May I Ask for One Final Thing?

Episode 7

One of the simplest but purest pleasures of May I Ask for One Final Thing? is seeing the pointless and cruel divisions caused by our usual societal woes dealt with in such a simple and effective manner by Scarlet and her punching. The zealotry that fuels the Palmians' hatred of the Dianists is a tale as old as time, with the language of righteousness and faith simply window-dressing for the petty, inane division that Dr. Seuss explained to little kids in the tale of the Star-Bellied Sneetches back in the day. These chodes can scream about infidels and heathens all they want, of course; it won't change the state of their faces and bones after Scarlet gets through with them.

Granted, it's easy for a godless heathen like me to take joy in seeing a bunch of uppity clergymen get their clocks cleaned, and the politics of religious animosity get a touch more complicated in a universe where magic and divine intervention are objectively real and have material influence on the mortal plane. Still, Scarlet's wrath is more about laying waste to systems of power, not systems of belief, and you can tell by the way the Palmian nincompoops literally weep over their foiled plans that they had their punishment coming, either way.

After the requisite ass-thrashing is out of the way, though, “May I Carry Out a Plan That Shows a New Side of You?” veers off into a different direction and begins to focus more on Scarlet and Co.'s personal escapades. On the one hand, the Palmian affair lacked the punchy focus of Scarlet's quest to beat the stuffing out of the Prime Minister, so I wasn't initially thrilled to see the plot switching gears so soon. On the other hand, seeing Scarlet play the wingwoman for a lovestruck Diana is pretty cute, especially since the guy who ends up diverting Diana's affections from Scarlet is none other than big-brother Leonardo.

As funny as Leonardo's hysterics over Scarlet's antics have been, it's about time that he gets something to do as a character other than serve as comic relief, even if it just means serving as the love MacGuffin for Diana. That said, the issue for me is that the actual prospect of an episode focused on Diana trying to win Leonardo's heart holds limited appeal. For one, the girl really does look and act like a kid, so it's not like I can blame Leonardo for only seeing her as a little-sister type that needs protecting; I'm not sure how much the show wants us actually to be rooting for these two to end up together, but even as a one-off little side story, there's only so far the episode can go. It ends up feeling a bit like killing time, in that respect.

Then there is the way that May I Ask for One Final Thing? falls into that all-too-common trap that plagues so many fantasy and isekai anime: For all of the limitless potential of the setting, the show still can't think of anything more creative to do with this Diana and Leonardo plot than the same hot springs and summer festival tropes that we've seen a hundred-thousand times before. At least those fallbacks make sense in stories taking place in the tiny island-nation of Japan - common cultural touchstones, limited options for leisure activities, I get it. It's a minor and ultimately silly criticism, I know, but I just can't help but get taken out of the experience when these ostensibly foreign-coded characters from another universe start putting on yukata and going on the prowl for a cheap takoyaki stand. I would be just as miffed if the cast suddenly donned matching, mouse-themed headwear and went off to ride the roller-coasters at Bizkney World.

Still, this was a perfectly fine episode, overall. Far from the best the show has had to offer, mind you, but it will take more than a somewhat lazy episode of time-killing sitcom shenanigans to kill my enthusiasm for May I Ask for One Final Thing? Scarlet El Vandimion has earned a little bit of patience, wouldn't you agree?

Episode Rating:

May I Ask for One Final Thing? is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.