© 鳳ナナ・アルファポリス／最ひと製作委員会

With only one episode left in the season, May I Ask for One Final Thing? has officially reached its endgame, and this penultimate chapter is…pretty mediocre, honestly. I was really hoping to have a more positive buzz going into this show’s finale, but the mild yet undeniable downward slide in quality is as present as ever. There is still hope, of course; plenty of anime have been able to finish strong after a small stumble towards the finish line. It’s just a shame, because Scarlet the Mad Dog deserves better.

Two major things are holding this episode back for me, and one of them is the simple fact that it doesn’t look very good. We never veer into outright embarrassing or heinous territory, thank goodness, but the art and animation are just too lackluster to cash the check that this storyline’s climax is trying to write. There are too many limp impact frames instead of properly animated strikes; character movement is sloppy and stiff; and the overall direction of the raid on Terenezza’s lair is as pedestrian as it gets. I was never expecting DAN DA DAN levels of immaculate production values or anything, but the best episodes of May I Ask for One Final Thing? have been able to strike a good balance between its humor and its spectacle. That isn’t the case here. We’ve hit the part of the story where all the characters are splitting off and trying to hold their own against various enemy forces while the heroine has her ultimate confrontation with the big, bad villain of the season. There should be so much more tension and excitement happening than what we’ve got.

The other issue holding this episode back comes from the general lack of creativity and energy in all of this setup. Even if the production levels were top-notch, I suspect there would be a hard ceiling to how thrilling the result could end up being. Dios and Diana’s front of the fight goes exactly how you’d expect, with the Priestess finally getting her powers back and managing to redeem herself for that ultimately inconsequential betrayal that everyone has already gotten over with. Meanwhile, Julius’ bout with Terenezza’s Palmian goon exists purely to waste time until we get to the final “twist” of the episode. I genuinely could not remember if the guy Julius had to fight had ever shown up before today, and I can’t be bothered to go back and refresh my memory, because that would be putting in more effort than the show mustered to tell this part of the story.

Thankfully, the face-off against Terenezza and Scarlet is still pretty fun and satisfying, even if the middling art and animation prevent the show from truly capitalizing on the potential of seeing Scarlet truly cut loose on her greatest foe. I’m even okay with the incredibly predictable turn that sees Julius getting charmed by Terenezza’s magic, if only because it sets up the one truly great moment that this week has to offer. Of course, Terenezza would think to fall back on the oldest trick in the book by using her rival’s dear companion as a meat shield, and of course, she is still too stupid to realize this scheme could never, ever work. Even if Scarlet was willing to admit to having any affection for the smug prince, that wouldn’t stop her from being absolutely thrilled at the prospect of clocking Julius hard enough to send him crashing straight through a bunch of stone pillars. Bone-splintering violence is Scarlet El Vandimion’s love language after all. The only thing Terenezza managed to do was piss Scarlet off even more. I am praying that May I Ask for One Final Thing? can step up next week and deliver a proper finale that allows us to properly revel in our Maniacal Mistress getting her much-deserved vengeance.

**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. *