My biggest gripe with anime.

[Draconis]

Anime as a whole I find to be vastly superior to most things the west has to offer. Generally: Characters are deeper and more developed, worlds are more vast and imaginative, the plots are more mysterious/complicated and intriguing.

Some of the best anime

SPOILER: Show

NGE + NME
Casshern Sins
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Eden of the East
Angel Beats!
Cowboy Bebop
even Naruto (until it decided to never ever end)

However, despite all the great things anime has to offer, there's one recurring theme that I really hate: when two characters have obvious chemistry and/or are obviously attached to each other but never end up "sealing the deal."

One great offender (and the main reason I'm writing this post) is Eden of the East (which I just finished watching). The two main characters (Akira and Saki) have such hugely retardedly obvious chemistry together that it just seems obvious that they would get together in the end, right? (Saki's feelings are completely obvious, but we aren't shown much of Akira's. But he IS extremely smooth with her, and DOES kiss her on the lips at one point.) Well, apparently (I haven't seen it because it hasn't been released in the US yet, but I've read a spoiler in a review), at the end of the second sequel movie, Paradise Lost, Akira runs off/disappears again and apparently doesn't make good on a promise to return to Saki again. Like, WTF? Well, actually, I guess I wasn't surprised so much by this due to being desensitized to such things by now, but still... I haven't seen so many sparks fly between two characters and have there NOT be romantic closure.

Sometimes, it's just a plain ol' dumb case of All Love Is Unrequited, such as with Hinata towards Naruto, or Sakura towards Sasuke.

And we all know the slight twist of this where two characters are attracted to each other, but either a) never find out that the other felt the same way, b) blatantly deny having such feelings when accused, or c) actually DO find out about each other's feelings, but then something fucking stupid happens or some condition exists that prevents them from actually getting together. Obviously, we all know Shinji and Asuka both have feelings for each other, but never get together. I just wish they'd've overcome their shit, got together, and GOT FUCKING HAPPY.

It's all this lack of Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends that makes me go all

SPOILER: Show

FUCKING FUCKER FUCK FUCKING GOD DAMN IT #(*$(*#%&@#**$&$#*&#$^#*@&$**#&$ #$*&$# &$* $& *# &*$&!#@$#%

Very few times do characters actually get together. Like Casshern and Ayuze in Casshern Sins. They're so happy together... BUT THEN

SPOILER: Show

SHE FUCKING DIES.

All I want is a (romantically) happy ending. Is that so much to ask? Apparently so...

tl;dr version for you lazy asses: Anime essentially superior to all things western except for romantic happiness.

(BTW, I know some people have said that it's just a Japanese thing, BUT I DON'T CARE!)

/rage/rant/cry in a corner

PS: Can someone please tell me how to add test to the title of a spoiler?

[soul.assassin]

You should've posted here:

viewforum.php?f=24

[Draconis]

You should've posted here:

viewforum.php?f=24

WHOOPS. Didn't see that. Can a mod please move this thread there plzkthx?

[Xard]

This'll be moved to animango subforum soon enough, I think

One great offender (and the main reason I'm writing this post) is Eden of the East (which I just finished watching). The two main characters (Akira and Saki) have such hugely retardedly obvious chemistry together that it just seems obvious that they would get together in the end, right? (Saki's feelings are completely obvious, but we aren't shown much of Akira's. But he IS extremely smooth with her, and DOES kiss her on the lips at one point.) Well, apparently (I haven't seen it because it hasn't been released in the US yet, but I've read a spoiler in a review), at the end of the second sequel movie, Paradise Lost, Akira runs off/disappears again and apparently doesn't make good on a promise to return to Saki again. Like, WTF?

It ends something like that but not quite

SPOILER: Show

he does promise to return to Saki IIRC

Sometimes, it's just a plain ol' dumb case of All Love Is Unrequited, such as with Hinata towards Naruto, or Sakura towards Sasuke.

That's because Shonen Jump editors wanted more homolust between Naruto and Sasuke to satisfy the girl readers

All I want is a (romantically) happy ending. Is that so much to ask? Apparently so...

tl;dr version for you lazy asses: Anime essentially superior to all things western except for romantic happiness.

you poor romantic guy, I can tell you've been through a lot. I sympathize :(

As antidote for all this I suggest you search out anime created by Shoji Kawamori. He has never ended anime in ways like:

- few years after the happy end they end up forever MIA in action, their colony ship caught by black hole or something like that
- the two do stay together but girl becomes mute and paralyzed waist down
- lovers have to separate to different dimensions with no way to see each other ever again without even getting to kiss once
- the messes up, mixed feelings of a woman give birth to inhuman monstrosity whose idea of ultimate love is pretty close to Asuka's mom's and by no means is it required that their best friend from days long gone sacrifices his life for their sake immeaditly after old friends have finally reconciled after years of enmity
- they're never separated by 12,000 years (A-I-SHI-TE-RUUUU)
- nor does the winner girl end up nuked before mysteriously disappearing from the face of earth with the guy (and no one shall know what ever happened to them), leaving the girl who lost all alone in a world without people closest to her...not to mention she has no home to return to as it was bombed to smithereens just before
- nor has he resolved a triangle in a way that leaves one MIA in whatever far reaches of universe beyond all humanity, one in coma and third with eternal, hopeless unrequited love

thankfully this kind of stuff I've seen in other animu is completely absent from his stories.

So yeah, if you're sick of Japanese inability to deliver happy ends or conclusive ones you could do a lot worse than start with Kawamori anime. You'll have plenty of good times :)

[Draconis]

As antidote for all this I suggest you search out anime created by Shoji Kawamori. He has never ended anime in ways like:

- few years after the happy end they end up forever MIA in action, their colony ship caught by black hole or something like that
- the two do stay together but girl becomes mute and paralyzed waist down
- lovers have to separate to different dimensions with no way to see each other ever again without even getting to kiss once
- the messes up, mixed feelings of a woman give birth to inhuman monstrosity whose idea of ultimate love is pretty close to Asuka's mom's and by no means is it required that their best friend from days long gone sacrifices his life for their sake immeaditly after old friends have finally reconciled after years of enmity
- they're never separated by 12,000 years (A-I-SHI-TE-RUUUU)
- nor does the winner girl end up nuked before mysteriously disappearing from the face of earth with the guy (and no one shall know what ever happened to them), leaving the girl who lost all alone in a world without people closest to her...not to mention she has no home to return to as it was bombed to smithereens just before
- nor has he resolved a triangle in a way that leaves one MIA in whatever far reaches of universe beyond all humanity, one in coma and third with eternal, hopeless unrequited love

thankfully this kind of stuff I've seen in other animu is completely absent from his stories.

So yeah, if you're sick of Japanese inability to deliver happy ends or conclusive ones you could do a lot worse than start with Kawamori anime. You'll have plenty of good times :)

Wait. You've seen anime that ended like that?

Fuck. If I saw something that ended in any of those ways, I'd probably punch a baby. I must be really good at selecting my anime...

Can you tell me in which ones those things happen? So that I may never ever watch them ever?

[Xard]

I honestly remember all of those names, it's been a long while...but I can recommend something which should be safe

Escaflowne is fantastic anime and the love triangle & story is beautifully handled. The ending is emotionally poignant too. I recommend starting with it.

you could also wait few months and start Macross Frontier as Sayonara no Tsubasa comes out on BD in Japan and it gets subbed. IN Japan everyone was smiling afterwards in the theatre like this: :)


Macross Plus would be good too!!!


Seriously speaking, you should also watch Kare Kano and Kimi ni Todoke

oh, and Utena!

[Draconis]

Sayonara no Tsubasa

Kare Kano and Kimi ni Todoke

Do these have English titles for my poor ignorant American brain? Also, what is Sayonara no Tsubasa? A Macross Frontier movie or something?

Seriously speaking, you should also watch Kare Kano and Kimi ni Todoke

Wait, does that mean you weren't serious in your other suggestions?

So the list is:
Escaflowne
Macross Frontier
Macross Plus
Kare Kano
Kimi ni Kodoke
Utena
?

Do you have sites to watch any of these? Are any of these available in English on BD?

Also, I'd still kind of like a list of those shitty garbage anime that I should avoid at all costs. So that I remember to avoid them should I happen to stumble across them at some point.

[Ornette]

Oh man, if you hate unrequited love, you should (not) watch "School Rumble", 3 seasons of a love dodecahedron shooting past each other. The thing is though, that's what makes the show so fun to watch and they actually ruined it in epic proportions when they "sealed the deal".

[BrikHaus]

I think Summer Wars had a happy ending.

Also, Ayashi no Ceres, although I haven't seen that in years, and I didn't like it all that much.

How about Ai Yori Aoshi? You'd like how it ends.

Other safe options (If memory serves):

Cardcaptor Sakura
Chobits
Escaflowne
Hand Maid May

uh...

OK this is harder than I thought it would be.

[ZapX]

Rec (this is really good, watch this) and Kanon (2006) are two not mentioned that come to mind off the top of my head. I might have more but MAL won't let me look at my anime list.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

Draconis should see Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera, with the exception of Escaflowne it's better than the stuff Xard recommends (mostly due to the fact that I've never heard of the non-Macross ones). He wants a "sealed deal" with romance you can't really get more sealed than it. Not going to spoil the ending, but lets just say everyone is relieved.

Not sure how'd you react to Aquarion though, or at least the series, the OVAs would definitely be more up your alley.

Also, I'd still kind of like a list of those shitty garbage anime that I should avoid at all costs. So that I remember to avoid them should I happen to stumble across them at some point.

Mai-Hime. And that is pretty much it.

[Xard]

TDSA, I didn't know you're such a big fan of romance anime

Mai Hime also has nothing to do with topic AFAIK, lol

Wait, does that mean you weren't serious in your other suggestions?

Well I was kinda pulling your leg. I thought it was fairly obviously TOO SPECIFIC LIST OF DENIALS of "what's not going to happen in Kawamori anime".

It's just that the whole "why can't I just get a straightforward happy end" reminds me of Kawamori's anime because as a rule they tend to be bittersweet affairs despite the large role romances play in all of them. I think pretty much every anime I listed there without naming them is truly great though (well, not so sure about Aquarion as I haven't even finished it yet) and they're not necessarily as...bitter endings as I made them sound like. Macross Plus has bittersweet ending but the main pair gets happy, esp. in film version that adds epilogue to it, for example. I just selectively described its events in the darkest way possible, in the end all Macross titles are POWER OF LOVE! (and music lol) titles.

Utena is another with somewhat bittersweet ending but it still has one of the best love stories hidden within its abstract machinations. I mean, if you're going to shy away from anything that isn't saccharine happy you're going to miss most of the truly great ones.


That said, picking up high quality shoujo romance titles is pretty much safe way to go: for example Kare Kano aka His and Her Circumstances or much more recent Kimi ni Todoke (though the second season should be titled Rage ni Todoke as it could be so frustrating for MISUNDERSTANDINGS).

Another GAINAX title in addition to KK that has truly traditional and great "happy end" would be Anno's Nadia.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

TDSA, I didn't know you're such a big fan of romance anime

I'm not, Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera is just the funniest anime ever made and I want to share it with other people.

[Xard]

I'm not, Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera is just the funniest anime ever made and I want to share it with other people.

yeah, I know it's comedy title so I was wondering why you were recommending it in thread that asked recs for romance titles?

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

yeah, I know it's comedy title so I was wondering why you were recommending it in thread that asked recs for romance titles?

Watch the series for yourself. It has romance, but not "romantic" romance.

[Dr. Nick]

with the exception of Escaflowne it's better than the stuff Xard recommends (mostly due to the fact that I've never heard of the non-Macross ones).

I thought you promised not to trash things you haven't seen.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

I was just jesting with Xard, Doc.

[Xard]

Watch the series for yourself. It has romance, but not "romantic" romance.

but I think OP was searching for "'romantic' romance"....

I thought you promised not to trash things you haven't seen.

well it's TDSA so it's not like it matters that much


***************


Truly serious, genuine recommendation:

Whisper of the Heart

that's probably the best one I can think of right now that would fullfill all your criteria

Other Ghibli titles that might work as well:

Only Yesterday
Howl's Moving Castle

Out of Mamoru Hosoda's films that have romance in them I'd recommend The Girl Who Leapt Through Time but your criterions kinda outlaw yet another fine title so I'll say Summer Wars instead.

[Shogo-Kun]

Anime as a whole I find to be vastly superior to most things the west has to offer. Generally: Characters are deeper and more developed, worlds are more vast and imaginative, the plots are more mysterious/complicated and intriguing.

Umm, you might want to check out Gargoyles, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Teen Titans, because those are some examples of western shows that actually have deep plots and interesting characters.

[TehDonutKing]

^Teen Titans really needs to be uncancelled. It left too much unresolved.

And I've had this problem too. I love romance stories, but I haven't seen many good ones.