SPOILERS
This show was the ultimate bait and switch-- making me believe David was more than a cis-het-male self-insert and that Lucy's Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype might have actually been badass. David is a self-insert, gets buff and ugly, doesn't learn from Maine's cyberpsychosis, and proceeds to pull the same shit as his supposed father-figure/mentor-- but the show doesn't fail to remind you of his love for Lucy that never goes beyond a teen boy's wet dream. Lucy would have been better off committing to the MPDG trope, but that's ripped from the audience the second her life suddenly revolves around a teen boy that never gave her a reason to like him in the first place. RIP Gurney-Scene Lucy. You will be missed.

I forgot the point of the show halfway through with the juggling of plots. Faraday backstabs them, Kiwi backstabs them, Lucy continues to keep secrets from David by being aloof and mysterious, David is bitching about why his girlfriend never talks to him because she's aloof and mysterious-- and then it ultimately becoming their downfall as David gets one-shot by Adam Smasher. Yawn. David and Lucy ruined the show-- zero chemistry-- it was like dogshit being shoved down my throat-- nails on chalkboard every second they shared a scene together. The writers would have done us a favor by making Rebecca the main protag of the show instead, as she was literally the only character showing any sign of having even a single brain cell-- but wait-- that's also shot to shit as she, and every other main character, is blown to blood and guts-- so I don't even get the satisfaction in being even remotely upset over her death as it was executed purely for shock factor. Fart noise.

If I was God, I'd want to be in the same room as the writers pitching the plot for this show-- that exact moment, because I know there was at least one person that had the right idea, but the rest of them diluted it in a puddle of piss and spit. Why didn't David's fixation in fulfilling other people's dreams cause friction between him and Lucy? Instead, it was Lucy's aloofness and mysteriousness. And for what? To protect David? And for what? They could have easily been foils of one another considering Lucy's tragic backstory of-- her words-- "fulfilling someone else's dream". Why was she so fixated on David not dying then? She escapes Arasaka to live for herself only for her to end up living for someone else? She was so ready to up and abandon Maine and Dorio, but for some reason David is the exception? I could write an essay on the main couple's dynamic with each other and each point would sound good in theory, but then you watch the show just to see how poorly it was executed. I'd believe anyone telling me this show was a tragedy, because boy, it sure was fucking tragic.

Aside from the meat, plot, and writing of the anime-- I give the world building, concept, and lore an A+. Especially for fans of the game. Terminology is the only thing that would probably hold people who haven't played the game back a bit when watching the anime, but the writers were solid in keeping everything within context.

People coming back to the game because of the anime-- I totally get, because I'd re-install to remind myself just how much better the game is too.