Endings that you thought were revolutionary/different-from-the-usual/groundbreaking

[pianocello]

There comes a time when you find that many anime endings become predictable or cliche-ridden like you've seen many times. What are the anime endings that you thought were revolutionary in the sense that they were very different from the ones before them and what are the reasons you think so?

Here are a few examples so that you will know what I am talking about:
Sola
Very few shows have had endings where the male and female leads die and the antagonist survives (but becomes a better person).

Kannazuki no Miko
Before this, it has been a cliche that all yuri relationships must either have tragic endings or have the girls turning straight. Therefore, many expected that Chikane would die and Himeko would go for the guy. What was unexpected was that the girl gets the girl and rejects the guy. Hence from this point onwards, we suddenly saw an unprecendented explosion in anime that features yuri relationships that actually had happy endings for the lesbian couples.

School Days
There needs to be more harem endings where the spineless, indecisive male lead is killed by his love interest.

Edit: I'm putting the word "groundbreaking" in the title because quite a number of people are putting endings that they like, but are not necessarily revolutionary and groundbreaking.

[jecca-neko]

Utena
I don't think I need to say why to anyone who has seen it. But I will anyway: Anthy finally breaking free and just walking out of the world that Akio created, much to his dismay. His precious canary found out a sky existed beyond the cage.

Sailor Moon
Epic naked Usagi and Galaxia sword fight FTW! Oh, and the expected thing that everyone was brought back to life (like they are time and again in Sailor Moon) somehow didn't detract from how epic it felt either.

Those are the only ones I can think of at the moment. It has been a long week.

[Lego]

Planetes

why?

It was actually a great way to end it. I'm so used to these types of shows dragging their feet and having something happen or the "wink wink we like each other" BS but Planetes delivered. Add to the fact that Ai is pregnant and the marriage proposal and it's my favorite anime ending outside of something like Gankutsuou.

[aagranov]

None of these compare to Evangelion's 2 endings.

[Splitter]

I'll second Kannazuki

Cowboy Bebop: Quite possibly the most argued-over ending that wasn't a mindfuck. We'll never know for sure if Spike's dead. Heck, even Watanabe-san won't say!

Death Note: Pride goeth before the downfall. Thanks for the swimming lessons, Light

Diebuster: A resonance of its predecessor from the opposite angle. IMO, it was even better looking up than it was looking down.

[itsuka]

My nod goes to Princess Tutu. I was really surprised by that ending, and I totally love it. Not only did they change Ahiru's love interest half way through, they somehow managed to avoid the sugary love-dovey ending I was sort of expecting, and also didn't go for the dramatic, tragic ballet style ending that also might have been appropriate, but managed to find a middle way that really connected very well with the themes of the second part of the anime. Brilliant IMO. Though of course there are people who are horribly upset it didn't have the sugary ending they wanted...

[Njr Scrawl]

None of these compare to Evangelion's 2 endings.

Damn right!

I thought Rumbling Hearts would be a different ending.
Ditto Koi Kaze.

After Evangelion, I think Rurouni Kenshin:Reflections stunned me most. Still does, especially for emotional impact.

Utena TV because it felt incomplete. That's it? I want an OVA final series as Fushigi Yugi had.

Zeta Gundam TV did because it left Camille brain-damaged. I was expecting death or escape

[Isuzu Inugami]

Utena TV because it felt incomplete. That's it? I want an OVA final series as Fushigi Yugi had.


Really? I thought it was perfect. The life-changing character-defining choices have been made. Anything more would be mere epilogue.

Back to the original topic:

Melody of Oblivion: What happened? Is he fighting the good fight, or managing the bad? I think the answer is left to the viewer....

Back when I was new to anime, I thought the way Tenchi Universe had the ending circle back to where the show began was pretty different.

[Vicserr]

Zeta Gundam TV did because it left Camille brain-damaged. I was expecting death or escape


Well, it was a way to pound more grief in a pretty bleak ending, you know tha Tomino series of the time got pretty tragic endings too compared with the standard mecha series endings of the time but as you have said, the tv ending got negated in the Zeta movies.

Space RunAway Ideon, Aura Battler Dunbine: Everybody Dies!!!

Invincible Superman Zambot 3: The male members of the family die stopping the invasion

[Kouji Tamino]

God, Chrono Crusade was just brutal in this area. After a fairly light hearted first half with dark undertones, Satella, her butler, and her sister Fiore/Florette die before series end, and both Rosette and Chrono die in the final episode. Usually the main characters dying isn't such a big deal, but then it turns out that as long as evil exists in man, Aion lives on, making their sacrifices almost futile in a way. That just completely blew me away. Then I realized that even though Aion returned years later, they had all fulfilled what they had originally set out to accomplish anyway, so they didn't die for nothing. This added another complexity to the ending that I never realized until recently, as well as lessening the blow of their deaths.

[Darkseid]

Giant Robo. Nobody I've spoken to saw that ending coming, but it made perfect sense.

[Profweasel]

Princess Nine They didn't win. It was close but there was a feeling that they could have made it. Something that stirs the imagination for something more.....like a second season :(

[ayareiko]

Princess Nine They didn't win. It was close but there was a feeling that they could have made it. Something that stirs the imagination for something more.....like a second season :(
I think this kind of ending is pretty cliche in Sports Anime.