English Dub Review: Akiba Maid War: “Drowning in Red! A 36th Birthday Celebration

Overview: Nagomi (Alyssa Marek) and Ranko (Chaney Moore) find themselves in tomato juice-filled peril when they come knocking at the door of the Sheep Café. 

Our Take: Taking the non-linear narrative route, Ranko’s birthday chronicles how she and Nagomi find themselves in hot water, err… tomato juice from their Creatureland affiliate, the Sheep Café. 

The herd centric shop continues the legacy of terrifying maid shops being equally cute and deranged. It’s awesome how the show leans into those wacky aspects, like the Sheep Cafe’s Kaoruko, being a birthday freak, kidnapping and trying to kill Nagomi and the birthday girl as a result. Or, ya know, trying to do it with tomato juice. 

Oinky Doink’s various acts of kindness for Ranko’s big day builds up their wholesomely warped friendship and Nagomi’s trust in them. We see that through Yumechi, Shiipon, Zoya and Yaegashi’s savage acting to the contrary to keep her party a surprise or them secretly getting a custom cake. Most importantly, it’s shown in the batshit crazy lengths they will go to for each other like the shedding of sheep’s blood to save them and defend Ranko’s honor as a maid. The power of friendship is not brand spanking new as far as ideas go. However, it being tackled through a blood-soaked lens is a stylized riff on the concept with the girls’ connection being compelling overall. 

Beyond the girls’ friendship, it also lays the groundwork for how deeply Nagomi and Ranko relate to each other. With Ranko being put off by violence in her youth, she is able to understand Nagomi’s revulsion towards it. It’s a heartfelt sentiment in showing how Nagomi is in the same distraught place that Ranko used to be in, touching on her past and the lessons she learned from inaction. 

It will be interesting to see how, or if, Nagomi evolves from someone experienced in facing brutality, who has sound reasoning for its necessity in protecting loved ones. With the Sheep Café slaughtered, Oinky Doink’s growing body count only intensifies the music they will inevitably have to face.