So after work I decided to binged watch season 2 of EdgeRunners after work. I lowered my expectations since I know it won't match Season 1.

And yeah. Season 1 is still a masterpiece. But I did not expect the somewhat happy ending that almost all of them were alive( Idk about D)

It felt like a slow burn at first because while watching the early episodes I got convinced that yeah there are 4 protagonists in s2 compared to 1 in s1.

I was expecting a nod or reference to season 1 and when I was on ep 4, it was titled "Somebody that I used to know?" and i kinda expected that from that episode and yeah they mentioned and even shown a pic of David Martinez in that episode. As confirmed also in ep 7 or 8 that they were in a list of individuals with high cyberware resistance. As one of the Arasaka Officers from s1 came to talk to D, then D flatlined her.

Kingsly's arc was nice. Like he knew the consequences of too much chrome and decided not to re install cyberware. Was expecting him to reinstall it at the end when Avida was killed.

Although with 4 protagonist that have different backgrounds, this season feels lackluster. I wasn't attached to it as to it in s1. The 10 episodes is short if you have 4 protagonist. And they also introduce relevant side characters towards the end(Omi). I did enjoyed Omi's limited time tho. Wish we could've have gotten more.

What disappoints me the most is that D's name is short for David, and on ep 10 D's story tragic sacrifice or the way he just handles the megacorps felt forced as a tribute or idk what trigger or cdproject was trying to achieve there but I felt like they wanted to re create the intensity of the ending ep of s1. But it didn't have the right ingredients. And also why did they made D's name David as well? Like I know a lot of us love David Martinez, the nod of him on ep 4, 8 and a little bit on the ending ep was nice. But making Ds name David as well, I thought there will be a plot twist like or something that D's name as David would be have a deeper meaning. But there was nothing. It felt like Trigger/CdProject just wanted another David to go out there sacrificing his life and killing the mega corps.

That D and capri managed to get to the moon station at the end? i rewatched the footage and we can see the red flash go up high and reach out before the final bombardement, do you all think D and Capri both managed to hack into it and perhaps this will maybe someday be explored more? Or is it just wishfull thinking from me? I honestly expected/wanted much more of D x Capri dynamic and screen time. We could have had them explore the net, her slowly learning emotions (as she did get influenced by Talia's anger). D embraced her at the end and i wonder if it could have been a more interesting/emotional scene if we had more. What do you think?

Watched all of s2 today 11/10 I love her she is just trigger style the whole show Yoshinori Kanada would be so proud that his style was used for a whole character all the time and final statement WOULD

The second season was absolutely amazing but I can't find the name of the song that plays during the ending/credits of episode 10, it was a really good song and I NEED TO FIND IT PLEASE 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏. thank you.

Especially high forever and watson

My Rating for Season 2 is 4 out of 10 which I watched on Premier Tier on Netflix

Rating for Episode 1 9 of 10

The Premise with ths 8 Year Kid photographer who is supposed to be 12 Years Old makes this just too Kiddy and non-adult and non-Cyberpunk.

Only when dealing with the Adult Characters do you get a real sense of the Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunners that everyone Loves. By Episode 6 I was sick of that little kids moralizing and yelling at Adults in situations he had business even saying anything.

Too much yelling from this little 8 Year Old Kid and his age just makes the whole thing PG-13 and ridiculous like they made this for a Teenage Audience instead of the Adults who love Cyberpunk 2077.

Its a 4 out of 10 at best for the Season.

For some background, I'm a clinical psychologist from UCSD and I've been diagnosed with psychosis for a while now. I've personally experienced five full psychotic episodes, and I think going through something like that changes the way you think about media surrounding altered states of consciousness. 

Cyberpsychosis is obviously fiction and is not the same thing as real psychosis in the real world however they managed to portray some symptoms and aspects of it extremely well.

Psychosis is one of those things where you can’t explain it in words until you have experienced it yourself. It's not necessarily like in movies where someone suddenly starts seeing things and immediately realizes something is wrong. When you're going through psychosis, your sense of self and reality is completely altered. Things can take on meanings they wouldn't normally have, and your understanding of what's happening around you can change in ways that are difficult to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it and I think Edgerunners show this extremely well.

One thing I think Edgerunners portrays particularly well is hallucinations and the way memories can begin overlapping with surroundings and memories which are all aspects of real life psychosis.

One symptom I wish the show had cleared up on is command hallucinations. We already kinda already see it but I think it could have been explored more. These involve hallucinations that instruct someone to do something, sometimes including extremely dangerous things. This is what makes psychosis them extremely dangerous and a good percentage of psychotic episodes involve them. 

Something else I find interesting is the relationship between psychosis and ego death. Freud's ideas explain this pretty well. The id represents our primitive impulses, the superego our internalized morality, and the ego mediates between these forces and external reality. Imagine these structures as separate rooms with doors maintaining boundaries between them. During a psychotic episode these doors can completely break apart. Your impulses, fears, memories, morality, and understanding of reality can become so tangled that your sense of identity is altered

I've personally experienced extreme distortions in my perception of time. I experienced what I can only describe as infinity. During my episode, I perceived that absolutely no time had passed, while simultaneously feeling as though billions of years had gone by. The entire concept of time seemed to lose its meaning. There was no longer a meaningful distinction between a moment and an eternity. 

We understand ourselves through memories of the past, awareness of the present, and expectations about the future. When that continuity disappears it can become difficult to maintain the ordinary sense of self that we've spent our entire lives constructing. 

Something else I want to mention is that Psychosis is not always negative. Some of my episodes have been genuinely life-transforming. They've changed how I think about the world and pretty much everything. I think an experience can be personally meaningful without being an accurate representation of ‘reality’ in the physical world. Something doesn't have to be objectively true and physical to permanently change the way a person understands their own existence.

I think the process of reconstructing yourself after an experience like that is extremely complicated and now that I’m in middle of season 2, I’m interested to see how they will portray King. 

please give your opinions I am genuinely curious

Don't let her lack of lower-face (and that she may also a minor) distract you from the fact that Talia tried to kiss Roman, a 12 years old :P

But seriously tho it's really sweet moment.

«Like i give a shit.» or «See you around, Roman !»

I've seen some people saying that s2 had a more "Happy/Good" Ending to it than s1

i personally don't really see it as a "happy" ending for most of the main cast specifically for talia and king

D had a banger ass ending to his character​ probably one of the best moment in s2 reminded me to much of david's death His ambiguous ending made it hit that much harder

And roman is the only one that i can say definitely yeah he got a "happy" end to his story

But for King and talia? They may still be alive but talia's still slowly withering away and all king can do is stay by her side and be there for her, king saying "lets live!!" At the end is just him saying lets enjoy our time while we can, When Talia eventually kicks the bucket kings probably coming soon after her

S1 had me bawling my eyes out when it was over because almost everyone bit the fucking dust

S2 just had me looking like david at the end of ep6 knowing the fate that awaits talia and king and wether or not D's "alive" Or not

Anyways that's just me loved this season, is it better than s1? In some aspects yeah i definitely enjoyed more of the supporting characters in this one​ than s1 not saying the supporting cast for s1 was bad or anything not at all, but s1 still comes out on top for me overall​

it's a good 8.5-9/10 for me

​

My biggest problem with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is its pacing. The anime is incredibly slow and feels lazy, without being able to justify that slowness through character development or storytelling that makes it worthwhile. The plot drags on without offering anything interesting enough to keep the viewer engaged. Overall, the anime is simply boring.

Another problem is the lack of frequent violence and action scenes. One of the most defining characteristics of the first season was how the brutality of that universe contributed to the sense of danger, the intensity of its situations, and the unpredictability of the story. In Edgerunners 2, this aspect feels much less present, weakening the show's identity.

On top of that, there are barely any genuinely significant deaths. The only one I consider meaningful is D's, which is disappointing for a story that is supposed to convey the brutality and unpredictability of Night City. It's not simply about wanting deaths for the sake of it, but about feeling that events have lost the weight and impact they should have.

The lack of climaxes also seriously hurts the experience. The narrative takes far too long to reach genuinely memorable moments, making most of the episodes feel like buildup that never delivers satisfying payoffs. In my opinion, only the final three episodes are actually good, but even their climactic moments aren't all that impressive. They improve the experience, but they don't come close to making up for the rest of the season. The only moment I genuinely find emotionally impactful is the final few minutes of episode 10. It's disappointing that an entire season manages to create so little emotional investment and saves the only moment that actually made me feel something for its very end.

The characters are another major problem. They're uninteresting, and their respective storylines feel shallow, lacking the depth necessary to make their conflicts meaningful. There's not enough development to properly understand their motivations, form a connection with them, or feel that their decisions have significant consequences. When the characters can't keep the viewer interested, the slow pacing becomes even more detrimental because the narrative offers very little in return for the patience it demands.

That's exactly what makes the contrast with the first season so disappointing. The original Edgerunners managed to combine action, violence, dramatic development, and tragedy in a much more engaging way. Its events had intensity, its characters had compelling conflicts, and the narrative knew how to create moments that left a lasting impression. The second season seems to lose many of these qualities without replacing them with anything equally compelling.

Deep down, I still want a third season, mainly because I want to find out what happens to the protagonist. Despite all my criticisms, I'm still interested in seeing where the story goes. However, I'm also worried that the series will keep getting worse, repeating the same mistakes and delivering something even more inferior. If every season is going to be a downgrade from the previous one, I think it's better to just leave Cyberpunk: Edgerunners alone. I'd rather preserve my memories of how good the first season was than watch a series I like gradually lose everything that made it special.

Ultimately, I consider Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 a massive downgrade. The sluggish pacing, lack of action, absence of meaningful deaths, lack of genuinely impactful climaxes, uninteresting characters, and shallow storylines make the experience far less engaging. The problem isn't simply that the second season is different, but that it feels inferior in precisely the areas that made the original so memorable. I still want a continuation, but not at any cost. If the quality keeps declining, it's better to just leave the series alone.

Like am I crazy 😭 he was all crying for her at the end but they met like 3 times beforehand max right?

First of all, let's start with the positives:

The character designs are incredible, and in my opinion, both the direction and the art direction surpass the first season. The soundtrack, despite not having a heavy hitter like I Really Wanna Stay at Your House, does a great job of establishing the atmosphere and capturing the vibes of this season. The pacing of the first four episodes is great (unfortunately, I can't say the same about the rest). And King is the absolute GOAT. I think he has the most well-developed character arc out of all the protagonists. I also loved the fact that they tried something different (even if that came with its own set of problems). I liked the connections to the first season as well (although the fact that both characters are named David is a bit stupid), especially the subtle references to the game.

Now, let's get into what left me feeling conflicted about this season:

The season's structure (splitting the narrative between the perspectives of four protagonists) clearly wasn't suited to just 10 episodes. I believe they needed at least 12. I felt that every character's respective arc was missing some much-needed development.

Let's start with the biggest problem... D lol. Of course, this is just my opinion, but seriously, did they really give him the most cliché revenge arc imaginable? There were moments when I genuinely couldn't be bothered to watch his scenes, especially that whole rebellion subplot, because it was OBVIOUS how it was going to end.

Time that could have been better spent developing the chemistry between Roman and Talia, which had a lot of potential to become a more "innocent" and youthful romance. Instead, it basically boils down to a single scene at the end. I'll admit I liked that scene (but that's just my inner shipper talking), though unfortunately, we're left to assume how close they actually got during the brief time skip. And despite all the memes, I believe Talia is also a minor, probably around 15 or 16.

Speaking of questionable relationships, let's go back to D. What the hell was going on between him and Capri? From the very beginning, she was just using D to get to Talia, but somehow, by the end, she actually missed him (?). Maybe I missed something, so if anyone could explain where their relationship actually developed, I'd appreciate it lol. I assume the feelings were mostly one-sided, since Capri made him feel happy and allowed him to escape his trauma in his dreams. Even so, the whole thing felt completely out of pocket.

"Out of pocket" also describes some of the contrivances that allowed King to survive multiple situations (even though he's the goat of the season). Trauma Team apparently manages to rescue him from both Arasaka and MaxTac, which would be absolutely ridiculous. But that's just as ridiculous as the Maelstrom gang sparing him when he interferes with Talia's surgery, and later when Kiril DOESN'T KILL HIM, despite the fact that we saw Kiril murder his own wife, the mother of his child without a second thought.

Kiril himself is actually a pretty one-dimensional character, with practically no nuance whatsoever.

Speaking of Talia, her character arc is confusing. The whole question of whether she'd follow the Maelstrom philosophy is dropped as soon as King tells her she doesn't truly believe in it. She doesn't even try to argue with him, despite having handed Roman over to the Maelstrom without a second thought just scenes earlier. That was an incredibly cruel act, the kind of thing you'd expect from a true Maelstrom member.

Her own question, "You're organic," doesn't make much sense either, considering that her illness was the reason she went down this path in the first place. It feels like the writers initially wanted us to believe she'd been indoctrinated, but then changed their minds halfway through.

At times, it feels like the writers are trying to say something about bodily mutilation, accepting death, and the indomitable human spirit, but the execution ends up feeling shallow in every aspect.

And finally, there's Roman, who doesn't really get any development at all. He mostly serves as a way to connect and mediate the other characters' arcs, without having much of an arc of his own beyond the potential romance. (And I get the meta language here, he IS the cameraman, but still underwhelming)

Anyway, there are so many little things that bothered me, but this post would get way too long if I went through all of them. These were my main points.

As for the ending, I actually liked that it was bittersweet. It's just a shame that the lack of character development meant it didn't have nearly as much emotional weight as it could have. And I find it hilarious that, ONCE AGAIN, we have a chaotic chase sequence with someone using a secret implant as the climax of the season lmao.

because i WAS CONFUSED. A HAPPY ENDING IN NIGHT CITY?
i have too many words to say, to say them here. all i am going to say however, is that Talia was my favorite, and, she survived?!
did D die? what even happened in the end? too many questions.
i cant quite figure out my opinion on it, it was nice, and i, by some reason, thought it was a little underwhelming. it is confusing.

To make it’s short and sweet season one was better but the characters in this season absolute cinema I love Kingsley

Did anyone else have to think about the Wii Resort music when the Outro starts?

I'm sorry but his ending felt forced, heck even his revenge plot seemed forced too, although I understand where he's coming from.

I feel like there were many points in time where his story could have been resolved but they kept forcing him to so call give up his life kinda thing.

Omi knocked sense into him so many times as well as Roman and I could tell D understood what they meant, he was completely sane.

He should have just dropped it and went with Omi, you can't convince me they didn't force his ending.

I wasn't sure if D actually left the earth (they implied him and capri flew at something in the sky) or whether Lucy is still on the moon but this is the first thing I thought of and spent 20 minutes drawing it. Sorry it's not very good, it's just supposed to be funny and I don't usually draw things haha

man someone find me the music playing behind when talia first shows up, pleaseeee