The beginning of the work indicates the trend towards the crazy or negative side of the idea of changing human organs and replacing them with similar ones of metal and electronic circuits, and to what extent a person can go on losing parts of his body until he becomes just a soul (the ghost) in a body of metal (the shell).
Yes, (ghost) and (shell) are borrowings from the famous movie “ghost in the shell” and I will refer to it as a standard in most places as it is the best in embodying the cyber environment in terms of concepts, world, characters and dialogues.
It may
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be said that it is an unfair comparison between the two works, but in fact they are both presenting the same ideas, but it is the method of presentation and implementation of them that distinguishes one from the other. Even if Cyberpunk: Edgerunners wasn't meant to delve into it, in many cases writers have clashed with those ideas and had to deal with them.
From here we understand that the direction of the work will take these topics seriously (to some extent) and present the paradoxes that result from these options, meaning that the field is open to many possibilities, although it is the quick-start approach based on adrinaline is not the best way to start with stories of this kind.
Let's talk about David's personality and his being a person from the lower stratum of society and his difficult life by providing money and daily necessities such as cleaning, renting, etc. And his mother's diligent role in providing a living day by day, even at the expense of her health, is a wonderful example of a mother's sacrifice for her children.
Cracks appear in David's character after the scene of the car with his mother, while he was arguing with his mother about his future and what is best for him to be surprised that after all her sacrifice, that "David" simply wants to withdraw from the study because he does not integrate with the students, and this in itself is a shortcoming in realizing the character. And that all of this does not matter, as a person does not give up at the first obstacle in on his way.
But here we discover to what degree David's lack any kind of feelings when he hears about the sacrifices his mother makes for him, something that he should have realized for a long time without having to be told about tol, unfortunately despite the mother's crying and burning her feelings for her children and her fear of losing him, then David try's to comfort his mother with most basic words possible even treating like a crying child to some extent.
Then comes the event that turned David's life upside down, which is the death of his mother in a traffic accident due to cyborg mercenaries, or as they are said to be working as Edgerunners. After the accident, his mother lives in the intensive care unit, so he prays for the cup of suffering that she used to supplicate day and night in order to provide him with a living before herself.
To be surprised later by the death of his mother after complications due to the weakness of her body as a result of excessive work, here and in this place it was necessary to highlight the importance of the mother in the lives of her children, but I do not know why they made decision to not let David shed even a single tear for his mother. Although he shed tears in other places later.
This unreasonable obfuscation of feelings is the biggest crack in my opinion with David's character, how can you love or know the value of a person if you don't grieve for him and how if this individual is your father or mother all that is left for you in this miserable world.
From there begins the transformation in David's life and his entry into the world of crime in order to raise money by employing the automatic weapon that his mother had in these matters, and here his path intersects with the character "Lucy".
Lucy is a better built character than "David" fortunately, her behavior and actions are mature and her personality is strong,unfortunately David's weakness and his submission to others even after Lucy lied to him and stabbed him in the back later we see how much David has evolved from a dull person to another even worse one, I don't understand how he ended up the leader of an entire team.
As for the edgerunners team that David joins with as the story progresses, it is generally cliched and lacks a distinctive footprint. Almost all of the team members except Lucy and David we don't know any details/backstory about their characters, even when they do it (like in case of Maine when he gone mad), the scenes are incomprehensible or inappropriately placed.
Maine unfortunately was a victim of ill-considered decisions on the part of the writing, they delusional the viewer into having a backstory for him and all we saw is just a psychological struggle because of the amount of chromium in his body and to lose control of himself turning him into a cyberpunk which is a cyborg's nightmare.
A character of this importance (Maine) should have had the same amount of attention as the main characters, so what is the problem if he was established better in order to understand his goals, causes and motives, and not just a hasty to move the course of the story.
The side of evil in this work had a big role in the story, as all these developments in the modifications to humans are but an example of humans' continuous quest to destroy their society, but the problem here is that the characters of the work were not dealing directly with the heads of evil, but rather was in a mediator between them called Faraday.
I would have liked if they gave more dimensions to the character of "Faraday" other than being just a mediator who orders and orders. Unfortunately, in the end, a cliché evil emerged and all his concern is money only. He does not have rules, concepts or thought to follow in his actions, and this is unfortunately something that is weaker than the credibility of evil at work.
As for the embodiment of Night City, it was not successful, as most of the story takes place inside closed rooms or isolated areas of the city, although the city is the incubator for all the components of the work, but they did not give it its due importance, but rather it was just a glass cup that has no weight or color .
Here, I would like to return to the movie Ghost in the Shell and its wonderful embodiment of cities and the environment in it.
The animation in general was good, and in certain cases,it was excellent, but I was surprised by the director decision that whenever David used his cyber weapon (and in turn, he increases his speed dramatically) instead of presenting fast paced scenes, he decided to present them in slow motion most of the work, and this is annoying and fatal to the goal of The weapon itself.
He was supposed to provide quick scenes that express the ability of the weapon until the viewer reaches the capabilities and the amount of superiority offered by this weapon, and not just slow scenes that give you the "feel" of fake speed and this was in itself a big let down.
The music in general is wonderful and fits the work atmosphere, especially in the off-action scenes, and the audio also has a share of praise, although I wish they had given David's weapon a distinctive sound when activating instead of the nerve frame every time. Also the ending song was really calm and beautiful, which really fit Lucy's character.
In the end, the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners series deals mostly with the cyber side from the Main Stream point of view, as it presents action and personal relationships above the philosophical and ethical side, something that everyone who has seen and influenced Ghost in the Shell will notice.
Even if the work makers did not aim to delve into this aspect, it often collides with the content of the work, causing cracks that greatly reduce the impact of the story on the viewer.
The series offers a narrow look at this type of business, but it does ruin it, so if you have time for it, watch it, otherwise watch Ghos in the shell.
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Sep 14, 2022
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
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The beginning of the work indicates the trend towards the crazy or negative side of the idea of changing human organs and replacing them with similar ones of metal and electronic circuits, and to what extent a person can go on losing parts of his body until he becomes just a soul (the ghost) in a body of metal (the shell).
Yes, (ghost) and (shell) are borrowings from the famous movie “ghost in the shell” and I will refer to it as a standard in most places as it is the best in embodying the cyber environment in terms of concepts, world, characters and dialogues. It may ... |
