It’s not too often that an anime drops a surprise ending for its viewers, especially if it’s within the confines of a story with an ordinary premise. Given the nature of anime as primarily an entertainment medium, viewers often expect an optimistic ending with the occasional villain redemption, mentor death, and heroic sacrifices. Even somber stories have expectedly grim endings, leaving a certain level of predictability to a story with their general themes. As such, when an anime pulls off an ending out of nowhere, it tends to leave a mark on a viewer’s experience.
However, not all anime with surprising endings are received well, especially if the way they conclude their stories seems rushed, out of character, or totally out of left field. Thankfully, specific anime with unexpected endings cement themselves as must-watches specifically for the impact these conclusions bring on their stories. Here are some anime whose shocking endings helped them rise to critical acclaim, be it specifically for the shock value or the way they concluded their intense storylines.
Number of Episodes
12
While popular forits cruel twist endingamong anime,School Daysis perhaps more notorious for how out of the blue its ending was. At a time when the internet is still in its infancy, newcomers toSchool Daysmay not have expected the shocker of an ending to the love triangle between Makoto Ito, his crush Kotonoha Katsura, and his childhood friend Sekai Saionji that occurred in its visual novel source material. To cut (no pun intended) it short, Makoto ends up with Kotonoha but cheats on her with Sekai, resulting in the latter stabbing him to death. Kotonoha kills Sekai in turn, with the anime ending with the former on a yacht while cradling Makoto’s severed head.
While the anime’s tackling of mature themes is made evident in its latter half, viewers unaware of the visual novel may still see its descent into outright murder as quite a shocker. This is especially with the “Nice Boat” incident, where a fatal stabbing occured in Kyoto just a day before theSchool Daysfinale was scheduled to air. As a result, most channels canceled the episode until a week later, replacing the episode with a half-hour footage of a scenery of a nice boat with “Air on the G String” as its background.
4
Despiteits roots as a 1996 RPG Maker titlewith 16-bit graphics, theCorpse Partystory manages to terrify players with a story of what happens when an innocent friendship ritual with pieces of paper goes wrong. As depicted in both the game and theCorpse Party: Tortured SoulsOVA, Satoshi Mochida and his friends are transported to a dilapidated version of their Heavenly Host Elementary School with a red-dressed girl seemingly chasing them to their deaths. Unfortunately for their iteration inTortured Souls, the canonical happy ending of theCorpse Partystory is switched to one of the game’s horrific wrong ends.
When survivors Satoshi, Naomi Nakashima, and Ayumi Shinozaki attempt to recreate the paper ritual to return to the real world, Satoshi asks Ayumi to use his piece as he was carrying his departed sister’s. However, what was teased as a happy ending turned out to be Ayumi and Naomi returning to the real world while holding Satoshi’s severed arms. It’s implied that Satoshi lied to save Ayumi by making her hold his piece, and “his sister’s” was in fact paper from another class’s ritual. WhileCorpse Partyhaving a gruesome ending was an expected outcome, its bleak twist revealed that even the power of friendship couldn’t save all of Satoshi’s comrades.
When Tatsumi ofAkame Ga Kill!stumbles upon the Night Raid of the Revolutionary Army, he’s thrust into the world of powerful assassins and even more powerful Teigu weapons that show how a show of force demonstrates one’s values and morals in their wartorn era. In their efforts as part of a revolution, members of Night Raid gamble with even their own lives to ensure peace is achieved and the tyrannical Prime Minister Honest is deposed. TheAkame Ga Kill!anime and mangashow the Night Raid’s success in this regard, but the anime’s shorter run revealed a surprisingly somber turn of events.
Although established as the token “Protagonist Dragged Into A New World,” Tatsumi dies in battle in the penultimate episode of the anime. While initially perceived to establish the lack of plot armor even for lead characters, the next episode suddenly has Akame pull off her own plot armor against Esdeath’s time-freeze. To make matters worse, fan-beloved Leone - who is a trained assassin and has regeneration abilities - somehow dies at the hands of a cornered Honest. This sudden ending gave someAkame Ga Kill!viewers the impression of the anime simply relying on shock factor to end an otherwise action-packed series.
June 25, 2025 to July 22, 2025
13
While anime set in unique versions of heaven and hell aren’t new,Panty & Stocking with Garterbelttakes this concept to new (and ridiculous) heights. Set in Daten City,Panty & Stocking with Garterbeltchronicles the adventures of the eponymous Anarchy Sisters as they help protect the purgatory-esque city against Ghosts and earn their way back to Heaven. The Gainax anime then amps up the crazy factor to 100, with Panty and Stocking using their lingerie to fight as well as encounter a whole host of allies and enemies inspired by underwear, undergarments, and everything in between.
However,Panty & Stockinghas become notorious not just for its comically-mature themesbut rather for having the most over-the-top ending typical of a Gainax anime. After Panty and Stocking defeat Corset, the very last minute of the finale will have Stocking kill Panty and hack her into 666 pieces with a reveal that she was a devil all along. Nowhere in the anime was this ending teased, prompting others to think this is either a non-canonical ending or practically Gainax trolling its viewers. Since the reveal of a sequel in 2022, fans eagerly await the true fate of the two protagonists.
In the spirit of anime adaptations,Soul Eaterdoes follow most of its source material: protagonists Maka Albarn and Soul Eater Evans are paired as Weapon Meister and Demon Weapon, respectively, as they study to become the world’s protectors in DWMA. Maka and her friends answer to Death, DWMA’s Principal, who is also technically the world’s version of god. Central totheSoul Eaterplotis the eventual resurrection of the Kishin known as Asura, who is also Death’s eldest son. By the time of their confrontation, Maka and her friends have already vastly improved their combat abilities, with Maka herself honing her Soul Wavelength, which is precisely compatible with fighting evil entities.
While both the anime and manga culminate in an all-out war against Asura, the anime’s finale becomes too much of a letdown compared to the manga’s more satisfying finish. Even disregarding the manga’s ongoing nature at the time, Maka’s decisive victory against Asura was decided by a punch empowered by her courage. That somehow, because the indestructible Asura is the Great Old One of Fear, Maka can defeat him through a display of bravery amid the direst of circumstances. While the moral lesson is technically plausible in the confines ofSoul Eater, the plot twist was too out of left field for the anime’s rather interesting ability system.
Cast
Thehorrors of war often become the centerpiece of mostGundamstories, withGundam: Iron Blooded Orphanstaking this to the extreme when its protagonist Mikazuki Augus is just one of many child workers who staged a revolt against their contractor in a bid to be free of their oppression. However, when Mikazuki manages to pilot the ancient Gundam Barbatos, the kids reorganize into their own group known as Tekkadan and eventually become embroiled in a crisis for the independence of Mars.
Kids fighting against adults with a prodigious Gundam pilot at the center of it all make for a series to root for, and this wasIron Blooded Orphansfor the most part. Unfortunately, the dangers of putting matters into their own hands catch up to Tekkadan quickly, with the series slowly showing how adult pragmatism and cynicism can still outshine youthful optimism and brashness. In theIron Blooded Orphansfinale, the small forces of Tekkadan are seen surrounded by the militaristic Gjallarhorn, with Mikazuki leading the team’s last stand against a band of more advanced opponents. The series ends in a shockingly somber note, with Mikazuki dying in action and Tekkadan slowly disappearing into obscurity being prices to pay for a fairer world.
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
The receipt of the Geass motivated Lelouch Lamperouge, actually an exiled prince of the Holy Empire of Britannia, touse his tactical acumen to wage a rebellionin the hopes of creating a peaceful world for his blind and paralyzed sister Nunnally. ThroughoutCode Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Lelouch, as his alter-ego Zero, is seen not just waging war but using deceit and betrayal to ensure no threats remain in his vision of world peace. As such, it came as no surprise when someone donning Zero’s costume is seen assassinating Emperor Lelouch, paving the way for Nunnally to take the throne and usher in an era of peace she wanted.
Behind the mask was Suzaku Kururugi, Lelouch’s rival and best friend, who apparently kills him out of Lelouch’s own order, so Zero becomes the hero who removed the world’s evil through the Emperor’s death. This could’ve been a satisfying ending to Lelouch’s “impossible” mission, had it not been for a tease at the very end of the anime where the immortal C.C. is seen talking to someone speculated to be Lelouch. This ending is made canon in 2019’sLelouch of the Re;surrectionfilm, extending the lifespan of a character whose attempt at a redemption arc should’ve ended with a deserved death.
