It was a wild 4 days at Anime Expo in Los Angeles California, and coming fresh off the earth-shattering Studio Trigger panel, where Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt has a season 2 on the way, Studio Trigger showcased footage from its most ambitious anime project to date: Cyberpunk Edgerunners. Netflix aired the anime introduction, which features “This Fire” by Franz Ferdinand.
The intro was uploaded to Netflix’s Youtube channel. The intro showcased the main characters constantly in motion with images of the city fluttering and overlaying on each character. There is an extremely strong boldness of color, especially the usage of yellow, pink, and red. The characters appear within that color, moving through the screen, with the city still fluttering on themselves, representing that they are part of the very connected Night City. The names of animators and creators, such as Mike Pondsmith and Hiroyuki Imaishi are boldly seen. All while Franz Ferdinand’s “This Fire” played throughout with the lyrics “This fire is out of control, I’m going to burn this city, burn this city, This fire is out of control.”
Creative Leads
Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners is being directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi whose previous works include Kill La Kill, Gurren Lagann, and Promare. The Director of Animation role has been appointed to Yoh Yoshinari, who animated Netflix Little Witch Academia and BNA: Brand New Animal. The rest of the team consists of veteran animators that worked on Star Wars; Visions, SSSS. Gridman, and SSSS. Dynazenon. Studio Trigger worked in close association with the Cyberpunk 2077 developer team to create the most authentic anime adaptation possible.
There is still no news as to who will be leading the charge for the English voiceovers, but given that the anime debuts on Labor Day Weekend, it won’t be long until we find out.
Previous Work
Studio Trigger are the best at what they do. They know how to make unforgettable visual spectacles with profound meaning, style, and attitude, all while creating stories and tales that are impactful and meaningful. 2020’s BNA: Brand New Animal was one of the most inventive and soul-invigorating anime I ever watched; it has a massive burst of unending positive energy like a geyser bellowing from a spring. That anime, in particular, was engrossing and enthralling, and it made you want to live there and see a lot more.
Studio Trigger has had a penchant for futuristic visuals and storytelling from SSSS.Gridman to Gurren Laggen to Darling In The Franxx, and I encourage everyone, no matter how strong your fondness is for anime, to check these titles out. As for CD Projekt Red, they need a positive association with Cyberpunk 2077 after the sensational public failure at the first launch. While the game did improve with multiple heavy patches and has garnered a more positive reception, there are entire pieces of content still missing two years later. Some consider the game a letdown, but perhaps, there is an opportunity for a resurgence, both for the game and the genre; Cyberpunk: Edgerunners may prove to be a tipping point.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners will debut on August 31st, 2022, exclusively on Netflix.
