The least hated kind of ending

[roriconfan]

Um... what about it?

[Jan-Poo]

that's a hard choice to make, they are all bad...

Well... I think that in the case the staff wants to leave the path open for a second series they can't make choice 1. But generally speaking it's probably the best choice and you don't necessarily need to make a rushed ending or lame one. There are examples of stories that were given completely different endings depending on the format like with X-1999.

[roriconfan]

^ X-1999 is a very weird case altogether. The manga itself has no ending yet they included one in the series and movie.

[idiffer]

mmm, 3). close second is 1) but with a condition that the ending FITS, is not silly, etc.
the only exception is probably evangelion.(i prefer the TV ending over the movie).
3) is good because obviously you can read the manga, with no original TV ending to confuse you.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Fillers. My example would be Gantz. That show BADLY needs to be continued for real.

[roriconfan]

Necro-power!

After all these months, I saw Gintama and Reborn end with their respective manga still going on. It doesn't matter if such shows end with fillers or right in the action. They are pretty much storyless to begin with so the worst case would be an original ending. Why end it if it doesn't need an ending?

[fukarming]

I guess it depends, like many of your other threads. Your questions, while they are good questions that engage in very nice discussions, can all answer in one phrase "It didn't matter what choice the director made, the importance is whether it is executed nicely"

Card Captors Sakura and Inuyasha, like KholdStare mention, have lots of anime original episode (I avoid the word "fillers" as it gives out a negative vibe). But I think the anime originals are done nicely. Using nice anime originals can make the TV series "wait" for the manga catch up. Although there are bad ones like DBZ (the manga did not progress? let's wait on Namek and shout AHHHHHHHHH and show rocks breaking by chi while characters standing around doing nothing for another episode)

Original ending kinda make continuation impossible. Unless it is absolutely certain that the show will not have a sequel, or can't wait for the manga (X is a prime example). Shows like X don't come in very often (you just know you won't see the author's original, intended ending)

Let's say if anime originals are produced only in an OK standard (not as good as inuyasha and CCS), I would prefer them to stop at the middle, hoping they will get a green light for a second season. But then whether it is done nicely or not depends on where the director choose to stop. The stopping point is supposed to give a slight closure, even there may be plot points unresolved. Skip Beat is a prime example for stopping at a good point.

[Kotohono]

Originally Posted by fukarming

Original ending kinda make continuation impossible. Unless it is absolutely certain that the show will not have a sequel, or can't wait for the manga (X is a prime example). Shows like X don't come in very often (you just know you won't see the author's original, intended ending)

I disagree some well done Original ending for a season of series can be done in away to end it for that point and still not mess up the continuation of the series; see Shakugan no Shana and II, both used original ends in a way that let finish the current conflict and allowed the story to be able to keep going when there was more source material.

[Hooves]

Originally Posted by Konakaga

I disagree some well done Original ending for a season of series can be done in away to end it for that point and still not mess up the continuation of the series; see Shakugan no Shana and II, both used original ends in a way that let finish the current conflict and allowed the story to be able to keep going when there was more source material.

This is true after all. It generally depends if the studio behind the animation is known to be good with anime originals, or really bad with them. Shakugan no Shana held many Anime Original contents within the series (especially with the double AO endings it contained) but still retained some of the light novel's contents, just some Anime Original things added to the mix.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

3) Cut right in the action
That is, stopped while the story was still going smoothly (example: D.Gray Man)
-The good part: Keeps you yearning for a sequel or head for the manga
-The bad part: The worst part to stop!

In general, I'd prefer this type of ending the most out of all the endings where an anime is not in the position to adapt more of its source material. Yes, it can be frustrating, and there's a chance that the anime will never be continued, but doing otherwise can actually damage the chances of getting a continuation.

The decision to continue running the Rurouni Kenshin anime with constant filler killed audiences' interest and generally left a bad taste for the anime as a whole. Since then it hasn't been continued at all, despite the manga's popularity and the fact that it has long finished.

The Yumekui Merry anime had several anime-original elements in it from the beginning, but it adapted its source material marvelously most of the time. However, the whole thing just became outright painful when the anime-original inclusions took over the plot near the end. A reboot for the anime is unlikely because the staff that makes the new anime would have to live up to the audience's expectations on their adaptation of earlier chapters due to the first Yumekui Merry anime doing a *good* job on adapting those early chapters.

So I prefer anime endings that are faithful to the source material, even if they leave me hanging a bit, such as those of Clannad's first season and the recent Kamisama Dolls.