get series and show us the harsh reality of Night City and the consequences of our actions. Seeing all these characters who we came to love up and die in the end is heartbreaking and almost made me cry at the end. I was really pulling for the happy ending.
(Shizuku): David’s growth throughout the anime was done excellently. He goes from being this kid who seemed way in over his head to a certified legend who could hold his own and had the respect of everyone around him. I also did like the romance he shared with Lucy. At first, it seemed like she didn’t care for him all that much but as time went on he came to be her security blanket. The one thing she could trust in this world and wouldn’t harm him. Even at the end when she achieves her dream it means nothing to her because David’s not there to share it with her. The rest of the characters were good as well. Rebecca was the best character as she encapsulates everything Cyberpunk is and to see her feelings for David go unrequited but still show care for him and Lucy was mature and really speaks volumes to her character. It would have been so easy for her to abandon him, but she cares too much for those around her. The ending of Maine was also sad as he really did come across as the father figure David needed in his life and even though Kiwi and Falco had limited roles and screentime, the time that they were on screen was enjoyable. I like how Falco has this southern gentleman personality and Kiwi the big sister looking out for everyone only to double-cross them because it’s the only way she knows how to survive. Having Faraway as the villain was great. He’s not the strongest, but he’s the sneakiest. Giancarlo is a master when it comes to playing these types of characters and his performance here was masterful.
(Nitsuj): The animation for this anime was spectacular. Trigger managed to bring Night City to life. The colors and shading of this city is just great. This is how I always imagined Night City would look like if it was a real place. Even the shots of space are great. The violence and action is fast-paced, bloody, and gory. This anime holds nothing back in showing just how violent it can get it and that’s how the game is, it’s perfect. This anime also has a good soundtrack as every song matches up perfectly with the scene we’re in and sets the mood perfectly. Some people have complained that the anime was too short, but in my opinion, it was given the right amount of runtime. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end, and made you fall in love with the characters and want to see them pull through only to fall short. It’s the recipe for a perfect investment.
Final Score
(Nitsuj:): My final score for Edgerunners is a 8/10 with a must-watch stamp of approval.
(Shizuku): I’m also giving it an 8/10. Next to Kill la Kill this might just be my favorite anime from Trigger.
(Nitsuj): Many people had worries that Trigger would fall short due to the limitations of the Cyberpunk world, but they managed to work really well within this world and told a compelling story within this well-crafted world Projekt Red wanted everyone to experience.
(Shizuku): I’m actually curious to know what other stories take place in this world and if we’ll see them down the line.
(Nitsuj): Same here. All we can do is just wait and hope. In the meantime, we have the game and my interest in it has rejuvenated. Wanna play it?
(Shizuku): Yes!
(Nitsuj): All right! Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.