Top 13 Worst Anime Endings

Well folks, this is a list that I've been trying to get off the ground ever since I started this blog. It has gone through countless revisions and drafts, and was an even tougher one for me to write than the last one; but not for the reasons you might think. Be that as it may, every yin has its yang. Darkness rises, and light to meet it; as some say. Like before, I will be including both English and Japanese outros on this list; and some of my choices might or might not surprise you. So, let's open up my Top 13 Worst Anime Endings; which is actually rather fitting to help end this year and my blog's material for it.

13. Yo-Kai Exercise #1, English Version (Yo-Kai Watch)

While this song admittedly tried to capture the goofy tone of the original, this also is another of the big double-edged sword that was localizing Yo-Kai Watch stateside. I'm only leading this list with this entry because of how subsequent outros for the series; unlike the twangy intro by Jeff "Swampy" Marsh tried to match the tone of their original versions even if I'm personally not a fan of them or the series. I haven't seen any ratings for season 3 yet, but I don't think Disney XD is promoting it as much as Pokémon or Beyblade Burst Turbo. I don't know how Yo-Kai Watch 3 will fare, but I still think that Level-5 should approach a potential localization of Shadowside and Yo-Kai Watch 4 as a soft reboot of the brand outside their home turf like they're doing with Inazuma Eleven Ares. I'm still done recapping the series, so any postmortem I would do for the series would be handled differently; and that won't be until after the launch of YW3 in the US at the earliest.

12. Roaring All-Stars (Pokémon XY JP Outro)

While the Japanese version of the XY series had good ending themes overall, this one is my least favorite to this day. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the Little Glee Monster band, but its use in the Music Squad short did little to change my mind since I'm not a fan of acapella either. Following the "Dream Power" ending, this was not something I ever got used to listening to; and instead had me scrambling for the fast-forward button. I'm rather glad that the first XYZ outro, "Squishy's Song" was more interesting, since Bonnie singing to the Zygarde core reminded me of some of the songs from Doraemon. My favorite one will have to wait for my final list of endings, so be ready for it.

11. Cha-Han Music (Dragon Ball Super)

Although the ending themes of Dragon Ball Super have been strong overall, this one is my least favorite so far of what I've seen from the series. Visually, it's not too bad; but overall, the sound is not that different from the cliche of people getting drunk in a karaoke bar and butchering other music in a similar fashion. Thankfully, the themes before and after this one are significantly better; and I will tell you my favorite one in my final list.

10. Mutant Turtles OVA Theme

While the two episodes of the TMNT OVA where delightfully cheesy overall, the music didn't really stand out as much as other entries in the series. Even the music in some infamously terrible adult film spoofs of the franchise that an associate of mine reviewed had better music than this. I will admit one last time another thing that amused me about this OVA: in "Turtles Forever," where the Utrom Shredder; Ch'rell is trying to find the original turtles; an image can be briefly seen from this version as part of the TMNT Multiverse up to that point. So, this is still more canon than Next Mutation was before Nickelodeon bought the rights. Bottom line: the ending theme music of this OVA is about as valuable as week-old pizza: only fit for consumption by sewer rats and their adolescent terrapin students.

9. Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars Ending Theme

Though this anime is not without its silly moments, it's an overall good series that I ultimately didn't find enough material to recap. The ending music, however; is another story. It straight up sounds like elevator music; and no matter how silly or serious an episode was in subject matter, this was playing after each episode. Even though Manga Entertainment's work on the series is an overall solid dub, this ending music is one of the weaker aspects of what's actually a good show.

8. IGPX Adult Swim Outro

The music may be one element fans of this anime enjoy, but I have personally not liked it at all; and this is the biggest example of that. It still sounds like the worst case of mid-2000s electronic/rock fusion that comes off like playing Wipeout HD on bad antihistamines. I am simply not a fan of this series at all, and the music lacks what I like about any ending theme; which is a recurring feature on this list.

7. Lupin III Part IV Adult Swim Outro

While I am pleased overall with Lupin III Part IV (almost done with it, starting Part V and rewatching Castle of Cagliostro after I finish it), this US-only outro sometimes plays in lieu of the orchestral music that's the usual ending theme; it's a mish-mash of discopop that tries and fails to recreate the style of its source material. While it's thankfully not present in every episode, it's still a low point in what's otherwise a great show on Toonami's revival.

6. Fly Me to the Moon "Samba Remix" (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Though I am excited for Evangelion returning to Netflix and more content finally getting made (such as the oft-delayed final "Rebuild" film), this "Samba Remix" of the classic "Fly Me to the Moon" is not something that I will be eager to re-experience. Though the music in this groundbreaking take on the mecha anime genre is overall fantastic, I still don't know what compelled them to make a '90s samba remix of a song that was written decades ago. It's like having Justin Bieber trying to sing something by Tool: the pieces just don't go together. Whatever happens with the franchise on the platform (I will just deal with further developments as they come), I won't have any real problem just letting autoplay roll over to the next episode the moment I hear the rainsticks on this version.

5. Danganronpa JP Outro

While I already spoke at length about this in my "13 Things Wrong With Danganronpa The Animation," the outro theme song was a big example of wangsty teen rock in the worst way possible. I still have no intention of playing the games, so I don't know if the music there is similar; but it's still music I have no desire to re-experience.

4. Endless 8 ending (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

I am not a big fan of this series, and since is is from the worst arc; I only thought it would be fitting to include it. To be brief, I still like jokingly referring to the arc as "Why Won't it End, Times 8." Now, onto the top 3!

3.  Naruto JP Ending 2

While not as bad-sounding as the third JP opening, this still has the same tonal problem; this time exacerbated by being included around the time the story started venturing into more serious territory. Not exactly the time to have two of the female leads rendered like discount Vocaloids with stiff CG animation. Thankfully, better stuff quickly took its place. Again, I've never been more than a casual Naruto fan; but in all the good and bad I've seen in my life; this one has always been fine enough to leave as background noise while I'm browsing the web or playing games. That's probably why I can keep working through the Boruto marathon on 12/30 to get my content finished here. Just a heads-up so you know I'm not just playing my Switch and watching Toonami (though that's also true).

2. Black Clover Outro 1

A year has passed since the debut of this series, and barring a few foreign markets (such as French Guyana, of all places); this anime hasn't really been the next Naruto or Fairy Tail people tried to hype it as. I don't hate it like some others do, but it's by far the most average series I've seen in recent years; and it doesn't offer much of anything I can't get from Naruto, Fairy Tail, Bleach, One Piece or even Dragon Ball and its incarnations. Though the series itself is still somewhat divisive, I can attest that I don't really like the first outro that much. Like I said of the Uncut DBZ intro, the visuals, editing and sound come off like a 12-year-old's Creed AMV more than an official series that actually got a brief theatrical release. It also has the same contrast that makes it hard to see what I'm watching. To think people were so hard on the cinematography in Solo. Maybe the music and the series itself will get better, and maybe they won't; but for now, it's a mediocre runner-up to my top choice.

1. Code Geass R2 Outro 2

Much like before, this list was much harder to rank entries I had in mind than to choose them. It's more that I have too many choices to include than not enough, and there's no way I could have done everything I had in mind in hindsight. That said, I knew that in the time I spent drafting this list, that I would include this outro. As I completed my Code Geass R2 recaps, this song from the latter half of the show was a final insult to the goodwill built up for me in the first season; especially as the divisive finale had the credits roll. Whatever happens with the music for the remaster and R3, I certainly hope it's better than this. Much like the second intro, it's more appropriate for a campy romance than a series that at least tries to be cerebral like Code Geass.

With this, a list that I have wanted to do ever since I started this blog is finally done; and I shall continue work on my remaining content. My goal is still to have my Akira recap, along with everything else left; done before the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve. That's all for now. Later.