This $300 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners statue is a snapshot of the most horrific moment in the anime
A fancy new Cyberpunk: Edgerunners statue produced by Dark Horse is one of the most dynamic, impressive-looking collectibles I've seen in a while. The "Final Moment" statue just went up for preorder on Dark Horse Direct (as shared by Wario64), and given the level of detail here, I can almost forgive its $300 price tag. Though, my first reaction to the statue was not an "ooooh," but more of a "dear god," because if you're familiar with the "final moment" this collectible depicts, you know it's pretty horrific.
If you're not in the know, then you should be. Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a great show (one of Netflix's best in years), so get off the train and go watch it, because spoilers follow.
If I was just a casual shopper, I'd assume this statue captures the climax of a major battle in the series—two equally opposing forces colliding barrel-to-barrel. That couldn't be further from the truth. This is the first Edgerunners collectible Dark Horse has produced, and it chose to crystalize Rebecca eight nanoseconds before Adam Smasher brutally curbstomps her to death (warning: very violent clip). This is an execution in motion—an extension of the surprising death of a main character that the show dwells on for all of five seconds before the depressing finale moves on.
Subject matter aside, I can see why Dark Horse was drawn to the scene: the poses are extremely cool, the drama is high, the way they've defied gravity by joining the guns is neat, and my eyes are drawn to the contrasts between Rebecca and Smasher. But as illustrator Triple-Q eloquently pointed out on Twitter, "This is like if you sold a figure of Old Yeller in front of the barrel of a shotgun." Cruel? A bit. Badass? Definitely.
If you've ever wanted to speedrun spoilers for movies and videogames you've never played, the rest of the quote tweets are full of fans imagining equivalent collectibles portraying other iconic character deaths, as well as folks praising and recoiling at the "diabolical" statue.