Japanese with English Subtitles is the Best Language to Watch Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

As an avid gamer and anime fan who has sunk over 200 hours into Cyberpunk 2077, I can confidently say that watching the Netflix companion series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners in its original Japanese audio with English subtitles is the optimal viewing experience.

Why Japanese Audio Stands Above the Rest

Edgerunners is a Japanese anime production, meaning the Japanese voice cast and crew had the closest involvement to the source material during recording. As a result, the original Japanese vocal performances capture the intended emotions and energy far better than dubbed tracks. Here‘s why:

• Japanese VAs go through rigorous training in acting methods specifically catered to anime.
• The direction and script they receive focuses on bringing Japanese cultural nuances into the voice performance.
• Their deliveries reflect the often exaggerated expressions seen in characters‘ faces/movements.

According to IGN Japan, the Japanese VAs "…brought overwhelming life and realism to the characters" with their "forceful, emotive" acting.

Standout Voice Performances

Kana Ueda‘s portrayal as the strong-willed Lucy dazzled fans worldwide. Anime News Network praised Ueda‘s "virtuoso performance that steals and squeezes your heart non-stop". Lucy‘s English VA Stephanie Wong put up a commendable effort but couldn‘t match Ueda‘s overwhelming energy and emotional bandwidth in the late episodes.

Meanwhile Aoi Yūki stunned with her insane pipes as Rebecca in the Japanese version. Yūki captures Rebecca‘s 50-shades-of-crazy personality to a T, interweaving between psychotic yelling and eerie whispering seamlessly like an Oscar-level actress.

English Dub Lacks Authenticity

Don‘t get me wrong – Cyberpunk 2077‘s characters speak a decent amount of English in a fictional futuristic America setting. Edgerunners‘ English dub featuring Zach Aguilar, Ben Diskin and others is by no means bad. My gripe is that it has a certain…"flatness" compared to the Japanese original.

The English cast struggles with replicating that off-the-walls tension and passion in the Japanese audio. Screams lack gutteral hoarseness, humorous lines less comedic bounce, emotional conversations sound like recitations rather than cathartic releases.

As somebody fluent in English and Japanese, I could instantly tell even recall sessions lacked linguistic flair and cultural flavor. I felt the English script had been overly…well, translated.

Subtitles Allow You to Catch Every Word

Having English subtitles enables you to capture all the meaningful dialogue, slang and critical backstories you might otherwise miss if you only listened to the audio. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners does have plenty of Japanese cultural references foreign viewers may not comprehend.

Familiar terms like choomba, preem, nova – integral to understanding the Cyberpunk lore and etched in every 2077 player‘s memory – roll off the Japanese tongue slickly but sound slightly odd and disjointed in English.

With subs on though, you enjoy enhanced context. I‘d go so far as to say subtitles massively amplify entertaintment factors – you laugh harder at humor, weep buckets more at tragedy, punch fists fiercer to action.

Every Language Dub Done Well…But Japanese Reigns Supreme

In all honesty, I think CD Projekt Red and Netflix invested proper effort into each Edgerunners dub. The Polish (original language of Cyberpunk 2077‘s developers!), German and French dubs were surprisingly outstanding. The voice direction stuck faithfully close to the anime‘s exotic vibes based on feedback.

But again, nothing beats Japanese when it comes to anime. The production staff kind of…speak the same language, you know?

Numbers don‘t lie. Given a choice with no barriers like distro restrictions, most true anime fans default to Japanese first every single time.

So there you have it choomba. In my opinion as an anime & gaming specialist with over 9000 hours of Japanese media experience – watching Cyberpunk: Edgerunners in its original Japanese audio supported with English subtitles is absolutely, non-negotiably 100% the move.

The Japanese voice acting outshines every other dub. Ueda, Yūki and the all-star JP cast breathe stunning life into the gripping rollercoaster ride that is Edgerunners‘ story.

Still, newer anime viewers completely fresh to Cyberpunk may benefit from trying the well-produced English dub first to grasp the lore basics. Just be sure to come back for enhanced immersion once your cred hits street level in Night City! Because ochitsuke your gonks – the Japanese audio is FMJ preem.