Forum - View topicGood anime with a non-depressing ending? (Possible Spoilers)
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sonicfirex
Posts: 5 Location: Lynchburg, VA |
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Does anybody know of a quality anime series that does not end depressingly? Don't get me wrong, not that I'm "that stupid American", I don't need my hero to live all the time. But after watching Wolf's Rain, Gungrave, Saikano, and Chrono Crusade (consecutively), I'm feeling pretty drained by now.
Can anyone (without giving spoiling anything) recommend something that isn't soul crushing. Maybe something along the lines of Last Exile? (I realize I'm probably going to get ripped for this...oh well) |
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ryokoalways
Posts: 562 |
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Based on what you listed, I think you will like Mai-HiME. Problem is, although it is not depressing, I dont know if you will like the ending. The rest of the series is fine, but this one is on the other end of the spectrum.
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Greennunu
Posts: 145 |
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Well I still haven't gotten a chance to see Last Exile but try these:
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora - Sad story with a good ending. Noein - when I first watched it I thought it was a kiddy series, but it turned out I was utterly wrong. Raxephon - Kinda like Eva, but 100x(IMO) better. Suzuka - one of the better boy meets girl series. Black Lagoon - Chick with guns, and a loser(ous) guy finds his place in the world story. Wit ha story much better told that any of the other chick with gun story, Im deffinitely looking forward to the next season. Full Metal Panic Series is always good. Scrapped Princess - I think there was only 1 maybe 2 depressing point in the anime, ended pretty well with a surprise. There's tons others I haven't listed, but since I really don't know what type you like or which ones you've alreayd seen.. |
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ShikamaChU
 Posts: 79 Location: Evergreen State, Olympia Washington |
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Feel Good endings? Hmm….. (I don’t finish anime often, because I'm lame and...closure makes things end, and that makes me sad. 9/10 I’ll watch all but like, the last two episodes. Also, I don't remember endings very well. (like Nadeshiko. How on earth did that end? And Escaflowne. I just can’t remember
 Lots of things do that to me….))
But some great, happy ending I've seen include Irresponsible Captain Tyler VERY nice ending, one of my favorites really. Also, as long as you get past the first episode, it's a very addictive series. Let's just say: I've never met a person that didn't like Ueki. Watching the OVA ruins the ending, so don’t bother^^. The series ending makes everyone go ‘Hell YEAH!’. Seriosuly. Licensed By Royalty (L/R) But ONLY IF YOU WATCH PAST THE LAST EPISODE CREDITS. Do not turn off your T.V.,Pass go, or collect 200 when the last episode goes into credits. That would just kill you dead in sad ‘WTF?! NO!!!!’ ways.. It would suck beyond suck. Don't you DARE not watch until the end of the credits. Oh! My Goddess OVA (I haven’t seen the ending of the T.V. series yet.) But the 5 episode OVA ends beautifully. Oh the fluffy goodness. Genshinken Doesn't end badly. Nice closure. There’s a ton of other things I don’t remember being vehemently opposed to ending-wise, but I don’t really remember them all that well, so I’m not going to mention them. ^^ Oh, and just a heads up, Don’t watch these if you want to feel good about the world afterwards: Full metal Alchemist (Hagaren). Yeah. No. Not even if you’re watching the movie right after. Just No. Grave of the Fireflies. Ow. I cry thinking about it. Beautiful movie, but you have to be in the right mood. Saikano. Can the world stop now? Please? Princess Nine Yeah, good bye dreams. Great series, worst ending. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Scrapped Princess-A very good fantasy series with some sci-fi elements. Magic, swordfights, and the like. Very good story, interesting characters, good action, and a great soundtrack.
Noir-A great action/mystery focusing on two female assassins who have been targeted by a world-spanning secret organization and try to find out why in addition to personal goals of their own. Inovative action scenes, a good story, and fantastic soundtrack. Crest of the Stars and it's sequels Banner of the Stars 1-3 are also good bets if you like Science fiction. Interesting storylines all, wonderfully fleshed out characters, and some interesting space combat and technology. Infinite Ryvius-After an act of sabotage all the instructors on a space station sacrafice themselves to save the lives of the 400 or so astronaut trainees. However the organizers of the incident haven't given up yet. The students flee across the solar system looking for a safe port but are relentlessly pursued and attacked for unknown reasons. Great series that shows what happens when all different types of people are forced to live togather and be creative if they want to live. Last edited by Kruszer on Sun Aug 20, 2006 11:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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bReAkDoWn^RT
 Posts: 53 Location: Wisconsin |
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With the animes you just listed, you seriously should have thought about using a spoiler tag, though it doesn't matter to me anymore(I watched like first 10 episodes...then got tired of it) if I was still watching it, I would be mad..
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Kilgamayan
 Posts: 275 Location: Location, Location. |
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Galaxy Angel. It's endings aren't even really endings (well, except for Season 4), and they're certainly not depressing.
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Bruce Lee
 Posts: 715 Location: Seattle, Washington |
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I sort of disagree with Greennunu and Kruszer on Scrapped Princess. Sure the ending wasn't sad, but that is no excuse to waste your 13 hours. I honestly expected more from studio BONES, but this never really hooked me. I would put this last on the list.
However, I do agree wtih Greennunu's nomination for RahXephon. I don't know if I'd call it better than EVA, but it does have less loose ends, and a nice happy ending. The story has plenty of twists and turns along the way as well. I really like this one, and would highly recomend it. |
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Kelly
Posts: 868 Location: New York City |
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I know what you mean. Alot of the best anime have rather depressing endings, or at least bittersweet like Last Exile, don't they? And from what I've scanned, most of the pure anime comedy seems to be ecchi, which really isn't my thing.
Your best bet may actually be the Miyazaki films. Mononoke and Pom Poko end rather bittersweetly, but the rest generally seem to have a happily-ever-after vibe. If you're into space operas, Kruszer's suggestion of the Stars franchise is a good one too. Fruits Basket (dramedy) and Twelve Kingdoms (fantasy) are also two series that don't end completely badly and end up in my DVD player quite often, although there are a few sad moments. Actually, in spite of some rather sad moments, Fruits Basket generally leaves you with rather a good vibe, and is actually a pretty good anime to watch when you want to feel better about the world. |
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Stupidman007
 Posts: 394 |
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Judging by the 4 titles that you've listed, I'd recommend Shakugan no Shana and Fighting Spirit. Shana might be a little bit depressing with the slight bit of love triangle that I felt went wrong, and Fighting Spirit pretty much has nothing that's depressing.
If you want a comedic title that stays away from harem and ecchi, Great Teacher Onizuka and Fullmetal Panic Fumoffu are probably your best shots. |
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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I'll agree with what others have already said, Scrapped Princess definitely. It has its share of drama and it isn't always upbeat but the ending certainly isn't depressing although it still ends up rather powerful when all is said and done. Really proof that you don't need sadness and death to add depth and meaning to a conclusion as many seem to think.
Of course Haibane Renmei is another that doesn't end necessarily in a sad tone and also has a great deal of depth to it. The main problem here is that the series really isn't an action series or fast moving or anything of the kind. It's very slow and takes about 5 episodes just to reach the main focus of the story, which I think actually works really well but if you like action and a fast plot it might not be the best series for ya. |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6232 Location: Houston, TX |
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wow, if you guys thought Noein and Noir had happy endings, then you didn't read into them deep enough.
anyways: Last Exile even though a lot of people hated it, i thought this was one of the better i've better endings i've seen, they wrapped up pretty much everything they needed to. Eureka Seven even though it was kinda of confusing, everything gets resolved, and spoiler[Renton and Eureka become celestial beings at the end] Speed Grapher it gets silly at times, but the payoff is worth it.spoiler[the hero gets the girl, and Japan becomes a third world country] Last edited by v1cious on Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:17 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Raven Shinobi
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That ending was my favorite one EVER  I haven't watched the OVA yet, but its reputation and my love of the ending for the TV series make me stay away from it.
Vandread: the final battle was awesome, it was a cute ending that could have been better had spoiler[Hibiki kissed Dita.] Dragon Ball Z had a pertty good and fullfilling ending (I will NEVER approve of GT that wasn't written by Toriyama), spoiler[I mean peace is in the air, Gokou became a grandfather, Bejiita has a daughter who's so crazy about him and when Gokou made Goten and Trunks promise him that they will not neglect their training from that moment onward because they were going to become the future defenders of earth, that was the perfect way to wrap up the series,] now let's pretend that that atrocious GT never happened 
Gundam Wing (with or without Endless Waltz): depends if you like Relena, most people that I know loathe her with passion. I was glad when spoiler[Zechs and Noin finally hooked up.] Outlaw Star: it's considered a happy ending, though I would've prefered it if Starwind had hooked up with spoiler[Suzuka. ] That's all I can think of that the others didn't mention, most animes that I've watched had either unsatisfactory or bittersweet endings. |
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Daemonblue
 Posts: 701 |
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Well, for a non-ecchi comedy I'd say go Azumanga Daioh and Strawberry Marshmallow, the latter of which is a more slow slice-of-life type, but has it's moments of comedy gold. For a slightly more ecchi (nothing really bad) I'd go for Kyou no Go no Ni (Today in Class 5-2). This series is just well, in some ways wrong since it's putting fifth graders in adult situations, but they turn out to be extremely funny....collarbone...yea. I'll also second Galaxy Angel, very funny if you're into random things, same for School Rumble too.
As for action series with good endings, I'll second Shana and Scrapped Princess. I would also suggest Beet the Vandel Buster, the first season ends well and sets a good lead for the second season, and it's more along the lines of a good friends type feel, rather than the betray each other and everyone dies kind of feel. I won't mention Bleach too much, you can get info on that one everywhere. For the drama-esque types, I'll also second Hantsuki, except that the ending is both happy and sad, but you'd understand why it's both when/if you watch it...yay live-action  .
Right now I'm watchin Ultra Maniac and it, well, seems kind of interesting. So far it might be something you'd be interested in, yay magical girls that have to use computers to cast spells .
Edit: Forgot to mention Happy Lesson, this one is a great comedy series that isn't too ecchi (there's one episode that might offend some people, but I don't see why). My only problem is that the episode mentioned before is in both the first season (Happy Lesson) and the second season (Happy Lesson Advanced), and they're exactly the same, just not the same episode number. Another interesting one would be Steel Angel Kurumi, the first series is great (I think it's 2 seasons) but Kurumi 2 and Zero aren't really that great, they're not even based in the same time period as the first. Either way, they all end (somewhat) happily and have steel angels, yay. |
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Kruszer
Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Or maybe you're reading into things too much. Or in Noein's case need to read up temporal paradoxies, Alternate dimensions. I don't know exactly why you found it depressing but I didn't, then again I know a lot on the subject of the theories they put forth in the series and the explanations given in series are quite informative as well. It's a mindbending subject that flows from the scientifically hypothetical so I definitely wouldn't blame you for misinterpretation. Noir ends with spoiler[Kirika and Mirielle killing everyone at the manner and going off somewhere basically stating that if they aren't left alone there'll be hell to pay and the Soldats bigshots let them pass for doing what they couldn't, not depressing at all.] unless you're a subscriber to that rather far out interpretation of the meaninglessly symbolic final scene. Last edited by Kruszer on Sun Aug 20, 2006 11:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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