The ending of an anime should feel like it is the climax of the show where all themes and character arcs reach a satisfying conclusion. This process can span years and take multiple seasons to get to. However, sometimes an anime hits its peak, does everything right, then keeps on going. It ends up continuing past the point where the prior plot points or character relations become moot. It erodes the good will of its fans or fosters a nagging boredom in its viewers.
The tragedy of this is that a lot of these anime are still worth watching. They have compelling characters, amusing tones, and thrilling drama, but fail to understand when to call it a day. These moments can happen early into the anime, midway through, or close to its ending. It varies because there is not a one-size-fits-all reason for these anime to miss their chance to wrap up on a high note; they are all unique.
10 The Ghost In The Shell Franchise Needs To Chill Out
The iconic Ghost in the Shell movie premiered in 1995 to widespread critical acclaim. There is validity to believing it is one of the most influential sci-fi films of the 90s. In the early 2000s, anime fans were graced with two seasons of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, one of the most intelligent sci-fi police series that the medium has to offer. If this is where it would have ended, the franchise would be virtually spotless.
The later additions of Ghost in the Shell: Arise and Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 weigh it all down. Arise is a mixed bag that tries to recapture its forbearers' mood, but rings hollow when it comes to its philosophy and characterization. SAC_2045 looks and feels like a parody of the franchise, proving that it was beating a dead horse.
9 Spice And Wolf Loses Its Charm
There is something very cozy about Spice and Wolf's first season. The budding romance is built through the conversations the main characters have while traveling the bucolic landscape of a medieval fantasy setting. Holo learns more about humanity and their good sides when she listens to Lawrence explain economics, while Lawrence sees Holo as more than a wolf goddess whenever she teases him.
Spice and Wolf's second season throws in a forced love triangle to create a feeling of complication between Holo and Lawrence. It defeats the very intimate and personal character dynamics by artificially driving in conflict. The love triangle itself is lackluster and takes up too much time.
8 The Finale Of Gintama Is Mostly Spectacle
As one of the most celebrated shonen comedies of the 2000s, Gintama managed to get its story completely animated. An amazing feat considering its anime is 367 episodes, 2 movies, and a long special. Gintama does not need to be this long. While Gintama's blend of comedy and action is flexible enough to create an infinite number of arcs, that would ignore all of the anime's other story elements like its world building, alternate history angle, and character growth. Those are story factors that demand to see a proper conclusion.
Gintama° is the anime's fourth season and covers some of its funniest and most impactful arcs. This is when all of the elements that make Gintama great resonate and mean the most. The seasons and movie past this are a celebration of the show, but can feel hollow as most of the important thematic threads have already been wrapped up.
7 Too Much Time Travel In Steins;Gate
A time travel premise is like solving a puzzle: the story presents itself with complications and conditions, then has to weave around them to reach a satisfying conclusion. This is what the Steins;Gate anime does — it sets up a tricky situation then solves it while giving fans memorable moments and likable characters.
The Steins;Gate movie set after the series fails to replicate this. It adds more time travel shenanigans and does not have enough time to build interesting character dynamics of its own. Much of the Steins;Gate film feels empty and manages to weaken Kurisu as a character.
6 Darker Then Black Ruins Its Lead Character
Darker than Black is an original anime created by Studio Bones, a rare case as the studio is more renowned for their adapted anime. It shines due to its fast action, sleek neo-noir mood, and an amazing soundtrack composed by Yoko Kanno. Darker than Black's superhuman premise reaches its climactic conclusion after Season 1 and that should have been it.
Unfortunately, Darker than Black's second season saw Hei become a shell of himself for no good reason. His core drive as a character had already been addressed in the first season, so his drastic changes by the Season 2 do not add up.
5 The Monogatari Series Does Not Know When To Stop
When Bakemonogatari aired in 2009, it took the anime community by storm. The blend of Studio Shaft's experimental art styles and visual quirks along with the eccentric characters, romances, and dialogue became the blueprint of the Monogatari series' success.
Monogatari Series: Second Season marks the zenith of the anime. Many characters get conclusions to their arcs and Araragi's harem fizzles out to give way to his relationship with Senjougahara. This would have been a great way to finish the romcom, but it continues past this point and dilutes all it had achieved earlier.
4 No More Stakes In Food Wars After The Autumn Election
The second season of Food Wars concludes with the final cook-off in the Autumn Elections between Souma, Akira, and Ryou. This is the last time the anime had any suspense; it felt like any of the three chefs could win the whole Autumn Election. The results of the competition proved that Food Wars had what it took to be bold.
All of that potential is thrown away in the following seasons of Food Wars. Villains with laughable motivations are introduced, side characters that were compelling are pushed to the peripheries, the cooking school is revealed to be an international food police, and Souma wins everything. There is no threat of failure and no promise of growth.
3 Fullmetal Alchemist Makes Really Questionable Choices
Possibly the most celebrated shonen story of all time, Fullmetal Alchemist received its first anime adaptation in 2003, while its manga was still being published. Eventually, the anime caught up to the manga's story and had to create its own final act. To its credit, it did the most that it could while exploring darker themes. In this version, the Elric brothers go through much more emotional turmoil, but it still works.
The movie ending attached to the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series undoes so much of the viewer's good will. It puts Edward in World War II Europe where a faction of the German army tries to cross into the alchemist universe. The original Fullmetal Alchemist anime could have just ended with the bittersweet separation of the brothers and fans would have been satisfied.
2 Bleach Should Have Ended With Aizen
So much of Bleach's runtime was dedicated to learning about Soul Society, going to Hueco Mundo, and fighting Aizen and his Arrancar. All of Bleach's iconic characters came from those arcs. Most, if not all, of the best fights in Bleach centered around those conflicts.
A time skip after Aizen's defeat with a powerless Ichigo seems really pointless. The bad guy has been defeated and the main character can live a peaceful life. Forcing the Fullbringers into Bleach just to give Ichigo new powers is incredibly unnecessary and anticlimactic.
1 L Was Half Of What Made Death Note Good
Death Note is the best cat-and-mouse shonen anime, but that is only true to a certain point. The chase is only good if both parties involved are equally as skilled. Light and L were iconic rivals and enemies. Each could outsmart the other and the hook of the anime was about who would come out on top.
Once L dies, Death Note should have ended. As grim as it is, Light had won, and the anime should have accepted the consequences of that win. Instead, it forces knockoffs of L to best Light resulting in a thoroughly disappointing conclusion.
Source: Trendz OH
No comments:
Post a Comment