The review of
High tech, Low life,
Few weeks ago, I watched a sci-fi animation called “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners”. It tells a story about a street boy, David, after losing his mother, trying to survive in a technology and body modification-obsessed city. In this dystopia overrun by corruption, crime, and cybernetic implants, David makes the choice to survive on the wrong side of the law as an "edgerunner": a high-tech, black-market mercenary also known as a "cyberpunk".
The animation Cyberpunk is set in Night City, a self-reliant metropolis located in the Free State of California that suffers from extensive corruption, cybernetic addiction, and gang violence. The protagonist, David, lives in Santo Domingo, the oldest and poorest area of Night City.
I think there are some plots that reflect reality. For example, David studies in the school for aristocrats, but he is bullied by his classmates due to coming from a poor family. His mother is working hard in order to pay his tuition for his greater education. After his mother accidentally died, he lost hope in life, dropped out and started to make ends meet by joining the mercenary team called cyberpunk. The missions of cyberpunk are mostly related to robbery, stealing, and murder. He chose to join the criminal team instead of staying on the right path.
In my opinion, David is talented, he can use his ability to help others or earn money through the legal method. However, sometimes the environment is merciless. If he wants to find a job and pay back all the debts which come from the medical expenses of his mother, he may take much time and endure unfair treatment due to his poor background.
If I were David, I would probably do the same choice as him. The future is too far away from me, and life is full of uncertainties. The most important thing is to survive and improve myself in order to have the ability to choose in the future. The world is too struggling for David to choose the right path to survive at that moment.
Another thought-provoking issue is that David doesn’t have his own dream, he is chasing someone else’s dream in his lifetime. In the beginning, he is pursuing the dream of his mother. She wishes David can get a better education and achieve his full potential in that school. Although David dropped out of the school, he still continuously worked hard to develop his ability. Afterwards, he joined the mercenary team. He has a crush on a girl called Lucy and wants to finish her dream of going to the moon. Also, he met the leader of them, and the leader wishes David can lead the team and continuously finish the missions from the superior handovering, after he dies.
Therefore, David wants to finish Lucy’s dream and takes the responsibilities to take care of all team members. He thinks that as long as he gets stronger, he will have the ability to protect all of them. The cost of constantly improving his abilities is that he got Cyberpsychosis, which is a common deadly disease in the world of Cyberpunk, and those who suffer from this disease will slowly start to lose control, ultimately leading to destruction.
In David’s lifetime, he just chased other’s dreams and goals. He hadn’t ever noticed what he wanted. In reality, this is a common phenomenon. Many people don’t have their dreams and goals they want to achieve, but just follow the paths someone else’s already decided on. I think the author of Cyberpunk wants to convey this issue to audiences.
“Don’t make a name for yourself as a cyberpunk by how you live but make a name by how you die.”-Lucy