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Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has been something else! The bright neon colors set in the cybernetic dystopian world of Night City, making its audience get lost in the action and temptation that even makes CyberPunk 2077 popular again! The show is a complete package of never-ending, which recently got renewed for a standalone season 2. Surely, for many, the Netflix adaptation was the definition of Cyberpunk, but it appears that Prime Video hides a title that did it even better with Madhouse’s undiscovered gem, Texhnolyze.

The series first came out in 2003, which shook the otakus to the core for being dark and taking a detour, reshaping their notions on “What can you consider too depressing to watch?” But more importantly, it makes us wonder if this show laid the foundational blueprint that made the 2022 series so unforgettable.

Did Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Copy Their Success From Prime Video’s Texhnolyze?

The world of anime is unfair,...

This post contains major spoilers for "Texhnolyze."

The world of cyberpunk anime is vast and promises distinct stories. There are foundational genre titles like "Akira" and "Ghost in the Shell," along with underrated entries like "Blame!" or "Akudama Drive" (that have covertly shaped our understanding of cyberpunk over the decades). But cyberpunk also houses experimental anime in the same vein as "Serial Experiments Lain," which promises a grim, mind-bending sci-fi tale about the horrors of being an adolescent girl in a world rapidly overtaken by corrosive cyberspace. Chiaki J Konaka, who wrote "Lain" and fleshed out its philosophical vignettes, also penned a lesser-known spiritual successor steeped in nihilism and a thousand ethical dilemmas. This overlooked gem is none other than "Texhnolyze," which Konaka made in collaboration with producer Yasuyuki Ueda and legendary character designer Yoshitoshi ABe (who also worked on "Lain").

Calling "Texhnolyze" a cult hit is an understatement. It...

You can watch as many anime series as you like, but you probably will never see anything like Serial Experiments Lain. Even though the series is nearing its 30th anniversary — it originally premiered in 1998 — it features themes that are relevant to this day, especially now that AI has become a part of our everyday life. If somehow you missed it or feel like giving it a rewatch, Mvm has excellent news. The series is getting a Blu-ray release on September 15.

Serial Experiments Lain is the kind of anime series that you have to be careful when explaining because you can either spoil it or undersell it. For newcomers, it's enough to know that it follows Lain Iwakura (voiced by Kaori Shimizu in the original Japanese and by Bridget Hoffman in the English dub), a middle school student who tries to live a normal life in Tokyo, Japan. She has a...

Serial Experiments Lain is a cult classic anime from the 90s, remembered fondly for its bizarre storytelling and extremely prescient view of the Internet and the future. Now, the series has been revived by a fan game, but the quality is leaving some fans extremely upset.

Serial Experiments Lain is an extremely influential series, despite not being particularly well known outside of hardcore anime fan circles. The series opens with a high school student committing suicide, only for her classmates to receive an email from her after her death, claiming that she's still alive in "the Wired," what Lain calls the Internet. While most students brush this off as a mean-spirited prank, Lain Iwakura becomes interested in the situation and sets up a PC of her own for the first time, discovering a rabbit hole that leads to many more bizarre mysteries.

Serial Experiments Lain's New Fan Game is Flailing...

No matter how many new, state-of-the-art series blow up with modern anime fans, some shows never lose their relevance and manage to stand the test of time. Anime classics are considered timeless for a reason – their influence and artistic value go beyond spur-of-the-moment popularity as audiences keep coming back to these old icons decades after they took the anime world by storm.

Anime remakes have only gotten more prominent in recent years – from Ranma ½ to Fruits Basket, more and more iconic series are receiving modernized reboots, with quite a few currently announced in the works. While some anime definitely need remakes, these excellent classic anime hold up perfectly as-is. A remake would never be able to recreate what made them great in the first place.

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Science fiction is actually a somewhat uncommon genre in anime, at least in its more "pure" forms. Many of the biggest anime instead feature supernatural and fantasy elements, with soft and hard sci-fi being less prominent beyond mecha and space opera anime. Nevertheless, there are many great sci-fi anime out there, with some of these being unadulterated thrills from start to finish.

Sci-fi anime focuses on more than just outer space and mecha, though many of the best tend to be on the darker side of things. These include old-school OVAs from the 1980s and 1990s, many of which are still influential to this day. Others were full-blown shows, but regardless of their length, these anime are all must-watch classics from throughout the decades.

Texhnolyze Is an Unsettling Yet Subtle Cyberpunk Tragedy Streaming On: Crunchyroll

The story of Texhnolyze is set in a doomed post-apocalyptic society in which the downtrodden...

Quick Links Serial Experiments Lain Predicted Social Media Paranoia Agent Feels More Relevant Than Ever These Two Classic Anime Work Best Due to a Lack of the Supernatural

When it comes to psychological thrillers, anime isn't always seen as a source for the genre. Nevertheless, there have been several great psychological terrors in the medium, namely involving the works of Satoshi Kon. One such example was the TV series Paranoia Agent, which is seen as a gem in the genre. In terms of being the best, however, its direct competition is a similar hit from a few years earlier.

Serial Experiments Lain was a strange yet now acclaimed anime series that combined cyberpunk with prescient transhumanism, and it explored concepts that seemingly paved the way for social media. On the other hand, Paranoia Agent is a show that feels just as timely due to how it handles media hysteria and modern urban legends.

"Batman: The Animated Series" was created at Warner Bros. Animation by and for an American audience. As is common practice in American cartoons, though, the animation work was outsourced to studios in southeast Asia.

One of those subcontractors was Japan's Sunrise, the home of the "Gundam" franchise and the studio that would go on to make "Cowboy Bebop." One of the most famous and well-regarded studios in Japan, Sunrise (officially known as Bandai Namco Filmworks these days) is where several animators (such as the founders of Studio Bones) first built their careers.

Sunrise handled seven episodes of "Batman: The Animated Series" — "Pretty Poison," "The Cat and the Claw, Part I," "Heart of Steel," "I Am the Night," "The Clock King," "Off Balance," and "The Man Who Killed Batman." Sunrise itself is divided up into several smaller studios; "Batman" was handled by Studio 6. The experience apparently left an impact, though,...

Bandai Namco Film Works today announced the release of "The Big-o 25th Anniversary Negotiation Files," an official design works collection book commemorating the 25th anniversary of The Big O anime series. The Big O is a 26-episode TV anime series produced by Sunrise (now Namco Bandai Film Works). The first season aired for 13 episodes from October 1999 to January 2000, followed by the second season with another 13 episodes from January to March 2003. The retro-style stylish design and the incorporation of elements from American comics and cartoons made the series popular not only in Japan but also overseas. Sunrise's official English website for the series describes the anime's synopsis as such: Forty years ago everyone in Paradigm City lost their memory. But humanity continues to survive. They’ve learned to operate machinery, produce electricity, and go on living from day to day. Roger Smith is a Negotiator. He controls the Megadeus called the Big O.

When it comes to anime production, many of the most well-known works in the medium are adaptations of existing properties. Thus, they're known more for that franchise or perhaps the studio behind said adaptation than anything else. Nevertheless, writers and showrunners can be just as important, as showcased by the works of Chiaki J. Konaka.

Konaka has written several incredible anime, many of which share central themes. Ranging from dark cyberpunk stories to brutal deconstructions of "magical monster" anime, these works are great examples of how subversive the medium can be. The best works of Chiaki J. Konaka include multiple mecha classics, as well as an entry in a certain series about digital monsters.

Your browser does not support the video tag. Astro Boy (2003) Was a Great Update Streaming On: N/A

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Metallic Rouge is an original sci-fi anime created by studio Bones to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary . The series began on Crunchyroll on January 10 as part of its winter 2024 lineup . Rouge Redstar, the main character, is an android (known as a Nean) tasked with destroying the Immortal Nine. However, the Immortal Nine are Neans just like Rouge who wish to be free from the society that oppresses them. From its plot to its futuristic settling, Metallic Rouge touches upon some key elements of the cyberpunk subgenre. Let's explore a little of what cyberpunk actually is and then get into a rec list of six anime to watch if you like Metallic Rouge . What is Cyberpunk? The origin of cyberpunk is uncertain indeed. Many enthusiasts trace its birth to some William Gibson novels that are known as the " Sprawl Trilogy ". Many cyberpunk titles can be traced back to these works. Related:...

Hundreds of new anime flood the industry each year. A number of factors determine a series' success and popularity, whether it's compelling characters, an exciting story, or groundbreaking visuals that push the medium to its limits. Anime is prone to indulge in experimental and risky animated endeavors that are willing to stray from convention.

Related: 10 Best Anime Defined By Their Animation

However, some series ]go the extra mile and kickstart new visual trends that become staples of the industry. An anime with beautiful aesthetics isn't guaranteed to be a good series, but it can be a lot easier to get behind a new show when it boldly pushes animation to new places.

Mononoke 12 Episodes

Mononoke is a fascinating blend of eclectic sensibilities that operates like a supernatural anthology series that features actual spirits as well as psychological horrors. A mysterious medicine salesman wanders the world, confronting the supernatural with his blade,...

Kouta Hirano's action-horror manga "Hellsing" begins 100 years or so after Abraham Van Helsing defeated Dracula. Contrary to the account of Bram Stoker, the Lord of Vampires was not slain, merely cowed, and became the Helsing (eventually Hellsing) family retainer. Abraham's descendant, Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, leads an eponymous ghoul-hunting organization. Her top agents are the rechristened Alucard and his newly sired protégé, Seras "Police Girl" Victoria.

Hellsing's enemies are two-fold. First, there's Iscariot, the Vatican's vampire slayers who rival the Protestant Hellsing; Father Alexander Anderson is particularly dead-set on killing Alucard. Second, there's Millennium, a Nazi remnant who experimented with the occult and still intends to bring about a thousand-year Third Reich. If you're not much of a manga reader, don't fear, for "Hellsing" has been adapted into an animated series. However, if you're looking to watch the "Hellsing" anime, you'll have to decide: Which one? That's right,...

As the boom of J-horror was slowly declining, the movement, which became popular for its blend of contemporary themes and Asian folklore, was looking at new shores that would provide new ideas. While directors such as Hideo Nakata were busy applying their stories within a western framework, sometimes with them helming the American remakes of their own films even, others, like Kiyoshi Kurosawa attempted to expand the borders of J-horror expressing concerns and fear about at that time upcoming technologies like the internet. Being one of the most popular names associated with J-horror after his film “Ju-on: The Grudge” (2002) as well as its sequel, Takashi Shimizu would release “Marebito” the same year as the American remake of the film which had put his name on the map of international audiences.

Masuoka (Shinya Tsukamoto) lives a reclusive life in his apartment watching the recorded footage from his camera...

by Barry Hollywood

Masuoka is obsessed with fear; he spends his nights seeking out strange happenings in Tokyo, recording them on his camera, but the extreme emotions he searches for remain elusive. Then he records a suicide in the subway system and upon reviewing it finds the fear he is looking for.

Searching the tunnels beneath Tokyo leads Masuoka to a series of caverns, one of which holds a strange girl, chained to the wall. He rescues her and brings her to his apartment but soon discovers the girl’s appetite for blood.

Marebito is an accomplished piece of filmmaking: Directed by Takashi Shimizu who gave us the Ju-on series of films and Rinne; written by Chiaki Konaka who also penned Serial Experiments Lain and Malice@Doll. Marebito was filmed in only 8 days and stars legendary director Shinya Tsukamoto, the creator of such cult classics as Tetsuo: The Iron Man,...