How anime series end is one aspect of the medium where I hear more negativity from fans. I’ve even heard people say that they’d like anime better if it weren’t for how unsatisfying anime endings tend to be. Since most anime series have episodes that follow a continuing story, often full of different subplots amongst the main plot, it can be tricky tying up all the loose ends in a restricted number of episodes, and impossible to do so in a way that will please every viewer. So what is it about anime endings that divide fans so?…
There are a few common types of anime endings that usually irk people more than not. Off the top of my head, the two most despised ones are “the reset ending” and “the return to the status quo ending.” In reset endings, the anime ends with the impression that the plot will reset and the characters will go through the same adventure once or even an uncountable number of times again. Examples of series that utilize this ending trope include Wolf’s Rain (a shining example) and The End of Evangelion (subtly). An ending that returns to the status quo is similar to a reset, but rather than going through the adventure again, the characters return to their lives before the big adventure started, with nothing more or less changed. Examples of this type of ending would be the recent AnoHana and the older Noir.
In a post I wrote a couple of years ago, I touched on exactly why these types of endings are unpopular among English-speaking fans, which again comes down to a difference in cultural expectations for storytelling. To quote what I said in the previous post, these types of endings are more acceptable in Japan because “Japanese anime fans like to think of anime as alternate worlds, worlds that they can imagine as existing parallel to reality.” Therefore, with reset endings or endings that return to the status quo, the alternate world of the anime can continue to be maintained in the mind of the viewer even if the anime is no longer ongoing. American culture however, is used to full conflict resolution at the end of stories and places emphasis on a story that begins and ends rather than just building worlds and characters. As I said in the other post, “If the story is reset or if the status quo goes back to how it was at the beginning of the series, American fans tend to feel like the entire journey and storyline was wasted.”
Another type of ending that fans either love dearly or greatly dislike is simply anime endings that are ambiguous. The endings of famous series like Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop, or even the new Madoka Magica and older Air, could fall into this category. To the fans who like this type of ending, the ending is artistically and intellectually stimulating; to the fans who dislike this type of ending, the ending is confusing and weird. With these endings, there’s a sense of closure but things like the fate of the characters remain vague. Like the aforementioned reset and return to status quo endings, whether you find ambiguous endings good or not simply comes down to the expectations you had for the show, how you want to relate to it, and how much you wanted the show to give you answers versus how much you wanted to interpret things yourself.
Which leads to my next point. Too much ambiguity is not a good thing, and there’s a fine line between letting viewers interpret things themselves and just plain not explaining important plot points. I don’t mind if things are left to my interpretation as long as I’m given sufficient information in which to interpret in the first place. I consider myself very tolerant of anime endings, so it’s really only this type of ending – where too much is left unexplained and too many loose ends are left untied – that I’d say I dislike. This usually happens when an anime series rushes its ending, as is the case for Noitamina’s No.6 and [C], or for Angel Beats!, where it presents a world and cast of characters too big for the number of episodes given. I also dislike when a series ends with extremely under-developed characters, a unique setting that’s hardly explored, or a glaringly contrived resolution pulled out of someone’s ass…but I don’t think anybody likes these endings really.
In spite of what I’ve heard from others, I find more anime endings satisfying than not. I personally found the ending of Code Geass, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Toradora! and Death Note to name a few, rather normal, traditional endings that wrapped up everything necessary. Even slice-of-life anime like Azumanga Daioh and K-ON!! offered a nice sense of closure in their finales (not that they needed much to begin with). Of course, for any series, one could argue that there’s always room to add another episode or two to expand on a certain character or delve more into a setting or plot point. But the answer I’m looking for in an ending is “Was there enough for me to feel like I understood the story and characters well, not necessarily every detail?” Sure, we could have gotten to know characters like Poppo and Tsuruko in AnoHana better, but I felt like we got to know enough of their character to be satisfying and not lacking so much that it hindered the series and its ending in any way. That’s pretty much what I mean – as long as I get a good gist of everything in a series and don’t feel like I have more questions than answers in the end, I’ll be satisfied.
Many fans like to judge an anime mostly or solely by its ending. They consider the ending the most important part, especially in a series with a lot of plot buildup. I like to judge anime holistically however; even if the ending didn’t meet my expectations, did I enjoy the journey there? Did I enjoy the characters/setting/directing of the anime enough to overlook the poor ending? In short, how an anime ends can be important to me, especially in a complex and heavily plot-centered series, but it’s not a huge deal to me if I fall in love with other aspects of the series. To conclude, how one feels about anime ending obviously depends on the person and depends on the anime ;)
I suspect that one of the main reasons these sorts of “unsatisfactory” endings exist (at least especially the “reset” and “life goes on” endings) is due to a lack of resolution in the source material, which may still be on-going at the time. Because anime writers are aware of the audience’s desire for finality, they’ll often try to build up the last few episodes for some sort of big finish, but without being aware of where the original story’s ultimately going to go or whether there’ll be funding for a second season, they end up having to resolve this in such a way that leaves the door open somehow. The problem is that many times in the past they never did go back to finish the anime, so anime-only fans are left with a poor sense of closure.
Interestingly, over the last few years it seems to me that this has changed a little bit. There seems to be an increased emphasis on timing the anime to coincide with the end of the manga or light novels, and aligning the stories to bring a sense of finality to both. This has also coincided with an overall increased emphasis on following the source material rather closely, sometimes even eschewing the traditional “closing arc” and just ending at a logical stopping point with the expectation that more may come. This makes sense as more franchises go the “media mix” route, focusing on bombarding the market with as wide and diverse an assortment of different media as possible in a short time frame (so the goal of the anime is ultimately to get people hooked on the manga/novels/games/etc. — the anime is at least partly a stepping stone). In a lot of cases English-speaking fans miss out a bit on this media mix aspect, but English translations (both official and fan-based) have helped bridge this gap.
Now for myself personally, I have a bit of an aversion to endings. I’ll find myself watching a show faithfully until about 2/3 of the way through, but then start procrastinating watching the closing arc. I think for me this is mostly that I don’t like things to be over, and rather prefer the “keeping the fantasy alive in my head” phase. If a subsequent season is announced, then I’ll go back and finish the past seasons knowing that more is coming. Now obviously that’s not always the case, but my list of “partially-finished” anime (that I liked, no less!) is rather daunting. ^^;
You know, I totally forgot to discuss the whole concept of anime endings in the case of series with original source material that’s still ongoing. But you covered it all very well in your first paragraph there XD I think most of the examples I used in the post are of anime-original series though. Fruits Basket is one example where I actually felt satisfied with how the anime ended even though the manga was still ongoing at the time. But when it’s blatantly obvious that the anime half-assed the ending because the original source was still ongoing, like with Claymore for instance, it can be irritating for people like me who rarely read manga, especially when that sequel never comes about.
Now that you mention it, it does seem like we’re seeing less of this though and more of the “mixed media” and “follow the source material closely” ideas that you discussed. I for one am glad about this, since few anime series compel me enough to want to indulge in the original source material ^^,,,
Heh, your aversion to watching anime endings is interesting. I personally can’t wait to see how series end. I think the only time I would be hesitant to watch an anime’s ending is if it’s for a series I absolutely love, or one of the long-running titles I’ve been following for years. It would be like I’m losing an old friend or something. Gosh, I don’t know what I’ll do when Haruhi comes to an end…and if Pokemon ever does, that’ll be even more shocking! 0_0
You cannot talk about anime ending without the mention of True Tears. That was FFFFFFUUUUUUU and if there was a type of ending that I hate, that gotta be it.
I too was one of the people cheering for the heroine who ultimately didn’t get picked in True Tears. It was disappointing at the time, but looking back at the show now, I’m inclined to agree with relentlessflame below that such an ending made the series memorable. Even if endings don’t turn out the way I expected them to, or even the way I wanted them to, I can still appreciate them as long as they make sense and don’t leave too much unexplained.
how does the ending of True Tears makes any sense?! O_o
It’s been a while since I watched True Tears so I don’t remember all the details, but I do remember not being confused by the ending at least, even if it wasn’t what I expected. He was going to end up with one of the two girls, just not the one I had thought/hoped.
@kluxorious:
Without wanting to start an off-topic tangent in Yumeka’s comments (or spoil the show for people who haven’t seen it), I think that’s actually a big part of the reason shows like that are memorable. People interpret the plot a certain way and favour a certain heroine, and then get upset when the show delivers a different ending than what they were hoping for. But typically, as in this case, the justification for the plot development was clearly laid out in the story (i.e. people should have seen it coming), just that they keep things just open enough to introduce that seed of doubt for people who want to see things differently and found themselves cheering for plot developments that didn’t pan out. So some people complain about these sorts of endings, but I think the show’s greatest strength is that it compels the audience to feel so strongly about the characters. I personally don’t think these sorts of endings are bad at all, so long as they’re justified.
true that. It was memorable for the wrong reason (at least imo it was) and True Tears was greatness until the end fucking blew it.
I agree that the ending can make or break a series – there have been countless times where the series was promising and I was enjoying it a lot, but come the last few episodes and it all went downhill from there and I was forced to think of it as a pretty average anime overall. It also ties in with a recent post you made about anime lengths, since the amount of episodes allowed will often determine whether the anime will be paced nicely or get a shitty rushed ending.
For example, the ending of Code Geass R2 is probably one of or even THE best anime ending I’ve ever seen. It fulfills all the criteria you mentioned: most characters are explored well, the setting and plot are rich and the ending gives a sense of closure without being rushed. That’s probably why it helped to make people forget the not-so-good bits of the rest of the anime and make Code Geass one of the most popular anime series ever. It helped that it got 2 seasons too, so there was no need to rush and there was enough plot for it not to drag.
It is indeed disappointing when you love the majority of an anime series only to find the ending a letdown. When it comes to putting my feeling for such a series together, I have to decide how big a role the ending played or whether the rest of the episodes are good enough to make up for the letdown in the end.
I agree that Code Geass R2 had a very satisfying ending – unpredictable and exciting with a great sense of closure, but still a few subtleties left to the imagination ^_^
Code Geass R2 failed too badly for a epic ending to redeem. It is however the best ending for animes seen in years, with brilliant execution, sense of resolution and space for imagination.
Just to remind you though, Madoka got more popular than Code Geass ever managed to at ep 10……
There’s nothing quite like an ending! It’s where everything is put on the table! Personally if I’m not left at the end with a bit of a sizzle in the brain(Evangelion movie) or a choked back tear(magica modaka) or a philosophical brain cramp(Shiki) I usually feel disappointed. I need those endings! Each one of those has so much to talk about, and I love that aspect of it, so even when the shows over, it’s not OVER. The one you have to watch again to fully understand. I watch the Eva movie like 3-4 times a year for a few years and I STILL don’t completely grasp it lol.
Or shiki’s ending where I just have to evaluate mankind and society at it’s archaic foundation, analyze both sides of the story and all the shows perspectives too fully recognize and grasp what it was I’d just watched. Or modaka which was sad and so happy too! I have to talk about the twist and this and that etc.
Or a nice open end that leaves a fuzzy feeling like Spice and Wolf does, and I can kind of just sit around and wait for more. But generic endings kill me, they disgust me. If you are going to leave it open ended and convoluted, at least do it artistically.
Sounds like you prefer endings that make you think and interpret, which is great =D I love those kinds of endings too, and anime offers them in abundance. I’ve watched Evangelion, Wolf’s Rain, and Noir many times over the years and each and every time I develop a slightly new interpretation of their ending and pick up on things that I didn’t notice before. But despite all this open-ended-ness, the endings still make sense to me when I put my thoughts together. Only great anime can do this for me ^__^
I didn’t know about that cultural difference, that is very interesting and now some endings make a lot of sense. Being a westerner myself, I do prefer series that tie up all the loose ends and dots all the “i”s in the conclusions. Code Geass, Chrono Crusade, have very solid endings.
I do not mind endings like the one in Madoka. As you mentioned, it leaves it up to the imagination, but I think it did take care of everything it had to. So endings are fine, as long as they were able to deal with all they had to.
The only ones I do not like are the rushed endings. You mentioned those, and those are the ones that can really make a great series into a so-so series. And going back to your other post about anime length, I really wish they could break the 12 or 24 episode schemes, and make 1 or 2 more episodes (if needed) to make sure we get a good ending.
So as long as it is not rushed, I have no problem with any of the endings they want to give us.
Yeah, the endings I don’t like are when too much is left unexplained, or the finale was just too contrived, which almost always goes back to the ending being rushed. You have a point that a lot of less than perfect endings could have been better were it not for the episode number restriction. So in addition to putting the series together, the anime creators have the added job of getting a satisfying ending into that certain number of episodes, which unfortunately isn’t always easy.
Nice topic, and I think a discussion of unsatisfactory endings might also benefit from a little bit of context in the way of physical production. It’s been mentioned that given how most anime properties are adaptations, the screenwriters may be penning episodes that simply don’t yet exist in the source material. There are plenty of anime out there with second seasons, reboots, and alternate universes to justify this.
But even with anime titles where the manga is finished and the studio is fully staffed… things can go wrong. One reason for this, I think, is how week-to-week animation production in Japan can be. Scripts may be written episodes in advance, but it’s not as if individuals have written (or do write) heaps of episodes at one go, and then have the studio storyboard and produce them all right away.
If a studio is working on a twelve-episode series, and has just received the commissioned scripts for the final two while in production for episode number, let’s say, nine, then fans have to be reasonable… the studio has a month to coordinate production of twenty-three minutes (x2) of presumably high-quality animation to wrap up an, also presumably, enormous series narrative. It’s not easy.
There are a ton of other variables to consider… like what if the series is produced entirely in-house, as with Satoshi Kon’s PARANOIA AGENT? If you watch that anime, the quality of production takes a hit toward the middle-end, but did the story suffer? Some fans think so.
Thanks for the insight =D Like I said to Kal above, I’d imagine it’s not easy for anime creators to coordinate the endings of very narrative-heavy series with other episodes. But, since anime is a medium of entertainment, fans have high expectations regardless of how difficult it may be for the studios. If some studios can do it well, it’s expected that they all can. I always try to look for the best in every anime, whether I liked the ending or not, though at times even great episodes can’t save a failure of an ending. It just depends I guess =/
Your response reminds me of DANCE IN THE VAMPIRE BUND, which I finished watching a few weeks ago. All in all, I really didn’t like the series at all… but speaking honestly, I thought the ending was rather appropriate, and fit well within the boundaries of the story.
In this case, I really didn’t have any expectations by the time the end of the anime rolled around, and that made for a reasonably pleasant conclusion to a series I can guarantee I’ll probably never watch again.
Your post alludes to a big difference when people talk about “endings” — the actual chronological last episode of a series versus a conclusion or closure to the series plot. Sometimes it’s good not to end the last episode on a concluding note, because it allows the viewers to continue imagining what goes on after the last ep, and also leaves room for another season or a sequel. Last Exile: Wings of Fam is a good example of a sequel that comes 8 years after the original Last Exile anime, which had some closure but lots of wiggle room for development. And like your first commenter said, sometimes the source material just hasn’t moves along fast enough for the anime to come up with a neat conclusion by ep 13 or 26 (or 11, as is sometimes happening now). That’s why I like reading the manga if it’s the source material.
Leaving room for fans to continue imagining, as well as making a sequel plausible, are the main two reasons anime series tend to end the way they do actually ^^,,, I like to see some closure in a series (unless they make it obvious there’ll be a sequel), like characters with a strong relationship getting together or seeing the fates of other important characters. But I certainly don’t need every answer spoon-fed in the end and like it when I can draw some of my own conclusions while still feeling satisfied =)
At least to me, the ending is the most important part of the story. A great ending that ties everything together will cement a series in your mind, an average ending will put a damper on otherwise good series, and a bad ending can ruin your view of a series that may have been excellent otherwise.
Probably the most important part of an ending in my opinion is whether they actually addressed all the issues in the plot. I’d much rather have plot points I disagree with in the ending than just slam a finale together that makes no sense and leaves you hanging *cough No.6 *cough. Code Geass is one of the more memorable examples of a good ending in this way, they pulled everything they had built up all along the journey into one epic finale.
That is one of the reasons why I largely refuse to watch animes based on mangas that are ongoing. Either the studio will make the brave but risky move of branching out from the manga, or make a weak ending for the material they have. Elfin Lied is a series that personifies this for me: A spectacular story ruined by an ending that, although acceptable, left me wanting to know what happened next.
Good points. I agree that I’d rather have a disappointing ending that at least makes sense and explains things, rather than an ending that just throws rushed, contrived, wish-fulfillment at me without explaining important things. Also agree that No.6 has a bad ending and Code Geass has a good one ;)
Either the studio will make the brave but risky move of branching out from the manga, or make a weak ending for the material they have.
…with longer running anime, I keep having to defer to other fans, asking them: Okay, so does this character or story arc “count”? When there are so many winding roads that long-running titles can take, it can be rather frustrating particularly for those who aren’t informed beyond the anime itself.
An ending won’t chance my opinion on the show in its complete entirety, but it will definitely influence my end rating. Princess Tutu had glaring flaws, but it got an 8 instead of a 7 because the ending was so damn epic. No. 6 was originally going to have a 7 or 8, but since its ending was pretty bad, it got lowered to a 6.
I know people are obscenely split over the Evangelion ending, and I still don’t know where I stand on that argument. School Days had a twist ending, and it was pretty hilarious (and fulfilling). I’m only three episodes into Mai-HiME, but I’ve heard that the ending was dreadful. Panty & Stocking was pretty epic, and had one of the biggest troll epilogues I’ve ever seen.
I quite like ambiguous endings. So long as it doesn’t leave too much open and/or unexplained. I’m never too concerned about a slice of life conclusion or a shoujo romance endings, mainly because you always know things will end up well in one way or another. (The only thing you really have to worry about with those genres is if it’s too anticlimactic, like Kuragehime.) But I’m not too picky with endings. Just as long as it isn’t too rushed, or doesn’t cop out, or doesn’t utilize too many deus ex machinas, I’ll probably be satisfied.
Endings I like include: Haibane Renmei, Paranoia Agent (on which fans are also rather split), and Cowboy Bebop.
Endings I didn’t like: No. 6, AnoHana, and Fractale. (noitaminA has seen better days.) (I also detested the endings for the Usagi Drop and xxxHOLiC manga. Terrible, terrible things.)
As for the most epic endings, Code Geas R2, Princess Tutu, Eden of the East, Shiki, and Gurren Laggan come to mind. But Utena, hands down, has the greatest ending in the entire universe in my opinion.
Yeah, more often than not, even if I liked the rest of the series, if the ending was terrible it would lower my ratings of the show, sometimes significantly (as was the case with [C] and No.6 for instance). Likewise, if I really liked the ending while the rest of the series was mediocre, it could bring up the rating (as was the case with Sola and Air).
Heh, for some reason I can’t remember the Utena TV series ending (it’s been many years since I watched it) but I do remember the movie ending. It was a shining example of an ambiguous ending, that’s for sure XD (but then again, Ikuhara is all about symbolism from beginning to end anyway).