History Anime / CyberpunkEdgerunners

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Don't make a name for yourself as a cyberpunk by how you live… Make a name by how you die."''[[note]]Characters top to bottom: left to right: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Faraday]], [[CoolMask Kiwi]], [[TheLeader Maine]], [[CuteAndPsycho Rebecca]], [[AmazonianBeauty Dorio]], [[CreepilyLongArms Pilar]], [[ActionGirl Lucy]], [[TheHero David]][[/note]]]]

* '''Trailers''': [[https://youtu.be/x4ztgjvfU60 Official teaser]], [[https://youtu.be/OiR_lMNlJko Official trailer]], [[https://youtu.be/JtqIas3bYhg NSFW trailer]] '''(Warning: If the name doesn't give it away, the NSFW trailer contains [[NotSafeForWork NSFW]] content)'''.

* '''Clips''': [[https://youtu.be/FPDJJIPuCgE Maelstrom Gang clip]], [[https://youtu.be/OifiVCnFKzM Opening theme]].

* '''Featurettes''': [[https://youtu.be/zxapZWv4pNs Inside Look]], [[https://youtu.be/D6ia1wjO7sg Inside Look #2]]

* '''Music Videos''': [[https://youtu.be/h4VJGNNSQnw "I Really Want to Stay at Your House"]] ('''Warning: Contains spoilers'''), [[https://youtu.be/BnnbP7pCIvQ "Let You Down"]]

* '''Featurettes''': [[https://youtu.be/-_rzxV2BE5A Studio TRIGGER plays Cyberpunk 2077]], [[https://youtu.be/xw-eT2R4l9g Interview with Studio TRIGGER co-founder and director Masahiko Otsuka]]

* CallBack: In "Just a Boy" after David uses the Sandevistan eight times in one day, suffers a nosebleed, then faints, Doc warns him that he should only use it two maybe three times a day or else suffer the consequences. [[spoiler: Adam Smasher during his "fight" with David uses his Sandevistan a total of three times and remains perfectly fine whereas David has used his way more than eight just trying to get to Arasaka Tower ''and'' has been using the cyberskeleton.]]

* DisasterDominoes: [[spoiler: A seemingly straightforward gig for Faraday very quickly spirals out of control when Tanaka's driver receives an unexpected phone call from his boss. The following car hijacking, which the team is forced to do, results in the failure of the original objective, because Tanaka changes his driving routes, what forces Faraday to contract another gig with Maine's team. Which of course gets out of control vary fast. This sets in motion a sequence of events leading to a complete disaster: the fiasco of the entire contract, the deaths of two edgerunners and Faraday becoming the target of Arasaka's assassination attempts, which then leads in a straight line to tragedy at the end of the series.]]

* DwindlingParty: [[spoiler: More and more of the crew die as the series progresses.]]

* EverybodysDeadDave: [[spoiler: Lucy and Falco are the only crew members still alive by the end of the series.]]

** [[spoiler: In episode 7, we see David and Rebecca taking on characteristics of Maine and Pilar - David is now the mountain-sized leader packing a massive amount of cyberware, some of which is even [[TragicKeepsake Maine's]]. Rebecca, meanwhile, is rampaging through goons just like Pilar and doing party tricks with cyberhands at their same hangout. In addition, Julio seems to have taken David's place as an overeager newbie in over his head. He dies. This signifies that they've taken on some of the same characteristics and flaws, and they're about to come to similar ends.]]

** [[spoiler: Kiwi's line "Although, some Edgerunners die in more shame than they started with." sounds pretty ironic after she ends up dying the lonely death of a traitor, despised by her former teammates. ]]

** However, considering the fact that [[spoiler: the female agent's office appears to be that of Jenkins' from V's Corpo lifepath, it's safe to assume her plan didn't work out so well.]]

** The Projectile Launch System David implants himself with after the TimeSkip originally belonged to [[spoiler: Maine, who died horrifically in a firefight with the NCPD and Trauma Team while suffering a severe Cyberpsychosis episode]].

** David [[spoiler: is bullied in Arasaka academy and loses his mother to a car accident in the first episode. As the series progresses, he witnesses his friends getting flatlined one after another and he eventually begins to succumb to cyberpsychosis after he accidentally kills an innocent woman working for Arasaka. Finally, he sees his girlfriend Lucy betrayed by Kiwi and kidnapped by Faraday, creating a scenario when he has to install the cyberskeleton to rescue her. His conga line ends in heartbreaking fashion, [[HeroicSacrifice as he only has enough time to help Lucy escape]] before [[TheHeroDies meeting a brutal end]] at the hands of the notorious HeroKiller Adam Smasher.]]
** Lucy [[spoiler: as a child is enslaved by Arasaka to explore the Old Net, a task that kills many children from her group. She ends up being the SoleSurvivor from her group's escape attempt, and the death of her captors makes her a fugitive within the corporation. Then, years afterwards, her friends from Maine's crew die one-by-one in a span of few months before she gets tricked by Faraday and double-crossed by Kiwi while trying to protect David, the person she loves the most, from the company that exploited her as a child. The finale caps this awful conga line off when [[TheLostLenore she loses David]], who ends up sacrificing himself to buy her time to escape from Arasaka Tower.]]

* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Lucy's tendency to become this for David serves as a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed example]]. [[spoiler: Lucy deliberately botches the job with Tanaka Sr. once she finds information concerning Arasaka's plans for David to become their lab rat, which unfortunately leads to a Trauma Team being called to the gang's hideout and directly leads to Maine and Dorio's deaths. Consequently, David has to step up as leader of the group unbeknownst to him about her hand in it, all while she goes on [[LeaveNoSurvivors a whole murderous rampage]] through any Arasaka's netrunners who try to decipher the info she deliberately destroyed. [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom This crusade gets the full attention of Arasaka]], leading to her being captured by Faraday. Her behavior [[SelfFulfillingProphecy ultimately spells the death she was trying to avoid all along]] as David ends up installing the cyberskeleton and ultimately sacrificing himself to save Lucy from Arasaka's clutches.]]

** Maine and others going cyberpsychotic briefly have multiple eyes.

** The tattoo on Rebecca's right leg reads [[Creator/PhilipKDick PK DICK]].

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Like the game, every episode is named after a song.

* WorthyEnemy: How Adam Smasher sees David as. [[spoiler:He gives him a quick death because of this.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:It's unknown if Kate and Douglas (the two Arasaka intelligence agents behind the cyber-skeleton operation) suffered any repercussions from the upper management as a result of David's rampage, considering that, so far, haven't made any appearances on Cyberpunk 2077 itself. It's unclear if they survive the events of 2077, considering the massive slaughter of Arasaka personnel in the storyline.]]

** As far as implants go, Sandevistan (itself admittedly established in the series as being a military-grade model) is ''much'' more powerful here than it was in the game. While in the game, it slows down time to a great degree, it doesn't reach the level of power David has with it where he essentially becomes the Flash and can move faster than even speeding cars and explosions.

* DisasterDominoes: [[spoiler: A seemingly straightforward gig for Faraday very quickly spirals out of control when Hanaka's driver receives an unexpected phone call from his boss. The following car hijacking, which the team is forced to do, results in the failure of the oryginal objective, because Hanaka changes his driving routes, what forces Faraday to contract another gig with Maine's team. Which of course gets out of control vary fast. This sets in motion a sequence of events leading to a complete disaster: the fiasco of the entire contract, the deaths of two edgerunners and Faraday becoming the target of Arasaka's assassination attempts, which then leads in a straight line to tragedy at the end of the series.]]

* DisasterDominoes: [[spoiler: A seemingly straightforward gig for Faraday very quickly spirals out of control when Hanaka's driver receives an unexpected phone call from his boss. The fallowing car hijacking, which the team is forced to do, results in the failure of the entire objective, because Hanaka changes his driving routes, what forces Faraday to contract another gig with Maine's team, which also gets out of control vary fast. This sets in motion a sequence of events leading to a complete disaster: the fiasco of the entire contract, the deaths of two edgerunners and Faraday becoming the target of Arasaka's assassination attempts, which then leads in a straight line to tragedy at the end of the series.]]

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* DisasterDominoes: [[spoiler: A seemingly straightforward gig for Faraday very quickly spirals out of control when Hanaka's driver receives an unexpected phone call from his boss. The fallowing car hijacking, which the team is forced to do, results in the failure of the entire objective, because Hanaka changes his driving route. This sets in motion a sequence of events leading to a complete disaster: the fiasco of the entire contract, the deaths of two edgerunners and Faraday becoming the target of Arasaka's assassination attempts, which then leads in a straight line to tragedy at the end of the series.]]

* DisasterDominoes: [[spoiler: A seemingly straightforward gig for Faraday very quickly spirals out of control when driver Hanaka receives an unexpected phone call from his boss. A car hijacking, which the team is forced to do, results in the failure of the entire objective when Hanaka changes his driving route. This sets in motion a sequence of events leading to a complete disaster: the fiasco of the entire contract, the deaths of two edgerunners and Faraday becoming the target of Arasaka's assassination attempts, which then leads in a straight line to tragedy at the end of the series.]]

* BookEnds: The series opens up on a shot descending into the carnage below within Night City, [[spoiler:and after David's HeroicSacrifice, the epilogue begins with the same shot in reverse panning out towards space instead.]]

* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Hah! [[AvertedTrope Yeah, no.]] Even for sympathetic characters such as [[spoiler:the Arasaka employee who just wanted to go to her son's graduation]], a shot to the head means you don't have a head anymore. The sole exception to this is [[spoiler:Dorio, who's head remains intact even after getting shot from behind, with a small exit wound.]]

** The HUD that is shown for multiple characters is typically ripped straight from the game. Phone calls, the GPS screen, and security camera footage in particular are almost 1-to-1 recreations of similar situations in the game.

* AxCrazy: So many examples, the most prominent being the numerous cyberpsychos once they hit their breaking point and go on a rampage. Than there's Pilar and Rebecca, the brother-sister duo on Maine's and David's crew that just loves blowing shit up. Gangbangers and other mercs are also portrayed this way, most notably the Tyger Claws, all of which seem to be slavering animals barely capable of rudimentary tactics or even coherent thoughts other than mindless slaughter. And last but not least, Night City's most (in)famous mass-murdering sociopath: [[spoiler:Adam Smasher himself]].

** An early episode has background police chatter about a cyberpsycho in Watson who has taken down two officers. Which sounds like the first Cyberpsychosis mission from Regina Jones in the game.
*** However, as the show takes place in 2076, a year before the aptly named game which takes place in 2077, this is most likely just a nod to the game and therefore not the same cyberpsycho.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Don't make a name for yourself as a cyberpunk by how you live… Make a name by how you die."''[[note]]Characters top to bottom: left to right: Faraday, Kiwi, Maine, Rebecca, Dorio, Pilar, Lucy, David[[/note]]]]

** Once David [[spoiler:rescues Lucy from Arasaka, it looks like he and his friends will be able to get away scot free. [[DiabolusExMachina And then Adam Smasher drops in.]]]]
* AHouseDivided: [[spoiler:With all the foes they face, the crew themselves play a large part in their own downfall. Maine's extensive augmentations lead him down the road of cyberpsychosis, which results in his and Dorio's deaths, which then results in David taking his place. Lucy prioritizes protecting David to such an extent that she holds his life ultimately above the rest of the crew and gains Arasaka's attention. Rather than roughing it out with the remainders of the group, Kiwi decides to doublecross them for money and a ticket out of Night City. Finally, in a mirror of Maine and Dorio's relationship, David decides to keep his chrome, despite his lover's pleas for him to wean off the addiction before it's too late.]]