Some slice-of-life anime have gone on to be considered among the greatest anime of all time. A main defining feature of slice-of-life anime is that it takes the mundane everyday lives of protagonists and delivers them in an enjoyable, interesting narrative that causes viewers to grow attached to the characters and their antics or drama.
Since fans become so attached to these characters, a less-than-satisfactory end to the show leaves a particularly bad taste in their mouths. The relaxing atmosphere of most slice-of-life shows does not always warrant an over-the-top ending. However, because character development is so important in slice-of-life, a weak ending leaves audiences disappointed.
Updated by Alexandra Locke on December 28, 2022: Slice-of-life anime are known for their comforting stories and relatable scenes. Therefore, fans are easily discouraged when a show they connect with does not end as they expected. While many of these anime have fantastic stories with great characters, their shows are ruined by their finales. This article has been updated to add even more slice-of-life anime whose endings left much to be desired.
15 Tsuki ga Kirei Does Not Let Audiences See The Main Couple's Future
Tsuki ga Kirei is the endearing story of two middle schoolers who fall in love. Akane Mizuno and Kotarou Azumi’s romance blooms right as they are about to exit Middle School. It is a lovely story that delights anyone who watches it. However, it also has one of the most unsatisfying endings.
Despite their best efforts, Akane and Kotarou will be separated for high school. Though they try to remain connected, the last scene shows Kotarou yelling at Akane’s train that he loves her, just as Akane is reading one of Kotarou’s stories that shows his true feelings. Although this ending is sweet, fans do not get to see them reunite. Instead, the credits roll as stills of Kotarou and Akane’s life together play onscreen. Fans were happy to see them together but disappointed that they could not experience it for themselves.
14 Violet Evergarden Still Has A Lot To Learn About Human Emotion
.jpg)
The story Violet Evergarden revolves around its protagonist of the same name. Violet is raised as a weapon and thus does not understand emotions or human language other than the word "kill." The anime follows her journey as an Auto Memory Doll that translates people's thoughts onto paper, and the lessons she learns about herself as she works on these tasks.
Though the series has a unique premise and is done very well, many fans were disappointed by the final ending presented in Violet Evergarden The Movie. Violet's growth as a character seems to be entirely superficial when she learns that Gilbert is alive. Fans would have liked to see Violet genuinely embrace her emotions and move on with her life.
13 Toradora! Should Have Ended With More Romance
Toradora! follows Ryuuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka as they slowly fall in love while trying to date other people. Their tale of partnership to romance is a charming story that fans adore to this day. Although it is one of the most beloved anime series, many agree that the ending lacks the heart that the rest of the show had.
Though they initially run away together, the two are separated and spend the next year of school apart. That is until the very end after the credits when Taiga and Ryuuji are briefly reunited. Ryuuji tells Taiga he loves her, but is met with a devastating blow from her as she chastises him for not letting her say it first. After all the two had been through, fans expected a more romantic ending for their favorite couple.
12 Darling In The Franxx Attempted To Include Too Many Themes
Darling In The Franxx is part slice-of-life, part action adventure, part romantic comedy. It has a little bit of everything for everyone. However, its eclectic style is a little too much and was mashed all together in one episode. The ending proved just how much of an identity crisis Darling In The Franxx had at its outset.
Darling in the Franxx will likely always remain a fan favorite due to the likable characters, interesting setting, and unique mecha concept. However, the final episode can pretty much be skipped entirely, and it would not have a great effect on the enjoyment of the show.
11 Silver Spoon Ended Without Any Closure
Silver Spoon is a high school slice-of-life anime about a burnout student named Yuugo Hachiken who attends an agricultural high school despite not knowing anything about agriculture. Though he faces many hurdles, Hachiken works tirelessly to overcome each one. The show emphasizes the importance of hard work as well as the brutal realities of the agricultural industry.
Unfortunately, the show falls flat right at the end. After his mom shows up at the school unexpectedly, Hachiken shows her a small glimpse of his school life, and then after coming to an understanding, puts her in a cab and walks back to the dorm with his friends. The entire show ends with Hachiken practicing his jumps with the horse, Maron before the credits begin to roll. Although it was a calming ending, it also seemed fairly abrupt since nothing was resolved – especially Hachiken and Mikage’s feelings for each other.
10 Lucky Star Closed The Curtain Before The Show Began
Lucky Star is slice-of-life anime in its purest form: no intricate plot, deep moral themes, or dramatic conflict — just four high school girls going about their day-to-day lives. The show is equal parts cute, silly and comedic, and fans of the slice-of-life genre will find it has many of the elements they are looking for in this type of show.
Overall, the ending of the anime is anticlimactic and does not feel like it wraps up the story for fans of the series. Not much could be expected from this kind of show, but fans would have liked to see more of a finale instead of being left on a cliffhanger.
9 Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku Ends In The Middle
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=750&dpr=1.5)
Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku follows Narumi Momose and Hirotaka Nifuji as they balance work, love, and being Otaku. After reconnecting when Narumi starts working at the same company as Hirotaka, the pair begin dating (despite Narumi’s aversion to dating fellow Otaku).
Although the anime is fun and full of romance, the ending is completely lackluster. After the credits play, a bonus sequence is shown where the core group finds themselves discussing their first love. Then, Hirotaka’s brother almost reveals that Hirotaka has had a crush on Narumi since they were children. While it is a funny scene, it did not wrap up any aspects of the main story, leaving audiences wanting more.
8 Kumamiko's Ending Caused An Uproar
Kumamiko is the fun, silly tale of a country girl who wants to make it in the big city — and the talking bear that helps her prepare. The girl, Machi, is a shrine maiden who has lived in the mountains her whole life. Natsu is her guardian, who also just happens to be a talking bear.
The ending takes this lighthearted concept and gives it all a depressing spin which results in Machi entirely giving up her dream. The backlash in the anime community over Kumamiko's ending was so bad that the scriptwriter deactivated their Twitter account.
7 Clannad Just Made Fans Sad
Clannad is a well-received, beloved anime, and for good reason. Its visuals are beautiful and the characters and story are well constructed. However, Clannad's ending often leaves fans torn. The entirety of the show's second season is filled with heartbreak after heartbreak, and viewers wonder whether Tomoya will ever catch a break.
After the deaths of both his wife and daughter, Tomoya himself seems to figuratively die, only to seemingly be brought back to life years in the past before his wife died. Though it may seem like a happy ending, it is not made clear whether this was reality or a pleasant final hallucination.
6 Hyouka Reveals A False Ending
Hyouka has the potential to be a great, untraditional anime. Although it has many of the same tropes found in the genre, its more relaxed tone and mystery-solving plot helped it to stand apart from its contemporaries. Unfortunately, the last scene of the movie ruined the franchise.
Just when it seems like the apathetic Houtarou Oreki is finally going to confess his feelings to the bubbly Eru Chitanda, his confession is revealed to be a daydream, and the two part ways without so much as a hint toward either of their feelings. After all they have been through, fans were certain that something would happen between the central couple, but were severely disappointed.
5 School Days Takes "Slice-Of-Life" Far Too Literally
Schools Days follows the love triangle of three high school students and their romantic endeavors. Though this series first presents itself as a run-in-the-mill romantic comedy anime, there is something sinister lurking beneath its cutesy surface.
School Days turns "slice-of-life" into "slice-of-death" — for better or worse. Fans of sudden, over-the-top twists in anime may enjoy School Days simply for the shock factor in its ending alone. However, fans of the slice-of-life genre will likely just leave the experience either confused, uncomfortable or both.
4 Anime-Gataris Is The Most Meta Anime Ever
Anime-Gataris is basically an anime about anime. The show revolves around a student named Minoa who creates an anime club in school to find an anime she dreamed about.
What begins as a light-hearted, self-aware comedy concludes as a strange, surreal meta-fantasy where anime is appearing intertwined within the world of Anime-Gataris. While the fun poked at anime tropes proves humorous at times, it all comes off as a rather strange departure — which may or may not be a bad thing depending on the viewer.
3 Usagi Drop Is Best Known For What It Dropped
Usagi Drop’s ending is complicated. In the anime, the original ending is cut short purposely from where the original manga concludes. This decision was made intentionally due to the controversial ending in the source material.
In the original manga, the main characters fall in love, while the anime leaves this fact out. The issue with this love story is that the main character Daikichi is 30 years old while Rin is 6 when they meet. Knowledge of this fact is enough to taint fans' view of the anime, no matter the changes made in the end.
2 Myriad Colors Phantom World's Anime Adaption Lost Some Color In Translation
Myriad Colors Phantom World is a slice-of-life anime set in a rather dark world. The story takes place after a virus causes everyone in the world to see Inter dimensional beings called "phantoms." It follows the day-to-day life of a group of high school students who must go about dealing with this phantom-filled world.
Fans of the series take issue with the fact that the anime does not follow the source material in the original light novel. While this was likely due to the show only lasting for one season, it was a disappointing end for fans who wanted to see a more faithful adaptation of the story.
1 Your Lie In April Plays At Fans' Heartstrings
Your Lie In April
Your Lie In April has one of the saddest endings of all anime, not just slice-of-life. The show tells the tale of a piano prodigy named Kosei who loses his inspiration to play when his mother dies. He is motivated to play again by a free-spirited young girl named Kaori. Things go downhill when Kosei learns that Kaori has an illness that requires dangerous surgery.
The show culminates in a scene consisting of Kosei performing in a piano competition, only to realize that Kaori's spirit is accompanying him on violin, confirming for him that her surgery was a failure. This ending successfully sucks all the positivity out of what would have been an uplifting story of redemption.