Anime has progressively grown from a fringe fascination into a mainstream interest that’s established roots in many places beyond Japan. It’s often difficult to know the which anime series are destined to be classics and which should be avoided at all costs.
However, some anime series aren't unilaterally good or bad. Sometimes an accomplished series fails to stick the landing and ruins what could have been a new classic. There are unfortunately too many anime series that become a mixed bag courtesy of their divisive conclusions.
Updated March 15th, 2023 by Casey Coates: No matter how strong its story is, a disappointing finale can taint an anime's reputation. Few things are worse than having high hopes for an anime's ending, only to have those expectations dashed by a nonsensical, lackluster, or out-of-character finale. While a great finale leaves viewers feeling both satisfied and hungry for more, a terrible ending ruins the viewers' appetites instead.
20 Princess Tutu
Princess Tutu is influenced by fairy tales, the artistry of ballet, and is a refreshing change of pace where enemies are conquered through dance. Ahiru, the titular Princess Tutu, strives to heal a prince's broken heart.
After two seasons of emotional development, Princess Tutu goes out with an ending that's more like a punishment. Ahiru returns to her duck status and can't live happily ever after with Fakir, while less important characters get rewarded.
19 Death Note
It's hard to not be drawn into Death Note’s compelling premise where a special book can kill whoever's name is written inside. Death Note begins as a game of wits between Light Yagami, the latest Death Note bearer, and L, a brilliant yet unconventional detective. It's a major shock when Light defeats L and the villain ostensibly wins a little over halfway through the story.
There's unfortunately a second batch of episodes that many consider to have diminishing returns. Near becomes Light's new adversary, but he just feels redundant of L. The material that follows L's demise isn't nearly as strong and it’s insulting that these new individuals are the ones who ultimately cause Light's death.
18 Berserk
Kentaro Miura’s Berserk doesn't shy away from dark material, but its final episode is particularly grim, even for this brutal seinen series. Guts reaches his darkest moment as he watches his beloved Casca get maliciously violated by his former ally, Griffith.
Guts is willing to maim his own body to end this carnage, but it's all for naught and the ordeal leaves a bad taste in the audience's mouth. All of this becomes even more bittersweet since Guts isn't able to properly get his revenge on the God Hand. Admittedly, 2016's Berserk anime picks up the Black Swordsman storyline, but it's a far inferior series to its '90s predecessor.
17 Deadman Wonderland
Grandiose prisons that double as a sick means of entertainment are rampant in anime. Ganta Igarashi finds himself in an amusement park-esque jail after he's framed for the massacre of his class. There's a strong mystery at Deadman Wonderland’s core, but the finale doesn't even feel like a conclusion.
Ganta doesn't gain any clarity over the identity of the Red Man and he's still incarcerated. The best thing that can be said about the complete lack of resolution that's offered by the end of Deadman Wonderland is that it at least pushes the audience to pick up Jinsei Kataoka's original manga and figure out where Ganta's story goes.
16 No Game No Life
One of the biggest trends to take over modern anime is the idea of video games or recreational activities becoming life-and-death competitions, sometimes even against God or reality-altering deities. No Game No Life mixes broad comedy with surreal action as sibling introverts, Sora and Shiro, wind up in a bizarre world where games are used to settle every conflict.
No Game No Life builds excellent momentum over a dozen episodes that foreshadow an epic rematch between Sora, Shiro, and Tet. This never comes to pass, which feels like an insult to the audience and that their time has been wasted here.
15 The Promised Neverland
The Promised Neverland only has two seasons, but there’s a shocking shift in quality between these two collections of episodes. The Promised Neverland follows a group of orphans who learn that they’re merely cogs in a world filled with demons.
The final episode of The Promised Neverland is an insulting exposition dump that glosses over crucial plot points in a montage, but these issues exist throughout the entire second season. Huge passages of the manga’s story get condensed or completely erased, which causes later plot points to feel unjustified.
14 Wonder Egg Priority
Wonder Egg Priority is an emotionally draining meditation on friendship, loss, and forgiveness. The anime uses the trappings of the magical girl genre to turn a group of girls' trauma into literal monsters that they take on in combat. A bittersweet energy runs through all of Wonder Egg Priority, so a happy ending wouldn't necessarily feel genuine.
That being said, Wonder Egg Priority's rough finish is frequently listed as the anime's biggest problem. There's a lack of closure provided on what exactly happened to Koito, plus any progress Ai has made gets erased by her brash decision to return to the destructive existence of Wonder Eggs.
13 Akame Ga Kill!
Akame ga Kill begins with an excellent foundation, but like many anime that adapt ongoing manga series, its rushed ending fails to stick the landing. It's not so much the events of the ending that don't work, but the leaps that are taken to reach these places.
A major concession that Akame ga Kill's original ending makes is that half of the finale gets reduced to a laborious epilogue. Smarter pacing could have made the final fight between Akame and Esdeath carry greater stakes and still have time for a post-battle wrap up.
12 School Days
School Days is a polarizing anime series that has an even more contentious ending. The anime is based on a popular visual novel game that explores the amorous activities of an irresponsible high schooler named Makoto Itou.
School Days is full of selfish human behavior, but the anime had a number of options it could have taken for its ending, based on the game's different routes. School Days decides to go with a frustratingly morbid finish where the worst character gets what he wants, leading to a jarringly violent ending.
11 Dragon Ball GT
The previous Dragon Ball anime ran for hundreds of episodes, and many of GT’s fans thought the series was finally making some progress with its Shadow Dragon arc. However, the defeat of the final Dragon quickly segues into an abrupt farewell after only 64 episodes.
Goku’s decision to sacrifice himself for the good of the planet is consistent with his character, but the specifics of him becoming one with Shenron and the Dragon Balls is just puzzling. Even a few episodes that build up to this decision would have helped Dragon Ball GT’s ending be more successful.
10 Fullmetal Alchemist
2003’s original Fullmetal Alchemist starts strong, but suffers from what derails a lot of anime that quickly adapt a popular manga series before it’s finished. The Fullmetal Alchemist anime takes a gamble with its ending, but fundamentally misses the point of Edward and Alphonse’s journey.
The two brothers make sacrifices for each other, but Edward is displaced and left in a new world in a highly unsatisfying conclusion. This botched ending is why the manga was properly adapted years later in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.
9 Tokyo Ghoul Root A
It still stings to think about just how disastrous Tokyo Ghoul's anime adaptation is and that its poor reception has even negatively affected the manga. The Tokyo Ghoul franchise becomes another victim of playing fast and loose with the source material.
Tokyo Ghoul Root A picks up from the climactic finale of the original anime where Ken Kaneki embraces his darker Ghoul side. There's strong material to pull from in the manga, but the anime instead does its own thing and trades heightened battles for melancholy brooding. Tokyo Ghoul:re tries to fix this mess, but it's too little too late.
8 Soul Eater
Soul Eater is a fun shonen series that crafts an addictive premise where teams of weapon wielders and their humanoid death scythe weapons claim souls. Soul Eater does a great job for 50 episodes, but its final installment goes off-book in a way that's just confusing.
Soul Eater's anime crafts an original ending where Maka goes rogue and saves the day through a random punch that's supposed to represent the power of friendship and courage. It's a solution that comes out of nowhere and even feels distasteful considering the rest of the anime emphasizes staunch battle strategy and teamwork.
7 Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online indulges in many staples of the isekai genre, but the relationship that forms between newcomer Kirito and Asuna is genuinely sweet. There's such a strong foundation to Sword Art Online, which makes its haphazard ending such a disappointment.
Sword Art Online's characters completely abandon their emotions. Asuna turns into a frail and passive individual, while the villainous Kayaba reveals he didn't even have a reason for his murderous scheme. Kirito's final actions regarding the release of the World Seed feel just as random and weakens everything that comes before it.
6 The Future Diary
The Future Diary is a suspenseful series where a dozen powerful diaries are let loose. All of which have the ability to not just predict the future, but help the God of Time and Space select his successor. Future Diary properly wraps up its loose ends, only to go out on an unnecessary cliffhanger.
An epilogue set 10,000 years in the future forecasts the results of a new Diary Game, only to abruptly end the encounter and leave audiences confused. Answers were eventually revealed in The Future Diary: Redial, but that came years later.
5 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Gurren Lagann is an excellent mecha anime series that finds new angles on rebellion narratives and underdog protagonists, which it combines with unique robot designs. Simon's mission to balance the world and take out the sinister Spiral threat is juxtaposed with his love for Nia.
Simon saves the day and he and Nia & literally about to confirm their nuptials when Nia disappears, forever lost because of Simon's victory against the alien race. A happy ending isn't always necessary, but this grim conclusion comes out of nowhere and is a major tonal shift to what the characters deserve.
4 Gintama
Gintama is an absolute masterpiece of comedy, action, and genre-blending, but a running joke in the anime series is that it's frequently being canceled due to the manga's concurrent timeline. Gintama's 367th and final episode begins with a high-octane fight sequence, which abruptly “cuts” to a fourth-wall breaking apology on why they weren't able to finish the anime properly.
It's one of the most ridiculous ways to conclude a series, and while it might frustrate some people that were hungry for resolution, it's also an ending that's pure, undiluted Gintama. It's as perfect as it is frustrating.
3 ERASED
ERASED is a phenomenal mystery series that combines time travel, a vicious serial killer, and a supernatural mission into a thoroughly unpredictable experience. Every attempt that Satoru makes to figure out the identity of this criminal becomes more thrilling than the last, so it feels rather empty when the big villain's motivations are never made clear, even after his identity is revealed.
Sometimes the random and indecipherable nature of a killer is what makes them so terrifying. But audiences wanted answers in ERASED and the culprit's weak characterization makes Satoru's win feel somewhat empty.
2 Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion is an existential mecha series that has rightfully earned its reputation as one of the most mind-bending anime of all time. Evangelion is like nothing else, largely due to Hideaki Anno’s intense involvement in the series’ production.
It’s Anno’s own feelings and doubts that take over the end of Evangelion, which devolves into heady philosophical ruminations rather than a tangible action conclusion. Evangelion’s ending caused such an uproar that it led to the release of Death & Rebirth, The End of Evangelion, and even the Rebuild of Evangelion films that offered the franchise an entirely new ending.
1 Claymore
Claymore creates a rich world that's full of interesting monsters known as Yoma as well as the female Claymore warriors that hunt them down. Clare is an effective and aggressive protagonist in this violent series, but the immersive world it creates only gets hurt by the abrupt conclusion.
Claymore's final episodes rush through a ton of content so none of the events and character motivations feel justified. Even more egregious, it creates a loose cliffhanger that never gets followed up on. These unnecessary threads and an unsatisfying lack of payoffs are what really hurt Claymore.