Disclaimer: This review is subjective and reflects my personal experience and opinions as a viewer. It may not align with others' interpretations and opinions. A re-watch and further exploration of the series may alter this review in the future. And be wary of spoilers. Get off this page now if you don't want to get spoiled tf out. Also this is such a sloppy review and I don't feel like writing a clean one as I'm still in that particular emotional state from watching this.
This piece of anime or should I call it 'art', has been in my watchlist from the beginning of time (JK maybe from the very beginning I started getting into anime) and I was always skeptical of the hype. The three factors that motivated me for watching this was it's short length, the hype and Lucy. And sorry to break it to you, this was definitely worth my precious time I usually spend gazing into anime thighs. I should have watched this sooner. That is, before consuming great number of other works. I call it weeb paradox. The more anime you indulge in, the more it makes you numb towards what should be exciting, tear jerking, legs shaking, wall screaming etc. etc. Just like the protagonist in this show who was addicted to chrome as he forgets the fact that metal can only take you so far and we all are men of flesh and blood.
The show starts very chaotically with some gruesome violence and hardcore sexual imagery of the NightCity and establishes this fight for power and money and people who get caught in between them within the first episode.
The brief pans through the face and shadows of the city shows an existence of an hierarchy of power. That is the corps and the underdogs like David and his mother who aspires to ascend the Arasaka towers and his mother etching this dream in her son which she couldn't achieve. And the snobs in the towers who are corrupt and fed to the nose. A truly dystopian world. They have done a very nice job with the city building that too within a single episode. Night City is truly a city of dreams and dreamers.
This was my introduction into the cyberpunk universe and had some hard time trying to connect to the world since no prior explanation was given regarding the plot details and terms. A little bit of outside search solved that. The absence of 'true translation' but an English with a Neo-Afro-American slang, was my first time and caused a little bit frustration since I'm not a native English speaker but an enjoyer of subs. But it was unique in it's own way and you find yourself slowly adapting to the NightCity ways way sooner that expected.
ART and MUSIC
The quality and details of the animation accompanied by the electronic jazz which isn't overwhelming as you might expect hits the spot right from the beginning. While, the aesthetics and cinematography in this is anime is the best in the world in my opinion. The color grading and the sharp images, magically take you to the world and I could even feel the disgust and smell of the dirty slums of Santo Domingo I was literally David through all of this show. The choice of bgm at the final scene and then the silence that follows leaves the viewer with a lost, but a complete feeling. The same emotion Lucy felt at the beginning of her new life which unfortunately exists only in our imagination.
STORY
The story sets off when David, sad from his mother's demise, frustration of not being able to protect or fulfill her dreams, anger towards the system and people that mocked them and helplessness to do anything because of the lack of power, makes an indecisive decision which would eventually lead to his heroic rise and heroic fall. He turns to a life of crime and murder and becomes an edgerunner after his fated meeting with Lucy because he had no other choice if he wanted to live. It was obvious form the moment that they were destined for life. This was one of the shows where, i came to like a character even after i hated her to the bone in the beginning. She didn't deserve this much fr.
He slowly loses his innocence and gradually begins his transformation from the noob edgerunner to a more natural one. The sudden death of Jimmy and his smile with the last breath foreshadows the grim fate awaiting every edgerunner.
The story progress, leaving many death flags in the trail.
Later, David witness the downfall of his boss who he looked upto with starry eyes, die such an inevitable and not so calm death unlike Jimmy's. Still not holden aback by the fact that chrome can come with a great price or just that maybe he realises his fate which was decided the moment he made that choice and he knows it's too late to back out since he's too in the game. He just succumbs to his fate, gets more augmentation fixed to his body by making believing 'he's built differently'. But the truth is just as the ripperdoc says at the end 'just another tale for the next dreamer
Soon he surpasses his peers with his newly attained powers, which comes with a flipside of losing oneself that is cyber psychosis. He reaches the peaks of his criminal life. Once a boy who pushed Braindance snuff porn for a quick buck is now the big shot of Night City. He faces many hardships and the loss of many comrades which he valued more than his own life. He starts to go overboard with augmentation convincing himself he is special. The One. I'm not like the others. I'm born to never sit back. No one is left to challenge his power now.
As he gets familiar with the life of crime and murder accompanied by the heavy chrome he's packing, he slowly begins to lose the sense of his life. He wasn't able to save his mother or his comrades, he made himself believe that their goals and dreams are on his shoulders now and attributes his own life to these fake goals he made to convince himself to move forward in life. He lost the count of people he killed. Once a boy who refused to touch a gun has now grown numb of killing. He isn't even feeling remorse after killing a bystander which reminded him of his own mother. His inevitable sleepless nights are here and on several nights, he sits in front of the TV like a zombie and occasionally gazes at his mothers ashes as of like reminding himself of his purposes and past and what needs to done to protect his loved ones. Whilst Lucy unaware of his condition is in her own world because she was too invested in her side business and ignored the reality even if she was madly trying to protect David.
He briefly forgets about Lucy. The love of his life, the promise he made with her as she isn't the part of their team anymore. Their distance is growing farther each day to the point of David suggests them breaking up. While Lucy is staking her life to save David from being used as a test subject of Arasaka. It was very painful to watch the gradual, suffering and degrading downfall of David, Lucy and their gang. I mean Even Rebecca had to die before she got to express herself before David. It was obvious, Rebecca had feelings for David. She was the one who cared for David maybe more than Lucy. That poor thing was such adorable too.
In the end, the dark fate which awaits every runner eventually catches upto him. The one thing Lucy tried to prevent has come to reality. And ironically, it was for her sake too that David accepts his fate.
At his final moments, he briefly remembers the promises and moments he shared with Lucy about taking her to the moon and the happiest moments he shared with his gang along with a glimpse of him witnessing each of their pathetic deaths, in sadness thinking he couldn't save them but he must atleast save Lucy and make her dreams come into reality before going out in a blaze of glory. He left her a message apologising for not being with her in the end. he did die. with satisfaction and a smile on his face.
STORYTELLING
With all that said, Lucy really loved David more than he thought, she only wanted David to live because her life is worthless from the beginning and she has no place to return to unlike David. She says it from the start that they are different. So she hides the truth from him even when she knew she will lose his love.
But for David, Lucy has a purpose in life which David doesn't have anymore. He just lives for the sake of other. First it was his mother. Second it was his boss, Maine which he failed both. Now what only left for him was Lucy and he didn't wanted her to end up like the others and he gives up his life for Lucy. That was his only dream in the end.
But the plot had many flaws including the pacing. It felt very much rushed. There were phases of steady storytelling and also instances of just dumping the info in on the viewer in a short amount of time. Should this been a 12-13 episode show, it would have been way much better. It feels like it was rushed to conclusion and they were working with the constraint of 10 episodes. But even for that, they did an amazing job with it. Also, the chemistry between Lucy and David. I won't say it was bad. But it lacked purpose. I can see they are similar in many ways and had same circumstances in life. But I can't find why lucy would tell David her dreams out of the blue for someone she had just met few hours ago. And fall for each other when she betrayed him and technically killed him that too in a world where no one should trust anyone than themselves.
CONCLUSION
This was an inevitable and beautiful end to this anime. I'm just sad that, I won't be able to see anymore of their story. Deep down in my heart I wished this could have a happy ending where David somehow manages to survive and they tour the moon and lived happily ever after, even if it's very unrealistic even in the world of fiction. Since Everyone is dead except Lucy and there won't be a sequel we can only make our own ships. And in my opinion, this anime is not overrated. Its just the right amount of rating.
I just wish if they couldn't have lived a life together, they could've atleast reunited in death as, now lucy has achieved the dream of her life. The purpose of her life. But that's unlikely to happen since David died for the sake of saving her.
My interpretation to the conclusion - She realises her true feelings when she finally visits the moon. Which was to visit the moon with David and live the rest of their lives peacefully. Now as she has no purpose in life, she tries end her life and letting go. But she is taken aback by briefly remembering the David and their fun times in the brain dance after they first met and the promise they made. Realising letting go would the worst thing to do to David and she mourns for David one last time before leaving her past in the moon and heading back to earth to live a life outside of edgerunning.