A Tragedy Worse Than the First in Dazzling Night City? What to Watch for in ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2’

Once again, Netflix is offering a trip to Night City. Set to premiere October 20, 〈Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2〉 (hereafter 〈Edgerunners 2〉) tells a story separate from its predecessor. But it, too, promises the essence of the cyberpunk genre through characters trying to make a life amid the dangers of the sprawling metropolis. The first 〈Cyberpunk: Edgerunners〉 followed David, an ordinary high school student who became a mercenary after his mother’s death, and successfully brought together Japanese anime and a Western cyberpunk game. Its successor, 〈Edgerunners 2〉, has likewise drawn considerable anticipation. What kind of story will this anime tell? Here’s a look at what has been revealed so far.

Four Characters in Night City, Where It’s Every Person for Themselves

Anime studio TRIGGER’s new 〈Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2〉 is based on CDPR’s role-playing game ‘Cyberpunk 2077.’ That game depicts the distant future of Mike Pondsmith’s ‘Cyberpunk’ tabletop role-playing series, which brought together elements of science fiction to establish the cyberpunk genre. Its world features body modification, corporations wielding power on the scale of nations, a deeply divided society, and everyday violence and crime. Think of cyberpunk as a vision of the future in which the internet and digital technology have reached extraordinary heights: The world looks dazzlingly advanced, but life for individuals is a dystopia. 〈Blade Runner〉, 〈Tron〉, 〈The Matrix〉 and 〈Akira〉 are among the best-known cyberpunk films.

Unlike the first installment, which centered on the two protagonists David and Lucy, 〈Edgerunners 2〉 has chosen four leads. The creators have identified Roman Carax, who picks up a camera to document the world while everyone else is absorbed in braindance (technology that recreates human memories); Wick Kingsley, a successful mercenary who retired after experiencing cyberpsychosis (a mental breakdown caused by extreme body modification, accompanied by hallucinations and hearing voices); D, who wants revenge on whoever was behind the massacre of his comrades; and Talia Yang, who became so enthralled by gang culture that she modified her entire body. They are called a “group” here only for convenience: Nothing has been revealed about how the four characters become entangled or what their relationships will be.

One particularly ominous sign for 〈Edgerunners 2〉 is Wick Kingsley’s presence: He has already experienced cyberpsychosis. The condition can arise after repeated body modifications with products called cyberware. Its effects include hallucinations or hearing voices, followed by a loss of touch with reality. Medication can delay its onset, but it is close to incurable; simply stopping the modifications cannot cure it. The question, then, is how the condition will change Wick now that he has developed it. Season 1 also portrayed tragedy as a major character became a cyberpsycho. With another cyberpsycho foreshadowed here, perhaps this is why the creators themselves have warned that “the second installment is more violent, darker and sadder than the previous one.”

The Arrival of a True ‘Chrome Heart’

Talia Yang looks set to distinguish this installment from the previous season. She belongs to the Maelstrom gang, whose members undergo extreme body modification to transcend the weakness of the human body and become stronger. Rather than follow the usual social convention of making cybernetic modifications inconspicuous, they display their beliefs by modifying even visible areas such as their faces and eyes. True to Maelstrom, Talia has replaced much of her body, including her lower face, with chrome, pushing her physical abilities to their limits.

Season 1 did feature characters with modified skin or faces, including Rebecca, Pilar and Kiwi, but their modifications were not an obsession rooted in belief. Talia, by contrast, has repeatedly modified herself because she has embraced Maelstrom’s convictions. That could bring the cyberpunk genre’s characteristic themes of humanity and inhumanity to the fore. In the footage released so far, Talia also demonstrates a light body, excellent balance and weapons concealed throughout her body. Those qualities promise action scenes distinct from Wick’s displays of power with his old body and D’s exceptional hacking skills as a netrunner.

The Boy With a Camera

Another character to watch in 〈Edgerunners 2〉 is Roman Carax. His character description calls him a “cinephile,” and his name also appears to be taken from French film director Leos Carax. In the cyberpunk world, braindance lets people reconstruct what someone has seen or experienced as data and experience it again, leaving film as a medium in decline. In that world, Roman uses a camera to record people, making “cinephile” an apt description. The key question is how the story will use the footage he shoots. The released trailer appears to incorporate his recordings into the show, suggesting they may function as a kind of found footage.

Roman’s description also says he is “obsessed with the truth,” raising the question of what he will witness as he follows the other characters. Night City is a metropolis where major corporations and slums coexist, and countless schemes and conspiracies lurk. In the original game, ‘Cyberpunk 2077,’ the protagonist V sees something secret during a mission to infiltrate a major corporation, changing the course of V’s life. Roman, too, may face danger after capturing something on camera that was never meant to be seen. Nothing has been revealed about what crisis awaits these characters, so this is all speculation. Still, Roman’s camera seems certain to have a major effect on the story or the show’s style.

How Will This Unprecedented Tale of Revenge Unfold?

Of the four, though, nomad hacker D may hold the key to the story. Bent on avenging his dead comrades, D shows something unsettling in the trailer: The red-line effect that appears whenever the Blackwall is used can be seen on him. In the cyberpunk world, the Blackwall is a vast firewall protecting the current network from the network that existed before a complete collapse—and from the cyberspace that can no longer be controlled. It serves as a firewall but is closer to an AI that thinks and makes decisions for itself. Crossing the Blackwall therefore grants immense power while placing one’s life in its hands at any moment. If D crosses it to exact revenge, he will have made the worst possible choice, endangering not only his own life but every one of his new companions. Director Kai Ikarashi, who helmed 〈Edgerunners 2〉, said he designed the character according to the principle that “if you’re going to torment someone, he has to be handsome.” D seems destined to face the most harrowing trials of the four.