Intriguing Anime with Ambiguous Endings

With Neon Genesis Evangelion reimagining the mecha genre with its blend of action and just the right dose of existentialist philosophy, it’s no surprise that anime fans may be looking for other series with a similar or more extreme take on the uncanny valley. Viewers who want to skip the heroic antics of shonen anime may wish to give particular mystery anime a shot, especially those that let fans decide on the kind of endings they possess.

Despite an “ambiguous ending” being spoiled initially, these mystery-thrillers can make viewers lean closer to their seats in anticipation. After all, any must-watch mystery anime doesn’t necessarily catch a viewer’s interest with its ending, but rather the ride that makes them question what happens next.

Related

The 16 Best Anime Series of All Time, Ranked

From shonen to seinen, these iconic anime series have all stood the test of time and are among the very best that the medium has to offer.

Posts 18

By  Tom Bowen

10 Puella Magi Madoka Magica

On top of being a subversion to the magical girls genre, Puella Magi Madoka Magica ends up becoming one of the most complex anime to grace the industry. Conceptualized by Gen Urobuchi, its original 2011 anime run of Puella Magi Madoka Magica spawned spin-offs and films that sought to expand the story of middle-schoolers Madoka and Homura as they try to save themselves from horrible fates as magical girls.

Throughout the anime’s run, viewers see Madoka and Homura try separate themselves from the dark destiny set upon them by Kyubey, a misleading cute creature whose contracts force them to fight the mysterious Witches. While the anime’s original ending is elaborated by sequel films, the ambiguity of their resolutions gives no indications of a hard-set finale.

9 Higurashi When They Cry

When city boy Keichii Maebara of Higurashi When They Cry moves to the village of Hinamizawa in 1983, he arrives just before the town’s annual religious festival. Unfortunately, the anime soon takes Keiichi and his friends into a descent to darkness, with Higurashi When They Cry exploring horrific events surrounding the local deity Oyashiro with little to no resolution.

This adaptation style is taken straight from the visual novels, where players have to first play a series of “Question Arcs” that are each answered by paired “Answer Arcs.” While the second season Kai resolves each incident in the original anime, Higurashi When They Cry makes for a decent horror fest that tempts viewers to look for clues on the “true” stories behind each arc’s horrific incident.

8 Time Of Eve

Set at a time when androids have become common tools for humans, protagonists Rikuo and Masaki stumble upon a cafe known as Time of Eve when the former’s home android, Sammy, has begun acting independently. As shown throughout the six-episode web series, the eponymous (but seemingly illegal) Time of Eve cafe doesn’t allow patrons to discriminate between androids and humans, showcasing unique relationships between these beings.

Despite its short stint, Time of Eve showcases what both humans and androids would go through in order to protect and preserve their relationships. While its ending is not as bleak as other interesting anime, the show’s philosophical approach to robotics interspersed with interconnected slice-of-life stories can make one wonder about the eventual fate of the cafe.

7 Serial Experiments Lain

The life of introverted Lain Iwakura makes a turn for the bizarre in Serial Experiments Lain when she receives an email from a dead student. When the student proclaims she has “found God” within the virtual realm of the Wired, Lain is thrust into an adventure that explores themes of communication, identity, loneliness, and reality in a psycho-philosophical techno-thriller.

Related

The 35 Best Romance Anime, Ranked

There are too many great romance anime out there. These love stories will make you cheer, weep, and laugh.

Posts 23

While the finale of the thriller anime will see Lain make a firm life-altering decision, the Serial Experiments Lain ending does little to affirm viewers of the realism associated with the aforementioned events. Lain’s final interaction in her story may be conclusive for some, but the implied ambiguity of the story puts the ending’s status into scrutiny.

6 Paranoia Agent

The brilliant mind of Satoshi Kon once again astonishes the anime industry with yet another psychological thriller in the form of Paranoia Agent. As with Kon’s Perfect Blue and Paprika, viewers are forced to question their idea of perception in Paranoia Agent’s intriguing plot. After a character designer is attacked by a bat-wielding boy in in-line skates, others have soon experienced random attacks from the so-called Lil’ Slugger.

None of the stories have any correlation aside from the malicious Lil’ Slugger, making one think whether he existed in the first place. With all victims being attacked in moments of desperation, audiences are forced to wonder whether Lil’ Slugger was created as a social phenomenon, an imaginary construct to fight trauma, or a form of psychosis caused by a seemingly-innocent agent.

5 91 Days

Despite its short-lived 12-episode run, 91 Days has transformed into one of the more compelling anime to grace the mafia genre. Set in the Prohobition Era, 91 Days tells the tale of revenge of Angelo Lagusa, whose desire to avenge his family’s murder at the hands of the Vanetti Family leads to his friendship with the Don’s son, Nero Vanetti.

Unfortunately, Angelo’s entry into the Vanetti Family leads into the eponymous 91 days of gut-wrenching action and suspense. At the end of Angelo’s story of revenge, his relationship with Nero will definitely take a toll. And while the adage of revenge requiring a grave for the recipient and the avenger holds true for this story, the ambiguity of 91 Days’s ending is only made more melancholic with the fact that any aftermath won’t be peaceful.

4 Heavenly Delusion

Set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event, Heavenly Delusion shares its stories from two perspectives. On the one hand, a group of children inside an isolated facility have a prediction that their friend Tokio will be “saved” by someone who looks just like her. Meanwhile, a girl named Kiruko travels a devastated Japan with Maru, whose features resemble Tokio.

Related

The 10 Greatest Anime Games Of All Time

Video games inspired by anime and manga have been around since the earliest days of gaming, and the following are the 10 best anime games released so far.

Posts

These seemingly disconnected stories will slowly piece together a chronicle of what’s truly happened in the outside world. However, Heavenly Delusion ups the ante with how deep character relations are interspersed with a peculiar approach to worldbuilding, eventually leading to an ending that resolves certain plot points through questions that strengthen the anime’s sense of mystery.

3 Ghost In The Shell

Major Motoko Kusanagi of Public Security Section 9 makes her way to the big screen through the 1995 Ghost in the Shell film, adapting the “Puppet Master” storyline from its manga source. Set in 2029, Motoko and Section 9 are tasked with hunting down the mysterious Puppet Master, a cyber-criminal posing as a threat to important political figures.

The ongoing pursuit between Motoko and the Puppet Master engages viewers in a battle of action and wits, using a backdrop of cybernetic developments to debate the nature of consciousness and existence in a world where people can upload their minds in machines. Additionally, the film’s pursuit of an unexpected ending leads to questions that make it a worthwhile standalone experience, regardless of other films and series in the franchise.

2 Perfect Blue

Although Perfect Blue shows its age for a 1997 film, it remains a must-watch psychological thriller film for its examination of Japan’s burgeoning idol culture and its impact on the very idols who aspire to make a name out of themselves. The anime stars Mima, a former idol, whose pursuit of an acting career motivates a stalker to commit grisly murders.

Despite the straightforward nature of Perfect Blue, its delivery of the plot through Mima’s psychosis juxtaposed by her shoot of the in-universe “Double Bind” film has continued to blur the lines between reality and illusion. While the film gets a somewhat concrete conclusion, fans who examine the build-up to this final scene may notice some elements don’t add up as they were implied.

1 Monster

When a murder suspect turns out to be Johan, a former patient of Dr. Kenzo Tenma, the disgraced doctor’s hunt for the youngster in Monster reveals a chilling tale that explores both existentialism and the human psyche. Throughout the anime’s 74-episode run, Monster establishes Johan as the eponymous being, capable of transforming ordinary people into killers for his own whims.

However, Dr. Tenma’s pursuit of his former patient reveals a more tragic backstory for the dark antagonist with an equally sinister plot. Despite having an ending predictably showcasing a final showdown between Dr. Tenma and Johan, the outcome of their confrontation leads to more questions than answers.

MORE: Greatest Isekai Anime Of All Time (September 2023)