Netflix’s NSFW ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Trailer Is Filled With Sex and Seizures

It’s not every day that a show trailer starts with a warning to photosensitive viewers. But as Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is quickly proving, it’s not any ordinary show. Today, Netflix dropped the first trailer for the upcoming anime, and between the strobe effects and rapid-fire NSFW sex scenes, it is something to behold.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is based on CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, an action role-playing game that was released in 2020. The original game became known for its ambitious narrative, setting, and graphics as well as its bug-filled release. The crashes and glitches became so bad that, for about six months, Sony removed the game from its store and CD Projekt became the subject of a class-action lawsuit. There’s no reason to believe that Netflix’s upcoming anime set in the game’s universe will be nearly as dramatic. But based on this first look, the show is certainly just as ambitious as its predecessor.

Theoretically, the anime is about a reckless street kid who tries to be a mercenary outlaw known as a Edgerunner in this dystopian society. But the trailer doesn’t really have time for things like “plot details” or “character introductions.” Instead, it’s all vibes. And those vibes are akin to taking a bag of mushrooms and running into a rave just as they hit.

Netflix isn’t kidding about its strobe effect warning. During the two minutes I watched this trailer, my heart rate increased by 20 beats per minute. That’s an actual data point I tracked on my Apple Watch. The entire trailer is packed with bass-heavy music, flashing lights, random bursts of television static, violent murders, and flashes of animated people having sex. While you’re watching, you’ll think “Woah! Was that a fully nude anime woman riding a guy?” It was. But by the time your brain has formed this thought, five more equally jarring images have flashed by. It’s pure, relentless insanity.

It’s also the sort of unhinged tone that may bode well for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. One of the biggest selling points of Cyberpunk 2077 was giving gamers a universe where laws and morality are arbitrary and literally anything could happen. That’s the brand of party Edgerunners is throwing. What better way to showcase this madness than through anime?

The 10-episode standalone series will officially premiere on Netflix Tuesday, September 13. Scroll above to check out the trailer, but consider this your warning. Do not watch this is you’re sensitive to strobe effects or are having a stressful day.