David Martinez was a character who also left a faint but undeniable mark within Cyberpunk 2077.
What he did circulated for a long time in the underground world, eventually making him one of Night City's legendary figures.
And accompanying the title of "Night City legend" was always one other thing—death.
Night City has never had living legends.
Even the game's protagonist, V, was no exception.
No matter how hard V struggled, once they became a legend, death was ultimately unavoidable—just like all the others.
David Martinez's final, shining moment was his battle against the strongest full-borg weapon, Adam Smasher.
In terms of combat strength, the two were more or less evenly matched. However, David Martinez's mind could no longer withstand the immense psychological pressure brought on by excessive cybernetic augmentation. In a moment of mental collapse, he was gravely injured.
Several months earlier, Asami Shinji had specifically sought out Takayuki more than once. Even he felt that this story was genuinely tragic.
Nearly the entire main cast was wiped out, leaving only the female lead and another peripheral character in the end.
While producing the animation, Asami Shinji had also gained a general understanding of Cyberpunk 2077's narrative framework. He knew that within this world, there were methods to preserve consciousness within the network. Because of this, he hoped that Takayuki might allow David Martinez—or some of the other key characters—to be "revived" on another level.
It was clear that Asami Shinji had grown fond of this story and hoped to continue producing animated works set in the cyberpunk universe.
However, Takayuki rejected the idea outright.
The near-total annihilation of the main cast represented the cold, merciless nature of Night City. No matter how powerful someone was, once they entered this place, they would inevitably be crushed to pieces. It was an invisible force pushing everything forward—no one could escape it.
Even the protagonists in his own games never got good endings—so how could the protagonists in the animation possibly fare any better?
The defining feature of the cyberpunk worldview was precisely this coldness.
Although such stories were extremely tragic and could easily repel some viewers—since most people preferred uplifting tales or happy endings—this was not something Takayuki's cyberpunk would ever do.
In the end, Asami Shinji could only leave disappointed and continue working on the animation.
However, before he left, Takayuki did assure him that future animated series set in the cyberpunk universe could still be handled by him. This time, Takayuki would impose far fewer restrictions and would not provide a fixed narrative structure. He would only review the script later to ensure that the story did not stray from the core tone of the cyberpunk worldview.
Perhaps Takayuki's final words had stirred something in him, because Asami Shinji worked even harder while producing the animation.
It seemed that he truly liked this worldview and had already begun imagining a future where he himself could create a cyberpunk world filled with charm—just like other famous cyberpunk settings that had once existed in this world.
After the new director of Tokyo Television, Oki, reported that the animation was complete, Takayuki immediately contacted Asami Shinji. Asami Shinji rushed over to the Gamestar Electronic Entertainment building at once, personally delivering the first complete version of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners for Takayuki to review.
Relying on his extensive experience in animation production, Asami Shinji was confident that this was the best work he had created in his entire career.
On one hand, he genuinely loved the story and could devote himself to it completely. On the other hand, Gamestar Electronic Entertainment was extremely generous with funding, allowing him complete freedom in recruiting staff and using the latest production technologies.
With no financial constraints, his unrestrained creative process yielded results that fully satisfied him.
After Asami Shinji handed over the completed first version of the animation, Takayuki simply gathered several executives and a few producers responsible for Cyberpunk 2077 development and had everyone watch it together in a private office.
The total runtime of the animation wasn't particularly long, with each episode lasting just over twenty minutes.
To make the story more complete, this version of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners consisted of eleven episodes.
It further fleshed out the protagonist's transformation, the deepening relationship between the protagonist and the female lead, and other narrative elements.
This was essentially polishing an already strong foundation, but it made the entire story far more complete.
They spent the entire afternoon watching it—without skipping a single opening or ending sequence.
Thanks to ample funding and the rich library of music provided by Gamestar Electronic Entertainment, each episode's opening and ending themes were distinctly different. Through collage-like visuals, they offered simple introductions to the story and the world's setting.
This approach not only encouraged viewers to patiently watch the openings and endings, but also helped them better understand the world—truly achieving two goals at once.
Only when money was no concern could such a thing be done. Asami Shinji had never fought such a well-funded "battle" in his life, so he refused to waste even a single second of animation.
At the beginning, everyone—including Aizawa Airi—watched the animation while chatting and laughing.
Especially the producers who had worked on Cyberpunk 2077—they remained relatively calm during the opening episode, even when the protagonist's mother died and the protagonist returned home holding her ashes, his eyes hollow.
However, Aizawa Airi and several others who hadn't participated in the game's development gradually fell silent.
One person in particular had personally experienced the death of a loved one. When he saw the protagonist's empty expression in the animation, he couldn't hold back his tears. Clearly, he was an extremely emotional person, and the similarities triggered painful memories.
At the very least, this proved that the opening of the animation was already highly successful—it could easily draw viewers into the emotional core of the story.
Takayuki was quite satisfied with this.
Next came the scene where the protagonist, in the first episode, attempted to install an illegal cybernetic implant left behind by his mother.
At that moment, the protagonist David Martinez completed his first major character arc transformation.
The pacing of the entire storyline was handled perfectly. Takayuki had only provided a general outline—the detailed narrative rhythm was entirely arranged by Asami Shinji himself.
In this regard, he was truly exceptional.
Takayuki felt that letting him continue producing future animated series would be an excellent choice.