WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 10 of Tokyo 24th Ward, "Confession From a Mask," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
Tokyo's 24th ward continues to sink deeper into controversy and instability as the oppressive KANAE system threatens to take over the island, prompting the people to launch a cyberpunk-style revolt to "fight the power" and resist the tyranny of machines. However, the system itself is the biggest victim of all, with the deceased Suido Asumi functioning as KANAE's heart.
In Episode 9, Tsuzusagawa was revealed as the mysterious terrorist Carneades, and she intends to use that persona to mask the truth of the KANAE system and its glitches. Asumi Suido needs to be saved from herself, and in Episode 10, Suido Koki and Aoi Shuta accept their mission from Tsuzusagawa to save their friend once again.
In Episode 10, Shuta questions once again whether he is fit to be the 24th ward's hero. In earlier episodes, he was haunted by his failure to save Asumi from the elementary school fire, and then he failed to save Mr. Kaba from the natural disaster at GourFes. Now, in Episode 10, Shuta faces the reality that he cannot single-handedly stop the growing conflict between the cyberpunk rebels and the ward government, and he wonders if his legacy as an aspiring hero is truly dead this time. Not even his friend Kozue can provide the answers he seeks -- but Tsuzusagawa can.
Shuta visits Tsuzusagawa in the hospital one night, and Shuta learns the truth from the would-be Carneades. Tsuzusagawa explains the truth about the KANAE system and Asumi's role in it, and Shuta feels outraged at the truth. His childhood friend experienced a memory upload into the KANAE system, only to suffer endless anguish inside that virtual world where no one can help her. Shuta feels terrible enough about failing to save her once before, and now Asumi needs him once again.
Tsuzusagawa begs Shuta to take action and save Asumi somehow, and in so doing, end the twisted legacy of her late friend, Suido Kanae. The original Kanae never intended for the KANAE system to be as it is, and Kanae would be horrified if she saw her daughter being used like this. Now, Shuta can help Asumi rest in peace for real this time, and possibly resolve the Suido family's issues along the way.
Shuta's mission to save Asumi from the digital grip of the KANAE system will have huge implications for the entire 24th ward and its government, but the stakes are also personal for Shuta. He is part of the "RGB" team of friends, and they are supposed to be like the Three Musketeers, not sworn enemies. Unfortunately for them, the ward's politics have driven them apart, with the hacker activist Akagi Rana opposing the ward government and Suido Koki doing what he can to support his mayor father without crossing too many ethical lines. That leaves Shuta in the middle, trying to reconcile his friends and find a solution for everyone. Up until now, that seemed hopeless.
In Episode 10, Shuta's new mission may bring the old RGB squad back together at last. Despite their political differences, all three boys share a friendship with Asumi, and by now, none of them fully trust or support the KANAE system, not even Koki. Shuta's mission to rescue Asumi may soon become a team effort since his friend Koki is already trying to free Asumi from within the Cornucopia and Ran is already opposed to everything KANAE-related anyway. If that happens, the common goal of saving Asumi can reunite the young superhero team first seen in Tokyo 24th Ward's first episode during the train incident with Mari. That kind of team is exactly what Asumi, and the 24th ward as a whole, urgently needs.
