Anime endings

Forgive me if this has been raised before...I don't actually watch that much anime, but I have experienced a number of series - Evangelion, Death Note, Elfen Lied, FMP (and Code Geass as I've heard) - where the ending (which often differs from a good manga) is absolutely awful; the last two episodes of Eva are notorious, Death Note ends way too quickly with Light's plans inexplicably collapsing, Kohta accepts Lucy's apology rather than taking the sensible course of knocking her fucking head off, and FMP ends extremely quickly with everything working out perfectly and everyone sorting out their differences in a single god-damn episode. On top of that you have the well-documented ongoing series', which simply butcher the story of the manga with their own additions.

The question is: why are there so many cases of otherwise good adaptations which suddenly become so bad?

1 reason. Budget.

Right, I know Eva is a special case, but Elfen Lied and FMP being bad was ultimately due to the script; they could easily have been worked to fit into the same amount of episodes, and still be better. With Death Note it was pretty much just not enough episodes, but they could at least have displayed something of his breakdown so that the ending actually made sense. Alternatively, and if funding really is the problem, why don't studios have a mid-session interval (so to speak) and sell merchandise, rights, boxsets etc to raise funds? There must also be a number of other examples where the ending was poor for reasons other than length, not to mention those that have a tonne of money from the manga on which it's based.

In the case of manga adaptations, I'd say the biggest reason would be because the manga is still ongoing. So without a real ending to animate, the studio may pick an arbitrary story arc to conclude with that may or may not have any closure, or invent their own ending.

*cough*Gantz*cough*

Indeed it is true there are anime with horribly bad stories compared to the manga...

But when I look at a really bad one where the anime is completely different and has a bad end I just go to comic book thinking...

"Thats just a 'What If' story, It has nothing to do with the manga... up until the point when it went horribly array..."

Claymore is a great example. It did a very good job of following the manga's storyline up until the end where it just went way off. But that's because they no longer had any new chapters to work with. It really sucks. At times, I really wish that no anime be made for some mangas that haven't ended yet.

i know the Elfen Lied ending left u with a huuuuuuuge cliffhanger
and the Soul Eater ending is one of the GAYEST so far 4 me D:

Not only the Ending. The whole Anime was just getting worse and worse to the end.

i have no idea, but many people wonder that exact same thing. such as myself.

they just like to mess with us fans.

The budget, untalented directors/writers, companies and publishers interfering, or maybe it was just cancelled and they didn't want to just cut it off.

There are atill good endings like in Buso Renkin.I think it fulfill the unfinish story in the manga nicely

To add on, one in particular "Love Hina Again" (read the manga and far better); creators decision.

When I think about cliffhangers, I'm remind of Fuckin Air gear, Tenjho tenge, and others. I knows that many animes that ended like the list were cause by company's proplems and etc.; but It still makes me mad that I turn blue.

some times after long series some animes i seen just gave shit ending or how that one guy said about how the budget was too low im not to sure :D

You all have reminded how gay Hollywood can be.

And I still think its budget cuts.

Anime is in a recession!

I dunno, I thought FMP! ended on a good but vague note. It leaves you wanting more, but a lot of anime do that. As mentioned, many real-life constraints exist on the the production of anime and how they are directed.

Well mostly cause of budget and story line

It is always the money... But to be fair, then the deviations are not always bad, some of them are quite good. I have enjoyed many fillers just because they were good stories, and I have also often not read the manga, so then it does not become a huge problem for me.

Gungrave, my favourite anime. The chapter 13 and the final chapter made me cry, there not words to explain that. The main story, the chapters, the talking scenes, the action scenes...

Gungrave has the best ending (a emotional and sad ending) i ever see on an anime...