WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? Do you agree with any of my points or am I tripping??? Let me know in the comments!

I agree. I didn't feel a damn thing about character's deaths and motivation. They established a no care to the other characters and then gets too emotional for someone's death even without too much buildup. I don't even like the body transformation of David in just one episode and Lucy becoming emotional(nudist) after just one episode.

FInally, someone who sees things as I do! Rushed plot, underdeveloped characters, and sudden story points, which all made me not care too much when someone died. It was like watching a go-pro rollercoaster video instead of riding it, it just couldn't really pull me in, get me invested. The ANIMATION for me also felt too lof frame rate/choppy (especially during action/combat), but the designs and individual frames are great + they did an amazing job matching everything with the game. Look at the dislike ration on this vid, lol It was a pretty good show, but terminally online people treat it like the third coming of Christ.

Everyone gets effected by stories differently. It is completely natural for some to claim that it is a masterpiece and for some to claim it is overrated. I personally think that it is incredible, it effected me really deeply, and it's not like anyone could make me not feel that way.

I agree. The amount of praise this gets is...odd. Mane's turn literally comes out of nowhere, the characters all feel underdeveloped, personally I felt David and Lucy were kind of flat as leads, I also didn't care for Rebecca. This show is really held up by its animation and voice work. The writing is competent but unrefined.

A lot of new gen anime fans seem to not know Ghost in the Shell did a lot of the same things a lot better. Sure, the presentation and art direction are very clean and crisp in Edgerunners; but the quality of the choreography matters too. GiTs may look more grainy and less sharp, but the way that the fights are done and the way that the director hone and zoom in on little details of the martial arts are done with a lot more diligency. EDIT: Forgot to mention that Lucy's look was heavily inspired by the Major in GiTS.

Edgerunners is mid, wasn’t terrible, but it certainly wasn’t great. I don’t know what people find so fantastic about this show.

I liked Lucy and David’s character(David kinda annoyed me at the end though), but I didn’t believe their romance. They had no chemistry and it feels like David never loved Lucy. It seemed like he did have a dream and it was to go out in a “blaze of glory”. After Maine’s death he succumbed to a path of self destruction and even broke up with Lucy after she told him to lay off the chrome. After he found out she was in trouble, I believe he saw this as an opportunity to become a martyr. Yes, he did die for her, but if he truly loved her then he would’ve lived for her. She told him early on that she didn’t want him to die for her and he didn’t listen. I still loved this series though and im glad at least Lucy survived.

The more I watch the show... the more I listen to people talk about it, the more flaws I find in it.. I wanted to love this show and after the first watching I kind of did. But the more I think about it.. the more.. basic it seems. I feel like they took the Shonen format and shoved it into the Cyberpunk setting... minus any sort of character progression, learning, emotional intelligence or anything I would classify as being unique. It doesn't even try to hide it either.. it is just a shonen in cyberpunk and it really annoys me. It is doubly let down by the fact that the music video for the end-credits song of "Let you down" has more character building and emotional intelligence in 4 minutes than this show has in 10 episodes.

The sudden death of Rebecca's brother kinda felt off but right to me as well. It shows how suddenly things can just become fucked up in the city. And if you play the game. You are basically that psyco. It could have been done better to. Like mine had a whole build up to it.

It's amazing that someone actually takes the time to express these negatives. People can defend it however they want and nobody is taking it from Trigger that this is a really great show but these flaws you pointed out are exactly what you say, detrimental and avoidable. You do 10 episodes then you gotta figure out how not to have these holes that weaken the impact/believability or your story and characters. At least in a perfect world, actually weebs show us time and time again that their hype juices are stronger than reason and improvements are not needed. But tbh I wouldn't want any show ever to be an Arcane again, that show was what I'd call too constructed, every connection was too convenient to have any of it feel impactful at all at some point. So surely there's a balance to be struck but we are no question on the wrong side here, this made me go back to actual great animes like Black Lagoon that deliver on those and many more aspects.

I don't think it's the length itself that is responsible for the flaws of this show. I think the producers were hampered in their writing because of the reason for the anime's existence. That being supplementing the game. This series from conception was meant as promo material. I Imagine CDPR were in favor of cutting corners in the character development space since the idea was to sell you on the cyberpunk aesthetic so when you find out what is based off of you'll check out the game. It's also why i believe the chance of getting a season 2 is very low. Promote the game by promoting the setting and aesthetic it focuses on and edgerunners did that beautifully.

I can agree some characters werent given the time or attention to shine and others like Maine were but were suddenly cut short (turning into a cyberpsycho in the span of like 30 minutes). While a higher episode count could have remedied these issues the delays for the game its based on didnt benefit from extra time. The animes main selling points was just how much they nailed the aesthetics and tone of a cyberpunk world and the emotional value of certain character deaths. But most of all im just glad for another anime that isnt the 1000th generic harem isekai that has been plaguing the world of anime for years.

I actually agree, I finished watching this show yesterday and I think you're exactly right. It tries to do too much with too little time. With episodes like episode 6, I feel like the show expects me to cry or feel extremely sorry, but I can't feel sorry for a character that I don't even know that well. It also does a poor job at explaining some concepts, all the characters know about these and the show presents them like you know about them while you haven't really understood them. But I think most of the concepts introduced here, the direction, and the overall production, make this show a solid 7 for. But it recently came out, and the finale episode kind of makes people a little too overhyped, but I think it'll die down sooner or later.

My opinion on the show Vs. what Druong said in the video. Feel free to post your own thought on the show as well or countering my opinion with you're own. (SPOILERS BTW) I agree with how rushed the show feels that it should have used some more run time, I think some story beats could've used longer episodes especially since this wasn't a tv anime so if they wanted to make some episodes 30 or 35 minutes they could've, but at the same time, even though you don't get too much time to connect to David's mom as a character I don't think you need to, I feel that it shows how quickly and easily people die in the show and the story doesn't suffer too much. The character archetype of a caring mom is well known so if they drew it out too long I feel the show might have suffered more, but the conversation in the car was what you'd hear any 'struggling mother trying to raise son' say. sure it might be a bit of lazy writing but it's done to introduce the character, the theme, and some background info, so I'm not too bothered by it. Pilar suddenly killed off adds to and shows again how easily people suddenly die, I was shocked for a second or two even though I saw it coming as soon as he started harassing the cyberpsycho. I didn't like Pilar, or Pilef or whatever his name was too much, mostly because the anime didn't show him enough and his perceived character just wasn't a character that I liked much, but I don't think the connection to his character was intended; I don't mind. David not being able to shoot until he has to save others lives adds that David will "jump into the fire" to save whoever he really cares about. That is really how I perceived his breakthrough, he hesitates as he keeps going in the show until Maine dies. Any hesitation after episode 6 is caused by the cyberpsychosis taking effect or other reasons entirely. I don't agree with the statement, "Rebecca, his sister, didn't seem too broken up about it" because she doesn't appear in the next 2 episodes, sure it doesn't show that she was super broken up but I think it would interrupt the other story beats that they were focusing on and barely had enough time for already. Perhaps a comment about her recovering and not coming on the next mission could've been squeezed in there somewhere but this world is cruel so perhaps its easier for some others to move on as well. The explanation of David just being built different is what is seems on the surface but as you see he is only more compatible and it still catches up with him. The theme of him thinking he is special and pushing himself till he breaks and ultimately dies is also shown through Maine. Unfortunately some of the background information of the lore isn't shown well enough but implants and upgrading yourself is addicting in Cyberpunk, You get power and you rely on it and everyone believes they can keep going but all go over the edge eventually. I think Maine going cyberpsycho is a little abrupt as well but it does show Maine constantly taking suppressants in every episode before. The romance between Lucy and David might not be super fleshed out but It feels genuine and you can only imagine how much they've cared for each other in the time they have been together off screen. If the show had more run time perhaps it could've shown even more but I think it did really good. I'm in the military and I have people that I haven't known for long or don't have a super deep relationship with, not as deep as what is shown with David and Lucy but we genuinely care for each other and would go through shit for each other. I would die fighting for them and vice versa so I understand how David and Lucy can care for each other so deeply since they've spent good time with each other by the end of the show and just have that deeper relationship together. I agree there was a lot there for 10 episodes to try and cover it all and parts seemed rushed, but to counter that, I and many others still grew very attached to the characters that were meant to mean something and buildup was still very good for most of the show. Episode 4 has a very repetitive "training arc" that started to bore me towards the end, but it cut that off with Pilar's sudden death and while the death isn't super meaningful the small bit of that at the beginning of the episode that most people forgot about helped carry that episode by structuring it that way. In these 10 very short episodes I felt more emotion than most other anime ever. The sound track and how some scenes were animated might have helped but that is still part of the show. That is why I think it is so good. All in all, I need time to sit on this anime because what I feel about it might be recency bias, but so far this is anime of the year for me. I know it was super good and I will still feel that it's a great show, right now when I question if it's anime of the year or not I can't find another anime that I've seen this year that I think is better, and I've seen damn near all of em. It's no masterpiece but it's a masterpiece to me. I see where you are coming from with this review and I respect your opinion on the show, some shows aren't for everyone so Imma leave a like on this video because some of your points are good and it's refreshing to see a review that isn't just all praise. Not everyone gets the same watching experience and some don't get attached to characters as quickly or feel the same way about everything. I loved it, some think its good, and so far I have only seen 1 person say it's bad but they only watched episode 1 sooo, not sure that counts but whatev. Oh, one more thing. One punch man and the other examples that you used do show how a shorter show can be so good, but I didn't get so attached and feel such an emotional response like I did with this show. It was also refreshing to see copious amounts of nudity and violence in a show, but I also appreciate how the nudity wasn't super focused on for fan service all the time. It was both lore accurate, showed character growth at times. And for context I didn't binge the show in one go because I wanted some time to sit on and think about certain parts of it as I went on because anytime I binge a show I always forget small parts or don't appreciate is as much. Sorry for dropping such a long, and not super well organized comment. I wrote pieces of it at a time as I watched and re-watched the video so I hope you don't mind.

I think overall the story was horrible and all over the place. David loses his mother and you would think he would have some motivation to get back at the people and society that completely disregarded them but he goes on a series of random heists that completely and utterly goes against his dying mother's hopes and dreams for him that lead him to nothing but his own demise. Turns into a mecha steroid junkie that pushes him and his crew to their deaths and doesn't think to escape with Lucy before all of this crap comes to frutition? I liked the show but felt like the story was all over the place and led to an odd forced climax.

It was meh, visually it looked great and the music was good. Main character is not very likable and even less at the end, the deaths of his gang members felt like the death of that new guy who gets blown up by a mine “oh, ig they’re dead now, anyway”, due to lack of character development, none of the connections felt genuine, and all the gang members are monsters anyway so it’s hard to care for any of them. The end it goes full Dbz over the top anime lacking any semblance of reality just felt like a goofy cartoon (battle with militech). Then the ending also fell flat. “Hey mom look, technically I’m on top of Arasaka tower 😎” yeah that’s exactly what she meant. Turn yourself into a torso with a head that’s attached to a mech suit so you can physically jump on top of it. That line was painful to hear. He turns evil by the end murdering random office workers, but it’s ok because he sacrificed himself to get the girl a trip to the moon, great 👍 Overall I’d say it’s a 5/10 animation was great, music was good so was the voice acting the rest was meh

Yeah you're right, the critical 'flaw' of Edgerunners was the lack of a real emotional connection between David and Lucy. Ironically Rebecca and David had far more real development, and their relationship felt far more fleshed out and 'real'. Length was another issue. Felt like Arcane in that regard, too much plot/too many characters for a 9-10 episode show. Glad there's some pushback against the uncritical gushing around this show. Thought I was going crazy when it was only a 6/10 for me. Very beautiful though.

One thing I think that might lend itself to the Lucy and David romance is the subtext to a lot of what we know about them. Lucy sees in David the innocence of a young kid who's not grown cold or jaded by night city, and she is someone who resents never having that as she grew up, maybe even reminding her of her friends from the past, along with his genuine honest kindness which is a rare thing. David on the other hand had been seeing her and was idolizing her as the ideal of freedom, looking how she wants, doing what she wants to do, enjoying herself, and of course having a purpose to use that freedom for. David is a prodigy, the only thing that was holding him back was motivation and path to follow, so Lucy giving him a path he could see and shared her motivation with him changed his world All these words to say "I think they said it without saying it" which in itself is arguably a problem when it comes to *one of the most central plot points in the show* but hey, food for thought : )

I largely have the same issue with Cyberpunk edgerunners where I feel like it would have been perfect with two seasons where season one ends at episode 6 which would allow maine's death to be a lot more impactful while also allowing all the initial characters to be a lot more fleshed out. Furthermore, it would have given David's mom more time on screen to allow you to actually be upset when she dies. Also, as you mentioned it would give David's and Lucy's relationship a lot more screen time. Regardless of the rushed feeling of the show, I think they still did a great job with enjoyable characters, amazing animation, a pretty good plot and an amazing ending. A solid 8.5/10 from my end.

6:20 Rebecca wasn't talking about wanting to kill Pilar. She was mad that Kiwi short circuited her (to stop her from getting herself killed) and stopped her from killing the cyberpsycho herself. That's what she meant by "He was mine to kill, and you took that from me".

The hype certainly isn't a 'little overblown'. It's massively overblown It was fine, sure, but no way near as sick as people make it out to be

I think the show just wasn't your cup of tea, doesn't make it overrated. It executed its story telling and animation masterfully.

This was also my reaction I can't argue with it being a good anime but my main thing is when the big sad moment could have been avoided with some conversation it bothers me. Like David and Lucy didn't talk at all about their issues. Also things weren't drawn out well enough like how Lucy protected David and David doing everything for her but at the same time I think everyone could see Lucy's dream is nothing without David he became her priority I think that's shown more through the fantastic art than the writing. It's a Great show but it had even more potential, things could have been better and that's something that needs to be said.

every show, game, etc. is overrated because some call something a masterpiece and some others don't. So for some people its overrated. Everything is overrated because people have different taste, preferences, etc.

*Every moment you aren't moving, I'm getting closer.*

David was so relatable, and his mom wanting the best for him and breaking her back just so he can have success in his future is so real.

a fuck ton of people call popular animes like attack on titan, cyberpunk edgerunners and chainsawman things like peak, perfection or the best piece of fiction ever made. when they really arent THAT good. the shows are good yes but how some people explain the show it is heavily overrated.

I feel like you can argue just about anything popular is overrated, and people use 'masterpiece' WAY too often on any form of media. I definitely understand your negative points though, the show could've easily been expanded to 12-24 episodes if it wasn't so expensive to make anime. While I love this anime, if a large percentage of the fanbase thinks it's perfect or near perfect, when it's not, I can agree that it's overrated.

The only good thing about cyberpunk is episode 1, then the quality drops slowly

I completely agree with all of your takes, people sometimes should just chill for a while and think a bit critically because the show DOES have glaring flaws that shouldn’t be ignored, nonetheless I liked it, not a masterpiece though

Completely agree, I enjoyed it still and I do like these kind of stories but the pacing felt too fast and the "feels" never really kicked in because I didn't feel too attached to the characters? It was still a good show, just wish they expanded on the characters a bit more.

Finally. Someone that agrees with me. The characterisation, the story, and it's pacing... They really don't live up to the action and visuals.

game and anime both suck

Edgerunners was really good in terms of animation and soundtrack, probably one of the most stylish and visually amazing pieces I’ve seen. However I just didn’t click with the characters that much, so I agree on the points about pacing and writing. Ep 6 and the final episode were kinda carried by visuals and music for me, i felt a bit emotional. But keep in mind this is coming from a Key visual novel fan who is basically dead inside at this point, so u can’t hit me with character deaths or romance that is not built up properly. 7/10 for me.

I think the production was top tier specially visually and I was just astonished to listen black metal on a mainstream product in its soundtrack. But besides that I really hated the story development, it felt somewhat rushed and wrongly planned/executed and it really was confusing in some parts and it's such a shame having the production it has. Some characters were only there to die and provide shock factor or were rewritten (Like kiwi) with no foreshadowing on their actions, just chaos and chaos. Still such a huge step in quality for these shows and I feel gratitude for that.

I dont get David at all. Never applied any strategic plans and just rushed into fights without any thought. The guy is apparently a genius straight A student but he was honestly dumber than Naruto or Luffy. I did like Maine and Dorio but I find the rest unlikeable especially Rebecca. I love CP2077 and watched the anime because of it but it is definitely the weakest aspect about Cyberpunk universe for me

Good to see a youtuber that's not overplaying the quality of Edgerunners. Edgerunners was good, but not great. I'm tired of people comparing it to the likes of Arcane which is way above Edgerunners in pretty much every way. Honestly, this show had very little effect on me emotionally. When Adam Smasher showed up, I was rooting for him. I was very slightly sad that the most entertaining character got flattened by him, but I was mostly just excited to see Adam doing some Smashing.

I really think the only pacing issue is the time jump after episode 6. literally one additional episode to bridge this gap more smoothly would have fixed it. Also some early dialogue is too exposition heavy and sounds unnatural but overall I think the story worked really well. It was predictable, however I think if you watch a fuck ton of shows and anime its really hard to surprise you anymore. Its kinda hard for me to get emotionally invested in stuff anymore because I know so many of the writing tropes - but that doesnt mean smt is poor quality just because I can tell where its going. Edge runners is one of the few shows over the last years that got me emotionally invested while watching it tho - still its not really up there with shows like bebop, Arcane or even things like Vinland Saga imo. Its good, visually super impressive but its not a genre defining masterpiece by any means imo

Personally, the ending for me was a bit sad. I know some people sobbed over it, but I wasn't hurt terribly by it. The rest of the show was absolutely fantastic though. From action scenes to chill scenes, the characater writing etc... All done in the time span of 10 episodes, needless to say, I'm wickedly impressed and this will easily be a fan-favorite as well as a top-rated anime of the year.

Not everything has to be 50 hours long. The fact that they got their point and story in that short amount of screen time is even more amazing.

Everywhere I go, this show is plastered with words like "masterpiece" or "phenomenal", i mean it isn't bad but it's by no means a masterpiece. I found the plot to be all over the place, and the pacing to be way too dam fast, i felt lost most of the time with things escalating rapidly not allowing any attachments to the ideas they were trying to portray. Again I'm not saying it was bad, i did enjoy watching it but it's pretty overhyped

in my Opinion, David was being held back a whole lot in development and i feel like she should've let him take on Smasher fully. it would've made for a better story if he chose Rebecca instead. i blame Studio Trigger for this. i only blame them, because Kill-La-Kill, was a very short anime they did and wasn't that good in terms of story. CDPR actually had a lot more say in the style and how they want it to look and Studio Trigger fucked them over big time. CDPR should've worked with Funimation or Aniplex for this anime adaptation. it's a good anime, but there's SO many plot holes, but there is room for another season, where David becomes a construct, even after refusing Smashers offer.

At last, somebody who shares the same idea as me. I'm a guy who likes the stories behind the product. For the Cyberpunk game, it liked it very much because of the story & character development. But I couldn't sympathize anyone in the Edgerunners show. It was not clear why these characters makes these choises in the anime. So for someone who cares the story much more than other stuff, I couldn't get the fun as much as I wanted from the anime. Then, I checked the internet and everybody was crazy about it. I don't know how you can call something as Masterpiece without a valid story & character development.

all i hear is i wish i had more time with these characters. me too

I REALLY enjoyed edgerunners. Been a while since I’ve seen an anime that’s hooked me like this. A show with material that wasn’t being made with the thought that kids might see it so let’s hold back on the profanity and other content of that nature. Even so, this critique is pretty fair. The show could’ve definitely benefited from more episodes building on particular plot points and character development.

After episode 6 is where it all falls apart for me. David and Lucy had some good chemistry with no payoff down the line. We were made to be sympathetic to David, with his mom dying and his romance sparking with Lucy in the first couple episodes. The Lucy we see in the first episode, the one riding the gurney with him, and taking him on the Moon date, we never really see that side of her again. She goes cold until the kiss, which I don't think was earned, and then they skip time and they're living together? She wants to protect him from the megacorps, while he proceeds to throttle himself to an early grave through excessive cybernetics. Speaking of which: the only thing Lucy wanted from David was to not see him killed, just for David to go on a cybernetics binge OFF SCREEN? How did that affect their relationship? They were cohabitating and sleeping in the same bed, did she not see where his life would go? She would remind him not to use the sandy more than twice prior to Maine's death, so where was her concern when he replaced most of his flesh with chrome? She even said he's not special or immune, saying he just has a higher tolerance. I originally thought that was a misdirect, and he'd come back from the edge and they'd live happily ever after, stealing a rocket to the Moon in a netrunning heist to get as far away from NC and the megacorps as possible. But no, what the doc and Lucy and the crew all warned him about happened. Sure, he had that moment at the end with Lucy bringing back his sanity, only for him to die, so it doesn't change the end result that Lucy and David aren't together on the Moon. I could see the grief in Lucy's face in that last scene, but I felt empty. The emotional response they tried to elicit wasn't there for me. They were so fun together in the first couple episodes, so with minimal relationship development in between, the last scene on the Moon only brought me emptiness. I also felt depressed once I saw Swole David. I knew he'd become a psycho, because so many characters have told me that's what happens, and we just saw Maine get blown to bits for going psycho. So it was a slow and predictable fall into madness that didn't seem to worry Lucy. Again, she would remind him not to use the sandy more than twice per day prior to Maine's death, so where was her concern when he replaced most of his flesh with chrome? I was in more pain than her at where he was headed, and I've only known the kid for 2 hours. That said, the visuals, art, aesthetic, character design, music and animation were all top tier. The world CDPR crafted is incredible and dynamic, so a lot more stories can, and probably will, be written there. I just hope they're better written.

My dude is just mad there wasn't more episodes to edgerunners and honestly I can relate

I like to think that from episode 5 when David was abducted and tortured. I like to think that he never was actually saved and that episode 5-10 was just one of his torture lives that he lived before he wakes up again.

what I think had a huge impact on anime being so well received is that people who played the game are constantly like: "Hey! I was there, I've done that!" and that significantly help relate to the characters.

Your main critique is that you didn't get more of the show. Watch it more than once and you'll notice almost everything you're asking for is there. Yeah it's quick but every time I watch it I notice more and more foreshadowing and development that I didn't notice before. This type of storytelling is more realistic because this show doesn't revolve around giving everyone such a "perfect" story or development and making them the main character or overly elevated. Real life isn't like that. Also everyone in night cities lives are like this. The fact that you didn't notice Maine going Cyberpsycho puts you in the seat of people like David too caught up in their own struggles to notice how fucked everything is. Their whole world as fucked. That's just how it is. Also comparing this to Akame Ga Kill is just a sin. That show is unbelievable trash writing vs a show that was a little bit rushed feeling at times. All the other animes you mention have stories that are far less compelling and rich than Cyberpunk. They told simple stories over 12 episodes. Maybe that's your main issue but this show was complex, mature, and far more compelling than any anime you mentioned.

I think it’s pretty clear why Maine wanted more implants. The show tells you that everyone basically acts the same way in Night City. If you are brought to the point where you go for implants, you don’t stop. Maine’s death and psychosis was making that more real-I do agree it was rushed though. That point is also reinforced by what happened to David.

I felt nothing I'm not heartless I've just seen that shit thousands of time.

I think edgerunners made me realize that Cyberpunk as a genre is becoming extremely stale, it simply refuses to move on from Bladerunner, ghost in the shell and neuromancer and what they have established.

I totally agree with you, I've heard that this was as good as Arcane but I didn't think it was that good. The most impactful moments to me were Maine's death (if they explained his backstory it definitely would've been better cause I didn't understand why he imagined the desert during his psycho moments, but still it hit me hard) and Becca's death 🥲

Lucy and David's romance is definitely what bothered me the most in the show. It felt like they were in love just because they were the main characters. Them sharing a wholesome time on the moon doesnt mean that they have chemistry. It bothers me even more because their romance is a big part of the show and thats what is praised by people all around me. Rebecca had way more chemistry with David because we actually saw them spend some normal time together.

As much as I enjoyed Edgerunners, I'd also say yes... It's kinda overrated. For some reasons (similar to the ones you mentioned) 1. David's ability to "magically do things without explanation"(like using that technology more than he's usually supposed to). I hoped for an explanation as to why when I was first watching it. I was disappointed. I say disappointed because I also hate this trope particularly popular among the depiction of "strong" female characters in Feminist Hollywood. If your character just "does" stuff without much struggle, it kind of leaves you with an "eh?" Moment. So I pretty much criticise this trope, irrespective of genders, so yeah. David is also guilty of this. 2. Underdeveloped characters: David's Mom, Kiwi, Maine, Pilar, Maine's girlfriend, and so many more. Because of the 10 episode limit, they had to compress everything. Which again leads me to talk about NETFLIX 😒. I'm beginning to HATE this platform because of its "binge" style episode release. It's killing fanbases. (Like what it did to JoJo's Bizarre adventures). Everyone watches anime now, because, I dunno, it's something that's supposed to be cool now? So Netflix saw the popularity, and started landing themselves anime deals. Which is BAD. Because it's changing anime for the WORST(Look at attack on titan, it's still dividing itself into parts upon parts, which is unnecessary, because it's obvious that they just want to make more money by allowing causal people consume their content) If it were Weekly episode released, Edgerunners would have had more time for writing, character arcs, plot points and developments. (Netflix Better keep their hands off my best anime series and stop ruining beloved fanbases for profit) 3. It was predictable; The shock values were just... Shock values. Like jumpscares in a horror movie. Not too much impact. Rebecca's death was totally unnecessary if you ask me. 4. I actually preferred Rebecca for David, I didn't like the romance between David and Lucy. I felt they connected more on a shared respect/team mate level, not the kind of level we saw(like how Tatsumi and Akame were) 5. The show reminds me of the overrated Demon Slayer anime. Honestly, if you take way the epic music, animation, and action scenes from Edgerunners, it becomes a sort of mess. (For the record, Demon Slayer isn't even better, it has really no much story to tell and just relies so much on its animation, CGI, epic music and fight scenes, I couldn't even connect with the main character, so yeah). Apart from all these I mentioned, Edgerunners is pretty much a good show(actually I thought it was a masterpiece at first after I watched it because it was so much better than the game, I think that's what blinded me to it's flaws which you've just made me realize). If only Netflix would stop trying to be everything for everyone, I wonder what this show would have been more like.

the anime was cringe

It is a masterpiece, it did what some any couldn't achieve in *10 episodes*, with visuals for fights we'll probably never see in another anime. One in a lifetime anime for sure.

The only good part of this disaster is when Adam Smasher gives these annoying kids a lesson

My take on the whole series is that, it would have had more potential if it had more episodes. This way, it's just an "Ok, seen this one. It was ok." type of deal. I couldn't really get attached to any of the characters. And in the end, when Smasher came in, I won't lie, that was the hype moment for me. Finally getting to see Smasher do his thing was great to watch. Probably the only character in the series that I really could get behind. And that was due to me knowing the character enough to give a damn. Naturally I smiled at the easter egg about Rogue, but again, that is due to familiarity.

As always, people like something and instantly believe that it is a masterpiece, they said it about so many anime that from a critical standpoint are all quite awful, such as attack on titan, Sword art online and such, it's simply because they like it that they ignore logic and common sense. Edgerunners is good, in many ways fantastic, but a masterpiece has no flaws, which edgerunner has many of. Also, Rebecca is best girl, her death served absolutely no purpose at all, it doesn't progress the story and only serves to make people upset and sad she died, which is a really cheap death.

Most of this issues boil down to only having 10 episodes, cyberpunk edgerunners is not a masterpiece, but it's pretty damn good on what it tries to teach the viewer. I wish this anime had way more episodes, so much could've been explored.

Wow, great video, really liked it. Cyberpunk Edgedrunners is definitely a damn good anime but I just couldn't agree with it being as good as a lot of people are making it out to be online because of the pacing. I really wish they would've given it the 2 or 3 episodes that it needed, that way I would've been able to enjoy it so much more and maybe give it that 10/10, because it definitely had the potential. Regardless, I think they did a great job with the animation, music and characters which is why I gave it a 8.4/10

its a solid anime but its not as good as the cyberpunk community says it is

Here they come, it always happens, when something good is legitimately praised for a few months you always have the oddballs crawl out of the woodwork to say otherwise a few months later.

I'd say even you overrate it. The drawing is indeed good, but it falls off at some scenes, and the animation is pretty choppy often, to the point you can't follow it. The show shoves in a bit too much humor and comedic relief, lighthearted shit for it to match the overall feel of the show and night city. The Lucy's character is all over the fucking place, at the start she's kind of even more like Rebecca at at some points, especially that stretcher ambulance escape scene, where did THAT Lucy go again..? People say David's solid, like he knows what he's doing and he has a goal, but he just seems confused as fuck most of the time, especially after he becomes boss. "Oh but he made her dream come true"... Well, her dream came true more DESPITE what he did than thanks to it. More than that, she didn't really seem to want it by that point over her friends living on, if he'd slow down and take simpler jobs, he could still earn enough money and stay away from the more dangerous stuff so everyone would stay alive. Heck she SPECIFICALLY asked him to stop and slow down. The bad guy is just a paper cutout. The hacker girl didn't have a real reason to betray them nor assume she'd live after doing it. Smasher... Well, his name says it all, he's just in there to come and fuck everyone up. And the worst of all, the whole thing is just fucking pointless. Like, what's the message? What's the theme? Everyone dies horribly in night city, you're not special and you can't escape it? No, because its not like they even tried or even seemed dissatisfied, only Lucy, but what's to stop her and the rest to move elsewhere? They're outlaws, they have cars and seem to have the money too, why not move out? Its just a high budget trigger show, but with the ending and main story, goals, EVERYTHING removed. But hey, i get why its so loved, because everyone feels the countries and cities they live in will take them nowhere, drain them dry and kill them early, and they're nihilistic, without goals, morals and values, fear where the future with current trends takes us... Which cyberpunk portrays pretty well, and gives that little 'i'll die anyway so might as well try do something and give a fuck you to everything' flip-off... The problem is, that its an idiotic reply to an idiotic situation, and don't present any real questions or insights as to why the world is this way, where it went wrong, what can be done to change or avoid it. Its reactionary, they go with the flow down the drain, and no matter how well you draw that journey, its still ending up in the gutter, its still gonna be full of shit, and no amount of neon and shiny lights, other decoration, and turd polishing will give that one way trip a point, nor make the final destination any more prettier or meaningful. And a story without a point is just a tech demo, or documentary, which are, well, boring.

My thoughts overall: -Terrible pacing. Need more like 15-20 episodes. -No character development. -Characters aren't around long enough to get to know them let alone care when they die. -Predictable plot -Why is everyone pointlessly naked all the time? -Dee and Lucy (mains) have the personality of cardboard. Them falling in love is their only point. -Some scenes sit on the same frame for way too long, to the point to where I think my monitor is frozen. -Writing leaves a lot to be desired overall. On a more positive note: -Banger music and scores -Excellent drawing and color design (aesthetics overall really) They could've have done so much more with this show that it just leaves me sad really.

I appreciate this video so much you go into so much issues I had with this show (though I have a few more issues not mentioned though they were small). I haven't been able to converse with others who don't like the show so I'm personally happy the video exists lol.

I hated this series. It's not even good in my opinion, it's mediocre at best. I don't like the animation (the backgrounds are the only thing that look good), I don't like the music, the dub is awful, the dialogue is pure cringe (especially the delivery of those lines), character moments are unearned, the whole thing is overly melodramatic, and the story becomes pointless by the end. The thing that I really don't understand is why they keep forcing these serious stories into this franchise. This was my problem with the game too. This setting is so incredibly unbelievable that trying to tell anything remotely serious and relatable is just hilarious in itself. Night city is such an unlivable shithole that I cannot believe this could exist. They should've just gone in the direction more lighthearted, corny, 80s style, balls to the walls plotline with one-liners, cool ass fights, a devil may care protagonist and some outlandish storyline where they somehow end up fighting on the moon or some shit like that. Like how in the game they should've just had the whole game be Johnny Silverhand's previous adventures, culminating with detonating a freaking nuke in the city! That's a way cooler story than anything else in the game and the anime combined. But I accept that a lot of people like it, good for them, I don't have to like everything. It's just not for me.

I've seen the "everybody dies" trope. Edgerunner has done it in a way where it makes sense especially in the universe it's set in. I think the best part about it is that they don't drag out pointless shit for no reason like Lucy and David's relationship

I can't get over the fact that the villians master plan was to give the MC a BIG gun and steal his girl, WTF did you think was gonna happen!!

Totally true. Not a masterpiece. Lazy writing, tropes. People losing their minds over this series, and i watched it like “what yeah no.” Seriously go watch a well-written well-paced series with great characters like FLCL & Cowboy Bebop. People have pretty low standards now. Sure the animation is good. The music is fine. But seriously the writing is like medicre minus, so i have to say the level of “masterpiece” hype is ridiculous. They’re like, calling each other “cyberpunks..” cyberpunk is a word made up by boomer critics who didn’t understand the genre. No writer who wrote cyberpunk fiction called it cyberpunk, much less calling people “a cyberpunk.” Do your research on the genre. That’s just a detail but it says a lot about how the writers didn’t nail it.

The only moral story: Smasher is the true hero for ending this cringe worthy spin off.

*Cue all the of people insulting the content creator for having his own opinion*. It's sad to see the culture these days being tipped heavily in favour of the 'hype' narrative and dismissal of any criticisms or negative opinions one may have for a piece of entertainment media. People see the word 'overrated' and instantly get triggered (pun not intended). It's as if people don't understand you can still like a media without thinking it's some sort of Second coming of Christ. I, for one, agree with your take, or at the very least, can definitely understand and respect it. I thought Edgerunners was pretty damn good and was great supplementary material to the Cyberpunk game that would no doubt attract people to the game (newcomers and CDPR fans alike); but it did have some problems here and there (a lot of them you've already covered). I think a lot of it boils down to the story being covered in 10 episodes only; all these plot points being compressed in 10 episodes would inevitably lead to some problems.

All I got out of it was, murder porn + hentai + edgy middle school dialogue. The writing is just kinda there, the characters come off as flat and generic, and an overwhelming in your face, edgy taboo elements. In my opinion, everything comes off as forced, like "Hey check this out, BLOOD! GORE! WE USE WORDS LIKE FUCK AND SHIT, OH! AND BOOOOOBS!" Honestly comes off as a hot mess that tries to carry the "Hopeless Romantic" element as it's saving grace. I just dont find much substance or depth with this one.

I don't get why people hype trigger so much. They're pacing is terrible. They literally write like if its a 10 second tik tok video.

I agree 100%, everyone thinks I’m crazy cause I said the show was OK. I just felt like I didn’t care enough about the characters and I wanted MORE. Honestly the ending was kinda predictable and I wasn’t blown away or moved by it as much as everyone else says. It’s entertaining and the action scenes were great, but I just felt it was lacking unfortunately

If I'm understanding correctly... you liked the show, it's just that it was rushed for all the plot points that got presented. And that is understandable. I've watched this show already 3 times and on the second time after all the hype and excitement was down I find myself agreeing with you even tho I loved this show. Edgerunners moves ABSURDLY FAST. Probably due to the short ammount of episodes or the fact that the story is about David Martinez, how he went to the edge, back from it, then back to it, then back from it, then died and the Afterlife made a coctail in his honor. The thing with Maine going cyberpsicho was rushed, but the story is not about Maine, is about David. What he had, how he lost it, what he found, how he lost it, what little he managed to save and in the end how he died. I feel this story is narrated in the same way someone would pass down a legend through tale. And that applies to all the other subplots that felt rushed. Like Falco talking to people in the Afterlife about the legend of David. I believe you have the right to stand where you stand with the show and you do make valid points. Yet I still can forgive the show's flaws mainly because of the fact that this was David's legend, not about the other characters. I would appreciate another 10 episodes spin offs that show us the backstories of characters like Maine, especially Rebbeca, Lucy, etc etc etc. But as it stands I'm still going to praise what this show accomplished to make me feel in such a short ammount of time. To solidify more my point, take for example and just as an example the original Star Wars trilogy. Another production praised and considered a masterpiece... yet what do we know about the life of Han Solo? Chewy? Lando? Bobba Fett? Obi Wan? Yoda? Leia?... Heck what do we know about Darth Vader ONLY looking at the trilogy? (not the prequels, nor the comics). Pretty little. And what do we know about Luke? Pretty much more than we know about the other characters. I mean the story IS about Luke. Yet how those characters are presented, their personalities and the impressions that they leave in us as the audience we remember them and feel strongly towards them. I believe the same idea applies to Edgerunners. Its characters exude personality all over in a way that you don't need to know their whole life story to feel shocked when they meet their eventual end.

finally watched the whole thing. the animation is kinda shit. The story is border line palatable and the music is way WAY off the point. Love scene music "i am done with you, im ignoring you, i dont wanna knoooooowwww" Pretty shit.

You’re not trippen. This anime is a bit overrated, but I personally think it was great. I loved it. Once you find out the dub voice actor for David also voiced Tanjiro, you can’t miss it.

Being connected with the characters and the plot is something I draw from shows, but this Anime had none of the conncetions that drew me to the characters and I honestly don't know what the plot was because everything was so rushed The animation and music isn't enough to draw me into the show Don't get me wrong, the animation and music is beautiful, but not enough for it to be a masterpiece Something can't be a masterpiece if it's missing pieces Solid 4.5/10

With the resources they were given and the time and episodes in hand, they did really good. Portraying mental health and how power corrupts and how u lose urself in the path of gaining it. Its really nicely visually based and told the whole story not trought words but by letting us see it like maine losing his sanity and dying. I believe that if they had the resources and wanted, they couldve easily gotten 2nd season. Sadly the plot is lacking on some parts with leaving alot of missed opportunities and it feels rushed and it doesnt have enough time to build the plot well enough. BUT everything else is near perfection.

I thought it was a great journey, I felt very invested in the story. One area that pulled me out of that immersion is the pace, it felt like the season should have been 12-13 episodes to better flesh out the major plot points.

I called it before I even watched the show. "A Netflix C.P. anime by Studio Trigger? The visuals are going to be amazing, and the writing is going to be eh."

Don't agree that Rebecca moved on from Pilar's death quickly. She got mods so she could use bigger guns because what she could use wasn't good enough against the psycho that killed her brother. She also got big hands, somewhat similar to his, she started being more showy when they celebrated. She adopted pieces of him in a way. It seems to me Pilar's death really stuck with her. She just didn't talk about it much.

Yep i agree somewhat it did feel like it should've been longer. They did do a lot of background storytelling cos you realise they actually spent a lot of time together and a lot of things happen off screen buti still feel like it's a great show considering the garbage we're used to now

Ohh boy, get ready for the angry Cyberpunk fanboy comments bruh. These are the same people who have "this is the best game i ever played" in almost every positive review on Steam (they've been writing such reviews since day 1, when the game was a complete mess btw). And now they're celebrating this mediocre Netflix anime, like its a goddam holiday. lol Im afraid no amount of good arguments is gonna save you from being called a "hater." :D

The one real problem I had with the cyberpunk world is “there is no happy ending” trope with it I know Night city is hell on earth but you can make it out and I think it’s kinda stupid to just go “no one can make it out happy” which is good from a writing point until you realise you can only really have tragedies which aren’t bad by themselves but it’s kinda filters down a lot of the story because I don’t really see an end for Lucy like what is she gonna do? She’s to loyal to David to move on and it just seems like a real dead end to the character because David and Lucy were each others buildings blocks but after episode 10 if you think deeply about how can Lucy really move on from David being gone? The answer: well there really isn’t one we’re not getting a season 2 David got sent to Valhalla by Smasher and we can’t interact with either Falco nor Lucy so I just don’t get it. And I get where people are coming from with Rebecca she doesn’t she only has about 5 mins total of screen time which is why aside from David I never really felt for Rebecca when she died but I will admit this show thankfully doesn’t pull punches it had the balls to kill off the main character which is sonething.

Felt nothing. Someone dies after having 10 lines total, and I am supposed to feel emotional? David gets overmeched in one episode and I am supposed to feel he has improved? I could not even remember the names of the characters, excluding David. That is how little character development and even how little character exploration this show had. I did not even know that David was considered a legend until I saw the drink.

Went in with high hopes from what I heard from everyone else aaaaand.... it was ok. Started off strong and kinda went down from there. Pilar's death was my 1st big notice, of how things felt off. Could've mistaken him for being a recent random hire, the way people just shrugged it off. Which would be fine if they didn't previously, try to do the whole new family crew, bonding montage. Plus some other things like you mentioned. Either way it all boils down to time. Either more episodes, longer episodes, or another season. But that ending got me though. Nobody can take that away from it at least.

This was a great video! -Great points -Great personality -Stayed on the subject -great visuals to accompany the theme Keep this up big man!

This is definitely a show where knowing the source material makes it better than not knowing, however, it is still good without knowing the background. It should've gotten at least 2 more episodes to flesh out a little more of the show such as the time skip that happens in episode 7 and delve more into Lucy and Davids relationship along with the others. I don't think its basic story hinders it in anyway though, just because its basic doesn't mean it's bad. It would be nice to have more intricacies, but it doesn't need more. That's why knowing the background of cyberpunk is important. The environmental details are enough to convey that this place sucks ass to live in. Live fast die young. The constant action and fast paced life are how things work in night city. Can't take a breather cause the city itself won't let you. The death scenes are quick and brutal. Can't win against those who can snuff you out in a fraction of a second. From the start of the show, it was a losing battle, but we so desperately want the gang to live cause it's just how our brains work. They never had a chance. For 10 episodes it did exactly what it needed to do, give a glimpse into the life of night city. The possibility for a season 2 depends on where they plan to head. Continue David and Lucys story? Unlikely, however, the theories about David being alive either in a nightmare BD from JK or taken in as a slave for Arasaka are interesting. Or just like the games, have the Nomad or Corpo section of the story as the next season.

Just a few important points - That's how cyberpsychosis often works. Quite often it hits without anyone noticing symptoms. Others because they are slight untill the wery end and the chromejokey because they are in perpetual denial. - Big part of why Lucys and Davids romance makes sense is due to who they are. Point is, they really have nobody and this is, as far as we know, their first oxytocin dance. They are both damaged goods, for different reasons, and therefore they are scared to death, literarily, of losing the other one in her case or failing the other one in his case. The romance comes out of the blue but once it's established their personalities and histories explain everything.

Honestly this video explains pretty well my feelings towards this show. But I want to elaborate a little bit more on the issues this show had. Personally I loved the romance between Lucy and David, but I feel we got a pretty well built starting point, a peak of the mid point and a good amount of their end point of their relationship, but there was no in between no built up it felt like they threw me the ingredients of a great food recipe and they were like " yeah yeah here's the thing, built the thing on your own". My biggest issue with the whole show is how generic many characters were and how many times they built great potential for character development and instead they seemingly went for the safe option. For example David was the most straight line of a character development ever and it shows badly when he is paired with the one of the two characters that actually face character development in the show Lucy, making him look even weaker and bald. He is a dude that his whole personality is "Im good boi", there are things thrown at his that could make him more complex like the idea about being a pawn for the dreams of others, or for finding your identity inside a messy town, or how you should understand your limits to be able to thrive instead of pushing yourself to limits that will only damage you in the long run (which to give them credit on that, they did showcased how the dellusional idea of David being built different somewhat cost the lives of the whole group but Lucy's and Falco's) and all that sort of stuff and the dude is like "nah, me just a good boi". I mean he is not a bad character, just flat, the whole thing felt like a safe way to deliver a decent story. Another thing I want to mention is how they definitely had their faveouritess, Lucy was a great example but of course the second character that was actually well development and felt like it was an actual being with identity and not just a written character for a show was Rebecca. She had a pretty gimmicky and tropy character but she broke them in a realistic way to express her feelings and concerns, she grew. All and all it's a good watch but outside of the aesthetics and the strong moments of the characters (and the music, oh my god the music was amazing) I don't think it will stic with you so much.

I agree with some of your points, like David's mother not getting much development before she dies, but disagree that her talk with David in the car was merely and "poorly" done exposition. She is a concerned mother who is working multiple jobs to give her son a better life. She is stressed about paying bills, stressed with her illegal activity with Maine's crew, stressed with her jobs, and on top of that, she has just been told that her very talented son might be kicked out for a very avoidable and dumb mistake. All the work she did could be gone with just a snap of a finger. Her breaking down a little in the car reiterating what she had to put up with to make sure David was ok in life isn't just exposition, but real dialog of an overworked single parent trying to make her, seemingly uncaring, son understand the severity of their situation. For me personally, this is not the showrunners talking to us, the audience, through the characters. This is the characters talking to each other while we're watching passively in the back seat.

The amount of butthurt and cringe in the comments lol. It’s a good anime, but it’s not anime of the year. Get over it

You know what edgerunner reminded me of? The Batman 2022.. It is good, but the hype going in killed it for me. It is as you said, overrated not because it is bad, but because of the cult rating.

Let’s compare David’s mom’s death to the death of father Fujimoto in Blue Exorcist. Both died very early in the series. However, in blue exorcist, we were *shown* how father Fujimoto cares for Rin and Yukio through his words *and* actions. There was time to show some of his personality and so when he died, we could miss that character. Meanwhile David’s mom is shown briefly talking about not glamorizing her work, that she forgot to pay for the washing machine, and that she is spending all her money on David’s education because she loves him. She doesn’t have much of a personality and we are told and not shown. You become more sad about the city’s harsh treatment/system then you are about her dying.

But that's the thing, cyberpunk delivered emotionally for most people despite its short length and thats thanks to its amazing writing. You seem to not understand that writing is not just the dialogue but the description of the visuals too. And its thanks to this efficient writing that so much could be crammed in and still deliver emotionally. Because the visuals tell so much of the story that we don't have to waste time explaining stuff. And compared to most anime, these characters are much more believable which is another reason why people attached to them so quickly. Cyberpunk did what most anime would take 24 episodes to do. And while i agree Gloria's death came too soon and she could have used an extra episode to help her death be more impactful i think everyone else's deaths were appropriately timed. The only deaths that didn't hurt emotionally were pilar and dorio's but their deaths weren't even meant to be emotional. Pilar's death was a reality check for David when things seemed to be looking up and Dorio's death was just meant to fully push maine towards cyberpsychosis.