What makes a good anime opening? Is it a killer song choice that truly embodies the themes of the story it is attempting to summarize? Or is fluid animation set to music that accentuates its every ebb and flow, to the point where one could not exist without the other, like in the case of Tank! by the Seatbelts? In the case of Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Studio Trigger's spin-off anime set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077, each of these statements holds true but also departs from it at different points - much like the story's protagonist himself.
Clocking in at 1:44 minutes, the show's opening credits are set to an edited version of 'This Fffire' by Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand - a song full of tension, rebellion, and some brilliantly percussive guitar work. Now, when considering the atmosphere of Night City as shown in both Cyberpunk 2077 and the anime itself, there is always an underlying air of helplessness, pessimism, and decay, in conflict, with defiance, optimism, and bravado.
A Juxtaposition Of Extremes
This dichotomy fuels the stories of both the game and the series, in a world where the everyday citizen is constantly at the mercy of malicious megacorporations, violent street gangs, the overwhelming influence of technology on daily life, and finally, a degrading society where survival gets harder and harder every day. It is in this very world that the story's protagonist, David Martinez unfortunately finds himself in, and it is this very world that he must confront in order to make his own way.
Opening with a bright yellow backdrop (a callback to David's now-iconic jacket), featuring just a tiny silhouette of the show's protagonist hunched in a corner of the frame, the first few moments have already subtly set up this story as one of an individual going up against the world on his own. The outline of David's figure, complete with his signature spiked hair is quite small in scale when looking at the entire frame, equating his stature to his place in Night City's pecking order at the start of the show - just another street kid at a prep school, living in a household that struggles to make ends meet.
Saying More With Less
As the credits begin to roll, the minimalism of the graphic design language here makes full use of contrasts - bold black lettering against the loud yellow backdrop, with the names of the studio's staff rapidly shooting across the screen. This is a stark departure from the majority of anime openings where visuals and character shots draw focus, as the credits themselves take a back seat. Furthermore, David's silhouette occupies only a miniscule portion of the frame whereas the text takes center stage. Eventually, the credits begin to evoke storm stripes barricades, commonly seen throughout Night City in Cyberpunk 2077.
Once the vocals kick in and the song starts to build up, the backdrop begins to morph, with the narrow blue bottom edge of the frame rises to form a skyline, which shoots up and falls in waves, as its surfaces display shots from Night City's many haunts, back alleys, highways, and other miscellaneous locations. At a disorienting rate, these shots run across the screen faster than the eye can discern, clouded in the bluish-green hue commonly associated with the Sandevistan's status effect. These astute references reveal little on first viewing, but on gradually making their way through the series, viewers will begin to grasp the obvious hints about the story that have been littered throughout the opening.
The Embers of A Roaring Flame
Now, as all this takes place, the black, yellow, and blue palette finds a counterpoint in David's solitary figure, filled with a deep red shade representing the very 'fire' within him that the song alludes to. In fact, as soon as the song reaches this point, David's silhouette becomes the focus of the frame, the red becoming even more prominent, the embers of his dissent gradually becoming a smoldering flame.
The song then breaks down, releasing all the tension midway through, an odd structural form when looking at openings that normally build towards a final crescendo. During this section, the environment shots occupy the full frame, hurtling across it at a breakneck pace. A larger profile of David enters the frame once again, appearing ready for action. The composition of the frame returns to the bright yellow of the start, with David's once-again tiny silhouette in the corner.
However, this time he begins to sprint forwards, finally taking decisive action to confront the harsh and unforgiving world he finds himself in. Immediately, a slew of skyscrapers - the very symbols of the monopoly held by megacorporations in the world of Cyberpunk Edgerunners - rush towards him from the other side of the screen, horizontally-oriented, like blades or gun barrels pointed directly at him. The song winds down, gradually starting to build up once again as the show's protagonist makes his move.
A City That Can't Be Burned
As the music swells once again, the sense of scale in the frame is inverted in the following sequence. David was confronting gargantuan corporate monoliths in the last shot, but now, he becomes the center of attention, and the obstacles moving towards him do not seem as daunting anymore. The song breaks into a drum roll, building up the tension as the skyscrapers recede from David's advance. Shots of blood splattering, smoke, and explosions present themselves, chaos reigns and the vocals kick in once again, chanting of a fire that cannot be controlled.
The very ground beneath David's advance bursts into a blood-red flame, the young edgerunner's advance burning away all that dares to step in his path. But, as the music reaches its final fever pitch, everything unravels, David's silhouette fragments and collapses in a splurge of red, adroitly providing an inkling of his gradual mental decline throughout the course of the show. Finally, as the last few credits roll, a frame of David's silhouette taking a bullet to the head, with a menacing faceless figure looming over him, closes out the sequence - mirroring the climax of the show itself.
While the opening visually narrates the theme of how confronting insurmountable odds leads to eventual tragedy - a core plot point in both Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk Edgerunners - the real clue lies within the music itself. Even though the original song had a powerful line about burning cities, this cut completely eliminates it, signaling how the world of Cyberpunk Edgerunners, is not one of hopeful optimism, where a protagonist's fire is enough to bring down their oppressors.
It is instead, a world where defying an unfair status quo, borne of the very foundations that the city is built on, might be the only recourse for those who find themselves at the wrong end of the pecking order. Where dogged resistance against overpowered tyrants, at times when the odds seem borderline obscene, will leave your name etched in the annals of history as a true legend of Night City.