Forum - View topicFena: Ending Explained (or How To RUIN an Anime In One Episode)
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meiam
Posts: 3450 |
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WEG stayed good for at least half the season, Fena started crashing and burning from episode 2 and was in trainwreck mode by like 4. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4799 |
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Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I don't think the ending "ruined" anything. If anything I found it hilarious, because someone reached back pulled the FULL ANIME lever super-hard for it. I mean we even had a literal "Congratulations!" sequence...like, who does that?
 It reminded me most of all of the era of anime I love best, the last 90s to mid-00s, when original anime productions ruled the roost and semi-frequently produced some gloriously WTF endings. Fena's conclusion was right up there with some of the biggest head-scratchers I've ever seen, and honestly it felt like a breath of nostalgia.
I mean at the end of the day I had fun with it, I generally enjoyed the first 10 or 11 episodes, and the ass-pull of a twist at the end made me laugh. (Plus it was really, really pretty.) I can think of far worse experiences I've had with a series. Last edited by Top Gun on Sun Nov 14, 2021 4:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6584 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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HandofBobb
Posts: 83 |
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I'm right there with you man, the whole show felt like a flashback to earlier anime, so having a total WTF ending seemed on-brand. My only gripe is, it seemed like the post-adventure was more interesting than the show we'd watched up till then... |
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Brack
 Posts: 291 Location: UK |
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This is p. much the feeling I had. I hadn't connected it to the "wait until you see OUR Evangelion" hubris of late-night anime producers circa 1999, but you're spot on there. That plus the weird OAV pacing were it feels like entire plotlines are missing, the Eighventies lost civilisation obsession and the nods towards Angel's Egg made it an enjoyable curio. |
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SlamMan
Posts: 64 |
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I didn't find the ending as bad as others did (though I had seen the title of this article before I finished the show so maybe because I was anticipating bad it came out better than expected?). The big problem seems to be that people find Fena was basically not making any choices. Trusting the guiding voice (or whatever it is) is in itself a choice though. Also I think one could argue that she possibly made a third choice at the end. She still kept everyone alive and lost her memories but two shots at the end make me consider that option. First is the shot of the surviving pirates. The eyepatch girl and Mary were both in places where they could have jumped ship very quickly and maybe survived (I was hoping Mary would survive because I found her too amusing to die) but if I recall the purple haired pirate was always near O'Malley and would have blown up with her for sure. Then there is the shot of two kids running by who appear to be Abel and Helena living a carefree life. Makes me wonder if Fena chose to lose here memories to undo all the bad that was done in getting her to Eden. Her father was not a real person anyway so he's the only real significant character that doesn't possibly come back to life that would definitely be shown to get this idea across. Also, the goblin knights getting in no trouble for going rogue seems unlikely unless Fena made things better using her Pucelle powers.
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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I'm in the same boat as you, Top. I really enjoyed the show each week....and one sorta 'bad' episode doesn't ruin the other 11 good ones, imho. I don't like memory wipes...but I was more upset with the color change of her hair. But...she's with her crew and her boyfriend...and everyone seems happy enough? So...is this really that bad of an ending?
And you're sure right about those other original anime endings from that era!! Lol there were some crazy ones! |
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CelestialEmpress
 Posts: 114 |
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I think the show just had too many ideas for its runtime, didn't want to let go of any of them, and never managed to really flesh out what it wanted. It honestly feels like its episode count got cut at some point in production but they refused to cut any of the plans they'd already started.The whole Apocalypse Maiden thing at the end could have worked if it didn't come completely out of left field and they'd had another two or three episodes to establish that plot. Like, maybe all the characters are starting to notice the world becoming unstable and humanity becoming increasingly more vicious. Surely that's not building towards some catastrophe that requires one person to make an impossible, heartbreaking choice, right?
I also wish they'd done something with the minor characters who basically amounted to nothing. Instead of the threat of Shitan's terrifying brother just being forgotten, have him follow them to Eden and get killed by the magic dance stairs because he doesn't trust Fena or something. Instead of the hot lady pirates doing like one thing and then disappearing until the last 20 seconds of the show, they turn up to help fight off the Navy as revenge for Abel betraying them and to get a share of all that treasure. Instead of Fena's dad's old friends bumbling through her first rescue and then doing nothing else for the entire series, just cut them out entirely and let the samurai who were already there rescue her instead. Hell, have Shitan bang a hot witch to get over his anti-witch prejudice! |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5936 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Nothing better to end the show on, than wiping out all those memories of her adventures, friends, and loved ones.
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1577 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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Excellently said, and also a good summary of my main problem with Fena: it ignored some of the potential it already had, squandered the rest of it, and served to further ignore the potential that blossomed from some of that squandery in favor of continuing to squander the remainder. I'm not one to really care about whether an anime's potential is made good on or not (see: my Dimension W apologia), but when you spend two of the three episodes on Eden wondering "when's Shitan's brother going to show up already?" and the like, you know there's a plotting issue that can't simply be ignored. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4829 |
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They're all still together though; they can make NEW memories...and she's still in love with Yukimaru... |
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TarsTarkas
Posts: 5936 Location: Virginia, United States |
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True, but another way of thinking about it is that the Fena we knew was murdered, gone forever. Everything that made her 'her' gone. For what is a person, but the sum of their experiences, memories, and actions. So this new Fena, is not the person they traveled with, not the person they helped, and not the person who helped you. Sure this new Fena is still together with her group. What else is she supposed to do. Naturally she would form new attachments with them. But she still is not the Fena of the series. That person is just memories now. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4829 |
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I guess the optimist in me hopes she's not really gone and she'll remember who she was...eventually
Like she didn't remember anything about her mother or her infancy...but then she suddenly did through some epiphany. So I think the same thing could happen again. |
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k_dawg_3484
 Posts: 58 |
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Indeed, I agree that it was ruined by the ending. Of episode 1. By the ending of episode 1, I knew the show was ruined.
I had to see it through, though. It did not disappoint in its disappointment. |
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