Don't you wish series' endings would be an hour long?

[LouiefromLodoss]

After rewatching Escaflowne this came to mind.

Most series build their climax between the episode prior to the last and half of the last (if not more so). And in the end we don't get to actually feel how the characters finish their journey.

...I think it would be fair enough that we get 1 hour episode dedicated to the resolution of the series and the characters. After all, we spent (usually) 25 episodes knowing these characters just to get to say goodbye to them in like 10 min or less.

[Puppet Master]

[ QUOTE ]
Louiefrom Lodoss said:
After rewatching Escalfowne this came to mind.

Most series build their climax between the episode prior to the last and half of the last (if not more so). And in the end we don't get to actually feel how the characters finish their journey.

...I think it would be fair enought that we get 1 hour episode dedicated to the resolution of the series and the characters. After all, we spent (usually) 25 episodes knowing these characters just to get to say goodbye to them in like 10 min or less.

[/ QUOTE ]

In some cases it would be better rather than those sudden endings like boom something big happens the end there is no future it's just over. /images/graemlins/anger200.gif

[Captain Impulse]

It wouldn't be so bad if series didn't have to adhere to the seemingly rather strict 26-episode cap. If that's the rule, fine, aim for 26 episodes, but if it's not enough, give yourselves another episode to flesh it all out.

Of course, this is nothing more than a pipe dream from an otaku, and thus my opinion does not count.

[roastedpekingduck]

Series are not always 26 episodes, but also can be numbers relating to 26, like 52, or 13. All series I have seen have episode counts that fall very close to those. As for what reason, I don't know why.

[Captain Impulse]

The reason is that a standard Japanese TV season is 26 weeks, so thus, 26 episodes. 13 episodes is a half season, 52 episodes would be a two-season run. Some shows don't exercise full use of a season (24 is a common number), probably because they don't need the extra episodes. Others get cancelled and fail to make their full run.

The reason I mentioned 26 episodes is because it seems to be the most common, and also because many series who fall into that bracket seem to have issues with their endings because of the constraint. I'm sure it happens with other series' lengths as well, but as I said, I believe 26 is about the most common length for an anime series run.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[LouiefromLodoss]

I said usually 26, this doesn't mean that of course there are shortest and longest ones.

[Captain Impulse]

[ QUOTE ]
Louiefrom Lodoss said:
I said usually 26, this doesn't mean that of course there are shortest and longest ones.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although wouldn't you say that the series that suffer from the "condensed ending syndrome" you're talking about are usually 26-episode series?

[LouiefromLodoss]

[ QUOTE ]
Captain Impulse said:
[ QUOTE ]
Louiefrom Lodoss said:
I said usually 26, this doesn't mean that of course there are shortest and longest ones.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although wouldn't you say that the series that suffer from the "condensed ending syndrome" you're talking about are usually 26-episode series?

[/ QUOTE ]


Not really, although I haven't watched longer ones than 26; however, I watched the ending for DBZ and the same thing happened there.

[something]

[ QUOTE ]
Louiefrom Lodoss said:
...I think it would be fair enought that we get 1 hour episode dedicated to the resolution of the series and the characters. After all, we spent (usually) 25 episodes knowing these characters just to get to say goodbye to them in like 10 min or less.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, but more with the idea of getting a more conclusive ending generally. It doesnt necessarily have to be a longer last episode.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha is pretty much a textbook perfect example in how to pace a final conflict and the segue into the "ending" material. In both seasons. End the battle in the episode *before* the last, and then have a whole final episode devoted to wrapping things up. It did it pretty much perfectly.

[Ty]

A big pet peeve of mine with endings is when they run the normal series closing credits at the end. It just seems lame. Many of the best endings have used the ending credit scolling time to show additional footage for the ending and some special music, which you really need to help close out a good show the right way.

[Leon_Belmont]

Wouldn't help. They'd just forgo the conflict until the latter part of the episode, and we'd still get the same ending.

[uwf]

[ QUOTE ]
Louiefrom Lodoss said:
...I think it would be fair enough that we get 1 hour episode dedicated to the resolution of the series and the characters. After all, we spent (usually) 25 episodes knowing these characters just to get to say goodbye to them in like 10 min or less.

[/ QUOTE ]

i agree, and think this is a really good idea. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[something]

[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
A big pet peeve of mine with endings is when they run the normal series closing credits at the end. It just seems lame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh definitely, there's pretty much nothing more horribly anticlimactic than that. Endings need something special, and the ed animation we've been watching for 12 or 25 or so episodes isn't gonna cut it.

[DanielJr]

Actually... there's a logical reason for episode count on anime TV series.

There are 52 weeks in a year, and considering most anime TV series air an episode a week, a full year anime is then 52 episodes long (usually). A 26 episode series is then half-year... and consecutively a 13 episode series is just a fourth of a year. Of course most anime don't even air an episode a week (due to holidays, cancellations, technical problems, etc.) Some just try to meet a quota (and use fillers).

Most anime series just happen to be half-year series, that's all.



The really odd cases are the Takahashi anime. They seem to just air until the team is either exhausted or caught up with the manga. That's how big Takahashi is over there.





-Edit-
Oh yeah, the question. I'm in full support of elongated endings. I actually think of it as a little rude that you spend so much time (and money) with the characters to then only be given a few seconds for a conclusion. I rather they dedicate an entire episode just summarizing the after-math, and maybe even throw an extra scene after the credits roll. /images/graemlins/happy.gif (I love those. RahXephon's was perfect.)

[Captain Impulse]

[ QUOTE ]
DanielJr said:
Actually... there's a logical reason for episode count on anime TV series.

There are 52 weeks in a year, and considering most anime TV series air an episode a week, a full year anime is then 52 episodes long (usually). A 26 episode series is then half-year... and consecutively a 13 episode series is just a fourth of a year. Of course most anime don't even air an episode a week (due to holidays, cancellations, technical problems, etc.) Some just try to meet a quota (and use fillers).

Most anime series just happen to be half-year series, that's all.



The really odd cases are the Takahashi anime. They seem to just air until the team is either exhausted or caught up with the manga. That's how big Takahashi is over there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you quite sure that a broadcast year in Japan for new series is 52 weeks? Here in the US it's something like 24 weeks, with the rest being re-runs and syndicated shows. It seems that even live-action shows wouldn't be able to keep up with a full year's worth of episodes, considering the actors will want time off eventually.

[DanielJr]

I'm pretty sure. I think Eureka Seven is still airing. I also believe Fullmetal Alchemist, Fushigi Yuugi, and Gundam Seed didn't get a break... anyone care to correct me?

[something]

[ QUOTE ]
Captain Impulse said:
Are you quite sure that a broadcast year in Japan for new series is 52 weeks? Here in the US it's something like 24 weeks, with the rest being re-runs and syndicated shows. It seems that even live-action shows wouldn't be able to keep up with a full year's worth of episodes, considering the actors will want time off eventually.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's close enough to 52. Give or take a few weeks really. Note that the new shows each season don't all start on the same day. But no, it's not *exactly*, necessarily.

So a series of "about 52" will, yes, run about a year. All the following air dates are from ANN.

Gundam Wing was 49 and ran 1995-04-07 to 1996-03-29.
Full Moon was 52 and ran 2002-04-06 to 2003-03-29
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne was 44 and ran 1999-02-13 to 2000-01-29
Gundam SEED was 50 and ran 2002-10-05 to 2003-09-27
Kaleido Star was 51 and ran 2003-04-03 to 2004-03-27

I'd give more examples but I'm blanking on ~52 ep series at the moment. So, accounting for New Years Week, other skipped weeks, but also for double-episode specials, it's close enough to say that, yes, 52 episodes equals 52 weeks. I imagine short breaks between "season" 1 and 2 of a 52 ep anime are somewhat normal though. For example, Super Gals was 52 and ran 2001-07-04 to 2002-09-26, which includes two extra months in there. KKJ also seems to indicate a bit of a stoppage here and there (even if the two dates were exactly 1 year apart (or, 51 weeks since episode one airs in "zero" time), it would only add 2 eps for 46, so they took a month and a half or so break somewhere, or more likely spread throughout.

So my assumption is that the broadcast season is "roughly" 13/26/52 weeks, but there's always a few weeks/episodes of leeway.

[Suwako Moriya]

There are quite a few series that could have benefited from being an episode or two longer at least. However the real problem to me is this. It's when they decide to start wrapping up the story. I think it's far better to NOT wait until the final episode to start wrapping up the plot. Rather start wrapping up the plot a few episodes earlier.

[DanielJr]

[ QUOTE ]
Kiku Sarasugawa said:
There are quite a few series that could have benefited from being an episode or two longer at least. However the real problem to me is this. It's when they decide to start wrapping up the story. I think it's far better to NOT wait until the final episode to start wrapping up the plot. Rather start wrapping up the plot a few episodes earlier.

[/ QUOTE ]

To go along with this comment... I think studios should stop animating manga that isn't done yet. It only creates problems: incomplete (Berserk) or non-sensical endings (Gantz).

That's considering if they animate the manga accurately... which I wish they didn't do either. Somehow, an anime that's vastly different from the manga gives me the incentive to buy both. (Like Fullmetal Alchemist)

[Bibulb]

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha is pretty much a textbook perfect example in how to pace a final conflict and the segue into the "ending" material. In both seasons. End the battle in the episode *before* the last, and then have a whole final episode devoted to wrapping things up. It did it pretty much perfectly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I've tended to think that a whole episode's worth of denouement would be a good thing. (We got that, to some degree, in NieA_7 - which makes my opinion of that little show that much higher.)

[Suwako Moriya]

It's because anime often ends before the manga version does that I'm against the idea of the anime version being a clone of the manga. Due the problems of incomplete and none-sensical endings as you pointed out. It's far better for the anime to be its own story.

However that doesn't mean the anime version should run wild. Other wise there is no point is being an anime based off a manga. The anime version should be given guidelines, in other words rules it must follow. Like for example "These two must get together", "These two hate each other" What you want to come up with.

[mrgazpacho]

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
A big pet peeve of mine with endings is when they run the normal series closing credits at the end. It just seems lame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh definitely, there's pretty much nothing more horribly anticlimactic than that.

[/ QUOTE ]

In the Site Blog, there was a quick comment about reaching the end of Urusei Yatsura (The Last Disk (http://www.animeondvd.com/blog/?p=51)) which specifically metioned the "See you next time" anomaly.

DanielJr's comment about Takahashi probably doesn't make this phenomenon any less jarring...

[Shsway]

But there are, I assume, a number of well-written shows that get everything layed out before the end. Azumanga Daioh comes to mind, with at least four or five episodes used to tie things up neatly, if I'm not mistaken. So in a sense, some finales take an hour and a half to two hours, depending on the anime. Of course, not everyone can do this, thus separating the well-written, well-meshed shows from those not explored so thoroughly.

[fujishig]

The timing (episode-wise) of the conclusion is a good point. Adding another episode isn't really feasible given the constraints of the schedule. It's not like most of these 26 episodes don't have an ep or two or five of filler (and I'm not just talking about the traditional recap episode). They need to be able to cut stuff out and pace it better if they want to have a post-denouement episode. I shouldn't have to read notes on the internet (and infer things from the art in the insert) to figure out exactly what happened at the end of Last Exile!

As far as manga having to finish before an anime can start... sometimes, that's not feasible. I'd say tie seasons to major arcs of manga, and end seasons at the end of an arc. If they start catching up, take a hiatus for a season and let the manga get a head start again.

[something]

[ QUOTE ]
DanielJr said:
To go along with this comment... I think studios should stop animating manga that isn't done yet. It only creates problems: incomplete (Berserk) or non-sensical endings (Gantz).

[/ QUOTE ]

The only problem with that is that a long manga can take foooooooreeeeeever to be released. If a mange is wildly popular now, you don't want to wait seven years to cash in on that craze -- it might be too late by then.

I mean, imagine if Bleach or Naruto didn't get an anime before the manga ended? We wouldn't be seeing episode one for... heck, who knows how much longer? I think they just need to find a really good stopping point in the story to end at, if they aren't doing a Bleach/Naruto-length show that will keep going as the manga keeps going.

Bring closure, but leave things open for more. I'm not sure how closely FruBa followed the manga, but if it was close, then it seems like they managed to do what I described, and rather well. I know some shows (like your Berserk example) don't really lend themselves well to the "ok lets just stop here and pick it up later if we can!" approach, but it's not inherently a bad thing.

[theworld]

Couldn't End of Evangelion be considered an hour plus ending?

[DanielJr]

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
DanielJr said:
To go along with this comment... I think studios should stop animating manga that isn't done yet. It only creates problems: incomplete (Berserk) or non-sensical endings (Gantz).

[/ QUOTE ]

The only problem with that is that a long manga can take foooooooreeeeeever to be released. If a mange is wildly popular now, you don't want to wait seven years to cash in on that craze -- it might be too late by then.

I mean, imagine if Bleach or Naruto didn't get an anime before the manga ended? We wouldn't be seeing episode one for... heck, who knows how much longer? I think they just need to find a really good stopping point in the story to end at, if they aren't doing a Bleach/Naruto-length show that will keep going as the manga keeps going.

Bring closure, but leave things open for more. I'm not sure how closely FruBa followed the manga, but if it was close, then it seems like they managed to do what I described, and rather well. I know some shows (like your Berserk example) don't really lend themselves well to the "ok lets just stop here and pick it up later if we can!" approach, but it's not inherently a bad thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you read the rest of my post you'd know I was inferring to steering away from the manga storyline instead of animating it panel by panel. But you do have a point.


However, I'll disagree on your "open for more" comment. I can't stand those type of endings. Either bring me full closure or keep animating until you do.

[XenoCrisis0153]

[ QUOTE ]
Louiefrom Lodoss said:
Most series build their climax between the episode prior to the last and half of the last (if not more so). And in the end we don't get to actually feel how the characters finish their journey.

...I think it would be fair enough that we get 1 hour episode dedicated to the resolution of the series and the characters. After all, we spent (usually) 25 episodes knowing these characters just to get to say goodbye to them in like 10 min or less.

[/ QUOTE ]
If series started wrapping up at the beginning of the 2nd-to-last episode, that would eliminate the need for an hour-long finale. Last Exile is a good example, the final battle started early, so by the time everything was concluded, they still had a good 10-15 minutes to do a nice final wrap-up scene.

Inifinite Ryvius is another good example. If I remember right, the entire last episode was dedicated to showing how the kids moved on after their adventure.

[perigee]

[ QUOTE ]
Kiku Sarasugawa said:
There are quite a few series that could have benefited from being an episode or two longer at least. However the real problem to me is this. It's when they decide to start wrapping up the story. I think it's far better to NOT wait until the final episode to start wrapping up the plot. Rather start wrapping up the plot a few episodes earlier.

[/ QUOTE ]
It may a side effect of the financing. The network or sponsor [depending on how it works] puts up the money for a studio to produce a quarter or half-year's worth of anime with an option to pick up another installment if the show's a hit. If it doesn't get renewed, the animators must wrap things up in however much time they have left. They can't work on the closing before they're sure about a renewal or lack thereof.

[fujishig]

[ QUOTE ]
DanielJr said:

If you read the rest of my post you'd know I was inferring to steering away from the manga storyline instead of animating it panel by panel. But you do have a point.


However, I'll disagree on your "open for more" comment. I can't stand those type of endings. Either bring me full closure or keep animating until you do.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem with animating a separate story from the manga is that this is considered "filler." This happens quite often when the anime catches up to the manga release and needs to recreate the buffer. These aren't always terrible, but the problem is that nothing of significance can happen to the main characters because the manga might go off into an entirely different direction.

I know that you're suggesting that the manga and anime be different entities entirely... this can work well only if the universe of the story is well-defined, so that there's a guidebook for both to follow. This sometimes happens when the concept is decided by a team or studio, and the manga and anime take off from the same starting place. I tend to find that in these situations, usually one media or the other suffers... it's often the manga, which just can't keep up the pace of a weekly 30 minutes series. Besides, the trend has always been to animate popular manga almost frame by frame... I know that it makes one or the other redundant, but that's the tradition that's wildly popular.

As for ending an arc... I think most manga has arcs that can serve as an ending point. The Berserk one was a terrible example, since while that was an end of an arc, that was a major cliffhanger. Take something like Kenshin, however, which could have easily ended after Kyoto (and for some, it did). Unfortunately, the tv audience is fickle, and most properties cannot survive a season or two off the air, so Kenshin couldn't go to hiatus, wait for Watsuki to finish the next arc, then pick up again.

[something]

[ QUOTE ]
DanielJr said:
If you read the rest of my post you'd know I was inferring to steering away from the manga storyline instead of animating it panel by panel. But you do have a point.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sigh, just because I didn't quote your whole post doesn't mean I didn't read it. I don't see where in my reply it indicates that I missed anything you said. Yes, you can steer clear of the manga story and take a different tact, but you can only do so so often -- and the reason a show gets animated based on a manga is because that story is popular already. And if you're going to be different, I'd just prefer an original show not based on anything. Still, I no, I'm not defending always making the anime the same panel by panel or anything, but rather saying that it makes sense that they'd want to follow the manga story pretty closely (to bring in an existing fanbase AND make things easier on themselves), and if you do so you often can't wait until the manga is completely done.

[Shsway]

[ QUOTE ]
The World said:
Couldn't End of Evangelion be considered an hour plus ending?

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh yes. And depepending on what school of thought you come from, it's either very drawn out, richly complex or offers up two endings for preference. I happen to think that it simultaneously ends two ways, yet builds in a pleasantly random (and freakish) fashion to one.

[DanielJr]

[ QUOTE ]
Fujishig said:
[ QUOTE ]
DanielJr said:

If you read the rest of my post you'd know I was inferring to steering away from the manga storyline instead of animating it panel by panel. But you do have a point.


However, I'll disagree on your "open for more" comment. I can't stand those type of endings. Either bring me full closure or keep animating until you do.

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="red">The problem with animating a separate story from the manga is that this is considered "filler."</font> This happens quite often when the anime catches up to the manga release and needs to recreate the buffer. These aren't always terrible, <font color="red">but the problem is that nothing of significance can happen to the main characters because the manga might go off into an entirely different direction.</font>

I know that you're suggesting that the manga and anime be different entities entirely... <font color="blue">this can work well only if the universe of the story is well-defined, so that there's a guidebook for both to follow.</font> This sometimes happens when the concept is decided by a team or studio, and the manga and anime take off from the same starting place. I tend to find that in these situations, usually one media or the other suffers... it's often the manga, which just can't keep up the pace of a weekly 30 minutes series. Besides, the trend has always been to animate popular manga almost frame by frame... <font color="red">I know that it makes one or the other redundant, but that's the tradition that's wildly popular.</font>

As for ending an arc... <font color="blue">I think most manga has arcs that can serve as an ending point.</font> The Berserk one was a terrible example, since while that was an end of an arc, that was a major cliffhanger. Take something like Kenshin, however, which could have easily ended after Kyoto (and for some, it did). <font color="red">Unfortunately, the tv audience is fickle, and most properties cannot survive a season or two off the air,</font> so Kenshin couldn't go to hiatus, wait for Watsuki to finish the next arc, then pick up again.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll disagree yet again, with almost everything you said. Except about the stuidos agreeing on a starting point for the manga and anime.

Would you say then that the second half of FMA is nothing but filler? Even though it has potential to be even better than the manga? How are the events in the second half of FMA not significant just because they weren't in the manga? How about Escaflowne? Or the Lodoss OVA? It's the anime's story, not the manga's.

And making anime/manga reduntant is a tradition we have to break. But that's just me.



Legend:
<font color="red">Disagree</font>
<font color="blue">Agree</font>

[fujishig]

I admit, I have not seen much of FMA, though it is in my backlog, so I can't comment on that. Escaflowne had two manga releases, but is a case where the manga and anime came out at around the same time... it was not a manga adaptation. Lodoss was based on the books.

I thought we were talking about stuff based on existing, popular manga. There are times when the anime will go off in it's own direction, mainly because the animators know that they will never get back to the manga's story. In a lot of the cases I can think of (Samurai Deeper Kyo, the original Hellsing, in some respects Kenshin season 3) the anime storyline has been mediocre at best. Trigun had a decent enough ending, though I'm sure diehard fans still want to see the original manga adapted more closely. X is kind of a strange case, since the manga has been on hiatus for so long. Still, it is true that if the anime creators have a firm grasp of the characters and story, they can make a quality story that varies from the manga. Heck, the Hellsing anime fleshed out a pretty trite videogame plot into a great anime.

I agree with what someone else posted... if you're going to have talented animators working on something, why not do an original concept instead of milking an existing property and changing everything around?

As for fans wanting the anime to be an exact adaptation of the manga... it's little different from fans wanting movies like LOTR and Harry Potter to adhere to the original books. Sure, some changes have to be made for the change in mediums, but the fans love the original work, and that's why they want to see the movie. You could argue that manga and anime are both visual mediums, so why bother, but that's the way it is, especially with young kid's manga adapted into anime.

I am intrigued by FMA... did the author help storyboard the anime at all? I believe the anime ended and the manga is still ongoing, right?

[DanielJr]

[ QUOTE ]
Fujishig said:
I admit, I have not seen much of FMA, though it is in my backlog, so I can't comment on that. Escaflowne had two manga releases, but is a case where the manga and anime came out at around the same time... it was not a manga adaptation. Lodoss was based on the books.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, Escaflowne had the shounen and shoujo manga. I'll need a source confirming they were released at the same time though.

As for Lodoss, that's what I meant. Look at the OVA... it's claimed by many to be better than the TV series. (The TV series has material closer to the original source. But I digress.)


[ QUOTE ]
I am intrigued by FMA... did the author help storyboard the anime at all? I believe the anime ended and the manga is still ongoing, right?

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not very sure. I remember reading (either on the official English site or NewType) that Bones only wanted to animate the first part and then add their story latey... to change the story to fit a full year schedule. They weren't interested into animating the manga entirely, but I'll need some verification on that

Yeah, the anime ended with the movie. The manga is still going strong.

[Chloe]

[ QUOTE ]
Bibulb said:
[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha is pretty much a textbook perfect example in how to pace a final conflict and the segue into the "ending" material. In both seasons. End the battle in the episode *before* the last, and then have a whole final episode devoted to wrapping things up. It did it pretty much perfectly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I've tended to think that a whole episode's worth of denouement would be a good thing. (We got that, to some degree, in NieA_7 - which makes my opinion of that little show that much higher.)

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, I liked the shows that ended in that fashion, you get to savor that last episode without it being so intense. Though sometimes they manage to do both, i.e. Gunslinger Girl. ...That's not how I expected it to end AT ALL, but it still worked out well.

Another one might be Chrono Crusade, though I am a little fuzzy on whether they actually finished the last fight in the next to last episode, or at the beginning of the final one.

[battra92]

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
A big pet peeve of mine with endings is when they run the normal series closing credits at the end. It just seems lame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh definitely, there's pretty much nothing more horribly anticlimactic than that. Endings need something special, and the ed animation we've been watching for 12 or 25 or so episodes isn't gonna cut it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anticlimactic is the word. That's one thing I loved about Escaflowne having special music and everything for its finale. In my opinion, this was the best music of the series.

[Ty]

[ QUOTE ]
Battra92 said:
[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
A big pet peeve of mine with endings is when they run the normal series closing credits at the end. It just seems lame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh definitely, there's pretty much nothing more horribly anticlimactic than that. Endings need something special, and the ed animation we've been watching for 12 or 25 or so episodes isn't gonna cut it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anticlimactic is the word. That's one thing I loved about Escaflowne having special music and everything for its finale. In my opinion, this was the best music of the series.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's saying something about what I still feel is Yoko Kanno's best work. I agree with you too. On the last disc if you check the disc credits screen it plays what I think is the best piece from the ending scenes for your convenience. I've used that quite a few times. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

[pianocello]

[ QUOTE ]
XenoCrisis0153 said:
[ QUOTE ]
Louiefrom Lodoss said:
Most series build their climax between the episode prior to the last and half of the last (if not more so). And in the end we don't get to actually feel how the characters finish their journey.

...I think it would be fair enough that we get 1 hour episode dedicated to the resolution of the series and the characters. After all, we spent (usually) 25 episodes knowing these characters just to get to say goodbye to them in like 10 min or less.

[/ QUOTE ]
If series started wrapping up at the beginning of the 2nd-to-last episode, that would eliminate the need for an hour-long finale. Last Exile is a good example, the final battle started early, so by the time everything was concluded, they still had a good 10-15 minutes to do a nice final wrap-up scene.

Inifinite Ryvius is another good example. If I remember right, the entire last episode was dedicated to showing how the kids moved on after their adventure.

[/ QUOTE ]
One other good example is Gun x Sword. They start to wrap up towards the final confrontation and the aftermath at least eight episodes before.