Ironically, David's inability to detach himself from his compassion is the exact source of his resistance to cyberpsychosis. He had Empathy 10 in a world where most people have Empathy of 5 or less, to use tabletop rules. Then he got traumatized so much that his ability to relate to others and recover from trauma started to decline, at the exact same time he started chroming up more heavily. That's how the rules of the setting work - your resistance to going insane from chroming is directly tied to your emotional intelligence, compassion and preexisting psychological stability. Anyone who chromes heavily enough will eventually reach a point where the feedback from their implants, the hormonal disruption of removing so much flesh, immunorejection and the side effects of the drugs that prevent it, their superior physical condition compared to others, and the trauma they've suffered along the way overwhelms their rational mind and desire/capacity to live amongst others. Adam Smasher, by contrast, only appears to be psychologically 'fine' because he had negative empathy to begin with, so cybernetics couldn't change anything about his mental state.
I fell into a situation in 2019 where I was given a lot of power and money under this weird circumstance. This show really resonated with me because no matter how strong you think your moral code is, circumstance, money, and power change people. I don't mean in drastic ways. For me, I still held the value of helping my friends, giving where needed, etc but I would do things outside of my comfort zone that I wasn't interested in because the people I was associated with wanted to do those things, I got in to drugs that I never thought I would try, and lived further outside of my means than I thought I ever would. This is paired with being "gifted" so to speak because I'm adept at some subjects, according to others. So you end up trying to live out others dreams, like how people say David is special because of his intelligence or resistance to cybernetics and he feels like he is the only one who can fix the world. David fell into the circumstances of finding a Sandevistan and finding out he was rather resistant to the effects of cybernetics on his body and psyche. He could have easily stopped there and lived a lavish life taking jobs he could specialize in, we saw in ep. 3 that a TIP for dropping off Pilar's hands was a few thousand eddies. But the circumstance of him being resistant, the power that comes with cybernetics, and the increase in money flow he could obtain by doing harder jobs by being more chromed out as well as trying to fill the void of taking on the world's problems and living everyone else's dreams because "he was special" changed him. We're all human in the end.
Love the way you think man, absolutely thought the same thing. This “predictability” was intentional. Loved edge runner, really hope they keep this going somehow.
Empathy, compassion? David's problem was unrestrained ambition and trying to live up to goals he thought his mother and Maine had given him. So in other words he became delusional and conceited about how special he thought he was.
@@thelastquincy1457 Not just my personal explanation. It's the explicit way cyberpsychosis has always worked in the 'verse, and something Mike Pondsmith, the original creator of the 'verse and consultant on all Cyberpunk 20xx projects, identified as the source of his initial resistance to it on Reddit: David was just unusually psychologically healthy for poor person in Night City, and even after falling in with the gang had an unusually strong support network, represented in the tabletop game by the Empathy stat, which tracks your ability to relate to others, from which one's starting Humanity stat - the numerical description of their resistance to cyberpsychosis. There's nobody actually 'special' in the sense of being immune to cyberpsychosis. It's just that the more psychologically fucked up and less able to connect to others you are to begin with, the easier it is for cyberware to break your brain. Things like proper therapy, anaesthetics during surgery, and generally more careful and gradual chroming surgery can also reduce the effects. Over time, David was exposing himself not just to ever increasing amounts of cyberware, but also to ever-increasing amounts of trauma that weakened his fundamental resistance to the chrome, eventually resulting in him hitting the inevitable point of no return.
One thing I find funny is when David mentions that he is "built different" and that is actually as far from the truth as possible. It's not that he is built (born) different but rather how he was raised and who he is with. He only made it so far because his mom gave him hope and the friends help hold up that hope. The only thing he built differently was the friends he made on his way
He maybe broke the cycle for Lucy, but in a way he also made her part of a new cycle as I don't think she ended on the moon as she initially hoped, but ended on the moon as "keeping on living" and in that sense she was fulfilling someone else's dream, David's, the same thing she mocked early on.
Yeah the going to the moon is a metaphor for sure. I mean, if you think about it she is enamored with this BD that's just a piece of promo materiel where you can experience low gravity. In fact, if you look at the end and pay attention to the background when she's on the moon it's pretty obvious that it's just a corpo tourist trap. The moon isn't some better place, it's just Night City again but this time with lower gravity. The metaphor is to escape the cycle, not that the moon is some magical destination.
@@MNewton The moon's way more than a corpo tourist trap. It's a big industrial hub for the various major space programs around, and there's entire city-sized colonies up there by 2077. Some of them are part of the Highrider Confederation, an independent nation consisting of moon colonies and space stations. The Highriders are essentially the ultimate out if the corpos or earthside govenrments are after you - they're strictly neutral, don't let corpos into their stations on principle and they can tell all of 'em to fuck off on account of being the only people other than the European Space Agency to have full space warfare capabilities.
@@harrylane4 she also left the tour group. And she told David in an earlier episode that the tickets were 1 way, you have to buy a return ticket. She could stay there if she wanted too.
Adam Smasher was always a psychopath. He never had much humanity to lose. When he accepted Arasaka's offer of a full body replacement in return for servitude he wanted a stipulation added to the contract - that he be allowed to cause as much collateral damage as possible during missions. Arasaka accepted, because they liked the idea of having an 'enforcer' who could make even the likes of MaxTac crap their pants.
An interesting detail in the show is that when Lucy quickhacks people, she can see their "true" faces. In last episode, she tries to quickhack Adam Smasher and his true face is revealed as well - it is not a human face, but some sort of a monster.
This show opens with the hero watching a dark mirror of his own end. This show is hauntingly beautiful in ways that are difficult to put into words. I don't know how the stars aligned just right for this stunning work of cyberpunk fiction to come together so beautifully. It's funny, it's badass, it's painful, it's joyful, it's heartwarming, it's tragic, and it's life. Life burning brightly before it's snuffed out because the alternative was smoldering as dim embers before they were forgotten entirely. I think anyone interested in animation, tragedy, or just film in general owes it to themselves to sit down and absorb this work. It's incredible, and frankly I feel it's something the world needs to experience.
I think people will clown me for this but all these things you described are what makes this show, to me, a masterpiece. I know it's not perfect, but that's not what a masterpiece is. The feeling I got after experiencing this show was what made it perfect. Wanting more even while knowing that it has to end here, it's mixed emotions. Your comment should be pinned honestly, or at least the top cuz this was beautifully said
@@monkey-pu9ib - I think your correct here, it really does hit all those old notes of say, cowboy bebop (those shakespearean tragedy feels) - honestly I consider it a modern masterpeice and I think it will be rememberered alongside the greats, such as bebop.
I'd like to think that in the end scene where Lucy is on the moon, instead of remembering how David died, she chose to remember how he lived instead, in contrast to what she said to David in that BD date.
It's also just the culture of the city. In the Cyberpunk 2077 game, it's stated that you'll find Night City's legends in the graveyard, making a big name for yourself and dying in a cool way is simply the ultimate dream, Lucy is just echoing it, trapped in the same mentality, and the only way she escaped that mentality was by falling in love and going far, FAR, away.
@@AngelusNielson if they didn't got her in a year then they would have bitch of a time trying to find her after V zeroes Smasher and alt fries mikoshi and arasaka's net.
@@AngelusNielson Think the issue is there's no point to chase her after everything else. Smasher's down, Arasaka goes through a massive series of messes that all take priority, so one netrunner that's for all intents and purposes retired? Bigger fish to fry.
There's so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero... never gets to see that ending. ...They’ll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference. They’ll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith. ...Ain’t that a bitch?" -Epsilon
@@mr.ilikespam6081 well sometimes the hero and a few friends all get themselves skilled and a couple of people live onm in a better place, the world is still fucked the survivors arent happy ending...but they have *more* hope
I think David actually was special, and I think cyberpsychosis is implied to be more than just an effect of cyberware. I think everyone *assumes* that's the case, because they don't know any better, but the show repeatedly makes a point of showing that it's the underlying stress and trauma that leads to full blown psychosis. It stacks up and up and up until it flows over. David dies not as a cyberpsycho, but as a fully conscious person. He keeps all the promises to the people he needed to keep them to. He succeeded where other Edgerunners failed. The only happy ending a person gets in Night City, is getting out. That's it. No matter what you do, the corporations have all the power. The game is rigged from the start. How do you beat centuries of tech and control beyond your imagination? You can't. Edgerunners are remembered because it's the only thing they'll get. They don't beat the system, but if you make it pay attention, you've won. David made Arasaka respond. He became an issue that couldn't be swept under the rug, but truly had to be dealt with. He carved out the little he could take from the system, and bought Lucy her dream. That's the win. The only kind of win you can get still living *inside* Night City.
You can in fact beat Night City and the corpos(quite a few characters actually got very close of doing just that), but that would kinda kill the purpose of the story.
That's fairly true to the rules. Empathy is where you start, getting your baseline humanity score. But the experiences you have erode it down over time, eventually pushing your to your breaking point. Maine's is shown early on, with the "Let You Down" music video, where we first see his hand begin to shake, and it gets pushed more and more with the stress of Faraday's jobs, the continued push to keep standing on the edge, and then Dorio's death. It finally breaks him. David is pretty much on the same path. Started with PTSD from his mother's death, and it only got worse as he lost friends. Lucy's distance and emotional isolation finally pushed him further and further down the path to psychosis. Just before that last job she asks him to wait for her, before she's kidnapped by Faraday. To him, she ghosted him after feeling like their relationship had been fizzling out. Little wonder he finally snaps just afterwards.
David did get out of Night City, just not in the literal term we think. David got out since he accomplished everything he wanted to do from the beginning. And his death is him leaving NIght City on his own accord after he got everything he wanted done.
It was confirmed on twitter by one of the people that work at CDPR (in the writing department) that Cyberpsychosis is just a matter of mental state. Not so much the amount of chrome you have, but since chrome takes a toll on your brain it reduces people's capacity to cope with mental issues. David's capacity to equip chrome is so high because he had a loving mother, when she died his capacity was still so high because his way of grieving is continuing on their dream, (his mothers dream of living outside her means). I'll link the twitter thread if I can find it
@@aussieairconditioner8023 there is even a ripper doc who’s happy to share that theory. He doesnt get any chrome himself so he can function mentally at maximum capacity. There is truth in television; if you have time and work out well enough it can help cope with mental stress. Not completely by itself mind you(anyone saying just exercise more probably dont get it).
Yes that’s a good way of interpreting life as well. We all know we’re not going to make it out alive of this thing called life. But sure as heck make it enjoyable.
Adam Smasher transcended his own humanity by never having any humanity to begin with. He was essentially always a loose cannon and a raging sociopath. In the beginning, he was a very typical nameless New York City thug. Nothing special or noteworthy. Then he became a soldier, and after being discharged for bad behavior, he became a mercenary. His career as a mercenary is how he made a name for himself. However, his life was nearly cut short when his body got blown to pieces by rockets. Shortly after, Arasaka found him, and they made him an offer : join Arasaka and live, or succumb to his wounds and die. And the rest is history, for the most part. After he was hired by Arasaka, he essentially became a nigh-unstoppable killing machine, and he became a complete cyborg after a literal nuke was detonated inside Arasaka tower.
Indeed. Adam was always a cold-blooded killer, devoid of any compassion for others. For anyone else, every piece of cyberware implanted, meant cutting away a bit of humanity. For Adam, there was never anything for the cyberware to cut away, because he was never really human to begin with.
Yep, in cyberpunk being a born psychopath is the greatest super power there is. It gives you the necessary mindset so that the most fucked up things in Cyberpunk cannot affect you.
@@DelPlays This! Like I don't want to hate the ending, but it felt so random. As a viewer I could tell there was in game knowledge that was being left out and it just infuriated me. Though the message of the show helped soften the blow a bit.
@@athing8523 It's not "in game knowledge," just in-universe knowledge. And really, you never needed the full backstory. Smasher is exactly what you were told he was in the show. He's a legend, an nightmare, and an unstoppable killing machine.
For me, Rebecca's death is something else than just a show of how insignificant and weak the crew was compared to Adam and the Corpos. Rebecca loved, truly loved, David. So much so that she was willing to follow David to hell to save his love - Lucy. And she did die for David. For me, Rebecca's death represented the humanity in the show. Just like Jackie told Misty, and Johnny to V, Becca'd catch a bullet for David without a second thought.
100% like she got squashed like a bug compared to Smasher, just shows how ridiculously powerful and brutal he is I'm glad she went out mad disrespecting him tho, Becca was such an entertaining and incredible character who loved David despite all the shit he did to the crew and himself
I'm glad someone here mentioned her. She was easily my favorite of the cast, nothing more human than someone who is true to who they are; foul-mouthed, and loving of the few friends they have. Unapologetically human in even the most brutal of circumstances. When Pilar bit the bullet in only the first half of the series, it was that moment I knew everyone was going to die. This setting clearly did not respect these character's lives. Once I knew that, the rest of the show, I figured, would be a formality. Sitting around and waiting for the moment they all bite the fucking dust. Every last second they spent alive though, I held on to that thin strand of hope they would beat the odds and make it out. We're not handed happy endings here, though. Not even if people spend every waking second of their lives deserving a good ending. They sink, or they swim until they sink. That's what really hit me about the end. I think David, were he more than just a fictional character, would have been feeling the same thing as I was, but not for himself. Just for Lucy's dream to escape it all. Washing machine breaking before his eyes. What a fucking brilliant foreshadowing metaphor.
Hell, Rebecca wasn't suppose to live that long. David just kept saving her. She keeps ruffling the chicken coop, except it was more like cooped up rabid dogs. When she finally ruffled a specific one, Adam Smasher came out, and yeah, not even David could save her
This actually reminds me of the tarot cards in Cyberpunk 2077 and Dexter's mind bugging question : "A quiet life or a blaze of glory". Lucy once told David that the dream he thought he's chasing is to be on top, to be on the highest level of Arasaka, was not his dream. It's his mother. Some says in the end his dream was to achieve other people dreams like his mother's and Maine's, but to himself it was a journey of A Wandering Fool. Aimlessly moving forward, not knowing the last card he pulls out will be "The Devil" or "The Judgement" and what will be his "The World" card for the future, beyond or sucked in Night City. After all we all know David chose to pick "The Devil" for himself and left "The World" for Lucy, as he died in a blaze of glory (the rebelious glory like Johnny Silverhand) and Lucy lives her quiet life. He's a good kid at heart, but a good kid alone won't be able to win Night City
As to the ending being telegraphed... look at the intro sequence. It ends with an anthropomorphized Night City blowing David away... IT's about as subtle as what Johnny did to Arasaka tower.
One of my favorite things about the show is that the opening ends with David getting shot in the head, I think it might even be the same frames as when he actually dies at the end just stylized. But the show is never trying to pretend David will have a happy ending. But it's so good at making you hope that he will. He's so likeable and his chemistry with Lucy is so palpable I wanted nothing more than to be wrong about his fate. But that's great fucking writing. Telling the audience what is going to happen and making them feel desperate to be wrong is one of the most powerful things a piece of fiction can do. At least to me
The manga adaptation of Battle Royale did such a good job of making me fall in love with a certain couple through expanding on their backstory, that I was desperate for them to live. The manga was the third retelling of the same story that I had encountered by that point, so I obviously was well aware that they were going to die but it just wrecked me in a whole new way when it happened. I suppose that isn't exactly the same situation as Edgerunners, but it was what immediately sprung to mind when I read your comment.
@@Mythaelos You and literally everyone who watched the anime. Seriously, I had a big sad afterwards. Unfortunately, Night City doesn't care about your dreams, it is ruthless and will grind you up into paste if you can't escape it. You either die making it big, or die in the gutter, if you can't get out of the city.
This is even more true for those of us who played the game first. David's drink at the Afterlife was present since 1.0 launch. Even then, we still hoped for a happy ending. Very rarely do we have a story where the conclusion isn't the focus, but rather the journey towards it.
Lucy didn't cut her losses and retreat from everyone. She engaged in an underground battle netrunning battle with Arasaka and basically anyone that might have information potentially leading Arasaka to David.
@@ricoambro Yeah, I don't understand either. The only thing I can think of is that she was afraid he might try to stop her. I was originally thinking maybe she just wanted to squash the information even from him in case someone dove his brain, but if they could do that they'd probably know by other means anyway.
@@zotaninoron3548 Exactly, i felt the same way. She was the only one who knew Arasaka would find him anyway, maybe if she told him why they were looking for him he'd change his ways. It was so weird to see her try her hardest to keep him sane and alive, but not really doing anything at the same time. That moment where she stood in front of him like "No dont upgrade anymore" he tells her maybe they should go their seperate ways, she disagrees but right after that she runs away💀
@@ricoambro It's definitely tragic that she didn't tell David but imo it makes sense. We know David, is he the type of guy to let his girlfriend go around killing Arasaka suits without getting involved? If she told David he would've gotten involved which would've made all her efforts pointless.
@@Rhyno861997 But he still died, and got used for the Arasaka tests. Also if she told him, he would watch over her, maybe prevent her from getting kidnapped like she did. In the end, he died because Arasaka unintentially used her as bait but still got to research his talents
I know the show was supposed to be self-contained, but it would've been nice to get a cameo of either V or silverhand's hologram to reference the cycle starting anew. (Which the ripperdoc pretty much mentioned as David left him.)
Well i heard it takes place in 2076 so V is either not in night city bc they haven’t shown up as a nomad, in Atlanta as a street kid, and is working for arasaka in the corpo route
@@unchainedsins3254 more like a mid-game V since most of their paths will intersect anyway. Plus V already has the iconic jacket so showing at least that OR silverhand bossing him/her would've been the perfect sendoff for the viewer that says "hey, wanna kill smasher in return?"
If you find a BD wreath in a garbage can in Night City, it plays the bd David was watching at the start of the show, with a warning. You can follow the clues and receive David's jacket. Also, David has a drink at the Afterlife. You can even get the Legendary Warp Dancer Sandevistan (slows down time to 10%) and run David's build, except V won't go psycho, because V never uses Chrome beyond his means.
I have heard that if you have the Corpo background in 2077, V will make some comment about hearing about David during a part of the Edgerunner content update.
@@GodActio My main theory is that the reason that V's body can accept so much chrome(outside of a game mechanics perspective) is due to the rewring of his brain. Essentially, the nanites that helped rewire his brain(causing Johnny to appear) is keeping whatever form of cyberpsychosis at bay.
The fact that Adam Smasher could maintain his sanity despite being near 100% augmented was enough to convince the audience that there was a chance David could've achieved the same feat. I didn't expect Becca to be instantly killed off in just a few frames though
He's not "sane" though. His only focus in life is killing & destruction. His mind doesn't function outside of that. He's just able to form coherent sentences and doesn't scream while he does it
The difference is that Smasher would have been a mass murderer with or without going full cyborg. You have to have humanity to lose it. We can take comfort in the fact that Becca died the way she lived: screaming profanities and firing a bigass gun.
As the other guy said their would have been functionally no difference for Adam. The guy was never human and he enjoys death and destruction, even making it a stipulation in his contract that he’s allowed to cause collateral damage. Adam Smasher had nothing to lose
It's kind of insane that the opening for Cyberpunk literally shows someone blowing a hole through David, yet the ending is still such an emotional gut punch. Wonderful video that easily earned a subscription, keep up the great work!
I love everything about this video, you articulated all of my thoughts and feelings towards this show in a way I never could. The one thing that really broke me at the end of this series was how David gave Lucy a way out, but at that point Lucy didn't want it. She wanted David, that's what she needed. I'm sure Lucy understands that David gave her a way out, so she tries her best to smile and embrace his sacrifice with the warmth of the sun, but the ED definitely shows her sorrow and pain. The ED is Lucy after Davids death. The song fits perfectly with her guilt as well, she failed to save David, she failed to communicate with him and failed to protect him. She failed. She has to live the rest of her life knowing that there was a way for both of them to go to the moon. I love your videos OniMaru, it helps me understand things way better
@@LeiLunaLua the songs fit them both the little stranger song used when they first kissed has a line saying I am a liar I can't be trusted which played exactly as David told Lucy he will fly her up there to the moon if he has to and promising he won't die while Lucy already lied to him in the past episode and was apologizing to him before their kiss.
@@nox22119 I love how the music in this show is literally perfect. Not only do they all bang but the lyrics fit the scenes so well both with the mood and lyrically.
@@LeiLunaLua yeah I understand that, I was mainly talking about the visuals tho. the main reason it is Lucy after Davids death is because we can see her running, just like she did when she escaped arasaka, but this time it's the present her. She wants to run away from this cold painful reality. We also see her diving, when she tried her best to protect David from Arasaka and then we see her lying next to the window with her head down. And so the lyrics "i'm sorry i let you down" sing her guilt and regret, she couldn't prevent Arasaka from getting a hold of the person she loved, and now that person was taken by Arasaka. However David was able to let her escape. Survive. But did she really want that? She cared more about David than her own life and did everything she could so he can live, but because of that David was left to cope with his trauma and issues his own way. That ended up leading to their tragic ending
more like "She knew it was going to end this way even though she desperately wished otherwise.." She even says so. Cyberpunk is not how you live, but how you die. And Lucy didn't want David to die.
David for me is Simon without the spiral powers. Both of them has no dreams at the start and inheriting the wish of the one close to them. They both have a white haired girl as their loved one. Both TTGL and CP ER gave me emotional damage at the end except TTGL has hope and CP ER has emptiness
This. Watching the first couple episodes I kept having the thought "this is Simon if he didn't have Kamina and had to grow a pair" No powers and Kamina isn't there to inspire you? Screw it, augment yourself with what you scavenge. You got people you want to fight for? Double down, triple down, etc on improving yourself, because this is both what Simon and David do
It's a really great show. That David had no dream of his own only landed on me by the final arc and I find that very tragic. But it's so good that at least he got to give Lucy a chance at another life. Throughout the anime, there were several points in which I thought "death flag" for David. And even the opening itself shows us his death, but it's the details and the characterization that make stories great, not just the critical narrative points. Thank you for this video 😄
In the game, there is a drink named after him in the Afterlife... The funny thing is, you only get a named drink after dying in a crazy and spectacular way, and the drink has been in the game since launch... So the game told us how this was going to end way before the anime was announced
These past few days Ive been watching so many youtube videos about Edgerunners ever since I fell in love with the show and I gotta say, this video really hits the spot on highlighting so many subtle and underlying meanings of the story. Such a tragic and amazing story with a somehow deep and beautiful meaning behind it. Loved the video man keep it up!
The only happy endings in Night City are the ones where you either leave early or never went. Night City is a machine that runs on dreams and dreamers, and like any machine, it destroys the thing that it uses for fuel.
When I first finished the show, I thought it was just a really great show. But then over the next few days, it was the only show I could think about. It would tug on my heart hearing "I Really Wanna Stay at Your House" in game. Watching a second time and seeing how everything played a part in his own demise was brilliantly done
I watch anime to see worlds beyond my own. This show was so relatable, I felt like this could've just been reality fifty years in the future. That's why this show hit me so hard. Thanks for this. Please keep making awesome content!
Im not sure i wouldve ever used the word predictable. Edgerunners sunk me into my seat and kept me locked in waiting for the next thing. Everything popped up and kept coming so quickly i never had time to read the foreshadowing, even if it was practically a washing machine.
Love the video. I think the anime was a great example of classic tragedy. One of the biggest gut punches to me is comparing the scene where Lucy asks David to tell her he believes in her and in the same episode she can’t do the same for him when he tries to save Maine but later that is used against him to trick him. It’s sad they can talk in each other’s head but the only real true good communication happens only when their next to each other.
This was not just a classic tragedy. This was a Greek Tragedy. A hero on a quest to prove himself, his confidence carrying him forward and his flaws making him understandable. Then under the weight of all three factors they die a death they practically made for themselves.
I would argue that it was so predictable that it was unpredictable. I usually always manage to predict what happens in a story (not saying that it makes a story bad though) but this Anime really stuck to its plot and world rules it never tried to make a hero of anybody. It hit me when David kept calling himself special, i only then realized that while he was special, they were trying to make a point that he wasn't so special that he would live at the end of the story. So to those that say its predictable, it wasn't to me!
The growth of David from being a reactionary character to finally making a choice for himself to save Lucy even though she'd rather he not do that and save himself instead is incredibly compelling stuff.
Very happy to hear someone else finally say it. So tired of hearing the same tired empty criticism of something being "predictable" because the person wasn't really engaged with it or invested in it. Especially when it is from popular youtube reviewers with very niche interests and film types that appeal to them, yet they are suddenly considered the prevailing authority on all of media. Sure, some movies are predictable to a fault, but more often than not I would prefer for the film/series to be judged insofar as to what it is going for rather than if a person found it "too predictable for them".
I think the really sad part about Lucy/David/Becca is that Lucy and David loved each other for what they represented to each other... Becca loved David for who David was, but David couldn't see that because he couldn't see himself worth anything outside of other's dreams for him.
I've watched a lot videos covering the break down of this anime on UA-cam and yours by far offered the most insight and analysis from the rest. Amazing video, keep up the great work!
I feel like the intro sums it up nicely. The perspective between the Corpo vs Street kid where one is towering and one is on the ground. The intro ends with David with a hole in his head.
When you watch/play Cyberpunk and realize that Night City is the protagonist, antagonist, and final boss. Everyone who exists in it is a side character.
smasher himself told david in his last moments he'd make a good construct he had potential as a war machine because he had so little ego, it could get overrun with someone else's goals, but he already adopted goals of kindness
Thanks for this video, you make a great point about the Moon BD and how it exposed David to the possibilities of life beyond Night City. However, Lucy double crossing him may have sealed his fate and forced him to return to his nihilistic views on life in Night City. Despite the fact the Lucy and David eventually became an item, the double cross was always looming, the concept of “Trust No One in Night City”. The possibilities faded even more the more his chooms died until the only thing he could trust in or want was a spectacular death. Freaking sad, bro… Thanks again for sharing.
That part of night city being a prison rings true with so many guys I know. I live in nyc and so many people I know haven’t even left the towns. Grown men barely leave their own neighborhoods have 0 dreams of their own idk why this is the only things that truly sticks to me. I loved the show and it’s makes it more impactful being self contained
Gread video man! Really insightful. I think one of the main messages of the show was to hold on to your humanity for as long as you can but don't let that fool you into falling down a path of absolute ruin. Have limits. I saw the show as a cautionary tale on the dangers of falling into the downwards spyral of crime. Sorta like Breaking Bad for Death Note. There were probably several points where David could have cut his losses and made a good life for him and Lucy. But he just kept chasing the thrill of edgerunning under guise of helping Lucy get to the moon. Moral of the story, don't do cybercrimes for your future wifu
Man, this was such a good video. So many details just hidden in colors and lighting and characters. Studio Trigger sure knew how to symbolize characters by what they represent and now what they are. Like you said, Adam Smasher might be the bad guy but he represents The Reaper himself. There's nothing human remaining in him. Even when Lucy tried to hack his brain we see that scary image of what his head looks like under his armor. He embraced the results od his power even if it means working for Corpo rather than trying to fight the cyberpsychosis or getting killed by the corpos. He detached himself from humanity and hates all that is humane. Most of the edgerunners had something human left in them. Even Maine who was the strongest one before David upgraded had a human head and the fact that he got cyberpsychosis is a sign of humanity, that he's brain was damaged by it. Adam Smasher was a complete machine with only his consciousness remaining. A construct. A robot that can think on and talk on his own.
I think David is mostly instinct but I also think he subtly realizes that for him there wasn't an escape after his meeting with the principle. From episode one he is aware that he is disadvantaged against the other Arasaka kids and ultimately Arasaka has taken an interest in him and in universe for a corp to take an interest in a street kid this is known to be a definite losing position. I got that his belief in his "specialness" was more a way to cope and keep moving forward in the hope that he might make it out but as time progresses you can see the little moments where you can see it in the subtle expressions the animators put in that he knows and is just moving to take that next step one foot in front of the other. Part of the story doesn't really show through unless you know a bit more of cyberpunks lore and ideas that the game and the show doesn't always portray just right simply due to time constraints or limitations in gameplay. Johnny expresses it sometimes in the idea that the corps always win but the real soul crushing nature of it is never really explored the way that the universe portrays it. Things like soulkiller and the Peralez mission is just the tip of the iceberg for the in universe characters and how they know their society and world functions. David's story is the story of the mythological hero. Challenging Gods sitting on their Olympus (Arasaka) knowing that their interest in him is a doom in and of itself and that he must keep running and keep going forward just to stay ahead of the coming storm and hope he can gain the strength to survive it. I think that was more the driving factor in his desire to upgrade moreso than a belief in his being special or the dreams of others. Sure they definitely had their role but again David is shown to be a person who follows his instincts and he's not exactly unaware of how the world structure operates even noting that the Arasaka school covers things that don't go to the public. So again he sets himself up for the challenges he knows will always come his way and sure enough rises to challenge the Gods of his world in a small way. Faces their demon in Adam Smasher and challenges the very order of the world that he lives in with just a small crew and I don't think he was stupid enough to think he realistically had a prayer and in the end he gets Lucy to the moon in spite of everything. He doesn't know if Arasaka will be able to reach her there as its still highly likely they could with the influence they wield but he still managed to get Lucy out. To make her happy is his dream and he gets her that chance. Like so many in real life there is often the trees we plant for tomorrow that we will never see. The hopes for our children and loved ones to have all the world and more knowing full well that it is unlikely that they will not get all we would wish them. To say that he is only the dreams of the others around him is a bit of a disservice and simplification of life. We are all the dreams of others and we all take bits and pieces of the ones who came before whether we choose to acknowledge them or not. We take them and shape them slightly with our own experiences and desires to make them our own. Like so much else in the world, not much is truly new or our idea. We take what exists and repurpose them and shape them just enough to call our own. Edgerunners ending is fairly predictable thats true but within the setting the expected outcome would be that no one makes it out in the end and the major Corpos with their vast resources would simply have ground our protagonist into dust and crushed all around him. Thats the expected end if you are familiar with the dystopian and cruel setting of cyberpunk. In universe what David accomplishes is actually a major victory because some hope in a world of genuine hopelessness for the majority is like finding that unicorn or willing a fantasia like dream into reality where common sense and convention is tossed on its head and the world turns imagination. Also tied to the game the moon is actually fairly significant due to its tarot implications and symbolism. It represents the false world of illusion and Lucy making it to the moon at all is more than a bit representative of turning a dream into reality. Their dreams and sequences with the moon as a backdrop to being understood as an impossibility shifts it a bit in my opinion.
Can you do this for the game too? I found your interpretation for the show so Interesting! I wanna see what your interpretation for V and Johnny and some of the other characters in the game!
That is a great idea! I really do believe that because of the meme fest that was the launch of the game there were so many many storylines they were just never explored the media just moved. I can’t I believe the passion crucifixion doesn’t have as many essays as the anime at this point, it’s crazy. That mission haunts me. But at the same time that kind of preserved it for anybody getting into it now because besides the memes nobody really knows the story.
Really impressive level of analysis. There is so much in there you can't see see right away (at least I didn't). The very idea that David was looking at the moon when he died never occurred to me for example. Thank you.
Thank you for your thoughtful video. I'm sure this took a lot of work to develop. It was an excellent analysis of the Edgerunner story. The Trigger team developed a powerful story much like the tragedy Romeo and Juliet that will stay with many of us.
9:24 She might have insisted but i feel like she should've been upfront with him about what she found out. She could've told him what was going on with him and Arasaka. Why they were after him, what they did and were trying to do but she didnt say anything. And at the moment he needed her most, She ran. So he ran too and fell off the edge.
I'm so glad someone else sees this, i agree with what you've stated here and I've been telling people this since i saw the show. Unpredictability isn't what makes a satisfying story, it's the completion of the story arcs and the foreshadowing coming true that does. The show wanted to show you how people can easily fall into a cycle that leads to self destruction, even main characters. Sometimes heroes get the girl and changes society....but sometimes, most of the time, they don't, and that's life.
i mean... the moment he said he was special he signed his death centence he didn't blew up arasaka tower like silverhand he didn't klep arasaka's ultra special relic in hail of gunfire like V and Jackie did he didn't flatline Smasher on his own like V did he didn't crash the net like bartmoss did he didn't took down arasaka's net and soulkiller like alt did and he didn't hit corpo convoy - arasaka played him to do so his entire peak moment was classified as cyberpsycho attack next day city was the same glass was replaced bodies were taken by meat wagons rebecca died like she lived - wholesome solo with swearwords on her mouth.
Best video I've seen on Edgerunners. Surprised how many people didn't get it guess it's still a new genre for a lot of people but as somebody who's followed the genre since blade runner and the original matrix it's good to see cyberpunk get some love from new audiences.
I had a a lot difficulty understanding the what was actually going on psychologically with David and Lucy, and my mind and heart just won't leave me alone until i understand :)). This video helped a lot. Thank you!
Hey, yo, this is one of the better takes on the series out there. Clear, concise and making very identifiable and referential points. Perfect breakdown. I also like you relating Cyberpsychosis to humanity as you did, because according to the Q&A with Pondsmith, that was the exact conception of the condition. Good stuff.
Really love hearing the views of so many cyberpunk edgerunner fans, broadens my horizons especially with how the view you made on giving Lucy a chance to see a whole world and a realm of possibility, but sadly Lucy in my eyes looked very grim about it and honestly would have definitely preferred to have David just by her side watching over her, loving one another and going to the moon together experiencing what they could never have seen or imagined in night city together as promised. Can't leave Lucy in that mess and expect her to pick herself up she really needs that unconditional love really just from her one true love David to help lessen the burden on Lucy's chest and really just to fight for meaningful love in a meaningless city where hopes and dreams are lost even the slightest bit of love would be beautiful especially one as loving and strong as David and Lucy's love relationship.
So one of the things I've seen talked about online, not by you specifically in this video, but just other people posting their thoughts is some people saying the pacing of the show was too rushed or too fast, how they wish it would slow down and have an extra episode or two. One of the thoughts I've had in the show similar to how knowing the ending and the cycle is kind of the point is how also the fast pacing to me was part of the story telling and kind of the point. Life in Night City goes too fast and never slows down for anyone, and in trying to outrun the city David got burned up by it.
I'd argue that David didn't tell himself he's special based on what his mum did, but that he actually was special. I'll give you that he most likely thought of himself as more special than he really was, but still special. He had an unusually high tolerance for Cyberware. The ripper doc said that on a good day he should never use his Sandevistan more than 2, or 3 times, but he was able to use it 10 times the very first day after chroming up. Who knows? Maybe if Arasaka did capture him right at the start and consider him a promising asset he would get all the support he needed to outgrow legends like Adam Smasher, or even Morgan Blackhand. Though Arasaka getting another ruthless and immensely powerful warrior to do their bidding would be terrible for the world so even though David ended up the way he did, and he's story is so tragic, but from a grander perspective what happened was either the best possiible scenario, or at least one of the best. For those who watched and loved the show but didn't play the game, or only played it a bit right after launch, when it was a buggy mess: Adam Smasher is in the game, so if you have a thirst for revenge, you know what you have to do. And don't worry. While unfortunately there's still noticable bugs throughout the game, but nothing game breaking or annoying so you should have a great experience. I played a bit the second it was released, but waited and I've just started playing it again from A to Z when the Edgerunners themed patch 1.6 got released because I wanted to finish it by the time this anime came out. I didn't finish the entire game in time, but the level of synergy between the game and the show is just amazing. When I play the game I feel like I'm in a real life anime, while when watching the anime I felt like I was watching a story from the game. Oh, and I'm really happy that I didn't finish the game before the show, because I had the chance to get Becca's shotgun and use it against someone I'm sure you'll want to kill as well. ;)
I think it isn't predictable for people who use to watch a lot of seasonal anime. When obvious obnoxious romance happens between two characters it takes about a thousand chapters for them to start a normal relationship. And Cyberpunk covered it with just one episode without making it any less important or passionate. Also all of that "I am special" thing, when he really isn't, he's just a bit above average, to me is absolutely genious. Like it isn't something new, it actually is pretty obvious, but I haven't seen any shows that are brave enough to use a trope like that.
At the moment that he starts bouncing his leg, just like Jackie in the game, I knew that he would die as a legend (the drink in AfterLife was a good hint too)
totally agree. you got everything i was thinking of collected and summed up, to present a full image of this anime. one thing that i wasn't considering at first was that david was this type from the begining. they were telling everything right from the 1st episode. it is really interesting how little things can tell whole lot, not to mention there are a bunch of these little moments. and those multiple repeated scenes. i keep wondering at how simple, yet full and very well conducted visual story telling is. now i understand that even newcomers to cyberpunk2077 can watch this show and still enjoy it. story telling, scene composition, art style, basically things, that age very well make this anime great and pleasant to watch. i complemented on directing too much, but there is a world of cyberpunk worth to mention. thanks to mike pondsmith's guidance night city feels the same way as it is in a game.
More than anything, the thing that kept David going for so long as his dream of taking Lucy to the Moon. That, among both his mom's and Maine's dream, was his reason for carrying on.
I mean he gets shot in the head in the intro titles lol. Good vid! Also I think maybe Adam was actually more sane then others. I think he was crazy b4 and the cybernetics evened him out. Which allowed him to actually be the perfect mesh. Just …evil.
The show really does fit its name huh. From the lore of both 2077 and RED(the current version of the TTRPG), Edgerunners(Or Cyberpunks, it's another term for it lmao) are celebrities in how they die, rather than how they live. You constantly upgrade your body's specs, in a fine line between absolute madness and a semblance of sanity kept by drugs and love. And you kill, kill, kill, and kill to gain enough money to repeat that cycle, until you do die, either in a blaze of glory, as some Cyberpsycho case MaxTac has been called for, or because some random poor guy managed to pour enough lead inside your skull(Because you can get one time use automatic guns in distributors lol). It's like that quote everyone keeps repeating("You either die a hero or lice long enough to become a villain") but this time expanded through a literal sickness and a greyer theme. Damn, I should play Cyberpunk RED. I played enough 2077 already 💀
After watching your analysis, I think one of the main concept that is translaited by this good anime is "do not follow other's expectations. Even if the life pushes you. Find and Chase your own dream." Simple as abc, but still actual...
Yup, Cyberpunk 2077 was always like this. The whole tabletop game would run in cycles of you play a few sessions then everyone would die horribly or retire after a disaster when one of the big powers took notice of you. A properly run Cyberpunk campaign will usually end with the team finally running up against the ceiling of the cyberpunk world. Even the legend of Johnny Silverhand is a story like that. Johnny and Alts story mirrors David and Lucys story.
In fact, you know David's fate the moment you see the opening credits It ends with David being shot in the head by an anonymous silhouette filled with buildings images Night city will kill him (metaphorically and litteraly)
To be fair the ending is in the opening, a man made of skyscrapers puts a bullet through David's head at the start of every episode. Adam Smasher is kind of a living legend and the icon of Night City. In a sense, Night City is his City. Maybe not literally, but when someone thinks of Night City they can't not think of the living legend who operates there, Adam Smasher.
I like your perspective. The only part I disagree with is that Lucy was dealing with the loss of Dorio and Maine in a bad way. What I saw was that she wanted to leave the gang with David after she saw the the Arasaka wanted to use David for an experimental cyber skeleton. Something that would send David over the edge and into cyberpsycosis. Something that would kill David. You find out that Lucy took time off from the gang not to cut off friends but to track down anyone that knew anything about David so she could kill them. She even told David that she is almost ready to come back but she needed a nit more time. Time to kill anyone that knew anything about David. She should have told him, as it shoved a wedge between them but I think she didn't because she thought he would want to take on Arasaka by himself. I also don't think she realised that it was his love for others that made him special. Something that everyone else seemed to see. That if she had stayed by his side in the gang, he might not have gone so far with the upgrades. The only real time he saw her was when they were at home, which I can imagine would be a very small time of every day.
13:04 Recently there's been some interesting interviews with Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the Cyberpunk tabletop and his views on cyberpsychosis are interesting. For one, (unless i am misrepresenting him) Cyberpsychosis is kind of this blanket term used by those in power. They use it as a scapegoat for the GLARING problems with society that drive a person in this world to madness. Getting borg'd up isn't a guarantee for cyberpschosis but it can be the gateway for the trauma that you experience everyday to make you snap. On top of his implants, david was diving headfirst into a world of violence and anarchy, and betrayal. A world/system facilitated at by people at the top like Arasaka. In a way it wasn't his implants that drove him to cyberpsychosis but rather the world itself.
In the last 2 days Ive watched as many video essays about it as the show is long, this really is a masterpiece of an anime
yo
same here!!
instant kult class
I'm binging all the video essays too, and this one is one of the good ones!
Same on the video essays thing I’m just obsessed with the show rn really
Bruh same 😅
Ironically, David's inability to detach himself from his compassion is the exact source of his resistance to cyberpsychosis. He had Empathy 10 in a world where most people have Empathy of 5 or less, to use tabletop rules. Then he got traumatized so much that his ability to relate to others and recover from trauma started to decline, at the exact same time he started chroming up more heavily. That's how the rules of the setting work - your resistance to going insane from chroming is directly tied to your emotional intelligence, compassion and preexisting psychological stability. Anyone who chromes heavily enough will eventually reach a point where the feedback from their implants, the hormonal disruption of removing so much flesh, immunorejection and the side effects of the drugs that prevent it, their superior physical condition compared to others, and the trauma they've suffered along the way overwhelms their rational mind and desire/capacity to live amongst others.
Adam Smasher, by contrast, only appears to be psychologically 'fine' because he had negative empathy to begin with, so cybernetics couldn't change anything about his mental state.
I fell into a situation in 2019 where I was given a lot of power and money under this weird circumstance. This show really resonated with me because no matter how strong you think your moral code is, circumstance, money, and power change people. I don't mean in drastic ways. For me, I still held the value of helping my friends, giving where needed, etc but I would do things outside of my comfort zone that I wasn't interested in because the people I was associated with wanted to do those things, I got in to drugs that I never thought I would try, and lived further outside of my means than I thought I ever would. This is paired with being "gifted" so to speak because I'm adept at some subjects, according to others. So you end up trying to live out others dreams, like how people say David is special because of his intelligence or resistance to cybernetics and he feels like he is the only one who can fix the world.
David fell into the circumstances of finding a Sandevistan and finding out he was rather resistant to the effects of cybernetics on his body and psyche. He could have easily stopped there and lived a lavish life taking jobs he could specialize in, we saw in ep. 3 that a TIP for dropping off Pilar's hands was a few thousand eddies. But the circumstance of him being resistant, the power that comes with cybernetics, and the increase in money flow he could obtain by doing harder jobs by being more chromed out as well as trying to fill the void of taking on the world's problems and living everyone else's dreams because "he was special" changed him.
We're all human in the end.
Love the way you think man, absolutely thought the same thing. This “predictability” was intentional. Loved edge runner, really hope they keep this going somehow.
Empathy, compassion? David's problem was unrestrained ambition and trying to live up to goals he thought his mother and Maine had given him. So in other words he became delusional and conceited about how special he thought he was.
@@thelastquincy1457 Not just my personal explanation. It's the explicit way cyberpsychosis has always worked in the 'verse, and something Mike Pondsmith, the original creator of the 'verse and consultant on all Cyberpunk 20xx projects, identified as the source of his initial resistance to it on Reddit: David was just unusually psychologically healthy for poor person in Night City, and even after falling in with the gang had an unusually strong support network, represented in the tabletop game by the Empathy stat, which tracks your ability to relate to others, from which one's starting Humanity stat - the numerical description of their resistance to cyberpsychosis.
There's nobody actually 'special' in the sense of being immune to cyberpsychosis. It's just that the more psychologically fucked up and less able to connect to others you are to begin with, the easier it is for cyberware to break your brain. Things like proper therapy, anaesthetics during surgery, and generally more careful and gradual chroming surgery can also reduce the effects.
Over time, David was exposing himself not just to ever increasing amounts of cyberware, but also to ever-increasing amounts of trauma that weakened his fundamental resistance to the chrome, eventually resulting in him hitting the inevitable point of no return.
One thing I find funny is when David mentions that he is "built different" and that is actually as far from the truth as possible. It's not that he is built (born) different but rather how he was raised and who he is with.
He only made it so far because his mom gave him hope and the friends help hold up that hope. The only thing he built differently was the friends he made on his way
He maybe broke the cycle for Lucy, but in a way he also made her part of a new cycle as I don't think she ended on the moon as she initially hoped, but ended on the moon as "keeping on living" and in that sense she was fulfilling someone else's dream, David's, the same thing she mocked early on.
Yeah the going to the moon is a metaphor for sure. I mean, if you think about it she is enamored with this BD that's just a piece of promo materiel where you can experience low gravity. In fact, if you look at the end and pay attention to the background when she's on the moon it's pretty obvious that it's just a corpo tourist trap. The moon isn't some better place, it's just Night City again but this time with lower gravity. The metaphor is to escape the cycle, not that the moon is some magical destination.
She also didn’t actually end up on the moon. She was there with a tour group. She’s going back to night city after this.
@@MNewton The moon's way more than a corpo tourist trap. It's a big industrial hub for the various major space programs around, and there's entire city-sized colonies up there by 2077. Some of them are part of the Highrider Confederation, an independent nation consisting of moon colonies and space stations.
The Highriders are essentially the ultimate out if the corpos or earthside govenrments are after you - they're strictly neutral, don't let corpos into their stations on principle and they can tell all of 'em to fuck off on account of being the only people other than the European Space Agency to have full space warfare capabilities.
If I was Lucy I probably would have off myself
@@harrylane4 she also left the tour group.
And she told David in an earlier episode that the tickets were 1 way, you have to buy a return ticket.
She could stay there if she wanted too.
Adam Smasher was always a psychopath. He never had much humanity to lose. When he accepted Arasaka's offer of a full body replacement in return for servitude he wanted a stipulation added to the contract - that he be allowed to cause as much collateral damage as possible during missions. Arasaka accepted, because they liked the idea of having an 'enforcer' who could make even the likes of MaxTac crap their pants.
An interesting detail in the show is that when Lucy quickhacks people, she can see their "true" faces. In last episode, she tries to quickhack Adam Smasher and his true face is revealed as well - it is not a human face, but some sort of a monster.
@@endlesshorizon6167 oh is that what that was thank you for stating that. I thought it’s was like a X-ray n it was dhking his skill
This show opens with the hero watching a dark mirror of his own end. This show is hauntingly beautiful in ways that are difficult to put into words. I don't know how the stars aligned just right for this stunning work of cyberpunk fiction to come together so beautifully. It's funny, it's badass, it's painful, it's joyful, it's heartwarming, it's tragic, and it's life. Life burning brightly before it's snuffed out because the alternative was smoldering as dim embers before they were forgotten entirely. I think anyone interested in animation, tragedy, or just film in general owes it to themselves to sit down and absorb this work. It's incredible, and frankly I feel it's something the world needs to experience.
I think people will clown me for this but all these things you described are what makes this show, to me, a masterpiece. I know it's not perfect, but that's not what a masterpiece is. The feeling I got after experiencing this show was what made it perfect. Wanting more even while knowing that it has to end here, it's mixed emotions.
Your comment should be pinned honestly, or at least the top cuz this was beautifully said
@@monkey-pu9ib - I think your correct here, it really does hit all those old notes of say, cowboy bebop (those shakespearean tragedy feels) - honestly I consider it a modern masterpeice and I think it will be rememberered alongside the greats, such as bebop.
@@monkey-pu9ib I don't like anime. I came from the video game and wound up binge-watching this.
@@AngelusNielson There is no reason to dislike anime its just matter of watching specific things and understanding niches.
@@Ay-xq7mj Calm down, I didn't say anyone was wrong for liking anime. I'm just saying that until Edgerunners it wasn't for me.
I'd like to think that in the end scene where Lucy is on the moon, instead of remembering how David died, she chose to remember how he lived instead, in contrast to what she said to David in that BD date.
It's also just the culture of the city. In the Cyberpunk 2077 game, it's stated that you'll find Night City's legends in the graveyard, making a big name for yourself and dying in a cool way is simply the ultimate dream, Lucy is just echoing it, trapped in the same mentality, and the only way she escaped that mentality was by falling in love and going far, FAR, away.
@@nogitsune4452 Did she though? Corporate reach is a hallmark of the cyberpunk genre. I seriously doubt that she will ever be out of Arisaka's reach.
@@AngelusNielson if they didn't got her in a year then they would have bitch of a time trying to find her after V zeroes Smasher and alt fries mikoshi and arasaka's net.
@@ryszakowy Do you think Arisaka is only in Night City? Yeah, she probably has some time free, but they're going to find her again.
@@AngelusNielson Think the issue is there's no point to chase her after everything else. Smasher's down, Arasaka goes through a massive series of messes that all take priority, so one netrunner that's for all intents and purposes retired?
Bigger fish to fry.
There's so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero... never gets to see that ending. ...They’ll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference. They’ll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith. ...Ain’t that a bitch?"
-Epsilon
FUCK NO BRO, YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME MAN... WHY CONNECT TWO OF THE SADDEST ENDINGS POSIBLE YOU EVIL MF
with the cyberpunk setting there is rarely a happy ending just in general no one comes out unscathed in a cyberpunk setting
Wise words from a mean ghost.
Dam that gives me Spartan Gorge type Moment
@@mr.ilikespam6081 well sometimes the hero and a few friends all get themselves skilled and a couple of people live onm in a better place, the world is still fucked the survivors arent happy ending...but they have *more* hope
I think David actually was special, and I think cyberpsychosis is implied to be more than just an effect of cyberware. I think everyone *assumes* that's the case, because they don't know any better, but the show repeatedly makes a point of showing that it's the underlying stress and trauma that leads to full blown psychosis. It stacks up and up and up until it flows over. David dies not as a cyberpsycho, but as a fully conscious person. He keeps all the promises to the people he needed to keep them to. He succeeded where other Edgerunners failed. The only happy ending a person gets in Night City, is getting out. That's it. No matter what you do, the corporations have all the power. The game is rigged from the start. How do you beat centuries of tech and control beyond your imagination? You can't. Edgerunners are remembered because it's the only thing they'll get. They don't beat the system, but if you make it pay attention, you've won. David made Arasaka respond. He became an issue that couldn't be swept under the rug, but truly had to be dealt with. He carved out the little he could take from the system, and bought Lucy her dream. That's the win.
The only kind of win you can get still living *inside* Night City.
You can in fact beat Night City and the corpos(quite a few characters actually got very close of doing just that), but that would kinda kill the purpose of the story.
That's fairly true to the rules.
Empathy is where you start, getting your baseline humanity score. But the experiences you have erode it down over time, eventually pushing your to your breaking point.
Maine's is shown early on, with the "Let You Down" music video, where we first see his hand begin to shake, and it gets pushed more and more with the stress of Faraday's jobs, the continued push to keep standing on the edge, and then Dorio's death. It finally breaks him. David is pretty much on the same path. Started with PTSD from his mother's death, and it only got worse as he lost friends.
Lucy's distance and emotional isolation finally pushed him further and further down the path to psychosis. Just before that last job she asks him to wait for her, before she's kidnapped by Faraday. To him, she ghosted him after feeling like their relationship had been fizzling out. Little wonder he finally snaps just afterwards.
David did get out of Night City, just not in the literal term we think. David got out since he accomplished everything he wanted to do from the beginning. And his death is him leaving NIght City on his own accord after he got everything he wanted done.
It was confirmed on twitter by one of the people that work at CDPR (in the writing department) that Cyberpsychosis is just a matter of mental state. Not so much the amount of chrome you have, but since chrome takes a toll on your brain it reduces people's capacity to cope with mental issues. David's capacity to equip chrome is so high because he had a loving mother, when she died his capacity was still so high because his way of grieving is continuing on their dream, (his mothers dream of living outside her means). I'll link the twitter thread if I can find it
@@aussieairconditioner8023 there is even a ripper doc who’s happy to share that theory. He doesnt get any chrome himself so he can function mentally at maximum capacity.
There is truth in television; if you have time and work out well enough it can help cope with mental stress. Not completely by itself mind you(anyone saying just exercise more probably dont get it).
It fucking sucks knowing what's to come. But you can't help but love every second of the journey to that finish line.
Yes that’s a good way of interpreting life as well. We all know we’re not going to make it out alive of this thing called life. But sure as heck make it enjoyable.
Adam Smasher transcended his own humanity by never having any humanity to begin with.
He was essentially always a loose cannon and a raging sociopath. In the beginning, he was a very typical nameless New York City thug. Nothing special or noteworthy. Then he became a soldier, and after being discharged for bad behavior, he became a mercenary.
His career as a mercenary is how he made a name for himself. However, his life was nearly cut short when his body got blown to pieces by rockets. Shortly after, Arasaka found him, and they made him an offer : join Arasaka and live, or succumb to his wounds and die.
And the rest is history, for the most part. After he was hired by Arasaka, he essentially became a nigh-unstoppable killing machine, and he became a complete cyborg after a literal nuke was detonated inside Arasaka tower.
Indeed. Adam was always a cold-blooded killer, devoid of any compassion for others.
For anyone else, every piece of cyberware implanted, meant cutting away a bit of humanity.
For Adam, there was never anything for the cyberware to cut away, because he was never really human to begin with.
Yep, in cyberpunk being a born psychopath is the greatest super power there is. It gives you the necessary mindset so that the most fucked up things in Cyberpunk cannot affect you.
Shame none of this was even hinted to have been the case in the anime. I might have actually wanted to buy the game.
@@DelPlays This! Like I don't want to hate the ending, but it felt so random. As a viewer I could tell there was in game knowledge that was being left out and it just infuriated me. Though the message of the show helped soften the blow a bit.
@@athing8523 It's not "in game knowledge," just in-universe knowledge. And really, you never needed the full backstory. Smasher is exactly what you were told he was in the show. He's a legend, an nightmare, and an unstoppable killing machine.
For me, Rebecca's death is something else than just a show of how insignificant and weak the crew was compared to Adam and the Corpos.
Rebecca loved, truly loved, David. So much so that she was willing to follow David to hell to save his love - Lucy. And she did die for David. For me, Rebecca's death represented the humanity in the show.
Just like Jackie told Misty, and Johnny to V, Becca'd catch a bullet for David without a second thought.
100% like she got squashed like a bug compared to Smasher, just shows how ridiculously powerful and brutal he is
I'm glad she went out mad disrespecting him tho, Becca was such an entertaining and incredible character who loved David despite all the shit he did to the crew and himself
I'm glad someone here mentioned her. She was easily my favorite of the cast, nothing more human than someone who is true to who they are; foul-mouthed, and loving of the few friends they have. Unapologetically human in even the most brutal of circumstances.
When Pilar bit the bullet in only the first half of the series, it was that moment I knew everyone was going to die. This setting clearly did not respect these character's lives. Once I knew that, the rest of the show, I figured, would be a formality. Sitting around and waiting for the moment they all bite the fucking dust. Every last second they spent alive though, I held on to that thin strand of hope they would beat the odds and make it out. We're not handed happy endings here, though. Not even if people spend every waking second of their lives deserving a good ending. They sink, or they swim until they sink.
That's what really hit me about the end. I think David, were he more than just a fictional character, would have been feeling the same thing as I was, but not for himself. Just for Lucy's dream to escape it all.
Washing machine breaking before his eyes. What a fucking brilliant foreshadowing metaphor.
Hell, Rebecca wasn't suppose to live that long. David just kept saving her. She keeps ruffling the chicken coop, except it was more like cooped up rabid dogs. When she finally ruffled a specific one, Adam Smasher came out, and yeah, not even David could save her
It's spooky how Jackie's offerenda mirrors statements to the show.
This actually reminds me of the tarot cards in Cyberpunk 2077 and Dexter's mind bugging question : "A quiet life or a blaze of glory". Lucy once told David that the dream he thought he's chasing is to be on top, to be on the highest level of Arasaka, was not his dream. It's his mother. Some says in the end his dream was to achieve other people dreams like his mother's and Maine's, but to himself it was a journey of A Wandering Fool. Aimlessly moving forward, not knowing the last card he pulls out will be "The Devil" or "The Judgement" and what will be his "The World" card for the future, beyond or sucked in Night City. After all we all know David chose to pick "The Devil" for himself and left "The World" for Lucy, as he died in a blaze of glory (the rebelious glory like Johnny Silverhand) and Lucy lives her quiet life. He's a good kid at heart, but a good kid alone won't be able to win Night City
Man I fucking love how you connected the anime to the themes of the game
As a long gone legend once said. "Wrong city. Wrong people."
@@japjapcat touche' my choom, touche'
And the credits have a shot of lucy and the moon, almost the exact card from the game.
Damn, jojos fucked me up. I cant read tarot cards without thinking about jojo
As to the ending being telegraphed... look at the intro sequence. It ends with an anthropomorphized Night City blowing David away... IT's about as subtle as what Johnny did to Arasaka tower.
Yeah. The character falling apart, turning into a smear of blood, and eventually having his brain vented.
One of my favorite things about the show is that the opening ends with David getting shot in the head, I think it might even be the same frames as when he actually dies at the end just stylized. But the show is never trying to pretend David will have a happy ending. But it's so good at making you hope that he will. He's so likeable and his chemistry with Lucy is so palpable I wanted nothing more than to be wrong about his fate. But that's great fucking writing. Telling the audience what is going to happen and making them feel desperate to be wrong is one of the most powerful things a piece of fiction can do. At least to me
The manga adaptation of Battle Royale did such a good job of making me fall in love with a certain couple through expanding on their backstory, that I was desperate for them to live. The manga was the third retelling of the same story that I had encountered by that point, so I obviously was well aware that they were going to die but it just wrecked me in a whole new way when it happened. I suppose that isn't exactly the same situation as Edgerunners, but it was what immediately sprung to mind when I read your comment.
I wish for an alternate ending where David and Lucy live happily ever after so much that it hurts.
@@Mythaelos You and literally everyone who watched the anime. Seriously, I had a big sad afterwards. Unfortunately, Night City doesn't care about your dreams, it is ruthless and will grind you up into paste if you can't escape it. You either die making it big, or die in the gutter, if you can't get out of the city.
This is even more true for those of us who played the game first. David's drink at the Afterlife was present since 1.0 launch. Even then, we still hoped for a happy ending. Very rarely do we have a story where the conclusion isn't the focus, but rather the journey towards it.
@@Mythaelos you can find plenty of that on fan fiction websites
Lucy didn't cut her losses and retreat from everyone. She engaged in an underground battle netrunning battle with Arasaka and basically anyone that might have information potentially leading Arasaka to David.
Still don't understand why she didn't tell David what was going on. At the moment he most needed her, she ran away and he doubled down on his ways
@@ricoambro Yeah, I don't understand either. The only thing I can think of is that she was afraid he might try to stop her. I was originally thinking maybe she just wanted to squash the information even from him in case someone dove his brain, but if they could do that they'd probably know by other means anyway.
@@zotaninoron3548 Exactly, i felt the same way. She was the only one who knew Arasaka would find him anyway, maybe if she told him why they were looking for him he'd change his ways.
It was so weird to see her try her hardest to keep him sane and alive, but not really doing anything at the same time.
That moment where she stood in front of him like "No dont upgrade anymore" he tells her maybe they should go their seperate ways, she disagrees but right after that she runs away💀
@@ricoambro It's definitely tragic that she didn't tell David but imo it makes sense. We know David, is he the type of guy to let his girlfriend go around killing Arasaka suits without getting involved? If she told David he would've gotten involved which would've made all her efforts pointless.
@@Rhyno861997 But he still died, and got used for the Arasaka tests. Also if she told him, he would watch over her, maybe prevent her from getting kidnapped like she did.
In the end, he died because Arasaka unintentially used her as bait but still got to research his talents
Wtf that’s the same sound my washing machine makes. And i had it repaired yesterday. WTF LMAO.
BRO SAME
I also have a washing machine that sounds the same in the video.
I know the show was supposed to be self-contained, but it would've been nice to get a cameo of either V or silverhand's hologram to reference the cycle starting anew. (Which the ripperdoc pretty much mentioned as David left him.)
Well i heard it takes place in 2076 so V is either not in night city bc they haven’t shown up as a nomad, in Atlanta as a street kid, and is working for arasaka in the corpo route
@@unchainedsins3254 more like a mid-game V since most of their paths will intersect anyway. Plus V already has the iconic jacket so showing at least that OR silverhand bossing him/her would've been the perfect sendoff for the viewer that says "hey, wanna kill smasher in return?"
If you find a BD wreath in a garbage can in Night City, it plays the bd David was watching at the start of the show, with a warning. You can follow the clues and receive David's jacket. Also, David has a drink at the Afterlife. You can even get the Legendary Warp Dancer Sandevistan (slows down time to 10%) and run David's build, except V won't go psycho, because V never uses Chrome beyond his means.
I have heard that if you have the Corpo background in 2077, V will make some comment about hearing about David during a part of the Edgerunner content update.
@@GodActio My main theory is that the reason that V's body can accept so much chrome(outside of a game mechanics perspective) is due to the rewring of his brain. Essentially, the nanites that helped rewire his brain(causing Johnny to appear) is keeping whatever form of cyberpsychosis at bay.
The fact that Adam Smasher could maintain his sanity despite being near 100% augmented was enough to convince the audience that there was a chance David could've achieved the same feat. I didn't expect Becca to be instantly killed off in just a few frames though
He's not "sane" though. His only focus in life is killing & destruction. His mind doesn't function outside of that. He's just able to form coherent sentences and doesn't scream while he does it
The difference is that Smasher would have been a mass murderer with or without going full cyborg. You have to have humanity to lose it. We can take comfort in the fact that Becca died the way she lived: screaming profanities and firing a bigass gun.
As the other guy said their would have been functionally no difference for Adam. The guy was never human and he enjoys death and destruction, even making it a stipulation in his contract that he’s allowed to cause collateral damage. Adam Smasher had nothing to lose
Adam Smasher isn't sane though. Cyberpsychosis isn't always a rabid dog scenario either.
Adam smasher is a high functioning cyberpsycho
David was too focused in fulfilling the dreams of the Dead instead of fulfilling the dreams of those who're alive with him.
It's kind of insane that the opening for Cyberpunk literally shows someone blowing a hole through David, yet the ending is still such an emotional gut punch. Wonderful video that easily earned a subscription, keep up the great work!
I love everything about this video, you articulated all of my thoughts and feelings towards this show in a way I never could.
The one thing that really broke me at the end of this series was how David gave Lucy a way out, but at that point Lucy didn't want it. She wanted David, that's what she needed. I'm sure Lucy understands that David gave her a way out, so she tries her best to smile and embrace his sacrifice with the warmth of the sun, but the ED definitely shows her sorrow and pain.
The ED is Lucy after Davids death. The song fits perfectly with her guilt as well, she failed to save David, she failed to communicate with him and failed to protect him. She failed. She has to live the rest of her life knowing that there was a way for both of them to go to the moon.
I love your videos OniMaru, it helps me understand things way better
That's interesting I always saw the ED as David but Lucy works too it's kinda cool how they both fit the ending in different ways
@@LeiLunaLua the songs fit them both the little stranger song used when they first kissed has a line saying I am a liar I can't be trusted which played exactly as David told Lucy he will fly her up there to the moon if he has to and promising he won't die while Lucy already lied to him in the past episode and was apologizing to him before their kiss.
@@nox22119 I love how the music in this show is literally perfect. Not only do they all bang but the lyrics fit the scenes so well both with the mood and lyrically.
@@LeiLunaLua yeah I understand that, I was mainly talking about the visuals tho. the main reason it is Lucy after Davids death is because we can see her running, just like she did when she escaped arasaka, but this time it's the present her. She wants to run away from this cold painful reality. We also see her diving, when she tried her best to protect David from Arasaka and then we see her lying next to the window with her head down.
And so the lyrics "i'm sorry i let you down" sing her guilt and regret, she couldn't prevent Arasaka from getting a hold of the person she loved, and now that person was taken by Arasaka. However David was able to let her escape. Survive. But did she really want that? She cared more about David than her own life and did everything she could so he can live, but because of that David was left to cope with his trauma and issues his own way. That ended up leading to their tragic ending
more like "She knew it was going to end this way even though she desperately wished otherwise.." She even says so. Cyberpunk is not how you live, but how you die. And Lucy didn't want David to die.
David for me is Simon without the spiral powers. Both of them has no dreams at the start and inheriting the wish of the one close to them. They both have a white haired girl as their loved one. Both TTGL and CP ER gave me emotional damage at the end except TTGL has hope and CP ER has emptiness
This. Watching the first couple episodes I kept having the thought "this is Simon if he didn't have Kamina and had to grow a pair"
No powers and Kamina isn't there to inspire you? Screw it, augment yourself with what you scavenge. You got people you want to fight for? Double down, triple down, etc on improving yourself, because this is both what Simon and David do
And both made by the same studio
@@jasonfurumetarualkemisto5917 Same staff, not studio. TTGL is from Gainax and CP ER is from Trigger.
It's a really great show. That David had no dream of his own only landed on me by the final arc and I find that very tragic. But it's so good that at least he got to give Lucy a chance at another life.
Throughout the anime, there were several points in which I thought "death flag" for David. And even the opening itself shows us his death, but it's the details and the characterization that make stories great, not just the critical narrative points.
Thank you for this video 😄
In the game, there is a drink named after him in the Afterlife... The funny thing is, you only get a named drink after dying in a crazy and spectacular way, and the drink has been in the game since launch... So the game told us how this was going to end way before the anime was announced
He’s fatherless. His only role model was his mom. So it’s natural for all his energy and ambition going towards fulfilling others dreams.
I mean, we all knew almost exactly what would come when Adam Smasher appeared 😞
These past few days Ive been watching so many youtube videos about Edgerunners ever since I fell in love with the show and I gotta say, this video really hits the spot on highlighting so many subtle and underlying meanings of the story. Such a tragic and amazing story with a somehow deep and beautiful meaning behind it.
Loved the video man keep it up!
The only happy endings in Night City are the ones where you either leave early or never went. Night City is a machine that runs on dreams and dreamers, and like any machine, it destroys the thing that it uses for fuel.
When I first finished the show, I thought it was just a really great show. But then over the next few days, it was the only show I could think about. It would tug on my heart hearing "I Really Wanna Stay at Your House" in game. Watching a second time and seeing how everything played a part in his own demise was brilliantly done
Man this is so relatable.
I watch anime to see worlds beyond my own. This show was so relatable, I felt like this could've just been reality fifty years in the future. That's why this show hit me so hard. Thanks for this. Please keep making awesome content!
Thats cyberpunk for you, so futuristic but so relevant to our world at the same time. Truly an awesome genre.
Im not sure i wouldve ever used the word predictable. Edgerunners sunk me into my seat and kept me locked in waiting for the next thing. Everything popped up and kept coming so quickly i never had time to read the foreshadowing, even if it was practically a washing machine.
Love the video. I think the anime was a great example of classic tragedy. One of the biggest gut punches to me is comparing the scene where Lucy asks David to tell her he believes in her and in the same episode she can’t do the same for him when he tries to save Maine but later that is used against him to trick him. It’s sad they can talk in each other’s head but the only real true good communication happens only when their next to each other.
This was not just a classic tragedy. This was a Greek Tragedy. A hero on a quest to prove himself, his confidence carrying him forward and his flaws making him understandable. Then under the weight of all three factors they die a death they practically made for themselves.
Well said@@Broomer52
The intro even spells it out
David has a fire inside him but in the end, the city kills him
I would argue that it was so predictable that it was unpredictable. I usually always manage to predict what happens in a story (not saying that it makes a story bad though) but this Anime really stuck to its plot and world rules it never tried to make a hero of anybody. It hit me when David kept calling himself special, i only then realized that while he was special, they were trying to make a point that he wasn't so special that he would live at the end of the story. So to those that say its predictable, it wasn't to me!
My washing machine has the same fucking ringtone.
Watching this show is like fighting George Foreman, you saw the fist coming a mile away, yet you can’t do nothing to stop it from knocking you out
The growth of David from being a reactionary character to finally making a choice for himself to save Lucy even though she'd rather he not do that and save himself instead is incredibly compelling stuff.
Rebecca was my favorite. RIP little bird :(
Very happy to hear someone else finally say it. So tired of hearing the same tired empty criticism of something being "predictable" because the person wasn't really engaged with it or invested in it. Especially when it is from popular youtube reviewers with very niche interests and film types that appeal to them, yet they are suddenly considered the prevailing authority on all of media. Sure, some movies are predictable to a fault, but more often than not I would prefer for the film/series to be judged insofar as to what it is going for rather than if a person found it "too predictable for them".
I think the really sad part about Lucy/David/Becca is that Lucy and David loved each other for what they represented to each other... Becca loved David for who David was, but David couldn't see that because he couldn't see himself worth anything outside of other's dreams for him.
I've watched a lot videos covering the break down of this anime on UA-cam and yours by far offered the most insight and analysis from the rest. Amazing video, keep up the great work!
I saw his body augments at episode 7 and I was like "yep he's going to die" just like Maine and like V in the game.
I feel like the intro sums it up nicely. The perspective between the Corpo vs Street kid where one is towering and one is on the ground. The intro ends with David with a hole in his head.
I would say that Adam Smasher represents Death AND Machine. Showing at the end how the machine defeated david. it was more like Machine vs. humanity
When you watch/play Cyberpunk and realize that Night City is the protagonist, antagonist, and final boss. Everyone who exists in it is a side character.
smasher himself told david in his last moments he'd make a good construct
he had potential as a war machine because he had so little ego, it could get overrun with someone else's goals, but he already adopted goals of kindness
Thanks for this video, you make a great point about the Moon BD and how it exposed David to the possibilities of life beyond Night City. However, Lucy double crossing him may have sealed his fate and forced him to return to his nihilistic views on life in Night City. Despite the fact the Lucy and David eventually became an item, the double cross was always looming, the concept of “Trust No One in Night City”. The possibilities faded even more the more his chooms died until the only thing he could trust in or want was a spectacular death. Freaking sad, bro… Thanks again for sharing.
That part of night city being a prison rings true with so many guys I know. I live in nyc and so many people I know haven’t even left the towns. Grown men barely leave their own neighborhoods have 0 dreams of their own idk why this is the only things that truly sticks to me. I loved the show and it’s makes it more impactful being self contained
Gread video man! Really insightful. I think one of the main messages of the show was to hold on to your humanity for as long as you can but don't let that fool you into falling down a path of absolute ruin. Have limits. I saw the show as a cautionary tale on the dangers of falling into the downwards spyral of crime. Sorta like Breaking Bad for Death Note. There were probably several points where David could have cut his losses and made a good life for him and Lucy. But he just kept chasing the thrill of edgerunning under guise of helping Lucy get to the moon. Moral of the story, don't do cybercrimes for your future wifu
Man, this was such a good video. So many details just hidden in colors and lighting and characters. Studio Trigger sure knew how to symbolize characters by what they represent and now what they are. Like you said, Adam Smasher might be the bad guy but he represents The Reaper himself. There's nothing human remaining in him. Even when Lucy tried to hack his brain we see that scary image of what his head looks like under his armor. He embraced the results od his power even if it means working for Corpo rather than trying to fight the cyberpsychosis or getting killed by the corpos. He detached himself from humanity and hates all that is humane. Most of the edgerunners had something human left in them. Even Maine who was the strongest one before David upgraded had a human head and the fact that he got cyberpsychosis is a sign of humanity, that he's brain was damaged by it. Adam Smasher was a complete machine with only his consciousness remaining. A construct. A robot that can think on and talk on his own.
Fuck this video is fucking amazing, genuinely the best analysis on this show. Wow. Great job man.
This video is one of the best videos about edgerunners that I've seen. You've earned my subscription sir.
Been binging videos on this anime. And this one was really well put together! Kudos:)
I think David is mostly instinct but I also think he subtly realizes that for him there wasn't an escape after his meeting with the principle. From episode one he is aware that he is disadvantaged against the other Arasaka kids and ultimately Arasaka has taken an interest in him and in universe for a corp to take an interest in a street kid this is known to be a definite losing position. I got that his belief in his "specialness" was more a way to cope and keep moving forward in the hope that he might make it out but as time progresses you can see the little moments where you can see it in the subtle expressions the animators put in that he knows and is just moving to take that next step one foot in front of the other. Part of the story doesn't really show through unless you know a bit more of cyberpunks lore and ideas that the game and the show doesn't always portray just right simply due to time constraints or limitations in gameplay. Johnny expresses it sometimes in the idea that the corps always win but the real soul crushing nature of it is never really explored the way that the universe portrays it. Things like soulkiller and the Peralez mission is just the tip of the iceberg for the in universe characters and how they know their society and world functions. David's story is the story of the mythological hero. Challenging Gods sitting on their Olympus (Arasaka) knowing that their interest in him is a doom in and of itself and that he must keep running and keep going forward just to stay ahead of the coming storm and hope he can gain the strength to survive it. I think that was more the driving factor in his desire to upgrade moreso than a belief in his being special or the dreams of others. Sure they definitely had their role but again David is shown to be a person who follows his instincts and he's not exactly unaware of how the world structure operates even noting that the Arasaka school covers things that don't go to the public. So again he sets himself up for the challenges he knows will always come his way and sure enough rises to challenge the Gods of his world in a small way. Faces their demon in Adam Smasher and challenges the very order of the world that he lives in with just a small crew and I don't think he was stupid enough to think he realistically had a prayer and in the end he gets Lucy to the moon in spite of everything. He doesn't know if Arasaka will be able to reach her there as its still highly likely they could with the influence they wield but he still managed to get Lucy out. To make her happy is his dream and he gets her that chance. Like so many in real life there is often the trees we plant for tomorrow that we will never see. The hopes for our children and loved ones to have all the world and more knowing full well that it is unlikely that they will not get all we would wish them. To say that he is only the dreams of the others around him is a bit of a disservice and simplification of life. We are all the dreams of others and we all take bits and pieces of the ones who came before whether we choose to acknowledge them or not. We take them and shape them slightly with our own experiences and desires to make them our own. Like so much else in the world, not much is truly new or our idea. We take what exists and repurpose them and shape them just enough to call our own.
Edgerunners ending is fairly predictable thats true but within the setting the expected outcome would be that no one makes it out in the end and the major Corpos with their vast resources would simply have ground our protagonist into dust and crushed all around him. Thats the expected end if you are familiar with the dystopian and cruel setting of cyberpunk. In universe what David accomplishes is actually a major victory because some hope in a world of genuine hopelessness for the majority is like finding that unicorn or willing a fantasia like dream into reality where common sense and convention is tossed on its head and the world turns imagination. Also tied to the game the moon is actually fairly significant due to its tarot implications and symbolism. It represents the false world of illusion and Lucy making it to the moon at all is more than a bit representative of turning a dream into reality. Their dreams and sequences with the moon as a backdrop to being understood as an impossibility shifts it a bit in my opinion.
Can you do this for the game too? I found your interpretation for the show so Interesting! I wanna see what your interpretation for V and Johnny and some of the other characters in the game!
That is a great idea! I really do believe that because of the meme fest that was the launch of the game there were so many many storylines they were just never explored the media just moved. I can’t I believe the passion crucifixion doesn’t have as many essays as the anime at this point, it’s crazy. That mission haunts me. But at the same time that kind of preserved it for anybody getting into it now because besides the memes nobody really knows the story.
It's exactly why I loved toradora, you know right from the start how it's going to end but it's not told to you which gives this effect of melancholy
Really impressive level of analysis. There is so much in there you can't see see right away (at least I didn't). The very idea that David was looking at the moon when he died never occurred to me for example. Thank you.
Thank you for your thoughtful video. I'm sure this took a lot of work to develop. It was an excellent analysis of the Edgerunner story. The Trigger team developed a powerful story much like the tragedy Romeo and Juliet that will stay with many of us.
9:24 She might have insisted but i feel like she should've been upfront with him about what she found out. She could've told him what was going on with him and Arasaka. Why they were after him, what they did and were trying to do but she didnt say anything. And at the moment he needed her most, She ran. So he ran too and fell off the edge.
I'm so glad someone else sees this, i agree with what you've stated here and I've been telling people this since i saw the show. Unpredictability isn't what makes a satisfying story, it's the completion of the story arcs and the foreshadowing coming true that does. The show wanted to show you how people can easily fall into a cycle that leads to self destruction, even main characters. Sometimes heroes get the girl and changes society....but sometimes, most of the time, they don't, and that's life.
i mean... the moment he said he was special he signed his death centence
he didn't blew up arasaka tower like silverhand
he didn't klep arasaka's ultra special relic in hail of gunfire like V and Jackie did
he didn't flatline Smasher on his own like V did
he didn't crash the net like bartmoss did
he didn't took down arasaka's net and soulkiller like alt did
and he didn't hit corpo convoy - arasaka played him to do so
his entire peak moment was classified as cyberpsycho attack
next day city was the same
glass was replaced
bodies were taken by meat wagons
rebecca died like she lived - wholesome solo with swearwords on her mouth.
Best video I've seen on Edgerunners. Surprised how many people didn't get it guess it's still a new genre for a lot of people but as somebody who's followed the genre since blade runner and the original matrix it's good to see cyberpunk get some love from new audiences.
I had a a lot difficulty understanding the what was actually going on psychologically with David and Lucy, and my mind and heart just won't leave me alone until i understand :)).
This video helped a lot. Thank you!
Really enjoyed this breakdown homie! Keep up the good work
I feel like David’s death was predictable, but the other characters surviving or not was kinda a roulette
Hey, yo, this is one of the better takes on the series out there. Clear, concise and making very identifiable and referential points. Perfect breakdown.
I also like you relating Cyberpsychosis to humanity as you did, because according to the Q&A with Pondsmith, that was the exact conception of the condition. Good stuff.
Bruh that washing machine chime is just iconic af
Really love hearing the views of so many cyberpunk edgerunner fans, broadens my horizons especially with how the view you made on giving Lucy a chance to see a whole world and a realm of possibility, but sadly Lucy in my eyes looked very grim about it and honestly would have definitely preferred to have David just by her side watching over her, loving one another and going to the moon together experiencing what they could never have seen or imagined in night city together as promised. Can't leave Lucy in that mess and expect her to pick herself up she really needs that unconditional love really just from her one true love David to help lessen the burden on Lucy's chest and really just to fight for meaningful love in a meaningless city where hopes and dreams are lost even the slightest bit of love would be beautiful especially one as loving and strong as David and Lucy's love relationship.
Great video. Like that you touched on what Adam Smasher said on David's appearance, never thought of that before now
This is a great analysis/essay on the themes and characters in the show. well done.
this is the best video essay on edgerunners I’ve seen yet
7:04 Bruh made me thought I'M in Cyberpsychosis and I already had my coffee.
So one of the things I've seen talked about online, not by you specifically in this video, but just other people posting their thoughts is some people saying the pacing of the show was too rushed or too fast, how they wish it would slow down and have an extra episode or two. One of the thoughts I've had in the show similar to how knowing the ending and the cycle is kind of the point is how also the fast pacing to me was part of the story telling and kind of the point. Life in Night City goes too fast and never slows down for anyone, and in trying to outrun the city David got burned up by it.
the shot parallel between 12:57 and when unit 01 goes berserk in evangelion just hit me like a truck
I'd argue that David didn't tell himself he's special based on what his mum did, but that he actually was special. I'll give you that he most likely thought of himself as more special than he really was, but still special. He had an unusually high tolerance for Cyberware. The ripper doc said that on a good day he should never use his Sandevistan more than 2, or 3 times, but he was able to use it 10 times the very first day after chroming up. Who knows? Maybe if Arasaka did capture him right at the start and consider him a promising asset he would get all the support he needed to outgrow legends like Adam Smasher, or even Morgan Blackhand. Though Arasaka getting another ruthless and immensely powerful warrior to do their bidding would be terrible for the world so even though David ended up the way he did, and he's story is so tragic, but from a grander perspective what happened was either the best possiible scenario, or at least one of the best.
For those who watched and loved the show but didn't play the game, or only played it a bit right after launch, when it was a buggy mess: Adam Smasher is in the game, so if you have a thirst for revenge, you know what you have to do. And don't worry. While unfortunately there's still noticable bugs throughout the game, but nothing game breaking or annoying so you should have a great experience. I played a bit the second it was released, but waited and I've just started playing it again from A to Z when the Edgerunners themed patch 1.6 got released because I wanted to finish it by the time this anime came out. I didn't finish the entire game in time, but the level of synergy between the game and the show is just amazing. When I play the game I feel like I'm in a real life anime, while when watching the anime I felt like I was watching a story from the game. Oh, and I'm really happy that I didn't finish the game before the show, because I had the chance to get Becca's shotgun and use it against someone I'm sure you'll want to kill as well. ;)
I think it isn't predictable for people who use to watch a lot of seasonal anime.
When obvious obnoxious romance happens between two characters it takes about a thousand chapters for them to start a normal relationship. And Cyberpunk covered it with just one episode without making it any less important or passionate.
Also all of that "I am special" thing, when he really isn't, he's just a bit above average, to me is absolutely genious. Like it isn't something new, it actually is pretty obvious, but I haven't seen any shows that are brave enough to use a trope like that.
Note that this is coming from the perspective of a weeb, so don't pay too much attention to my opinion
Edgerunners had some parallels with RDII, especially with the expectation of mortality in the end…..Inreally enjoyed watching this thank you.
Wow amazing analysis man. You answer everything I wanted to know about anime.
We knew David’s gonna die, he has a drink in the afterlife in game before the anime
The more I think, the best this show became.
In the end I can already see a "You've to carry this weight" for David hahaha
Awesome video
Such a brilliant show the opening and ending foreshadow the end of the show which I've never seen another anime do
Really great job on the video! Thoroughly enjoyed it!
At the moment that he starts bouncing his leg, just like Jackie in the game, I knew that he would die as a legend (the drink in AfterLife was a good hint too)
totally agree. you got everything i was thinking of collected and summed up, to present a full image of this anime. one thing that i wasn't considering at first was that david was this type from the begining. they were telling everything right from the 1st episode. it is really interesting how little things can tell whole lot, not to mention there are a bunch of these little moments. and those multiple repeated scenes. i keep wondering at how simple, yet full and very well conducted visual story telling is.
now i understand that even newcomers to cyberpunk2077 can watch this show and still enjoy it. story telling, scene composition, art style, basically things, that age very well make this anime great and pleasant to watch.
i complemented on directing too much, but there is a world of cyberpunk worth to mention. thanks to mike pondsmith's guidance night city feels the same way as it is in a game.
More than anything, the thing that kept David going for so long as his dream of taking Lucy to the Moon. That, among both his mom's and Maine's dream, was his reason for carrying on.
I fully expected what happened to happen. But they did it in such an excellent way it still absolutely destroyed me.
I really enjoyed this video, keep up the good work!!
I mean he gets shot in the head in the intro titles lol. Good vid! Also I think maybe Adam was actually more sane then others. I think he was crazy b4 and the cybernetics evened him out. Which allowed him to actually be the perfect mesh. Just …evil.
dayum i want a 1 hour version this is addicting
Good explanation, it gives new light and perspective from the show, subs!
Thank you, this was a really interesting perspective that greatly increased my enjoyment of an already great show
The show really does fit its name huh.
From the lore of both 2077 and RED(the current version of the TTRPG), Edgerunners(Or Cyberpunks, it's another term for it lmao) are celebrities in how they die, rather than how they live. You constantly upgrade your body's specs, in a fine line between absolute madness and a semblance of sanity kept by drugs and love. And you kill, kill, kill, and kill to gain enough money to repeat that cycle, until you do die, either in a blaze of glory, as some Cyberpsycho case MaxTac has been called for, or because some random poor guy managed to pour enough lead inside your skull(Because you can get one time use automatic guns in distributors lol).
It's like that quote everyone keeps repeating("You either die a hero or lice long enough to become a villain") but this time expanded through a literal sickness and a greyer theme.
Damn, I should play Cyberpunk RED. I played enough 2077 already 💀
After watching your analysis, I think one of the main concept that is translaited by this good anime is
"do not follow other's expectations. Even if the life pushes you. Find and Chase your own dream."
Simple as abc, but still actual...
Yup, Cyberpunk 2077 was always like this. The whole tabletop game would run in cycles of you play a few sessions then everyone would die horribly or retire after a disaster when one of the big powers took notice of you. A properly run Cyberpunk campaign will usually end with the team finally running up against the ceiling of the cyberpunk world. Even the legend of Johnny Silverhand is a story like that. Johnny and Alts story mirrors David and Lucys story.
I mean, johnny silverhand literally nuke arasaka and nothing happened. Arasaka just got bigger and better day by day.
so thats mean v is a mirror of morgan blackhand im jk with you
In fact, you know David's fate the moment you see the opening credits
It ends with David being shot in the head by an anonymous silhouette filled with buildings images
Night city will kill him (metaphorically and litteraly)
To be fair the ending is in the opening, a man made of skyscrapers puts a bullet through David's head at the start of every episode. Adam Smasher is kind of a living legend and the icon of Night City. In a sense, Night City is his City. Maybe not literally, but when someone thinks of Night City they can't not think of the living legend who operates there, Adam Smasher.
Describing David as the Sun and Lucy as the moon is a pretty good analysis. RIght down to their color schemes.
I like your perspective. The only part I disagree with is that Lucy was dealing with the loss of Dorio and Maine in a bad way. What I saw was that she wanted to leave the gang with David after she saw the the Arasaka wanted to use David for an experimental cyber skeleton. Something that would send David over the edge and into cyberpsycosis. Something that would kill David. You find out that Lucy took time off from the gang not to cut off friends but to track down anyone that knew anything about David so she could kill them. She even told David that she is almost ready to come back but she needed a nit more time. Time to kill anyone that knew anything about David. She should have told him, as it shoved a wedge between them but I think she didn't because she thought he would want to take on Arasaka by himself. I also don't think she realised that it was his love for others that made him special. Something that everyone else seemed to see. That if she had stayed by his side in the gang, he might not have gone so far with the upgrades. The only real time he saw her was when they were at home, which I can imagine would be a very small time of every day.
what an amazing video, I really liked it a lot, pretty good analysis
It was fine. Anime 101 teenage boy gets powers, meets girl he is nervous around, turns into a mech at the end.
When you said David was the sun, I cried all over again.
13:04 Recently there's been some interesting interviews with Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the Cyberpunk tabletop and his views on cyberpsychosis are interesting. For one, (unless i am misrepresenting him) Cyberpsychosis is kind of this blanket term used by those in power. They use it as a scapegoat for the GLARING problems with society that drive a person in this world to madness. Getting borg'd up isn't a guarantee for cyberpschosis but it can be the gateway for the trauma that you experience everyday to make you snap. On top of his implants, david was diving headfirst into a world of violence and anarchy, and betrayal. A world/system facilitated at by people at the top like Arasaka. In a way it wasn't his implants that drove him to cyberpsychosis but rather the world itself.