Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Japanese: サイバーパンク エッジランナーズ, Hepburn: Saibāpanku Edjirannāzu) is an original net animation (ONA) miniseries created by Rafał Jaki. It was produced by the Polish video game company CD Projekt Red and the Japanese animation studio Trigger, and premiered on Netflix on September 13, 2022. Set in the Cyberpunk universe created by Mike Pondsmith, the anime is a standalone tie-in to the video game Cyberpunk 2077 and takes place from 2075 to 2076. It follows David Martinez, a street kid who tries to survive in the dystopian Night City's criminal underworld by becoming an edgerunner—a cybernetically-enhanced mercenary outlaw also known as a cyberpunk.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners received critical acclaim, with praise directed at its writing, characters, action, animation, music, and worldbuilding. The series debuted on Netflix's top ten list in its first week. Its success contributed to the reappraisal of Cyberpunk 2077, as the game saw a significant increase in sales and players following the anime's release. A standalone sequel series, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, is set to be released on October 20, 2026.
Contents
Premise
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners takes place from 2075 to 2076 in Night City (NC), a self-reliant metropolis situated between the Free States of North and South California that suffers from obsessive cybernetic body modification, rampant gang violence, and corporate warfare exacerbated by a corrupt municipal government. The city is divided into six main districts controlled by several megacorporations, most notably Arasaka and its rival Militech.
The story follows David Martinez, a talented but financially struggling student at the prestigious Arasaka Academy. After suffering a personal tragedy, David meets and falls in love with an enigmatic young cyber hacker named Lucy, who introduces him to a gang of edgerunners—cybernetically-enhanced mercenary outlaws also known as cyberpunks—that takes jobs targeting the Arasaka Corporation. David joins the crew and finds that he has an abnormally high tolerance for cybernetic implants, and begins pushing his physical and emotional limits to protect his loved ones and become a legend in Night City's criminal underworld.
Characters
David Martinez (デイビッド・マルティネス, Deibiddo Marutinesu)
Voiced by: Kenn (Japanese); Zach Aguilar (English)
A reckless street kid and impoverished student at Arasaka Academy who, following a sudden tragedy, becomes an edgerunner with an unusually high tolerance for cyberware.
Lucyna "Lucy" Kushinada (ルーシー, Rūshī)
Voiced by: Aoi Yūki (Japanese); Emi Lo (English)
A young netrunner with a mysterious past who introduces David to the criminal underworld of Night City. She harbors a deep-seated hatred for Arasaka and dreams of escaping to the Moon.
Maine (メイン, Mein)
Voiced by: Hiroki Tōchi (Japanese); William C. Stephens (English)
The leader of a crew of edgerunners who takes David under his wing.
Dorio (ドリオ)
Voiced by: Michiko Kaiden (Japanese); Marie Westbrook (English)
Maine's girlfriend and the second-in-command of his crew.
Kiwi (キーウィ, Kīwi)
Voiced by: Takako Honda (Japanese); Stephanie Wong (English)
A stoic veteran netrunner, member of Maine's crew, and Lucy's mentor.
Pilar (ピラル, Piraru)
Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (Japanese); Ian James Corlett (English)
Production and release
The series was announced during a "Night City Wire" livestream for the game on June 25, 2020, as a collaboration between CD Projekt and Trigger. Hiroyuki Imaishi directed the series, with Masahiko Otsuka and Yoshiki Usa writing scripts, Yoh Yoshinari designing the characters and serving as animation director, Yuto Kaneko and Yusuke Yoshigaki serving as assistant character designers, Hiroyuki Kaneko serving as assistant director, Hiromi Wakabayashi serving as creative director, and Akira Yamaoka serving as the show's composer. The anime's opening theme is "This Fffire" by Franz Ferdinand, while its ending theme is "Let You Down" by Dawid Podsiadło. Edgerunners also utilized songs from 2077's in-game radio stations. Rosa Walton's song "I Really Want to Stay at Your House" was featured prominently and critically praised. Aniplex released the series on a Blu-ray Disc set on May 28, 2025.
Reception
In its first week, the show debuted on Netflix's top ten list, with 14.88 million hours of viewing. Its success helped increase the sales of Cyberpunk 2077 to 20 million units.
Critical reception
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was acclaimed by critics and fans. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Booting up Night City with frenetic action and awe-inspiring visual flair, Edgerunners is an exceptionally stylish anime adaptation of the world Cyberpunk established."
Jonathon Wilson wrote for Ready Steady Cut that in "many ways, this is the Cyberpunk story the Cyberpunk game wanted to tell and couldn't." Matt Kim of IGN praised the exploration of the hostile life in Night City, specifically the visual effects, noting more of the focus was on the city rather than on some of the characters, and calling it "a wild ride, but worth every blistering second". In a review for Polygon, Kambole Campbell praised the "visual language for various in-game concepts," as well as the "sonic diversity in its score" and found that the show's best aspect was "[its] ability to depict the psychological unmooring of its characters without feeling inauthentic."
Video game director Hideo Kojima lauded the series, calling it "a miracle of squeezing the trigger to the world", and compared the art and world design favorably to the 1990 OVA series Cyber City Oedo 808. Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the original Cyberpunk role-playing game also praised the show, writing "It's like seeing my brain in a big screen anime." The publisher of the tabletop Cyberpunk game, R. Talsorian, announced plans for an Edgerunners-based expansion in November 2022.
Sequel
In an October 2022 interview with Famitsu, CDPR community manager Satoru Honma said that no plans exist for a second season of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners but that if ever there would be, it would not be a continuation of the first season but "something completely different."
On September 19, 2024, Netflix released a short teaser for a new tie-in with Cyberpunk 2077. This followed rumors about a Cyberpunk: Edgerunners sequel and CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski signaling plans for more animated tie-ins.
CD Projekt Red announced in July 2025 that a stand-alone sequel series, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, was in development, with most of the original creative team returning, and to be streamed on Netflix. It will feature a new story separate from the first series and a new cast of characters. Kai Ikarashi will direct with Bartosz Sztybor serving as writer, producer, and showrunner, Ichigo Kanno as a character designer, and Masahiko Otsuka returning as scriptwriter. The series is set to be released on October 20, 2026.
Other media
A prequel manga series by Asano, titled Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Madness (サイバーパンク: エッジランナーズ MADNESS, Saibāpanku Edjirannāzu Maddonesu), debuted on Kadokawa's Comic Alive+ website on December 13, 2024. Dark Horse Comics will publish the manga in English in paperback format in North America.
Lucy was added as a playable character via downloadable content to Guilty Gear Strive on August 21, 2025. Additional avatars and music from Cyberpunk 2077 were also added.
A collaboration event between Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Wuthering Waves ran from June 8 to July 9, 2026, with Lucy and Rebecca featured as playable characters. The collaboration's storyline takes place after the series, though most of its events are not officially considered canon to the Cyberpunk universe.
