live fast, die young | Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 

3 links to help destroy corporations: Support us on Patreon to improve our content: www.patreon.com/professorviral Join our Discord for some more discussion: discord.gg/AfwXGKx Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date: twitter.com/Professorviral

David was the epitome of the pharse " the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long"

I appreciate that they respected the world of Cyberpunk. No happy endings here.

One exceptionally tragic thing about the whole scenario that we learn from the game (and Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the original Cyberpunk board game) is that Cyberpsychosis isn't even a real thing. The term is a scapegoat from the corps to distract from the fact that these people who go on violent and insane outbursts really just snapped from the strain of this Hellish life and loss of humanity. Iirc, the original owner of the Sandevistan was a traumatized war vet, Maine had just lost a friend and was feeling the pressure from the increasingly dangerous heists, David had just lost Maine, was feeling the same pressure and was facing the potential loss of the person he loves most. The chrome isn't the cause, but quite literally losing pieces of your humanity contributes.

Probably the best most tragic thing about the writing is something you touched on briefly, aside from David and Rebecca, most of the main cast are killed by nobodies. Because in night city it doesn't matter who you are, after enough fights, after enough close calls your luck will run out, your death probably won't be some beautiful last stand, but simply a matter of bad luck

This is one of the few anime that feels like the world while still live on even if the main character is dead

The setting of Night City is just so full of theme. The bright neon lights everywhere, and yet it’s so dark. The clean, sterile streets and grimey, filthy alleyways. _So much atmosphere_

"Cyberpunk isn't about saving humanity, it's about saving yourself." Is how Mike Pondsmith described Cyberpunk once. No matter how high you climb or how far you go, you'll never break the corporate machine that governs this worlds settings and everything in it. The best you can do is climb the corporate ladder or live and die in a spectacular enough fashion to be remembered. The show embodies these themes so well.

My favorite scene was when David is telling the Doc to give him stronger suppressants and the Doc was like "do you really think there's something out there that could save you?" It was horrifying and great.

The biggest tragedy like greek lvl in this story was that D and Lucy did not communicate if she would just tell him what she was doing and what she learned about him also maybe convinced him to get some personal cloned meat and scaled down the implants they might be happy but they both were too broken by the world and the upbringing they had for healthy communication like that

The sheer amount of blood David kept vomiting and gushing out of his nose was truly worrisome considering how like 90% of his body was mostly chrome at that point

The two lessons I learned from edge runners is chasing your dreams are worth it even if they ain’t your own and there’s only so much one man can do against an evil so large and a world so uncaring.

13:16 the cursor on the screen really served as a good visual as to how the upper class of Night City controls your life the same way you control a computer program. The only way to break the cycle is to never join it. That's what Lucy was trying to do for David from the start and sadly he never saw it.

I’d argue in a matter of perspective David did get his good ending. He fulfilled the one goal that he fought for, he fought to realize the dreams of those he care for the most. He got to the top of Arasaka, he became more Chromed than Maine, and he got his girl to the moon. It’s sad to see him go, but he died with a smile, and a conscious mind.

In Cyberpunk, Night City is the protagonist. Everyone else loses.

Despite it's flaws, the game touches on this as well, with an in game quest added to tie into the anime, it's message being "don't end up like David". The game itself tells you from the get-go there will be no happy ending, not with the decision to come to Night City, the city that embodies all these themes, but the endings, the happier ones in my opinion, all have a similar message. Leave the city, it's culture, it's empty promises of fortune and success, leave it all behind. In the Nomad ending, you leave the city behind with your new found family. Yes you will die, yes you will struggle, but you will do so with friends and family, your last moments spent happy and fulfilled, free from the corporate overlords and even the government. The nomads live on the fringe of society, criminals by the very nature of refusing to take part in the game the very top have trapped everyone else in. They'll never be rich, they'll never be truly famous, but they can be happy. Their hard work will provide for them and their family. With Night City itself a metaphor of this cycle, Judy's advice and drive to "leave the city behind" because "if you play by it's rules, you'll always lose" ring true. I have no real ending to this essay I've ended up typing, but this video has captured the feeling have everyday I wake up and go to work.

I think the one silver lining in David's story and perhaps the hint of a "solution" to the state of it's world the show (and the game as well) provide is in David's one final success, to get Lucy to the moon. Despite her begging him to prioritize his own self-preservation over her dream, he made the decision, by his own, to sacrifice himself for another, to be truly selfless in the end, and to value those personal connections over everything else, over "becoming a legend", over "making it big", over the false hope of survival; All that mattered to him in the end was his EMPATHY. And with it, he achieves his one and only victory over the system, not for himself, but for Lucy. That message of empathy being the only thing that can truly hope to provide an escape from the system (unlike the deluded faux-rebellious carnage of edgerunners or the likes of Jonny Silverhand, which seek to violently escape/topple but ultimately achieve nothing) sits at the heart of at least CDPR's Cyberpunk stories.

Corporate schools in the world of Cyberpunk are just as much about feeding the students corporate propaganda to instill loyalty towards the corporation as they are about educating them. It's focused on turning them into employees.

That script hurt just by how raw and unfiltered it was. And because of that it resonated a lot with me. I find myself escaping a lot into media lately, after Edgerunners especially into the game Cyberpunk, listening to Edgerunners reviews and searching for something human I can't seem to find in real life anymore. I know it's not healthy, but it's getting increasingly more difficult to get up in the morning, just to be treated like dirt under a shoe the whole day, only to get back into a dystopian world in the evening that seems to mirror my view of the current world more and more.

Listening to this while sleepwalking through the last hour of my dead end job made my heart race for the first time in what feels like days if not weeks. Thank you. I haven’t started the show yet but I have nothing else going on tonight or this weekend so I’m gonna get on that asap.

A lot of people fail to realize David was only 18 when he died. They sent the NC boogeyman after a kid because he became too OP. People give David cramp for losing to Smasher when he was never trying to fight him just save Lucy. David’s attitude throughout the show was that he never had goals or seemed to care. Once he saved Lucy he accepted his fate. I kind of wonder if he was 28 like V with more battle experience under his belt and couldn’t become a cyber psycho. He definitely became a legend

"What does sanity do in this world, it just let you remember how shit everything is". This is basically how most of people function these days, drowning in all kinds of escapism, ones that are negative, and ones that are seemingly positive like excessive work. I think before we figure out why we are here in this world at all, there will be no changing of this, only more insanity. Thanks for this video.

I think a really big part of what connects this anime to audiences is that a lot of people are feeling like David right now. We're all trapped in the machine trying to live up to the expectations of those around us.

What I don't like Netflix is the binge watch model on some anime because this series should had stayed longer for prolonged conversation every week. This is a surprised AOTY candidate before we go to the galore of Fall 2022. Year of the Tiger is too awesome for anime.

That sense of ennui, staring at a screen of nothing, barely sleeping. I get it. I've been there, some weeks I still am there. In fact, I have to confess that the first time I watched the anime, even as a huge fan of 2077 the game, I didn't get David's arch. I was sitting there thinking to myself why did he keep going, keep pushing when he at least had the love of a woman right there, which is more than a lot of people in that world can say. Because watching him sit and stare at nothing, watching his life go from shit to shit, didn't even register to me as particularly abnormal. You were spot on. I've played it safe and I'm not sad, not really struggling. But most of the time I'm not happy, either.

It’s sad that David never had a dream of his own. He only reached the dream others set for him or helped to reach their dream by sacrificing himself. But it’s fascinating that he could die with honor. He keeps pushing forward even though everything went astray, even though everyone else died. If it was me I would’ve killed m*self after his mom died.

I know the feeling as I honestly felt everything when it came to this anime from how I felt as a teenager to how I feel now as an adult this anime had me feeling everything from David.

After finishing the series, I had an overwhelming storm of emotions swirling within me. Your review and perspective perfectly encapsulated all the boiling emotional turmoil, into one genuine and heartfelt message I really resonated with. It also made me understood why I loved, and related to Rebecca's character the most. She was a side character that, in the beginning, people didn't really paid attention to, or might even found annoying. She loved David, and cared for him, even thou she knew her love was not reciprocated. She watched the person she loved slowly destroy himself for somebody else, and accepted the fact that, despite all her love, she was not the person that can save him. She even she welcomed Lucy back, "for David's sake" And after all that sacrifice, we get to her fate. She didn't went down in a blaze of glory, there was no gut wrenching OST, the only significant send-off she received was a triple playback of her last moments. The last scene we ever get to see of her, was of her small mangled body, staring into the abyss and fading into nothingness. From the series, I only caught a murky glimpse of what I so desperately needed to fill in the empty void in my heart. Your video made me see how I truly do resent slaving my life away just for the sake of survival, and what I truly yearned for is a life of adventure and purpose, of romance and camaraderie. A life that only existed in the realm of fiction, unless I do something about it. Thank you, for sharing such a powerful and beautiful appreciation of this amazing anime.

In a world with no happy endings. This is about as Happy an ending you can get! If you can save even person in that city that's a win!

I can't tell you just how much this means to me. Those are the only words I can find right now. This is really prevalent to me, even as I type, and in the process of doing so. It's almost like Tokyo Ghoul's message: you go for it all, you lose all of it, and only you are responsible, yet it's bearing that weight of feeling manipulated and outclassed, alone to handle the weight you set on yourself. You're gonna carry that weight, and when it comes down to it you're the one who has to be able to keep yourself together under the immense pressure and gravity (of it all).

Love your analysis and I agree on a lot of the points that you were making here but I may have had a more positive take away from this show. Weird thing to say with all the death and violence but yeah, fucked up world, fuckup city and messed up class system. The component that I hear from what you were skirting around the dreams part but dreams is the core theme in this story. This is Night City, the city of broken dreams. Everybody’s got one. Everybody lives to achieve their dreams for themselves by themselves. Maine tells David in the beginning that you can’t trust anybody but yourself. So therefore you rely solely on yourself and keep everyone at arm’s reach but never go asking for help. You get this notion in this world that nothing is free and for the most part, that is true. Want good cyberware? Pay money at the cost of risking cyberpsychosis. Want to be a legend? The only people with the money and power to get you there are most likely the corporations. You want to achieve your dream by yourself? The cost for that is being fucking miserable or a quick death. Nothing is free and you get this sense that you are fucked no matter what you do. But when I watch this series and the game story of cyberpunk, I see that getting out of this sense of doom and gloom is done by doing something that isn’t for yourself. Maine gets some kind of closure by letting go of his drive for his dream by getting David to save himself, Rebbeca dies fighting for David because she cares about him. Hell, out all of the endings that get V from cyberpunk, to any kind of happiness/dream is achieved by getting help from others: Johnny, Panam, Rogue, Alt. If you look at the other characters in the edgerunner series who died miserably it is with that dickhead of fixer with the eyes, Kiwi, that corpo guy who wanted David for Arasaka even that Dexter Deshawn guy. They died miserable and/or unfulfilled by the selfish actions that lead them there. This story tricks the characters into thinking that living for yourself by yourself is the only way to get what you want but that’s horseshit. David dies with a smile on his face not because he was fulfilling some impulse and wanting some kind of escape but because he helped achieve Lucy’s dream. Correct me if I’m wrong, but David dies while looking up in the sky at the moon. Nothing is free in this world. And just like the real world, it’s gonna never stop throwing you down but it’s how you react to it that determines what or who you are. And for David, he is paying the cost for Lucy’s dream and happiness with his life. The notion of live fast, die young has two meanings in my mind. One is the interpretation pointed in this video: escapism and denial in order to have some reason to get out of bed in the morning. But the other interpretation I have is based on the quote I heard from the show: "Don't make a name as a cyberpunk by how you live ... Make a name by how you die". To me, it's a kind of "It’s not about how you choose to live, it’s how you choose to die.” David chose to die for Lucy. The one choice that no one can take away from each and one of us is how we choose to die or what we die for. Still, it fucking hurt to watch Lucy go to the moon while thinking about all who died for this to happen. But dreams aren’t free. But they can come true. Just not by yourself. EDIT: thanks for the comments, I am happy to see if anyone feels a little bit better.

I don't believe that David's legacy is over. He'll be something like Johnny silver hand.

Cyberpunk is our world not even a distorted mirror it literally is like that

I feel your pain. After the series, I felt just as empty. It's like a mirror being held up in front of your eyes. The real world is no different than Night City. A prison full of lights and no happy ending.

I hope edgerunners becomes an anthology and we learn more crazy or ridiculous legends of night city

"Happier endings? Wrong city, wrong people." Problem is, everyone is in that system of "horrible endings for everyone under the corpos" and it takes a crisis like the one is "Arrival" to get everyone to forget the shackles we put on each other as a corpo mandate.

Although I did want a happier ending, when David killed that Bystander, I knew he wasn't going to make it. I like the theory that it's not the chrome, but people suffering from some type of PTSD. All of these folks had crazy back stories, and Maine not bothering to uncover where people were coming from was his first mistake. I too at first didn't get why David wouldn't stop, I think the show could've developed that aspect of his character a little more tbh. Essentially what I got from it was he was already "dead" inside after his mother's passing. For a woman to work so hard and sacrifice for him, and die so unceremoniously, I think just broke his psyche. The entire crew together helped, but after Maine, I think he was just looking for something great to accomplish, and he found it by reaching the top of the tower and taking Lucy to the moon. My only gripe is Rebecca dying, but, in the end, none of these characters were good guys anymore and had done tons of killing themselves. David himself was also a tragedy as he did seem indeed gifted. In his mind, likely more extravagant than reality, but he was obviously bright and intelligent, and to die at what age 20, 21 is just a waste. I do wish we could see a mature David that isn't hellbent on fulfilling other's dreams because he has no hope of his own.

A world that was SO f*cked up was just too much for those that tried there best in a good/right way. At least most of those characters had moments of happiness while they lived. Also, rebecca deserved better…😔😔♥️♥️

This is the best review of this anime I've seen bar none. I see a lot of myself on David. I'm a Latino with a mom that worked herself to the bone to see my brothers and I succeed. I was a straight a student that was bored of the shit around me and stopped giving a shit and disappointing my teachers. I really see all the signs that David is somewhere on the spectrum (the foot tapping, the jumping off into garbage, the way moments of quiet feel like physical pain, shit that I do) , and it's likely that his brain just running faster than his body could stand is what let him use the sandevistan as much as could. He WAS suited to use it, it would've killed Maine. And that depression with a need to do something let him believe he was above it all, special. Hubris is the greatest downfall of the best written characters both hero and villain.

I think the Cyberpunk dystopia is the one closest to real life. We may not have cybernetics in our bodies but we have all the same problems, same corporations running shit, same ads being pushed on us from the same tech we cling to like a life line. We’re living in the cyberpunk dystopia but without the cyber aspect.

This was such a well made video, I’m really glad it came up in my feed tbh. I think what makes this anime so well received is not only does it respect the source material so well, but it also tells us a NEW story in the same universe. So many video game tie-ins just try to tell us the exact same story that we experienced in the game, just without any input from us. I hope we get more material in the Cyberpunk universe with how much of a hit this anime was.

This show has had me in such a emotional state recently. The ending killed me. I hated it because of what happened, but was also content(sorry idk if I used that right) with it because it felt like it made more sense than any other ending. That and the I wanna stay at your house song . The song reminds me of my ex and the relationship between Lucy and David at the same time.I just finished crying. Everytime I read, watch something from the show, or hear that song I honestly feel like crying. No show has ever had me like this before, I wish we could have gotten just one or two more episodes

I've been binging these edgerunners video essays to counteract my post-show depression, this is phenomenal analysis of the show, keep up the good work my friend.

The fact that I watch almost every review from different creators about this anime, tells how much this hyped me up. Good stuff dude.

I didn’t understand why Cyberpunk the game ended the way it did but Edgerunner helped me understand it. The Cyberpunk lifestyle is a death sentence

The theme of "No Happy Endings In Might City" is so sad yet so amazing. You constantly wish things could turn out different yet you know they can't.

This show is a officially a year old now and i still have a emptiness in my heart from it😰

Truly a pleasant surprise how good Edgerunners was. Love that Trigger picked it up except for their track record of not making sequels. Great breakdown man. You described almost everything i felt in this video.

I love edge runners and cyberpunk 2077. Really hope theres more shows and games around the series that can delve deeper and deeper. I would HATE to live there but love the world if that makes sense haha

The Beauty Of Speed The Beauty Of War The Beauty Of Death

David did all of this to himself (aside from his mom dying) most of the crew found their spots and we're content...dee just let himself be consumed by......well himself. That's what makes this story arc so great honestly. It's upsetting enough to make you think and emotional enough to make you feel❤ good analysis

So I really like this video. They is one thing I think a lot of people overlook and thats how David is special. David essentially has a talent. Using the sandy as much and as often as he does is amazing to everyone around him. Everyone feeds into it by being amazed or saying how impressive it is that he is able to even activate it. Heck even Araska thinks he's special enough to test stuff on. Sadly there is only so much he can handle being talented.

That song that plays during Maines last stand with David gives me such goosebumps and tears

I didn't feel as depressed by the ending as most because i think a lot of people didn't notice the perspective you mentioned. Yes the crew all died violent and sudden deaths, but they managed to claim the humanity and happiness the city steals from everyone else. It's as much a depressing tale of a young kid thrown into a downward spiral of violence and delusion as it is the story of a young kid that had nothing and manages to find a way to live a (short) fulfilling life with the little he can find. There's no saving humanity from the system; but there's a chance to save yourself.

This is exactly the kind of personal and thematical reflection on this show I was looking for and I love that you don't shy away from being emotional. Thanks for helping me sort out my own post Edgerunners depression!

This show, Ghost in The shell Stand alone complex and the films, and serial experiments lain, are probably the only anime shows I've seen that tackled cyberpunk with a sense of real maturity.

Cyberpunk has always been a lesson in how one person, no matter how strong they think they are can’t make meaningful change. This even applies to to the head honchos of mega corporations

just watched the anime now. it reminds me of my youth. quit school to hang out with my punk friends. Drugs, music, fights, sex. what strikes me in the retrospective is how pointless it all was. it was as dramatic as it was funny. and i stood in front of the doors of death more than once. today i categorically reject the slogan "live fast, die young". as far as technology is concerned: in germany, more and more experts are warning of the superiority of artificial intelligence. it could make us slaves to a giant computer. the narrative in "cyberpunk" scares me. smartphones scare me. i like using the internet, but the time before digitization was much more exciting. i ask myself, though, does human life still make sense if the pain is gone; if you don't have to poop, eat and sleep anymore - does life as a cyberborg still make sense? I do not think so. i don't see any sense in the robotization of humans. I also see no meaning in eternal life.I see no meaning in life either. what i have to admit, dear professor, is that like you i indulge in a certain escapism. and I'm also a pleasure seeker. For me, anime are parallel universes full of enjoyment. can't life be much more like in an anime? colorful, free, weightless? anyway, these are my thoughts on your video.

When you let good writers in the anime creation process. One must imagine David Happy.

I think one thing you missed is the lie that success brings happiness. You explained the class divide very well, talking about how people are made to believe they can climb the ladder but cannot. However, once you actually climb the ladder, people are still miserable. Look at Tanaka, who goes to live the memories of cyber psychos despite being a business higher-up. The only moments of true fulfillment in the anime come from personal relationships, but even then they are corrupted by the idea of success. David's mother only expresses her love for him by ensuring his future success, not by spending time with him and letting him be himself. This makes David feel he has a love debt, to be as successful as possible, which manifests in his loyalty to Maine. The only relationship that removes success from the equation is Lucy, who only wants him to live. Unfortunately, even she can't get through to him because he has been conditioned to believe the entirety of his worth is determined by his "legend".

Man I connect with you and this anime way too much. I had a mid life moment because of this anime and I don't know why. I questioned my goals, why am I working a dead end job at such a young age to achieve a chance at happiness 40 years from now if i dont get snuffed out first, why is there no happiness from what I do or have achieved, why do I feel this way, why do I watch anime just to escape to a story or place to give me relief from this world, just what am I doing. In the end, nothing changed. I still work at the same place, still don't know what happiness is, and still use anime to escape this world. But I do have a weird and incomplete understanding of my emotions and that I can change all of this. But just like David, I am probably just to stubborn and blind to avoid the path set for me. Instead of a hot flaming candle, I will slowly burn out with maybe a flicker of light if I am lucky. Love the video, keep up the good work. Just found you so I am gonna watch the rest of your stuff. I am finding out that we are the same playable character, just with different skins and minor details.

The title really does summarise the story for me about a young man who burns brightly but goes out as soon as he came he beilieves he’s different but ended the same as everyone else he followed in Maines footsteps and died the same he kept on running but didn’t take time to stop and have a break I personally describe his story as his combined ascent and descent over the edge

I'm so happy to see a video about this anime on your channel! I actually thought of your episode about Rock in Black Lagoon while I was watching Cyberpunk Edgerunners, I wonder if you saw a parallel as well? I mean during the first four or five episodes and how David actually accepts the gun and ends up using it while Rock could avoid it all along. Hope you'll get better soon and thanks for your great analysis once again :)

This is the best analysis of this show I've seen thus far. Excellent work, well done!

What's interesting about Edgerunners, especially in conjunction with other stories in the genre (particularly Akudama Drive which I highly recommend) is the ending may be sad for some but happy for others. It is very sad where David's story ends, but his memory persists in Lucy, whose dream was achieved at the end of the show. Akudama Drive pulls off something very similar with its characters, especially Swindler, Hoodlum and Courier. I cannot recommend that series enough if you loved Edgerunners.

It's kinda crazy how similar these themes are with 2077. Just different tales.

The hard part of running on the edge is that eventually you fall off.

"They're out there making experiences other people download" you just blew my mind, and earned your deserved like homie

Thanks for the video man. Been going through some shit and identified with David way more than I should have..funny how that works... A kid who's trying to go punk but knows itll be useless but wants to do it anyway cause...maybe ill spark something...idk..this whole vid gave me a lot to both think about and feel..thank you.

I think the whole point of Cyberpunk 2077 and it's anime is to show the world we are currently in now and how much power companies have over the world (more power than the damn government) or at least where we are headed in the future.

The anime includes many and many messages in such fast pace. The value of humanity, businesses treating life as a business, future, meaning of death in another perspective as well as the desire. The pain of acceptance and many many more the list just forever grows. Edgerunners was a good anime

In cyberpunk 2077 there’s a line after a Braindance you can find and it says “This is a Cautionary Tale, One David Martinez Ignored Will you do the same” and Idk why but that fkn Hurt to read.

There are so much themes the anime touches on like what is evil? Everyone in the world has they’re own motives and most of them are good people making evil decisions for a good cause. David’s mom is one such character even though she was selling cybernetics to murderers would she be considered evil if it was just so her son son could have a chance in the world they live in. There is so much depth to the characters they had me carrying for characters in t world in one episode something most series can’t do in their entire run time. I’m not one for sad ending when the story is so masterfully written because it really is that a sad ending and it hurts watching a character I care about getting murdered lmao. Like they did rebecca dirty 😂

Honestly, cybernetics would be the final equalizer I'm our real world class system but it's guaranteed that the ultra wealthy would find away to gate off all the good cybernetics.

I saw this in my feed and my immediate reaction was "Oh man did we make the same video on edgerunners?" Only to watch it and be completely taken aback with how great this is. It's been mentioned in the comments already but the sheer raw emotion in the script and your vo is incredible. You did a wonderful job with this video!

I know I'm very late, around 8 months late, but I just finished edgerunners, and I want to say that your take and discussion is beautifully done. Listening to you talk about the show was almost as good as the show itself, and the rich language and compelling ideas you brought forth while explaining David and his struggles really put me back into the world of cyberpunk as if I were experiencing it. This is the best video I've watched discussing the show thus far, and not only an I in love with this video, I'm in love with your channel. Thank you for such an extraordinary video and experience.

Between David and Adam Smasher, the former is constantly experiencing cyberpsychosis, while the latter has never once gone cyberpsycho (at least never witnessed having one in the anime), and I think the difference on how their ability to cope with cyberpsychosis is their mindset and how they are treated. David is on the lower echelon of night city (society treats him like shit) and craves for stimulus and connections, he goes through depression after his mom dies, Maine dies, Lucy leaves him and later he kills an innocent person (a woman with similar circumstances with David's mom), which further expedites his mind going cyberpsycho. Meanwhile with Adam Smasher, well he seems to be doing well mentally, Arasaka (corp in night city) gives him special treatment with those cyberware, doesn't look like he cares about anyone else other than himself, he just wants to have fun really. He's on the higher echelon of the night city and he's mentally fit, so I have reason to believe he ain't going cyberpsycho anytime soon. Hypothesis: two conditions needed to prevent cyberpsychosis are connections and being treated well by society (basic needs and whatnot)

Haha the end of your video is the best part, I feel exactly the same way. Spent years of my life in school, hated every minute of it. Now I have a job that pays well but I still feel as dead inside as ever. What I have learned is you have to play the game to win, you can choose not to play the game but then you surely never have a chance. Become famous, start a business, invest, do something that will one day give you that moment of peace you spent a lifetime searching. Someone will do it but that someone is up to you.

I only ever cried to 2 things, axel and edge runners, this show broke me and he made this best example on how nothing ever ends up happy it always leads to death and sorrow but there are always moments where you get the feeling of living even if small its there. So great job keep it up and never stop running.

this is the first youtube video I didn't fast forward at all EVER. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, great job.

Man the way you described the series and the closing thoughts are so succinct and totally accurate. Hopefully we can find a better future then the one cyberpunk has. I don't know if it's possible but I guess we can hope

I just finished this show right after the major hype I was prepared to be disappointed but I couldn’t feel further from disappointed. I don’t know how they made such likable characters in such a short show.I heard from another creator that we don’t deserve an easy episode just like how David doesn’t get a break.I keep on thinking about what if’s, different decisions that could have been made but in this world if you start at the bottom your going to end up dead soon enough mine as well go out in a bang.

Part of why Edgerunners hit me so hard is because I honestly relate really heavily to David. I originally watched the Show because someone off-handedly mentioned Rebecca's death scene, and she was the only character I gave a shit about prior to watching the show because of her cute design and personality. Overall while her death still really fucking hurts me, David's lack of direction as a person and eventual downward spiral into a life of crime culminating in his death just like, a year or so after his mom died at absolute most is chilling and depressing. Sometimes I do genuinely ponder whether a short life full of action is preferable to a long one filled with video games and boredom outside of them. A blaze of glory kind of approach. Considering Euthansia is becoming more popular in Europeon countries that only further strengthens that idea. Another reason why Cyberpunk hits so hard is that it is the first true modern dystopia, while other sci-fi dystopias have existed, cyberpunk seems to best understand what aspects of peoples lives will be changed by advancing tech in the next 50 or so years, and so with a few exceptions (Namely the San-devistan and anything above it's power level) Cyberpunk is not actually too unrealistic for a world set 50 years from now, especially considering how fast society has advanced in just the last 30. And that fact is probably one of the biggest factors as to why I fucking hate this world so much. The conception of our capitalist society just getting worse and worse until people are literally left to die because they don't have the money for it is...Chilling. When you look at it through the lens of just fiction it's somewhat fine, but when you realize this could very easily be our reality by 2077 makes it just really upsetting. Not to mention other little things like everything outside of night city so far being basically just endless wasteland, likely as a result of climate change destroying all but a couple hundred human settlements across the planet. I mean no offense to the writer's, but this property has caused my mood to be utterly fucked for around a week now and while I'm hopeful it will wear off eventually, I kindly hope I never have to think about this franchise ever again. Not the potential for it to become real, not the fact David probably had more fun in a single year than most people get in their whole lives, not the senseless unneeded death of my favorite character. Etc.

Really well put my man I listened to this on the train to my dead end job and you’ve really opened my eyes

Once heard someone say “they got us busy fighting a race war when we should be fighting a class war”

I just wanna comment and say that I appreciate so much how much feeling and emotion you used. That feeling and emotion is great, but the chill I felt surge through my body was because we share a connection and realization that the chill is actually just remnants of pain and hurt. Thank you. ❤

This show has really torn me apart, you explained it perfectly. This show has really thrown me into a deep depression. I've never been effected by a show this much. Reminds me of my life and its making me reflect on my life. I'm trying to cope so hard it hurts.

Basically life will become more pay to win than it already is.

Man you really know how to destroy my soul in the best most thought provoking way possible

edgerunners was the first anime in years that actually brought tears to my eyes. it was simultaneously so extreme and foreign yet, uncomfortably grounded.

I really enjoyed this short series. They way you describe this was so poetic!

I absolutely adore and love Mike Pondsmith’s world, ever since I first played Cyberpunk 2020 (the TTRPG) I’ve been a huge fan. Im really glad we got such an amazing story and adaptation of the world without the major tech issues of 2077, Edgerunners is beautiful.

Crying while watching this vid. This show hits home hard 😪

"you can't live happily and long at the same time"

In Night City, the only one you can trust is yourself. That's why Rebecca is a more precious find than Lucy, because Becca's loyalty is a thing Eddies can't buy. Also, Faraday is an incompetent Fixer. On both ends as a corpo stooge and a gang client. When he withholds crucial info from his contractors that might allow them to do a better job, no wonder he wasn't getting results and no wonder Millitech dumped him. In fact, during David's tenure as leader, the gang was swimming in enough Eddies that David could live in a high-class rooftop mansion (the same one V could potentially live in the endgame). All until Faraday came back into their lives.

honestly a super poetic explanation of its run, nice one man.

Just finished the show and this was my first recommendation… after watching your Black Lagoon analysis videos I knew right away this time as gonna be gold 😊

I had watched the show with a friend who reccomended it to me a few days ago. I am very thankful he reccomended this. I just watched your topical video as well. I am very thankful I found this. I needed to better understand the message and narrative significance so that I could finally move on from my post show themeatical and emotional confusion/disorientation dwelling. Thank you very much my man.

Best analysis out there. Keep up the good work. And thank you for sharing.

The ballad of the apathetic young man. Keep on keeping on, isa good channel and i see the sparks of an Inferno