Wow, first off if you have not yet seen the first episode of Akiba Maid War you should go and watch that right now, it is streaming on HiDive. I don’t want to ruin a good surprise for you.
I watched the trailer for this a while back and for the most part it was forgettable having some odd blurred out scenes, but I did not think much of that and went on watching other trailers not really taking note of this one. What I saw of this first episode was a delight and a little shocking.
When I clicked to watch this, I was thinking ‘ok maybe this will be about different maid cafés and how they attract customers.’ Mostly thinking that this will be a laid-back slice of life with some cute girls doing cute things and maybe some singing. Oh was I wrong.
It starts in 1985 with a gloomy tone as a few maids exit a car, when another maid comes from around the corner then shoots and kills one of the maids before running away. As the OP plays, I realize real quick my hopes of this being a laid-back slice of life with cute girls doing cute things this will not be but then the second half of the OP is the girls dancing and singing and it is all bright and colorful, thoughts racing in my head “What am I watching?” The OP alone is enough to tell what kind of show we are getting here, a crazy one.
After the OP we are now in Akiba in 1999 and Nagomi, a young fresh out of high school girl, is starting her first day at her dream job, a maid café and a pig themed one at that, named Oinky Doink cafe. She is not the only one starting today, Ranko, a 35-year-old woman who is also a rookie in the maid café world. Nagomi and Ranko get dressed into their maid costumes and meet the rest of staff and start their first day, Nagomi is having a tough time at it causing some problems for the other staff while Ranko is doing a good job, but she always has a very professional demeanor that comes off as cold and heartless. Towards the end of the day a man comes in that Nagomi tries to serve right away unknowing he’s well known there; he asks for the chief and brings up “Sweets Money is due”. The chief is unable to come up with the dues so he says that Nagomi must do a task. The task is to deliver a note to another café across town, the chief is worried for Nagomi so Ranko asks to join her. So, both Ranko and Nagomi go on this task but before they leave, they are told to get some food from the shop below the café. They go and eat and Ranko is given something before they leave.
What happens next completely shocked me, Nagomi and Ranko arrive at this other maid café, this one is a bunny café. They walk into it seeing what appears to be a girl getting punished by getting one of her pigtails in her hair getting cut off. The head maid comes over and Nagomi gives her the note, the note reads “You Roaches with your stupid antennae. Prepare to be exterminated. From everyone at Oinky Doink Café.” The head maid from the bunny café upset by the fact that their bunny ears were called “Antennae” yells and then slaps Nagomi a few times. Ranko then uses what the man at the shop gave her, a gun, to headshot the head maid and Nagomi and Ranko leave. The other bunny maids then chase them, but the best part of the show now starts! While Nagomi and Ranko run the other maids at Oinky Doink café are doing a dance and song number and while Ranko’s shooting and killing all the other bunny members is perfectly timed to the song and it is great! This show can be gruesome and fun at the same time. This first episode is one for the books, this may not turn out to be a good show but this first episode will live on forever in my head as unique and fun watch.