Wake TF up, Samurai. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 , the long-awaited follow-up to 2023’s Anime of the Year winner from Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED and studio Trigger , is finally streaming on Netflix. It follows a new ensemble of would-be edgerunners trying their luck in the neon-drenched dystopia of 2078. If David Martinez and V could(n’t) make it, why can’t they?

Ahead of the ten-episode show’s premiere, io9 spoke with CD Projekt RED vice president of franchise and Edgerunners 2 showrunner Bartosz Sztybor about how the team and Trigger aspired to tell a different tale this time around, with a whole new look, sound, and perspective on Night City.

Isaiah Colbert, io9: Shortly after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season one, CD Projekt RED publicly shut down the idea of a second season. Now, we’re on the cusp of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 . What changed behind the scenes to turn that “no” into a “yes”?

Bartosz Sztybor: I think those words were misinterpreted.…