This video is sponsored by Another Eden. Another Eden is a free-to-play
JRPG adventure for iOS and Android and before I go any further.
This is written and directed by Masato Kato, who wrote the likes of Chrono Trigger
Xenogears, Heroes of Mana and many more. Yes, and like a lot of mobile games,
and this is a super story focused RPG with a lengthy 26 chapter
Campaign visiting multiple timelines and locations, voiced in both English and full Weeb. Yes
It's a much more traditional story driven JRPG and as a JRPG enthusiast, I already know all the ins and outs
Look has warned me not to fight this dude, but I'm pretty confident. I can handle...
This must be the dark souls of mobile games!! You get to choose between a big variety of party members
But I've also got to mention the music because it was composed by
Yasunori Mitsuda and poor econ studio, who also works on Chrono Trigger and Xenogears cuz this is by far the best
OST I've heard for any mobile game
If this top class production sounds like your cup of tea
Click the link in the description to download it on iOS and Android and with that said let's get on with today's video
Anime endings- no not that- the ending of an anime
-No, no, not not fucking- that the part that comes at the end of an anime
No, Not fucking that! The final act of an anime in which the events happening in the plot, characters, and series come to a conclusion
Aka the ending is an important part of any anime
It can be the culmination of the journey that's been taken
It can give the entire series a sense of resolution and closure and in some cases can literally make or break an anime
But I feel in this age of seasonal anime, 3 episode rules, dropping shows harder than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs
something not discussed enough is
Anime End- oh for fuck's sake- A good friend of mine once said "the ending is Paramount
Pictures"
Stay toasty, but I feel like in anime because of the way it's made there are different directions
We as anime fans see a lot from the conclusive, to the open-ended, to the downright
What the fuck? So I wanted to just take this video to just kind of discuss the different types of endings
We usually see, my perceptions of them as a whole, and how they fit into the anime culture in general.
Now, I want to keep this a general discussion about endings without spoiling everything I'm talking about
so to help you avoid this on every section I will be listing any shows in which I either detail or show spoiler-ific
Plot points to do with the ending
So if you want to skip any sections, the timestamps of each section will be in the description below
so with that out of the way first let's start with
If there's one easy way for a new anime to grab my attention
It's just by knowing that it's an anime original series
Firstly, because this means we don't have any source material, meaning we don't get those manga-readers acting like 200 IQ
Geniuses being like "oh Is that what you think is going to happen? Poor Anime only watchers? hehehe"
"Look at me. I'm so smart because I know what's gonna happen next hehehe," and then light novel readers are there like
"AHAHAHA, FOOLISH MORTALS!!"
And secondly because it's not based on a pre-existing IP, it's likely that it will have an ending that's conclusive or even better
It means the entire story from beginning to end is already pre-planned and anime original series are not common occurrences
But many shows older and new stick out to me because of this fact: Cowboy Bebop
Eureka 7, Code Geass, even in more recent times with RE:Creators, and A Place Further than the Universe, of course
It wasn't just the ending that made these show stand out, but it did help a lot something like
Zankyou no Terror, despite a lot of the problems
I had with it stick with me clearly because it felt like a complete story that was planned out with an ending
I've really enjoyed and like holy shit Re:Creators did this
Revolutionary thing in anime called an epilogue where the entire last episode was no action, no plot.
It was just dedicated to tying up loose ends and seeing what characters were up to after the story was concluded to leave the viewer
with a sense of closure
What The Fuc- but of course just because something is anime original doesn't mean it's guaranteed to have a good ending
In fact, there used to be this thing called 'Gainax endings' where certain shows coincidentally produced by studio Gainax would get endings
That made no sense or served sequel hooks to sequels that were never made
Fortunately 'Gainax Endings'
nowadays seems to have died with the decline of the studio only to find themselves Isekai-d into Trigger for its own light
novel adaptation of 'that time
I got Reincarnated as Darling in the FranXX'
But even some anime that have had a conclusive enough endings, have had a reoccurring issue because if it gets enough success and popularity
There's always a chance that the creators felt it was appropriate to revive it and have another go
There are little things that are sacred in anime these days and one of them certainly isn't the legacy of a popular franchise
It doesn't matter how good or how conclusive and complete your series can be when it's over
There's always gonna be a way to Ret-Conn or ass-pull or literally
Resurrect a new narrative to milk a few more dollars out of beloved franchises just in time to give me my 'JI-BUN WOES'
(cries for mistakes made that cause woes)
On the rare occasion you get something like Diebuster adding a new story in the same world years after Gunbuster
but there are numerous examples of sequels coming in that not only result in a vastly inferior ending to the original series but even going
As far as completely fucking up and ruining the established canon
We went from Darker Than Black season 1 Chinese electric Batman to Darker Than Black season 2
Alcoholic dad simulator, Madoka Rebellion was a sequel movie....
that people had opinions about and then there's Eureka 7 AO. Now if AO is viewed as a standalone series it would be
Fine, just a fairly forgettable average show
But as a sequel
It's a fucking travesty.
Introducing plot elements that completely broke characters and themes from the original
going as far to confirm that the fucking spin-off reboot movie was somehow canon
in some bizarre multiverse time travel fuck ass-ury
and just in general trampling all over the world and themes of the original series
There's a discussion to be had on whether the existence of these sequels have ruined the value of the original ending
but there are also a few shows that have had pretty decent endings in the sense that they concluded everything they needed to
but they still left room for a sequel which were eventually made that really didn't live up to the original
The first Psycho Pass had some truly interesting and brilliant ideas that were explored and has yet to be replicated,
nothing from Steins;Gate either from its sequel movie or Zero
came close to capturing the original spirit and the only thing I thought the
New FLCL (Fooly Cooly) brought to the table was a few new great tracks from The Pillows
I think my problem with all these is that they are examples where sequel definitely wasn't needed or originally planned
But they made one anyway
It's not like the Mob Psycho season two's of today where the storyline didn't end and the sequel continues to add and enhance the plots
But the original series has said everything it wants to and put a full-stop in it,
making it hard for any sequel to capture that
Same magic, even if in some cases it had left space for further ideas to be explored.
However, to go in the complete opposite direction,
you sometimes get anime that choose to give itself a conclusive ending even if the original story actually continues
*RIP headphone users*
Kind of a lost art nowadays are anime that follow the source material up to a point only to diverge from it, giving it an ending
That's more conclusive
Either because the source material they are adapting from is still incomplete or far too long to cover in the episode counts they are given
now when I say some lost art
I mean it kind of dug its own grave, set itself from fire, and jumped in head first, Soul Eater
Claymore, Hellsing, Blue Exorcist, Gantz, Akeme Ga Kill! while all of these shows had
conclusive endings that stopped to the point before the manga had instead of achieving their purpose of ending the series in a satisfying way it
Just made fans want to end themselves. the problem with anime original endings
Is that when an anime tries to go a different direction in order to give an ending that's more conclusive
You miss out on the proper build-up and foreshadowing to make this happen
This is made even more confusing when you get sequel seasons, that continue to follow the manga, for an anime
That's already been given a conclusion.
in most cases, You can just pretend the final anime only arc didn't happen and just continue business as usual
but occasionally you get something like Tokyo Ghoul Root A
The completely anime only sequel to Tokyo Ghoul aka Tokyo ghoul season 2, not to be confused with
Tokyo Ghoul:re season 2 which is the second season to Tokyo Ghoul:re. the sequel season to Tokyo Ghoul because
Tokyo Ghoul Root A aka Season 2 doesn't follow the manga so that makes Tokyo Ghoul:re the cannon second season of Tokyo Ghoul
except Tokyo Ghoul:re aka Cannon 2nd season doesn't immediately continue the events of Tokyo Ghoul season 1
I mean why the fuck with it, right? So instead it continues on from Tokyo Ghoul
manga
Obviously, which was never fully adapted into an anime, which makes it really easy to follow
So if you're an anime only watcher it's actually pretty simple
All you need to do is watch Tokyo Ghoul
Then read the Tokyo Ghoul manga, then watch the Tokyo ghoul live-action then comes the Tokyo Ghoul Musical
then Tokyo Ghoul Grand Order for the Nintendo DS and then after you've done all that you're finally ready
to play Kingdom Hearts 3
- my recollection, the only anime original ending that has been positively received has been the original Full Metal Alchemist
and what made this possible was the fact that since the anime started diverging by the halfway point, it was able to carve out its
own narrative and tackle things in a different way, giving much more adequate time to set up its ending and for it's time people were
Satisfied considering the original manga was still ongoing. having said that though nowadays
I get the sense that this ending is looked down upon because we now have
Brotherhood
which remakes the entire series to give an ending the majority seem to agree was much better than what we originally got and this is
Why I feel you just don't see this kind of ending nowadays
If you diverge from the source material. It is very hard to make something satisfactory
even if you make it conclusive and fans seemingly would much rather be left hanging than given a conclusion that
Absolutely sucks dick, and that leads us to our next section in the technical term. We know as
Must be showing my age, that's not what the cool kids are saying these days
*Pop* (fricken Light Novels)
That's better as we know every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end
Except in anime where we get a beginning, half a middle, and a season 3. That's never gonna come
This is a very common occurrence in anime
we see an interesting set up to a story or world, a major arc or two happens, and just as you feel you've just about
Scratched the surface of what it has to offer, its ends and you never hear from it again
If you're an anime fan, you've probably experienced this a lot
Especially in the short, hard-hitting, seasonal anime culture. as they can
Sometimes feel like certain anime were made as a glorified
advert for the source material
see, when it comes to people who read source material like manga there are two types of manga readers:
the brain, rare heroic Souls who throw themselves into the Expansive world of manga
working tirelessly to find that next hidden gem within the ocean of unknown titles
and then, there's everyone else, who saw an airing anime and couldn't wait to find out what happens next.
back in the day there were some pretty infamous endings for doing this and by infamous
I mean it was like the animators ran out of paper to draw on and we're like, yeah
Let's just cut to credits and hope nobody cares
*whisper* everyone cared.
Air Gear, Batoom, the original HunterxHunter, High School of the Dead
These just ended right in the middle of a story arc with all number of story threads up in the air before just stopping dead
No conclusion
No promise of another season. just cut to credits
and then you had the original Berserk, which didn't just stop in the middle of a story arc, but right in the middle of the most shocking
Scarring turn of events that literally destroyed a man leaving him bleeding tears of blood, screaming in anger in a state of shock
Betrayal, aghast, at the events that just unfolded
and that was just me
I don't even know how Guts felt
Back then, fans would have sold their soul to see what happens next and little did we know that twenty years later we'd get our wish
yeah, we got our wish, alright? We have no rights complain
We got our fuckin wi- who made a deal with the fucking be-helots to make this wish come true
Nowadays, what I will say is that seasons at least are more carefully planned out
So audiences get some kind of closure in the arts that they tackle, but still if you've been an anime fan for a while
I'm sure you've gotten used to the feeling of waiting for a season two or three
That's may or may not ever come, whether that be Re:ZERO- Holy fucking shit. Are you serious?
No Game No Life, Spice and Wolf, The Devil is a Part-timer
*whisper* A Berserk adaptation we can be proud of
All countless other shows if you're lucky you may get another season or I guess the hot new thing nowadays is sequel movies
Oh, look at that sexy boy walking down the red carpet
But even then will it ever even come close to completion?
Not likely. part of the life cycle within the anime and manga culture is that we get an anime adaptation
When you have a hot title and that rarely happens
After a title has already ended. On the rare occasion you get something like Devil man Crybaby
where the anime is adapting an old title that's finished
But more often than not you find yourself finishing the anime and when you catch up to the manga or light novel,
the story is still at least a few years away from completion
one thing I both love and hate about the medium of anime is just how many new shows with massive variety we constantly get
but the downside of that, is as an anime fan you get used to being introduced to stories, characters, and worlds
which you know you're never gonna see the ending of and honestly
I think that's kind of a shame because to me even though I don't think the ending is always the most
Important factor a lot of the anime that have stuck in my mind. years after they have finished. are the ones that end.
Now you may be sitting there wondering why I cared enough about
Anime endings that I would want to make a whole video on it
And that's because I just wanted to express how much I value a great ending
well, I don't think every series needs a fantastic ending or even a proper ending, for it to be a
fantastic series the ones that do have one. I never forget.
my favorite anime ending of all time still is Code Geass's original ending
Now over a decade later when I think back to Code Geass, with the second season in mind especially.
I don't remember the complete mess
it was at times, the complete flip-flopping of characters, that suited whatever the plot needed or whoever the fuck this little shit was
does anyone remember the cat episode
Does anyone remember the pizza episode!
I remember season 2, episode 25, Re;
I remember Lelouch's sacrifice
I remember the Trumpets of Madder Sky
Blaring as they explained Zero's Requiem. jaws wide open, goosebumps galore. as I realized
Holy fuck. everything had a point
Everything was leading up to this one moment and feeling a sense of awe
jubilation, sadness, and emptiness. all at once as the credits started rolling and
That is the power of a great ending
It's that bittersweet void that tells you that the journey is Over
as much as you love the path you took to get here and never wanted it to end
The fact that it did end makes it even more special
And you wouldn't have it any other way. Because yes, sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination
but when you have a breathtaking destination,
it can give even more meaning to that journey,
and make that entire voyage you took THAT much more extraordinary
Nowadays so much focus is given to how to begin a story.
With so many anime competing for your attention every season,
it's all about how to make the highest impact as fast as possible,
how to immediately stand out from the crowd.
But to me, it's the ending that sticks with you.
There have been plenty of anime with great beginnings that slowly fizzle out and get forgotten
But I have never forgotten an anime with a great ending
It wraps up everything the story was trying to say
Allows me to truly reflect on the anime as a whole
and kind of make peace with the fact that it is complete.
Because, if you end your anime right,
it can be a moment you'll never forget.
*smirk*
"Bang"
*Ending Music starts*
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed that video.
Again, I just wanted to give a quick thanks to "Another Eden" for making this video possible.
If any of what I said has interested you then please check them out in the link below.
Just a quick note: It's not available officially on App Stores in Europe, at the moment
But they are looking for a full European release soon
And with that said, thank you very much to Eliphal, Robert Harnborg, Basel, Laioken
and everyone else on my patreon for supporting me this month. also know a lot of you have been asking but I will be doing another
seasonal chart anime stream, when I go through all the anime next season,
That's gonna be next week on Wednesday the 3rd of April at 3 p.m Eastern Daylight Time
here on YouTube I wanted to do on a weekend, but unfortunately
I am not free for any of the weekends coming up and I wanted to
Experiment with doing a stream on YouTube as last time it was on my twitch and a lot of people weren't even aware that I had a twitch.
So yeah. Anyway, that's it from me though. I've been Gigguk and I'll see you all next time