Anime Review: May I Ask for One Final Thing?
Lady Scarlet El Vandimion was pushed into an arranged engagement with Prince Kyle of Pallistan at an early age. An entitled brat, Kyle has been bullying and abusing Scarlet ever since. She’s only been putting up with it and being gracious because retaliating in any way would break the engagement and ruin her family. But now Kyle is, at a public ball with all his corrupt noble cronies watching, announcing that he is ending the engagement himself.
It seems that he’s fallen in love with a gentle-looking maiden named Terrenezza Hopkins, who Scarlet has never met before to the best of her knowledge. Miss Hopkins has accused Scarlet of bullying and attempting to murder her, things which certainly did not happen. And Kyle should know this, as even when he wasn’t keeping Scarlet under his thumb personally, he had his loyal minions watching her constantly. This is weird.
But Scarlet isn’t following those threads right now, as Terrenezza grins at her in triumph. She’s just realized that she’s no longer engaged to Prince Kyle, and therefore is no longer bound to respect him. She courteously addresses the prince. “May I ask for one final thing?” The prince and his new lady fail to notice the dangerous tone in her voice and assent. “For my last request, I must ask: may I kindly knock the teeth out of this craven, two-faced bitch?”
And she promptly beats up not only Terrenezza, but Kyle and every corrupt noble present.
This 2025 anime, based on a light novel series of the same title, starts by flipping the conventions of the “otome” (maiden) subgenre. The handsome prince denouncing his wicked fiancée and confessing his love for the much put-upon heroine is normally the climax near the end of the story. Scarlet is even called a “villainess.” But instead, Scarlet is innocent of the charges and this is the beginning of the action.
In the process of getting beaten up, Prince Kyle and his supporters have admitted to several serious crimes, and it’s at this point that his elder brother Prince Julius shows up with Scarlet’s own brother Leonardo in tow. It seems they’ve been working for years to build a case for disinheriting Kyle and prosecuting his minions, but Scarlet has managed to accelerate the investigation nicely. Huh, Terrenezza’s vanished, I hope that won’t come back to bite us.
Prince Julius, who is given to sounding like he’s being nice one moment, then humorously cruel the next, recruits Scarlet into his task force to investigate the illegal slave trade, its connection to Kyle’s primary backer, and possible ties to a hostile foreign power. This nets Scarlet plenty of opportunity to pursue her hobby of beating up bad people and a few new friends.
Then it’s time to get involved with a religious dispute between the worshippers of Palmia, goddess of love and beauty, and Saint Diana, a protector that reincarnates into a series of maidens. Scarlet’s more personally involved with this than her brother would like, as she works for Chronos, god of time and sponsor of the Dianas. Also, Terrenezza’s back and has a new plan for becoming Queen.
Scarlet’s a fun protagonist, trying to keep her ladylike demeanor while indulging her love of fisticuffs. She’s firmly on the side of justice, but her antics terrify even her allies sometimes. Notably, despite quite a bit of blood being shed, she never kills a human being, aided by many of her foes having protective magic.
There’s an amusing supporting cast, including Prince Alflame of Vankish, a warrior who likes Scarlet even more because she hands him beatings on the regular. My least favorite character is a fellow who’s a bit too fond of his younger sister in a way that creeps people out. Most of the villains are smug, overconfident people it’s a joy to see punched.
Terrenezza, for spoilery reasons, has “main character syndrome.” She’s convinced that she is the heroine of the story, destined to have her suffering rewarded by marrying a handsome prince and becoming beloved by all the survivors. To that end, any underhanded or outright evil acts she commits are morally okay. the end credits focus on this by having her cosplay as various fairy tale heroines.
Content notes: Lots of violence, sometimes fatal. Plenty of blood but little gore. Suicide. Bullying, emotional and physical abuse. Slavery (seen here entirely negatively). A touch of fantastic racism (it’s included in who’s allowed to be enslaved. and one of the characters faces prejudice due to mixed heritage.) Older teens up should be okay.
This is a fun series, which can be enjoyed on its own but is funnier if you’re familiar with other otome stories. There is further material in the books, but this season ends in a very satisfying place. The action scenes are cool, but the romance is perhaps a bit shallow. Recommended to fans of action heroines.
