Meta Runner

Meta Runner is an Australian adult computer-animated cyberpunk web series created by Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul, best known for creating the "Super Mario 64" parody web series "SMG4". It is produced by 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. It premiered on the YouTube channel SMG4 on July 25, 2019 and season 2 premiered on the channel GLITCH on October 16, 2020.
A third season was announced by co-creator and series director Luke Lerdwichagul a few weeks before Season 2 was completed, since the latter season ended on a cliffhanger, but a release date is still unknown.
A pilot for a spin-off show titled "Ultra Jump Mania", based on the fictional video game of the same name in the show, was released on September 4, 2020. It is currently unknown if the pilot was successful enough for a full series to enter production or not.
History.
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 younger 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. The second season aired from October 16 to December 18, 2020.
Season 3 of "Meta Runner" was confirmed by Luke in the SMG4 episode "Cooking with Mario & Bowser: World Tour" (a followup to 3 shorts he made in 2014 and 2015), which aired on the SMG4 channel on November 21st, 2020. In the start of the video, he says the sales of the Season 2 merchandise will fund the making of Season 3.
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.
Synopsis.
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, 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 scientist who was commissioned by TASCorp. After waking up in an abandoned lab, Tari finds herself in Silica City with no memory of what happened except for a few flashbacks. The last thing Tari can remember is a sudden accident causing an explosion in the lab.