Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is here, and it is going to make you feel things. The first season was one of the best game adaptations in a long time, delivering some devastating moments, fantastic animation, strong characters and, of course, plenty of heartbreak. Walking into Season 2, I expected more of the same, but even with that knowledge, I wasn’t ready.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is a genuine achievement, painting a world that is horrific, brutal and violent, yet still filled with wonder. It does everything it needs to carry on from the first season while delivering a story that stands incredibly well on its own.
If you have read our coverage of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, you will know it was one of our, and many other outlets’, top anime of 2022. The first season followed a young man who loses his mother, begins using an experimental piece of cyberware and builds a crew that takes on the establishment of Night City. I won’t spoil anything, but because of the events of the first season, continuing with the same characters would have been difficult. Instead, Season 2 introduces an entirely new cast, and the story goes places I didn’t expect.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is a story of revenge, corruption and family, told through characters whose lives become intertwined through circumstance and fate. The story follows D (voiced by Nazeeh Tarsha), a young man hellbent on revenge; Weak Kingsley (voiced by Clancy Brown), a mercenary who had his cyberware removed because of cyberpsychosis; Talia Yang (voiced by Kimoy Lee), a young woman who has had most of her body replaced with cyberware; and finally Roman Carax (voiced by Valeria Rodriguez), the moral centre of the season and a wannabe filmmaker who captures the group’s antics before finding his life irreversibly changed by everything he becomes caught up in.
“I cannot overstate how visually striking Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2…”
A lot is going on here, and I could easily imagine a version of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 that dropped the ball while juggling so many diverse elements. Thankfully, director Kai Ikarashi and Studio Trigger manage to weave every part of the story together expertly. At first, it can be difficult to see how everything connects or where the season is heading, but once the pieces fall into place, the complex narrative comes together beautifully, creating a world that feels as human as it is brutally heartbreaking.
What starts as a story about a young filmmaker looking to capture moments that showcase the beauty and horror of the world around him transforms into something far more complex, involving secrecy, corporate schemes, rogue AI, family, corruption, loss and, of course, brutal violence against the oppressive corporate overlords who show no humanity toward the people living in Night City. In other words, it is a remarkably well-realized story set within the Cyberpunk universe.
“Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is a story of revenge, corruption and family…”
I don’t want to spoil the major moments of this season, since experiencing them firsthand is part of what makes each episode hit so hard. However, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 manages to capture the emotional impact of watching well-realized characters experience the rise and inevitable fall that defines the universe in a way few pieces of media manage so effectively. It feels oddly timely and serves as a stark reminder of what happens when a world is left to rot to its core, where money is seemingly the only way to escape the brutality of Night City, and even that offers only temporary relief.
Studio Trigger does what it does best and builds a world that feels lived-in, bringing both the horrors of the city streets and the beauty of the world around them to life in equal measure. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 features scenes that are absolutely jaw-dropping, alongside others that capture the violence and brutality of a world where money and technology collide to create truly gruesome realities, and where the corporate machine tears through anyone who stands in its way.
The animation is striking, maintaining the same vibrant colours, dynamic movement and shocking moments seen in the first season while introducing new characters, settings and spectacular set pieces that showcase what the animated medium is capable of. I cannot overstate how visually striking Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is, with moments from the final few episodes proving both shocking and tear-inducing in equal measure.
With 10 solidly paced episodes and a story that feels fully realized, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is an achievement in both animation and the adaptation of a tabletop RPG and video game. It picks up the world CD Projekt Red helped bring to life and runs with it, delivering one of the most human, heart-wrenching and engaging stories you will see in any medium this year. I don’t know what CDPR and Netflix have planned for future stories from this universe, but the world feels ready for more. The anthology format means the possibilities are endless, and this season proves that more seasons of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners are not only possible, but can equal or even exceed the standard set by the first season.
Either way, even if we end here, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is a fantastic season of television and an incredible feast for both the eyes and the heart. This is a show that demonstrates how animation made for adults can be so much more than simple comedy or brutal violence. It can tell deeply human stories within a world that feels horrific and wondrous in equal measure, one that remains ripe for exploration.
If your heart has finally healed from the first season, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is here and ready to take your emotions on another brutal ride, should you dare let it. Don’t worry, though, because this is a journey well worth taking, even if you shed a few tears along the way. Strap in, get the chrome ready and dive in. This ride is about to get bumpy!
