Does every anime series have a bad ending?

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Right, I know it sounds a bit daft, but I've watched quite a few series of anime, and they never seem to actually have a good ending. For example:

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Had a terrible ending as the budget ran out and it seemed to make less and less sence (end of evangelion didn't help out much on that front either)
Gantz: Worlds biggest filler ending
Berzerk: Worlds biggest cliffhanger
Fist of the North Star: Filler ending
GITS: Stand Alone Complex season 1: You hear the word "Mutoko!!!" Shouted and its all really resonant and intence, next episode, everything is all better.

Now, I'm not expecting miracles (well, at least not from these guys, lol) but would it be too much to ask for a series to have an ending which isnt terrible or doesnt demonstrate a lack of ideas?

If anyone can point me to a decent anime series which doesnt end badly than that would be really appreciated.
 

Skilletdude

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There are actually plenty... you've just run into a bunch of popular ones that don't have the best endings :D I personally liked Berzerk and NGE but I agree about the endings.

Just going through my collection with ones that I felt had a satisfying ending...

Cowboy Bebop
Air TV
D.N.Angel
Witch Hunter Robin
Visions of Escaflowne
Chrono Crusade
Kanon
Basilisk
Fate Stay/Night
Gankustsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

There are plenty others I'm sure. Whether you like any of those or not, they do have satisfying endings. I didn't feel ripped off for watching the whole thing.
 
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Qyöt27

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I'll even go so far as to say Eva's ending was part of what made it what it was. And actually, if you really want to reassess that one, look at Rebuild. No budget issues now, and getting a facelift with absolutely spectacular animation and a plotline that diverges starting approximately around episode 8 of the TV series. The first movie was pretty much a nice remake of the first 6 episodes, and the second is where the differences come in big time.

The thing is, GAINAX is known for those types of endings in the first place, and whether Rebuild is slated to have a similarly weird ending, I don't know. (and yes, I know Rebuild is Studio Khara, but that's really just as much of a smokescreen as Asuka's surname change - Anno and several of the other original staff are in charge of it)




As for another suggestion, I'd go with Toradora! - even if some people complained about the hasty nature of the last few episodes and that it diverged from the light novels, I thought it was fine, and the show itself is one of the best I've seen in a long time.

I'd expect Kara no Kyoukai to have a great conclusion, but the seventh movie hasn't been translated yet (or released to DVD in Japan, either). It was the precursor to both Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night. KnK was a light novel series published in the late 90s. Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night were both visual novels (and Tsukihime in particular is excellent, but the anime adaptation was so ill-received many fans deny its existence outright*; for playing the original Tsukihime and F/SN visual novels, the English patches do give you option to turn off the adult content).

*case in point:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z278/mravix9000/Doujin/Hisuisays.jpg
 
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Riddik7

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you could say Hunter X Hunter but it technicaly hasn't ended though if you look at the manga though they closed the anime series out nicely so it can either stop there or be continued if the manga ever starts back up...
 
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SAint Mark

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Most anime series have very open endings. Berserk for example, like you said ends in a big cliff hanger. But the manga continues the story. Mangas tend to have much bettter endings, they tend to tie the threads togeather. Another exemple of this is Rurouni Kenshin. Great ending in the manga, no loose ends! But the anime sucked after the production caught up with the manga (somewhere round ep 60).

The ending should be consistent with the "spirit" of the series. One such series is Samurai Champloo. I think the ending was very fitting to the series (this is a series I recommend).
 
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Kembomani

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Rounin Kenshin was the most disappointing for me. Maybe its just a trend though that popular long running series need a bad ending. Look at Sherlock Holmes so many people were [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]ed off about about that. Definitely the most confusing was Big O ending defintelly needed a 3rd season.
 
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Qyöt27

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There's many scenarios this can fall into:

A) The original author isn't good at writing endings, so the conclusion of the manga or visual novel or light novel sucks anyway, and the anime can only really work with what they've been given. Also, with visual novels, these things tend to branch and have good and bad endings galore - this means someone is going to be unhappy with the anime, because there can only really be one ending (although side-story OVAs may pop up from time to time, like with Clannad and Kimi ga Nozomu Eien).

B) The producers of the anime want nothing to do with the manga and go off on their own tangent, which usually results in them ruining what had been a great program. This can be done for several reasons, but it typically happens with shounen series. The primary reason for that is simple: the producers of shounen anime, to get revenue and support the cashflow from their intended 11-14 year old demographics, have to keep the show on the air, no matter what. So if the anime catches up with the manga, guess what? Filler time. Shows targeted at older demographics (which can span from romance to comedy to mystery to drama, etc., as well as much grittier action) don't do this - those shows are generally picked up for 12-, 13-, 24-, or 26-episode runs, and if popularity ensures money, there's a break and the show comes back later with a second or third or fourth season. The long runs of something like Bleach, Naruto, or One Piece are intended for the sole purpose of catering to demographics, not for artistic integrity or quirky Japanese airing schedules. Those sorts of shows are really the only ones that get the 'we don't have seasons, there's a new episode for practically every week of the year' treatment - and only because the studios can guarantee income and cope from the broadcast costs from doing it that way.

Other shows that take the normal 'short or long run, take a break, come back later' approach also usually air late at night, and this is part of where revenue comes in - Japanese TV requires the studios pay to get stuff on the air. This is part of why the anime industry is bleeding in Japan - the advertising and push for the DVD sets and associated merchandising is to largely recoup losses on airing the program (in essence the program acts as a big commercial for the DVD) and finally turn a profit. The über-popular shounen series can easily wield the kind of cash to turn around pretty quickly and not worry about this, but a lot of the rest of it - that's not an automatic cash cow franchise, like nearly anything GAINAX does these days - only hope to break even on the venture when they're on at 25:00 or 26:00 (1 or 2 AM - don't ask me why 25 and 26 o'clock are used on Japanese TV schedules, I've never figured it out either).
 
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Azureknight 773

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To the title:

Well, not all.
-Gundam G had a nice ending.
-Karas had a good ending as well but leaves the fans go nuts for either a LAM (Live Action Movie) or an entire new series after that 2-parter movie due to it's superb animation.
-Gundam OO S2 had a great ending for they beat the evil one and having almost all of CB as survivors.

However yeah! Most of the animes I've watched have bad endings.
The latest one was Kaze no Stigma. That anime had way too many stories left untold after ep 24 for it's author died. That show really needs Ayano to confess that she loved Kazuma Yagami for that show is all about them.
 
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Azureknight 773

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The other good anime ending was perhaps Blood Plus for it was solid from beginning to end. Blood Plus however had a tragic character: Diva, who could have been a potential good vampire queen if it wasn't for the maltreatment that paved all her way to a big bad villany. Fortunately, her daughters were adopted by her enemies as if they were theirs in the end. God, this is one example of "pro-life" ending, a wonderfully written show.
 
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Cain Spencer

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Right, I know it sounds a bit daft, but I've watched quite a few series of anime, and they never seem to actually have a good ending. For example:

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Had a terrible ending as the budget ran out and it seemed to make less and less sence (end of evangelion didn't help out much on that front either)
Gantz: Worlds biggest filler ending
Berzerk: Worlds biggest cliffhanger
Fist of the North Star: Filler ending
GITS: Stand Alone Complex season 1: You hear the word "Mutoko!!!" Shouted and its all really resonant and intence, next episode, everything is all better.

Now, I'm not expecting miracles (well, at least not from these guys, lol) but would it be too much to ask for a series to have an ending which isnt terrible or doesnt demonstrate a lack of ideas?

If anyone can point me to a decent anime series which doesnt end badly than that would be really appreciated.

Anime ends badly (via killing off characters) because the manga has to come to an end eventually.
 
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Azureknight 773

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^But not with a handfuls. I think Akazukin ChaCha for instance (if my memory serves me right) had actually got a good ending.

^The problem with the Blood+ ending though was that the battle between Diva and Saya was EXTREMELY anti climatic.
Agreed. That was so anti-climatic that I even wanted a bigger fight. I mean, I wanted to watch a 15-minute clash between twins in one episode but then, sadly the fight ended quite quick and was so tragic in Diva's part for she was revealed to be a potentially good person despite being the big bad.
 
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Mankin

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In addition, I didn't like the whole HajixSaya ending. Haji feels like a cardboard character to me. He has his background, but beyond that he's an ordinary pretty boy. Kai was just a much more developed character than him. Imo he should have ended up with Saya(It works since they're not really blood related).

Even Haji had a better fight scene than Saya and Haji spends most of his time during the series getting beaten up.
 
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Azureknight 773

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In addition, I didn't like the whole HajixSaya ending. Haji feels like a cardboard character to me. He has his background, but beyond that he's an ordinary pretty boy. Kai was just a much more developed character than him. Imo he should have ended up with Saya(It works since they're not really blood related).

Even Haji had a better fight scene than Saya and Haji spends most of his time during the series getting beaten up.

Definite YES to the majority of this post only that, Kai treats Saya as his sister and that there's this family love that he has on her even though they aren't related.

BTW, I have here another anime which I remembered entitled "Eto Rangers" which for me had another awesome ending and thus making it an entire win. It is fun, it is funny and it is so filled with kawaii-ness and the characters are quite well developed until the end. The ending was the freeing of an enemy warrior who originally wanted to be a member of the hero team but was rejected but in the ending was accepted as a team member after the destruction of the big bad of the show which's cool. Then there is also another anime that I remember here, it is "NINJA ROBOTS" or Ninja Senshi Tobikage in Japan. Man! That is one of the animes that I really enjoyed especially the final episodes where it had an awesome ending for having the one who did a "Face Heel Turn" against them returned back to the good side to fight off the remaining Zaboom enemy soldiers in the Andromeda Galaxy.
 
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