Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 review: A beautiful reminder of what makes us human

I went into Netflix 's Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 fully expecting to have my heart broken.

Again.

After all, the original 2022 anime from CD Projekt Red and Studio Trigger made us fall in love with David and Lucy, then reminded us that love isn't enough to survive Night City.

Four years later, I still can't hear "I Really Want to Stay at Your House" without feeling a little emotional.

How do you follow up a story that resonated so deeply with audiences? More importantly, how do you make people care that much all over again? As it turns out, by telling a very different kind of story.

Edgerunners 2 doesn't just live up to its predecessor.

In some ways, I think it surpasses it.

That's not a declaration I make lightly.

The first Edgerunners was a remarkable achievement in animated storytelling, a kinetic, emotionally devastating tragedy anchored by David and Lucy's love story.

But I don't think the measure of a great Cyberpunk story is how thoroughly it breaks your heart.

What I love about Edgerunners 2 is that it finds its emotional power somewhere else.

Rebellious teenager Talia has replaced nearly her entire body with cyberware, much to her mother's dismay.

Credit: NETFLIX © 2026 Rather than centering its story on one relationship, the second season introduces a new ensemble of characters whose lives intersect in unexpected ways.

There's Roman, a young aspiring filmmaker who would rather experience Night City through the lens of his analog camcorder than through the simulated reality of a braindance.