Tokyo 24th Ward

Episode 7

We all enjoyed that week off from Tokyo 24th Ward, right? Really, given the track record of several of their productions, to say nothing of how well things have been going for this one from the start, CloverWorks should probably be allowed to take all the time they want with this project. It even ends up kind of fitting in with the narrative, as this episode jumps two months ahead after the realignments of previous events. The focus is firmly back on Shu, as he navigates the changing times and tries to figure out a place in the increasingly-polarized conflict his two best friends are occupying either side of. But don't let that structurally-propelled setup worry you that things in this show are going to shake up too much after we just got back from a break; For all the time passing shown in this episode, hardly any actual advancements in the overall storyline happen.

For one thing, despite Tokyo 24th Ward's ongoing nominal interest in illustrating sociopolitical issues, it barely gestures at the effects of the KANAE system going live last week. The opening describes how arrest rates have increased, while Koki recognizes that it's still got over a 10% false-positive rate, which even he acknowledges is wildly impractical. But none of the characters comment on or interact with any tangible changes that may come from that. This episode is framed around Shu's repeated trips to Shantytown to assist with a food bank, and there's no comment on if the area seems safer, or not, or remarks from any of the people he interacts with regarding policing or anything. This show already felt like it was using its sociological elements mostly as set-dressing, and it really comes through here when the most it can do to 'illustrate' its ideas is have a few characters reiterate for us that those kinds of shifts sure are happening.

That's the primary method any happenings are communicated here: Shu wandering around the area having other characters re-explain the major plot points to him. And these really are the most hilariously basic of bullet points we were already aware of: Ran and Koki are occupying more extreme roles in the fallout of the KANAE system, that mysterious Carneades is still spreading their weird graffiti for reasons no one yet knows, and the integration of the 24th Ward into Tokyo still looms in the future. Nods to this are intoned to a dazed-looking Shu several times, to the point that I can hardly blame him for an aside gag where he gets distracted by a slow-panning shot of Tsuzuragawa's cleavage as she simply delivers him the series' synopsis for like the fourth time. True, part of the point here is that Shu feels out-of-sorts and unable to contribute to the Big Political Ideas the others are engaging with, simply wondering what he could or should do as an individual. But from day one this show wasn't just about Shu, so having him occupy a whole episode cluelessly stumbling through the story ironically detracts from Tokyo 24th Ward's previous attempts at socially-interconnected structure.

It's even more blatant in the conclusions our favorite blue boy comes to after half an hour of meatheaded introspection. It's wishy-washy in the show's usual way of articulating centrism that I can't be certain is an intentional indictment: Shu doesn't take issue with Carneades' graffiti because he's for or against the KANAE system, it's just that covering up the art of his favorite dead teacher really grinds his gears! His efforts do get called out by Chikuwa as effectively a projection of his guilt over not being able to save Asumi from the burning school building, but the fact remains that Shu is still the only one really pursuing this seemingly-important thread while the other character factions dismiss it as a mere distraction. It's an angle of conspiracy theorizing that plants a third party that can be comfortably opposed and, once ousted, might actually allow the authoritarians and the radicals to Just Get Along! Not that Tokyo 24th Ward yet has any example of what that cooperative cohabitation might look like, or even what good it might do for the citizens of the area.

The other half of Shu's plot is supposed to exemplify his bonding with said citizens, and feels only slightly more meaningful than the graffiti-investigation story. There is a key point to be made that, in the face of having little political capital with which to actually affect policy, simply contributing to community outreach efforts is a noble pursuit. The problem in this instance is the hilariously low stakes shown in Shu's bread distribution. As I mentioned, no effects of the broader ongoing plot on these poor citizens of Shantytown is remarked on, and Shu's efforts at bread-baking end up merely being a quest-line to complete so he can convince one (1) adorable little street urchin to narc on the Carneades' graffiti artist for him. Otherwise it mostly manifests as a running gag about Shu absent-mindedly massaging his own man-boobs for inspiration, an odd bit that plays out even more awkwardly given the production's declining ability to display those hand-motions in a way that doesn't look doughier than the bread's ingredients.

I'd almost consider it an accomplishment that CloverWorks took two weeks to work on this episode, delivering a story that pointedly jumped the timeline ahead, and still came out feeling like they had nothing happening and very little to say. Tokyo 24th Ward has always felt like a show designed to be in a perpetual holding pattern, teasing out its theories and analyses until it's ready to drop its big, important societal thesis at the very end. But episodes like this one make that kind of stalling even more blatant than usual. There's not even a hilariously blunt trolley problem to distract us in this one, nor any ideological debates from the characters who actually have political opinions. Instead, it's just a bunch of time-killing from Shu until he clocks that the 'secret' to making great bread is simply to put a ton of effort into it. There's a kind of irony in there, somewhere.

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Tokyo 24th Ward is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Chris is a freelance writer who appreciates anime, action figures, and additional ancillary artistry. He can be found staying up way too late posting screencaps on his Twitter.