12 Anime Like Cyberpunk Edgerunners You Have To See

Recently, the cyberpunk genre has been gaining a lot of attention largely due to the success of Cyberpunk Edgerunners a standalone story of Cyberpunk 2077. Made through the collaborative efforts between anime studio Trigger, known for popular anime adaptations such as Kill la Kill and Star Wars: Visions; and game studio CD Projekt Red, the makers of The Witcher franchise and Cyberpunk 2077. The series brings the chaotic and vibrant cyberpunk world to Netflix. Focusing on a dystopian setting with advanced science and technology, and the darker side of technology, including its potential to corrupt society.

The show is set in the future where mega-corporations and the powerful elite control the world. In this world, hackers, data pirates, and cyborgs fight for survival. The show is a fast-paced, action-packed thrill ride. A world where the weak are exploited and the strong survive. If, however, you’ve already caught up on all the episodes of “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners”, you might want to watch some of these great anime shows like “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” next.

Anime Like Cyberpunk Edgerunners

12.
No Guns Life

No Guns Life juuzou x mary

Episodes: 12
Theme(s): Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

During the war, countless modifications were made to the bodies of numerous humans to make them into lethal weapons. Juuzou Inui is one of them, and he has no memories before his body is transformed into a weapon as a result of the war. Curiously enough, however, his head intended as a weapon is designed so that only people behind him can pull the trigger.

Juuzou makes a living by taking on cases involving Extends in the city, and he is assisted by Mary, an intelligent young woman that he has taken under his protection.

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The two shows have comparable plot elements, beginning with the main characters, who have altered bodies and have a dark futuristic theme. The setting of both takes place in a crime-ridden city where corruption is rampant. Characters in both series are unique and strong in their way with some exceptionally strong female characters.

11.
Redline

redline jp with frisbee

Episodes: 1
Theme(s): Action, Sci-Fi, Sports

The plot follows JP, a racer who competes in the Redline, an elite competition on the galactic scale that occurs only every five years, the story follows him and the competitors who compete in it.

Similar to the same vein, Redline is a fast-paced anime with exciting scenes and a robust setting. Both shows employ good-looking visuals, amazing characters, and an impressive story to convey a fierce determination to achieve a grand end.

Related: 5 Best Cyberpunk Games To Play before Cyberpunk 2077

10.
Akudama Drive

Akudama Drive Mission Impossible cutthroat ordinary person courier hacker brawler doctor hoodlum and black cat

Episodes: 12
Theme(s): Action, Sci-Fi

In a dystopian future, numerous talented criminals, called “Akudama”, received a message from an anonymous client to save a death-row victim named Cutthroat before he was killed. Four Akudama responded to this quest and descended on Kansai Police Headquarters. However, once inside, they find the job was part of a larger plan by their client to help them work together on a larger task: to infiltrate the Shinkansen and steal rare cargo from a vault at the front of the train.

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Roped into the job is a girl the system charged with a minor offense but misled to appear as a Swindler and a low-level Hoodlum. The group must work together to complete the task and receive their large payday while making sure they don’t get caught by the Executioners from the Kansai Police Department.

Both series have a dystopian, cyberpunk world with excellent characters and action, gore, and great sound effects, but don’t expect the same level of emotions and visual quality. Akudama Drive also has higher-ups abusing power being a large focus.

9.
Blood Blockade Battlefront

Blood Blockade Battlefront main characters from the series

Title: Kekkai Sensen
Episodes: 12
Theme(s): Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural, Super Power, Vampire

Kekkai Sensen centers around the crime-fighting group Libra and their struggles in Hellsalem’s Lot (formerly called New York City). Hellsalem’s Lot was created in a single night after a doorway to the “Beyond” opened, and now it is a paranormal melting pot of monsters, magic, and mundane everyday city life. It’s up to Libra to prevent the horrors of this city from spreading to the outside world.

Similar to Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Blood Blockade Battlefront is set in a chaotic, criminal-ridden city with crimes occurring around every corner. Both series are colorful and fast-paced. The protagonist of both series obtain an implant that makes them powerful, but can also cause them harm. They both use their newfound ability to join a gang.

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8.
Black Lagoon

Black Lagoon Company main cast

Episodes: 12
Theme(s): Action, Drama

After surviving a modern-day pirate attack, Japanese businessman, Rokurou Okajima opts to stay with the pirates that kidnapped him after being written off by the company he works for. Having given up on the white-collar life, he agrees to venture into piracy with the Lagoon Company.

Black Lagoon, a ship docked in Roanapur, serves as the base of their operations. Lagoon Company serves a variety of clients around the world, but it maintains a particularly favorable relationship with the Russian crime syndicate Hotel Moscow. The team has taken part in various dangerous missions which might entail violent firefights, hand-to-hand combat, and maritime battles in Southeast Asia.

Though not having the same futuristic setting, both shows occur in a city riddled with crime and violence. Both series also have main characters with a similar backstory, with both living a peaceful life till an accident happens and they meet a girl from a criminal organization that tricks them but still decides to become a member of the criminal group.

7.
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

Vivy Fluorite Eye's Song fighting

Episodes: 13
Theme(s): Action, Music, Time Travel, Sci-Fi, Suspense

An artificial intelligence called Matsumoto appears before Vivy, the world’s first autonomous humanoid AI. Matsumoto’s mission is to rewrite history alongside Vivy, to prevent a future war between artificial intelligence and humans a century from now.

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Although not sharing a similar cyberpunk setting, both shows have a futuristic world with cyber-related problems and a world dependent on cybernetics and robots. Both shows have sci-fi as their main theme, with heavy topics being depicted and both series also have an emotional conclusion toward the end.

6.
The Sky Crawlers

Sky Crawlers anime movie

Episodes: 1
Theme(s): Drama, Military

In a world where war has become a business, Killdre—pilots free from aging and remaining to be adolescents—fight and die in the battle skies. Kannami Yuuhich, an ace Killdre pilot assigned to an air base close to the front line, met a female Killdre officer Kusanagi Suito. During routine lives filled with deaths and killings, the relationship between the two starts to change in an enigmatic way.

Even though Sky Crawlers and Cyberpunk Edgerunners may not be similar in their plot, art style, or setting, both share the same vein of protagonists who chase the dreams of others and are thought to be exceptional. Both female protagonists are also similar in their personalities, being strong-willed and knowing what they want. If you enjoyed Cyberpunk Edgerunners, or at the very least want to experience some similar feelings and philosophical themes again, you might want to check out this.

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5.
Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass main cast with season villian

Episodes: 22
Theme(s): Action, Detective, Sci-Fi, Suspense, Psychological

In the future, technology can immediately measure a person’s state, personality, and probability of committing crimes with the Dominator. Just thinking about crime, make you guilty, and in this world, there is no mercy for criminals. Two investigators are normally assigned to a case, with one serving as a handler and one as an enforcer. The enforcer makes delivering lethal justice, while the inspector ensures that his partner doesn’t take things too far.

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Edgerunners and Psycho-Pass both function in an innovative manner around the cyberpunk genre. The narrative explores the dangers of advanced technology and the population’s compulsion for advanced technology. Both protagonists perform as anti-heroes, with tragic pasts that show how badly their society has deteriorated.

4.
Texhnolyze

Texhnolyze Ichise in the city of lux

Episodes: 22
Theme(s): Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Psychological

In Lux’s dark underground, people live in danger and horror under the rule of various criminal organizations. An orphaned prize fighter loses his left arm and leg but at the brink of death, he’s taken by a doctor and experimented on for the next evolution of Texhnolyze.

With his new limbs, Ichise along with Ran, a young florist who can see the future is taken under the wing of Oonishi, a powerful leader of Organ, an organization with some hold on Lux. Lux faces increasing tensions, both Ichise and Ran are caught up in the largest crisis the city has ever faced.

Both series are set in futuristic megacities and show the excessive amount of augmenting a body beyond its genuine limits and the difficulties confronted by the middle and low classes. The protagonists of both series are lower-class and poor people who end up rising to the top and using their no longer entirely human abilities to outlast and maintain what they cherished the most.

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3.
Dorohedoro

Dorohedoro wallpaper

Episodes: 12
Theme(s): Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

In a city known as the Hole, a clan of sorcerers uses its people to experiment with the dark arts. In a dark alley, Nikaidou found Caiman, a man with a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. To undo the spell, they’re hunting and killing the Sorcerers in the Hole, hoping they will eventually kill the right one. But when En, the head Sorcerer, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering his people, he sends a crew into the Hole, igniting a war between two worlds.

Blood, gore, chaos, and insanity are the inherent defining traits of both Dorohedoro and Cyberpunk Edgerunners. Both series take place in heavy chaos settings with hordes of oddballs, though Dorohedoro is somewhat lighter than Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

Related: Top 30 Cutest Anime Girls With an Eyepatch

2.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Motoko Kusanagi with Batou and Tachikoma Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex wallpaper

Title: Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex
Episodes: 26
Theme(s): Detective, Mecha, Military, Sci-Fi

Humans are now at a point where it is possible to transplant entire bodies from flesh to machine. This will permit a great leap in both physical and cybernetic capabilities, laying the foundation for experimentation and subsequent breakthroughs. Yet, criminals can even make use of this opportunity, creating new and often unknown types of crimes.

Section 9 an independently operating police unit deals with these types of criminal activities throughout society, often successfully. But, the newest case with the Codename “The Laughing Man” causes the team to be thrust into a deadly chase, following the hacker’s trail of chaos through Japan.

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Both dystopian future and cyberpunk settings are present in both shows. Both characters have ingrained values, and a character’s past also contributes to their values. Another similarity is how it addresses the topics of using technology and merging humanity and machines. With a truly unique world and compelling characters, Ghost in the Shell is another must-watch for cyberpunk fans.

1.
Akira

Akira anime Still with shoutarou kaneda and the whole cast of the series

Episodes: 1
Theme(s): Action, Adventure, Horror, Military, Sci-Fi, Supernatural

Set in a post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo, Akira is the story of two teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, who find themselves caught up in a government conspiracy when Tetsuo begins to develop psychic abilities.

Akira is a film worth watching for fans of Cyberpunk Edgerunners. Both anime have characters in gangs, questioning their identities and self-worth. Each show also delves into the dark aspects of humanity, placing the hero in a dark situation that might not be resolved. Similarly, both protagonists are drawn by something they feel is important.

Bonus Mentions

Promare

Promare lio fotia x galo thymos

Episodes: 1
Theme(s): Action, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Super Power

Cowboy Bebop

cowboy bebop anime spike faye edward jet with ein

Episodes: 26
Theme(s): Action, Sci-Fi, Space

Cyber City Oedo 808

cyber city Cyber City Oedo 808 merill gabimaru and sengoku

Episodes: 3
Theme(s): Action, Adventure, Detective, Sci-Fi

YumDeku
YumDeku

Blogger / Jujutsu Sorcerer / Unpredictable knuckle head Ninja that spends his free time writing, reading, watching and playing all things Anime, Manga and Gaming.

Articles: 306
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