UPN Answerman Session #2: Most Disappointing Ending?

[Talon87]

Today's question: what's the most disappointing ending to an anime series you've ever seen?

I'm tempted to go with the timeless answer of Neon Genesis Evangelion, but truth be told I was disappointed by the entire series from start to finish and so the ending wasn't disappointing so much as awful. Disappointment requires one to have enjoyed the show up until the end and then to have felt let down.

My gold medalist is one not many of you have seen, I think: KareKano, or His & Her Circumstances. Eva's creator (Hideaki Anno was it? I forget and will not waste my time typing more than this disclaimer) was interested in leading the anime adaptation and the mangaka cluelessly accepted his offer. Little did she know that Anno would butcher her show mercilessly starting around the halfway point and that he would give it what is notoriously the worst ending ever.

Or almost ending. Episode 19 technically precedes the final episode by a fair margin, but watch this clip just to get an idea of what an asshole Anno is and how he ruined this once-enjoyable series: what happens when Hideaki Anno splurges your budget on the first 18 episodes. (If you get bored out of your mind, skip ahead to 4:50 to see the pinnacle and don't quit until 6:00. But it really needs to be sat through from start to finish to appreciate just how God-awful it is.)

Now that you've seen how truly frightening "a bad anime ending" can be, I'll submit my silver medalist, one which a lot more of you will be able to relate to: Fullmetal Alchemist. This is another example of an anime where I was really into it, with the exception of a few slow arcs like the chimeras or the prison-ghosts in S1, pretty much up until the final few. And (as any FMA fan knows) it is the final 2 episodes which pretty much ruined what the previous 49 had worked so hard to establish. These two episodes are guilty of many crimes: deus ex machina, matryoshka plot twists, and an unsatisfactory ending that was neither sufficiently tragic nor sufficiently happy, but instead a repugnant middle ground. In the words of Bobby's World, "Nobody likes a tie." :x

[Sandaa]

The most disappointing anime ending for me would have to be Eureka Seven, hands down. Although throughout the entirety of the show, the plot was based around the relationship of the two main characters, I still enjoyed the show. And then the climax happened in the last episode. I don't think I've ever seen such a sappy, corny, lovey-dovey ending before, and I was almost repulsed from it lol. I still kinda like the show but I'd have to say the ending really ruined my memory of it. I can think of a couple of other bad endings, but Eureka Seven stands out the most to me. =o

[Doppleganger]

Disappointing is it.

I'm going to have to review the anime I've seen because nothing comes off the top of my head. >_>

...

Here we go. Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann. GL got off to an incredibly strong start, with an incredibly emotional and thrilling first arc and a satisfying by forshadowing second arc. But, after episode eight the story lost a lot of steam and didn't maintain the same high-action feel of the first eight. Even the "prologue", which was (in my view) the biggest promise of the series and the most exciting two minutes of the whole series was altered to be little more than a teaser clip, the final arc of the anime to be 40% waste. The epilogue just added salt into the wound.

[Lady Kuno]

Oh man I was so going to say Kare Kano, but I forgot how bad it was. After watching that clip, I remember how much I hated the ending.

[Patches]

Haruhi had the most disappointing ending ever, nuff said. Though I heard they're going to continue the series...

[YesIAm09]

Well uhm, EVA is all my all time favorite anime ever. I have to defend it! Although I haven't seen the actual japanese versions. I hear they are different with messed up endings.

[quilava plush]

Licensed by Royal.

Everything was wrapped up and resolved nicely until, quite literally, the very last minute.

[Muyotwo]

Animewise, Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha were both spectacularly unsatisfying in ending. No closure whatsoever.

[Loki]

Chrono Crusade has my least loved ending of all possible anime series I've seen. It was extremely depressing and felt like absolutely no one got the happy ending. Not the good guys or the bad guys. It was just awful.

But I think it was further put down by the fact that the manga had a similar, yet beautiful ending. It was sad, but happy at the same time. Daisuke Moriyama really knew what he was doing with that book. Too bad he didn't write the anime's story.

I didn't watch Kare Kano because everyone in the biz told me to read the manga and skip the show. So I won't make any comments on that. But FMA, while the ending does seem kinda poor compared to the entirety of the series, the movie is the 'real' ending. Not that the movie was so superb it saves everything, but it's slightly better than the series' ending.

[Doppleganger]

The thing with FMA's ending in the movie was, that wasn't the real ending! The real ending was a short OVA called "Hagane Kids" which was the *real*, *real* end. And it was dang good, I do say that.

[Loki]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

The thing with FMA's ending in the movie was, that wasn't the real ending! The real ending was a short OVA called "Hagane Kids" which was the *real*, *real* end. And it was dang good, I do say that.

Spoiler: show

Is that the OVA with the Ed, Al, and Winry clones that are supposedly the grandkids of Ed who turns 100 in the year 2005?

[Doppleganger]

Al, actually.

And yes it is.