New Anime Review — Akiba Maid War — Maid Cafe, but with Guns
Irasshaimase goshujin-sama! Would you like a bullet with your tea?
Ever wondered how John Wick would be if it was set in Japan and all assassins were maids? Akiba Maid War is such a combination, except that it is of course much cuter than the constant darkness in John Wick’s universe.
Akiba Maid Wars is a new Winter 2022 original anime produced by Cyagames and PA Works (the same studio behind Ya Boy Kongming!). It tells the story of Wahira Nagomi, an aspiring maid at the Oinky Doink Cafe in Akihabara. Unfortunately, her cheery and fun-filled expectations are quickly dashed as she realises that being a maid involves activities that are not very maid-like.
A Tale of Revenge … and Pandas
Unlike some shows where the violent twist is suddenly presented at the end, the underlying dark theme in Akiba Maid Wars is shown at the very beginning. The anime starts off with an older maid being gunned down by a maid from another cafe (or organisation?) in front of her junior, which hints at the possibility of a revenge tale in the making.
Thankfully, the darkness shortly gives way to the introduction of our main character Nagomi and the rest of the team — the other deadpan and mature Mannen Ranko who is also a newbie, the seemingly cute yet cold Yumechi, the ganguro Shiipon, and also the struggling shop owner.
There’s also a panda, cause why wouldn’t there be one in a pig-themed cafe?
Nagomi : “Oh… we are in a maid cafe in Akiba (pause) and of course there are pandas.”
Yumechi: “No, there are not.”
Things start going downhill soon. Nagomi’s over-enthusiastic nature causes her to mistaken a debt-collector for a customer and she is forced to run “errands” at a rival cafe. While her co-workers lament her possible death, the mature Ranko offers to accompany her after having some ramen downstairs.
Her errand makes Nagomi quickly realise that maids in Akihabara are not just cute, but also violent, cold, and trigger-happy. Her “errand”, which is basically her delivering an insulting letter to a rival cafe, quickly escalates to an all out gunfight between Ranko and the other maids.
Dancing Maids and Flying Bullets
While this anime starts off somewhat sombre, the ending gun-battle scene reassures everyone that this show is clearly not meant to be taken seriously. The whole gun battle occurs to the cheery background music of Yumechi performing a dance for some cafe patrons.
Bullets fly, neon lights flash, and battle poses make for a disturbing yet colourful fight. Watching it also gave me the same vibes from Kingsman’s heads-explode-in-fireworks scene, except that there seems to be much more irony as Manmen remains deadpan throughout the whole song.
Nagomi descends from shock into distraught as the violence is on full display. The first episode ends with her frantically packing and trying to escape, only to find out that deadpan Manmen is now her roommate, sealing her fate for good.
Concluding Thoughts
The first episode of Akiba Maid War is appealing enough to piqued one’s interest in going further for the ride and raises several questions. However, this show is clearly not meant for children and best appreciated for its pure entertainment and comedic value.
How will Nagomi adapt to life in Oinky Doinky Cafe. Is Manmen the junior of the senior maid that was gunned down, and why was she shot in the first place? What is the deal with maid cafes in Akihabara and who is the ominous debt collector? Why is there a panda in a pig cafe?
Hopefully these questions and more will be answered in upcoming episodes. I look forward to more of Nagomi’s maid adventures too, both the maid-like and non-maid ones.
TL;DR If you like maids, guns, and all things absurd, then this is the show for you.
Akiba Maid War (a.k.a. Akiba Meido Sensō アキバ冥途戦争) started airing on October 7, 2022 midnight and is available for streaming on HIDIVE and Crunchyroll.
All images courtesy of ©「アキバ冥途戦争」製作委員会
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