WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Tokyo 24th Ward Episode 8, "Black Mist," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
Akagi Ran is a slick street artist and hacker who is still fighting the good fight for freedom in the 24th ward's Shantytown, but it's not easy, especially with the villain Carneades interfering. Ran may have lost Mr. Kaba during the GourFes disaster, but he won't lose hope, and his graffiti reflects that.
Unfortunately for Ran, his old mentor -- a man known only as 0th -- has made it his mission to deface Ran's inspirational graffiti with Carneades' art, but there's a good reason for this. Once Ran and Shuta learn the truth, their new mission becomes clear, and there isn't a moment to waste.
Ran and Shuta continue their campaign against Carneades, waging war in the streets, cyberpunk style, to bring justice to the masses and fight the power. These boys have no idea what Carneades wants, but Shuta gets a lead -- Ran's old mentor 0th, who operates on Carneades' behalf. After Shuta runs off to the Cornucopia to deal with another future vision, Akagi Ran meets up with 0th and demands to know why his role model is doing all this. Ran's street art is too valuable to just deface with Carneades' logo.
0th explains that in his own chaotic way, he is actually supporting Ran and keeping the controversy fresh in people's minds. If "Carneades" is defacing Ran's inspiring art of Mr. Kaba, the people of the 24th ward will be angry and indignant and rush to DoRed's aid to fight back. 0th is confident that he can both create and solve the problem, playing both sides of the war to get what he wants. Time is of the essence with the referendum concerning the KANAE system coming up, and Ran finally agrees with 0th's goals and methods. In fact, Ran agrees to sneak into the Cornucopia during Shuta and Koki's rescue mission and take the next step for 0th's cause. Art alone is no longer enough.
Ran and 0th both understand that attention-grabbing headlines and discontent among the people will be their most effective tools against the tyrannical KANAE system and mayor Suido, hence their art war, and master and pupil get ready for the next step. They are cyberpunk heroes who want to tear down the system at any cost, and to follow up on the art war, Ran heads to the Cornucopia to hack into KANAE and dig up whatever he can to promote his anti-establishment message even further. Ran dives right in, only to discover the horrifying truth -- that Suido Asumi's mind is still alive, even if her body is dead, and she is crying out for help.
The cruel KANAE system is using an innocent half-alive girl as its beating heart, and Ran can't accept this. Along with the data Ran finds in the KANAE system, this should be all he needs to convince the public to turn against the 24th ward's oppressive government and vote against the KANAE system in the upcoming referendum. It seems that Ran and 0th have turned the tables on mayor Suido with these weapons, but they haven't won yet, and it's entirely possible that SARG will intervene and shut down Ran and 0th before they can make their move.
Like 0th, Mayor Suido knows that time is of the essence, and he will do anything to protect his Minority Report system and tighten his grip on this cyberpunk ward. Ran has the upper hand -- but that also puts a huge target on his back. If Suido's forces are willing to shoot Kunai dead, they'll certainly try the same on Ran, even if he's Koki's friend. The stakes have never been higher.
