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(#7) Akira
Based on Katsuhiro Otomo's groundbreaking manga of the same name, the plot and imagery in Akira is absolutely bonkers, and the ending doesn't leave viewers with any easily decipherable answers.
After Tetsuo — teen motorbike hooligan living in Neo Tokyo in 2019 — is infected by the byproduct of a covert military experiment, his body and mind become monstrous, and he is instilled with godlike powers.
The resulting saga ends with a bang (a Big Bang, in fact). The closing shot of the film sends the audience rushing through a psychedelic tunnel that — though this is not immediately obvious — is actually the start of a whole new universe. Woah.
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(#13) The Big O
- Mitsuru Miyamoto, Steve Blum, Akiko Yajima
The Big O follows "Negotiator" Bruce Wayne Roger Smith, who is regularly called to action in his Batmobile Big O mech — a leftover weapon from a forgotten era — to protect Paradigm City from emerging threats. The domed city appears to be the last human stronghold left on Earth, for reasons that are shrouded in mystery.
The ending — though an interesting one — kind of wraps the "it was all a dream" and "Groundhog Day" tropes up into one frustrating revelation: Paradigm City is a simulated reality that the Big O can reset by melding with another mech, Big Venus. Once this happens, the show rewinds back to the first episode.
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(#2) School Days
- Chiaki Takahashi, Daisuke Hirakawa, Kaname Yuzuki, Haruka Nagami, Yoshiro Matsumoto, Megu Ashiro, Keiko Imoto, Ryōko Tanaka, Tae Okajima
At first glance, School Days seems like your typical, innocuous, slice of life romantic drama. The story revolves around high school student Makoto and his troubled relationships with two girls: Totohona, who he falls head over heels for, and Sekai, who becomes increasingly jealous of the lovebirds she accidentally played matchmaker for.
But none of the rising tension throughout the series could prepare viewers for the explosive and graphic ending. Sekai — suddenly demonically possessed by the "scorned woman" trope — goes all knife-happy on Makoto, killing him. After discovering Makato's body, Totohona then turns the knife on Sekai in order to find out whether or not she fibbed about being pregnant. In the end, her hunch that turns out to be correct. Yay?
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(#3) Clannad
- Yûichi Nakamura, Mai Nakahara, David Matranga
If you love to empty tissue boxes in one sitting then you should definitely binge Clannad. On the other hand, if you enjoy endings that make logical sense then maybe this is one to avoid.
Clannad centers on a young man named Tomoya whose life goes from bad to worse. First, the love of his life dies right after she gives birth to their daughter. Then, after years of depression-fuelled neglect, the daughter dies too.
The collective tragedy compels Tomoya to inexplicably travel back in time to when his wife was still alive. Or maybe he just slips permanently into a trauma-induced dream. Or maybe he wakes up in the real world at the end to discover the whole thing was a nasty dream? We'll never really know for sure.
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(#5) Berserk
- Nobutoshi Canna, Unshô Ishizuka, Marc Diraison
The legendarily gruesome shonen series Beserk follows the medieval warriors Griffith and Guts on their bloody quest for kingly status. Though there's plenty of political commentary to ground the action, the fantasy elements really crank up to 11 at the end, delivering a truly twisted finale.
After Guts rescues Griffith from wasting away in a torture dungeon, Griffith's necklace suddenly becomes a horrifying, screaming face, turns the world into a living nightmare, and offers Griffith the chance to become the ruler of Hell. After slaughtering all of his friends to secure the deal (and engaging in an absolutely sickening rape scene) Griffith takes the job, and the series abruptly ends with Guts walking off towards his next adventure.
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(#12) Mirai Nikki - Another: World
- Ayame Goriki
Imagine if the kids from Battle Royale were all equipped with prophetic digital diaries containing entries from the future. Got that? Good, you pretty much understand the premise of Mirai Nikki (also known as Future Diary.)
The series actually has a wholly satisfying and conclusive ending, up until the post-credits scene. Skipping 10,000 years into the future, we're shown that the god of the "Second World" and future diary holder, Yuki, is the lone survivor of the deadly game.
Zooming in on the last entry in Yuki's diary, the words, "Yumo came to meet me" appear just before the screen goes black, leaving an annoyingly large slew of questions unanswered. (Luckily, Redial was created to tie up these loose ends.)
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About This Tool
The ending of an anime has a huge impact on the rating and evaluation of the work itself. Anime fans have been followed the updating of animated series for months or even years in order to watch the ending they want. Some endings are often unexpected, but they must be reasonable. However, in order to attract attention, many authors or production teams often create totally unacceptable endings.
To be honest, creating a perfect animation ending is a task that requires a huge effort from the studio or the writer. The random tool lists 13 animes with the most WTF anime endings.
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