Let's assume, for a moment, that you were forced to choose between an anime with a contrived happy ending or an anime with a well-written sad ending. Yes, I know those aren't the only two options... There are a lot of well written happy endings(Example, Love Live), and there are a lot of badly written sad endings(Example, Master of Martial Hearts). But if you were in a position where you had to choose between one or the other, would you pick the happy ending that betrayed the tone and themes of the material, or a sad ending that makes perfect literary sense? In other words, FMA03 vs. Brotherhood
And why?
To a point, as long as it's a viable ending. If most plot threads are tied up at the end and they don't leave too many things unanswered with no hope of a second season (as anime is notorious for doing...) I'm usually okay. Bittersweet endings are often what I'm happiest with, like Azumanga Daioh,
aww they all graduated and there will be no more stories from these wacky schoolgirls but dang they're all happy and friends smile)))
You answered your own question? Write the better ending?
If you were ever in any doubt, ask yourself what sort of ending you were writing for while you were writing the rest of it. Did you think this story was going to end well? Are you just thinking of writing the better bad-end because you think the quality is higher, or because you don't think you can make the worse one better?
Choose the harder option.
Push through it, that way you can learn something when you're done.
The last thing you should want to happen is not go for something and regret it later.
Think about it like if you were old and gray, on your death bed. Which would you regret not doing more?
That said, if all you want is an opinion, I prefer the ending with meaning. If a bad end means a character dies, but it doesn't mean anything, it's a waste. But if there's a happy ending and no one improves because of it, it's also a waste. Take Clannad for example on all this. One character dies - what happens because of it? That's the sort of thing you can focus on.
Sad ending if it was written well enough, while there are lots of anime with good and happy endings I feel there aren't enough ACTUALLY good sad Anime that can make me shed tears. There has only been 1 Anime that legit made me shed baby tears and 1 video game as far as media goes. .__.; most stuff it's like aweee thats so sad but not enough to make me have a good cry.
While I like most of the endings the way they are, there are just some issues that I have with certain endings and I would gladly choose a cheesy ending over the ones they had.
Gurren Lagann, for instance. My husband cried, but loved the sad ending. I refuse to believe the ending happened the way it did. In my mind,
Simon and Nia wind up married, Kamina doesn't die and winds up with Yoko while Kittan is alive OR he doesn't die and neither does Kittan and Kittan gets with Yoko.
In Ouran High School Host Club, the canon ending was cheesy, but I just didn't like their cheesiness. If I had my way (and I'm talking mostly about the manga)
Haruhi would never have ended up with Tamaki. She'd have gotten with either Hikaru or both of the Hitachiin Twins because I just find it odd for someone to fall in love with someone that annoys them and thus they don't spend time with them because of that. I found it more believable that she'd wind up with her best friend(s). That's just me, though, but still..
Well written sad ending for the win. I don't have too much of a preference with how I want a story to end (though I lean slightly on bitter-sweet). As long as an ending properly wraps up loss ends and is consistent with the story presented until then, I'm good with it. I'm sure I can think up examples, but my brain is fuzzy right now from lack of sleep, so I can't think of any off the top of my head.
I usually only watch anime for their stories and a well written ending
that happens to also be sad is okay with me. I honestly prefer it, actually.
I'm not really into any anime that's too happy since it kinda bores me (?)
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