Day: December 25, 2025

Scarlet Goes to War…and Ends it!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , ,

May I Ask for One Final Thing? Ep 10 Review

So, let’s recap: thanks to that absolute shrew, Terrenezza, one of the crystals keeping Pallistan safe has been shattered. There’s an army of bloodthirsty monsters about to invade. And to top it off, two of the kingdom’s neighbors have declared war for the love of the game. In short, everyone looks to be screwed to the point that not even Scarlet can handle this alone. Lucky for her, her not-so-secret admirer from another country has come to help her.

Sweet!

War is Coming

In the time that Scarlet was asleep, the Palmians were busy being a menace to society. They managed to talk two of Pallistan’s neighbors, Falconia and Elrand, into declaring war. Between them and the monster horde, the kingdom is facing a three-way battle on its borders. Even if you’re not a strategist, you should know how less than ideal that is!

The good news, though, is that now that Scarlet is awake, she’s ready to subject everyone deserving of it to punishment. The problem? She can’t be everywhere at once, so that means they have to divide and conquer. Dios will handle the other elves, while Nanaka will handle the Demi-humans. That leaves the Monster hordes to Scarlet…and Aflame.

Yes, Prince Alflame of the Vankish Empire has returned. Instead of backing the Palmians, though, he’s choosing to throw his lot in with Julius. In exchange, they’ll give him support for his bid for the throne. Because in his lands, the firstborn is not a shoo-in for succession. In exchange, he’ll provide himself, and his personal army of a thousand Dragon Knights. It might not seem like much, but then you remember the fact that they’re all riding dragons. Giant, flying, apex predators that can breathe fire. If you’ve ever seen the Game of Thrones franchise, then you know what a handful can do. And they have a thousand of them. Do the math.

So Scarlet takes Rex and goes to the battlefield with Alflame. And as it turns out, she already has quite the reputation amongst his followers.

The Infernal Bride? Sounds so Cool!

Spike Spiegel once said that he loves a woman who can kick his butt. As we already know, Alflame is of the same mindset, because the last time they met, he decided that Scarlet was the one for him. Since then, he’s been going around telling his Redsky Dragoons that she’s his fiancée and that he gave her Rex as a gift. They’ve even taken to calling her the “Infernal Bride.”

Scarlet is not amused. But her retaliation doesn’t freak the Dragoons out. If anything, they’re impressed. And I can understand why.

Their respect only grows when the time comes for the actual fighting. When an Orc Lord takes one of the Dragoons’ own hostage, it tells Scarlet that the first thing the monsters will do is to devour the women and children of her country. Scarlet’s response? To beat it to death with its fists.

This is one of Scarlet’s finest moments of butt-whooping. Not only is the Orc Lord thought, but it has a healing factor allowing it to regenerate from even a decapitation. Her response. Slow down time to deliver hundreds of punches at once! Enough to overload its healing factor and become another feast for Scarlet. The Dragoons are so grateful they start calling her big boss.

Bow to the Queen

So that’s one problem solved. But now there’s another one. Dios and Nanaka’s peace negotiations are not going anywhere due to more monsters being in the way.

Uh-oh. Is Scarlet going to have to get involved to save the day, or can Dios and Nanaka pull this off? It could go either way, honestly!

I Give “May I Cook This Thick Cut of Pork Through With Body Punches?” a 4/5

There’s a Special Place in Hell for Those who Manipulate the Good

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , ,

May I Ask for One Final Thing Ep 9 Review

You know what I hate? Villains blackmailing nice people to do what they want against their will. It breaks my heart to see sweet, pure, and worthwhile people being forced to perform acts of evil against their will. It’s one of the reason why I hate villains who blackmail good people to do their dirty work, and Terenezza definitely qualifies as such a villain. Thanks to her and her b**** goddess, Scarlet’s home is in grave danger. But even worse, though, is the fact that the Palmians forced sweet little Sanya, AKA Saint Diana, into becoming their pawn.

They are all going to be needing some punishment before this is over, and Scarlet will see it done.

Palmia Must be Stopped

So, after the failed ambush of Terenezza last episode, Scarlet fell into a deep slumber. And while she has slept, things have only gone from bad to worse. Terenezza has led the Palmians to destroy one of the crystals creating the barrier protecting Pallistan. With its destruction, the entire kingdom is at risk from invading monsters. Even worse, two neighboring countries declare war and are on the march. This is something that the Palmians have been planning for some time now, and it’s about to come to fruition.

It’s almost impressive just how thorough the Palmian Church’s plans to destroy Pallistan were. They intimidate the Dianists, corrupt the nobles from within, and Terenezza would use her powers to have one of the princes wrapped around her finger. However, knowing all of that only serves to demonstrate just how massive a spanner in the works Scarlet has proven to be. She’s managed to derail almost all their evil plans, and they were only willing to act once she fell asleep. Thankfully, she wakes up from her beauty sleep halfway through the episode, fully committed to punishing the naughty Palmians.

Especially after learning how they manipulated poor Diana.

And the Good Book Said “Thou who Manipulates the Sweet Little Girl Shall Suffer”

For some time now, Julius and Sigurd suspected that there was a spy in the Church of Diana feeding the Palmians information. As it turns out, that mole was none other than Diana herself. They forced her to be their agent with the promise of being able to restore her missing powers as a Saint. Little did she know, it was the Palmians themselves who stole her powers in the first place. And poor little Diana, desperate to prove her continued worth and value as a person, fell for their Faustian bargain hook, line, and sinker. It’s only after seeing what’s happened to Scarlet, the person she cares about the most, that sje decided to put her foot down in front of their agent, Dios. Thankfully, Scarlet manages to de-escalate things with her fists, and while Julius does intend to punish her after all this done, I doubt she’ll get in serious trouble. The Palmians stole her powers and emotionally manipulated her. It would be hard for many people in her shoes not to act like she did. At the very least, Scarlet responds to her actions with empathy and understanding.

Which is not something that could be said regarding her reaction to Dios…at first.

Wasn’t Expecting That

So, Scarlet remembers that when Diana’s life was in danger when her palanquin collapsed, Dios was genuinely worried for her safety. Thus, she knows he’s a true believer of Palmia and a decent person. As it turns out, she’s spot on. Dios doesn’t give two cents about Palmia; he just cares about Diana, his half-sister.

Dios is half-human, half-elf. His mother was an elf, but his father was a human and also Diana’s father. He tracked them down in the hopes of chewing him out over it, but as soon as he saw Diana, his big brother instincts kicked in. And when Diana lost her powers, the Palmians pulled the same con on him that they would then use on Diana herself. However, now that he knows that the Palmians themselves are responsible for stealing Diana’s saintly powers in the first place, he’s done with them. He even offers to give Scarlet info on them…but she refuses. Instead, all she wants is for Dios to prove himself by doing right by his sister by stopping the Palmians.

Thankfully, Scarlet and Julius won’t be alone in this effort. Remember Prince Alflame of the Vankish Empire? It would seem that the Palmians tried to reach out to him to get him to join in on their “crush Pallistan” plan. Instead, he’s going to help the woman he’s madly in love with. So that makes two examples of simping in a single episode.

We are nearing the endgame of this story, and there is still plenty of ground left to cover. However, I’m confident that this show can stick the landing. With luck, Scarlet will be giving us all an early Christmas present of battered and bloody Palmians.

“May I Explain That This is Not Something That Just Anyone Can Do?” A 3.5/5