9 Anime Possibly Ruined By Their Bad Endings

While I would argue that the initial episodes of an anime series are more important than its ultimate ending, the way a series ends can be crucial. You invested a lot into a series and sometimes a pleasant journey can be ruined if the destination is just a giant trash heap. While some anime series end in a rather lackluster manner, we’ve collected the ones that have (arguably) the worst of the worst endings.

You should note that I am not necessarily counting non-endings, such as No Game No Life for example, as it did not necessarily get ended early as part of being canceled? Forgotten about? Shoved aside for a younger, prettier anime? However, those that were canceled and rushed an awful ending are fair game.

Spoilers. Obviously.

Anime With Bad Endings

Claymore

The anime for Claymore, despite the popularity of the manga, wasn’t exactly a huge hit. It stuck true to the source material for most of the series until the end when it was clear that the series wasn’t going to get another season. The ending was part cliffhanger and part overpowering a protagonist for no given reason just to beat the villain. It wasn’t particularly satisfying and it tilted both new fans of the series and those that enjoyed the manga.

Soul Eater

This is one of the most notoriously bad endings because it really makes no sense. Soul Eater built itself as a series about using teamwork to overcome obstacles be it through friends or the weapons. However, the final battle isn’t settled through either. It is settled through a a solo punch against a villain that – by all means – would have brushed that off. Soul Eater built itself up really nicely, but you can actually spot the moment whenthey decided they needed to end the series.

Hand Shakers

The Hand Shakers anime, at any point, cannot be called even remotely good. So why expect it to have a good ending? The real problem with the ending to this anime is that it does nothing. It adds nothing. It explains nothing. What are the Hand Shakers? Why do they need to fight each other? What is so special about winning? It just meanders on until it ends.

Erased

Having watched Erased as it was airing, I still remember the feverish hype that ran rampant upon the anime community. As such, I can say that the series couldn’t have a good ending. There was just no way to pay off everything it had built up over time with something that was as satisfying as it needed to be. The live action drama actually did a bit of a better job, but it had more time to do compared to the episode length and given cour of the anime. I think two things contribute the the hate for the ending overall, though. The first is that there was no realistic pay off that could have pleased fans and the second is that some fans were super pissed about Kayo living her life while Satoru was in a coma.

Monster

Although the series is still considered great, it does not end the best way. Monster is a masterful game of cat and mouse between two people with distinctly different ideologies. At the end, Tenma is challenged to shoot Johan to save a life and abandon his ideology. However, the decision is ultimately removed for him and he even ends up saving Johan’s life. It was a bit of a cop out.

Future Diary

There is nothing that makes me more furious than a series that makes you Google the proper manga ending or watch an OVA in order to get a conclusion that makes sense. Really, all they had to do was add a few more frames and it would have been satisfactory in some important ways.

Shiki

Shiki appeared to be building up to something that was more important. Unfortunately, what happened was rather lackluster. All that mystery and intrigue only to result in what was just the remaining human villagers getting together and murdering all the Shiki. This ending was like a Linkin Park song – In the end, nothing even mattered.

Clannad After Story

If you had your fans pick an ending, it would be end up like the Clannad After Story ending. It takes some magic and makes everything all better. It is the ending that makes some fans happy, but even me, who likes the anime a lot, can see that it was a huge cop out. I suppose they ended it the way they did so that we wouldn’t drown in the sticky mask of our own snot and tears.

Akame ga Kill

Ultimately, this series and its penchant for killing off characters seemed like a good way to not have to develop them. The ending, however, is both different from the source material and seems oddly rushed. In the end the revolution they were fighting for seems pretty meaningless and everyone is dead.

Do you have any other anime series that were ruined by their endings? Let fans know in the comments section below.