We need MORE! Join Ashley as we look over great anime that were cut short
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 anime that ended
00:11 too soon.
00:13 For this list, we'll be looking at the anime that would have been better off with a few
00:16 more seasons in their run.
00:29 For 11 episodes straight, Princess Jellyfish tackled gender norms and societal expectations
00:38 with a fun-loving optimism.
00:40 But recommending this show comes with a pretty big asterisk.
00:43 You'll be watching Tsukimi make the dresses of her dreams when, suddenly, the credits
00:48 roll for the last time.
01:00 There's no episode 12.
01:01 Instead, Princess Jellyfish just sort of ends, leaving most of its plot lines and character
01:07 arcs unresolved.
01:09 If you squint hard enough, you can kind of see a half-hearted resolution in the final
01:14 minutes.
01:22 But this clearly wasn't supposed to be the show's farewell.
01:26 The manga's been complete since 2017, so there's no good reason why we haven't
01:30 gotten a sequel yet.
01:43 It's shows like this that make you wonder, "What was the point?"
01:46 Muv-Luv Alternative should have been the quintessential adaptation of the visual novel of the same
01:52 name.
01:53 After all, it had a great ending written before a single episode even aired.
02:00 And yet, if you want to see the ending, you'll need to play the game instead.
02:04 For some inexplicable reason, the anime stopped one season short of finishing the story.
02:15 It wasn't a perfect adaptation by any means, but Muv-Luv Alternative at least deserved
02:20 to cross the finish line.
02:22 Especially because, without a proper ending, there's absolutely no reason to bother watching
02:27 the anime at all.
02:37 Take our word for it, Talentless Nana is one of the most bingeable shows in recent memory.
02:43 Partly because its edgy storyline is just that good, and partly because there's only
02:48 one short season to its name.
03:02 Given how much potential the premise has, that's inexcusable.
03:05 It's a darkly hilarious murder mystery inside a twisted superhero origin story.
03:11 What's not to love?
03:12 Nana claims she doesn't have any powers, but her real talent is leaving you wanting
03:16 more.
03:26 Despite that, there's no word on a follow-up since the show wrapped up in 2020.
03:31 The manga is still ongoing, so fingers crossed we get a sequel sooner rather than later.
03:43 Adapting a sprawling visual novel into a 26-episode anime is a fool's errand, but nothing
03:49 as silly as story integrity was gonna stop Uminako.
03:56 The final episode is the biggest culprit.
03:59 Those last 20 minutes have enough twists and turns to fill a whole season on their own.
04:05 Then instead of resolving any of them, the Uminako anime leaves its viewers with a polarizing
04:10 open-ended farewell.
04:19 There is some artistic merit to these ideas, but there's simply not enough time to do
04:24 any of them justice.
04:25 It's a real shame because, with a bit more time and care, Uminako could have gotten the
04:30 anime it deserved instead of whatever this is.
04:43 For a show with the word "end" in its name, it sure didn't know how to do that.
04:53 By the time "Seraph of the End" finished its first batch of episodes, it had already
04:57 caught up to its source material.
04:59 To bide time, the anime created a semi-original ending for the season that isn't quite a
05:04 cliffhanger but not really a finale either.
05:16 It was a sour note to end on, especially as the wait for more material turned into years.
05:22 At this point, enough time has passed that it seems unlikely anyone will double back
05:27 to give "Seraph of the End" a proper send-off.
05:29 The worst part of this quiet cancellation is that
05:40 it had nothing to do with the show's quality.
05:43 On the contrary, "No Game No Life's" contest-based world was a ridiculously fun
05:48 ride from start to finish.
05:57 It ended its season with a tease of more to come, but unfortunately that wasn't enough
06:02 to distract from a series of behind-the-scenes issues.
06:06 From the author's failing health to some very serious plagiarism concerns, "No Game
06:11 No Life" just couldn't catch a break.
06:19 The prequel film in 2017 is the last we've heard from the franchise, leading many to
06:24 believe its time on screen has officially run out of lives.
06:35 There isn't anything inherently wrong with "Lucky Star's" ending.
06:38 The show is about as slice-of-life as you can get, so it didn't have any complex storylines
06:43 or nuanced character arcs to wrap up.
06:53 But that doesn't mean we wanted the curtain to fall.
06:56 "Lucky Star's" referential humour and heartwarming themes made it the kind of show
07:00 that could air for decades without getting stale.
07:09 It's maddening that they threw in the towel after just 24 episodes, especially since the
07:15 manga continued for years after.
07:18 As sad as it is to admit, if you're hoping for a second season, you'll be wishing on
07:22 a star for a long time.
07:33 This one just got shot down before it could live up to any kind of potential.
07:37 As a laid-back young vampire, Staz made for something of a protagonist, given how he finds
07:42 himself falling for a young human girl who accidentally ends up getting killed and turned
07:47 into a ghost.
07:56 His sense of responsibility towards her and his own legacy as Dracula's descendant had
08:01 us all hungry to see where the series would take us.
08:05 And then it ended in 11 episodes.
08:20 The manga isn't exactly that long either.
08:22 You could have at least pushed forwards and made one solid, awesome show.
08:33 It's bad enough when a seasonal anime gets shafted.
08:38 Imagine waiting three years and still not getting a satisfying conclusion.
08:43 Looking at you, Zatch Bell.
08:54 The series spent almost 150 episodes faithfully adapting the manga's story.
08:59 But when the story's author broke his hand, the show quickly ran out of source material.
09:04 Allegedly, the higher-ups didn't think the show's ratings could survive a hiatus.
09:09 So they made the unilateral decision to end the anime altogether.
09:18 Although calling it an ending is putting it nicely.
09:22 It's more of a "to be continued" that fades to black right before a big battle.
09:27 Yeah, disappointing doesn't even begin to cover it.
09:30 At least we'll always have the manga.
09:50 This dark and gritty series was essentially Battle Royale with bombs.
09:55 With gamers from around the world finding themselves competing in a real-life version
10:00 of a famous video game with some rather bloody results.
10:04 While its ending was very much a satisfying one, it's clear that Ryota's violent
10:08 adventures were far from over.
10:20 With the manga now concluded, what better time would there be to bring this back?
10:24 As we know, Ryota and Himiko's problems didn't finish on that island.
10:37 From episode one, this show was about Tsuna learning to become a mafia boss.
10:43 But if you thought that's how the anime would end, you'd be very, very wrong.
10:47 Rather than following the manga's story to its conclusion, the Reborn anime ended
10:51 after the "Future Final Battle" arc.
10:58 Which, despite its name, is not supposed to be the show's finale.
11:03 Fans have never been given an official reason for the cancellation, which is confusing because
11:08 Reborn was a full-on multimedia brand.
11:13 We're talking video games, OVAs, spin-offs, the whole shebang.
11:21 If one of the best-selling manga of its time can't even get a full adaptation, there's
11:26 no hope for anything else.
11:34 High School of the Dead.
11:37 Everyone's favourite guilty pleasure, and both ire and admiration for how, even during
11:41 a zombie apocalypse, Ecchi conquers all.
11:45 Well, much like the Walking Dead that now inhabit this world, we were hungry for more
11:51 meat.
11:52 More fan-service-based fight scenes, more of the ladies fighting over the protagonist,
11:57 more of the gun otaku gradually increasing his arsenal until he decided to just nuke
12:02 the town.
12:08 We all know this series is the best kind of sleaze, so why didn't you go all out and
12:13 end things on a gloriously unrepentant note?
12:27 It's modern-day Tokyo, everything's normal, and then suddenly, a portal opens, and with
12:33 it, an endless amount of storytelling potential.
12:36 It primarily follows the Japanese Self-Defense Force as they beat back invading armies.
12:43 There's a ton of action, a ton of intrigue, and a ton of storylines to adapt from the
12:53 light novels.
12:54 So, where's the next instalment?
12:57 No one knows.
12:58 The last episode leaves the door open for more, but nothing has been announced since.
13:07 It could have something to do with the fact that the series is partially produced by the
13:11 actual Japanese Self-Defense Forces.
13:14 Regardless of the reason, it's clear that this "gate" isn't opening up again any
13:18 time soon.
13:24 The one anime that was too weird even for Japanese
13:33 audiences.
13:34 Well, specifically Japanese parents, who weren't fond of the Afro-warrior's sense of humour.
13:47 Dammit this show was legitimately funny.
13:51 Even the dubs still found a way to make the jokes work.
13:54 The manga managed to spawn an entire follow-up series, littered with brilliant out-there
13:59 moments.
14:00 So it's not like there wasn't a decent foundation for the show to use.
14:08 Alas, we may never know whether Bobobo would ever defeat the Maruhage Empire, and now we
14:16 know who's to blame.
14:29 Parody anime tend to do rather well just so long as they have endearing characters, hilarious
14:35 situations, and a great sense of pace.
14:45 This trio of high school boys accomplished this in spades, managing to get to the nerve
14:50 of the jokes while highlighting the stressful highs and lows of school life.
15:05 That being said, the manga just sort of ended, abruptly.
15:09 Now the fate of the crazy literature girl will remain forever lost.
15:24 Combining the typical fantasy tropes with a gripping whodunit-style narrative was a
15:29 stroke of genius.
15:31 So what happened?
15:32 As seven warriors gather in the hopes of defeating the demon king, they find themselves faced
15:37 with a potentially deadly new situation.
15:40 There's only meant to be six of them.
15:47 As deception and discord run rampant, we find ourselves questioning who among them could
15:53 be the imposter.
16:02 Then we find out, and that's about it.
16:05 Just as it looks like it's about to go down, that we're about to see the six heroes kick
16:09 ass together, the series ends.
16:12 Talk about a tease.
16:25 The polish, swagger, and overall slickness of this series made it an instant classic
16:30 in the minds of so many fans.
16:39 Everyone had a favourite character, who more often than not, got a chance to shine as they
16:43 used their newfound immortality to tear stuff up, all throughout Prohibition America.
16:49 So the question stands.
16:51 Since the light novels are still being published, why would you waste the chance to continue
16:55 the series?
17:05 Do you need any other reason to keep things going, other than an excuse to see more of
17:09 Lad Russo and Claire Stanfield?
17:18 Arguably the most underrated of underrated classics, it's downright criminal that Outlaw
17:25 Star only ever got one season.
17:28 It's a space western with everything a good anime needs; heart, humour, and a heaping
17:33 dose of style.
17:34 Sadly, it just wasn't enough to stand out.
17:44 The anime adaptation was only a modest success.
17:48 Nothing embarrassing, but far short of what it needed to justify a second season.
17:52 There were plans for a one-episode sequel OVA, but tragically, that never materialised.
17:58 Knowing that we were this close to a true follow-up makes the open-ended finale even
18:03 more bittersweet.
18:05 Now, a quarter of a century later, it's obvious that Outlaw Star is a one-and-done
18:13 affair.
18:20 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
18:25 In what is the bad idea to end all bad ideas, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was aired
18:31 out of order.
18:32 As you can imagine, it was a confusing, bungled mess that turned off even the most hardcore
18:37 fans.
18:38 Thankfully, Haruhi doesn't go down easy.
18:41 It took a new season and a complete re-airing of the series, but she eventually turned into
18:45 one of the most recognisable female characters in all of anime.
18:53 You'd think she'd get a new season to capitalise on that popularity, right?
18:58 Wrong.
18:59 Even though Haruhi proved she can bring in an audience, we've been waiting on a season
19:02 three for over ten years and counting.
19:05 Can someone please get on that?
19:14 We're fully aware this anime got itself two more recent adaptations.
19:40 But let's be honest here, people.
19:46 They aren't that good, and if anything, they serve as a constant reminder to the glory
19:50 days of this brutal masterpiece.
20:01 The original berserk ended on the mother of all cliffhangers, and while it missed out
20:05 on a few important plot points like the Skull Knight, we can't help but imagine how great
20:10 future arcs could have been in the original classic art style.
20:23 Which of these anime are most deserving of a sequel?
20:47 Let us know in the comments!