Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 may be another hit in the making, even if it's way different than the first series

The original Cyberpunk: Edgerunners surprised me with its first premiere at PAX West 2022. I didn’t expect much because of how easy it is to use the name of a popular series for a cash grab, but the novelty of a collaboration between CD Projekt Red and Studio Trigger, known for animating iconic series like Kill la Kill and Little Witch Academia, pulled me through the door. The rush I felt watching the first two episodes convinced me that, although the public didn’t know it yet, the adaptation was about to catch fire.

It’s that same feeling I had while watching Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 at Anime Expo this year. Even more impressive, it only took a single episode. In a tight 20-minutes, it showed me and the 6000 other fans in Crypto Arena that there’s more to see in Night City outside of the beloved cast and story from season one.

That said, Edgerunners 2 is distinct from the first series. In his pre-premiere presentation, showrunner Bartosz Sztybor likened Edgerunners to a Michael Bay movie and Edgerunners 2 to something more from Martin Scorsese — a larger-scale story that hones in on a more down-to-earth depiction of Night City. Instead of just dramatic, action-packed conflicts, Edgerunners 2 expands beyond the expertly executed fight scenes and straight into storytelling strengthened by cinematics.

At this point, Edgerunners 2 is a sequel in name only with seemingly no connection to the first — and it doesn’t need it. CD Projekt Red and Studio Trigger take the opportunity to tell a completely different tale in the sprawling dystopian metropolis that is Night City. The original Edgerunners closely follows the point of view of David Martinez, even though we still get to know the rest of his crew pretty well. On the other hand, Edgerunners 2 spotlights four characters with vastly different backgrounds and weaves their stories together.

In the first episode, we’re introduced to the four main characters: Weak Kingsley (Clancy Brown), a washed up Edgerunner forced to live without chrome after a cyberpsychotic episode; Roman Carax (Valeria Rodriguez), a film-loving kid that gets himself into trouble by videotaping the streets of Night City; D (Nazeeh Tarsha), a Netrunner for the Snake Nation nomad group with a thirst for vengeance; and Talia Yang (Kimoy Lee), a woman with a Corpo background that now hangs with the chrome-obsessed Maelstrom gang.

Despite more characters to juggle, Edgerunners 2 still manages to introduce these characters without feeling like any of them were shoved into the spotlight. More importantly, even scenes without dialogue conveyed meaning through imagery alone — a smile, empty beer cans, and so on. In a world filled with lengthy exposition dumps, it intrigued me to see an anime that took its words seriously with purposeful dialogue, truly embodying the idea of “show, don’t tell.” 

Cinema, or at least the human element of watching and interpreting films, is central to Edgerunners 2. Roman leans into that theme with his insistence that films are irreplaceable, even though braindances, virtual reality technology where people can directly experience moments from another person’s point of view, are vastly more popular than films. Besides what Sztybor said earlier with his reference to Scorsese, the cinematography with shifts in visual effects, angles for emphasis, and cuts between the characters served to convey more meaning than just stills alone. As an anime, it also adds to the meta commentary of the importance of film and what makes us human.

Even with that soft spot for the arts, though, Edgerunners 2 is just as brutal as the first. It may not be as bloody up front, but the first episode showed just enough violence to bring back memories of gunshots and gore from the first season. It shows Night City is still the same as ever, even though we’re looking through the lens of a different person living in it. Sztybor also confirmed that, while Edgerunners 2 still has romance, it also has tragedy. He urged us not to get too attached.

Edgerunners 2 didn’t need to raise the dead to reel me in. Its first episode succeeds in giving us just enough of each of the characters to stay curious, while building a new, enticing world around their lives. Then, just when you’re getting too comfortable, shit happens, and Trigger animates a gunfight that reminds you that you’re in a warzone. 

Like its predecessor, Edgerunners 2 has the same power to get a laugh out of its audience and simultaneously remind them how corrupt Night City really is. That’s a strength that makes it fun and not just pure depression. (I laugh and cry at the dystopian reality of the American healthcare system.) It’s this balancing act, along with the humanity behind the characters, that leaves an imprint on me long after the preview. 

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is expected to release in Fall 2026 as a Netflix exclusive.