Meta Runner

Vorlage:Short description Vorlage:Infobox television Meta Runner is an Australian computer animated cyberpunk drama web series created by YouTuber brothers Luke and Kevin Lerdwichagul, who are known for creating the Super Mario 64 parody series SMG4. Set in a futuristic society that is centered around esports, the series follows a cyborg girl named Tari who comes across and helps an undercover group, called MD-5, in their attempt to expose the corrupt and abusive company TASCorp.

The show is developed, produced, and animated at Glitch Productions, funded by Screen Australia, was financed with support from Crunchyroll and AMD for the first season, and financed in association with Epic Games.

The first season premiered on the YouTube channel SMG4, but the series moved to the channel GLITCH for the second season.

Background and Production

Production

As revealed in a video titled "The Making of Tari" uploaded by Luke and Kevin Lerdwichagul on February 14, 2019, the concept of Tari’s character started when Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul asked their young sister, Tish, who was drawing in her sketchbook, if she had any ideas for a new character to add to their channel’s titular machinima series; she drew a “gamer girl” character who would become Tari. The first early design of Tari was for her to be a robot instead of a cyborg, with a similar hairstyle to Sofia Porter, an antenna on top of her head, headphones, a simple jacket with a love heart stitched onto it and a d-pad for her right eye.

Eventually, Tari was redesigned as a human cyborg with a white vest with the Meta Runner emblem which was based on the blue jay’s wing, two human eyes, a cybernetic arm, and sand brown trousers. She was also given a blue hoodie with blue jay wing patterns on each shoulder starting from "Sequence Break" (episode 4). While Tari in Meta Runner is given a 3D anime-like appearance, Tari in the SMG4 machinima series is given a Puyo Puyo Tetris art style.

Tari made her debut in the SMG4 series in late 2018 in the episode "SMG4: Mario The Ultimate Gamer", starting as a recurring character but later being promoted to a main cast member. Tari is voiced by Australian actress Celeste Notley-Smith in both SMG4 and Meta Runner.

On April 20th, 2020, Screen Australia announced the funding of Meta Runner season 2.

Promotion

Meta Runner was first teased at the end of the SMG4 episode, "War of the Fat Italians 2018", depicting the character Theo and the date December 5, 2018. The months following had similar teasers of different Meta Runner arms before the official trailer for Meta Runner was uploaded on December 5, 2018.

On March 18, 2019, it was announced that Meta Runner was one of many projects to receive funding from a $500,000 grant from Unreal Engine.

On June 25, 2019, it was announced that Meta Runner would be funded by Screen Australia, Epic Games and AMD. On July 20, 2019, Glitch Productions announced that they had partnered with Crunchyroll to produce the series.

Plot

In Silica City, all media and entertainment are mostly based around video games, not just serving as entertainment, but also jobs in live streaming and lifestyle. Among the gamers are Meta Runners, who are also known as a group of gaming individuals who have replaced their limbs with cybernetic arms that allow them to boost their gaming performance.

The series tells the story of Tari, a Meta Runner who was the subject of an experiment called Project Blue, led by Dr. Sheridan, a former scientist who was commissioned by TAS Corp. In a sudden accident causing an explosion, Dr. Sheridan was killed, and former Meta Runner, Lucinia seemed to have also deceased. After waking up in the now abandoned and wrecked lab, Tari finds herself in Silica City with no memory of what happened except for a few flashbacks.

Characters

Main Characters

• Tari (voiced by Celeste Notley-Smith) is a shy and insecure Meta Runner who has the ability to warp into video games she plays. She suffers from amnesia and has no memory of her past events. She is associated with Project Blue but it is unknown what her role was in it.
• Theo (voiced by Robyn Barry-Cotter) is the protagonist of the game Ultra Jump Mania, where he encounters Tari after she stumbles into his world. He gets transported to the real world via Tari's abilities.
• Belle Fontiere (voiced by Jessica Fallico) is the anti-hero of the series who is a rival of Tari, and is also known for being a representative of TASCorp and their number one Meta Runner. She was originally best friends with Lucinia, but after finding out about her possible death, she becomes determined to find Tari so she can question her. However, after finding out that Lucks knew about the incident and lied to her, she teams up with MD-5. Her personality of disobeying is based on James T. Kirk in the Star Trek universe.

MD-5

• Sofia Porter (voiced by Hayley Nelson) is a cheerful and upbeat girl who is one of Tari's friends and also creates various mods, most of which aren't needed for anything.
• Lamar Williams (voiced by Anthony Sardinha) is an easygoing otaku with body pillows and is a friend of Tari's.
• Masa Shimamoto (voiced by Brendan Barry-Cotter) is a calm, composed, and serious friend of Tari but is a former team captain for TAS Corp. He was decommissioned after trying to hack into Lucks’ private server to prove his theory that Lucks was the one who killed Lucinia and had his Meta Runner arm shot off by Lucks.

Main Antagonists

• Derek Lucks (voiced by David J.G. Doyle) is the main antagonist of the series who is obsessed with Tari, due to her unexpected ability to warp into video games. He tries to capture Tari in order to discover the cause of her ability and give it to his other meta runners so that TASCorp surpasses their competition. His personality is possibly based on The Valeyard in The Trial of a Time Lord.
• Evelyn Claythorne (voiced by Elsie Lovelock) is the secondary antagonist of the 2nd season and a Meta Runner at TasCorp, who is forced to be Tari's partner, even though she is strongly against Tari. She is possibly based on The Rani from The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani.

Minor Characters

• Dr. Sheridan (voiced by Anthony Sardinha) is an ex-TASCorp scientist who created Project Blue to stop him from being fired. He is presumed deceased alongside Lucinia after an explosion while running a test on Project Blue.
• Lucinia Porter (voiced by Amber Lee Connors) was a Meta Runner at TasCorp and was the first test subject for Dr. Sheridan's “Project Blue”. She is presumed deceased after the "Project Blue" test ended with an explosion. She is the sister of Sofia Porter.
• Bot-Boys (voiced by Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul) are common robots found across Silica City, usually with a job or function. They are also shown to be in games such as Ultra Jump Mania.
• Marco (voiced by Jason Marnocha) is a host of gaming tournaments in the slums of Silica City. He collects Meta Runner arms and uses two of them as additional limbs. He is possibly based on General Grievous from the Star Wars franchise.

YouTube Guest Stars

• Announcer Vorlage:Small (voiced by Elliott "Muselk" Watkins)
• Male Civilian (voiced by James "TheOdd1sOut" Rallison)
• Female Civilian (voiced by Kathleen "Loserfruit" Belsten)
• Announcer Vorlage:Small (voiced by Ross O'Donovan)
• Tempest Competitor 1 (voiced by Brodey Rogan "Bazza Gazza" de Meur)
• Tempest Competitor 2 (voiced by Nathan William Clifford "Crayator" Ryan)
• Kizuna AI (voiced by Herself)

External links

• Vorlage:IMDb title