Dragon Ball Daimahas come to an end, and that ending really ruffled the feathers of some fans, who were extremely unhappy with the way things played out. While it’s definitely a controversial ending among fans, with some liking it and others hating it, it’s not the first anime to end on a sour note.
Daima’s ending was primarily controversial for its impact on continuity and being considered canon to other series, likeDragon Ball Super. The ending left a lot of things hanging, which has created a continuity mess that will be difficult for later installments ofDragon Ballto clean up. Much of the problem that fans have withDragon Ball Daima’s ending is that Goku’s Super Saiyan 4 transformation, which he attains in the final episodes of the series, is never used inSuper, despite there being circumstances where Goku would undoubtedly call upon that power. WhileDaima’s ending has undoubtedly been controversial, it can’t hold a candle to these series.
The ending ofCode Geassbegins with protagonist Lelouch ascending to the throne of Brittannia, something he didn’t really want to do. However, Lelouch has a secret plan–he agitates the populace by making tyrannical decrees, only to be assassinated on stage by “Zero,” his own secret identity. Zero is actually Lelouch’s friend, Suzaku, who had been opposed to him for much of the series. Zero is still seen as a hero of the people, so by killing the dictatorial Lelouch, the people are united behind Zero, allowing the world of the series to move towards world peace.
Any ending where the main character’s plan involves their own death is going to be controversial, butCode Geasstook things to a new level with the convoluted plan he introduces. Lelouch was repeatedly and definitively stated to be dead by the creators of the series, but this ended up being proved wrong whena continuation movie was released, titledLelouch of the Re;surrection. The movie hasn’t done much to sway fan opinions on the original ending, though, which remains contentious.
Gainax as a studio is infamous for its endings, andGurren Lagannis no exception. While the universe is saved from the threat of the Anti-Spirals, things don’t go so well for the heroes. Simon is reunited with Nia, only to see her literally evaporate away into nothingness at their wedding, as she was a representative of the Anti-Spirals. Yoko, having lost both of the men she loved over the course of the story, gives up on romance to become a teacher. Simon becomes a hermit who wanders the Earth. And worst of all, the Spiral Nemesis, which the Anti-Spirals were worried about, is still a potential problem.
Gurren Lagannwas kind of an uneven series when it came to dark elements, alternating between highly dark moments, such as Kamina’s death, and totally absurd moments, like the finale’s use of entire galaxies as throwing stars for their truly giant mecha.As such, the ending comes as a bit of whiplash to some viewers, who were expecting a much happier ending given all the talk of believing in one’s self and each other.
Madoka’s original ending sees Madoka herself become a God-like being, sweeping away magical girls before they give into despair and become witches. Madoka’s influence leads to a radically altered timeline, with the end of the series seeing dead characters revived. Only Homura remembers Madoka… which eventually comes back to be a problem in the movie,Rebellion, where Homura tries to undo Madoka’s sacrifice, and in so doing usurps her power and becomes a Satanic, fallen angel-like figure. This makes Homura a very controversial character in the fandom.
Madokais a beloved magical girl anime series now, butRebelliondefinitely ruffled some feathers when it was first released in 2013.Homura’s decision to stand against Madoka in order to protect her from sacrificing herself was very controversial, and some felt it ruined the conclusion of the original series to make her such an extremist.
Cyberpunk Edgerunnersfocuses on David, a young man who acquires a powerful cybernetic chip and falls in with a crowd of “edgerunners,” who perform dangerous work. David is trying to escape with Lucy to the Moon, but their final job brings them into conflict with Adam Smasher, a powerful cyborg. Nearly every named character in the series is brutally and rapidly killed, and David doesn’t stand a chance against Adam. Lucy is pretty much the only character who makes it out and she sees her dream of arriving on the Moon, but regrets all the death it took to get her there.
The series is short and violent, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that the characters' lives are also short and violent.David believed he had an exceptional resistance to cyberpsychosis, but his resistance wasn’t so great as he believed, ultimately leading to disaster. Still, there were no shortage of fans who got to the end of the series and were extremely upset to see everyone they’d grown to care about killed off.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventuremay seem like a surprising entry, but the ending to part 6, and consequently the culmination of the first six installments of the story, definitely qualifies. As Jolyne, Jotaro, and their allies battle against Pucci, Dio’s acolyte, Pucci’s Stand achieves its ultimate form, and begins speeding up time. Slowly, one by one, the heroes are killed off, including Jolyne herself, until only the little boy, Emporio, is left. Emporio uses Weather Report’s Stand, which was stored in a disc, to defeat Pucci, resetting his disruption of the timeline and creating a parallel world without him.
While the villain didn’t fully accomplish his goal, he still managed to kill off nearly all of the heroes in the process, and the universe in which parts 1-6 take place is effectively destroyed, replaced by another universe where Jolyne is known as Irene, and everyone is just a little different than they were before.It’s ostensibly a happy ending, but the implications for the broader universe in whichJojois set left many fans miffed.
Attack on Titan’s ending is one that remains infamously controversial, even in wider circles beyond just anime fans. Eren, who has been the protagonist of the series so far, goes off the deep end and triggers the Rumbling, wherein the Titans in the walls awaken and begin marching to destroy the outside world. Eren ends up killing 80% of the human race, and turning all his friends against him.Eren is killed without any real redemptionand even admits to his idiocy. Those who survive are struggling to pick up the pieces, and the final moments imply that all their efforts for peace are for naught.
Fans were extremely outraged over this ending, as very few people who had been enjoying the series wanted to see Eren suddenly turn evil for no clear reason.There’s literally no situation in which genocide like that which Eren commits can be excused, so many fans were extremely put off by the turn the story takes in its final chapters. Arguably, by doing exactly what his enemies feared, Eren proved their treatment of his people right.
Evangelionis unique in that it has two distinct endings, that of the TV series and that of the filmEnd of Evangelion, and both are highly controversial. The TV anime takes a bizarre, psychological bent at the finale, with strange images flashing and weird dialog that doesn’t seem to make much sense on the surface.End of Evangeliontook the exact opposite approach and showed what literally happened, which involved Instrumentality being executed, many of the characters being killed, and finally Shinji rejecting Instrumentality and reforming as an individual alongside Asuka, whom he promptly begins choking.
School Daysis perhaps the most infamous anime ending of all time, due to how wildly unexpected it is. The series follows a boy, Makoto, as he attempts to grow closer to a girl he likes, Kotonoha, and gets to meet her through another girl named Sekai. A love triangle forms, and things go about as badly as they could possibly go, resulting in murder, dismemberment, and bloodshed that is far too graphic to describe in detail here.
TheSchool Daysanime is based on a visual novel, in which there are a great number of endings, and relatively few of them end in the death of a character, so the anime’s decision to focus in squarely on what is the worst possible ending was wildly controversial with those who knew the visual novel. Of course, the sheer degree of violence and murder in the ending also upset plenty of people who were expecting the typical anime harem comedy, and the series now is known almost exclusively for its dark ending, making it without a doubt the mostinfamous anime ending of all time.
