Episode 12

## ©2022「アキバ冥途戦争」製作委員会 / Akiba Maid War Production Committee

This episode is now airing!
**At Moe's End** (萌えの果て, *Moe no Hate*) is the twelfth and final episode of Akiba Maid War. It broadcasted in Japan on December 23, 2022.

## Synopsis

With Ranko's death, the staff of Oinky Doink Café mourn for her at her wake. A mourning Nagomi becomes a "black pig" and tries to take revenge by clinging to the violence that she has rejected, but... What is a maid, and what is a moe? And what did Nagomi see at the end of Moe?

The Akiba Maid War ends here!

## Plot

Nagi's fellow maids discover that Ranko's murderer was the lone surviving maid from the Wuv-Wuv Moonbeam massacre. Nagi doesn't intend for Ranko to be murdered, but decides to let the killer maid go and finish the fight with the Oinky Doink Café. Meanwhile, Nagomi stays in her funeral maid outfit and takes Ranko's revolver as she tries to get revenge. First, by attacking the Cow Ace Maid in an alley and shooting her in the foot and ear, then firing into the ceiling of Dorama to get information on Uzuko and her family. Nagomi learns from the ramen chef that Uzuko was a starving orphan, groomed by Michiyo to be her successor. However, after hiring Ranko, Michiyo was moved by her sincerity and decided to become more peaceful, but Uzuko couldn't accept the change and arranged to have Michiyo killed, and Ranko was later imprisoned.

The next day, after Nagomi visits the site where Nerula was killed, the Cow Ace Maid, the Bear and Cat Ace Maids, and several cow maids beat her up in retaliation for the shooting. The Cow Ace Maid planned to kill her afterward, but was halted by the Bear Ace Maid because there were too many witnesses. As the Oinky Doink maids prepare for war, Nagomi looks through Ranko's personal belongings and breaks down. Meanwhile, some of the higher Creatureland maids question Nagi's wild mood swings regarding the Oinky Doink staff. Later, at the Creatureland Group office, the Bear, Cat, and Cow Executives plead with Nagi to hold off on the attack, as they had not worked out a plan with the cops, and that the bloodshed it would cause could send a large portion of their maids to prison. The Bear and Cow Executives are gunned down for expressing doubts about her decision to personally lead the attack.

On the day of the attack, Nagi and over 20 Creatureland maids begin their march to the Oinky Doink Cafe. Nagi stops by Dorama and warns General at gunpoint to leave, as she will be killing the Oinky Doink Maids shortly. Unfazed by her threat, General reminds her that Ranko is dead and that she still viewed Nagi as her oath sister. As he tells her that he had hoped the two maids could have worked things out and tried his ramen again, Nagi shoots him in the chest. As the army makes their way up to the café entrance and line up against the walls, Nagi approaches the door. For a brief moment, as she opens the door, she sees a younger Ranko standing inside of their old workplace, who then proceeds to shoot a younger Nagi in the head.

After snapping out of her hallucination, Nagi and her army storm Oinky Doink Café with guns drawn, only to be treated like normal customers. Nagomi performs a song and dances on stage for the assembled crowd; during the performance, Nagi mutters to herself that Nagomi needs sharper dance moves, before suddenly having a flashback to when she told a younger Ranko that she needed sharper dance moves and showed her how to perform it properly. After Ranko thanked her and told her that she hoped to become as talented as her someday, the present day Nagi becomes upset and suddenly shoots Nagomi in the torso. Despite her wound, she continues her performance, and the maids watching become inspired by her. Nagi, annoyed that several of the maids started to applaud after the performance ends, shoots the Lion Ace Maid dead for starting the applause. Nagomi then gives a speech that moe shouldn't be violent. At the end, Nagi is the only one among her maids that is unmoved by Nagomi's performance. Nagi empties her revolver at her in an enraged frenzy, but she is shot in the head by the Wuv-Wuv Moonbeam Maid. Despite being shot, Nagi is able to briefly turn and look at her shooter before finally being impaled by a bamboo spear thrown by Okachimachi.

19 years later, in 2018, violence between maids was completely abolished. Two of Nagomi's old regulars, Aota and Midorikawa, who are now middle-aged businessmen, take a younger co-worker to visit the renewed Oinky Doink Café where a wheelchair-bound Nagomi greets them in her maid costume.

## Characters

### In Order of Appearance

* Nagomi Wahira
* Yumechi
* Shiipon
* Zoya
* Yasuko Yaegashi
* Okachimachi
* Ranko Mannen (Hallucination)
* Michiyo (Flashback)
* General
* Nagi
* Wuv-Wuv Moonbeam Maid
* Lion Ace Maid
* Aota
* Midorikawa

## Trivia

* During the post-credit scene, in the wide shot of Akiba in 2018, there are two partially obscured images that reference the anime and video game series, *Uma Musume Pretty Derby*.
	+ Notably, *Uma Musume* was created by Cygames and animated by P.A. Works, who were both responsible for *Akiba Maid War*.
* When Nagomi goes through Ranko's bag, the items she pulled out reference past episodes:
	+ Cherry hair tie - Episode 3, when Ranko fights at Akiba Fluffy & Sweet Club and is given a hair tie by Nagomi.
	+ Octagon-shaped party decoration - Episode 5, when Nagomi sees Ranko setting up the decorations for her 36th birthday party late at night.
	+ Bag of dirt labeled "From the friendly baseball game vs. the Axolotl"- Episode 8 when the Oinky Doink Café played a baseball match against the Memory Lane Anime Café Axolotl
	+ A group photo with Nagomi holding up a statue - Episode 9 following Nagomi winning the Lady Omoe Climb.
* After Nagomi finds a bag of dirt in Ranko's bag, she says "This wasn't Koshien, jeez".
	+ "Koshien" refer to the Kōshien baseball tournament, a tournament held for Japanese high school baseball teams that is nationally televised and considered a major sporting event. The tournament itself was parodied during the baseball match in Episode 8.
	+ It is rather common for the losing team at Koshien to pick up a portion of soil from the baseball field and bag it to take home with them as a memento, due to the sheer difficulty of advancing through the tournament, as well as a reminder to train harder for the next season.
* After Nagi shoots General, she says, "Dipping noodles are the new thing now".
	+ Dipping noodles or Tsukemen (つけ麺), is a ramen dish where the noodles and broth are severed in separate bowls, requiring one to dip the noodles into the broth to experience the full flavor. As Nagi noted, the dish became more popular in the Tokyo region around early 2000, although it was invented in the 1950s.

## References

1. ↑ Young baseball players get memento filled with stadium dirt
2. ↑ Koshien Summer High School Baseball Japan. It's big!
3. ↑ The Story Behind Tsukemen (Dipping Noodles)