Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022) is a sci-fi anime based on the video game Cyberpunk 2077. The anime became the talk of the town in the anime community with its unexpected yet not-so-surprising winning of the 2023 Crunchyroll Anime of the Year.
What’s this reading about?
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- Is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners your must story?
- Why Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is the anime of the year?
- Is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners one of the best anime ever?
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- If you’re looking for edgy animation and character design.
- If you prefer gore anime.
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- And if you’re in search of anime that is set in a classic sci-fi dystopian setting.
Average viewer rating across platforms.
Why Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is the Anime of the Year?
To be the anime of the year, it must outperform the competition. The way to accomplish this is to display some artistic originality that distinguishes the anime from the rest of the crowd. Undoubtedly, animation and action scenes played a huge role in this anime. But we’ll see how it plays out from a narrative standpoint.
Spoiler Alert
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- Plot Combination
When we hear sci-fi, we immediately think of dystopia, aliens, robots, and sometimes even cyberpunks. Generally, all of these categories fall under stories with a single plot execution, which is overcoming the villain or antagonist. Essentially, the protagonist is chased down by enemies, and they’ll be defeated in the end. This is a generic sci-fi action plot. Cyberpunk is no exception; it’s cut from the same cloth. Although, what distinguishes it from the rest is that it blends a few other plots within its narrative, such as self-discovery, rags to riches, and eventually a tragedy. These combinations are common in drama. However, in sci-fi action, they’re refreshing to witness. The idea of layering the narrative with several plots fuels its artistic merits.
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- Reckless Characters
Having edgy characters is reasonable, but making all of the characters reckless is a different ball game. The specialty of the characters in this anime is that they always make the wrong calls. It’s not just with a few characters, but with most of them. Usually, any story maintains a balance between chaotic and ordered characters, although entirely leaning on one side is fascinating. The characters here are not particularly flawed, like having human tendencies, which would make them complex or characters of depth. But these are the types where we say what’s wrong with them. For example, Maine’s obstinate and rash resolve to proceed head-on against the enemies, David’s careless upgrades unheeding the outcomes, Lucy’s recklessness in going after the evil corp, Kiwi’s boneheaded ultimate betrayal, and many more. The journey of the show is a consistent, reckless decision to endangerment. It’s an interesting approach compared to any regular anime, making it stand out.
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- Neutrality
If we observe carefully, we can see that the story or the setting is neutral to all of its characters. The protagonist, supporting characters, and antagonist alike. The story doesn’t favor any or most of the characters and remains fair to all of them. If the characters make an impractical or irrational decision, they’ll pay for it. It brings a sense of realism to the show, which certainly adds in its favor to its originality.
Is Cyberpunk: Egderunners one of the best anime ever?
The simple and straight answer is NO. It’s mainly because of the…
Storyline
All of the above features make the anime stand out. However, at its root lies the major problem. The anime is artistically well-designed, but the story is unsustainable. The intention of making it a short run of 10 episodes is the best possible settlement for the anime. The story wouldn’t have survived a long run, given the concept, the nature of the characters, and the setting. Even a regular length of 24 episodes would be hard to pull off. Because of the brief run, the viewers were occupied with absorbing the world, the introduction of the characters, action sequences, and other elements of the story, diverting away from the actual substance of the storyline. The storyline at its core is pretty basic, the world is similar to any other dystopian sci-fi world with an evil organization, and the characters are one-dimensional, a perfect formula for prospective monotonous storytelling.