Is Cyberpunk Edgerunners the Best Video Game Adaptation?

 

Cyberpunk Edgerunners was one of the surprise hits for me. I heard no word about this coming out. I was just on social media one day when a couple people mentioned it and then more came out and said how good it was. That caught my interest, but I took my time to get around to it as I was already engaged with three other shows. I took a break away from my other shows to watch the first episode of Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners is damn good. Edgerunners is a culmination of anime, music, and fanservice. This anime is by Studio Trigger which brought hits such as Kill La Kill and Little Witch Academia. The animation is top notch. It's smooth, but can also get appropriately chaotic during action scenes. There is one scene in the sixth episode that just looks absolutely gorgeous and trippy and it comes right at the precise moment to hit you in the gut. Edgerunners does an amazing job at establishing the feel of the cyberpunk and adapting the world of Cyberpunk 2077. In recent years it looks like television is the best format for video game adaptations considering the quality of Castlevania, Arcane, and The Witcher. Well, The Witcher was a novel series before it became a game series, but still I doubt we would have gotten a series if it wasn't for the games. Edgerunners may very well be the best adaptation of a video game. Now Cyberpunk Edgerunners is set in the world of the game Cyberpunk 2077 which is based on Mike Pondsmith's tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020, but considering the anime uses imagery and locations from the game along with CD Projekt Red being in the credits I think it's appropriate to call this a video game adaptation.

The best character

What Edgerunners does best is representing the tragedy and transhumanist elements of the cyberpunk genre. You feel the dread and sorrow that the protagonist David Martinez endures. Night City is represented as a wretch of a city filled with crime, corruption, and classism. The city is tough and unfair. In order to survive in Night City you'll have to get a tough skin quick and even sacrifice a bit of your humanity. The story of this anime is gripping and has you eager to watch "just one more" at the end of each episode. Edgerunners is also helped by having engaging characters. I really don't want to give anything away since I went into this knowing absolutely nothing, but these characters are so fun despite the turmoil they go through. I already know in the community that Rebecca and Lucy are fan favorites and they're also my favorite, but the protagonist David, is also very likeable. Despite the series only being ten episodes you'll feel an attachment to this cast by the end and the runtime is also perfect. It doesn't overstay its welcome, but it leaves you wanting more.

Back on the subject of paying tribute to the game, Edgerunners as I mentioned features a lot of iconography from Cyberpunk 2077. You can see locales like the diner and the Arasaka building and the apartment architectures are also accurate. Even the weaponry is very true to the game. For those who played 2077 you know how violent and sexual the game is and this anime pays tribute to that as it contains a lot of gore, sex and nudity, though nothing too explicit on the sex side. So is Cyberpunk Edgerunners the best video game adaptation in film or television? I say absolutely so! For people who haven't played Cyberpunk 2077 I would still recommend watching this as it's just a good story period and the soundtrack is banger too. They even got the Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka to compose music for the anime. I will say for those who didn't play the game you may be lost at first about some of the terminology like cyberpsychosis, but they do a good job with the world building to give newcomers context. This is one of my new favorite anime. This is a high recommend. 

Now excuse me as I start my second playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077.