Ask John: What Anime Seem to Have Ended Prematurely?

Question:
Which anime do you think were cut short for production reasons? Everyone’s heard about what happened to Final Fantasy Unlimited but there are other series out there such as Najica, which feel like the ending was rushed and possibly not what the creators intended.

Answer:
Due to the sheer number of anime productions that seem to have incomplete or abrupt endings I won’t be able to identify all, or even a large majority of them. So I’ll merely discuss a handful of titles that immediately spring to mind – examples of anime that seem as though they never got proper endings. Naturally, since this is a discussion of series’ endings, readers wishing to avoid spoilers may want to avoid this discussion.

The 2005 Mahjong Legend Akagi television series is a tense and thrilling drama that steadily creates a growing sense of foreboding and imminent catastrophe until its final episode suddenly and unexpectedly ends abruptly without depicting Akagi’s ultimate victory and his rival’s ultimate, apocalyptic loss. The inclusion of a brief epilogue set years later feels obviously like a tacked on apology for the absence of a true final series’ episode.

Like many anime series, the 2000 Candidate for Goddess television series was based on an ongoing manga series. But unlike many anime adaptations that create an original climax or end, at least, on a satisfactory note, this show just abruptly stopped. Ironically, two years later Megami Kouhosei got an additional OVA, but even this additional episode made no effort to provide any story closure.

Countless OVAs and OVA series produced during the 1980s ended with a seeming potential for further episodes, but few end as frustratingly as 1989’s Hyper Combat Unit Dangaioh OVA 3. Ironically, the series even got a spin-off television series in 2001, but not a proper ending.

Akagi clearly ends with a victory for its protagonist, although that victory is never illustrated. Dangaioh appears to end with a victory for its antagonist. The 1997 Flame of Recca TV series may be more frustrating than either because it ends just as its primary rivals prepare to do battle. It’s especially frustrating to have 42 episodes prepare viewers for a showdown between the hero and his rival, only to end the series just as that long anticipated confrontation begins.

With a title like Hare Nochi Guu Final, one would presume that the series is, as its name suggests, a conclusion. So what sense did it make to introduce a new major story arc in the final episode of the final Guu anime series?

The 2001 Hellsing TV series is widely criticized for its divergence from Kouta Hirano’s original manga and its introduction of an original storyline that’s never explained nor resolved. The TV series has no sequel, and since it’s a story original to the anime, it’s impossible to refer to the manga to find any denouement.

The 1998 His and Her Circumstances television series had a troubled production including original series director Hideaki Anno quiting, according to rumor, over creative differences with the series’ sponsors. The series is well known among fans for ending with a new beginning.

In a certain sense, even more frustrating than Candidate for Goddess, which got one additional OVA that failed to conclude the television series, the 2004 Tenjho Tenge television series got two OVA episodes that still failed to provide any satisfactory climax or closure.

The Twelve Kingdoms television series from 2002 at least has some semblance of a proper conclusion, but it does represent a series concluded prematurely because it was forced to stop when the anime production ran out of material to adapt from author Fuyumi Ono’s unfinished novel series.

Ultimately, my perspective on anime productions like these is that viewers should appreciate what we have rather than complain about what we don’t have. That’s not to suggest complacency or discourage demand for sequels. But criticizing an anime solely because of an incomplete or unsatisfying ending, especially when the blame may be beyond the control of the staff behind the production, disrespects and undercuts the value of the anime that does exist. It’s fair to criticize an anime that suffers from poor writing, or an anime that leaves viewers with an unsatisfied feeling. But the bad should be taken with the good. And viewers that enjoyed most of what they watched should remember to appreciate the anime that led up to the disappointing ending.