Cyberpunk Is NOT Cyberpunk, Actually

[@idlescree]

Thanks to everyone who joined us! It's always so nice to enjoy premieres with our community. Let us know what you think in the comments and have a really awesome New Year!

[@mjennyd_yt]

Wow, what a video. This really made it clear to me what I want to accomplish with my writing and other work. 🤍

[@frameddonut1056]

You convinced me to watch this show with five minutes of this video. Five hours later I'm here emotionally wrecked and impressed at how good you are at communicating your thoughts and making it entertaining. I can relate to David in a deep level, my mom also busted her ass working to give me a better future in a healthcare system that severely underpaid and disrespected her job, and most times I feel a crushing weight of responsibility in getting better financial stability than she had to provide a better life to her. You made me realize how important it is to dream as an act of rebellion against an uncaring world, even if it's small and dumb, to dream is to stare a cruel system in its face and dare to stand your ground, it's the difference of living and just surviving. Thank you sm for helping me understand the lesson to take from this depressing show, now you owe me some paper tissues 😅 (Sorry if this came out weird our confusing, it's an emotional subject and English is not my first language. All love form Brazil, you just got a new fan!)

[@mistermelancholy7698]

It IS Cyberpunk though! 🎉😂 Love CP2077 and edgerunners.

[@nouraretzu1513]

"Cyberpunk is not about saving the world, It's about saving yourself." - Mike Pondsmith

[@DarkPrject]

I hate that quote. It's based on bad premises.

[@gabehere]

​@@DarkPrject Care to explain which bad premises it's based on and why it's bad?

[@kamikazelombardo]

​@@DarkPrjectyou hate the quote of the creator? Ok.

[@DarkPrject]

@@gabehere the premise is that it's possible to save yourself, while the world goes to hell. That's like saying "Don't keep the ship from sinking, keep yourself from sinking with it!" on a ship without lifeboats, no help, or land in sight, and freezing cold water. You can't save yourself, if there is no world in which you could be safe is what I'm saying.

[@khnum21]

@@DarkPrject That is sort of the point, saving yourself doesn't necessarily mean physically, but internally! V in the game does everything to try to survive the situation but finds what matters most to them in the journey; David is not too different in the end. Saving yourself is like the person floating without a lifeboat in freezing water, coming to terms to why they are fighting so hard in the first place and maybe making peace with their own demise.

[@erikkumakesmusic]

"Its more convenient to die and imagine yourself being immortalized rather than live with the reality that people will eventually forget you ever existed" goddamn well said

[@hellomadetScuffed]

A happy ending? For folks like us? Wrong city, wrong people.

[@AveChristusRex789]

Johnny cooked with that line. The only time anyone gets their happy ending is when they leave Night City altogether…

[@teoooo09]

Obligatory comment on every single cyberpunk video ever

[@saturnianrings3920]

Do you think they would be happier as nomads?

[@hellomadetScuffed]

@@saturnianrings3920 Personally, I think there is no such thing as "lived happily ever after" in Nighs City. Streetkids, nomads or even those from the corpo will not experience happiness in this city.

[@hellomadetScuffed]

@@teoooo09 This quote perfectly describes the reality of life in Night City and fits the theme of this video

[@Silverias_IR]

I think I have to argue with your fundamental premise. -Punk isn't about hope, it's not about love. It's about Rebellion. Cyberpunk EXPLICITLY does not do hope. Victory is hard-earned and almost never permanent. You don't win, you scrap together what you can for you and yours and that has to be enough because the system does everything it can to stop you. Often in Cyberpunk settings, the people who rebel are those who have nothing left. Edge/Shadowrunners are people who gave up/lost the chains that hold you to society. Your very existence is in opposition to the systems of power, and you suffer for it. Lucy doesn't get out of Night City because she has a dream. She gets out because almost everyone she cares about dies making sure she gets it. Going out in a blaze of glory and being immortal isn't an actual goal. It's all that's afforded to you when the system has taken everything else. You don't have anything else, you might as well leave a mark.

[@IdlescreeBird]

Punk means a lot of things to a lot of people, but I think what you could probably more directly agree with is that it's about passion. You don't rebel out of apathy; the apathetic give up and take what they're given. To have nothing left is NOT to be hopeless, especially if you're fighting for anything better than what you have. That's hope, that's rebellion and, when it's against the corporate system, that's punk. As a personal insert, the narrative that anti-establishment troublemakers are brave or heroic for taking their lives, or that it's what you do when you "don't have anything else", is a pro-establishment position. In a world of strictly corporate interest, the ruling class are better served by you dying to "leave a mark" than you surviving another day to disrupt and spread influence. It can be a comfort for people living under such extreme circumstances to feel they have that agency, but it's a false choice. Die under their system, or die by your own hands under their system. They win, you lose. Unacceptable. Survive, and keep fighting for a better tomorrow!

[@V2ULTRAKill]

Even so, cp2077 and Edgerunners dont embody the spirit of cyberpunk Like a different recent anime does, Akudama Drive

[@revanamell1791]

Even if that mark is just a blood stain that won't be on the pavement more than a few hours?

[@night2501]

well said well what can you expect from someone who think solarpunk is punk at all...

[@night2501]

​@@revanamell1791 well that is a kind of mark I guess, and even if you throw a nuke, they will just rebuild, even if may not last, but more than that, is going out on your terms

[@tovarishchbutterfly652]

17:52 the statement of only Lucy surviving is wrong Falco also survives. Because you can get David's jacket in game and after that you get a message from him telling you to not start a search for Lucy

[@202cardline]

Absolutely everyone says Lucy is the only one who survived and I'm always confused - but hey being forgotten is probably a benefit for Falco!

[@visisydandthevoid]

Lucy better appear in the next game.

[@TwoForFlinchin1]

The ethos of being immortalized by dying in a blaze of glory makes Saburo's Relic all the more sinister. Death for the rank and file and literal immortality for the ultrawealthy

[@vapidwisconsin3405]

The “meat wagon” in cyberpunk lore is pretty much the poor people option for medical options if they couldn’t afford trauma team. But in lore they were also known for selling organs as a side business. So it’s heavily implied Gloria was straight up killed so they could sell her cyberware. Edit: changed “organs” to cyberware. With how much technology jumped between 2020-2076 organ cloning makes harvesting obsolete. So they most likely harvested her CYBERWARE if they did kill her.

[@off-topiconhottopic2815]

Where is it implied? By what?

[@vapidwisconsin3405]

@@off-topiconhottopic2815 night city sourcebook. There’s a service called the “meat wagon” that’s the cheaper medical services. (Again they also kill and sell their victims organs) When trauma team scans David and his mom and they turn out to not be the client, they say “leave them to the city meat wagon”. And just the general cheapness/sketchyness of the “nurse” he talked to was weird. She’s stable and fine but then just dies from “overwork” and the only option for David is cremation.

[@datDrowningFish]

In the Cyberpunk RED core rule book, it says that tissue cloning is so advanced and widespread by 2045 that REO Meat Wagon no longer steals body parts. There's no money in stolen organs well before the time of Edgerunners.

[@vapidwisconsin3405]

@@datDrowningFish just read that part. Haven’t gotten into red yet. They just changed their game to charging very high prices. But there’s also lore that counters that. Skavs quite literally get their main bank off of SCAVENGING cyberware/organs Also you forget the “EMT” who wanted to kill David and sell his sandy, when he bleed out when he did the chip stealing job with Lucy. It never said if the EMT was trauma or meat wagon (if it was trauma it just reinforces my point even more tbh). If they’re not harvesting organs, they’re very likely to harvest cyberware. Which isn’t really much of a change. The lore books (even RED) kinda go out of there way to point out that MEATWAGON is sketchy af. so they’re definitely not above cyberware harvesting. Especially if it was a trauma team EMT that was willing to sell David’s cyberware. Like I said it’s heavily “inferred” David’s mom was killed for her organs/cyberware. It’s not conclusive

[@datDrowningFish]

@@vapidwisconsin3405 David had a military grade enhancement. What did Gloria have besides a bog standard neural link? I find it hard to believe it's "heavily inferred" based off what you've said.

[@rosomak-ns4tb]

I mean Lucy's dream was also influenced by the world she lived in, she didnt just wish to escape Arasaka, she wanted to fly to the moon. We see at the end how heavily commodified the whole trip was and that it was nothing in comparison to the relationships she had had with other people. Her dream was in a way just a product advertised as something grander than it actually was, as a single thing that upon consuming would finally make her happy. In that seanse Rebeca was wiser because she did her best to just live in the moment.

[@HedgehogEditor]

Lucy was raised by Arasaka, so she wanted to get as far away from them as possible. In regards to achieving her dream, yes, it is bittersweet. She made it, but she lost everything to get there, including the person she loved most. All that remains is the hollow victory and what she chooses to do going forward. In regards to Rebecca, she's one of my favourite characters from the show. I'd love to do a video about her and her value as a dear friend to David, as she is ironically way more present in David's life than Lucy is. I appreciate the insightful take!

[@rosomak-ns4tb]

​@HedgehogEditor Thank you for your response! Regarding Arasaka from the video game we know that they likely had some secret labs on the moon, and thus were active there. But it was only mentioned in Phantom Liberty, which was released after the show, so I shouldnt probably look to much into it. Regardless of that, from what I remember from the show the dream to get to the moon was heavily ephasized and portrayed as a separete thing than escaping the Arasaka. And if escaping Arasaka was the most important thing for Lucy then why did she live in a city with a lot of their influence? She could have settled in a place dominated by militech for example. Maybe different place wouldnt make her safer and maybe people behind the show just wanted her to be in the Night City. There are a lot of unknowns but I think that the dream of flying to the moon was a way to buy happines instead of looking inwards. A beacon of hope, even if a false one. Thats just my opinion and its up to interpretation.

[@beige_projection]

Honestly this is why I love this Cyberpunk IP so much. I might be biased, because it was my gateway to the genre. I love others too like Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, etc, but with the world of Cyberpunk 2077, and of course the original TTRPG that its based from, there's so much focus on the city and the city itself is like the main character or antagonist. I find that concept so compelling. V: Sometimes wonder if I'll ever see anything more beautiful... Kerry: I have. Doesn't matter, though. Night City's not somethin' you ever forget. Just doesn't letcha. V: Think I know what you mean Kerry: You ever feel like the city doesn't give you a choice? you either burn alive in it, or you never existed at all.

[@DMSBrian24]

The idea is - they think they are rebelling, not playing by the rules, pulling themselves by the bootstraps. It's just that they're wrong, they're still part of the entire system, they ultimately still have no control. Bladerunner showcases this theme as well, the only way to really rebel is to leave the whole thing behind, which is something you can do in cyberpunk the game as well, if you reach this very conclusion. If you think about all the other most famous cyberpunk media, ghost in the shell, akira, they're not too different. Matrix is perhaps the exception, but it's a very different type of world.

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

Someone gets it.

[@mikfhan]

Yep - Lucy got to the moon, but realized it means nothing - she still needs food/drink/sleep/friends/etc and the only way to avoid the system is to avoid money - not many are willing to revert back to the stone age and live alone like that - I'd imagine many who try this go crazy from the solitude, it's difficult to convince others to "unplug" completely. Cyberpunk assumes the world is a dystopia, and all that matters is you fight it no matter how pointless that is. Top 0.1% control the government, but they are just people; with enough information, they can be found and targeted, one at a time, but it still changes nothing. Anonymous is a stand-alone-complex, you could argue 2021 storming of US Capitol was as well. Take care out there.

[@thisgoddamusernamestoodamnlong]

you can also rebel by eliminating any and everyone in your way.

[@sentimentalmariner590]

Sure, if you ignore the numerous rebellions and revolutions through history that were successful then your take is absolutely true. A damn shame revolutions and revolts never succeeded or were the catalyst for change in society... You also have to reject the very basis of the punk genre which is rebellion and punching up even if it kills you because it is the right thing to do, but who cares about those trivial things.

[@Drunkenvalley]

I feel like the "hope" isn't the same kind of "hope" I view cyberpunk through. I usually view cyberpunk through the hope that we avert the kind of future portrayed by seeing where we've strayed. Explore struggles before they're more than a thought, and find hope for a future that responds to it in time. At least on these fronts, Cyberpunk Edgerunners is cyberpunk to me. Cyberpunk 2077 sometimes falls more into the pit-trap of not selling its own radical nature enough, but Edgerunners I think does it well.

[@V2ULTRAKill]

Ehh watch Akudama Drive and compare it to edgerunners

[@cringus8519]

how does the game not sell its own radical nature enough? i don't think this is true at all, it's just as a player you become accustomed to the world

[@RevRaptor898]

Watch Blade Runner and compare it to both. @@V2ULTRAKill

[@Dian_Borisov_SW]

I watched it on release and IT NEVER even crossed my mind that David Martinez references king David. Great analysis

[@noel-bg3ei]

this is such a refreshing take on dystopian fiction and it infuriates me that it's not being thought of enough. im so tired of nhilism rotting people's brains like it's the only option we have in a dystopian world. it's not! people care about other people! we can be kind! we can restore! we can always fight for one another! radical change is possible and history will tell you that. refusing to believe in that fact is what ultimately seals a society's fate to doom. i wish more of media can portray that thought. i mean, that's what true punk is supposed to be! also, great video!

[@PropheticShadeZ]

To me thats the most infuriating thing in the cyberpunk game, it refuses to allow you to actually fight corps, you are punished or refused when you try to express your agreement with violent resistance in anything but the ending. Why can i not only take anti corp jobs, sure make the game harder, and show me that this is the harder path, kill my friends, hurt me emotionally, but let me choose this resistance, or give in to the corps influence and take the easy way out and get the power fantasy, and save yourself

[@leoforpez]

There are plenty of jobs in the game that are fucking over the CORPs even if in small ways, and you don't really have to choose corp aligned jobs (Really most of the main mission doesn't make you do anything of the sort if you don't want to) but V's concern isn't changing the world or fighting the system. Its really just survival, and when that's not an option at least do it with some glory. Its not a story about resistance. You should just organize a table game for that. @@PropheticShadeZ

[@thisgoddamusernamestoodamnlong]

because people want realism rn. just give it a while, and the more "fantasy-esque" stories will be back in demand.

[@Jawesome1Shazam]

I have to say, Adam Smasher was oddly wholesome at the end of Edgerunners when he took a liking to David, appreciating the challenge of the fight, and even liking his personality. Adam Smasher almost made a friend for himself.

[@evilomega13]

Great video - it's a perspective on it the story I hadn't heard of before, and it's an interesting one. I'm not personally one for sticking to rigid definitions of words - 'Cyberpunk' is so associated with corporate dystopia these days that the two are functionally interchangeable as far as I'm concerned - but the points about the genre are valid regardless. Personally, I've always taken a different interpretation of Lucy's story. I don't think that Lucy really *did* get her happy ending. To me, it was that David, and maybe even Lucy herself, never realised that what she wanted wasn't *really* to go to the moon, but what it represented; a sense of safety and comfrot, which she did have with David before everything went wrong. I think *he* was her real escape from Night City, but because he never realised that, he died getting her the dream he *thought* she wanted, not what she *really* wanted. During the escape from Arasaka, they're framed together with the moon behind them as they fall, and there's a line when she's on the moon that sticks with me - 'an experience which no braindance can simulate'. Yet, when she's out there walking around, it's that braindance she remembered - not David in his final moments, or even his buffed out allstar form, but the scrawny kid he was when they first me, during their braindance together. A couple of other thoughts: - As I recall, Adam Smasher's Empathy stat in the original 2022 rulebook was literally listed as 'Yeah, Right', and he's stated to have been a bloodthirsty psychopath long before becoming a full-borg. - The crew has two survivors! Falco also survives to 2077; you can meet him in the questline following up on Edgerunners. The entire crew also had gravemarkers added by a later update, implicitly by Lucy; Gloria gets one, too. Thanks for making this in any case, I enjoyed it a lot!

[@idlescree]

This is incredibly thoughtful and interesting, I'm going to mull on that. And yeah this was one of those where in talking about the genre it became a bit semantic but I appreciate the benefit of the doubt and your engagement here. Love these tidbits from the game, and thanks so much for watching.

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

As much as I love Falco, he is a secondary character as far as the narrative is concerned. He didn't start with the crew and he has no development or arc-- he's the driver! And he's good at it! But he had no deep connection to anyone in the crew aside from maybe Kiwi and at the end Rebecca.

[@Malice_doll]

@@Kaipyro67ALTHe was always there. At the turbo bar you can see him watching Pilar do the alcohol tricks

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

@@Malice_doll Yeah, literally as a background character. Falco doesn't get an actual voice line until episode 7.

[@notaword1136]

My head cannon has always been that Adam can use sooooooo much cyberware because he was already basically a high functioning cyberpsycho

[@TheSubso]

If Neuromancer (that popped up for like 0.5s as image) is not cyberpunk because it lacks hope then I dont think the lable is really worth anything at all. I'm stealing from wikipedia but I think Cyberpunk being the "Film noir" of the scifi genre isn't a bad angle to explain the direction. Adam Smasher in 2020 had one line about his Humanity "Yeah, right..." - dude was killing people for sport for ages. Its weird because I think because so many characters are asleep and when they try to break free - fail that makes cyberpunk cyber.punk. The main character of Pondsmith's Cyberpunk could be seen as Johnny Silverhand but really he isn't - because the world didn't even see him as the main guy. Arasaka went after Alt, not him. The people around him had dreams and worked towards something else. They just didn't succeed. But some do, like lucy. The characters are wrong about life. A lot of the smaller stories around it like Black Dog also nudge a different angle. The PoV just isn't perfectly centered on the one that makes it, the one that dreams :D A very underutilized aspect of that specific cyberpunk world is that the spacers are free, they broke free after the 4th Corp war. Its why going to space is seen as the escape it is (in Edgerunners and Phantom Liberty) - because these people there did dream and they did break free. And in their sphere of influence things are better. Night City just isn't - but Richard Night had a dream for it too. Great video though! I dont know if my comment makes much sense, I just think the failures give a lot of weight to how much dreaming is worth it despite the possibility (or in some cases, certaintiy) of failure.

[@HedgehogEditor]

Editor here, There is definitely a ton of overlap between cyberpunk and corporate dystopia. I admit, Neuromancer falls into both categories pretty well-- maybe a better book to use as reference was something like Children of Men or 1984? Something along those lines. Oh well! But yeah, Pondsmith's version of Cyberpunk is about fighting for yourself, not fighting for the world-- this is a core theme in the video game, and to an extent Edgerunners as well, only the protagonist doesn't fight for himself, he fights for Lucy. Johnny Silverhand is an interesting character I'd love to do a video on. I think the writer of Edgerunners (Rafal Jaki) took Cyberpunk in a slightly different, but equally interesting direction, focusing on the way that corporate dystopia destroys its populace and the only way to escape is to actually leave, lest you die to further feed their empire. Thank you for your interesting comment. We appreciate positive engagement with our material, even if you disagree with our conclusion.

[@TheSubso]

@@HedgehogEditor I mean Neuromancer is why we even have the term cyberpunk. I dont think I'd agree with Pondsmiths Cyberpunk lacking punk still, broadly across all stories. They are just not past the point of it being bad - because the world isn't. But I can see your angle. Btw the editing was preem!

[@theoneneolink]

Yeah I really don’t understand the gatekeeping with the term “cyberpunk” here.

[@CthulhuLovesU]

This is the one thing I took issue with in this video. Blade Runner and Neuromancer are the foundational works of the cyberpunk genre. If the works that created the genre aren't part of it, then what is? The term becomes useless. And all the other aesthetic genres probably wouldn't have -punk as a suffix if cyberpunk didn't exist and popularize the naming convention. I think you're taking the -punk suffix a little to literally.

[@williamchristy9463]

​@@CthulhuLovesU It also ignores that punk by it's very definition is about rebellion against the system. Ironically, liberalism, at least in the traditional sense, is ample ground for punk art, in a world which increasingly cracks down on basic freedoms.

[@hellNo116]

the problem with david is that no one told him that you shouldn't try to move up the ladder. the ladder can only be dismantled if you want a better life. if you want to help your family you need to destroy it. this is why everyone lost by the end. and that is the reason this story is realistic, because in real life most of us will try ourselves to death trying to succeed in a system that we should be dismantling

[@Zynet_Eseled]

Fuck...

[@hellNo116]

@@Zynet_Eseled i will sure try to fuck this year thank you. :P

[@saturnianrings3920]

Communism?

[@hellNo116]

@@saturnianrings3920 personally i prefer anarcho communism, due to the failings of the communist party in my country, but yeah

[@saturnianrings3920]

@@hellNo116 oh, ok…

[@LarsEspen]

17:37 He does technically die a legend cuz in the afterlife in the game you can buy his drink which only being served by making a name of yourself in night city and dying a legend and is also very well known around the people around the main character V.

[@efxnews4776]

Is Cyberpunk Edgerunners the best adaptation of a video game? I think it is, EVERYTHING you see in the show, you can find on the game, the same streets, the same spots, the places, the same vehicles, the guns, the cyber implants, you even have some interaction with Falco at some point, is, brief, by text message, BUT it is something, also you can get David's jacket in game, and Becka shotgun... It seens fitting that the only place where you can buy the David Martinez drink, is in the bar called Afterlife, that before being a bar, was a morgue...

[@VORASTRA]

Drink was added post launch, in update 1.5, Rebecca's shotgun, quest with Falco / David's jacket were added in 1.6. The graves were updated in 2.0. So, yeah, the content from the anime was not present in game since day one.

[@efxnews4776]

@@VORASTRA no, but those are personal items from characters from the show, the city itself with all that is contained in it was there day 1.

[@imenz93]

Every sentence in this video is on point. Great stuff and honestly one of the best cyberpunk essays on youtube!

[@idlescree]

That's very high praise, thank you. There are some really good ones out there, so it's much appreciated!!

[@Jell000]

Amazing video as always! Please continue to make content like this; the media u talk about, the writing of ur videos, and the ideas u have surrounding ur interpretation of the media never fail to be meaningful and phenomenal. Thx to everyone involved :)

[@idlescree]

This is such a sweet thing to say. The hero of this one is definitely the Hog, he worked super hard on the editing and has a big paw in the writing but of course these things are always a team effort. Thanks for your support!!

[@mendyshelios0451]

"We are living in a dystopia right now" And they called ME crazy, when I said that 😓

[@LifeInJambles]

If anyone called you crazy for saying that, that person has led a life privileged to an extent I can't even really imagine

[@mathieushifera135]

In context of what you just said, Cyberpunk 2077 does give you the choice of having your story be dystopian (Least Resistance, The Devil, The Tower, The Sun) or Punk (Temperance, The Star, King of Wands)

[@My_name_is_I.P._Freely]

I still can't get over the Smasher vs Robocop fanfic. "So, it's personal then. Good, more meat for the slaughterhouse!" "Your move, creep"

[@ItReignItPour]

You're a great narrator! Night City has such a depressing undertone to it's design you can tell the developers really tried to create a believable world

[@arandomnamegoeshere]

Excellent analysis and well presented. Lots to ponder. And a lot that I absolutely vibe with. I don't agree with the premise though. Cyberpunk is not hope. Yeah - the cyberpunk genre inspired a bunch of other alternative tech genres named using "punk". And of those, solarpunk leans heavily in to a non-nihilistic and generally hopeful back-drop. But cyberpunk has always been seeped in nihilism. Cyberpunk is absolutely cyberpunk. Cyberpunk is born in the 80s as a reflection of the times. The punk piece comes from powerlessness felt in mid-70s UK and US/NYC that spawned the punk subculture. Sure - punk included anti-corporatism. But it also embraced other aspects (DIY, anti-authoritarianism,etc.) that would encourage personal freedom and rejecting the powerful elite who's economic policies robbed disaffected individuals of a future. Freedom by not participating in an antagonistic system. A choice made ultimately by the most hard core at any cost. Good call about Cyberpunk 2077 / Edge Runners being about today. The themes are even more apparent in our culture decades later. Of course... no cyberpunk work would be the first scifi story using a future backdrop to explore current issues. So should we embrace the nihilism so often present in the cyberpunk genre? Absolutely not. Cyberpunk shouldn't be any more aspirational than _1984_. These are warnings, not ideals. Take that a step further, I don't interpret that Cyberpunk 2077 is selling us on Night City. I don't even buy the notion that just because a cyberpunk becomes legend by how they die that a grand death should be a goal. Becoming a legend is for suckers. Its not the death that gets a name at the Afterlife - its the fight. The fight is everything in cyberpunk. Bruce Sterling summed up the cyberpunk genre as "high tech low lifes." William Gibson furthered that a common theme in cyberpunk is technology being used in unintended ways. It's punk DIY; using the tools of the system in service of you and yours rather than the system. Manipulation of systems - hardware, software, political, and bureaucratic (read: hacking). Crime and violence if need be - but not always. All this in direct conflict of power structures that manipulates and/or has been manipulated by the elite for personal gain at the expense of the masses. The fight. If the cyberpunk genre offers hope it isn't because it provides it. Cyberpunk invites us to stare in to a dark mirror. We can surrender to the nihilistic void reflected there. Or we can look at it and decide that the fight... any fight... that resists this world is worth it. Even if it's no earth-changing revolution. Even if it doesn't get us a cocktail named after us. The fight is enough. Cyberpunk TTRPG author Mike Pondsmith noted that his world wasn't about saving the world but about saving yourself. Maybe if enough of us save ourselves and each other - we change the world. The fight is enough.

[@cringus8519]

a tad offtopic here, but considering the quote from Mike, i wonder how they will stick to this philosophy in the coming sequel where the Blackwall, Night corp and rogue AIs will eventually become a major plotpoint and how they will stick to not saving the world but yourself

[@arandomnamegoeshere]

@@cringus8519 fair question. But absolutely doable. We get caught up in the machinations of the corps in NC. Yet we don't tumble any. We might upset plots. We might end a career or two. But the corps keep functioning. NC is still NC. We might be bouncing up against some AIs, Night Corp, and even the Blackwall. But at best, we might dent the universe. Screw up some plots. End some careers. Make something happen for some little people who might have been screwed without our intervention. Which is super important to them. But it doesn't change NC... or the Net. We shall see. I'll be looking forward to it.

[@cringus8519]

me too@@arandomnamegoeshere

[@goblinRa2a]

wow, I loved this video. especially: "burn to keep others warm", how Lucy is a light drowned by the lights of the city and how Adam means man.

[@WinglessMoonstone]

Second Great work on this! I love the powerful message you gave at the end of the video! I'm going to try my best from now on to watch every single video you guys make! I can tell there's passion and great messages in everything you create! Take care! REEEEEEE!

[@idlescree]

AAAAAA THE SONG OF MY PEOPLE!! We try really hard to be constructive in our approach to media analysis. Thank you for enjoying it with us!!!

[@WinglessMoonstone]

@@idlescree Your effort is clearly well-spent! You achieve the goals you set out before you! And no problem! It was my pleasure to watch! Hope you have a great day! Can't wait to see what else you have in store! Stay awesome!

[@moosegod2530]

You made me cry this was soooo good I love this channel so much thank you everyone one the team!

[@Sejikan]

This is the Greatest "review" i have ever seen (i don't really think review is the right word but i can't think of what the word I'm looking for is)

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

Commentary? Video essay?

[@Sejikan]

@@Kaipyro67ALT video essay feels like it devalues it commentary is better but this feels more insightful

[@echoecho81]

Thank you so much this made my weekend! I want to fight you about your dogmatic definition of "cyberpunk" mkay but! this argument about cyberpunk vs corporate dystopia is a really helpful lens for talking about what happens in the story, I feel like I will understand it so much more on the rewatch now

[@moosegod2530]

I was busy during the premiere and was so sad! Spectacular video as always, this is my favorite video essay channel :)

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much, we hope to see you at the next premiere! :D

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

Awesome video. Heavy topics, but really well done!

[@idlescree]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ruukaoz]

Thank you for the end of this video, especially for the term 'radical empathy'. I had that in my mind for some years now, being confused in this society split right down in the middle.

[@WarneD1]

This was suggested to me before I headed off to bed, it piqued my curiosity, after watching it you deserve my subscribe.

[@idlescree]

Thank you!

[@WarneD1]

@@idlescree To quote a not so good person, "We will watch your career with great interest"

[@KurtCuramen]

That's why sending Songbird to the moon is my ending. Batgirl you're video essay is preem!

[@johnrivera1053]

I subscribed, cause this essay was very enjoyable, it was well written, paced, quirky, and fun and cause I was told that I mattered, and I really needed that. Thank you.

[@DuskyPredator]

Is there something to along the lines that it feels like in the current period of the Cyberpunk setting that the rebels themselves are monetised by the system. Johny looks crazy in comparison, but it is like the rebels themselves have been manipulated into not realising they work for the system rather than actually having something they believe in. In 77 I particularly think of Judy who tries to bring back the spirit of the Mox to protect working women and men, but it feels like the implication that it won't get anywhere. The leadership of the Mox more works like a business looking out for itself rather than the original spirit. And I think it is hinted that what she fights for will just be torn away by retaliation.

[@kadoceleritus]

Amazing video as always. Y'all always outdo yourselves.

[@idlescree]

Thank you. The Hog's editing on this one is some of my favorite he's done so far and it definitely ends up adding life and energy to the script to an astounding degree.

[@RevRaptor898]

How is cyberpunk hopeful? Blade Runner is the quintessential cyberpunk movie and there is no real hope to be had there. I would say the lack of hope, the grime the grind the, utter indifference the world around you has for your existence that is what makes cyberpunk the thing it is. Want another example check out Transmetropolitan there is also no hope to be had there either.

[@JediMB]

That brief clip from Nausicaä (while the most dire situation in the movie) made me smile. Love Nausicaä. 💙 As for Edgerunners... I don't have anything to add about the story and themes, but I'll say that Rebecca ended up being my favorite character, so her sudden and unceremonious death hit like a truck. (Or an Adam Smasher, I guess.)

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

Yeah she really left an *impact.*

[@atzangray-dorito9004]

i thinn rhat's why i love Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty infinitely more than Edgerunners, because they actively engage in the complexity of the dystopian world that is Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk world. some endings in 2077 embrace the blaze of glory way of going out, while some others embrace the quiet way out through V's ever growing and changing perspective on Night City, either by leaving the city entirely or embracing the reality of what Night City really is, and in turn not submitting to the meat grinder that it is. Phantom Liberty's narrative is about how Songbird frees herself, much like Lucy does, but through the expansion the reality of her situation and how it effects not just her and the NUSA government, but also the entire world and how you play a pivotal role in which way the story goes, it serves as a mirror for V for the main game. i think Edgerunners fell short in its portrayal of cyberpsychosis, but i love how David dies. i interpreted Maine's "just keep running" line as a warning to David to give up being a merc, because it'll just get him killed. David, either to support Lucy or for himself, ignores it, and flew too close into the sun and met Adam Smasher. i'm really glad for what CD PROJEKT RED did with Mike Pondsmith's universe, and i hope they continue their exploration of it in the future.

[@Mboogy]

"Witness me, for I am giving meaning to a worthless life through my death! Even if my eyes are the only one's to witness it, it will give birth to meaning..." pretty much what I always thought that phrase in Mad Max meant, but maybe I'm just too high lol edit: correction in sentence phrasing lol

[@efxnews4776]

No, your not... i also saw that meaning too... I find funny that when Fury Road came out, folks were saying the movie was too woke... but in reality is e opposite of it, if you look away from the superfiacial plot of: "save the womans from patriarcal oppression..." theres a lot going on with all the power struggles, this "witness me" line is clearly a message of younger mens dying in wars for old decript mens desires, it does shine light on the oppression where even mens suffer from society...

[@ershnuff]

That was so. So. Good. I came here for essentially a review of Edgerunners, but I got so much more through existential introspection and a surprisingly direct and truthful explanation of society as it is today. I find the bat and animals thing kinda weird, but God DAMN are you on point. Subscribed.

[@idlescree]

Thank you for the kind words, we are definitely kinda weird! Thank you so much for watching, we hope you enjoy our back catalog of videos and everything to come!

[@ArgzeroYT]

Probably one of the more mature takes on the show I have seen. Your script was great. Will sub.

[@essp-rezoocaaphe1018]

Im happy KZbin recommended this video.

[@idlescree]

Thanks for watching, we're happy too! :)

[@murciadoxial8056]

honestly, the naming conventions went over my head because those names are so, SO common in latam that someone named david martinez son of gloria martinez just would never rise any eyebrous because there are probably hundreds of those all over that region

[@spidermonkey508]

Cyberpunk is described as high tech, low life. That is edgerunners, 2077, bladerunner, neuromancer, and so on, the punk in cyberpunk is there because it sounds cool, it has nothing to do with the definition of punk. Did you really say that neuromancer and bladerunner two of the biggest defining pieces of work in cyberpunk not cyberpunk?

[@ccherry.berryy]

That last bit almost made me want to click off, it was so heavy and dark, rightfully so because it’s hard to exist sometimes, but I knew something was coming after it, I hoped there would be and there was. I’m gonna sit with that for a bit, I will not give into despair I will do everything I can, I am light, I will not give in

[@xxglorifiedpotatoxx7477]

As someone lost to our real world night city, I appreciate this video giving me a reason to keep going. I’ll dare to dream, if only a little.

[@czescwaszejpamiecizonierze7427]

Adam's humanity stat is latterly "yeah right...." he is no longer human.

[@KyleAlexanderkneeGrowPlz]

I lovedddddd this video essay. Keep up the great work. The end actually motivated me to enjoy life and those around me in a more meaningful way.

[@ticijevish]

What about Falco? You said only one member of David's gang survived and showed Lucy on screen, bit in the game, you get to text message with Falco and gain David's jacket. Thus, two members survived.

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

Yeah, but Falco's a background character until episode 7. He's cool, but he kinda just shows up for jobs and that's it.

[@ticijevish]

@@Kaipyro67ALT I suggest you watch the show before commenting on it with an opinion. Riddle me this! Who knocks out Maine when he goes cyberpsycho on Kiwi and in which episode this happens? Who participates in the fun times montage when David joins the gang and is sitting right next to him in the strip club, enjoying a BD and in which episode this is?

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

@@ticijevish Falco is in one scene in episode 6 with no dialogue. He's also in episode 4 with David and Pilar and like four other background characters. With, once again, no dialogue.

[@ticijevish]

@@Kaipyro67ALT Falco is an active participant in the Tanaka operation, he is a friend who hangs out with the chooms, and he is the getaway driver for the crew in the second half of the story. He is a fully-fledged crew member and the second survivor of the gang.

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

@@ticijevish Dude, don't be a smart-ass and try to act superior then change gears when I show your ass up. I never said he isn't a getaway driver, I never said he doesn't hang out. I said he shows up for jobs and doesn't have voice lines until episode 7 out of 10. He's a great character, and I love Matt Mercer his voice actor, but he's a minor character when compared to literally anyone else in David's crew.

[@relaxedswede]

This is videa is crazy good! Well done, Idle Scree.

[@versegen2]

absolutely excellent video. I love Edgerunners and 2077 so much, and this really was a great way of putting things. 10/10

[@weiwu1442]

idk why everyones so scared of adam sandler my netrunner V killed him with a handful of angry glances

[@dodonixx953]

Honestly, it's kinda dumb that one person could kill Adam. If they were gonna kill him, I'd rather it be at the very least a prepped to the sky squad of high talent.

[@CrashTestZombie-mx3nj]

i teared up at the end. beautiful prose

[@thenightwatchman1598]

in the strangely appropriate words of silver the hedgehog. "despair is a luxury none of us can afford." talk is cheap. but bold ideas are priceless.

[@datdejvtho2581]

I really enjoyed the analisis! Especially the names, I havent payed attention to it before! However, with Lucy, it might be more of an accident more than anything. Jaki said the character is named after his mother- Lucyna. Basically, "Lucy" in polish

[@Esoterica26]

Loved this video essay, my only tiff is that i always seen Lucy as the Protagonist of edge runner in the sense that she is only character that isn’t just apathetic angst incarnate, but instead actively dreams of escape and change, she isn’t just willing to accept the way things are but wants the world around her to change wether it be through actual change or escaping the world as they know it. Cyberpunk fiction is riddled with characters that either rebel, get crushed by apathy, accept the way the world is and try to get ahead, or a combination of the three.

[@Chaos_God_of_Fate]

Just like how we live in a beautiful World full of nothing but Shit. Night City is a Metaphor of the real World- Beautiful if not for the stains of everyone else, and for them, the stain that is Me. We are indeed remembered for how we died, or our last bad deed, the worst thing about Humanity (to me) is that one bad deed can totally discount any and all good deeds that may have came before- some People make one bad decision after a lifetime of good and that's all they are remembered for- it is messed up but it happens all the time. Hey, I really appreciate channels that don't censor 'the bad words'- please don't turn the YT crap censoring on, you're better for not doing it- you've earned a sub! Not having to be super-conscious about what I type is really nice.

[@Diana2112Gaming]

"Edgerunners isn't cyberpunk" *throws out Blade Runner and Neuromancer as 'not cyberpunk' as well* Uh... you do know those works *defined* the genre, like, as a whole, right?

[@jimbones5484]

People who watch anime are usually the brainrotted individuals.

[@pedroribeiro1410]

it's funny to think that we already live in such world, we just don't have iron arms and shining eyes but we already don't care for anyone we don't simpatize, if we lived in night city and didn't know david like we did in the anime we would probably be sitting around those graphic fish and recording all that shit and saying things like "damn you saw how he squashed that green chick ?" or "dude is fucked to be trying fighting Smasher"

[@official_knack]

This was such a great essay! One thing about cyberpsychosis that Mike Pondsmith's character in the game mentions on his radio show is that "cyberpsychosis" isn't a real thing, but rather a way for corps to put blame onto some disorder to take off the blame from the horror they enable. Really, cyberpsychosis is just when people snap, and cannot come to grips with the reality of their situation any longer. Sure the cybernetics exacerbate the problem, but they're hardly the *cause* The reason why Adam Smasher, for example, never went cyberpsycho is because he's fully aware of the nature of what he's doing, he's content with it even; i think that makes him all the more horrifying as a villain. I cannot stress enough however, how good of a take this all was. you definitely have my subscription now, can't way to see what's next

[@idlescree]

Ooooh interesting. I've learned a lot about the extended lore around the game and such through all the helpful comments and that's a really interesting point to make on this. Thank you!

[@jnr7149]

Awesome essai! Thank you, keep dreaming, keep loving, keep fighting and rebelling! And remember, nothing can kill an idea...

[@Keeby.]

something i think you missed is that lucys dream wasnt really to go to the moon, the moon is just the image of freedom away from night city and away from capitalism. when she gets to the moon, its full of tourists jumping around and advertisements everywhere and she looks empty, only being happy when she has that vision of david. david failed to realize that her dream wasnt to go to the moon, but it was to be free and more importantly to be with him

[@Nehonat]

Such a beautiful analysis, it takes you to an epic ride of mythology and symbolism.

[@Disthron]

Okay, your video looks really cool... but I haven't gotten around to seeing Edge Runners yet. So I'm going to put this on the back burner. Hope the vid dose well for you though.

[@Yas-gs8cm]

"Hyper capitalism" is not a fitting word IMO... It's more about the technology and its distribution IG (as an illiterate person saying). + I don't think it's about "future". As a case in point, Mr. Robot is a Cyberpunk in the context of my argument. The driving factor is technology, everybody is F-ed over like a tragedy. Where, but the axes of "power" and "money", "tech" also can independently shape the world. I'd love a reference (for example an article) where it clearly states these definition you rely on. The tragedy also doesn't really come from the unrealised redemption of the protagonist. IMO it comes from the failure of the society regardless of the obvious signs. In other words, it's post-tragedy, a cautionary-tale... "The blaze of glory" in such settings or for that matter being a "punk" is not to make a change. Is to get stumped trying, while knowing you had no chance of "making a change", yet didn't go out easy. Like my point is, in such a mindset, there is no "choice" to "go out with a bang". It's the natural conclusion like the famously said line in The Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy dying or get busy living" (skip thro life). It's natural like the apathy. A punk leaving his town is a joke to put it mildly. The punk way is to "clear the account" (build or destroy) the current system. I'm just saying, it's a tale of Nihilists for the Nihilists. There is no "coming back" from that. It's not a fitting example for the mindset of "we must stay positive". The whole point is to accept the absurdism and go for it head first. Your message is good, positive and I respect your point of view. I'm just giving my two cents. I just think your strings of wise words would effect harder if not for the not-so-strong connection to the example. It's like teaching thermodynamics with examples in middle ages Spanish poetry, I'm sure one as talented as you can make it, but not that it is the best example to use.

[@DonCDXX]

The anime was a bit weak on the punk aspect, but Pondsmith's Cyberpunk lived up to the theme with Johnny Silverhand. Rebellion against oppressive systems and the dream of better was a core part of it. That doesn't always make the greatest story because a fundamental recurring theme in corporate dystopia is the futility. Throwing yourself against that wall with all your might will usually only scratch it. Usually, stories in Pondsmith's Cyberpunk still do throw themselves at that wall, or at least consider the choice. The anime was more of a day in the life, an establishment of the settings status quo. Then again, Pondsmith's Cyberpunk has been typical of the cyberpunk genre since it's origin. Gibson's Neuromancer or Johnny Mnemonic could've just as easily taken place in Night City as the settings are incredible similar. Those are not a far step from Blade Runner which is based on Phillip K Dick's work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, considered to be one of the earliest books in the cyberpunk genre. Since the beginning, the cyberpunk genre did had themes of rebelliousness to authority, but was more about evasion than revolution, hit-and-runs rather than effective assaults, and ultimately a sense of futility against the overwhelming power of acceptance by society. The will to enact change when life is so cheap requires a character to do anything to survive, which is why no revolution can ever be attained as everyone else is also just trying to survive also.

[@Changeling]

The definition of Cyberpunk is as follows: *"a genre of science fiction set in a lawless subculture of an oppressive society dominated by computer technology."* You spent an entire video saying that the literal definition of Cyberpunk is not Cyberpunk. Everything you defined as "neon liberalism" (a term that seems to only exist in this video as a search only wants to yield "neoliberalism" in the results) are the defining works of the Cyberpunk genre. How can you look at Blade Runner (the Cyberpunk genre-defining film, which is based on the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which is a Cyberpunk genre-defining novel) and see it as anything other than Cyberpunk? Cyberpunk (and punk genres in general with the one exception being Solarpunk) has never been about hope. There are no true happy endings. With Cyberpunk the game (video and TTRPG) as well as Edgerunners the only "happy" endings are if you leave Night City. That's it. And even leaving Night City is bittersweet. In 2077 you have V who is either dead, having been fully replaced by Johnny Silverhand, or V is dying because the engram overwrites too much. In Edgerunners you have Lucy who finally gets to go to the moon...but at the cost of David's life so she only gets half of her dream. That's literally as close to happy as anything in the Cyberpunk genre is supposed to get. Cyberpunk is not supposed to be happy or hopeful...well, there is hope...but only to get dashed upon the harsh realities of any Cyberpunk world. Just look at some other notable examples: Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Battle Angel Alita, Judge Dredd, RoboCop, The Matrix, Cowboy Bebop, Æon Flux, Cleopatra 2525, Shadowrun, The Metal Gear series of games, and Ready Player One. What you are trying to define as Cyberpunk is what is called "cyberprep" which takes the aesthetics of Cyberpunk but packages it in a utopia. Just because you weren't happy that a show literally called "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" was exactly what it said on the tin instead of a nice happy cyberprep show because you didn't think they were different is a pretty terrible reason to crap all over the entire genre. And...also...the biblical overtones you kept pointing out are nowhere in the show...and if they were...Lucy would be derived from Lucifer so not sure where you were trying to go with that...

[@spidermonkey508]

I always heard cyberpunk described as high tech, low life. Which is edgrunners, 2077, blade runner, neuromancer, she doesn't realize that the punk in cyberpunk is basically there cause it sounds cool.

[@hunted4blood]

I think your whole thing about the "-punk" suffix is built on pretty shaky ground. Like sure you can argue about what "punk" as a word in and of itself is, but the "-punk" suffix and "punk" genre are almost completely unrelated. I think irl punks get WAY too hung up on the traditional use of the word to get this, which is really ironic if you think about it. If you actually examine the common features between cyberpunk, steampunk, biopunk, and to a lesser extent solarpunk, it pretty much exclusively refers to sci-fi settings where technological incongruity is front and center. While I wouldn't say it's an essential feature of the genres, the prominence of body horror in cyberpunk, steampunk, and biopunk is hard to ignore. These settings put a great deal of emphasis on unnatural conglomerations of man and technology, and they almost always present the union as awkward and hamfisted. When cyberpunk stories do choose to forgo full-on body horror, they always at least maintain the theme of technology being haphazardly integrated into places it doesn't belong, like architecture, the environment, society, or the human mind itself. The lone exception is solarpunk, which is largely a reaction to cyberpunk and so omits the horror entirely, but still prominently features technology integrated into the environment in a beneficial, but still unnatural, way.

[@RamenAwesomeNoodles]

Don’t know how much I can add to the discussion in a comment but I really enjoyed this video essay and it got me thinking. I think the main cast of edgerunners are actually full of hope, but what makes NC so scary is how it turns that hope against them. One of the things I noticed about David, Lucy, Maine and Becca is that they all *know* on some level that edgerunners are doomed, but their actions betray that they don’t fully *believe* it. They all have hope that they’re going to be the exception to the rule and that things will go differently for them. When numerous characters point this out (Katsuo, Doc, Jimmy, Tanaka, Smasher), whether out of cruelty, curiosity, or concern, David blows them off: he’s special and he just knows it. Obviously, by the shows conclusion we find out these characters weren’t special at all (at least not by the bloody standards of edgerunning). Despite this, I don’t think Pondsmith is trying to tell us there is no hope. Rather, I think he wants us to question how we can best use that hope, and train us to see through the manufactured illusions that hijack our dreams for a better life. Edgerunning is a hyper-stylized, hyper-violent metaphor for how capitalism works to fetishize our hopes and sell them back to us as a “lifestyle” (i.e. a product). Tanaka’s attempt to bargain with David is perhaps the best example of this point, as Tanaka spells out edgerunning’s worst kept secret: Every “gig” finds its way back to an office desk. Edgerunners are cash cows; unofficial, disposable workers who don’t even realize they’re doing corpo dirty work-all while consuming corporate made products to boot. If edgerunners were ever unified, they’d be an army to make NC shudder. So the system co-opts them, and manipulates them into killing themselves and each other by selling hollow facsimiles of the things they truly desire. NC sells sex, because it can’t offer love. Sells fashion, because it can’t offer identity. Sells drugs, because it can’t offer purpose. Sells violence, because it can’t offer change. The tragedy of Edgerunners is David fails to realize he’s hooked on a product until its too late. At the point he tells Lucy the trip to the moon was cheaper then he thought its implied they could have left! But David took all the wrong lessons from Gloria and Maine. Gloria told him to rise, Maine told him to run. They both wanted David to live on and be safe, but through the distorted lens of Night City, were misunderstood by David that what they wanted was for him to be great. Pondsmith’s often repeated quote:“Cyberpunk isn’t about saving the world, its about saving yourself,” is at its core, hopeful. Lucy escapes-it costs her everything, but her escape is still a faint light at the end of the tunnel. Pondsmith’s world does try to give us hope, however jaded, cautious, and cynical it may be. Self-improvement is the first step for many on the quest for a better, more meaningful, more purposeful life. Many times, before we can save others, we have to figure out how to save ourselves first.

[@kitinthecoalshed]

As someone who wears techware or techpunk also called techninja-I found a lot of the clothing designs and even architecture to resemble my tiny alt community. As well as corpo-goth, military goth and military-tech wear. I have the book on cyberpunk 2077 as well as played it and when you walk outside your apartment occasionally they are there talking about the styles that you see everyone wears. It’s a lot of dark corporate and militaristic corporate style. The neon punk really gets to me though as well as dystopic-wear and dystopia-goth. Oh! And the occasional athleisure lol. That’s what I’ve found so far that characters wear in both the anime and in the game. You occasionally have the whole vibe of cyberpunk but it’s like a lie. A facade. 5:32 Kind of like how people are lying that they are free in that neo-capitalistic corpo hell scape they call Night City.

[@MissyMona]

I wasn't able to watch the anime due to it's violence. But I'm happy your take away was actually much more positive. That despite David not being able to imagine a life for himself Lucy still did. She still went to the moon. Because she had a DREAM and didn't let anything beat it out of her. Cyberpunk IS only punk if we go against the grain. Lucy ends up being the only one who truly manifests the title because of her willingness to hope. This was excellent, it got my blood flowing. Your commentary is superb and I love your team.

[@ShaundiS-f3y]

As i said, Cyerpunk 2020 from 2077 and so on is a WARNING, and as of now, we still ignored it.

[@dianasaurus3174]

This is why The Star ending for the 2077 game is one of my favorites. Is, in my opinion, the one that is the most -punk in the whole game. Spoilers: The ending basically involves V, the main character, raiding Arasaka Tower with the Aldecaldos, their new found nomad family, in order to save their own life. And then, after you've done all you had to do in Night City, you just leave with them. It's one of the most beautiful sequences of the game, finally abandoning the city of broken dreams and empty promises. And as V reflects on this, they drop the necklace that represented their mortality, what bound them to the city, what once was their big dream of being the best mercenary to ever exist, and just ride into the horizon under the starry sky, feeling the bresh breeze of the night desert and ready to embrace whatever the future awaits them along their loved ones. Sure, it might not be the ending V had been working for at first, but by breaking away from the city, finding love and people to care about and basically fucking up Arasaka, it's one of the most punk endings. In a world where you're supposed to be the best, they simply break away. In a world where you're supposed to only care for yourself, they find a family. It doesn't always have to be a Blaze of Glory. Most of the time, all that matters is being there for each other.

[@milkwashere2410]

cyberpsychosis isn't actually something you get from too much cyberwear,in the game you can do enough cyberpsycho missions you can find out that companies use cyberpsychos on people with a lot of cyberwear

[@jlnrdeep]

Nice a positive message about Solarpunk in a cyberpunk video is a welcome plottwist kudos, and a small correction. Spoilers about Edgerunners ahead, you have been warned: A second character of the main crew also survives, it's Falco the getaway driver, he even gives you a sidequest ingame in Cyberpunk 2077.

[@shadquirk607]

Brilliant work.

[@damianallen4964]

The biblical naming and naming in general went almost completely over my head the first couple of times. Thanks for pointing it out! I've been trying to pay more attention to archetypes and symbols, and you've pointed a couple out worth considering. Good work!

[@idlescree]

Glad it was helpful! This is one essay I feel like we learned a lot on, but I'm really glad that you found it of value!

[@damianallen4964]

@idlescree It also helps that I devour anything and everything critiquing this anime. I love everything about it and value unconventional angles.

[@toxictom9029]

Stumbled across this by accident. What an awesome video. I'd love to hear about the game, but that's really a time consuming endeavour, but only because of how long the game is, but also about how many facets it has, once you stop chasing the main quest and go explore.

[@islamic_marxism_leninism]

Absolutely phenomenal piece! I loved every bit of it and related way too much with the analysis (both in how I've seen modern America becoming, and in a personal feeling)

[@tiltedairi]

what a great video! I would disagree that the genre needs to be about hope (which as you said the Cyberpunk world, as written by Mike Pondsmith, does not have). But the way you said everything was so perfectly well done. 10/10 vid

[@MegaFrog]

I don't think you should separate corporate dystopia from cyberpunk as a separate genre, especially since you placed Bladerunner and Necromancer in that category, which are two of the most foundational cyberpunk works ever made. Corporate dystopia isn't a genre, but rather an element that is found in many other genres, including cyberpunk.

[@dzrmgkva]

Thanks, i cried near the end

[@idlescree]

*sips a bat sized mug of audience tears*

[@HedgehogEditor]

It's what we aim to do. lol

[@ironpudding5679]

Love this video! I really liked the biblical comparisons to all the characters and how they symbolically follow. Something a friend told me is every story in this version of cyberpunk (2077 and its universe) will end with the protagonist ultimately effecting no change in the world. He also compared it to the Noir genre. Hearing the David v Goliath narrative in this really seems to reinforce that idea for me, as obviously in the biblical work, David was victorious, but as you pointed out, in this story, David is reduced to another blood stain on the street. Great work!

[@hakonsgaming535]

I find that I can't agree with your thesis. Maybe it's because I'm older, old enough to remember punk and cyberpunk in their original forms. Cyberpunk more than anything is not an expression of hope, cyberpunk is a WARNING. It is a literally neon sign displaying a future that is not merely possible but likely if we don't start making changes today. If there is hope in cyberpunk it is the hope that we don't let it get that bad, that we turn away before it's too late. In cyberpunk the characters never change the world for the better, because the world is bigger than that, you can't fight high tide by yourself, but the implicit message is that you don't have to if you start preparing before the beach has been eroded. Edgrunners is a warning screaming at us from a future we are hurtling towards that doesn't have to be, if only we'd listen. In a meta sense that is the most punk thing about it, it's trying to get us to turn aside before it's too late, edgerunners is what the world, what WE will look like when it is too late.

[@retro6575]

I gave 2077 a shot after watching Edgerunners, and I'm glad I did. 2077 is an incredible game. Visually, mechanically, and especially narratively. Walking around Night City is an experience. The views in the distance are always beautiful, but your immediate surroundings? Always disgusting. Trashfires, skezzed out junkies moaning in an alley, shots being fired just a block away. Occasionally, one of the Night City's sensationalist advertisements breaks through the noise. The only place you can get away from these sights and sounds is the badlands, in the desert full of rusty, decrepit wind turbines. From here, Night City is still visible (especially at night), it's neon lights glowing, the three holographic billboards stretching into the sky. From out here, outside the city, it looks beautiful, like the City of Dreams it promises to be. But you've been there. You know what that beauty hides.

[@ryanartward]

Damn you had to start this vid with my fav track Resist and Disorder. 🤟🤟 Also, i totally didnt see the connection with King David. I assumed it was just a randomly chosen name.

[@santanaeatis8239]

Absolutely incredible! Cheers to those dreaming of a better tomorrow.

[@davinogarcia5665]

Dan, that was a amazing video!!

[@sebastianalbornoz4586]

The is one of the most beautiful video essays i have listened to

[@nauticalnachos8158]

I like the resist and disorder in the beginning I listen to it all the time its so good, as well as kill the messenger

[@JaBooBaLoo]

If you take the advanced tech out, cyberpunk feels like a version of US's top 5 cities.

[@CyberpunkF]

Love Cyberpunk the main issue imo is technology is both the solution and the problem.

[@_zurr]

I will say there's a survivor of David's crew that you're missing: Falco. Dude was a real one through and through, and the reason there's two survivors instead of just himself. I don't know what he got up to after the end of the show, but he's probably the best example of a Night City runner, a guy who does his job, has honor, and lives out with a fat payday and fatter book of stories.

[@Mark6O9]

There's no happy endings in Nightcity. Only more depressing ones than the previous options

[@jonathenweise6840]

Never fade away