For the record, Roman is only 12 years old
The Netflix anime returned for its second chapter this week, and much like season 1, it’s focusing on a standalone story that takes place within Cyberpunk 2077’s setting, Night City.
Among the new characters is Talia, who was raised in the city’s privileged corporate world but later became involved in the Maelstrom gang. Along the way, she embraced the gang’s obsession with cyberware, as evidenced by the fact that she’s heavily augmented.
In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, she quickly crosses paths with Roman Carax, a wannabe filmmaker who carries around an old handheld video camera in an attempt to capture the reality of Night City.
As the episodes unfold, the pair develop a close friendship, and although it never goes further, there are a few moments that have a romantic undertone.
Here’s where it gets weird: Roman is explicitly revealed to be just 12 years old. And this begs the question…
How old is Talia in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2?
Although we know her birthday is April 2, Talia’s age is never actually confirmed. But we know she is a teenager, with fans estimating she could be anywhere between 14 and 19 years old.
Firstly, Weak Kingsley refers to her as a kid, and Talia herself says she’s a teenager. Although it’s not revealed how old her parents, Avida and Kiril, are in the Netflix series, they still have influence over her life.
What’s more, her mum Avida once had a relationship with Weak, reinforcing the idea that Talia’s from a younger generation. But there’s even more concrete evidence from Analesa Fisher, who voices the English dub for Omi.
Speaking to What’s On Netflix, Fisher praised Talia’s English voice actor Kimoy Lee for managing to sound like a “teenage girl.”
“She’s [Kimoy Lee] my favourite voice, I think, in this new season, because they could have gone the anime direction, where it’s almost like Power from Chainsaw Man… really bright, really grating, she’s this crazy girl running around Night City,” Fisher said.
“But she just sounds like a teenage girl. And I think that there’s something so important about that, overlaid with all of the horrible sh*t that’s happening, is that it brings it to a level where you’re like, oh, these aren’t just animated characters on a screen. These are real people going through real stuff.”
She reinforces this when revealing that the one key takeaway she hopes fans will get from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is that “revenge is going to get you nowhere.” And after this, she describes Talia as “young”.
“You’re wasting your time with revenge. But I also think, more than anything, that this season of Cyberpunk really embodies the idea that, no matter how crazy things get with technology and cyborg-ing out, for lack of a better word, you’re still human,” Fisher said.
“And I think that plays really well between Talia and Roman, because Roman is this little boy who’s entirely organic still. And Talia’s got all of these upgrades, even though she’s still young.”
Fans are uncomfortable with Talia’s age no matter how old she is
There are a couple of reasons why fans are finding this weird – and that’s true whether Talia is younger or older. If she’s under 18, then it’s rather odd given how sexualised her character design is. But if she’s over 18, then why are there romantic undertones to her relationship with Roman, a 12-year-old?
As one viewer bluntly wrote on X, “Bruh she a damn pedophile in the show,” referring to a clip in which Talia tells Weak that Roman is her boyfriend (he’s not, she’s just trying to prove a point).
But another defended her, writing, “Before anyone trips, I’m pretty sure Talia is a teenager. Definitely not 18 years old yet.”
Others are freaked out by her character design, with one writing, “Yeah, Roman really could of been any age. Talia definitely should of been older than 15 with her design. Bare minimum 19.”
Another commented, “Talia is likely 14-17, confirmed to be a teenager. It’s still not any less weird.” And a third added, “What the f**k do you mean Talia is 15. Why is she so sexualized dude. Studio Trigger the f**k are you doing man?”
One person even put out a warning for anyone thinking of making NSFW fanart of the character. “For anyone drawing fanart of Talia, she’s a teenager! (I don’t think she looks like one, due to her cyberwear designs, but it’s stated a few times through the season),” they said.
Over on Reddit, the conversation is much the same, with one person questioning what the deal is with Talia and Roman.
Another replied, “It’s a double edged sword. If she’s young like Roman, it’s weird that the anime sexualizes her several times and shows that much skin.
“If she’s older, that relationship is gross and detracts from the show. I interpreted it to be the second one, and because of that Talia is the one main character I dislike of the four.”