5 Animes That Should Have Ended Early

Anime is something that brings together a lot of stories, genres, and people. With a massive worldwide fanbase, Anime is already an ever-present source of entertainment. These are shows mostly based on Japanese Manga adapted into animated series or movies. There are some animes like Dragon Ball Z which have been around for literal decades and then there are some lesser-known shows like Another, which have 2 seasons at best and are still worth watching.

In this article, we will be talking about animes that should have ended early. These are some shows which chose quantity over quality and eventually, things went downhill. Characters seem to sway from their original goal, the storyline becomes abrupt, there are way too many subplots and a number of other reasons. These things make these shows far less greater than what they were when they started. So without further ado, let’s jump into it.

5. Tokyo Ghoul 

At number 5 we have the infamous anime Tokyo Ghoul. It follows the story of Ken Kaneki, a brilliant and innocent boy who lives in a world of humans and ghouls. Ghouls are creatures who eat human flesh to survive and get stronger. On an unfortunate date, Kaneki crosses paths with a ghoul and almost dies. When he wakes up next, he realizes that the ghoul’s organs have been transplanted into him to save his life, effectively also converting him into a flesh-eating creature.

The first season of Tokyo Ghoul was absolutely amazing, it adapted from the manga and grabbed the viewer’s attention immediately. The show became popular nearly in no time. With the second season, makers decided to sway away from the manga’s storyline. This did not sit very well with the fans as it only featured some important moments from the manga. And with the next season, makers completely blew the chances of the show being watched. Why?

Because for the third season, all the original characters were either killed off and harvested into new characters or had simply disappeared. Now the show had completely new characters no one was familiar with and that turned everyone off immediately. The creators decided to jump back to the manga storyline abruptly and this ruined whatever was left. So, Tokyo Ghoul should have ended after that first good season. That would at least save it from the further mauling of the story.

4. Bleach

Don’t get us wrong. Bleach is an amazing show, however, it could have retained even higher glory had it ended after the Arrancar arc. The story follows Ichigo Kurosaki, a teen who can see and talk to spirits. He crosses paths with Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki who tries to save him and his family from a corrupt soul or Hollow. But failing to save things in time, Rukia lends Ichigo her powers converting him into a Soul Reaper.

Bleach starts off amazing and makes a solid impact hooking the viewers but as time goes on Tite Kubo, the creator of the manga slowly loses direction with the story. It gets jam-packed with many subplots and repetitive storylines. We get to see some good fights but the story just feels dim and hardly exciting.

The anime ended earlier than the manga but the signs of a hasty ending were showing on both. Tite Kubo was forced to end the manga while the anime succumbed to directionless and fall in ratings. Still a glorious show until the Arrancar arc, though the highly regarded Thousand-Year Blood War Arc was still not such a bad final arc.

3. Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online has an amazing 14 episodes in the first arc. It’s a show about a virtual reality game that traps its players and forces them on an impossible mission. Kirito, the protagonist bears the burden of all the players and decides to go ahead and defeat all the 100 floors or levels in the game all by himself.

Many agree that the first arc is the best of the series which brings a sad, yet stable conclusion. Afterward, things just go off track for the story. In the ALO arcs, we see repetitive cliché antagonists and a worn-out plot that seems to fall apart and make the watcher fall asleep. The only benefit of watching after the first arc is getting to know Leafa. But apart from that, the show gets progressively dull. 

2. Detective Conan

Detective Conan, Also Known As Case Closed, Is An Institution In Japan That’s Produced 1,000 Episodes With No End In Sight. Detective Conan Is More Consistent Than One Would Expect, But It’s Impossible For A Series With This Much Content To Remain As Sharp As Its Earliest Episodes.

Every Single Possible Detective Trick And Twist That Conan Has Explored Has Been Performed And Repeated At This Point. In Its Defense, Detective Conan Is Still Entertaining, But It’d Be Stronger And Less Impenetrable At A Fraction Of The Episodes. At This Point, It’s Hard To Tell Which Ones Are Essential Installments.

1. Dragon Ball Z

And at number 1 we have Dragon Ball Z, a classic that should have ended early. It’s still one of the most famous animes in history. Dragon Ball Kai is working in the direction to fix the issues of its predecessor. The anime should have ended with the torch being passed to Son Gohan and Goku perishing after defeating Cell. Instead, the whole saga continued with Bu appearing and basically repeating everything like Cell. It was repetitive and unrequired. Being a classic, Dragon Ball Z set an example for the future. This is why it is number 1.

And so, the list concludes. Do you agree with the ranking? Let us know in the comments.