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Following the dramatic conclusion of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners way back in 2022, the show has returned for a new season set in the megalopolis of Night City with a standalone story and a new cast of characters (by necessity).
Though the aesthetic and themes of cyberpunk have their roots in American science fiction of the 1970s and '80s, anime and manga of the '90s and beyond embraced the form and took it to entirely new places—so much so that a Japanese/Polish co-production of an adaptation of a video game from a Polish designer has taken its cues from a couple of decades' worth of great anime and cerebral sci-fi. Which is to say, if you're looking for more heady sci-fi series, these 10 are a good place to start.
Cowboy Bebop (1998 – 1999)
An iconic, effortlessly cool genre classic, Cowboy Bebop is one of the undisputed GOATs of anime, blending western, noir, and crime genres and setting the resultant mash to a killer soundtrack of old-school jazz (which serves much the same purpose as Cyberpunk's propulsive electronic grooves). The title's "cowboys" are bounty hunters in a near-future in which humans have been forced to colonize the solar system after Earth became uninhabitable. Different settings, but both shows offer up ragtag crews with highly dubious fates. Former hitman Spike Spiegel leads his crew on one nearly disastrous mission after another, their standalone adventures all building to a thoroughly memorable climax. Stream Cowboy Bebop on Crunchyroll or buy it from Prime Video.
Psycho-Pass (2012 – 2019)
This one's set in 22nd-century Japan, with a slick Blade Runner-esque aesthetic and a setup reminiscent of Minority Report. Here, technology exists to measure intentions, so crimes can be stopped before they’ve occurred, at which point the “criminals” are placed into psychological treatment (à la A Clockwork Orange)—or subject to summary execution because their threat potential is too high. That ability to predict behavior bleeds over into every aspect of life: careers and even relationships are determined in large part by the same systems that sniff out criminal intent. Obviously, this is all perfectly fine, and there’s no potential for abuse or miscalculation whatsoever...though there are a couple of warning signs. The first involves a new Enforcer who becomes a potential murderer himself when he miscalculates the extent of a criminal’s potential to do wrong, and, even more significantly, the existence of a criminal mastermind who is somehow invisible to the tech, even as his criminal actions grow more and more elaborate. Stream Psycho-Pass on Prime Video and Crunchyroll.
Love, Death & Robots (2019 – 2025)
Created by Tim Miller and with director David Fincher as an executive producer, this animated anthology series is a grab bag of wildly diverse offerings: Each episode is produced by a different international studio, with the only link between them being one of the three words in the show's title. One episode deals with robotic gladiator fights in dystopian London, another finds us under the threat of sentient yogurt, yet another finds an ambitious cat learning to make use of a family's robot helper. Its format dictates that no two episodes are going to have the same premise, but it shares with Cyberpunk an edgy sensibility and stories set in an apocalyptic future, albeit with a dark sense of humor—its four seasons offer up a mix of tech, sex, violence, and gorgeous animation. Stream Love, Death & Robots on Netflix.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002 – 2005)
One of several completely standalone spinoffs of the wildly influential 1995 film (itself based on the beloved manga series), Stand Alone Complex requires no prior knowledge. The style is largely the draw, as the series luxuriates in its fictional Nihama City setting, a world unto itself in a future Japan in which cybernetic people hack directly into the internet. Our sympathies are more with the authorities—in this case, Public Security Section 9, a cybercrime and antiterrorism police unit—than the cyber criminals, but the show approaches some of the same themes as Edgerunners with legit punk style. Stream Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex on Tubi and The Criterion Channel.
Altered Carbon (2018 – 2020)
In this adaptation of the Richard K. Morgan cyberpunk classic of the same name, Joel Kinnaman and Anthony Mackie (yes, both of them) star as Takeshi "Tak" Kovacs. In this future megacity setting, human consciousness can be transferred between bodies. The tech is widely available, but only the wealthy can afford the backups and protections that make it a form of virtual immortality. Kovacs is a former soldier turned mercenary, revived from a backup after 200 years by Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy), one of the wealthiest men alive. His motives for bringing the man back are shrouded in mystery, but he's giving Tak a chance to solve a very cold case: his own murder. Stream Altered Carbon on Netflix.
Arcane (2021 – 2024)
Another popular (and Emmy-winning) game adaptation, Arcane is based on League of Legends, a top-down actioner involving online opponents shooting lasers across a map. It doesn't sound like fodder for a show this impressive, but here we are. The League of Legends lore forms the backdrop for the show, but the pull is in the narrative involving two sisters caught up in the growing conflict between a utopian city and its oppressed underclass, without whom it couldn’t exist. The painted animation style is truly something special—not a stylistic match for Cyberpunk, but the two shows both go far above and beyond to create striking visual worlds. Stream Arcane on Netflix.
Trigun (1998)
Vash the Stampede is a hunted outcast with a dark history that slowly comes to light over the course of the series. He’s got a reputation as a human wrecking ball, bringing destruction wherever he goes, and seemingly just for fun—but in reality he’s far more respectful of life than his pursuers. Still, cities evacuate at the mere possibility of his arrival, and a huge bounty sits on his head (no matter that the bounty hunters do far more damage than Vash). He and his friends—actually a couple of insurance agents—find themselves in a series of misadventures on the planet Gunsmoke, building to a final showdown that caps the series with finality. Visually, it’s probably one of the defining ‘90s shōnen-style action series, with elegantly choreographed gunfights that never get old. Tonally similar, Trigun also shares with Cyberpunk 2 the work of legendary composer Tsuneo Imahori, his music being crucial to both shows. Stream Trigun on Crunchyroll or buy it from Prime Video.
Darling in the Franxx (2018)
Another from animation studio Trigger, Darling in the Franxx leans heavily into the mecha sub-genre, set in a post-apocalypse where children are bred and indoctrinated into piloting the title's massive Franxx to defend the remnants of humanity. Adults are pretty much immortal, so the kids simply don't have any other utility. Two of these teens begin to develop romantic feelings for each other, potentially complicating their usefulness to society and leading to an explosive, bittersweet finale. Stream Darling in the Franxx on Crunchyroll or buy it from Prime Video.
Killjoys (2015 – 2019)
What starts out as a relatively straightforward action show about space bounty hunters (the title's “Killjoys”) develops surprising depth over the course of its five seasons. As officially sanctioned Killjoys, the trio at the show’s heart (Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore, and Luke Macfarlane) are bound to remain politically neutral at any cost. Initially, that’s a way to get them right into the heat of a fight, but as they develop ties of friendship and family in an exploited community, they come to understand the high cost of unchecked wealth and greed, and the ways in which neutrality always benefits the oppressors. The show’s creators make exceptionally good use of a limited budget and offer up some impressive queer rep along the way, a rarity in pop sci-fi. Stream Killjoys on Tubi or buy it from Prime Video and Apple TV.
Akudama Drive (2020)
Another great cyberpunk metropolis: here it's Kansai, an increasingly lawless city run by elite criminals known as Akudama. An ordinary girl, quite inadvertently, becomes caught up in a major planned heist and is forced to fake credentials as a master swindler in order to stay alive. Like Cyberpunk, the show tackles anti-authoritarian themes among a diverse crew of outsiders. Stream Akudama Drive on Cunrchyroll or buy it from Prime Video.
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