May I Ask for One Final Thing?

Episode 11

This week, Scarlet's adventures are a direct continuation of the extended battle against the forces of evil that began last episode. Scarlett, Alflame, Jinn, and the other dragoons are laying even further waste to the battlefield, while Nanaka and Dios do what they can to support the rest of the crew while negotiating a ceasefire with the enemy. Monsters are made into mincemeat, and various men make plays for Scarlet's affections; it is, at the end of the day, business as usual for this show.

Maybe it's because we're so close to the end of the season and I'm eager for the series to kick things up a notch, or maybe it's because the production values were a noticeable step down this week. Either way, this is an episode of May I Ask for One Final Thing? where “business as usual” left me feeling unsatisfied. I wasn't actively bored or irritated by the proceedings, but I am also struggling to find anything of note to point out as exceptionally successful or interesting. Nanaka was cute enough. Prince Julius was his typically playful self. Prince Alflame was as brash and dumb as we've come to expect. It's all just…perfectly okay.

I suppose one area that I wish the show had focused more on by now is Terenezza herself. For being such a diabolical and influential villain in this story, she hasn't gotten much screentime or interesting material to show for it. The fantasy battles that have taken up so much of the last two episodes are functional but generic; I honestly could have completely forgotten about the reason that Scarlet was even fighting these orcs in particular if it weren't for the enemy constantly declaring their allegiance to Terenezza in loud, performative outbursts. This is a cheesy fantasy anime, for crying out loud - would it kill May I Ask…? to throw in the occasional evil monologue and switch up the pacing a bit more?

It also doesn't help that the show's supporting cast is showing how limited they are when not immediately interacting with our main heroine. All of Scarlet's boys can be plenty funny and cute when they're arguing with each other and competing for her attention, but they are all exponentially less interesting when they have to go off on their own to do regular fantasy hero errands. The little side-quest of Nanaka and Dio tries to play up the latter's traitorous nature for more drama at the last minute, but I honestly couldn't wait for the whole battle to be over with so we could move on to a fresher and engaging stage of the plot.

We finally get an appearance from the villainess and her goddess in the very final minutes of the episode, but I can't help but think this final arc could have squeezed so much more delicious, melodramatic evilness from these antagonists over the last couple of weeks. With any luck, this will at least be a situation where May I Ask for One Final Thing? is trying to save its best tricks for last, and the upcoming final episodes of the season will pack a much more satisfying punch than what Scarlet has been forced to settle for lately.

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.