The Forgers are on yet another family outing. Y’know, for the mission. It’s always for the mission. But seriously, I feel like Loid will never confront his actual feelings unless his family is in danger, both literally or figuratively. Of course, most people never want anything bad to happen to the Forgers and for good reason. They’re a cute, wholesome family even if they’re all lying to each other. Personally, however, I would like to see them put under a bit of pressure just to see what happens — just to see what comes out.
Right off the bat, a girl who looks like a character straight out of a Tim Burton movie threatens a boy with a knife. Her name is Fuyumura, and she hasn’t been the same since her best friend Ono disappeared over six months ago. Ono has been declared dead, but Fuyumura isn’t convinced. She thinks her bestie is still out there waiting to be found, and she knows exactly how to do it: ask Santa for help. Santa just happens to be the boy she’s threatening to stab. What a strange concept for an anime. I’ve never heard of the original source material. I simply wanted to watch this show for two reasons: 1) the premise is weird, and 2) Science SARU is producing this show.
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.
In fact, is “my” also the right word? What on earth am I even talking about? So let’s start from the beginning. Kannawa is tasked with training up Kamegawa, the new employee. She seems cool and confident on the outside, but in reality, she’s kind of a nervous wreck on the inside. She can also be a bit contradictory at times. A peer suggests that she read a few self-help books on how to be a boss, but she pridefully rejects the idea. We predictably see her later with a bunch of self-help books. She reprimands the newbie for eating cup ramen as it isn’t healthy. She then goes and has them for dinner afterwards. But this is all still pretty normal. Who hasn’t said one thing and done another? We’re only human. Over and over again, as I watch Kannawa in action, I can’t help but ask myself if she’s actually all that awkward. Sorta yes, sorta no.
Someone has been waiting for Akira to wake up as we see a mysterious hooded girl observing Akira from afar. She’s likely an android tasked with watching over him, but she doesn’t introduce herself just quite yet. Instead, a pair of villagers — a father and daughter duo — quickly find Akira and take him back to their village when he collapses. Wia and his daughter Idhi seem rather deferential, referring to to our protagonist as the Wise One. Hell, they practically worship him. Initially, I figured that it would totally make sense for the villagers to speak a language that Akira can’t understand. After all, we don’t know how much time has passed. But all of a sudden, Akira an converse with the villagers without a single issue. How? Why? Was knowledge of their language somehow ingrained in him when he was sleeping inside that medical capsule?
