ittaku Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 (edited) I'm trying to collate a list of anime series with those sort of ultimately satisfying endings that make you happy to have watched a series right through to the end, and the ending is complete enough that you know that a sequel isn't necessary to feel fulfilled. I'm only interested in shows with HAPPY endings, not kinda positive sombre ones, and no unresolved freaking harems. I want the sort of endings that make you feel a little depressed that the show is over but happy with the conclusion. The shows themselves don't even need to be awesome, but to have a very good ending which makes it better overall. More marks if they brought tears (of joy) to your eyes. Now I realise that people's opinions on what constitutes a satisfying ending will be vastly different from person to person and that's okay, but if you wish to debate the reasons something may not be ultimately satisfying, please put it in spoiler tags. Successful romance is a big plus but not essential. I don't remotely claim to have watched all anime ever so one of my main reasons for doing this is to find other shows to watch - since my bias is towards romances there's likely a lot of action shows I'm missing here. Here's a list off the top of my head. I'll add more as I remember, and I might add other people's to this top post if we start getting some consensus. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have! Here's a link to my completed anime that I can remember. My list is incomplete since I didn't start it when I first started watching anime 20 years ago...: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?user=Ittaku&categ=3 The first on the list is not listed alphabetically because it's my reference for the greatest anime ever on all levels so gets a special mention. The rest is alphabetical. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Absolute Duo Aharen-san wa Hakarenai AmagamiSS Amagi Brilliant Park Angelic Layer Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm A place further than the universe. Assassination Classroom Bakuman Beyond the Boundary Bottom-tier Tomozaki-kun Brave Witches Brighter than the dawning blue Cardcaptor Sakura Castle Town Dandelion A Certain Scientific Railgun Chivalry of a Failed Knight Chobits Chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai Crest of the Stars + Banner of the Stars Cross Ange Cross Game Dangers in my Heart Darling in the FranXX Deca-Dence Doctor Stone (The) Disastrous Life of Saiki K. Emma - A Victorian Romance Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte Eureka 7 Full Metal Panic + TSR GATE Girls und Panzer Golden Time Gosick Gymnastics Samurai Haikyuu 1, 2, 3, 4 Hanasaku Iroha Hanayamata Heavy Object High School DXD Hinomaro Sumo Hi Score Girl Horimiya Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon 1, 2, and 3 Itazura na Kiss Just Because Kaguya Sama: Love is War Kaichou wa maid sama Kaleido Star Kamisama Kiss + OVAs Kanon2006 Karin Kimi ni Todoke Kobato Kokoro Connect K-On Lagrange: The Flower of Rinne Last Exile Little Witch Academia (TV) Lovely Complex A Lull in the Sea Maison Ikkoku Maria the Virgin Witch Matoi the Sacred Slayer The Misfit of Demon King Academy My Bride is a Mermaid My-Hime My Love Story My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU New Game! Nodame Cantabile Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu O Maidens in Your Savage Season Our love has always been 10 centimeters apart. Planetes Please Teacher Princess Tutu Puella Magi Madoka Magica Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Real Girl AKA 3D Kanojo Record of Grancrest War Recovery of an MMO Junkie (TV) Re:CREATORS Release the Spyce Relife + OVAs. Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World S1+S2 The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent Sakura quest Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo Say I Love You Shakugan no Shana Shirobako Snow White with Red Hair Sound! Euphonium. Star Blazers 2199 (TV) Steins;Gate Strike Witches 1, 2, and 3 ToraDora Touch Tsuki ga Kirei Twin Star Exorcists Ultra Maniac Uma Musume Pretty Derby S1+S2 Ushio & Tora Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid Wagnaria!! (aka Working!!) Welcome to the Ballroom Welcome to the NHK Wolf Girl and Black Prince (The) World Is Still Beautiful WWW.WAGNARIA!! Ya Boy Kongming! Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches Zero no Tsukaima Zombieland Saga Recommended by others (either I haven't seen them or they recommended them but I wouldn't include them in my list): Angel Beats Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai. Charlotte Clannad Code Geass Death Note Engaged to the Unidentified F/SN Unlimited Blade Works Garo: Carved Seal of Flames (GARO: The Animation) Grisaia no Kajitsu Guilty crown Gunbuster/Diebuster Gundam Build Fighters Kara no Kyoukai Haibane Renmei Higurashi Katanagatari Little Busters Mari Mite Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Parasyte Turn A Gundam Edited March 30, 2024 by ittaku Updated list ivaniscus, ヤミハナ and TheQuestion 3 Quote
Arcadeotic Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 I think that Guilty Crown has one of those it's a tad sad yes, but still satisfying nontheless Another one is Sakurasou Pet na Kanojo DarkZedge and ittaku 2 Quote
ittaku Posted March 5, 2016 Author Posted March 5, 2016 3 minutes ago, Arcadeotic said: I think that Guilty Crown has one of those it's a tad sad yes, but still satisfying nontheless Another one is Sakurasou Pet na Kanojo Sakurasou yes, I'll add that. Guilty crown... I stopped watching since it didn't gel with me. Quote
ヤミハナ Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 Angel Beats! -The ending isn't, but the epilogue is. Clannad -Well, of course. Code Geass Spoiler -The ending isn't a happy one indeed, but it satisfies me quite enough. Quote
Arcadeotic Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 Oh yeah, Little Bustes have one of the most satisfying endings I've seen in recent memory, only triumphed by Golden Time ittaku 1 Quote
ittaku Posted March 5, 2016 Author Posted March 5, 2016 1 minute ago, ヤミハナ said: Angel Beats! -The ending isn't, but the epilogue is. Clannad -Well, of course. Code Geass Reveal hidden contents -The ending isn't a happy ending indeed, but it satisfies me quite enough. Taste issues with those first two I'm afraid. Angel beats no way for me... I didn't consider that ending happy. Clannad I disliked and dropped. But I guess it has a happy ending so I'll add to bottom list. Spoiler Yes I know it's an unusual thing for someone to say about Clannad but I lost it after the episode of weeding. I had the misfortune of subbing the after story only after never finishing the first season and thought why the fuck would anyone enjoy that after story. Code Geass I've never watched but you said it wasn't happy. Quote
Soulless Watcher Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 - Kara no Kyoukai - Haibane Renmei - Girls und Panzer - Steins;Gate - Higurashi - Gurren Lagann ittaku 1 Quote
Fred the Barber Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 - K-On! - MariMite For K-On!, the ending works best if you just watch the two tv seasons - watching the movie afterwards kind of screwed up the ending experience for me. The end of the second season is my favorite ending to any series because it so perfectly nailed the vibe you're describing. ittaku 1 Quote
Xenrir Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Satisfying endings is a fairly subjective topic, but in my opinion I'd say: - Gurren Lagann - Code Geass - Gunbuster/Diebuster - Gundam Build Fighters - Turn A Gundam - Katanagatari (Wouldn't say it's so much a happy ending as it is an insanely satisfying one) I clearly like mecha a little. ittaku 1 Quote
DarkZedge Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 10 hours ago, Nashetania said: School Days I approve! Quote
Lewycool Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 I've heard boku no pico is satisfying thought the anime. Not just the ending! Quote
ittaku Posted March 6, 2016 Author Posted March 6, 2016 6 hours ago, john 'mr. customer' smith said: My neighbor totoro I definitely agree, but I'm looking for series specifically. Quote
ittaku Posted March 6, 2016 Author Posted March 6, 2016 1 hour ago, Loodee said: This is like exactly what I need, thanks for the recommendations. plus points for this for sure, any specific recommendations? This is a tricky request because some of the best romantic endings are unexpected romances in the many that I've listed there in shows that weren't obviously romances in the beginning so revealing that would be a spoiler. Having said that, as a minor spoiler, most of my recommended list in the first post are romances which is often the reason I've enjoyed their endings. Quote
Deep Blue Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Monster and parasyte. both of them follow every single manga volume to perfection I would even say that it's better to watch the anime rather than reading the manga. The endings are pretty darn good imo Quote
Fred the Barber Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Wait, wait, wait. I just saw Madoka is on your list. That show is one of my very favorites (somewhere around #3 overall?), particularly because the ending is so complete, but I'm surprised it's enough of a happy ending to merit your list. Amazing ending, yes, but... for me, at least, it's incredibly bittersweet. At any rate, I looked through stuff and found one more worth adding: Welcome to the NHK. Great show, although a little bit dark at times, with a very satisfying happy ending. Soulless Watcher 1 Quote
Soulless Watcher Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 40 minutes ago, Deep Blue said: Monster and parasyte. both of them follow every single manga volume to perfection I would even say that it's better to watch the anime rather than reading the manga. The endings are pretty darn good imo Eeeeeh, I agree with parasyte....... but Monster could go either way. I could see why some would find it unsatisfying. Quote
ittaku Posted March 6, 2016 Author Posted March 6, 2016 1 minute ago, Soulless Watcher said: Eeeeeh, I agree with parasyte....... but Monster could go either way. I could see why some would find it unsatisfying. Add both, then removed Monster. Thanks. Quote
Deep Blue Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Monster had a great ending imo, everyone moved on with their lives, there was that little thing with... well I can't use spoilers so I cant say anything lol >_> but monster should be included again this is my personal opinion. Quote
Soulless Watcher Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 20 minutes ago, Deep Blue said: Monster had a great ending imo, everyone moved on with their lives, there was that little thing with... well I can't use spoilers so I cant say anything lol >_> but monster should be included again this is my personal opinion. I certainly agree that it was a good anime, but for someone to invest time to watch a 50+ episode anime..... I can certainly see why someone would be pissed with the "Inceptionesque" ending. Quote
ittaku Posted March 6, 2016 Author Posted March 6, 2016 15 hours ago, Nashetania said: School Days I assume you are basing this recommendation on the ending. I haven't watched this series but everything I read about it says it was a gruesome thing to watch through and then has a totally off-the-wall ending. Reviews like this don't make it sound very appealing to watch: http://www.nihonreview.com/anime/school-days-3/ Since I was asking specifically about satisfying endings I guess this fits the criteria (assuming it felt like it was worth the effort to watch to the end to get the ending). Ratings on it seem to be wildly variable, looking like a binomial distribution of people thinking it's either shit or awesome. Quote
Okarin Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 I'm in the anti-School Days club. Latter episodes are WTF. My records say I watched it on 2009, years prior to getting into VN world, and without knowledge about the work and its VN origins. But the conclusion of the story kinda disturbed me. Other people love it though. Quote
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