If you are like us here at But Why Tho, you have wrapped up your binge-watch of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and have found yourself craving more. While the series’ 10-episode run is unfortunately short, Netflix has a bevy of offerings that can satisfy your craving for whatever elements of Edgerunners you need more of. Stylish combat? Deep characters? Unique art style? There is something in Netflix’s numerous offerings for you. So, without further ado, here are six Netflix animated series to watch after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Super Crooks
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Studio: bones
Director: Motonobu Hori
If your favorite part of Edgerunners was the comprised characters and complicated relationships, Super Crooks is something you need to check out. Set in a world where the heroes are often more dangerous than the villains, Super Crooks follows a team of villains as they try to pull off the ultimate score without getting caught or killing each other in the process. Coupled with a stylish presentation and brutal violence whose gory moments easily keep pace with Edgerunners, you have a great follow-up to deliver more of what you crave.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Studio: Gainax & Tatsunoko
Director: Hideaki Anno
The next entry on our list of Netflix animated series is for those who loved being hurt by the show’s unflinching portrayal of the cast’s struggling mental states. Ever since the series debuted in 1996, Neon Genesis Evangelion has been hitting viewers with its harsh, brutally honest portrayals of the struggles its cast endures with the mental strain that comes from both fighting endless battles to save the planet and simply being human. Often hailed as one of if not the single greatest anime ever made, Evangelion has been delivering characters whose struggles and failings are all too relatable despite the deep, science fiction setting the story takes place in.
Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045
Studio: Production I.G. & Sola Digital Arts
Director: Kenji Kamiyama & Shinji Aramaki
Perhaps Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was your first dive into the cyberpunk genre, and you are looking for something else to check out? If so, Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045 would make a great follow-up series. While the visuals are nowhere near as flashy, the series delivers the latest adventures of the storied Public Division Section 9 special operations team led by one of the greatest anime lead characters ever, Major Makoto Kusanagi. While this entry fails to capture the greatness of past series in this long-standing franchise, SAC 2045 delivers some unique cyberpunk moments as Major Kusanagi and her team try to save the planet from the growing Post-Human threat in this series’ pair of seasons.
Castlevania
Studio: Powerhouse Animation
Director: Sam & Adam Deats
If the element of Edgerunners that caught your eye the most was its unique brand of stylish combat and you’d love to see someone snap a whip with all the skill and brutal efficiency that Lucy exhibits, this next series in our list of Netflix animated series is for you.
Set in the fantasy world of the long-running video game franchise, Castlevania follows a trio of monster hunters as they face the worst threats that Hell has to offer. Along with the gorgeous visuals Powerhouse Animation is known for, the series delivers fantastic character arcs, intriguing political backstabbing, and some of the most captivating villains anime has produced. It is a one-of-a-kind journey that any lover of adult action animation owes it to themselves to watch.
Cowboy Bebop
Studio: Sunrise
Director: Shinichiro Watanabe
One of the elements that Edgerunners’ main cast all share is how much their pasts and the trauma they carry from them affects who they are and the choices they make. The burdens of the past are always hard to carry, and if there is one series that fully explores what it means to carry that weight in a way like no other, it’s Cowboy Bebop.
Set in a future where humanity has colonized the solar system, Cowboy Bebop follows the bounty hunting crew of the spaceship Bebop as they struggle to keep food on the table, gas in the tank, and one step ahead of their pasts. Managing to bounce between farce and emotionally damaging narratives, this classic 26-episode series delivers some of the greatest storytelling television has ever known. It is my all-time favorite series, and I cannot recommend it enough.
Arcane
Studio: Fortiche & RIOT Games
Director: Pascal Charrue & Arnaud Delord
This final entry in our list of Netflix animated series shares so many elements with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners that it’s hard to know where to begin. A unique visual style and amazingly delivered fight scenes? Yup, got those. Deep interesting characters set against a backdrop of class struggles and societal hardships that often force them to make bad choices? Definitely have that. An emotionally vulnerable cast whose conflicts are as much internal as external? Oh yeah. At first glance, Arcane’s chempunk, magic-infused world appears to be nothing like Edgerunners’ neon-lit future. But, if you peel back the curtain, the similarities become profoundly evident. Arcane even manages to avoid the former’s pacing problems thanks to its longer runtime of nine 45-minute episodes. And, if you walk away from the experience as spellbound as I was, you will want to follow it up with Riot Games’ Bridging the Rift documentary series that chronicles the Emmy-winning show’s journey to release.
And there you have it—six Netflix animated series to watch after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. I hope you have enjoyed this list and that it helps you find at least one more fantastic animated series to check out.
