Manga Endings (Romantic and/or Comedy)

Misho-

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Hey I haven't done a topic in a while...

I just finished School Rumble and the "Continuation" (?) School Rumble Z and then I remembered why I stopped reading Manga like 6 ago...

I understand the whole "If we resolve the sexual tension between the main cast the story will lose its Will they Won't they?" but I mean c'mon...

Manga and Anime are the biggest offenders in this regard (compared with Western media) but I remember that from the series I've read/watched only one had a sensible ending (disregarding all the slapstick or nonsensical parts)

From the top of my head, series that I loved and hated after they've ended and the format I enjoyed them on (taking into consideration that sometimes you get a better ending on Manga or the Anime version):
-Ranma 1/2 (read some of the manga and watched all anime plus Ovas and 2 Movies)

-Full Metal Panic (read various books of the manga series)

-Negima (just the Manga [is that bookseries ever going to end?])

-School Rumble (as mentioned above plus some of the Anime)

-Love Hina (the whole Manga and the Anime, but I really disliked that last one)

-A.I. Love you (really cute story and only in Manga)

-Chobits (Anime only)

-And some others that don't qualify like romantic comedy or something but still have those elements like Sorcerer Hunters and Slayers which I have both read and enjoyed in both formats.

Those are the ones that I can think of and from those only Love Hina actually has a satisfying resolution...

Maybe I'm rambling here or something but which Anime/Manga series have you enjoyed and left you with blue balls for some actual resolution and a clear (He/She ended up with Him/Her/or not)?
 

Elfgore

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Fullmetal Alchemist 2003's ending pissed me off. Not only is it a damn cliffhanger for the tv series, the god damn follow up movie's ending almost made me punch a wall it was just so bad. I hope Brotherhood's ending is better.

Haganai Next's ending made me crave some resolution or more LNs so they could release the anime faster. To sum it up it ends with a love confession, someone running away, and finally the characters realizing something every viewer of the show has known since the fourth episode.

I could write something about Shuffle... but that would take about half the page.

As a note to you, most harems and tend to have no resolution for romance as they don't want to piss off their viewers/readers. They rather go with what people call a "true" harem ending in which the guy never makes a decision and life goes on. I hate it but writers tend to stick with it. Though if that happens with the Rosario+Vampire manga... let's just say the world might be better if he Tskune ends up with Moka.
 

Queen Michael

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Worst case of this ever can be found in Tokyo Boys and Girls.
After spending five volumes being unable to choose between three guys, the heroine decides that she doesn't want to choose between them. Nothing before the ending indicated that she would refrain from making an actual decision. I call baloney.
 

CrimsonBlaze

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Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt had a reasonable ending to their first season (not sure if it's the last season), until the very last scene ended in confusion and somewhat wanting another season or a better conclusion.
 

Relish in Chaos

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I haven't finished Ranma 1/2, but I eventually just got bored with Ranma and Akane being outright dicks to each other. Even if they did get into an actual relationship, Akane would probably just abuse Ranma and then Ranma would just run off with one of the host of other girls he could choose from that don't hit him every single day. (I mean, Ukyo seems relatively sane enough...?)
 

RikuoAmero

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Zoids (the Western dub with Van Flyheight). I watched it about ten years ago, and man, that had blue balls. There was build up to a love triangle between Van, Fiona...and that other guy, the Imperial soldier who's not as cool as his older brother, can't remember his name. I do remember, somewhat vaguely, that there was an entire episode devoted to Not Cool Guy trying to confess to Fiona, only to learn she's in love with Van...and then that was it. There's no resolution.

To contrast, about a month ago, I just finished watching the original Dragonball series, the one where Goku's a kid. Admittedly, the romance between him and Chi-chi doesn't actually develop much, (he says unwittingly he'll marry her as a kid, not knowing what it means, they meet again years later where she basically badgers him into it, there's no actual romance, ya know, love between the two) but the start of Dragonball Z does show that people do get married and do have children.
Oh yeah, and the whole on again/off again relationship between Bulma and Yamcha. Just so people don't go "why didn't you mention them?" So it does leave me scratching my head as to why, in what is arguably the quintessential shonen anime series, they were able to do romance, acknowledge it exists and show its consequences and repercussions, while shows from just a few years later either don't bother or leave it dangling as a plot thread, not bothering to address it come series end.
 

[Kira Must Die]

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Although this is neither a romance or a comedy, The Twelve Kingdoms' anime had that effect on me. I really enjoyed it, but the series ended rather abruptly and uneventfully, with some previous storylines never resolving, and I wanted to see more of Youko, as she quickly became one of my favorite anime characters. I'm deciding on picking up the light novel series, though.

As for actual romance/comedy anime/manga, most harem stuff bother me because of that and as they go on I pretty much know that they're gonna cop out in the end because they can't possibly satisfy fans or go for the obvious main heroine, although I'm not a big fan of that genre, and they work much better in visual novel/game form.
 

Relish in Chaos

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RikuoAmero said:
To contrast, about a month ago, I just finished watching the original Dragonball series, the one where Goku's a kid. Admittedly, the romance between him and Chi-chi doesn't actually develop much, (he says unwittingly he'll marry her as a kid, not knowing what it means, they meet again years later where she basically badgers him into it, there's no actual romance, ya know, love between the two) but the start of Dragonball Z does show that people do get married and do have children.
Oh yeah, and the whole on again/off again relationship between Bulma and Yamcha. Just so people don't go "why didn't you mention them?" So it does leave me scratching my head as to why, in what is arguably the quintessential shonen anime series, they were able to do romance, acknowledge it exists and show its consequences and repercussions, while shows from just a few years later either don't bother or leave it dangling as a plot thread, not bothering to address it come series end.
To be fair, the "romances" in Dragon Ball are mostly just contrivances to have a new kid Saiyan fighter added into the series. Toriyama had Blooma and Yamcha break up for good so she could go out with the widow-peaked psychopath who killed her boyfriend and eventually give birth to the man who would save the future. And Kuririn fell in love with Android #18, a woman who'd just beaten his friends to the brink of death, just because she playfully kissed him afterwards.
 

vun

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This is my main problem with the manga I read, I like romance and there seems to be plenty of it in manga, but eeeeeeugh... The way they do it is often so annoying, for instance creating sexual tension between characters where one is clearly too young for anything interesting to actually happen, or just never moving on. I read one where the plot pretty much didn't advance at all for 50 chapters, and then in the final chapter, boom, boy gets girl, done.

Basically, I can't really think of many where it's moved along at a reasonable pace and actually ended satisfactory. Most of them are just dragging out a romance plot for nothing, except maybe as an excuse to cram in "wacky" comedy.

Many webcomics often do the romance thing better, but I've pretty much read all the decent webcomics I can find so far.

If anyone can recommend me manga with a decent romance plot or a webcomic that is just decent, doesn't have to be romance or a plot at all, I'd appreciate it.
 

FPLOON

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Elfgore said:
Fullmetal Alchemist 2003's ending pissed me off. Not only is it a damn cliffhanger for the tv series, the god damn follow up movie's ending almost made me punch a wall it was just so bad. I hope Brotherhood's ending is better.
As someone who REALLY enjoyed the first series (with the exceptions of the ending and movie "epilogue", despite still wanting to buy them at the time), you will LOVE how Brotherhood ends... mostly because...
...the entire ending feels more satisfying and worth the extra length to get there than the original series, in my opinion...
Plus, Brotherhood's movie is more satisfying and not just because it's technically non-canon to the Brotherhood series...

OT: Eden of the East was great... but, the movies (that took me longer than expected to try to watch) left me with mixed feeling... I'll keep rewatching the series (since I have it on DVD), but I don't think I'm in a hurry to own the movies on DVD anytime soon...

This Ugly Yet Beautiful World (both the manga and series) is the only series I can think of that I regretted owning just the entire manga series... mainly because of how predictable it all was... I'm fine with guessing what happens and (sometimes) being right, but this is RIDICULOUS! *facepalms* Gainax... I don't even...
 

Queen Michael

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vun said:
This is my main problem with the manga I read, I like romance and there seems to be plenty of it in manga, but eeeeeeugh... The way they do it is often so annoying, for instance creating sexual tension between characters where one is clearly too young for anything interesting to actually happen, or just never moving on. I read one where the plot pretty much didn't advance at all for 50 chapters, and then in the final chapter, boom, boy gets girl, done.

Basically, I can't really think of many where it's moved along at a reasonable pace and actually ended satisfactory. Most of them are just dragging out a romance plot for nothing, except maybe as an excuse to cram in "wacky" comedy.

Many webcomics often do the romance thing better, but I've pretty much read all the decent webcomics I can find so far.

If anyone can recommend me manga with a decent romance plot or a webcomic that is just decent, doesn't have to be romance or a plot at all, I'd appreciate it.
MARS and Paradise Kiss are very popular romance comics. I really enjoyed both of them.
 

Bara_no_Hime

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Misho- said:
Hey I haven't done a topic in a while...
Manga and Anime are the biggest offenders in this regard (compared with Western media) but I remember that from the series I've read/watched only one had a sensible ending (disregarding all the slapstick or nonsensical parts)
That's weird, because typically I find that Japanese series do a better job of resolving sexual tension than western TV series. Although, I will admit, that has been changing in recent years (with shows like Castle actually pulling it off).

So, to ease your mind and perhaps give you something new to watch, I'm going to give you a list of anime series that resolve the sexual tension to a satisfactory conclusion.

Here's my list:

Revolutionary Girl Utena. One of the most complex relationship charts in all anime, but things are fully resolved by the final episode (for the main characters at least). Also a personal favorite, so consider this a plug for the anime series. The manga is okay too.

Mai Hime. This one has several love triangles and complications throughout. And all are resolved by (or in) the final episode. Very satisfactory overall. The manga is entirely different and has far less resolution - be warned.

Sailor Moon. Do I really even need to say this one? There's plenty of romantic tension through season 1, and a ton in season 5, and bits and pieces for the rest.

If you're looking for a manga, then let me recommend Kashi Mashi. The anime is awful (for various reasons - just don't watch it) but the manga is great. It has a central romantic love triangle (or trapezoid) that is fully resolved by the end. Also, just a fun manga overall.

EDIT: MARS! I forgot about MARS. That one too ends with the sexual tension resolved. It's manga only, as far as I know.

EDIT 2: And Fushigi Yuugi! While it has its flaws, the Fushigi Yuugi anime is, overall, really quite good. Even if the main character has some... issues. Anyway, it does resolve the main relationships solidly, so there's that. Oh, and don't bother with the OAVs. Just... don't. As for the manga, it's okay, but the anime has better battles.

Oh, but speaking of manga, there's Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden. Personally, I enjoyed it far more than the original (manga) and I hope they make an anime series out of it now that it's finished.

....

Okay, those are the series with romantic/sexual tension that I own that resolve in a satisfactory fashion.

I'm currently watching Nana for the first time - that one may or may not have a resolution. I'll tell you in another 28 episodes (if you remind me).

Edit 3:

[Kira Must Die said:
]Although this is neither a romance or a comedy, The Twelve Kingdoms' anime had that effect on me. I really enjoyed it, but the series ended rather abruptly and uneventfully, with some previous storylines never resolving, and I wanted to see more of Youko, as she quickly became one of my favorite anime characters. I'm deciding on picking up the light novel series, though.
Oh, that series pissed me off so much! It was so good and then it just... kinda... wandered off.

Apparently the author never finished the novel series it was based on or something. Whatever, it was just... so frustrating.
 

Misho-

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Relish in Chaos said:
...(I mean, Ukyo seems relatively sane enough...?)
Hahaha Ukyo would just beat him silly with that huge spatula... Also I think believe that Ukyo would be perfect for Ryoga (for some reason) and even some of the later episodes and the second movie seems to agree with this...

[Kira Must Die said:
]... As for actual romance/comedy anime/manga, most harem stuff bother me because of that and as they go on I pretty much know that they're gonna cop out in the end because they can't possibly satisfy fans or go for the obvious main heroine, although I'm not a big fan of that genre, and they work much better in visual novel/game form.
Elfgore said:
... As a note to you, most harems and tend to have no resolution for romance as they don't want to piss off their viewers/readers. They rather go with what people call a "true" harem ending in which the guy never makes a decision and life goes on. I hate it but writers tend to stick with it. Though if that happens with the Rosario+Vampire manga... let's just say the world might be better if he Tskune ends up with Moka.
Heh yeah I just noticed that most of the stuff I added was Harem stuff... Well in contrast a (reverse?) Harem was Wallflower that I enjoyed a lot in the beginning due to the unconventional main character and that on the surface it didn't appear to be about her falling for any of the guys... But that changed like in the second book and after a while I just got tired of all the bishonen perfect boys and simply stopped reading it.

Elfgore said:
Fullmetal Alchemist 2003's ending pissed me off. Not only is it a damn cliffhanger for the tv series, the god damn follow up movie's ending almost made me punch a wall it was just so bad. I hope Brotherhood's ending is better.

Haganai Next's ending made me crave some resolution or more LNs so they could release the anime faster. To sum it up it ends with a love confession, someone running away, and finally the characters realizing something every viewer of the show has known since the fourth episode.

I could write something about Shuffle... but that would take about half the page.
Bara_no_Hime said:
Here's my list:

Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Mai Hime.

Sailor Moon.


MARS

Fushigi Yuugi!
....

Okay, those are the series with romantic/sexual tension that I own that resolve in a satisfactory fashion.

I'm currently watching Nana for the first time - that one may or may not have a resolution. I'll tell you in another 28 episodes (if you remind me).

[Kira Must Die said:
]Although this is neither a romance or a comedy, The Twelve Kingdoms' anime had that effect on me. I really enjoyed it, but the series ended rather abruptly and uneventfully, with some previous storylines never resolving, and I wanted to see more of Youko, as she quickly became one of my favorite anime characters. I'm deciding on picking up the light novel series, though.
Thank you for the recommendations! (I've never seen Sailor Moon :p) Between these and the other titles that have been mentioned above I will have a lot of series to read/see/catch up to :D

As for my personal recommendation, the Love Hina manga (which I mentioned above) is a pretty strong comedy series with actual resolutions for each of the girls (even if it's not the best outcome for some) and the at the end you can really feel the series ending on a powerful/resolute note. (It's a Harem Manga so be warned)...

Rozen Maiden (I've only seen the Anime) it's pretty entertaining if you can get past the fact that they are dolls...

Webcomics that have romantic satisfying stories (that makes sense in their respective universes, at least while they are blossoming) I would have to say PVP or Megatokyo which is a fun one (especially between Largo and Erika, but it's not really worthy to slog throughout all the of Piro's angst just to get there.)

If I think of something else I will be sure to add it and maybe if I think of one that is not a Harem Romantic Comedy Manga type.
 

Lilani

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Elfgore said:
Fullmetal Alchemist 2003's ending pissed me off. Not only is it a damn cliffhanger for the tv series, the god damn follow up movie's ending almost made me punch a wall it was just so bad. I hope Brotherhood's ending is better.
If satisfaction and closure are what you want, then I promise you Brotherhood's ending delivers. I liked the ending of Brotherhood A LOT more than the original FMA series. I get what they were doing with the whole "equivalent exchange" thing being brought to its most logical extreme, but to me it played out like a series that was going to draw to a definitive end. And then it didn't, and then I felt a bit empty inside.

Anyway, that was sort of what I came to this thread to say, lol. As far as good endings, Toradora has a very satisfying ending. It is incredibly well-paced and is hands down my favorite high school romance--and that's coming from one who doesn't usually like romance animes because there's more tropes than you can shake a stick at. But Toradora minimizes the tropes and actually focuses on developing the characters. There are still tropes, but every main character has a distinctive arc that extends beyond whatever trope they originally seemed to fulfill and become characters of their own. And there's no creepy dead magical girl stuff like in Clanaad.
 

Bara_no_Hime

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Misho- said:
Thank you for the recommendations! (I've never seen Sailor Moon :p) Between these and the other titles that have been mentioned above I will have a lot of series to read/see/catch up to :D
Do yourself a favor and watch Sailor Moon Subbed. The dub is halariously awful, but awful none the less. Alternatively, you can watch Sailor Moon Abridged for the first season and have the basic idea (albeit far more sarcastically).

If you need help finding Sailor Moon with subtitles... PM me.

Misho- said:
As for my personal recommendation, the Love Hina manga
Own it. And the anime too.

I like certain aspects of the series better in the anime - so long as you leave out the OAVs. The anime ends so well - the extras just screw it up and throw in more unnecessary waffling.

I used to have a Mutsumi avatar. It's been years since I used it, though. I felt a certain kinship with her. :p

Misho- said:
Rozen Maiden (I've only seen the Anime) it's pretty entertaining if you can get past the fact that they are dolls...
Huh. Heard of it, but haven't seen it yet. Currently working my way through the "Certain" series (Certain Magical Index, Certain Scientific Railgun) which, like most anime based on a dating sim, seems to be bent on now choosing a romance. Then again, in Railgun, one hardly seems necessary.

Misho- said:
Megatokyo which is a fun one
Own the (currently released) novels, followed the series for years (albeit not recently) and backed his recent Kickstarter to make Megatokyo into a visual novel.

I can see we have some similar tastes. ^^

Oh - I can't promise resolution (since I'm in the middle myself) but so far, Nana has been really, really good. It's a Josei manga, so it has a higher level of sex than... well, pretty much anything else mentioned (except Utena, which was also written by a Josei mangaka). If you're okay with that, then check it out.
 

-Dragmire-

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Mahoraba is a great read and concludes well. The anime of it is just OK, I'd recommend sticking to the Manga.

Yakitate!! Japan... well, it has an ending. Not sure how I feel about it, twas odd to say the least but it's still an enjoyable read. Any sexual tension in it is for comedy's sake so a lack of resolution is more of a result of it being unimportant and less of a cop out.
 

crazygameguy4ever

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hmm.. the Deadman Wonderland anime.. is the only one i can think of...it's not romantic or a comedy but the ending if the anime is a cliffhanger which sucks.
 

Lilani

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crazygameguy4ever said:
hmm.. the Deadman Wonderland anime.. is the only one i can think of...it's not romantic or a comedy but the ending if the anime is a cliffhanger which sucks.
Totally agree with this one, too. My university's anime club watched this a couple of years ago, and a lot of people stopped coming because it was so incomprehensible. Somewhere near the last episode, it seemed like EVERYBODY was getting killed off and then getting revived, and the ending left us saying "What the hell? That's IT?" We were told the manga was good, and people had voted to watch it because the opening theme was awesome. And the first episode seemed intriguing. But it definitely needed SOME kind of closure. There's a difference between an open ending and an unsatisfying ending, and DW did not know the difference.
 

Misho-

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I just remembered that there was one I didn't mention (because it doesn't fit the category of romantic/comedy although it has some romance) it was the ending of the Gantz anime... By the end all my co-workers, my boss and me (we used to watch it together at the night-shift I worked at a couple of years ago) we were all confused and angry of the sudden and nonsensical ending it had...
Bara_no_Hime said:
Misho- said:
Thank you for the recommendations! (I've never seen Sailor Moon :p) Between these and the other titles that have been mentioned above I will have a lot of series to read/see/catch up to :D
Do yourself a favor and watch Sailor Moon Subbed. The dub is halariously awful, but awful none the less. Alternatively, you can watch Sailor Moon Abridged for the first season and have the basic idea (albeit far more sarcastically).

If you need help finding Sailor Moon with subtitles... PM me.
I think I will give it a watch, if I can't find it I'll PM you by the end of the day :) Thx

Bara_no_Hime said:
Misho- said:
As for my personal recommendation, the Love Hina manga
Own it. And the anime too.

I like certain aspects of the series better in the anime - so long as you leave out the OAVs. The anime ends so well - the extras just screw it up and throw in more unnecessary waffling.

I used to have a Mutsumi avatar. It's been years since I used it, though. I felt a certain kinship with her. :p
Haha that's great, I used to be a little in love with Mutsumi but at the end Motoko stole my heart <3

I'll try to cram as much of the recommendations on my inmediate-to-read list but if you happen to think of another one send it my way :D

Edit: One anime (for those looking for something to see) that has kind of a meh ending but it's fun all throughout (and it's a Harem stuff style [what's wrong with me?]) it's Saber Marionette J... It's a bit silly and cartoony at some points but I remember watching it almost 10 years ago and I still remember some parts very fondly so it probably did some things right.