Tired of the "Mysterious Stranger" endings.

[AntiPaladin]

Meaning during the final battle/struggle a major character is shown being hurt and presumably killed, then later everyone is gathered and a mysterious figure appears (implying the character lived and is returning for a happy ending) then, just as the figure is about to be revealed, the credits roll and we never actually see them.

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Case in point, Elfen Lied (which I absolutely love) when we're shown Lucy fighting the horde of soldiers, see her wounded and probably killed, then the other characters are back at the house eating and Kohta goes outside to find someone at the gate right before the credits roll.

Am I the only one who's not a fan of them? I prefer my endings to be tied up and not left hanging, wondering who this mystery person is. I understand that it's a way to allow for a sequel in many cases, but the best Animes never get those sequels.

[Arveene]

I'm still RAGING hard after finishing (see spoiler) 3 weeks ago.

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Tales of the Abyss. WHICH ONE IS IT?! FUCKING SHIT!
Both of them made promises, and it really is completely opened ended on which one it is.

Actually.. my example is slightly different, but it's very close. Specifically, an ending like yours and similar ones I really don't mind it too much.

[billlanam]

Standard practice in lots of cases so that they can continue a series if they have the opportunity.

[Southrop]

I read this and thought Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I guess I was a bit off.

[erious]

I like them! Open endings are better the endings you straight-up disagree with.

[ray1301]

The ending of Elfen Lied was just plain awful, even though you could probablu guess it, you still would like that little bit of closure :/

[Xanthic]

I'm still RAGING hard after finishing (see spoiler) 3 weeks ago.

(click to show/hide)

Tales of the Abyss. WHICH ONE IS IT?! FUCKING SHIT!
Both of them made promises, and it really is completely opened ended on which one it is.

Actually.. my example is slightly different, but it's very close. Specifically, an ending like yours and similar ones I really don't mind it too much.

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He comes back as presumably both of them as one whole person. That show was trash though... I was expecting a retarded ending anyways, just like the rest of the show had been. It's a shame since it had such high promise in the beginning.

[queenmetroid]

Eh, I suppose you usually see those type of endings coming from a mile away, anyway.

And if not, then yeah, it's cheap, unless you already know there's another season in the works. I applaud series that don't always wrap everything up nicely after a season and leave you hanging. It's good for variety.

[morrefule]

you know a lot of times those endings make me want to go pick up the manga, so it doesn't really bother me as long as the anime is manga baised, because it really allows me to understand the characters in more detail.

[offstandard]

it's just a bias from the american culture.  Hollywood has made it into an art of having concrete endings tying up everything and leaving nothing to the imagination (most of the time).  A lot of the films from foreign countries leave the ending open.  I'm talking about movies here and not TV series as comparison basis, but it applies, as the japanese culture is not against open endings as much as the american culture is.

The ending of Porco Rosso is "open" and you can really think whatever you want about it, although I'll argue my own view to the ending to the death haha.

[xShadow]

I'm still RAGING hard after finishing (see spoiler) 3 weeks ago.

(click to show/hide)

Tales of the Abyss. WHICH ONE IS IT?! FUCKING SHIT!
Both of them made promises, and it really is completely opened ended on which one it is.

Actually.. my example is slightly different, but it's very close. Specifically, an ending like yours and similar ones I really don't mind it too much.

(click to show/hide)

He comes back as presumably both of them as one whole person. That show was trash though... I was expecting a retarded ending anyways, just like the rest of the show had been. It's a shame since it had such high promise in the beginning.

Maybe.

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After reading this, I can tell you that the ending in the game wasn't any different (it was a hella lot more satisfying after beating the final boss on Mania, though). Maybe they even reused the scene. <.<;

There was a shit ton of debate on this issue in the ToA GameFAQs forums, but we never did come to a conclusion. I would say that many people (including myself) were leaning towards it being Luke at the end, though I can't get a %-based count.

I was honestly going to give the ToA anime a try, hoping that it at least resolves the ending issue, and then maybe introduces some new scenes. After reading this, though, it's a no-go.