[Anime/VN] Out with those "perfect" endings ! (Some spoilers expected)

[Dark Faith]

Hello all,

Was hoping I could get some Anime and/or VN (english translated) that end on a bittersweet or downright tragic note. It irks me when shows have such great potential for drama but end up pulling Deus Ex Machina on the last episode so they can end on an impossibly happy note.

I want my tears dammit
I already got some titles of this thread but it isn't exactly what I'm looking for, hence this one.
Also, I don't really care about specific genres. Anything goes.

So if possible, I'm looking for recommendations along the lines of

Spoiler for The Mild:

Good guys (can) win, but a couple people die and the main character gets killed/banished/exiled/etc.
Everyone's happy but there's a shadow lingering over them because person X has gone MIA. Not overly dramatic, but it works.

Spoiler for Examples:

Utawarerumono, Blood+

Spoiler for The Good!:

The good guys (probably) win, but major character(s) die to achieve that goal. Without getting resurrected
Bonus points if the MC him/herself dies or has to kill someone close to them.

Spoiler for Examples:

Ga-Rei: Zero, Code Geass

Spoiler for The Extreme:

Berserk
...Yep Your quintessential "bad end". Bad guys win, good guys die. The world is doomed. Hooray.
Not that I expect a lot of titles to fit into this category, but hey... a man can dream

I understand that the nature of this thread asks for spoilers, but try to keep it to a minimum.

Edit: Added some examples.

Thanks for reading this and (hopefully) replying.

[kitten320]

White Album 2 if you want romance.

Air - a rarety in Key works to have bad ending.

AnoHana - as far as I remember it had sad ending too.

Ano Natsu de Matteru - pretty sure it was not a positive ending either.

Fate/Zero if you want action.

FMA - original 1st season can be considered not to have the most positive conclusion ever, Lots of people were disappointed that it did not go the way they wanted.

Hakuouki - there are 3 seasons and I can't say that they all were very happy, especially the last one. I also would recommend to start with prequel.

Kuroshitsuji - not positive ending. I was especially happy with ending in season 2.

Le Chevalier D'Eon - personally I found ending messed up and it left not the best taste in my mouth but could be to your liking.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica - I would call it a bitter-sweet ending.

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

Romeo x Juliet - you know the ending though anime takes story differently than original but ending is pretty much the same.

[Tenzen12]

Tokyo Majin
Wolverine
Guilty Crown (It's supreme sh-t, but if nothing else it fit what you want)
Canaan
Chrono Crusade
Desert Punk
Elfen Lied
Gungrave
Shikabane Hime
Scryed
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
Trinity blood
Tytania
Un-go
Wolf's rain

[totoum]

So going by your MAL you like Madoka Magica and Fate/zero so I'd recommend other Urobuchi works such as Phantom:Requiem for the phantom (the first arc might seem very similar to Noir but after that it gets pretty different), Psycho-Pass and especially the VN Saya no Uta if you want something extreme (there's 3 endings and they just go from bad to worst).

Romance focused but I think 5cm/second would fit, I'd say Jojo's bizare adventures fits as well.

[Dark Faith]

Some of these suggestions I'd already watched, others were on my "to-watch" list, but there's also a couple titles I'd never heard about! Guess I'll have plenty to go on for a while

Thanks for the replies everyone.

[Kanon]

For extreme, try Basilisk and Texhnolyze. You won't be disappointed.

[Dark Faith]

Extreme huh? You've got my attention! I'd already seen Basilisk (can't believe I forgot to mention that), Texhnolyze I'd never heard about. Will try to watch an ep or two today and share some thoughts.

Thanks for the input.

[NervZero]

I'm sure you have seen Clannad but my wife cried for most of Clannad The After Story...

[RoboMambo]

Onii-sama e... is a shoujo manga from the 70's, adapted in the 90's. It's tragic, and kinda melodramatic, throughout the whole show, and the ending just keeps at it. More so in the manga, I've heard.

Keeping with classic shoujo, Rose of Vesailles is very good, it's a half historical, half fictional story about the french revolution. Spoiler, people are beheaded.

If you care about 70's and 80's mecha stuff, there's plenty there. The first thing I think about when talking about tragic endings is Zambot 3 and Zeta Gundam for a reason.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Dark Faith

Extreme huh? You've got my attention! I'd already seen Basilisk (can't believe I forgot to mention that), Texhnolyze I'd never heard about. Will try to watch an ep or two today and share some thoughts.

Thanks for the input.

Texhnolyze is probably the best cyberpunk in anime IMO (That includes Ghost in the Shell).

[NervZero]

What about Rurouni Kenshin? Start with Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (OAV), followed by Rurouni Kenshin (TV) followed by Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection (OAV)... My wife cried a lot because of the ending of Kenshin... and she was a little mad.... I think this fits what you are looking for...

[Goty]

A few series that were not mentioned yet and definitely fit your bill (some more than others, but none of them have a "perfect" ending):

Shiki
Kurozuka
Corpse Party: Tortured Souls
Book of Bantorra
Shin Sekai Yori
Fantastic Children
Noein
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Koi Kaze

[Tenzen12]

...Book of Bantorra

Well it definitely fit

[Dark Faith]

*Facepalm* Forgot to check this thread for quite some time, sorry guys! That said, I haven't had much time to watch any anime other than the current things that I'm watching, but I'd like to drop a few words and at least thank you for taking the time to leave me some suggestions.

Originally Posted by NervZero

I'm sure you have seen Clannad but my wife cried for most of Clannad The After Story...

Key's drama doesn't affect me much. Clannad/AS was okay, but if anything, I remember it for Tomoya's hilarious trolls.

Originally Posted by RoboMambo

Onii-sama e... is a shoujo manga from the 70's, adapted in the 90's. It's tragic, and kinda melodramatic, throughout the whole show, and the ending just keeps at it. More so in the manga, I've heard.

I admit that I'm not a big fan of 70's works, but I'll be sure to take a peek at the manga when I get the time. I haven't read a good one in a while, so bonus points if it's melodramatic

French revolution isn't my cup of tea, nor are mecha shows. But thank you nonetheless.

Originally Posted by NervZero

What about Rurouni Kenshin? Start with Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (OAV), followed by Rurouni Kenshin (TV) followed by Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection (OAV)... My wife cried a lot because of the ending of Kenshin... and she was a little mad.... I think this fits what you are looking for...

Oh I've seen Rurouni Kenshin. The series were great, but the OAV's were a real tearjerker. Wonderful OST, too.

Originally Posted by Goty

A few series that were not mentioned yet and definitely fit your bill (some more than others, but none of them have a "perfect" ending):

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls
Book of Bantorra
Fantastic Children
Noein
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Koi Kaze

More to add to the list Think I'm booked for the next year lol
Book of Bantorra's synopsis seems pretty interesting. I think I'll watch that once I'm done with Texhnolyze (only two episodes in, so can't comment on much yet. Though so far I'm loving the somber atmosphere.. nice contrast to all the bright colors and happy tales I get recently).

[Arturia Polaris]

I'm flabbergasted as to how no one suggested Kara no Shoujo.

It was bad enough for me to drop it after a bad end (bad as in... premature). No matter what you do it always ends up on a totally bad note.

I asked someone to spoil me the story and it was waaaaay too much.

It's also in full english, so try that.

Rest assured, the "true end" is as bitter as a tequila shot.

[Dextro]

So... No one mentioned School Days yet?

[sona-nyl]

Okay some VNs, You probably have already read most of those since they are rather "typical" examples of english VNs:

Muv-Luv Alternative
Sekien no Inganock, Make sure to read the webnovels as well. (Though considering your Sharnoth avatar you've probably already read that.)
Ef A Fairy tale of the two
Kara no Shoujo (God all the endings are so horrible. Even the good ones are super tragic)
Saya no Uta
Tsukihime (Only one route truly qualifies but most routes end at least in a bittersweet way)

These are stretching it a little but they could qualify:
Rewrite (The main writer is not from Key so even if you don't like Key stuff make sure to read)
G-Senjou no Maou