Ah, episode 12 of ACCA. The plot of Furawau District and the intended coup for the country comes to a head as Lilium intends to place a puppet king on the throne and become the true rulers of all the regions in ACCA. As it stands what we are in for must be an exciting battle of wits, an extreme measure of intellect, a complex and engaging mystery that will surely unravel at the seams a series long conspiracy undone! Except that is not really what happens at all and the ending is kind of simple.
I don’t know what to say. After watching ACCA all the way through I realize now I was hoping for it to be something more than it is. While ACCA has intriguing stories and interesting lore to engage the average viewer it also promised something Jean that we never quite get to see. If you were hoping for Jean or Lotta to take the throne then you will not be getting that wish, but there is at least some compensation. All that happens is that Mauve turns the entire ‘coup’ into ‘this is a test and we are so loyal to you’. Yes, the big reveal of ACCA is that Mauve has been very cunning from the beginning and turns this into a bid for Schwan’s loyalty and promise to renew ACCA and keep it in power.
In a lot of ways what they did outsmarts Lilium, but it also just shows Schwan how pissed people would really be at 
the idea of ACCA being taken away. But is Schwan, who was willing to see his cousins killed to protect his position, really so easily throwing away his entire ideology? Well, I can actually believe that to be the case if only because he really wants to be the ruler. I don’t hate him as much as I generally dislike Lilium and so it becomes a little easier to swallow that they’re just like ‘yup he’s staying ruler after all!’ I don’t like that the story basically set up “THERE IS NO WAY TO MAKE SCHWAN A LESS AWFUL RULER!” and then in order to make the ending ‘clever’ they just take a rule they established and break it. It makes the entire series much less meaningful when they have to change their own idea in order to make the ending work in a certain way.
That being said, how did this ending play into the ultimate idea of what ACCA was meant to be the entire time?
True to its name ACCA is a story about the 13 districts. This series isn’t so much about Jean Otus as about the organization he stands for and how he acts. While in a lot of ways I still respect him and I’m glad to see he has human emotions, he doesn’t really grow from the beginning of the show to the end. He doesn’t make a point to visit his grandfather and he seems to prefer to just hang around and chill with Nino even after it’s all done. Jean doesn’t grow, but everyone else around him grows. I’m almost inclined to believe this really contributes to the show rather than detriments it.
Lotta is, and might always be, one of my favorite girls ever made. Mauve and Lotta are two very competent 
characters and while Lotta doesn’t ‘grow’ persay, she doesn’t have to. Mauve shows she is capable at every turn and her ending really did justice to her nature. Learning who the person behind Nino’s position really is was probably the most fun thing about the ending. You might want to guess who Abend, the personal guard of the former Queen, is. . . well you probably won’t guess it at all. It is so out there.
The other true hero of the show are the Districts. The Districts all change and become better after the course of 
ACCA and that was a true merit the show had. No story went unfinished or unchanged. . .except for Jean. He stayed absolutely the same! It’s so hard to feel neutral about it but the best thing I can comment is that the we find out the reason he never gets permitted to transfer and who has been keeping him there the whole time and it made me love that character a lot.
If you go into ACCA hoping for something remarkable you might not find it. However in ACCA you will find a solid animation style, an engaging cast of characters, and a generally favorable plot. If you are in the mood for an anime that keeps you guessing until the end but has a rather soft resolution where nobody really feels bad and nobody dies- ACCA is a refreshing take on the modern idea of ‘everyone must die for a satisfying ending’. While I don’t think I’ll be adding ACCA to a list of my favorites anytime soon, it’s definitely got many things to offer for the casual anime fan.
ACCA Final Rating: A must see for die hard bread fans.
Oki
I so agree with you. You pointed out almost all the reasons why this ending felt so underwhelming to me. I could probably only add the fact that the show had quite a few underutilized characters who just kind of were there, and that was the entire reason why they were even introduced. The main example of this are the 3 chiefs out of 4 chiefs who were not Grossular or Lilium.