Want to watch a heroine beat people up while her love interest giggles on the sidelines? That’s pretty much what it feels like to watch this show’s first two episodes. Like most anime, May I Ask for One Final Thing? starts us off with an all too familiar concept just to then add a twist or two. Scarlet, a young noblewoman, is unceremoniously dumped by her fiancé Kyle in front of a bunch of nobles at a party. The haughty prince then proclaims his love for Terenezza, accuses Scarlet of bullying his new woman, and thus labels her a villainess. I think I’ve seen several isekai series with this exact setup. The most recent one that comes to mind is I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss. The heroine in that show goes from one brother to another, and funnily enough, it looks like our Scarlet might be doing the same. So what’s the twist or two that sets this show apart from its ilk? First, this is surprisingly not a story about a girl who has been isekai’d into her favorite otome game despite its painfully clichéd prologue. Second, Scarlet doesn’t do the typical thing of running away. Instead, she does her talking with her fists, and I won’t lie: it’s kinda refreshing to see.

Scarlet punches the shit out of Terenezza, then she punches the shit out of all the nobles in attendance, then she finally punches the shit out of Kyle. And strangely enough, she also manages to punch the truth out. Apparently, Kyle’s legion of sycophants are in the slave-trading business, which our aspiring king-to-be is all to happy to enable. But somehow, under threat of being punched, these pathetic nobles voluntarily confess to their heinous crimes. Nobody even asked the canary to sing! As you can see, our heroine isn’t exactly surrounded by smart or brave people. Hell, her family is especially craven. Kyle has always bullied her, but her gormless father never did a damn thing about it. On the surface, it might look as though Scarlet’s brother Leonardo is somewhat protective of her, but he seems more concerned about their family image than his sister’s safety. That’s pretty shameful if you ask me. Last but not least, Scarlet’s classmates aren’t blind to Kyle’s behavior, but they’ve been cowed into silence. In a just world, violence isn’t the answer. In a just world, you can just talk things out! But let’s not be naive. We don’t live in a just world, and neither does Scarlet.

Scarlet isn’t completely alone, though. Kyle’s attendant Sigurd is actually a spy, and he’s tried to prevent some of the bullying. Our heroine later saves Nanaka, a beastkin maidboy, from slavery, so he’s now indebted to her. Most of all, Prince Julius, Kyle’s older brother, has always been fascinated with Scarlet. He’s probably surrounded by prim and proper nobles and attendants every day of the week, so someone like our heroine must certainly be a refreshing change of pace. Unfortunately, he treats her more like a curious specimen instead of an equal. Hell, he could probably easily sweep her off her feet, but he seems content at the moment to tease her for her reactions. Worst of all, he’s practically stalking her with the way he lurks around every corner, quietly observing her every move. Honestly, it’s a bit creepy. Sure, they have some good banter, but I’ve never been a fan of the age-old trope where a tough girl is easily disarmed by that one guy. Y’know, that one guy that just knows how to push her buttons and get under her skin. That one guy who can beat her in academics if he would only try. That one guy who can see through her icy facade and understand exactly how she feels (probably because he’s been stalking her on the daily). I get it, he’s the primary love interest. And I don’t mind if the story has romance in it. And sure, I think a well-balanced protagonist should have a weakness to grow from. I just don’t think a sometimes patronizing pretty boy prince would be my first choice for a character flaw.

The second episode leaves us with a bit of a cliffhanger: Scarlet, Julius, and Nanaka are prepared to crash a slave auction and expose the evil prime minister. Along the way, I’m sure there will be plenty of people for our heroine to punch. But is that it? Are we just going to watch her punch all of her foes for an entire season? Look, I’m all for rooting out corruption, but at the end of the day, this is still a society with a clear dividing line between the rich and poor, the nobility and the commons. Yeah, it’s cathartic to punch out haughty, arrogant nobles, but it feels a bit hollow when you still bend the knee to the king. If the “moral” of the story is that we can leave the existing problematic power structures in place — all we gotta do is root out the bad eggs — then that’s the most milquetoast, liberal answer to society’s problems. When Scarlet asks Julius why he’s tagging along on her trip to the slums, he gives this PR-trained answer about how he wants to craft a utopia when he ascends to the throne. He can only do that, he contends, by seeing his kingdom with his own eyes. Well, if you truly want a utopia, you could start by not seeing yourself as the future king. Just sayin’. I’m fine if Scarlet falls in love with him one day, but maybe he deserves a punch too.

As an aside, I find it interesting that the ED is all about Terenezza dressed up as various fairy tale heroines. I wonder if this is still an isekai except it’s just Terenezza who got isekai’d and not Scarlet.