The ultimate of anime from the 1980s and the early 1990s is the Netflix original series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. It takes place in the Night City setting from CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk: 2077, which is highly dramatic, ridiculously bombastic, and extremely violent. On September 13, Netflix will release the 10-episode anime series from Studio Trigger (Star Wars: Visions, Promare), and for an anime series set in the universe of a computer gameib, it has no business being this fantastic.

The show centres on David, a financially strapped student at a top academy that is far above his working mother's means. David enters the Night City underbelly, turns into an Edgerunner, and explores the world of body alteration. He then begins to run with the other Edgerunners, a misfit bunch of outspoken people.

The plot involves the Ship of Theseus thought experiment, classism, greed, and the outsider sticking for himself. These cliches are prevalent in science fiction anime, especially older ones. Furthermore, even though David first comes across as immature and a little unlikeable, his character arc is very compelling and fulfilling. This show has the enormous potential to trigger memories of your younger years because everyone can relate to youthful rebellion, wanting a better life for yourself, and trying to manipulate the system to steal power from the privileged. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, however, is nostalgic for the past while forging its own path with a plot and aesthetic that is reminiscent of anime like Akira, Battle Angel, and other sci-fi action content from that era. The violence is out of control, with shootouts that send hundreds of bullets flying across the screen in a matter of seconds and ferociously horrific demises where the corpses erupt in gouts of blood. There are long, expansive, and dramatic moments when someone is being dismembered and blood is flying everywhere. And that's a tremendously entertaining aspect of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. It's way too bombastic.

That might be attributable to the animation style of Studio Trigger, which makes the audience fly by the seat of their pants while following the plot. Still, the show is as as interested in the mise en scène as it is in following David's adventure. Every sight appears to be a work of art that you could screenshot and use as your phone or desktop wallpaper. It's incredible how much attention is given to how objects and people are framed.

Additionally, the animation itself is ideally suited to this environment. Night City feels extremely '80s or "Here's what someone from the '80s believes the future is like," even though it is the year 2077. There is a lot of neon. There is a lot of apparel with high collars. There are some odd-looking sunglasses. Additionally, the complementary animation style truly gives this programme its own unique look and feel because it draws so much from that era. In the most excellent manner imaginable, it makes Edgerunners think, unlike many other current, well-liked anime. But for many players, the most crucial aspect is whether or if Night City, as it does in this instance, feels like its own distinct, alive being. Edgerunners can be a sensory onslaught of sights and noises, similar to the game, yet the city and the show are nonetheless welcoming to those who are visiting Night City for the first time.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has a few problems, but nothing that significantly detracts from the series as a whole. The dialogue has been poorly translated or written in places. The character's point isn't entirely missed, but you'll be left scratching your head for a while as you try to figure out why they would express it in such an odd way. Regarding the conversation, there are many instances throughout the ten episodes where a slow pan of a side street or a static, close-up camera may play during a speech. It's evident that this is a trick to avoid animating the speaker, but it detracts from the motion or what's simply happening in the scene. Initially, it does enhance the already-mentioned mise en scène, but these sections eventually become too drawn out.

For those who adore the Cyberpunk: 2077 setting, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is an excellent companion book. It expands on the fictional setting of Night City and the criminals who inhabit it. One of Netflix's best anime utilizing another IP is Studio Trigger's exploration of the world built by CD Projekt Red. There are some small dialogue difficulties, but they are a minor annoyance in the context of a series that is far more entertaining than it should be.