[00:00] There's a line from an old poem dated back to the 1300s that goes, But at the last, as everything hath end, which roughly translates to all good things must come to an end. Regardless of who you are, regardless of what the thing in question is, regardless of how much you like it, all things must end.
[00:18] Just like a field with stories, that's right, be it anime, manga, or everything in between, all stories end, and some do so better than others. I'm so sorry about that title and thumbnail, by the way, I usually don't take bait that hard.
[00:31] Anyway, as you can probably tell, this video is all about endings, fictional endings. In it, I'll go over some of my all-time favorite conclusions in fiction, and in the process, try to uncover what an ending should ideally be.
[00:43] If any of that sounds interesting to you, keep watching, and if it doesn't, keep watching. Also, this is pretty much the only time you'll see me talk about non-anime titles, TV shows, novels, etc, etc.
[00:55] So if that deta-lates you, I love that word, again, keep watching. Also subscribe, that would be a very cool thing to do, the button's right there, you can't miss it if you try, just do it, it takes a second. You can also become a channel member, if you do, you'll get exclusive badges, emojis, shoutouts, and most importantly, exclusive content.
[01:14] Does an in-depth breakdown of Tarek Ayoub's Hi-Shi's two and a half decade long career sound interesting? It does? Well, you know what to do, just go down there and press the join button. So, a couple of things. One, while this list isn't ordered, the last ending I'll talk about is in fact my favorite,
[01:30] so look forward to it, I guess. And two, I'll avoid spoilers to the best of my ability, kinda. Look at it this way, if the series I'm talking about is really popular, I'll talk about it in detail, and if it's not, I'll avoid referring to specific events and use broad terms.
[01:44] Sounds good? Let's go. The first ending I'll talk about is Attack on Titan. Let's start with a big one. Now, I won't say much, not because I don't want to talk about it, but rather because I made a long-ass video about the ending back when it aired, you can check it out if you
[01:59] want. Still, to sum it up, I think the ending did a good enough job of concluding the incredibly complex, layered, ambitious story that is AOT. I won't say it blew me away completely, but it was exactly what it needed to be and it
[02:11] was presented in as ideal of a manner as possible in anime-con, that is, the manga was fairly rushed. There is, however, one aspect that made it special, one aspect that stood out, one aspect
[02:23] that earned it a spot on this highly important list that's not just a filler video idea I had in the back of my head, that being how open-ended it was. You see, AOT is a compact story, it rarely leaves much room for interpretation, but the
[02:36] ending was the exact opposite, it made the viewer think. I won't go over every story beat, but the scene that best exemplifies this open-endedness is the final one and I just got chills thinking about it.
[02:49] The scene features this kid walking towards an all too familiar tree. The insinuation is that he'll merge with the hallucinogenia much like Yenir but what does that mean? Will the entire cycle repeat? Was the entire story pointless? Did we accomplish nothing? Is cereal
[03:03] a soup? I say no and fear not. I'll explain. The ending part not the cereal soup thing. You see Yenir fell into the tree because she was running away from her captors. She was hurt, she was scared and the hallucigenia simply responded to her survival instinct,
[03:18] creating a powerful body that could heal itself. This kid on the other hand entered the tree cave out of curiosity. He wasn't being chased, he wasn't hurt, in fact he had a dog as a companion compared to Ymir who was being chased by them.
[03:31] The two scenes aren't similar, history won't repeat itself, the kid will merge with the hallucigenia but it won result in a tightening The outcome will instead be something that helps mankind something that in my opinion helps humans satiate their insane curiosity What will it be exactly We don know Isaiama doesn tell us He leaves it up to our interpretations
[03:49] But it's that idea, one conveyed in a few seconds and without using any dialogue might I add, that made the ending so special. So, what did we learn? That's right, I'm your English teacher now. We learned that endings can be open-ended. They don't need to end with a and a lift happily ever after.
[04:06] Ever After, they can let the viewer decide what the Ever After will be. That's a viable option. And on that note, the next series I'd like to talk about is the Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch. What is the Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch, you may ask? It's a somewhat kid-friendly
[04:22] novel series penned by, well, Pseudonymous Bosch, and quick sidebar, it played a pivotal role in my growth as a fan of, well, fiction in general. I recall issuing those books over and over again from my school library because I just couldn't get enough fun times.
[04:37] Now, since I know none of you have actually read the series and know what it's about, I won't talk about it in detail, I'll just cover the overall idea of the ending. Basically, this series is a metafiction, meaning it's aware that it's a fictional work.
[04:50] The author literally comments on his own writing in real time, that's one of the best things about this series, and it's hard to explain, but it's a very unique reading experience. Anyway, the ending of this series isn't exactly conclusive. In fact, in more ways than one,
[05:03] it's an anti-ending, which is a term I just made up, but I hope you guys know what I mean. What Bosch did, that's obviously not his real name, but here you go with it, what he did was rant, literally in writing, rant about how annoying it is when other authors make
[05:16] conclusive endings and decide on the fates of their characters on the fly. According to him, this approach makes a story feel like just that, a story, a lie, a fabrication. If the characters were real, they'd get into all sorts of situations even after the story ends,
[05:31] so it doesn't make much sense to end their stories with any little land they left happily or sadly ever after. Interesting, right? Bosch basically just ends the story. He just calls it a day. He barely resolves anything. He leaves a lot of questions unanswered the whole nine yards,
[05:45] but he does so in a way that works. I won't go into any actual detail just in case, like, two of you decide to give it a shot, but the idea of an ending being the exact opposite of conclusive was interesting enough to warrant a two-spot in this video in my opinion.
[05:59] Really fun stuff. Now, open-endedness is fun and all, especially when executed well, but are endings that do resolve things not good? Are conclusive endings bad? Well, obviously not. They can be brilliant, look no further than Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
[06:15] Two of the most influential TV shows ever, both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have phenomenal endings. Also, as your unpopular opinion of the day, I think Better Call Saul is significantly better in every way, go argue with the wall.
[06:28] Anyway, let's start with Breaking Bad, the weaker show. So, the ending of Breaking Bad, to me, is easily the best part of it. The idea of Walter White, Mr. Heisenberg himself, finally being honest for once and acknowledging his own toxic ego and pride
[06:43] was both the obvious and the only choice Prince Gilligan could have made and it was perfect. I personally don't consider the ending to be a redemption necessarily. Yes, Walt did protect his family from those neo-f*****y guys,
[06:56] but the reason why he had to do that was because he got involved with them in the first place. Yes, he did free Jesse, but he was the reason why Jesse got captured in the first place. You get the idea. It wasn't Walter redeeming himself, it was him taking responsibility for his actions
[07:10] ending his life on his own terms, surrounded by chemistry, a study he had a tremendous amount of admiration for, and there's something very powerful about that. Something something that one speaks about atoms In a show filled with quote unquote badass moments I personally find that to be the coolest thing Walter has ever done Yes I one of those guys Really cool stuff
[07:30] On a similar note, Better Call Saul, the better show, ended with Saul owning up to his crimes and getting arrested, a decision he made due to a variety of factors. His love for King, the influence people like Mike, Walt and Chuck had on him over the years, and his own, I don't know, guilty conscious presidency in accurate, desire to change maybe.
[07:48] Unlike Walt, who became Heisenberg, Jimmy was always Saul. He had that in him. Saul, Slippin' Jimmy, whatever you want to call it. And the ending wasn't just him taking responsibility and owning up to his actions, it was him actively trying to change.
[08:02] I can't stress this enough that final speech of his still gives me chills to this day. Him correcting the judge and referring to himself as James McGill is one of the most powerful moments in television history in my opinion. Not because he became Jimmy.
[08:16] Jimmy and Saul aren't exactly different people, but because he was trying to become James McGill. It was him listening to Chuck and going back and changing his path. The next title I'd like to talk about is The Time Machine by H.G. Wells,
[08:29] and I hope you liked that visual transition because that's the only reason why I made this video. Well, not the only one, but you get the idea. The Time Machine is a science fiction novel published in the year 1895. It's one of the most influential sci-fi titles ever, and it's absolutely worth a visit.
[08:44] With all that being said, it's hard to describe the ending because 1 I'm sure most of you haven't read it so I can't get into specifics and 2 it's very surreal, I think that's the best way of describing it. So far we've talked about conclusive endings and open-ended ones but this title and a few
[09:00] others I'll talk about in a bit fall into this weird space in the middle that they are neither interpretive nor concrete. I'll try to explain it though, the way the story ends to me is a commentary on how inane life is. It's quite pessimistic but in a way that's borderline haunting. Very minus
[09:16] follows, near the end of the story the protagonist travels really far into the future and reaches the point where life on earth comes to an end and the way that final landscape is depicted is genuinely unnerving. It's impossible for me to describe it using words alone, you guys
[09:30] have to read it for yourselves, it's worth it I promise. While we're on the topic of surreal endings, the next title I'll talk about is The Empty box and we wrote Maria or Hakumari for short. And I just realized this video format has a massive
[09:43] flaw, that being the fact that when I talk about unheard of titles like Hakumari, I can't really go into any detail because I don't want to spoil it. Still, as a brief overview, Hakumari is a disgusting read. It's a painfully real, visceral look at human nature and the ending of it is
[09:59] generally one of the most mindf*****y things you'll ever read. It is a conclusive ending, technically speaking, but the part it takes to get there is genuinely ridiculous. I know most of you don't read light novels, but I absolutely recommend it. It's phenomenal. Another serial ending one you
[10:14] guys are actually familiar with is Fire Force. I made an entire members only review of it in case any of you are interested. Now, battle shonen titles haven't been doing well lately when it comes to endings. Chain Saw Man, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Black Clover, Kaiju 8, all of them
[10:31] had endings that weren't exactly well received by the masses and I think the reason behind that is the fact that they were too safe. They were inoffensive, they were inconsequential, they were trying to appease as many fans as possible and in the process they ended up disappointing many.
[10:46] Fire Force on the other hand decided to go the other way. In a world filled with safe battle shonen endings, Fire Force decided to be batshit insane and I love that. Like it takes some serious balls to undo all rules and create a brand new universe that ties into a different series
[11:01] and it takes some serious skill to do that well Hats off to mangaka Atsushi Okubo absolute insanity And with that let get to the visual novel portion of this video starting with Fate Stay
[11:13] Night, the Fate Route, to be more specific. Now, I won't say much, because unlike Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Steel, the Fate Route hasn't been adapted, technically speaking, but I will say this, despite being the weakest of the three routes, it has the strongest ending, in my opinion,
[11:27] and it only gets stronger when you consider that special ending thing, if you've read the visual novel you know what I'm talking about. And if you haven't, why? Read it. Anyway, the fate route is obviously Sable's route meaning it builds a, quite frankly, fantastic character
[11:41] dynamic and romantic connection between her and Shiro and the way the route concludes that dynamic and Sable's character is absolutely phenomenal. The fact that the impression of Sable most fans have is Urobotri's fate, Shiro and not this, is criminal. Please read
[11:56] the visual novel, let that be your only takeaway from this video, read the visual novel. The next title is the House in Fata Morgana series or more specifically the main title and its excellence for innocence. Reincarnation has a decent ending too but it's not exactly comparable to the other two.
[12:12] Now, Fata Morgana is one of my favorite things ever just of all time and the way the first two visual novels end is absolutely brilliant. The main series has a more surreal ending with notes of the supernatural and it's executed perfectly.
[12:26] It's bittersweet, it's heartbreaking and at the same time it's weirdly uplifting and hopeful. It's a perfect blend of a series of complex emotions, each executed flawlessly. The more impressive of the two endings, however, belongs to A Requiem for Innocence, in my opinion, and I'll explain why.
[12:43] You see, our series, A Requiem for Innocence, is a prequel that's meant to be played after the main series, meaning the players already know what happens in it and how it ends. They literally know what the ending is in detail mind you but somehow it still works.
[12:58] Unlike the main series, the ending to our seas is a pure tragedy. There's no hope in it whatsoever. That's not a spoiler, don't worry. It's a heart wrenching conclusion filled with nothing but regret to the point that it can come off as a bit much psychologically for the reader but still there's an inherent
[13:12] sense of beauty in it plus that fragment section and effectively a post credit scene gives the viewer a much needed glimmer of hope. Really good stuff. And finally, with all that out of the way, let's talk about my all-time favorite ending,
[13:27] one so powerful that even to this day, simply looking at a screenshot from it or listening to the soundtrack that played during it destroys me emotionally. Let's talk about Fate Hollow at Daraxia. An indirect semi-canon sequel to Fate Stay Night, Fate Hollow at Daraxia is brilliant in every sense of the word from front to back, but despite that, it's the ending that stands out the most to me.
[13:49] Of course I can't talk about it in detail because most of you haven't played it, but what I can do is recount my reaction to it when I played it for the first time. So I played this title several years back and upon finishing it, I just sat there static for like 10 minutes straight just processing what had happened.
[14:06] I'm not making this up, that's literally what I did and recently someone on Twitter said they did the exact same thing so I'm not the only one. You get my point right, I absolutely love it, it's brilliant in a way that's hard to describe.
[14:18] Even if I were to delve into spoilers, I doubt I'd be able to explain it well. It's one of those you-have-to-read-it-for-yourself stories. Absolutely incredible. And that's it. Tried something different for no particular reason. Hope you guys enjoyed.
[14:32] Also, I know I've been gone for a while, but what can I say? I was busy in real life, but all of that stuff's over and now back. That's it. A special thanks to Nood03, Amir, TheGalus90, Muzikage, and EasyUni.
[14:44] and easy uni. I hope that's how you say it for becoming tier 3 members, and until next time.