CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 computer role-playing game came out in 2020 in tatters and mixed reception, disappointing a good number of people. Two years later however, it took an anime adaptation made by the legendary Studio Trigger to clear its name and bring the 2077 franchise back to relevance. The show was called Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and its 10 episodes was peak anime at the time, blowing people’s minds with its action and storytelling while also traumatizing many others with its conclusion. Which was appropriate given the world’s ethos of no happy endings in Night City.

What people may remember is that the elusive happy ending only occurs if you get out of Night City, or at least escape its radius of corporate sabotage and cyber-enhancement degeneracy. That seems to be the mindset when CD Projekt Red and Studio Trigger are set on when making the follow-up to Edgerunners, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2. The result? 10 episodes of fine-as-hell anime with a great dose of action, setpieces, emotional beats, and extra worldbuilding that will satisfy anyone with so much as a slight interest in the genre.

The Rebel Path

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 focuses on four main characters: 12-year old aspiring filmmaker Roman (Valeria Rodriguez), former edgerunner Weak Kingsley (Clancy Brown), cybernetically-enhanced rich girl Talia (Kimoy Lee), and badlands nomad netrunner D (Nazeeh Tarsha). Their paths eventually cross, with D looking for revenge against the Arasaka Corporation who terminated his whole clan, Roman looking to get the best moments of Night City on footage and having a chance meeting with D, Talia who gets mixed up with the wrong crowd and Weak getting hired to bail her out via a former lover’s request.

Things get complicated further for the four as we get introduced to ex-corpo scientist Kyoko (E.G Daily) who steals a package tied to the first episode, and a digital program named Capri (Brittany Lauda) who possesses D and makes him feel free for the first time since the badlands invasion. To reveal more of the narrative and the newer players in the game would be spoiling a lot, but I will say that Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2 will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat with its plot. The way it brings in characters and have them front and centre is well-done and flows well, showing the shadier side of Night City.

True, you can probably spot the main antagonists and string-pullers a mile away, but it doesn’t make the reveals and escalation all the more exciting. When Studio Trigger unleashes their creativity and portrayal of action scenes in this sci-fi world, they don’t hold back. Highlights include episode 3’s highway scene, episode 5’s beginning and ending action setpieces, and the last two episodes’ revelation and climaxes. At the same time, there’s a lot of key plot and narrative bits that flesh out the characters further; case in point Roman and his potential love interest from episode 1 onward.

These precious character scenes are portrayed with restraint and just lingers on still shots, letting the voicework of the actors and the character animation expressions to a lot of the carrying. Whether they’re serious or comical, it’s all accentuated by the gorgeous artwork and expressions. It’s a great balance that highlights Trigger’s strengths in not only kinetic scenes, but emotional ones that just require detailed expressions. You can believe a cyborg with no jaw can display a lot more emotion depth than most live actors in films these days.

Been Good To Know Ya

While not as personal as its prequel’s narrative and focus, Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2 is both a visual tour de force and a great 10-part series that still highlights the best and worst of Night City and its key characters. This time, though it’s a bit more hopeful and uplifting, even bittersweet to an extent.

It still has a lot violence and seediness though not overamplified to overshadow its predecessor. The cast list may seem bloated with pivotal side characters popping up from episode 6 onward, but the juggling act between the four main characters on the cover is deftly balanced. I love the dynamic between Roman and D, as well as Weak and Talia, all from start to finish. That is more than enough to put this as 2026’s best anime series based on a video game/analog title, and also side-by-side with the first Edgerunners.

As its creator Bartosz Sztybor said before, one cannot live without the other. I do recommend watching the first Cyberpunk: Edgerunners before diving in to part 2 as the emotional impact hits harder with a finish line worth reaching for.

Final Score: 90/100

English dub or Japanese dub?

Both are great on their own merit, though the English dub takes a few steps ahead in getting legendary voice actors like Clancy Brown as Weak Kingsley and E.G Daily as Kyoko. Yes, it is oddly hilarious to hear Spongebob Squarepant’s Mr Krabbs and Rugrats’ Tommy Pickle’s VOs get angry and swear up a storm.