akiba maid war was almost the best anime of recent years

this contains spoilers for the ending of the show

there's a tension in the show between its two big threads, namely the story of nagomi coming into her own and affirming her belief in non-violence and the power of joy, and the tragedy of ranko and nagi, and their struggles to escape the weight of the past. the final two episodes represent this tension fully; when ranko and nagomi seek out nagi in order to prevent all-out war, it is ranko's faith in nagomi and in the place they have built together that moves nagi, to an almost uncharacteristic degree. she recalls her own history with ranko, as sworn sisters, and calls off the attack. then, as if to undermine the optimism of that exchange, ranko is murdered and nagi reverts to her old ways, instructing the other cafes once again to wipe out our girls. in her grief, nagomi ping-pongs between a desire to kill anyone standing in her way, and remorse as she remembers what she (and, thanks to her influence, ranko) really wants: an end to the bloodshed.

then we get the final scene, where nagi is, in essence, offered an ultimatum: honor her memory of ranko and renounce war, or continue on that road forever. she fails the test, and shoots nagomi. but her younger maids are not burdened with the past as she is, and have had enough. after nagi shoots one of her own for applauding nagomi's dance, another (the very same who killed ranko) shoots nagi, paving the way for akibahara to enter a new era.

then we get the post-credits scene, 19 years later. it's revealed that nagomi survived, and is still working at the cafe at 36 years old, the same age ranko was when she died. despite being permanently disabled by her wounds, nagomi has ushered in the new, joyful akiba she always imagined.

it feels a bit too … cute. you could argue that’s the point, since what nagomi wants is more cuteness in the world, and maybe my disatisfaction stems partly from the fact that i found ranko’s story so much more compelling, but i feel that this ending undercuts what happens before it, instead of bringing the two threads together. nagomi doesn’t need to survive for her vision to be made real; her legacy was changing the hearts of others, after all. and her inability to be killed suggests, in a sense, that nagi cannot compete with nagomi’s purity of heart. but anger, loneliness, and resentment are all too powerful, and can’t always be countered by good intentions.