(No spoilers)
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Personal Enjoyment 10/10
As a huge Cyberpunk enjoyer, this show has got everything I'd have ever wanted in a Cyberpunk anime and more. I had high expectations for this and this blew it out of the blue. This delivered much much more than everyone'd ever imagined it could. This is imo Studio Trigger's best work yet and arguably(or not) the best Cyberpunk anime there has ever been.
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Story 9/10
This story captured the essence and struggle that one's constantly feeling in while living in a dystopian Cyberpunk world. The portrayal of the huge parallel differences between the low life and the mega high tech corporations, the underground night life, the unbalanced tech-driven society and the every human's self-priority driven actions was on point. No one is doing what they do for personal reasons, they are just doing it to survive, which humanity does best. David's struggle from a normal school kid to an underground fixer and a Cyberpunk legend might just be how everyone in the night city has to gain a name and reputation for themselves. No one is special in night city but everyone thinks they are special and that drives them to their end.
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Characters 10/10
Everyone in the crew has a story to tell and the past they want to forget and move on from, but it is still dwindling in their life. In such a short amount of time, Cyberpunk managed the audience to get attached to the characters, feel what they feel and want to know their full story.
- David is the selfless and honest boy who is too good to be born in this world full of self-important humans. He doesnt have a reason to survive until he met Lucy and the crew and now they have become his reason. His dream is to make others' dreams come true whatever it takes, and that mindset isnt what is fit to survive in night city but he defies the norm and survives and makes himself a name.
- Lucy is the one with cold and laid back exterior but a warm, emotional and sentimental heart inside. Constantly struggling since her childhood, she has been through it all. She does have a dream, to make it to the moon, and its just a distant dream until she met David, that became a goal instead of a dream. Always trying to protect David over herself and everything else, she's the perfect combination of good and wicked (in a good way). I definitely want more of her story for sure.
- Maine is like a caring father who always look out for his crew over anything and he also had a rough past that drove him to this point and will drive him to the end. Rebecca managed to grab everyone's hearts(deservedly) in such a short time and she definitely deserved more time for her story. Kiwi is portrayed as your average Cyberpunk survivor and she was arguably one of the coolest characters in night city, and the same goes for Faraday who is corpo-obsessed and does everything he can to climb up the social ladder. Falco's moustache alone is the epitome of society.
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Animation 10/10
This doesnt even need to be explained coz Trigger always delivers bangers with top notch quality and this definitely even one ups their previous works. Cyberpunk world can be the coolest thing ever if portrayed correctly and they definitely did that perfectly. The amount of care they put into creating this immersive world is truly insane and you can feel the love they put into this shows in every sec of this. Just look at some of these:
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Soundtrack 11/10
This soundtrack will make you feel the emotions you didnt know you could. The OP and ED are both masterpieces. Every track in this definitely dissolves well with the scenes and that makes the scenes much more impactful and emotional. What's even more crazy is they reused a lot of the tracks from the game and those just feel so in place for the show that it just seems like they're written for the show. The songs I have been hearing all the time in the game will hit totally different after this show.
Connection with the game
I guarantee you will definitely want to play/replay Cyberpunk 2077 after this show, and I am one of them, and I'd recommend you give the game a chance too. They really crafted it carefully to blend in with the game so you can find places, people, and things that were in the show in the game. Thats a good feeling. Its crazy how this show will make everyone invested and interested in this world that this revived the game(which is already good enough after massive updates) and it will make playing the game a unique experience that you'd have never experienced without this show.
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Enjoyability 10/10
You wouldnt even get to decide whether you should invest your time on this because once you starts, you cant stop and when it ends, you'll be left there wanting more of this show and wish it would have been longer. This show is full of high octane action sequences and quiet and emotional moments that it wont let your brain rest for a sec and will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the experience.
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Potential complaints
The only real complaint might be that people can argue that this was so short to even get invested and that itself means people cant get enough of this show and they really wanted more, and if you do want more, you can experience it in the game. Thats what they aimed for anyway.
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Overall 9.5/10
This is a must-watch show for every anime fan or just animation fan in general. You can definitely see the passion and love they put into this one hell of a banger show. This show is not just a hollow action packed show with nothing else. It is a portrayal of one's struggle to survive in the ever changing Night City or life in particular and how certain events can change a human for the better or for the worse. This show hits every mark in every direction, top notch quality and crisp action scenes, an interesting plot, amazing characters who managed to shine bright in this short amount of time, immersive worldbuilding, heavenly soundtrack, perfectly delivered epic/emotional moments, and much much more.