Tokyo 24-ku (08)

Episode Synopsis:

The identity of Carneades is revealed! A new trolley problem has arrived, which reunites RGB. Will they choose to save Tsuzurugawa from her death by lightning or will they opt to save a bunch of people from dying due the cranes on top of the Cornucopia going out of control?
Also…is Asumi secretly still alive inside the Kanae system?

Review:

Spoilers for Tokyo24-ku in the event you somehow care.

First things first I need you all to have this image. It’s like…the whole show in a nutshell.

Alright everyone. I’ve figured it out. I’ve figured out how to watch Tokyo24-ku and not get too irritated by all the nonsensical happenings. You just need to think of it like a bad 90’s action movie. Think Hackers. Over the top stuff is just going to happen and you need to let it wash over you like a tidal wave. Hot dudes are going to jump of buildings and survive, people are going to hack the planet, and oh right…the pseudo-girlfriend’s consciousness is totally trapped inside the Kanae System Robocop style (to be fair, that one is the 80’s but just go with it).

The lead writers woke up from their drunken stupor in this episode and were like, “Oh no! The interns ran the last episode and it was all about bread n’boobs! We gotta fix it!”

Naturally that makes this episode a balls to the wall crazyfest. The identity of Carneades shouldn’t come as a complete shock. I deduced that it was Tsuzurugawa about two episodes ago. She was giving off too many obvious signs that she was displeased with the Kanae system. It was only natural that she was trying to sabotage it from within. Dan had remarked in a previous episode that the reveal of Asumi being the core of the Hazard Cast was too abrupt. I don’t think the writers know how to reveal things any other way, so the whole sequence of the Carneades reveal is equally as rapid. The show just cuts to a conversation where Koki gets whacked over the head with exposition. This scene is so much better than the previously mentioned reveal though because it involves a sacred donut handoff.

Tokyo24-ku has this amazing habit of omitting important details of how we get from Point A to Point B. When the trolley problem goes off, Koki accidently sends Tsuzurugawa to her doom (isn’t his enhanced ability supposed to be super negotiation?! Why couldn’t he navigate this better?!) while an alarm goes off in the Cornucopia’s mall telling everyone to evacuate. We never see anyone evacuate, and the show just assumes we believe all those people got out. The last shot we get of them is all the citizens standing around confused about the warning siren going off.

Sure, whatever…let’s toss this in the same category as the mystery of how Shu got off that damn cruise ship while people were shooting at him.

Alright, let me back it up and actually point out some positives. Minus you needing to shut your brain off to garner an ounce of enjoyment, this episode is on track both plot wise and artistically. I’m not saying the plot is great all of a sudden, but it is back to things we are concerned about. Animation-wise there aren’t any hideous perspective mistakes that I’m aware of and the action sequences look good. I also want to compliment a much needed change that is featured in this episode. An element Tokyo24-ku has been terrible at is having all three boys simultaneously do things that move the story along. Usually it’s Shu that’s the odd man out. This week though, all three boys are in play. Ran is hacking the KANAE system, Shu is playing ultimate action hero with newfound motivation to save everyone, and Koki goes vigilante as he makes the choice to take over the mantle of Carneades. Koki’s newfound repulsion at the dark side of the core of the KANAE System is how we’ll likely unite RGB against his father’s dream of a surveillance state.

From left to right -> Hack the Planet, V for Vendetta, Smoke ManMuscle

We’ve temporarily reunited our team, we have a new trolley problem, Carneades is unmasked, and of course there’s the ultimate twist (you all likely saw coming). Asumi is sorta alive and her mind is melding with the system! Oh my goodness, whatever will we do!? To be fair, I am genuinely curious where we are going to end up. The plot is ballooning out to wild proportions, so I want to know how hard the wheels on this bus are going to fly off.

In other news, there’s a sequence where Ran is chatting with his mentor 0th and it is pure anime nonsense. The best flavor of it. This guy licks spray paint cans and poses dramatically to create artistic masterpieces in 2.5 seconds (has anyone on the writing staff tried USING a spray paint can?!). His melodramatic speech about how he instigated the graffiti war in order to bring more attention to DoRed is the icing on this SO DAMN EXTRA cake. Thank goodness for this guy because I think he’s taking the plot about as seriously as I am at this point.

Summary:

We’ve gotten on this crazy train and we might as well enjoy it. Let’s all hack the planet, use our amazing muscles to make bread, and give in to those sweet sweet exposition dumps. To give credit where credit is due, this episode ties together numerous things we care about and it looks good doing it.
Do you feel your mind is truly read for the glory that is the last quarter of Tokyo24-ku? If yes, I implore you to stick with us and:
Press Donut to Start

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