15 Worst Anime Endings That Left Fans in Disbelief

The secret to a good story is to find a way to keep fans engaged from start to finish in the sense that every part of the story is interesting, regardless of how high or low the emotions may be. But while there have been a lot of anime storylines that got fans hooked, not all of them were great regarding how they ended.

Truth be told, some anime storytellers tend to suck at sticking the landing in the sense that they just seem to botch the ending after telling a good story almost throughout the entire anime. So, with that said, let’s look at the worst anime endings that left fans in disbelief upon their conclusion.

15. ‘The Promised Neverland’

‘The Promised Neverland’ had a lot of potential as far as its story was concerned, especially when season 1 kept fans engaged and intrigued about what was to come next. So, by the end of the first season, fans were excited for what would come next, considering that the manga was pretty entertaining.

The problem was that the studio handling ‘The Promised Neverland’ wanted to end the anime as soon as possible. This resulted in a second season that rushed through countless arcs to deliver a half-baked storyline that lacked engagement and coherence. The ending itself was quite forgettable, as fans didn’t even understand how the events were able to quickly get to the conclusion of the anime.

14. ‘Wonder Egg Priority’

Another neat anime that got fans hooked during the start was ‘Wonder Egg Priority,’ an emotionally driven storyline that focuses on themes like friendship, loss, and forgiveness. The story focuses on a group of traumatized girls who end up having to face their traumas in a different world.

While the premise was engaging and incredibly emotional, the story couldn’t stick to the landing. There was a lack of closure at the end of the anime, as fans wondered why certain characters basically erased their progress by making such a brash decision that negated any character development. 

13. ‘Akame Ga Kill!’

Brutal, exciting, and quite emotional, ‘Akame Ga Kill!’ is an anime storyline that actually doesn’t follow the story of the titular character but focuses on a different protagonist throughout the entire storyline. Many different beloved characters die along the way in this story, and fans can accept those deaths.

The problem was that the anime’s ending deviated from the manga’s ending, as it killed the true protagonist to quickly shift the focus to Akame, whose character development in the story was almost non-existent. The pacing near the end was bad, and a fan-favorite protagonist had to kick the dust to make way for a rather boring and lifeless character.

12. ‘Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection’

We can’t say anything bad about the early and middle portions of the ‘Rurouni Kenshin’ anime during the 2000s because it was one of the storylines that got a lot of fans hooked on the lifestyle and swordsmanship of the samurai. The anime didn’t really have a good ending, as it simply ended after completing a rather boring arc.

The thing about this anime is that it peaked quite early, and every arc that followed right after its most exciting parts just couldn’t compete. What made it worse was that the OVA ended the story in the worst way possible, as Kenshin and Kaoru died of an unknown disease instead of having the happy ending that fans wanted them to have after everything they went through.

11. ‘Dragon Ball GT’

While ‘Dragon Ball GT’ was never canon to Akira Toriyama’s ‘Dragon Ball’ storyline, it sought to continue the events of ‘Dragon Ball Z.’ The story itself didn’t have Toriyama’s trademark charm. Still, it had its bright spots as it introduced new and engaging characters while giving Goku and Vegeta new transformations.

However, the ending was quite disappointing because Goku had to say farewell to his friends after saving the planet. He became one with Shenron, as this was a puzzling ending that got fans to wonder why or how this happened. What made things worse was that there was seemingly a cliffhanger when Goku suddenly appeared to one of his descendants at the end of the series.

10. ‘Soul Eater’

‘Soul Eater’ is a rather forgettable anime, even though it may have entertained some fans. Some fans loved the premise of the anime, but the thing is that it is a hotly debated anime because its ending just couldn’t satisfy its fans.

Of course, some fans were fine with how the anime ended up despite how the ending was completely different from the ending of the manga. The ending was quite forgettable as it ignored the rules of its own universe. And that’s why more fans agree it should have followed the manga ending.

9. ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’

The original ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ anime was pretty good and is still ranked high in some of the best anime storylines ever. However, near the middle portion of the anime, it deviated from the manga and started telling a story that was incredibly different from what the manga tells.

Many fans felt that the ending of ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ was quite bittersweet because the main characters didn’t deserve the ending they got. Of course, the good part is that it received a reboot a few years later when ‘Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’ was released as an anime that was true to the manga. And ‘Brotherhood’ is often regarded as the greatest anime ever.

8. ‘The Future Diary’

‘The Future Diary’ wasn’t entirely a good anime, but it had its charm and uniqueness. This is a suspenseful series that follows characters with “future diaries” that allow them to tell what will happen in the future but in different ways. People were given Future Diaries so that the God of Time and Space could find a worthy successor in this battle royal.

Its ending takes place 10,000 years in the future as the results of a new Diary Game were revealed, only for the anime to end without leaving any clues to the audience members. While the answers were revealed in a new storyline a few years later, the ending of the original anime just couldn’t be salvaged.

7. ‘Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann’

‘Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann’ is regarded as one of the best anime series of the late 2000s and is one of the greatest mecha anime series of all time as it follows a new angle when telling rebellion storylines. The bold and unique robot designs depart from the usual designs we see in most anime, and this is why fans love how ambitious ‘Gurren Lagann’ was.

In the end, the protagonist can save the day and is ready to get married to the female protagonist, who was an existence that was created due to the alien race that the characters defeated. However, because the protagonist did indeed defeat the alien race, his victory caused the love of his life to disappear, causing a grim conclusion that shifted the tone from happy to sad in an instant.

6. ‘Tokyo Ghoul’

‘Tokyo Ghoul’ had a fantastic start and established a great storyline through the first 24 or so episodes. In fact, a lot of fans all over the world love its manga version. However, the problem is that the anime just completely diverted from the manga and rushed the storyline.

The final season of ‘Tokyo Ghoul’ was downright confusing, as there was no coherence whatsoever in terms of who the characters were and how the events got to a certain point. The big battle may have been exciting, but the ending was so botched that the anime quickly became forgettable.

5. ‘Kuma Miko’

While ‘Kuma Miko’ was always supposed to be a cute slice-of-life anime series that focuses on the story of a country girl who wants to go to school in the city, the ending wasn’t able to give justice to the girl’s journey from being a shy girl to a more open person.

After the main character competes in an idol competition, she quickly decides that she will no longer go to high school in the city, making her character development irrelevant. And she eventually reverted to her old self, as none of the other characters attempted to help her at all.

4. ERASED

‘ERASED’ is an incredibly engaging mystery series that combines suspense and time travel into one amazing story about a serial killer who comes back to haunt the main character’s life. The main character now has to return to the past to try to undo the things that the killer did.

Of course, many things happened along the way, as the character was able to save the lives of many people when he returned to the past. But near the end of the series, his future was completely changed as he ended up in a coma that prevented him from living years of his life. It might be true that he successfully brought justice to the killer, but he was able to do so at the cost of his teen and young adult years.

3. ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’

‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ is one of the most popular anime series of the 90s and has a reputation for being one of the most mind-bending stories of all time. There is nothing like ‘Evangelion’ in terms of how it can twist people’s minds.

While that may be true, the ending of the series was not entirely fascinating because it was more philosophical than tangible. The ending of the series caused an uproar among fans, forcing the release of ‘Evangelion’ films, which gave the series a new ending due to how head-scratching the original ending was.

2. ‘Darling In The FranXX’

‘Darling in the FranXX’ is undoubtedly an emotional rollercoaster because it was able to develop the personalities and relationships of the characters really well. The early and middle portions of the anime were excellent, but the ending was seemingly a bit too cheesy for most people’s tastes.

The ending involved a huge space invasion and several different themes (such as reincarnation) that weren’t present in the earlier parts of the anime. This allowed some fans to think that the ending came out of nowhere and was less than interesting compared to the middle portion of the anime. And the weirdest part was that a giant Zero Two traveled the universe to fight evil aliens.

1. Claymore

The world-building of ‘Claymore’ is incredible as it created a world full of monsters known as Yoma while introducing female Claymore warriors who were supposed to hunt these monsters down. Clare, the protagonist, established herself as a popular anime character.

But the ending of ‘Claymore’ hurt its premise because the final episodes rushed through many different events. The motivations and the events didn’t make sense due to how rushed the ending was. Of course, the worst part was that there was a cliffhanger that the series never followed up on, thus hurting the popularity of ‘Claymore.’

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