I Can See The Ending... Not.

[Hazard]

This is a thread about endings.

The end of a story, for me, is the most important part of a story. Sure, the beginning and middle are super important as well. However an awesome ending everything you have built up just shine more or even make people forgive or forget the flaws along the way.

Alternatively, you can have something really good and sent it all to crash and burn with a badly written ending.

Basically, this is a thread for you to share endings from manga or anime that turned things around for you, for better or worse.

For example, Negima's ending.... okay so I don't need to elaborate on that one. Decent manga. Cool ideas. All flushed down at the end.

Or say Star Driver which had some cool concepts, fun characters, awesome fights. The ending however is profoundly unsatisfying. Sure the main problem got resolved, but despite the cool robot fights the characters were the main draw and many of the character conflicts that had formed along the way were left without resolution.

That and the two main characters ended up in space and the anime didn't even bother to address how they are going to return to Earth. No they just end it there.

On the other side, there is Tower of Uruk. The first season was fun. Nothing unspectacular but fun. Then there is a big twist at the end, the main character gets betrayed after one epic final boss fight. That would have been memorable on its own. What really changed things around for me though was what came next. Our protagonist gets up. Looks at the tower and says:

"One. More. Time."

I was like "Damn, that's badass" back then. I switched from decent, to shocking bad end, to 'the sequel is going to be so awesome!'. It's the reason why I remember the anime so fondly.

There is no second season.

At all.

None.

Anyway, share some endings that changed your appreciation of a series.

Obviously, this thread will be spoiler heavy.

[Siriel]

I'm rather fond of Cardfight!! Vanguard's ending. (The second season might as well be a different show given that the main characters lost their entire character development, have new decks and that everything from the first season is thoroughly ignored.)

It keeps the show's general attitude of "standard cardgame show with a twist". Pretty much the entire duel between Ren and Aichi goes as I expected it to (albeit with an awesomely smug interruption by PSY!Aichi), up until it ends. I won't go into too much detail because I intend to write a long post about Ren and Aichi soonish, but the best part for me is this:

Ren gets his Psyqualia removed, he collapses on the floor almost crying and he has a flashback to before he had Psyqualia.

Everything is set up for his big "I'm sorry" moment where he makes up with Kai and becomes friend with everyone again.

Except...Psyqualia didn't change him into what he is now. He became that way through his experiences.

Ren gets back up, regains his composure, admits his loss and walks off, clearly still believing in himself and fully intending to come back for the next tournament. His defeat proved that he was weaker, not that his philosophy was completely wrong.

That was a really solid moment, in my opinion.

[Guy1]

While I love the series to no end, the ending of Gurren Lagann is essentially just one big middle finger.

[Kamina]

I would say Highschool of the Dead... but that anime broke the suspense of disbelief long before it's ending.

NEEDLESS definitely screwed the pooch halfway, but the ending was essentially one big...

the ending of Gurren Lagann is essentially just one big middle finger.

*lifts sunglasses*

Um...excuse me?

Anyway, NEEDLESS anime's ending was just awful. I... liked the first couple of episodes, struggled through those 10 episodes that took place in the same room, waiting for an epic conclusion... and I got to see the heroes fight a Super Saiyan and run into the sunset.

[Inkthinker]

On the other side, there is Tower of Uruk. The first season was fun. Nothing unspectacular but fun. Then there is a big twist at the end, the main character gets betrayed after one epic final boss fight. That would have been memorable on its own. What really changed things around for me though was what came next. Our protagonist gets up. Looks at the tower and says:

"One. More. Time."

I was like "Damn, that's badass" back then. I switched from decent, to shocking bad end, to 'the sequel is going to be so awesome!'. It's the reason why I remember the anime so fondly.

There is no second season.

At all.

None.

Do you mean Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk? Because there were two seasons of that, including an entire second season (The Sword of Uruk) that takes place six months after

spoilers:

Neeba and Kaaya betray Jil

end of spoilers

at the end of the first season.

Both available to stream online, in dub and subtitle, on Hulu.

Personally I love the ending to Paranoia Agent, if only because they wind the series up to greater and greater levels of WTF until the literal last half of the last episode, and then suddenly explain it all in a way that makes sense (within the psychic/paranormal framework of the series).

[Hazard]

While I love the series to no end, the ending of Gurren Lagann is essentially just one big middle finger.

Oh, Gainax ending.

By this point I am sure they do it on purpose.

Do you mean Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk? Because there were two seasons of that, including an entire second season (The Sword of Uruk) that takes place six months after

spoilers:

Neeba and Kaaya betray Jil

end of spoilers

at the end of the first season.

Yeah, my brain scrambled the name.

Also, I'll completely forget any mention of the second season you made just now.

[The Drunkard Kid]

Ranma 1/2's ending was profoundly annoying to me. Inu Yasha and Maison Ikkoku, OTOH, have pretty good endings.

[Ghost]

For example, Negima's ending.... okay so I don't need to elaborate on that one. Decent manga. Cool ideas. All flushed down at the end.

Now, I'm currently on volume 34, and maybe I'm biased what with my blatant Akamatsu fanboyism, but I honestly have a hard time imagining how that is even possible. As far as I'm concerned the damn thing started out near perfect and just kept getting better, somehow. At this point it's going to take something very extreme and very strange to wreck it, which isn't really what I've come to expect from Akamatsu.

So, I'm kinda hoping this will be another one of those things where my opinion is just the direct opposite of everyone else's for some reason. ^^;

[The Drunkard Kid]

Now, I'm currently on volume 34, and maybe I'm biased what with my blatant Akamatsu fanboyism, but I honestly have a hard time imagining how that is even possible. As far as I'm concerned the damn thing started out near perfect and just kept getting better, somehow. At this point it's going to take something very extreme and very strange to wreck it, which isn't really what I've come to expect from Akamatsu.

So, I'm kinda hoping this will be another one of those things where my opinion is just the direct opposite of everyone else's for some reason. ^^;

Um...

As one Akamatsu fan to another, all I can say is that you should just brace yourself. As in, "please fasten your seatbelts and put your tray in an upright position because all the engines have exploded and we're about to make an emergency water landing. And by 'water,' I mean 'lava.' "

[Nik Hasta]

Eh, I wouldn't say that the ending of Negima was /bad/ exactly... it just reeked of early cancellation.

Or rather than cancellation, it felt more like Akamatsu had just gotten tired of the series so he wanted to wrap it up and move on.

Given that I find the series incredibly tedious for the most part, I don't really blame him. Guy is a fine artist and semi-decent writer and he can do better than where Negima ended up.

Cancellation is the reason why a lot of manga endings can feel lacklustre. Off the top of my head; Change Guy and Change 123 felt really rushed or just sort of stop because the series were cancelled unexpectedly so the authors had to try and wrap everything up as best they could. S-Cry-Ed had a weak ending that I suspect was due to cancellation but then I don't think that's really inkeeping with the spirit of the thread because S-Cry-Ed was never good. That manga was just atrocious in so many ways and I'm constantly amazed at how good the anime managed to be despite that.

Shaman King had an awful ending... or more accurately just /didn't have/ an ending until we got KangZengBang like... six years later. Oddly enough, I still think the anime did kind of a good job cobbling together an ending out of the constituent parts that they had knocking around.

Yu Yu Hakushou has an appalling endgame. Togashi really lost sight of what he was trying to do with that series in my opinion. As did Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn but again, that series was never that strong to begin with.

And Digimon Season 2. Just... god fucking dammit. Worst ending to an anime I have had the misfortune to witness.

To look at some positives...

Hokuto no Ken, Angel Densetsu and Zatch Bell all have utterly fantastic endings that are pretty much perfect, especially Zatch Bell. Expertly handled and entirely inkeeping with the themes of their respective series. Love Hina has a good if slightly predictable ending but it was really fun ride getting there.

To look at a classic, AKIRA has a seriously boss ending. It's so full of hope but at the same time tinged with so much sadness and regret about all that has happened. It reflects the truly epic scale of the storytelling, y'know?

[Dark Soul # 7]

The only series I can come up with for this kind of thing is Kekkaishi.

Overall the series is just great with clever power-sets, interesting characters and situations and a complex mythos. Then, after a really good arc, the author gives you a set up for a really epic final storyline that looks like it'll be the the usual shounen clusterfuck of awesome. The big bad has taken control over the minds of several high-powered leaders of a supernatural military organisation, those remaining have gathered together for a last ditch assault on the guy, an immortal witch has create a spell to end the world as revenge for her idol dying in the previous storyline and the main character is training with his over-powered mom (or one of her clones) and the spirit of the guy that founded his entire clan to accomplish what has been his main goal the entire series. All these things, and a few more that I don't remember right now, are all going to take place at the same location. So it looks like it is going to be an epic conflict.

Then there's fighting and a few plot twists and stuff that should be awesome and everything is resolved. But it feels very mundane. The main battle is over without any really memorable moments and before the main character can actually show up. When he does he just does his job and that's that. There's this one really tear-jerking moment after the battle that I really like, but besides that it's all feels not really interesting.

It's just a really unsatisfying ending to an otherwise awesome series.

Now, I'm currently on volume 34, and maybe I'm biased what with my blatant Akamatsu fanboyism, but I honestly have a hard time imagining how that is even possible. As far as I'm concerned the damn thing started out near perfect and just kept getting better, somehow. At this point it's going to take something very extreme and very strange to wreck it, which isn't really what I've come to expect from Akamatsu.

So, I'm kinda hoping this will be another one of those things where my opinion is just the direct opposite of everyone else's for some reason. ^^;

The word that you're going to be looking for is "rushed" or some variation of said word.

[Nik Hasta]

Oh yeah, Magico.

Blatantly cancelled but still a brilliant ending.

IT WAS JUST SOMETHIN' IN MY EYE. T_T

[Dark Soul # 7]

Oh yeah, Magico.

Blatantly cancelled but still a brilliant ending.

IT WAS JUST SOMETHIN' IN MY EYE. T_T

SECONDED!

Brilliant ending that would've been even more brilliant if the series wasn't cancelled!

Best rushed ending ever!

[sun tzu]

While I love the series to no end, the ending of Gurren Lagann is essentially just one big middle finger.

Count me among those who disagree, but I can see where you're coming from.


Digimon Adventures Zero Two is infamous for its crappy ending, and for good reason.

Hikaru No Go's ending...The protagonist loses his big game that he'd been building up to for several books. The one that he wanted to win so much for personal reasons.
And I loved it. That manga didn't bullshit with protagonist plot shields and the such. What mattered wasn't what games Hikaru won or lost - it was the story of how he grew up through the game.

Magic Knight Rayearth had two arcs. I barely even remember the second, but the first one...It came across as shallow, safe, pretty boring, "why the hell is this thing popular"...
...and then I reached the ending. I was shocked. I had not seen that twist coming.
Suddenly, reading those three volumes felt entirely worth it.

[remydat]

I watched the Anime first and it is technically not an ending since the Manga continues but the ending of the Berserk Anime was pretty epic IMO. They went to great lengths to build up the friendship and relationships between the band of the Hawk were Guts finally found a place in the world where he was loved and accepted and then well it all came crashing down in an epic betrayal/sacrifice.

The ending to Stein's gate is also pretty good as it manages to resolve a seemingly impossible problem in a pretty logical and cool way.

Neon Genesis Evangelion depending on who you ask either had an epic ending or was garbage. Either way, it usually garners strong emotions.