Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Season Two once again sees Studio Trigger handle animation duties, and this time, the anime powerhouse has gotten even wilder with its depiction of Night City and its residents. While the first season was bold in its visual direction, director Kai Ikarashi has pushed it even further, using more abstract shapes and experimental animation techniques to capture the look and feel of a cutting-edge dystopia.

What does that lead to? A new season that showrunner Bartosz Sztybor calls a shift from Michael Bay-directed movies to Martin Scorsese-inspired (absolute) cinema.

"I think the difference for me is—and I think I once made this reference—visually, the first season was very Michael Bay, while this second season is more like Martin Scorsese," Sztybor said to GameSpot. "He uses shapes and light differently. Even if the backgrounds are the same real places from the game, and Studio Trigger was sometimes using the same assets, the way he recreates them is different. It fits the vibe of the story, which is also very different. It's not this huge emotional thing, but rather something indie, more punkish, and more realistic. For example, the violence in season two feels more striking and real to me personally—more shocking, even if it's not as over-the-top as in season one."

Ikarashi and Studio Trigger's visual direction for this new season allows for a range of Cyberpunk topics. From cyber-psychosis (where heavily augmented people violently lose their grip on reality) to an all-powerful AI program sharing space with your mind, the result is a series that doesn't look like a stereotypical anime series.

Source link