Leave it to Trigger to absolutely fumble a solid world and story elements 60% of the way through the show. Y'all remember the DITFranxx aliens arc? Yeah😐
Characters 3/10:
First I'll go over the minor problems - Most side characters in CP:E are expendable from the start and it's very clear. My hope was that the show would make me care about them in some way before inevitably killing them in a flash of cybernetic weapons and blood. With few exceptions, the attempts at accomplishing this come from training montages and 3-sentence "you're alright, kid"-type exchanges with the MC. Hopes = dashed.
Now to the big issue(s)
Most characters have extremely unclear motivations and/or act in ways that make no sense with their established backstory. The erratic writing is most apparent in episode 6. Maine's affliction and actions in this episode, especially, barely follow from previous plot points. The episode really hampered my enjoyment of the last 4 episodes, even though there is a notable improvement in the writing of these later episodes.
The most consistent side character, Lucy, is underutilized and becomes nothing but the object of the MCs (and waifu-philes') affection towards the end. Reminds me of Asuna from SAO. Strong female co-lead becomes damsel in distress.
This is all the terribly rotten cherry on top of David acting in whatever way necessary for the show to get some drama and tension, even if his actions or attitudes fully contradict his established backstory or demeanor. One minute he hates corpos, the next he is empathetic towards one of their leaders. Whatever Trigger needs to create tension.
To be fair, I think if this had been a traditional 12-episode anime and the studio would have had two extra episodes to better establish motivations and pacing, the writing would have felt more cohesive and the events less jarring.
Story and themes 5/10:
Though David's tragedy is one which I find somewhat compelling and unique, the story overall hits familiar beats. Sadly (and I'm trying to avoid spoilers here) I think most of the positive feedback this show has received regarding its "emotional ending" ignore the themes I found most compelling, while praising the themes and events I found the most cliché. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but I can't believe anime fans are still not tired of the same 3 plot devices we've had recycled in mid anime for the last decade.
Art 9/10:
Fantastic animation and visual style. The flat colors paired with amazing VFX are a feast for the eyes.
Music: 8/10:
I really liked the soundtrack overall, though the main theme (not the OP) felt out of place in the moments in the show where it popped up.
Overall 5/10:
I wouldn't recommend CP:E to anyone but the most "I've seen everything worth watching and i need something to fill the time" anime watcher. I frankly think that having above an 8/10 on MAL is insane. I don't see what all these people see in this show to rate it so highly. David verbatim goes "I'm just built different", unironically! TWICE!! HOW ARE YALL TAKING THAT SERIOUSLY?!
All the show accomplished is making me want to play CP:2077 again after all these years. I guess that was the whole point
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