Time has passed and David has now succeeded Maine as the
leader of their crew. Beefed up with new
tech, plus the Sandevistan, David is now closer to the legend he wishes to
become. However, a request from a
familiar client threatens to destroy not just Davids track record but his
relationship with Lucy. At last, the
missing treasure that the crews lost so much over is revealed and it might end
up being David who loses the most when he takes it on. How far and how fast will David push himself
to fulfil his one true dream?
After the emotional cluster cuss that was Mondays
cliffhanger, I had some inkling as to how Cyberpunk: Edgerunners might wrap up
but even I wasn’t prepared for this.
Insane action and the return of some fan favorites were just added
bonuses to go along with the excellently written drama that settled pretty much
every loose end by the time we got to the final shot of the series.
The Series Finale is a powerful cautionary
tale about having too much power and the cost of pushing the limits too
far.
And yet it’s still a Studio Trigger
Anime so it delivers the lessons with all barrels blazing.
In fact, I even think the final episode
itself is a strong enough to stand alongside the Series Finale of Castlevania
as a pretty much perfect capstone.
Now
that I’ve taken a moment to breath after another round of emotional pinball
with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, let’s see how the finale cements this as one of
the best Video Game adaptations of all time.
The time jump as a nice way to give viewers time to
breathe after the death of Maine.
Seeing
David bulked out like his hero and running his own crew had clear signs that
everything wasn’t right.
But it was easy
to ignore that for a bit just because we had most of the old crew back like
Rebecca, who had been MIA a couple of episodes after her bother got killed, and
Kiwi, who’s fate was kind of ambiguous after last time.
Lucy took more of a backseat to the action in
much of the finale which I think is kind of a shame but her role is nonetheless
important but we’ll come back to that.
Having Becca back in particular was a blast.
She even got some added character growth
having developed her own feelings for David and trying to be his emotional
support in the field while Lucy stayed on the bench.
She’s still the same gun totting, swearing a
mile a minute murder machine but it was nice to see Becca show a bit of heart,
which made it suck all the more that she didn’t make it to the end of the
series.
Honestly I think next to David’s
death, Becca’s might’ve hit me the hardest.
Yeah things were clearly not ok for David the moment I
saw him.
Yeah his crew was a well oiled
and hyper violent machine but come on: how long was it going to be before all
of his increased mass and tech caught up with him?
The signs were all there and watching David
grapple with Cybersychosis was some of the toughest scenes to watch.
He was losing time, murdering innocents and
pretty much repeating Maines mistakes by not listening to those who wanted him
to get better.
You know you’re in a bad
spot when Becca of all people starts calling you on being too damn
reckless.
By the time David starting
replaying the whole of the series in his head in the Series Finale, I had a
feeling that was going to be it for him.
After all, it was going to be either him or Lucy who bit the big one in
the end.
Unlike Maine though, David
fought back his darkness and even though he lost, he still managed a big win in
his mind.
It just sucks that he never
accepted his crew and his love were enough for him.
After complaining that the show had no idea what its end
goal was, I was shut up quickly midway through this set.
Turns out Arasaka had been after David from
the get go to use him as a guinea pig for their latest weapon of mass
destruction.
The Cyberskeleton lived up
to its ferocious rep even though we’d only just heard about it. Anti grav tech,
the ability to snatch guns and use them, tons of armor and minor flight
capabilities, this thing could tear through an army single handidly while
turning its rider into an unstoppable rage machine.
This allowed Trigger to really cut loose more
than anything before (and that’s saying a lot considering how crazy the action
in this show has been).
There was a nice
and fine balance between David fighting his increasing Cyberpsychosis while
also watching him, Becca and Falco engage in their own Anime GTAV Mission that
saw them racking up Wanted Levels with increasing levels of resistance being
lobbed against them.
Like I said, this
finale sent its rag tag group of heroes out with a bang.
Over to Lucy, her story was expanded upon even if she
wasn’t involved in much of the action (she was actually knocked out and captured
for half of it).
I had feared she was
still working for Arasaka when she murdered a target early on.
Turns out though, she had no loyalty to her
former masters and was instead being a very violent angel trying to keep David
from falling into Arasaka’s trap.
Turns
out, Lucy had found someone she could trust with everything in Night City,
ironic considering her mentor, Kiwi, turned out to be a traitor to the team
working for Faraday.
Everything she’s
done hasn’t been to get to the Moon but to see David safe.
It cements the sultry and sexy Cybergirl as a
well rounded protagonist and a worthy addition to Triggers long line of kick
ass female protags.
I know there aren’t any
plans to follow up Edgerunners with a second season, which is fine.
But I wonder if we’ll revisit Lucy in the
Cyberpunk universe somewhere down the line.
She’s quite popular so it’s possible I think.
Overall, the Series Finale tugged at every emotional
heartstring while also providing viewers with an unprecedented amount of ripe
Anime carnage.
David, Becca and Kiwi all
met very violent ends but so did Faraday (good riddance to him but man
Giancarlo Esposito was having a blast with this guy).
Lucy was reunited with David one more time
and David got to go down swinging against another legend.
I never expected to be put through the
emotional wringer by this series but here we are.
By the time you see Lucy looking up a the sun
from the surface of the Moon, there’s still a strong sense of loss from who
cant share that view with her…and it’s a helluva an emotional gut punch.
Not bad for an Anime based on a game that may
or may not have gotten better since its disastrous launch a couple of years
back.
Guess I should wrap this one up with some finale
thoughts.
I came into Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
expecting a crazy thrill ride and I most certainly got that.
I did not expect to be emotionally crushed by
the midway point and by the finale…man.
CD Projekt Red has somehow managed to make a fine entry point for a game
whose own rep is kind of a mixed bag but it’s really Studio Trigger that has
outdone themselves with this one.
The
cast, the music, the hyperviolence, the romance, the ethical and moral debates,
the freaking series finale, everything just works here in a way that wouldn’t
seem possible but it does.
This is a
great series and a Video Game Anime adaptation done right.
Between this, Castlevania and live action
projects like Sonic the Hedgehog and The Last of Us, I think we might be
(mostly) out of the woods of bad Video Game Adaptations.
If you want a heaping helping of challenging
emotional narratives with a mix of trippy and fun action, Cyberpunk:
Edgerunners is a digital adventure well worth taking.
9.5/10
Speaking of Video Game Adaptations, we’ve got a whole
month of VG Anime titles to look through, the good, the bad and a rare
0/10.
This Monday, we’re rolling forward
on the road to the 9
th Anniversary of the blog with a visit from an
old friend, Fate/Stay Night, with
Fate/Grand Order: Moonlight/Lostroom,
right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
See ya then.
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