Among fans of anime, it is common place to see a brilliant series have a horribly slapdash ending come in and leave a sour after taste on what could have been an overall amazing anime. There are many series that are known for having a dud ending. But which anime have the worst?
For sake of those who just can’t stand spoilers, I will warn you now, this article will spoil the endings of 5 series. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s dive into this list of the bad, the sad and the just plain ugly endings that left us disappointed.
Without further adieu…
5. Dragon Ball Z
How many of you actually remember the ending of Dragon Ball Z? Goku defeats Buu, but then what happens? Well, it’s not exactly the most fitting end for a series as cherished as this.
In an admittedly odd turn of events, we skip forward in time and see that there is another World’s Martial Arts Tournament. It is then revealed that Buu reincarnated as a good guy named Uub (somehow?) and is competing in the Tournament. After fighting for a bit with Uub, Goku decides to train him. The series then abruptly ends with Goku flying off to train Uub, making for an absolutely disappointing and flat finish to what was a grand journey.
Maybe the ending is why Toei Animation decided to make GT?
4. Soul Eater
After 51 episodes of build-up Soul Eater fans were without a doubt pumped to see the way it all ends in the world of weapon meisters, only the have everything fall apart in the last episode.
After weeks of build up we get to the battle that would put things to an end. In the final episode going against everything we knew about the show we suddenly have the main character completely defying the laws of the series universe and having the main villain defeated by a mere punch. It was cheesy, over the top, confusing as hell and above all disappointing.
Why was this ending so bad? Well because the manga it’s based on wasn’t far enough ahead and they had to go with an anime only ending. I guess after hours trying to figure out how to end this thing, one guy in the board room punched a hole in the wall and the Director just went with it.
3. High School of the Dead
Here is a case of catching up to the manga having a different effect. After 12 episodes, High School of the Dead had already caught up to it’s source material and instead of deciding to create and semblance of a conclusion, they just end it. That’s right, they abruptly end it right in the middle of all the action.
To make matters worse, they then went on to release an OVA, anyone thinking that the series would get an ending of some kind would be instead subjected to a random fan-service heavy episode that also did not bother to resolve anything.
Fans can only hope that some day, when the manga decides to come off it’s lengthy hiatus and get’s far enough ahead, that this anime could one day be concluded. But chances are that it won’t.
2. Mawaru Penguindrum
Now this is an anime that wasn’t great through the majority of it’s run but featured an ending so bad that it just had to be mentioned.
Mawaru Penguindrum as it stands is a generally bad anime series, mostly for it’s poor pacing, weak characterisation and asphyxiation on stunning visuals over substance. It goes without saying that Penguindrum looks great, but it never truly grasps what makes for a good story.
After spending 24 episodes stumbling back and forth with plot twists thrown about haphazardly, the series reaches it’s final episode. This episode could be the moment the series redeems itself, this could be the moment it all makes sense. Instead it amounts to absolutely nothing, sloppily resolves some hanging plot threads and completely forgets the others, in exchange it decides for the final time that style is more important than substance and because of that everything in the entire series up to that point, amounts to nothing.
Thanks Penguindrum, thanks for nothing. Remember kids, substance first, style second.
1. Neon Genesis Evangelion + End of Evangelion
The epitome of the ‘bad ending’, Neon Genesis Evangelion and by extension The End of Evangelion. The ending of this popular mecha series is well documented. GAINAX the studio producing the anime blew their budget and the final two episodes were completely within the mind of the protagonist. Both episodes were compiled of pseudo philosophical nonsense and were heavily criticised by fans for being nothing but an down right cop out of an ending.
So in order to correct the ending, GAINAX commissioned a film that would serve as the true ending of Evangelion. That film was none other than the aptly title End of Evangelion. People wanted a proper ending and boy did GAINAX give them one.
In what is without a doubt the worst anime ending of all time, Evangelion concludes with the world ending, everyone dying, the main protagonist literally wanking over his unconscious love interest’s comatose body and ultimately ends with him trying to strangle that same love interest besides a sea of blood. GAINAX, you need help man.
That concludes my Top 5 Worst Anime Endings. What is your Top 5? Let us know in the comments section below.Â
