What are some of the best endings you've read or watched?

[El_Psy_Congroo]

Lots of people struggle with writing endings, even pros. I've read plenty of comics and books, watched many shows and movies, where the ending just falls flat on its face. So I was wondering if anyone had any examples of really well written endings. You can add examples of bad endings - but if you're like me those lists tend to be long so just pick a few haha.

Bonus points if you articulate what made it a good ending.

I would say for me, the ending of Breaking Bad was pretty perfect. It was in line with everything Walter's character was and his desire to go out with a bang. It even gave him a last moment of character development:

All in all great series, great ending.

[tsukiko]

Well for me The ending of tokyo ghoul (the non :re one and the manga) was the bomb. It actually drove me insane for weeks until :re was released, and get this a lot of the readers went mad too. Really! I saw it all on the forums.

Just look at it's ending man, Tokyo ghoul made you believe that the characters in the manga series can be killed you know, akin to Games of thrones but TG for me gave more fragility to the characters than GoT had. Then the ending, uRGHHHH! It was a gruesome tragedy i tell ya! Thats why it produced mass insanity throughout the readers! The feeling of hopelessness was there but you (the reader) aren't ready to accept it! but it happened it was pretty clear, then boom! Cliffhanger-esque, tragedy.

[WakaXO]

Avatar: the last Airbender had a near perfect ending in my opinion. Aang stayed true to himself and spared the firelords life. Loose ends were sufficiently tied up. And all the pairings I liked worked out. 😉

As for bad endings there are many animes that come to mind, Guilty Crown is a good example of an anime that was good right up until the ending of season 1, the last 2 episodes were horrible and so was all of season 2. Same goes for Sword Art Online which was good right until the ending of season one and season 2 was garbage; it could have been fixed by just adding in 2 seconds of the protagonist meeting IRL at the end of the credits in season one, and sparing us season 2 altogether.

[J.Z.Castillo]

I agree with @WakaXO! Last Airbender had an AMAZING ending! It really tied up that part of the story very well without compromising all the character development that was done in the past 3 seasons.

I also agree with Guilty Crown whICH IS A FUCKING SHAME BECAUSE THE ART WAS AMAZING!!!! I don't think I understand the ending up until now? Inori just disappeared? Where tha FACK did she go??? Idek, and then Shuu is BLIND? What?! I can't even.

MY favorite ending though HAS to be the ending to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. YES YES YES! It has everything that makes a good ending, Ed and Al complete their goal after Ed makes a huge sacrifice to save his brother, something he felt so guilty about, so it was a rebirth for him. He then gets together with Winry OTP, and they have a really nice exchange at the train station and we see how close they have become to one another. And then they show pictures of all the characters and what they are up to now (which is nice but not too cumbersome) and then it just ends. Forever. Everyone is happy and the world is at peace. It just brought everything down in such a nice way it works perfectly for the story, a story about friendships and the relationships people build over their lifetimes. I really dug it.

[insomniascrawl]

For me, I really liked the ending of Samurai Champloo. Maybe it wasn't the ending I thought I wanted up to that point, but considering the characters personalities it was a very fitting ending for the series overall, that as time passed, I really appreciated. It felt like saying goodbye to them once last time, in a way... Man I love that series, good from beginning to end.

[Ringarune]

The 1st one that comes to mind for me is Code geass, wasn't a big fan of the second season, but the ending made me cry T^T I also liked madoka magica's ending, tend to like bittersweet finishes

[J.Z.Castillo]

But Madoka STILL has no definitive ending! Homura trapped all them hoes inside her witch egg, so, we don't know what's going to happen! I was going to say Evangelion, but the ending is still not definite so I can't make my decision yet, but the older I get the more I understand the "Crongratulations" ending to Evangelion!

[joannekwan]

Haha I tend to dislike the "fast forward a few years and you see everyone get together and they have kids" ending. Like the only time it really made me happy was the ending of Digimon season 2 because you also see them living in tandem with the digimon.
Like, I really didn't care for the Harry Potter epilogue. I thought Harry should have either died as a martyr with one final sacrifice, or be an old grizzled war veteran who looks after Hogwarts and its students from the sidelines.

Usually I like endings that aren't entirely happy or sad, seems more realistic.

Gee, thinking back to my favorite movies, they all have endings like that.

Spoilers ahead!

Glory - pretty much the whole regiment dies, but the Colonel gets buried in a mass grave with his soldiers, symbolizing that despite their differences in race and background, they stood as one, and that was one of the points throughout the whole film.
Pan's Labyrinth - so the main character dies, but in her death she is now a princess of a fantastical realm far removed from her unhappy reality set in the Spanish civil war.
Maurice - basically the relationship the entire 3/4ths of the film was building up does not happen. The main character finds another guy and ends up running away with him, leaving his first love in a contemplative state with a bland wife and a fading estate.

[El_Psy_Congroo]

@WakaXO Both avatar series were fantastic, but the ending of TLA definitely takes the cake. You know what, give it the bakery.

@tsukiko I thought the ending was beautiful and powerful but at the time I did not want it to end that way at all. I was so ecstatic about the announcement of RE. Its such a good series in every way; art, characters, world building. Ishida Sui's mastery of the comic medium is just fracking poetry. I might sound like a hyperbolic fanboy but I really mean it haha.

@mrjonzap One of these days, I really need to finish Full Metal Alchemist. I remember dropping the manga after there were a lot of gaps between releases towards the end and I started forgetting what was going on. Gotta read it from beginning to end now.
I could never get into Evangeline. It was just super depressing and inscrutable. I also seem to remember reading about how the creator seemed to have only a vague idea himself about what it was all about which turned me off to it.

@insomniascrawl It's such a cool show, though I've only seen bits and pieces. I'm guessing the ending was similar to Cowboy Bebop.

@joannekwan Ugh, we don't talk about season 2. But seriously, I have a love-hate relationship with that season. Side note, will Tri ever be dubbed? Because I can't imagine watching it without the original voices - they're just ingrained in my head.

Yeah the epilogue made me cringe on a few accounts - particularly Harry Potter's naming sense. No wonder Albus-Severus has self-esteem issues.

Haha you should maybe put your spoilers warning in bold or format it as a heading - I haven't seen Pan's Labrinth yet OTL

[J.Z.Castillo]

Maurice - basically the relationship the entire 3/4ths of the film was building up does not happen. The main character finds another guy and ends up running away with him, leaving his first love in a contemplative state with a bland wife and a fading estate.

oh, now, y'all, that's fucked up! I also thought the epilogue to HP was annoying lol but I think JKR did it to bring a sense of normalcy to Harry's life, something he never had, also, to give him a family, something he also never had. In my opinion t'was cute. Now, that Cursed Child book...... let's not talk about it.

[El_Psy_Congroo]

Yeah, I mean at the time it gave me all the warm fuzzies and what not for my chicken-soup-deprived teenage soul, but it was still kinda weak. Granted, looking back, the story overall was kind of lacking and Hermione always seemed to figure everything out only to have the credit taken by Harry.
Haha I read the beginning of the Cursed Child on a couch in Costco. So far it's just an extended epilogue, dunno if I'll ever bother with it.

[keii4ii]

As someone who grew up in a culture where kissing was an extremely intimate act (so even married couples were never ever seen kissing, not even by their own children), I do not like endings where the love interests end up together and HAVE TO KISS. Especially if it's set in a culture that's shown to be very not-Western. Avatar: tLA gets a pass because they've established kissing as a not-strictly-super-intimate thing earlier with different characters, but I still didn't like it. First kiss in the ending always feels like checking off a requirement, to me, than a genuine character interaction.

As for endings I did like:
Journey (the game) - I cried ;0;

For My Mermaid Princess (Korean manhwa, not fantasy, no actual mermaids despite the title) - this long series is told from the POV of the girl who eventually gets the guy. Then the epilogue flips it around by showing the Other Girl, as a child, reading Anderson's Little Mermaid out loud. That brief scene makes you (re-)realize that you've been cheering for the "human princess" all along -- the mermaid was the Other Girl, who doesn't get the guy, yet has made great sacrifices for him.

[Ringarune]

I never watched the movies actually, mostly referring to the anime ending

[J.Z.Castillo]

For My Mermaid Princess (Korean manhwa, not fantasy, no actual mermaids despite the title) - this long series is told from the POV of the girl who eventually gets the guy. Then the epilogue flips it around by showing the Other Girl, as a child, reading Anderson's Little Mermaid out loud. That brief scene makes you (re-)realize that you've been cheering for the "human princess" all along -- the mermaid was the Other Girl, who doesn't get the guy, yet has made great sacrifices for him.

This sounds so fucked up I might have to read it hahahaha. Also, Journey is one of my favorite games ever!! I still play it sometimes to relax since you can complete the entire story in less that 2 hours.

[Nyamesis]

Oh yes I can certainly agree on Code geass, full metal alchemist and tokyo ghoul!

Code geass really gives you a very tragic ending to a heroic story. Basically the story is one of war and conflict and the ending is sacrifice for world peace, which I loved.

Full metal alchemist is similar to this one, but it is a very happy ending (also has the romances all confirmed in the end which were only hinted at during the whole show) Basically the conflicts finally end, as well as the series. Its also nice that the series ends on the moment that the full metal alchemist is no longer an alchemist: hence it ends

Tokyo ghoul is just the biggest cliffhanger and goes full circle with the first chapter: where it is announced that it will certainly be a tragedy. So you're left there hanging, not knowing if it was really the end or not? I also completely went nuts waiting for RE. (I have never been so excited for a manga trailer, didn't even know manga trailers existed before that!)

I just love series that connect the ending with the initial goal or first couple of chapters from the series! Just makes the complete run so much better! <3

[Tiny_Waffle_of_Doom]

I always liked the Avatar The Last Airbender ending. Just-just spazz its great !
Another ending I quite liked was the finale to Gravity Falls even if I wasn't ready to say goodbye just D:
One more ending I liked alright was the first season to Wayward Pines, with that huge climax!.... even if it ended up screwing me over in the next couple of scenes. (I hate it when nothing gets better in a dystopian world, like all the things that happened during and leading up to the climax was for absolutely nothing. It wastes my time :/) Still like the series though.

[TomSawyer]

Avatar
Fullmetal Alchemist

That's kinda common
How about Death Note? or Black Cat?

[Greg_Dickson]

@mrjonzap - I understand that the fanbase of FMA is VERY divisive, but I think I'm one of the few people that preferred the original anime and it's ending. I know it wasn't fully conclusive, but I liked how imperfect it was. Ed and Al had real consequences for their actions, and even by the ending, they couldn't get exactly what they wanted. Plus, the brothers sacrificing themselves at the end brought a tear to my eye. Especially what Al says, since he was my favourite character. I'm not stating this to start a debate though. I do think FMA Brotherhood was good, but the original holds a special place in my heart, so I'll just leave it at that.

Now are we talking about climaxes or how shows wrap up at the very end? I loved Gurren Lagaan's climactic battle, but it's ending was still good. Not mind-blowingly amazing, but still fitting. Death Note had a spectacular climax and satisfying ending to it. And Cowboy Bebop's was just masterful. "BANG!"

I would also like to mention video games endings. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on the DS has my favourite gaming ending ever. Awesome twists and revelations at the end, and just a very satisfying wrap-up to events. Persona 4 has a wondrous ending, because from the beginning of the game, you knew you were only an exchange student who could stay in another town for a year, so when you have to leave and say goodbye to all of your friends, it pulls the heartstrings (plus, just everything leading to and taking place with the climax was awesome). 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, the Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright games all end with a bang as well. I just love visual novel games for their stories. Oh, and Klonoa: Door to Phantomile! Oh my god that ending makes me blubber like a freaking baby. The scene, the music, and it's such a bittersweet ending for such bloody cute characters. Loved it!

[Shanny8]

@El_Psy_Congroo I onno. It's 3 years later, and I'm STILL wrestling with Breaking Bad's ending(one of my FAVE shows). I understand that it had to go down that way and there was no way the Walt story could end any diff, but damn- I was actually hoping he would find a way.

I would have to say I like the ending to The Shield. Dude got over on his own police department, and they couldnt touch him coz he was now a Fed..but the Fed director in charge of him (after she found out that he was crooked as hell)put him in a desk job- forever. If he quit, the stipulations of his Fed contract/deal would be null & void, and the police department could arrest & indict him on all the charges they found out he did.

@mrjonzap liked the ending of the 1st Fullmetal series better. @Greg_Dickson exactly(in regards to FMA).

@Ringarune LOVED the ending of Code Geass! Sucked coz there will be no more Lelouch, but that was some sacrifice...

[keii4ii]

It wasn't a mindfuck thing; it was just poignant. Most shoujo love triangles with two girls and one guy paint The Other Girl as this superbitch (possibly with some sob story reasons behind their bitchyness), but this particular girl was as well developed as the main character, as human, as likable -- just in different ways.