4 years after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners grew to become a breakout anime hit, followers can lastly dive deeper into Night time Metropolis’s chaos. The long-awaited English launch of its official prequel manga has arrived in the USA, giving readers a brand new perspective on the violent, chrome-plated world that helped redefine fashionable sci-fi animation.
Titled Cyberpunk: Edgerunners MADNESS Quantity 1, the manga expands the franchise’s emotional core whereas doubling down on its brutality, per a press launch. Printed in English by Darkish Horse Comics, this 200-page black-and-white quantity delivers a targeted, character-driven story that each enhances and intensifies the anime’s tragic legacy.
A Blood-Soaked Origin Story in Night time Metropolis
Slightly than revisiting David Martinez’s rise and fall, MADNESS shifts consideration to Rebecca and her brother Pilar. The siblings dream of changing into legendary edgerunners like their father, chasing notoriety in a metropolis that devours ambition. Their journey captures the reckless starvation that defines life in Night time Metropolis.
Netflix’s 10-Half Sci-Fi Masterpiece With Uncommon 100% Rotten Tomatoes Rating Retains Getting Higher
Netflix’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it earns its masterpiece designation simply, which it ought to maintain for a few years.
Written by Bartosz Sztybor, who additionally labored on the anime’s screenplay, the prequel feels narratively genuine. The tone mirrors the present’s mix of kinetic motion and emotional devastation, grounding explosive violence in private desperation. Rebecca’s volatility and Pilar’s swagger are given added context via their shared previous.
Illustrations by Asano amplify the chaos. Identified for adapting Studio Set off’s BNA: Model New Animal into manga kind, Asano brings sharp linework and expressive character designs that echo the anime’s power whereas standing on their very own. The panels pulse with movement, capturing Night time Metropolis’s neon-drenched instability.
Why Cyberpunk: Edgerunners MADNESS Issues 4 Years Later
When Cyberpunk: Edgerunners premiered in 2022, it revitalized curiosity within the bigger Cyberpunk universe and turned its forged into on the spot fan favorites. Rebecca, specifically, grew to become a breakout character. MADNESS deepens her backstory, remodeling her from scene-stealing chaos agent into a totally realized tragic determine.
The prequel additionally explores how Night time Metropolis’s tradition of violence shapes younger hopefuls. Rebecca and Pilar aren’t merely thrill-seekers; they’re merchandise of systemic corruption, company exploitation, and inherited trauma. Their descent into more and more harmful jobs displays the identical fatalistic spiral that outlined the anime’s central narrative.
Now obtainable in commerce paperback for $14.99, the English version makes the story extra accessible than ever. At 200 pages and rated for readers 16 and up, the quantity delivers a compact however potent growth of the franchise. For longtime followers and newcomers alike, it’s a reminder that in Night time Metropolis, ambition and insanity are sometimes indistinguishable.
With Cyberpunk: Edgerunners MADNESS lastly in U.S. bookstores, the world of edgerunners feels alive once more. The prequel doesn’t soften the perimeters of its supply materials, it sharpens them. And for followers nonetheless haunted by the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime ending, this return to Night time Metropolis proves that its legacy is way from over.
- Launch Date
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2022 – 2022
- Community
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Netflix
- Writers
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Mike Pondsmith, Yoshiki Usa, Masahiko Otsuka
- Franchise(s)
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Cyberpunk
