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Can a bad/medicore ending make an entire anime bad?

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Sep 7, 12:41 AM
#1

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Nov 2024
26
Let's say you really like an anime series, but you don't agree with the ending or think it's bad does it ruin the entire anime for you or not?
Sep 7, 12:58 AM
#2

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Aug 2017
83
Depends. If it's bad enough it definitely can ruin it.
Sep 7, 1:23 AM
#3
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May 2025
6
well i never watch the last episode of anime because i dont want it to end
i just move on to the next anime
Sep 7, 1:31 AM
#4

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Dec 2017
246
Enjoying the journey is more important for me.

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Sep 7, 1:37 AM
#5

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Oct 2020
968
Depends, but definitely not the entire anime. Tho, my enjoyment as a rating will definitely be impacted.


 "Hard work is worthless for those that don’t believe in themselves" - Naruto Uzumaki
Sep 7, 2:02 AM
#6

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Feb 2024
464
No, it does not. If it's divided into seasons, then I'd probably rate the final season one point less if the ending is mediocre/bad. If it's long running and I happen to love the story, then the rating will probably stay the same unless the ending is absolutely godawful and irredeemable (still won't ruin it all). Overall, the journey through the entire story is the most important part of my enjoyment. Writing the ending of a story is generally the most difficult part, so I also keep that in mind.
Sep 7, 2:07 AM
#7

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Feb 2024
464
Reply to dangerouslybased
well i never watch the last episode of anime because i dont want it to end
i just move on to the next anime
@dangerouslybased This comment coupled with your username had me rolling. XDD
Sep 7, 2:15 AM
#8

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Apr 2024
1336
Yes, of course.

It's just that most anime don't have an ending, so it's rare to encounter. Especially these days. Over twenty years ago studios were still fond of rewriting manga stories for an anime original ending. Back then it was much more common to have an anime be ruined by its ending.
Sep 7, 2:18 AM
#9

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Mar 2023
70
It definitely affects me. Especially when a show has so much potential but the ending feels rushed or just plain bad. It sucks spending all that time watching it, only to be let down at the end which seems to happen quite a lot in this media :(
Sep 7, 2:34 AM

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Jul 2021
6516
it can leave a bad taste which can definitely ruin the whole anime and the memories you had of it. a good and respectable ending is crucial.

The end of an era. Thank you Wit, Mappa and Isayama.
Feeling half happy, half sad.
  

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Sep 7, 2:37 AM

Online
Sep 2016
20972
Can? Sure.

Does? Depends on how good the previous content was.
Sep 7, 2:38 AM
☽⛤☾🐈

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Nov 2013
603
It's rare but it can happen. Wonder Egg Priority is an infamous example of it. I think the ending of Shingeki no Kyojin brought it down a lot too but not enough to completely ruin it
Sep 7, 3:07 AM

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Feb 2025
446
If it really sucks it can ruin my experience
Sep 7, 3:33 AM
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Feb 2024
817
While I won't say that a bad ending can ruin an entire show, I think it can definitely bring down the quality overall. As a few examples:

Dear Brother:


Gundam GQuuuuuuX:


Gundam The Witch from Mercury:


These are all shows that I enjoyed, some more than others but all are shows that I would say are good however their endings did end up costing them at least a point in my rating of them, though they weren't bad enough for me to call everything surrounding the shows bad. It's more just a sour aftertaste to an enjoyable dessert.
Sep 7, 3:58 AM

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Sep 2024
40
If i really like the anime, even if the ending is bad I’ll still like it. I’ll probably just skip the ending on rewatches tho.
My prime example is Erased. It’s in my top favorites even tho i don't really like the anime ending. To me it’s still a great show.



『I reject everything you've said, and I embrace everything you reject.』

Sep 7, 3:59 AM

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Oct 2010
21826
the ending of dedede destroyed everything that happened in the show before that. I blame the mangaka, I guess punpun broke him too much and went insane
Sep 7, 4:06 AM

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Jun 2012
202
If it was really good otherwise, I wouldn't say a bad ending will ruin it, but it will definitely bring down the score for me. I only give 10s to shows I found close to flawless in their execution for example.
Sep 7, 4:11 AM

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Apr 2020
846
Depends, most of the time when an anime is ruined, it falls off midway and the ending can't help a lot there because it is the result of bad execution.
Sep 7, 4:21 AM

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Aug 2019
165
Not completely, I will not downgrade a score into hell because of bad ending, but it is very important for me since it tells if the author is a good writer or a complete moron. Poorly written and executed ending leaves a very sour taste and reflects negatively on the whole plot and characters. It can open a pandora's box where you start to dissect and analyze the series and conclude that totality of it was shit.

One example is Great Pretender, which up to episodes 18-19 was an all time great 10/10 anime, but the sudden bait and switch in the finale was so stupid and heinous, I'm not even sure it deserves an 8. But I guess it didn't ruin it completely and you can somewhat isolate the ending from the very enjoyable previous arcs.

On the other hand recently we had Takopi's Original Sin, which looked like AOTY for the first 4 episodes then fell on its ass with the dumb af deus ex machina finale. And because this series was shorter and more focused it really ruined the whole experience for me, because the ending undermined everything that went down before and exposed cheap writing.
Sep 7, 6:07 AM

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May 2021
5024
RealClutch said:
Let's say you really like an anime series, but you don't agree with the ending or think it's bad does it ruin the entire anime for you or not?

It depends on how bad, i determind it on whether it tanks re-watchability or not

Bad but i'd still gladly re-watch it:
- Aishite Knight
- Gankutsuou
- Noir
- Planetes

So bad i'll never watch again:
- Clannad After Story
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Takopi's Original Sin
Sep 7, 10:07 AM

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Sep 2018
5219
I never found an anime or manga that is truly good until right before the ending and just the ending itself is bad. When things go south, it usually happens after the first arc (because it was planned in advance and then the author had to improvise on a tight schedule) or somewhere in the middle.

For example, some die-hard AoT fans were extremely disappointed by the ending, but I never thought AoT was good in the first place. Conversely, I think Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction's ending is good but very easily misunderstood, and it became exceptional once I realized it's the first and only case of the jo-ha-kyu principle that Japanese authors love so much actually improving an ending instead of making everything wish the ending were less rushed.
Sep 7, 10:11 AM

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Jan 2024
3539
Depends on the quality and how poor the ending was.

Girls Band cry has a bad last two episode. Which eroded it's 10/10 status for me but it's still an amazing anime and I love it very much. Because how good the rest was.

In contrast Orimeo a medicore and the worst Wincest anime ever ruins itself completely due that ending.
Sep 7, 10:41 AM

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Feb 2025
717
Reply to Nirinbo
I never found an anime or manga that is truly good until right before the ending and just the ending itself is bad. When things go south, it usually happens after the first arc (because it was planned in advance and then the author had to improvise on a tight schedule) or somewhere in the middle.

For example, some die-hard AoT fans were extremely disappointed by the ending, but I never thought AoT was good in the first place. Conversely, I think Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction's ending is good but very easily misunderstood, and it became exceptional once I realized it's the first and only case of the jo-ha-kyu principle that Japanese authors love so much actually improving an ending instead of making everything wish the ending were less rushed.
Nirinbo said:
I never found an anime or manga that is truly good until right before the ending and just the ending itself is bad. When things go south, it usually happens after the first arc (because it was planned in advance and then the author had to improvise on a tight schedule) or somewhere in the middle.


Now that you mention it, I'm struggling to think of bad anime endings that didn't already have a bunch of warning signs to jump ship earlier. Probably Hirogaru Sky! Precure or some of Ash's infamous losses in Pokemon, but those shows are mostly episodic with the main plot rapidly dumped at the very end anyway (also, the Diamond/Pearl ending wasn't actually that bad in hindsight as it was the most badass way for Ash to go out, and he still got a bronze medal placing). Naruto Shippuden and Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V were already bad before their notorious endings.

Probably the worst case for me was Love Live Superstar Season 2. Season 1 is a modern classic that genuinely helped me deal with a lot of mental health issues. So it was extremely jarring to see Season 2, which was a unfocused, slapdash mess of a season, end with a joke of a cliffhanger that sent a message of, "lol, you actually cared about the drama in Love Live?" The worst part is that the core conflict in the last two episodes of S2 was genuinely heartfelt despite having Spider-Man 3 levels of convolution layered on top of it, and the ending song's lyrics would have made for a very fitting conclusion to Superstar as a whole if they didn't mess up the rest of the season. It didn't ruin S1 for me, but it sent a bad message that Love Live staff stopped caring and settled for mediocrity at best for S2 and S3, and probably going forward.

Time...it will not wait...no matter...how hard you hold on...it escapes you...
Sep 7, 11:01 AM

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Oct 2022
2648
It's the difference between good and great imo
Sep 7, 12:44 PM

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Jul 2023
440
Yeah

If it has a natural stopping point like Showa Genroku or Promised Neverland, I'll just pretend it didn't happen but for something like Erased, you can't really do that so it hurts my perception of the entire show
Sep 7, 1:37 PM

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Jan 2021
6814
It depends. If its too bad (for example gal cleaning manga when it got axed) then it quite possibly ruins the whole experience. On the other hand there is stuff like Jjk. The ending was trashy but the overall experience was still solid.
If you enjoyed the time you wasted, then its not a waste of time.

Sep 7, 1:46 PM

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Sep 2018
14208
A bad ending drastically decreases my chance of recommending an anime such as Sukasuka.
Having a character go down does not always=bad ending though.
I loved Vinland Saga s1 end.
Sep 7, 1:51 PM

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Sep 2008
4458
I lower the score by 1-2 points when that happens.
馬鹿げた倫理 全部ガラクタで
Sep 7, 3:38 PM

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Oct 2017
5206
It depends on how much it relies on world building reveals or massive plot developments. I wasn't a fan of AOT's or Naruto's ending however, Naruto wasn't as reliant on those plot developments, as AOT was. So for me, I was more forgiving, if only cause they gave me the happy fairy tail ending I wanted for Naruto.
Sep 7, 4:06 PM

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Jul 2019
1196
Only if it does something that completely recontextualized everything that came before it. For example, the final episode being "it was all a dream." I can still enjoy a series that had a bad or mediocre ending, if everything leading up to it still felt like it had meaning, but if an ending retroactively changes my perception of everything that came before, I find it hard to go back and still enjoy it.

A simple but effective example would be OniAi, where literally in the last scene, of the last episode, it is revealed that the sibling are in fact not blood related. This completely changes weight and seriousness of everything that came before it. The show leads you on, thinking it's about a forbidden romance, and how these characters will deal with that, in a world where it's not acceptable, to then just becoming a standard romcom, with no real stakes at all. They are not actually related, so it's all ok, there is no real conflict or worry.

This one scene completely recontextualizes the entire relationship, and everything that came before it, so I can't just brush it off, like I could most other mediocre endings, that just kind of fell flat, but don't really impact the journey up to that point.
Yesterday, 7:07 AM

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Mar 2025
467
Depends on many things like the type of the show,number of episodes,the point of the ending etc
I'd say it definitely does affect my final thoughts on a certain show,but it doesn't really ruin the whole thing because i usually look for the journey part,not the goal/ending part.In fact most of the times i feel bad about an anime having to end:)
Yesterday, 8:16 AM

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Apr 2025
47
It would definitely make me change a rating but depending on how much I enjoyed the rest of the anime, I'd still rate it decently. Unless the ending was truly hot garbage, if I liked 99% of the anime then I'd still consider it time nicely spent.
Yesterday, 8:20 AM
lagom
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Jan 2009
106974
google "peak end rule" so the peak of a show can impact the overall enjoyment too and not just the ending but a lot of people do consider the ending to be more impactful too
Yesterday, 9:16 AM

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Aug 2017
655
Id say yes a bad ending can make the whole anime bad imo. It changes the way I view the anime and I probably can't rewatch knowing how it ends. Fortunately I haven't encountered an anime that I thought had a bad ending.
Yesterday, 11:21 AM

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Jan 2025
514
Personally I have a real easy time just going " I do not see it <3" and pretending the ending doesn't exist. anything is possible with the power of delusion.

Serious answer, depends wildly on the show and how bad the ending is. If the ending feels like such a slap in the face it makes the entire show feel worthless retroactively, then yes it can make the whole show bad. Otherwise, The show can usually hold up despite the crappy ending.
Yesterday, 1:28 PM

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Jan 2022
1499
Yes, if it invalidates the rest of the story especially.
Yesterday, 2:21 PM
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Apr 2024
2217
Reply to Catalano
the ending of dedede destroyed everything that happened in the show before that. I blame the mangaka, I guess punpun broke him too much and went insane
@Catalano the manga handled it better, the anime forgot to add a very important explanation that without it it looks like everything just got fixed and they removed EVERY SCENE THAT ADDED DEPTH in the final episode, the manga has a bittersweet ending and the anime just removed everything that makes it good, not that the chapters before were well adapted but that's more because anime pacing didn't work for the story

To the original question, depends, I disliked the ending of rahxhephon but there is still a lot to appreciate about the story because many of the strongest points weren't ruined for me, on the other hand gundam seed's ending ruins everything in retrospect by knowing every dilemma ends with a Deus ex machina WHILE NOT UTILISING A THEME BEING SET UP THAT COULD BE EXPLORED BY THE DEUS EX MACHINA
Yesterday, 2:27 PM
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Apr 2024
2217
Reply to Nirinbo
I never found an anime or manga that is truly good until right before the ending and just the ending itself is bad. When things go south, it usually happens after the first arc (because it was planned in advance and then the author had to improvise on a tight schedule) or somewhere in the middle.

For example, some die-hard AoT fans were extremely disappointed by the ending, but I never thought AoT was good in the first place. Conversely, I think Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction's ending is good but very easily misunderstood, and it became exceptional once I realized it's the first and only case of the jo-ha-kyu principle that Japanese authors love so much actually improving an ending instead of making everything wish the ending were less rushed.
@Nirinbo well the ending of dead dead demon's did lose a few scenes that make the manga version much better and the explanation of "time" travel was removed if I remember correctly so I can at least see why people got mad, but it's still one of my favourite endings to a story
Yesterday, 3:25 PM

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Sep 2016
488
it knocks it down a bit, it was my main grip with trigun
Yesterday, 4:54 PM

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Sep 2018
5219
Reply to Guilmon1
@Nirinbo well the ending of dead dead demon's did lose a few scenes that make the manga version much better and the explanation of "time" travel was removed if I remember correctly so I can at least see why people got mad, but it's still one of my favourite endings to a story
Guilmon1 said:
the explanation of "time" travel was removed if I remember correctly

The manga does explain better, but the anime didn't leave out the most important thing:

which is more than enough for anime-onlies to know that the ending isn't
but some people (of course some of the most obnoxious MAL users of all time are among them) still failed to understand that.
11 hours ago

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Dec 2024
966
Yes It can really ruin the anime for me.
7 hours ago

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Jun 2015
2667
A bad ending makes the ending of that anime bad.
6 hours ago

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Apr 2024
263
weird question because if it's bad it's bad so bad ending bad anime.

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