20 Anime Like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, The Talk of the Town

Cyberpunk, a Polish-Japanese 2022 cyberpunk animation series called Edgerunners was inspired by Cyberpunk 20,77. Under CD Projekt’s direction, Studio Trigger produced the series, which made its Netflix debut in September 2022. The anime serves as a prelude and is set in the Cyberpunk universe, created by Mike Pondsmith. It is set around one year before Cyberpunk2077.

After losing all he owns in a drive-by shooting, an impetuous street kid named David Martinez decides to live on the illegal side of the law as an edge runner—a high-tech, underground assassin also known as a “cyberpunk”—out of a nightmare place plagued by fraud, lawlessness, and cybernetic implants.

Gloria Martinez, David’s mother, persuades him to enroll at Arasaka Academy despite their financial difficulties. David alters his program to avoid having to purchase an upgrade.

Gloria agrees to cover the costs when the upgrades cause the school’s computer system to crash. David and his mom have a brief dispute on the way back before Gloria is seriously injured by drive-by gunfire. David is able to gain access to Gloria’s bank account to compensate for her health care expenses and learns that she had obtained a Sandevistan implant of military grade.

David is shocked to learn that Gloria’s health has deteriorated, and she passed away in the hospital after being attacked by his classmate Katsuo. David is now extremely poor and angry with Katsuo because he disrespected Gloria.

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Cyberpunk Edgerunners

20 Anime That Look Like Cyberpunk Are Worth Your Screen Time

These are 20 animes that have achieved the same standards as Cyberpunk and share the same fandom and hype.

20. Akame ga Kill

This anime is a great example of character development and plot. Night Raid is a notorious group of A-Grade Assasins of high quality who formed part of the Revolutionary Army to take on the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister, the man filled with greed and drive for immense power, has made him blinded to the point that he has started using the child emperor’s inexperience to his advantage. The whole nation is now living in poverty, without a reliable and strong ruler.

Night Raid assumed responsibility for their world’s salvation. The newest member Tatsumi, an inexperienced boy, is fascinated by the group’s resolve. Tatsumi is determined to improve the living conditions of his village people.

19. Akira

This anime goes into great detail about what is good and bad. The anime makes viewers question whether anything that has ever existed or is meaningful. This is one thing that people usually don’t want to talk about because it makes them question their very existence that is why they make such anime to prove their points.

The secret military project to develop bio-chemical humanoid weaponry to increase the wars’ winning rates uses gruesome experiments on a teenage biker. His biker gang and his closest friends are now on his side to save him.

His friends and a group if psychics can save him and return him to the human world from his rampaging psychic psychopath. Will they be able rescue him and, more importantly, save the world on the verge devastation?

18. Ghost in the Shell

Artificial intelligence is a topic that everyone has been discussing. But, did they ever wonder what could happen if it all goes wrong? If so, this anime might be the answer.

It is 2029. Cybernetics grants you the ability to modify or replace any part of your body with robotic limbs. According to them, this is the only way to save the dying and bring back the deceased. But is this all the truth? Or is there something more?

An almost robotic police officer and her husband, along with a colleague, are assigned to find a hacker called ‘The Puppetmaster’. They move forward, and it becomes clear that this chapter is insidious. This is an anime set within a futuristic universe. Now is the time to wish for a different future.

17. Akudama Drive

It may appear like a futuristic utopia from the outside, but it is actually far more terrifying than that. This anime is set in a vibrant city that boasts all the modern amenities. The bright-lit buildings give it a city-like feeling. What lies below the sideways and dark alleyways is what people tend to ignore.

It’s like the darkest place in the world, where criminals thrive by salvaging the weak. Everyone is constantly trying to be the best. It’s almost like there are two worlds within one city. The one that has everything perfect and the other that is full of problems.

Which one would you choose? Of course, the good one but life isn’t that lucky for all. As you watch this, you’ll be thrown into the deep dark abyss of reality and get a reality check of how cruel the world actually is when stepped out of the cozy warm blanket.

16. No guns in your life

This one is also set in the future where most of the population has turned into cyborgs, commonly known as “Extended”. The world was left in ruins after a great war ended recently with many casualties. What happens now is that the world becomes a battlefield for food, with fewer resources and more hungry people.

These “Extended” who were former war soldiers started to resort to criminal and illegal activities in order to survive the day. To stop this from further destroying the place, a “Resolver” an Extended mercenary who has the power and tries to solve problems and chaos caused by the likes of him and other Extendeds.

But he is always confused and shocked when another Extended comes into his office in an attempt to save a child. This was unusual since every other Extended has never been interested in saving anyone. He did not know that this moment was going to change his life.

15. Bubble Gum Crisis

This series is set in 2030 right after Japan was devastated by the Great Kanto Eruption, which left Tokyo, as well as the rest of the world, in chaos. Due to the earthquake’s inevitable destruction, Tokyo has been divided into two distinct parts. The show begins with viewers being confronted by the stark reality of financial inequality as they watch.

It takes the mold of inequality and really molds it right according to them, which is not very far from today’s situation. It shows how inequality has increased since the earlier periods of war in Japan. Genom is the anime’s main attraction.

Genom, a powerful metropolitan megacorporation with immense power, uses its full power to create cyborg-like creatures that can potentially serve humans. These cyberoids, also known as cyberoids, are a group of cyborgs that have a systematic language and become brutal and aggressive to the point where they threaten the Human race.

14. Serial Experiments

People love to scroll through the internet, searching for something but clicking on every link. While some people do it just for fun or for timepass it is more common for others. They get so obsessed with the internet that they become psychopathically obsessed with people and things online.

Such is the case shown in this anime series where people around start to experience strange phenomenons after an isolated and withdrawn girl titled Lain with an interconnected virtual realm called “The Wired”. Lain becomes intertwined within the dark web that is this virtual reality.

This may seem like a fictional story to the viewers, but looks can always be deceptive, isn’t it?

13. Devilman: Crybaby, You’ll Love it if you Liked Cyberpunk

Akira Fudo is a high school student who lives in the house of his only friend and with her family. Akira becomes the target of a notorious gang headed by a rapper one day in an effort to save his friend. Ryo, his childhood friend, saves him.

Ryo introduces Akira the dark world of demons. They start fighting demons together and everything seems to be going smoothly until now. Akira discovers more about Ryo, and their friendship becomes strained. It causes panic across the globe when Ryo announces that demons exist in front of everyone.

Follow Ryo and Akira on their quest to prove their mettle. But be careful because the journey ahead is much more exciting than any blood or wounds.

12. Ergo Proxy

Some habitual hosts are infected by the Cogito virus, which makes them more self-aware. These AutoReivs now have a greater sense of understanding and are able to commit various murders that benefit their personal goals.

Also, the government is working on making humanoid life form superior to others and immortal, naming them “Proxy”. These Proxies are the key to humankind’s survival in the future. Iggy, the Regent’s grandaughter, is assigned the task of investigating the murders associated with the AutoReivs.

She discovers two very intelligent humanoids which whom she wasn’t familiar. They turned out to be Proxies. The amazing story of this anime is built on the foundations of what she uncovers.

11. A.D. Police Files

This anime is sort of a prequel series to Bubblegum crisis, which we discussed earlier in the article. This anime focuses on the events that took place in Tokyo five years ago. This anime focuses on the events that occurred before the Bubblegum Crisis series.

It tells the life story of Inspector Leon McNichol who works in the AD Department of Police. This provides the perfect back story that fans have been missing from the Bubblegum crisis series. It was obvious that it wasn’t easy for her.

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10. Blame!

This series is set in a world that humans cannot see and is considered illegal. Only a few people survived the mass genocide and now they are the most vulnerable. Robots are using all their special abilities to track them and kill them instantly.

There is a catch. They may survive. This group of survivors eventually meets Kelly, a man who has the potential to save the entire world. As Lord Madara said, nothing goes according to plan in this accursed land. This is especially true for this situation.

They are made to go through extraneous challenges and not to spoil, but the survival isn’t looking very good.

9. Cyber City Oedo 808

The good advances, and the bad follows. This anime is an example of this. The Cyber Police in futuristic, advanced Japan began to hire people with high-profile criminal records such as murder to fight cybercriminals.

They said “eye for an eye”. Three of these criminals had already served more than 300 years in prison. Rewarding a criminal with a job as an officer can help reduce their prison sentences. Because they were bored, they accepted this offer. As a precaution, they must always wear a band that is also a bomb.

To understand this anime and what it wants to convey, one has to watch this three-episode-longtime series.

8. GenoCyber

The private military of a few corporations threatens world peace just as all nations begin to unite. In the middle of all this chaos, a company acquires a weapon with the power to bring the whole world to its knees.

This weapon is nothing more than a Genocyber. This weapon is a nightmare made possible by the deadly combination cybernetics and psychic potential. Everyone wants to be in control of this power and rule the world. Not everyone is as gifted as Naruto. Hatred of something or someone is not something that everyone can control.

The desire to be the power keeps increasing and deadly war with violence everywhere breaks out. It engulfs everything in its path.

7. Texhnolyze

Texhnolyze visits Lux, an underground city that was once built by man but is now in ruins due to ignorance and abandonment. This city treats it like a living entity, with its own soul, feelings, mind, and personality.

This city is run by three different sections of people, firstly people who are professionals and work for hand in hand with the criminals to ensure both things are separated, secondly the people who think the “professionals” are the wrong ones and try to destroy their fraction.

Lastly, the people who only work for their gain, trying not to pry into someone else’s business. A doctor cum scientist saves a young boy who lost an arm and a leg in a fight, and is about to die. He turns him into a Texhnolyze using prosthetic limbs.

He meets Lux, a girl who can predict the future and see what may happen next. They try to save Lux’s city from collapse, as they discovered.

6. Kill La Kill

Honnouji Academy has a school where the only authority is students, not teachers. Students wear only Goku Uniforms, which are made exclusively for them. These uniforms look different than what you would see in the normal world. The student body is disrespected and termed as ‘pigs in school uniforms’.

The school president, along with her loyal four-lieutenant, take over the campus and manage it according to their desires and needs. The school president was familiar with the situation until a girl came to her. This was the moment that everything changed.

Before they realize it, the campus will be engulfed by the clash between them!

5. The Animatrix is Totally Worth it Like Cyberpunk

The Animatrix, a sci-fi anthology film released by The Wachowskis in 2003 features adult animated characters. Nine animated shorts explain the origins of The Matrix movie series.

The Animatrix is a collection nine stories that explore themes similar to the Matrix movie. Although each story is unique, they are all interconnected. This might be something viewers miss, but they may notice the references in the shows if they pay attention.

4. Psycho-Pass

A world where it is possible to measure and quantify a person’s physical and mental state of mind right at the moment, and this information is stored and termed as psycho pass. This anime’s story is about a police officer assigned to protect and defend the law in such a world.

In this world, one can also measure a person’s criminal intent, and this is how criminals are judged. The police officer is struggling to do his job. This is understandable since everyone knows everything else’s thoughts.

This eliminates doubt and clarifies the situation to its utmost. However, I have a famous saying that you are more blinded if you see clearly. Because confusion is a result of confusion finding its way through a multitude of options and clarity every breath.

3. Cowboy Bepop

When the old nation system has been out of fashion since 2071, people are now out of the masses like a puzzle. They are not residing in their home anymore. As the new world was evolving, a concept of bounty hunters was called “cowboys”.

Spike Speigel, Jet Black and Jet Black are now bounty hunters together. As they continue to travel, they meet new characters such as a strangely intelligent dog and a mad hacker obsessed hacker. A woman who is full of love and frustrates them all along the way.

2. Gantz

Kurono Kei, a fresh-out-of-the-oven high schooler who is also a closet pervert, one day comes across a man who accidentally falls from the train platform. He began to enjoy the sight of the man struggling to breathe after the near-death experience.

He and a classmate go to help the man, but a train arrives. They should have thought that was their final stop, but they soon realize that they are in a condominium. What could have happened? Who saved them from certain death? They are still alive.

1. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Tokyo saw the second appearance of powerful and mysterious creatures in 2015. Only one key to survival is the humanoid warfare mission developed by NERV, an exclusive United Nations Agency.

It can withstand all attacks the angels throw at it, but the only problem is that not many people are able to fly it. It is only possible for a few teenagers to do so. They are the only hope for humanity.

One of these teenagers happens to be the son of the head NERV department. This is the one responsible for the creation of and development of Evangelions. This leads to him being dragged into wars he does not know about. He will he survive?

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