Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Season 1 Review — A Heartbreaking Masterpiece Worth the Wait

This review includes a clearly marked section with major Season 1 spoilers.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners sat on my backlog for far too long. I was already a big fan of Cyberpunk, and this was a series I had been meaning to watch for ages. Now that I have finally finished Season 1, I can say it was absolutely worth the wait. I loved it, even when it was breaking my heart.

This is one of those shows that takes you through just about every emotion imaginable. It is fun, thrilling, beautiful, depressing, hopeful, and devastating. It can make Night City feel like the most exciting place in the world, then remind you how difficult it is to survive there. By the end, the attachment to these characters is what makes everything hit so hard.

One of the things I appreciated most was the format. Ten episodes felt right for this story, and I loved the episode lengths. The show gives each chapter enough time to make an impression while keeping the overall momentum moving. I never felt like I was waiting for it to get to the point.

The pacing worked incredibly well for me. David’s introduction, his entry into the mercenary world, and the growing pressure around him build into a season that feels purposeful. Even with so much happening, the quieter moments matter. A conversation, a look, or a shared dream can carry as much weight as an action sequence.

I would happily have spent more time with this crew, but that is a reflection of how attached I became to them. The ten-episode structure delivers a complete experience, and its intensity is part of what makes it memorable. For my own viewing experience, the balance was perfect.

Night City is a huge part of the appeal. The neon, technology, dangerous streets, and corporate power all give the series its unmistakable Cyberpunk identity. Beneath that striking surface is a world where people are constantly being pushed to sacrifice more of themselves just to keep moving.

As a Cyberpunk fan, I loved seeing that world brought to life through animation. Edgerunners captures the excitement of the setting while showing the human cost of living in it. David is looking for a way forward, and the people around him are carrying their own hopes, histories, and reasons to survive.

David and Lucy give the story so much of its emotional weight. Their connection creates something to hold onto in a city that rarely offers security. The possibility of a different life matters because you can understand why they would want it so badly.

The wider crew makes that attachment stronger. Maine, Rebecca, and the others bring different personalities and energies to the season. The banter and chaotic missions are entertaining, but the relationships give them meaning. Spending time with this group is a large part of the fun, and caring about them is a large part of the pain.

TRIGGER’s animation makes the action feel explosive. The use of color, movement, and expression gives the series a strong visual personality, whether the scene is frantic or intimate. The music works beautifully alongside it, deepening the atmosphere and letting the emotional moments linger.

Major Season 1 spoilers begin here.

David’s decline is heartbreaking because becoming stronger does not give him the safety he is searching for. Watching him push his body further, even as the warning signs become impossible to ignore, turns the excitement of his rise into dread. The season lets you understand his determination while showing what it is costing him.

Maine’s collapse makes those risks painfully real before David reaches his own breaking point. It gives the second half of the story a heavier emotional weight: the dangers are already there, yet David keeps moving toward them. Wanting him to find another way makes that progression difficult to watch.

The finale brings everything together with devastating force. Rebecca’s death is brutally sudden, and David’s final confrontation with Adam Smasher leaves him unable to share the future he wanted for Lucy. His effort to save her gives the ending its emotional purpose, but it does not make the loss easier.

Lucy finally reaching the moon without David is what makes the closing moments so painful. A dream that once held the possibility of a life together becomes inseparable from his absence. That mixture of beauty and grief stayed with me. The ending hurts because the season gave me so many reasons to care.

Spoiler section ends here.

For me, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Season 1 was perfect. I loved the pacing, the episode lengths, the characters, the animation, and the emotional journey. It delivered the excitement I hoped for as a Cyberpunk fan and a story that affected me far more deeply than I expected.

I am really excited for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 and the future of this series. The first season has given me every reason to look forward to another story in this world. I finally cleared it from my backlog, and it has left a lasting impression.

Verdict: A perfect season in my eyes — thrilling, heartbreaking, and absolutely worth the wait.