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Numerous elements can lead to an anime’s downfall, transforming a visually captivating series into a disappointing experience. Among these, a lackluster ending is perhaps the quickest way to tarnish an anime’s reputation. Regardless of how many successful seasons an anime delivers, all that goodwill can vanish if the conclusion fails to deliver. Fans may be reluctant to revisit a series if it doesn’t end on a high note. Although an anime should ideally be evaluated based on its entire narrative journey, a catastrophic ending can overshadow everything else, particularly when crucial storylines and character arcs don’t reach a gratifying resolution.
Fans of Game of Thrones experienced this firsthand, as the series’ final seasons left many disheartened, culminating in a widely criticized ending. This situation has turned Game of Thrones into a warning about the significance of a strong conclusion, equating its importance with that of the preceding content. Regrettably, several anime have similarly disappointed their audiences with unsatisfying finales, making the conclusion of Game of Thrones appear exemplary by comparison.
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5 Bad Anime That Almost Ruined Their Studio’s Entire Reputation
These anime were so poorly received that they changed the entire trajectory of their respective studios.
The Promised Neverland Throws Away A Captivating Premise For A Rushed Resolution
It’s disappointing when any anime loses its magic and veers away from its satisfying source material, but this hits even harder when the series had the potential to be one of the decade’s biggest hits. The Promised Neverland celebrated a groundbreaking first season that throws audiences into a unique universe with a Twilight Zone-esque sensibility that disrupts the status quo. Emma, Norman, and Ray are orphans whose peaceful, simple lives are put in jeopardy when they learn that their caretakers are actually demons who have been raising them to be consumed. These three children head out into a brave new world where they will do whatever it takes to survive against the insurmountable threats.
After an exceptional first season, The Promised Neverland rushes through its second season as if it’s speedrunning through the source material. Events that carried tremendous weight in the manga became hollow in an anime that didn’t properly develop characters and scenarios. The most insulting example of this occurs in the anime’s final episode, where a montage of visuals covers the manga’s endgame, while the audience is left to fill in the blanks and jump to conclusions.
Beelzebub’s Silly Supernatural Shonen Shenanigans Descend Into Frivolous Filler
Beelzebub was a popular shonen anime from the 2000s that subverts the typical juvenile delinquent school drama norms when Tatsumi Oga somehow becomes the foster parent of a demon baby, Beelzebub IV, who is the son of a Demon King. Tatsumi juggles his own dysfunctional life as a teenager with the supernatural shenanigans that Beelzebub invites. Tatsumi’s development throughout the series, not to mention his bond with Beelzebub, makes it a particularly satisfying shonen series.
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Beelzebub, like many shonen series of the decade, quickly received an anime adaptation that took advantage of the property’s popularity. Beelzebub starts strong, only to progressively go through the motions. The anime’s final ten episodes, of a 60-episode run, are devoted to extraneous filler. Beelzebub’s final two episodes create an original ending that’s not just a disappointment, but it seems to completely misunderstand what made the series so much fun.
Claymore Ends On An Incomplete Note That Robs Its Audience Of Closure
There is no shortage of shonen series that feature intense wars between humans and demons, yet Claymore empowers female warriors who take on dangerous, shapeshifting demons known as the Yoma. Clare, the series’ hero, is pulled between two worlds as a half-human, half-monster hybrid who is known as a Claymore. Claymore presents a captivating revenge story that doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to vicious violence and exaggerated action sequences. Claymore is only 26 episodes, the first 24 of which stick to the manga’s events, despite rushing through many plot points and diluting relationships.
Claymore‘s final two episodes go off-script for an original ending that can’t compare to the source material, plus it concludes on a manipulative cliffhanger that’s yet to be resolved and likely never will be. This confusing conclusion turns Claymore into an incomplete mess that’s hard to revisit. Claymore’s ending is such a misfire that it’s become one of many shonen series that fans would like to see receive a Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood-style remake.
Wonder Egg Priority Erases Its Achievements & Resigns Its Heroes To Stasis
There’s been a growing trend in modern magical girl anime where this typically lighthearted shojo fare is transformed into dark, mature storytelling. Wonder Egg Priority doesn’t shy away from human vulnerabilities and the darkness that resides in people. Wonder Egg Priority transforms its heroes’ trauma into literal monsters that they must fight and destroy in order to overcome their pain. Wonder Egg Priority scratches the surface of some really rich subject matter and, as an original anime, it’s not beholden to the same adaptation issues that drag down many series.
Wonder Egg Priority doesn’t have source material to answer to, which makes its insulting finish a tough pill to swallow. Ai and her friends are seemingly successful in their mission, only for major revelations to ostensibly undo their progress and render all their accomplishments pointless. It’s a bold choice for an anime to rip away everyone’s victories at the final moment, while its protagonist appears to regress. It’s perhaps realistic of humanity’s many weaknesses, but it’s not a satisfying ending.
Soul Eater Succumbs To Empty Messaging That Betrays Its Power System
Atsushi Ohkubo has found success in recent years with Fire Force, but his previous shonen success story, Soul Eater, is an entertaining adventure that crashes into a disappointing finish after 50 episodes. Soul Eater is set at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, where weapon meisters work together with humans who can transform into weapons. Weapon meisters strive to transform their living weapons into a Death Scythe, which is only possible after they’ve collected the souls of 99 evil humans and a single witch. Soul Eater establishes distinct characters and firm rules for its universe, so it’s quite frustrating when all of this build-up becomes secondary to a rushed original ending.
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Soul Eater‘s anime is forced to make up its own conclusion. This isn’t an inherently broken endeavor, but the problem is that Soul Eater‘s original ending goes against the rest of the anime’s teachings. An especially problematic trope that crops up in anime is when the power of love or friendship is used to save the day in lieu of actual strength. Soul Eater embraces such a fantastical and optimistic ending that clashes with the rest of the anime.
The Future Diary Gets Lost In Alternate Realities & A Cheating Cliffhanger
Death game anime have never been more popular and it’s incredible to see how many series are able to uniquely twist the disturbing concept. The Future Diary blends death game drama with a grandiose quest to find the next God of all existence. A dozen individuals receive Future Diaries, which help them see the future, but also resign them to this murderous exercise. The Future Diary chronicles this messy battle for survival as these dozen individuals begin to drop like flies. The Future Diary‘s ending seemingly builds to a logical conclusion after 26 episodes, only for the series to embrace alternate realities and timelines.
Some of these conclusions regarding the “real” ending are deeply disappointing and sentence the protagonist to purgatory. The Future Diary avoids the chance for satisfying closure when it pivots to a random cliffhanger that jumps forward 10,000 years during the start of a new Diary Game. The Future Diary does eventually provide answers to these questions in The Future Diary: Redial, but this follow-up didn’t arrive until several years later. Fans shouldn’t have to watch this separate series in order to make sense of The Future Diary. The whole epilogue twist would have worked better as the start to Redial.
Akame Ga Kill! Cleans House With A Morose Massacre That Hits Too Hard
Akame ga Kill! is set in a dark, depressing world that’s controlled by a corrupt government. Tatsumi is a young boy with nothing to lose who joins a team of assassins, the Night Raid, who is determined to reset the status quo. Death and despair are front and center from Akame ga Kill!‘s start. The anime’s ending is so thoroughly dismissed because of its careless plot holes, contradictory storytelling revelations, and a nasty tone that almost seems like it intentionally wants to hurt the audience.
Akame ga Kill! doesn’t avoid brutal developments in its manga, but the ending still concludes on an optimistic note that prevents this whole saga from becoming a depressing slog. Akame ga Kill! avoids such catharsis and instead rushes to a dark finish that confuses pain for plot progression. Tatsumi’s story is sadder than it is inspirational.
Science Fell In Love, So I Tried To Prove It Becomes Egregriously Grave & Loses Its Magic
Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It is a truly endearing rom-com where two science-minded graduate students, Ayame and Shinya, try to use cold, objective scientific reasoning to break down romance and ascertain if they’re in love. It’s so much fun to watch these two kindhearted souls who are oblivious to love slowly let down their walls and realize that they’re perfect for each other. Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It knocks it out of the park in its first season and there’s comparable quality throughout season two’s first half. It’s the comedy’s final episodes that become deeply troubling and tone-deaf.
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A serious kidnapping plot gets incorporated, complete with a content warning beforehand, that feels incredibly out of place. Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It still uses its signature comedic breakdown of the scientific method to foil this kidnapping plot, but it’s still tonally at odds with the rest of the anime. Furthermore, the addition of multiple new characters during the final episodes is rarely a good idea. There’s still a sense of progress with Ayame and Shinya’s relationship when the second season comes to a close. It just almost feels like an afterthought to puzzling plotlines.
Charlotte’s Intimate Character Study Turns Into Tedious Twists
Set in a world where teenagers develop superpowers upon reaching puberty, Charlotte follows Yuu Otosaka, a high school student who has the ability to possess others temporarily. Yuu is enrolled at a school that’s full of other uniquely powered individuals who try to aid those who can’t control their powers, while also unlocking the grander secrets that surround their power.
Charlotte is only 13 episodes long with an extra OVA installment, yet the momentum that’s built during its compelling start is completely lost with a bizarre batch of final episodes that feel antithetical to the rest of Charlotte‘s storytelling. The intimate, small-scale storytelling that defined the anime is traded for bigger, broader ideas that lose their focus. A reckless amnesia storyline is also introduced at the last minute to disastrous effect. Charlotte throws away what was working in favor of a surprise-filled finish that’s too chaotic and hasty.
Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Controversial Ending Goes For Broke With An Angsty Apocalypse
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a fundamental mecha series that combines the genre’s traditional sci-fi/action tropes with existential dread. Shinji Ikari, a frail and frightened mecha pilot, finds the weight of the world on his shoulders. Neon Genesis Evangelion repeatedly pits giant robots against alien-like Angels, but it’s the anime’s deeper deconstruction of identity, belonging, and family that sets it apart from its peers. Curiously, Neon Genesis Evangelion’s ending is praised by many and is part of what’s helped the anime become a classic.
However, Evangelion’s ending, where Shinji’s introspective journey helps him find acceptance, is hardly the conventional conclusion that the anime was building to or what should satisfy fans. In fact, End of Evangelion was produced to “fix” the anime’s ending and give it a proper conclusion. Decades later, the Rebuild of Evangelion films change the anime’s ending even more dramatically by removing themselves from Hideaki Anno’s depressive tendencies that were so intrinsically linked to the original anime.
