I liked Cowboy Bebop's ending.

Dammit Len, why couldn't it be something easy? I'm going with Gungrave. I loved the drama of Brandon Heat and Harry's conflict. Although, Gurren Lagann had and epic ending as well becuase it stayed true to the essence of the characters. Gungrave FTW!

Oh so many good endings, I love both NG Evangelion endings, GITS:SAC endings to both seasons were good and as a cap I loved Solid State Society. The full metal alchemist movie was super. But I'm going to vote for Haibane-Renmei.

A voice inside me (Sounds like a snarky Jim Sterling) is saying:
"Oh yeah, Evangelion has the best ending. Its because Im a pretentious prick who likes to think im cool cause I like ambiguous endings."


My vote goes to Gundam Seed, the one where Kira Yamato DIES.

And no, Gundam Seed Destiny is pure fanfic that should have never existed because I wholeheartedly accept that Kira Yamato died in the end of Seed.

I second Bebop's ending, although there were still questions not addressed and new questions asked, it had a nice "ending" feel to it. I really liked how the animation kept going with a "Blue" playing over the ending credits. - "You're gonna carry that weight"

NARUTO!!!


oh wait... that's right... it's STILL going ><


erm Elfen Lied has a really really good ending.

Well the one I liked most was perhaps the one that wanted to make me cry the most and I give it to Chrono Crusade. There are other ones throttling my mind however this one stands out as it is the most dramatic.

Cowboy Bebop in first.
Serial Experiments Lain in second.
And Tehxnolyze, if only because... Well, it's a powerful metaphorical conclusion.

Seto no Hanayome because of the closure. It didn't leave me desperate for more like most endings do and I felt it was the perfect high-note to end the series on.

Welcome to the N.H.K., its pretty depressing, and both of the main characters were doing it..

Oof. Cowboy Bebop did have a great end...
The end to the 2nd season of GitS:SAC was awesome..
Man, both those endings are depressing..
I for one like Evangelions ending. But is it the best?

I'll have to sleep on it.

[quote]Dammit Len, why couldn't it be something easy? I'm going with Gungrave. I loved the drama of Brandon Heat and Harry's conflict. Although, Gurren Lagann had and epic ending as well becuase it stayed true to the essence of the characters. Gungrave FTW![/quote]

YES! Someone else who respects how well the drama was crafted in that show. It was already a good story going into the endgame, but they didn't take the game's easy way out and the result was so, so very sweet. :D Gungrave gets one vote from me.

I'd also like to toss out another vote for Noein. That was a fantastic, ambitious (don't see a lot of those these days >_

[quote]Dammit Len, why couldn't it be something easy? I'm going with Gungrave. I loved the drama of Brandon Heat and Harry's conflict. Although, Gurren Lagann had and epic ending as well becuase it stayed true to the essence of the characters. Gungrave FTW![/quote]

YES! Someone else who respects how well the drama was crafted in that show. It was already a good story going into the endgame, but they didn't take the game's easy way out and the result was so, so very sweet. :D Gungrave gets one vote from me.

I'd also like to toss out another vote for Noein. That was a fantastic, ambitious (don't see a lot of those these days) show that built up a great mythos and philosophy while crafting characters that strongly stood out within. Despite being rather esoteric, the ending wrapped the whole thing up exceptionally well.

While we're at it, why not do a WORST anime endings poll? Fuck you, Last Exile. Fuck you. ;)

Card Captor Sakura

the ending movie (Movie #2 The Sealed Card) where Sakura finally realizes that she's in love with Syaoran...

that scene where she jumps into his arms is just the perfect ending to the series...

close second is probably my all time favorite series Gunslinger Girl...ending the series with the girls singing Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony under the stars is just unforgettable...

As far as epic nature of closure it would be end of eva. An ending so epic they said screw the first one. As far as all time favorite it would be Cowboy Bebop.

Another note just give the award to Gianax for its epic list of mind raping endings.

Omg, Len I hate you for this question...

jk, but anyway I guess I'm gonna go with Gurren Lagann cuz it was mentioned up top and yet no one has voted for it yet, and I just so happen to love that anime.

Elfen Lied's ending was NOT good >_> since it leaves you wanting more and does not follow the manga. That would be like saying that Berserk's "ending" was good or perhaps even (shudder) Gantz...
/end rant

For me I'd have to say S-Cry-Ed was the coolest ending I've seen.

Haruhi.

Chronologically or not, it ended with a showcase of how tsundere Haruhi can be, which in my eyes is epic win and the best conclusion anyone could have ever asked for.

Second season's gonna be awesome.

I'm gonna go all fuzzy and say that Azumanga Daioh had a really nice bittersweet ending.

Worst ending poll eh? Hmmm Zettai Shounen comes to mind. I had HUH? written all over my face.

@Darkcyder: Exactly what I was going to say. The manga keeps going soooo much farther, and the anime had so many ridiculous loose ends hanging off I wanted to beat the financial backers upside the head with a gundam-joint sized torque wrench for causing it to only be 13 episodes.

@Redzie: Don't you mean Mu La Flaga? Kira lived through both....Mu La Flaga was cool and I agree GSD was one of the worst pieces of s*** I ever wasted time attempting to watch (somehow I finished it too...)

@Nearly Everyone who vote(s/ed) The End of Eva: Most of you are like Redzie described in my opinion. Why do I say this? Two years ago 5 friends and myself got together with the express intent of doing our best to figure out every little nuance of the End of Evangelion (both movie and series). We watched the movie once, discussed and researched, watched it again, discussed and researched, and then watched it one last time, and then came to our final conclusions on it. Our conclusion was this is nothing more than a muddy puddle. It's dark, has random crap in it that was just tossed in, you can't tell how deep it is from the outside, and when you step in you get crap all over you that's hard to get off and you find it's really quite shallow. Just like a muddy puddle.


As for what I actually think has the best ending ever...that's a hard decision for me since there are plenty with really good ones that wrap everything up, but a lot of what I think were the best ones don't always pull everything together in the end.
Cases-in-point, Zero no Tsukaima and Gurren Lagann.
Zero no Tsukaima's first season was magnificently well done, and it did so many things right that most series of similar genres mess up on horribly. The ending however, although ridiculously cool, wasn't really the ending even though it probably could stand okay on its own. The second season took a pretty different approach and although it wasn't as good as the first season, the ending was spectacular....until the last four minutes or so that left you going "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?!" in a very weird bittersweet sense (anyone who's seen it may understand what I'm talking about).

Gurren Lagann though, just like Zero no Tsukaima's first season, seems like it has a loose end somewhere... and I don't mean the mess up with the beginning of episode one. Even though it does an excellent job tying most things up and giving background it seems like there's something somewhere that wasn't tied up, probably because the background information on everything is minimal and very brief.

Therefore on that note, my vote for most well written and put together ending goes to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. My reasoning is this: It's one thing to have a guilty pleasure killer loli series that just has fun with itself. It's another to take the whole first season that was mostly just that and manage to work it into a GOOD plot, and tie it all off in the end. How they pieced together all of the loose ends and made it actually make sense on top of having a happy ending was sheer brilliance. I realize there's a third season in the works but if you know about the visual novels the third season is basically all the different routes they didn't get to in the first two seasons (I really hope they do the canal drying chapter...it's by far the coolest). I also realize that this isn't considered the greatest show ever by many of you, and I'll admit it isn't in my top 5 either, but in terms of just great endings, this one is definitely up there.

@Heero Yuy: Yea I was thinking of Higurashi too, kinda love the ending, but what stopped me was that the journey of the 2nd season was too draggy for the ending to be impactful. In that sense, I preferred the big bang revealed in the 1st season, coz it invoked a lot of theories before revealing the ending.

Don't vote for the worst ending yet, that debate will be here soon enough.

My vote is for Gun Buster

wow dbz or FMA as a good ending? really?

Well if anybody votes for Eva's ending make mine a negative against theirs.

this is f'ing hard. I'd like to do grave of the fireflies but that was just too depressing to be a great ending. Same with choosing School Days (Nice Boat!). alot of anime never really wraps up the loose ends, at least not where the side stories are concerned.

Its a toss up between Bokurano and Kanokon (I just love the "I'm the wife, you're the mistress" ending.) with Bokurano winning just because it does wrap up everything.

Well just for that I pick the Evangelion ending with orange tang.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ending was good, the TV run preferably. But I liked the DVD version too.

The End of Evangelion, dur - even though the whole second half feels like the ending.
Bebop.
GITS: SAC - I haven't seen the second season yet.
Baccano! Since everything is tied up.
They Are My Noble Masters for anyone who watched it.

I'M GOING WITH HARUHI AND GITS.

:/ I don't think Noein's ending was superb, but it was nice. :) The Haruka/Karasu separation was nice.

I'm going to go with Akira. Great ending. Didn't leave me depressed, and left no questions for me to ask. Great song too.

I always like the ending of Old Yeller.

Gurren Lagann

It actually ended. Too many times are things left hanging. I felt like I was satisfied with the conclusion and was not hoping for or expecting more.

No loose ends, no what ifs, no fighting nazis.

@Heero
I actually like Mu La Flaga and how he turns out. I really mean Kira Yamato, cause I hate his guts.

@God Len: Are you talking about Higurashi?? If so that's harsh...

@Redzie: Hahhaha, I liked Mu too, but there's no question that seeing his bloody helmet floating in space in the original footage that he wasn't dead (they edited that out in the movies...). I wish Kira did die... not for his guts but for his LACK of guts, lol.

Love Hina (Manga). Everything gets resolved, no loose ends and it was the ending that hit me most, mainly because I wouldn't be able to read anymore Love Hina afterwards.

Honey and Clover for me.

Why did this post have to start with the EoE picture.

F**k that. No seriously. Screw EoE, screw half of Eva, and screw a whole load of other things about it.

~

Right.

~

KYONSHIRO'S LIST OF BEST ANIME ENDINGS HE'S EVER SEEN OUT OF THE PALTRY LIST OF ANIME HE'S WATCHED

~

Cowboy Bebop
Haibane Renmei
The Mealcnholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 1
Kurau Phantom Memory
Welcome to the NHK
Duel !
Rahxephon
Spirited Away
The Girl who leapt through time/Toki wa Kakeru Shoujo
Fist of the North Star/Hokuto no Ken (both seasons)
Last Exile



That's about it.

If I am limited to one:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzuymiya: Season 1

(Btw, I don't feel like giving my list of anime with lousy endings... movies included...)

Preceding choices from other users that I don't quote agree with:

EoE : Heero yuy said it best. Read his take.

Texhnolyze: No, I did like the anime. No, the ending DEFINITELY suited it. And yet.... in the case of Bebop, you know that, despite Spike's death, there was a ray of hope as Humanity would still live on after him, and he did what he had to do. But, with Ichise's death, the rest of Humanity went with him. It's... depressing. Though powerful.

Akira: Actually, I should include this one. But I just wonder what happened to Tetsuo's girlfriend....

~

Lemme add one more:

Scrapped Princess: So many plotholes... one abrupt solution. Meh

Haw about: I love you Len for this question
Id easily pick Gungrave
is always a pleasure to answer your debates

I'll go with Full Metal Alchemist. Honestly, I kinda hated it, but no other conclusion has ever left me thinking about it as much as this one.

Hmmm lets see. Among my favourites are:

Voices of a Distant Star - I wasnt left feeling like the OVA needed anything else, it was succinctly tied up and even though it was depressing it it still had a slightly positive message 'I'm Right Here'. I'm man enough to admit I shed a tear or two.

G.i.t.S: SAC 2nd Gig - I remember feeling that this series wrapped up nicely without leaving me wanting more, but I may have top watch through it again as I recently got my dvds back and my memory is terrible.

Cowboy Bebop - People have said it before but this was a superb ending to a great series.

but I guess I can only pick one sooo....

I pick Tekkon Kinkreet. I loved the movie all the way through, and it was good to see such a nice ending to a pretty dark movie. Its also the first time you see Black smile and even the credits with the growing plant I just sat there watching all the way through.

No one else will vote this, but I MUST.

Armored Trooper Votoms. SPOILER: nothing ends a series like killing God. Nothing. /spoiler

Cowboy Bebop

I love Gurren Lagann to death, but Cowboy bebop wins for endings

This is really tough. Both Bebop and and Gurren had AMAZING endings. BUT I'm going to go with Macross Plus.

I don't want to sound mean, but can someone explain to me WHY Cowboy Bebop is so ridiculously popular? To me it seems remarkably average. Sure Ein is the coolest dog ever but still...is it from nostalgia factor since it's many people's first series or something? (like me and Gundam Wing)

The only reason why I ask this is because when I try my best to think purely objectively about this entire debate (like I did on my first post), I find Cowboy Bebop's ending to be about as tied together and interesting as Trigun's (which isn't bad but still).

Well, you can't deny that CB was a good show. But I believe it's mass popularity came from it being one of the first shows they played on [as] and it have a remarkably well done dub.

Gurrren Lagann for it's great ending and personal reasons, Bebop's is a second place, but TTGL's is first in my heart.

@Heero Yuy: I like the ending for Bebop; it maintains the noir feel of the show. I'd bet that accounts for many of the votes. It's one of the first mainstream shows to kill off the main character in the end, and, to Bebop's credit, handle it in a unique way. After watching Spike bond with the other characters over the course of the series, he dies alone, which forces the viewer to realize that Spike has always remained somewhat distant from his teammates. It's an interesting take on friendship and family in many ways. If this was your first serious exposure to anime, that probably had a strong impact. It proves that anime is more than a cartoon.

I've seen lots of great series with great endings yet Bebop still came to mind when I read the question. It wasn't my first series either; I've been a serious anime fan since the late 80s. Some of my favorite endings are the quiet ones: Haibane Renmai, Lain(most depressing ending ever), Blood The Last Vampire, Flag, Voices of a Distant Star and Fantastic Children all rate pretty highly.

@nilcam: That is the single best explanation anyone has ever given me on Cowboy Bebop...now it makes a bit more sense to me, thank you!

I already knew how it was one of the first to show on Adult Swim or just network TV period and actually be good, but looking retrospectively I never really saw anything great about it other than that. Maybe I was too jaded from all the fans talking about it when I watched it for the first time, but now I think I understand a little better. Thanks nilcam!

I'd say BECK. It was the most recent series I finsihed and the ending made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Gurren Lagann: the ending was an eloquently tied bow wrapped around an already amazing gift of an anime. It had that nice feeling of closure I haven't come across in other anime. Especially for Gainax.

Or maybe it's because whenever I hear "Ore wo dare datto omotte iru?!", it gets my blood boiling and induces bias. ^_~

What's with all the eva hate?! I know alot of eva fans come off as elitist pricks but as far as the show goes, i thought it was well done. I personally LOVE End of Evangelion not because I thought it was particularly deep but because it had some great action,psychedelic visuals, and left me truly feeling everything the characters were going through. My vote goes to EoE simply cause I take something different from it every time I watch it.

Gurren Lagann is a close second tho.

[quote]Preceding choices from other users that I don't quote agree with:

EoE : Heero yuy said it best. Read his take.

Texhnolyze: No, I did like the anime. No, the ending DEFINITELY suited it. And yet.... in the case of Bebop, you know that, despite Spike's death, there was a ray of hope as Humanity would still live on after him, and he did what he had to do. But, with Ichise's death, the rest of Humanity went with him. It's... depressing. Though powerful.

Akira: Actually, I should include this one. But I just wonder what happened to Tetsuo's girlfriend....

~

Lemme add one more:

Scrapped Princess: So many plotholes... one abrupt solution. Meh[/quote]
Kaori, Tetsuo's girlfriend, was killed accidentally by Tetsuo when he became gross giant Tetsuo.
As for Kaneda, Kai, Kei, and Colonel Shikishima, they survived. At least in the movie. Haven't read the manga yet.

I also liked The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love, but that's because I'm a Macross whore.

I'm going to vote Beyond the Clouds, The Primised Place. As it's the only thing I can think of at the moment.

Lol excel saga. An utterly nosensical show with an utterly random ending.
CLANNAD was what I expected, that's not bad though.

Worst ending ever was Full Moon wo Sagashite, a very depressing series with a falsely and overly cheery end. Too many people were alive!

@Walfish > Yes I know Kaori got killed by being crushed by the innards of Tetsuo when he became that giant blob.

And yet, Tetsuo said something about Kaori 'filling him' or something

You could say I wonder if there was an afterlife for Kaori. Maybe its wishful thinking, but who knows. I thought Tetsuo was kindalonely.

~

Excel Saga:

Episode 26 NEVER Happened. Puni puni poemi..... failed what Lucky Star succeeded.

I thought Episode 25 made the best ending of the series.

Voices of a distant star:

Read the manga. It had a better exposition, and more importantly, an actual resolution to the story as a whole.

I haven't read the Voices of a Distant Star manga because Shinkai was not involved with it. I loved the end of the anime since the resolution was presented but not actually shown. Some things are better left to the viewer's imagination.

I really don't want to pick just one, so I'll make a list.
1. Serial Experiments Lain. 2. Berserk. 3. Evangelion. 4. FLCL 5. Baccano. 6. Samurai Champloo. 7. Gurren Lagann. 8. Gunslinger Girl. 9. GITS SAC 10. Welcome to the N.H.K.
For the record, fuck cowboy bebop.

I will go with Samurai Champloo because I love endings with epic battles at the end.

Man this list is going to be scattered...

So I'm throwing in FuriKuri FTW

voting is over

how did anyone like the neon genesis ending it made no sense at all . but honestly i did like the parts that WERENT the end