engineering

Meta Runner

Meta Runner is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Meta Runner rather than just read about it. In short: Meta Runner (known as Meta Runner: The Final Season in its third season) is an Australian independent-animated science fiction web series created by Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul and produced by Glitch Productions. The series takes place in a futuristic society where entertainment and lifestyle are based around video games and esports.

Key takeaways

Meta Runner belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Meta Runner to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Meta Runner from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Meta Runner (known as Meta Runner: The Final Season in its third season) is an Australian independent-animated science fiction web series created by Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul and produced by Glitch Productions. The series takes place in a futuristic society where entertainment and lifestyle are based around video games and esports. The best of the best gamers in this society are known as "Meta Runners", where they replace one of their arms with a cybernetic arm in order to optimize their gameplay performance. The series focuses on Tari, an amnesiac girl who discovers that she has the ability to warp inside video games, and comes across and helps an undercover group called MD-5 in their mission to expose the corrupt company, TAS Corp. To promote the series, Tari first appeared as a character in the machinima parody web series SMG4, also created by Luke Lerdwichagul. The first season premiered on the SMG4 YouTube channel on 25 July 2019, with the second and third seasons premiering on the channel GLITCH on 16 October 2020. The third and final season premiered on 22 July 2022. 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 4 September 2020, but it was not picked up for a full season.

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 members of society 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 TAS Corp scientist. After waking up in a safehouse in the alleys of Silica City, Tari finds herself in the city with amnesia. The last thing Tari can remember is a sudden accident causing an explosion in the lab that supposedly kills Sheridan and his test subject, Lucinia Porter, a Meta Runner from TAS Corp.

Characters

Main Tari (voiced by Celeste Notley-Smith), a shy and insecure Meta Runner who has the ability to warp into the video games she plays and has Meta Runner vision, a program that gives her the best strategies. Theo (voiced by Robyn Barry-Cotter), the goofy yet determined 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. Sofia Porter (voiced by Hayley Nelson), a cheerful and upbeat girl who is one of Tari's friends. She is not known to play video games, but still helps MD-5 via her hacking skills. Lamar Williams (voiced by Anthony Sardinha), an easygoing otaku with a unique cybernetic arm and is a friend of Tari's. Masa Shimamoto (voiced by Brendan Barry-Cotter), 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 killed Lucinia. Belle Fontiere (voiced by Jessica Fallico), a rival of Tari. She is also a representative of TASCorp and their most celebrated Meta Runner. She is Lucinia's girlfriend, but after finding out about her apparent death, she begins to disobey her boss and act on her own accord. Derek Lucks (voiced by David J.G. Doyle), the arch-nemesis of Masa. He was the CEO of TAS Corp who was obsessed with Tari, due to her unexpected ability to warp into video games. He tried to capture Tari in order to discover the cause of her ability and give it to his other Meta Runners so that TAS Corp surpasses their competition. An AI version of Lucks appears as a recurring character in the 3rd season. Dr. James Sheridan (voiced by Anthony Sardinha), an ex-TAS Corp scientist who created the Meta Runner Arm and was behind Project Blue to try to prevent Lucks from firing him. He is presumed missing alongside Lucinia after an explosion while developing Project Blue. Evelyn Claythorne (voiced by Elsie Lovelock), a Meta Runner at TAS Corp., is shown to be extremely snobby, selfish, and whiny throughout her appearances in the show. She is also forced to be Tari's show match partner, even though she heavily resents Tari for stealing her spotlight. Lucinia Porter (voiced by Amber Lee Connors), was a Meta Runner at TAS Corp and was the human test subject for Dr. Sheridan's "Project Blue". She was presumed missing after the final phase of "Project Blue" which ended with an explosion. She is the sister of Sofia Porter, the A.I. fragment of Tari, and the girlfriend of Belle Fontiere.

Minor Marco (voiced by Jason Marnocha), a host of underground gaming tournaments in the slums of Silica City. He collects Meta Runner arms and uses two of them as additional limbs. He joins the main cast in Season 3. Bo (voiced by Elsie Lovelock), a minor character who serves as the mascot of TAS Corp. She only appears on Silica City billboards. Bot-boys (voiced by Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul), common robots found across Silica City, usually with a job or function. One is also shown to be in the game Ultra Jump Mania. Elder Tomato (voiced David J.G. Doyle), a character in the video game Ultra Jump Mania. His purpose in the game is to give the player expositionary information and advice. He is also a supporting character of the spinoff series Ultra Jump Mania. Satsuki-chan (voiced by Amber Lee Connors), a character from the dating simulation game Nova Explorers. She appears in the handheld dating simulation game Pocket Gakusei due to a crossover between the two games. Petey (voiced by Brendan Blaber), an NPC and a tutorial guide from Skybreakers.

Guest stars Announcer (voiced by Elliott "Muselk" Watkins) Male Civilian (voiced by James Rallison) Female Civilian (voiced by Kathleen "Loserfruit" Belsten) Announcer (voiced by Ross O'Donovan) Tempest Competitor 1 (voiced by Brodey "Bazza Gazza" de Meur) Tempest Competitor 2 (voiced by Nathan "Crayator" Clifford) Kizuna AI (voiced by herself) James Rallison (voiced by himself) Arin Hanson (voiced by himself) Admin 3 (voiced by Lizzie Freeman)

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2020)

Season 3: The Final Season (2022)

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Meta Runner

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Meta Runner claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Meta Runner before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Meta Runner ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Meta Runner

In research: Meta Runner appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Meta Runner in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Meta Runner is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2010s YouTube series, 2019 web series debuts, 2020s YouTube series, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Meta Runner outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Meta Runner in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Meta Runner means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Meta Runner out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Meta Runner in simple terms?

Why does Meta Runner matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Meta Runner?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Meta Runner.