Tokyo 24th Ward: Will Mayor Suido Become the Series’ Worst Villain?

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Tokyo 24th Ward Episode 8, "Black Mist," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Part of the winter 2022 anime lineup, Tokyo 24th Ward's story is progressing at a rapid pace. Protagonist Aoi Shuta, the aspiring superhero, has been unable to determine who or what his true enemies are. After the disaster at GourFes, he received a taunting message from his supposed adversary, Carneades, but that was just a lie; he is not Shuta's true enemy.

Shuta must keep his mind on the controversial politics, not the action unfolding in Tokyo's newest island ward. The government is taking more and more steps to tighten its grip on society, and it all traces back not to Carneades, but to Mayor Suido Gori, the father of Shuta's friend Koki. This may spell trouble.

How Everything Traces Back To Koki's Father, Mayor Suido

Tokyo's 24th ward experiences one crisis after another, and these incidents are more tightly connected than they initially seem. Even the state surveillance system, Hazard Cast, is part of the problem, as is the controversial new KANAE system, which made its big, flashy debut in recent episodes. As Koki and Shuta learned recently, the masked terrorist Carneades is a character created by Tsuzuragawa to hide the fact that the KANAE system is glitching, since Suido Asumi's mind is still alive within that high-tech system. For Koki and Shuta, the Carneades threat vanished in an instant -- leaving the ward's mayor, Suido Gori, as the story's real antagonist.

Koki is doing what he can to support his father and help maintain order in the ward, but even he can't agree with the use of his dead sister's body to run the KANAE system. He fears the KANAE's crime prediction system may soon become tyrannical, a fear that Ran and his mentor 0th share.

The problem is that Mayor Suido Gori doubles down every time someone threatens or questions the KANAE system and its use, and he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. This disturbed Koki in their most recent conversation, when the boy wondered if his deceased mother would have approved of all this. Mayor Suido didn't care at all and considered the question foolish. The only answers he needs are the ones that will give him uncontested power in the ward.

Tokyo 24th Ward's Brewing Conflict Between RGB & Mayor Suido

Earlier events in Tokyo 24th Ward threatened to tear Shuta's group of friends apart since Ran and Koki have opposing views on the Hazard Cast and KANAE system. Ran is a graffiti artist and hacker activist fighting against the establishment, while Koki tried to support the establishment by aiding his mayor father and SARG. In light of the glitches in Asumi's mind and the truth of Carneades, Koki, Ran and Shuta may reunite as a team, with Mayor Suido as their primary opponent.

The boys could soon reconcile their differences and form a united front against the mayor, whose bold ideas threaten everything they hold dear. By now, Koki is more loyal to the memory of his mother and sister than his living father, which may help him make amends with Ran, who bitterly opposed Mayor Suido's policies since the start. If so, that would be great news for Shuta, who has been doing his best to keep both his friends happy and find a compromise between their opposing views.

Most of all, this upcoming shift may allow Tokyo 24th Ward to lean even more heavily into its cyberpunk genre. Cyberpunk isn't just "gritty sci-fi" -- it's a philosophical subgenre of science fiction that depicts the struggle of the common people against tyrannical corporations and/or governments, where grassroots rebellions clash directly with the powers that be.

It's all about the power of the people and the fight to overthrow the tyranny of society's elite. With the way Tokyo 24th Ward is heading, Mayor Suido will become a classic cyberpunk tyrant who will unite all the people against him. Hackers, graffiti artists and even bakers will come together to fight for their freedom, and even with KANAE on his side, Mayor Suido is in for the biggest fight of his career -- especially if his son turns against him too.

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