WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first three episodes of Tokyo 24th Ward, now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
Tokyo 24th Ward is an intriguing sci-fi anime series that takes place in an alternate reality where the young hero Aoi Shuta must save the day in Tokyo's controversial new ward, situated on an artificial island. At first, Shuta and his friends think that the Hazard Cast system is their biggest headache, but they're wrong.
It only took three episodes for Tokyo 24th Ward to introduce its first proper villain, who smugly taunted the three RGB heroes after a natural disaster during the GourFes event on a small island in the 24th ward. That deadly tornado was no accident, and most likely, the runaway train from Episode 1 was this villain's fault too. Shuta is in for the fight of his life.
The Threat Of Carneades In Tokyo 24th Ward
Disaster struck one day when a brand-new, fully-automated passenger train went out of control and nearly ran over Sakuragi Mari, who had gotten herself stuck on the rails. Mere hours before that, Suido Asumi's voice called the boys and granted them the power to see the future, as well as super-strength for Shuta, which allowed the RGB boys to save the day.
However, this unexpected accident was probably not an accident at all, but rather the work of Carneades, a masked villain who appeared on TV in the third Tokyo 24th Ward episode. After all, Carneades was personally responsible for the deadly tornado that struck the GourFes event, and in both events, a seemingly normal disaster took place, only for the RGB squad to show up and fight back. Carneades is clearly testing the boys, and he seems to like what he sees.
It's not yet clear how the masked Carneades could have created that tornado or hijacked the train, but evidently, he did, and he will likely strike again in the future. If so, Asumi's digital ghost will once again warn Shuta's squad and challenge them to choose one of two options, saving the day at the cost of human lives.
Shuta's squad barely saved the day in Episode 1 when Mari was in danger, and the three boys tried to save everyone at GourFes, only to fail, for which Carneades openly mocked them on TV. Carneades is enjoying the chaos and carnage, and so far, Shuta and the gang have no leads on who he is, why he's doing all this or what resources are at his disposal. Aside from Asumi's early-warning system, Carneades has all the advantages in this battle.
Asumi's & Carneades' Battle For The Future
Shuta and his friends once aspired to be heroes when they were younger, with Shuta being the muscle of the operation, the hacker Ran being the support member and Suido Koki being the brainiac. Then, disaster struck when Suido Asumi died in that elementary school fire, and Shuta nearly gave up on his heroic career until Asumi's voice called him to grant him future sight.
Asumi wants Shuta to do more than save people from random disasters across Tokyo's 24th ward -- more likely, she is doing battle with Carneades, and she needs the RGB team to fight on her behalf. It's almost like the power of friendship from beyond the grave, and Shuta must overcome his guilt about Asumi's death and mentally prepare himself to fight Asumi's battles for her. There's no time to lose, and lives are on the line.
Shuta would do anything for Asumi, but for now, Asumi is nearly as mysterious as her foe Carneades, and that may be a cause for concern for Shuta. It's possible that this really isn't Asumi's spirit, but something else, such as a villainous AI posing as her to use Shuta, or a third party Shuta isn't yet aware of. It's even possible that Carneades was responsible for the elementary school's fire; if so, that would make the fight even more personal for Shuta, and he would gladly risk his life to avenge Asumi by taking down her masked killer.
It's also not yet clear what Carneades' end goal is aside from testing RGB with random acts of chaos, and there's no telling how Asumi will stop him, even with Shuta's team on her side. The stakes are growing with each episode, and the battle may soon expand well beyond the scope of runaway trains and sudden tornadoes. Shuta may be fighting for the future of all of Tokyo, with Carneades as the final boss. It's time to fight.
