For anime fans, few things are as rewarding and breathtaking as a final battle. From the very first episode, fans are introduced to the hero who, through countless trials and tribulations, will grow into a warrior of legend. Whether it be a martial arts epic, a twisting-and-turning science fiction war, or by magical means, the climactic final confrontation between good and evil is the ultimate reward for fans who have watched the story from the very beginning. In many ways, the final battle is the reward loyal fans are given for sticking it out until the end; all their patience, all their faith, and all their attention is rewarded with what’s usually the biggest spectacle of the series. A good anime can become an amazing and timeless anime due to a solid final battle.

Sometimes, though, that final battle is a little — underwhelming. Maybe it’s due to an extremely abrupt defeat. Sometimes it’s due to a lackluster battle, or even worse, a complete lack thereof. Regardless of the exact reason, sometimes an anime’s final battle feels more like an afterthought than the gigantic showdown fans have been waiting for. These anime showcase some of the more disappointing final battles from over the years. While these final battles may be disappointing for their own reasons, it does not mean these series are bad overall — only that they failed in presenting and delivering the final battle.

10

Gun x Sword Wrapped Things Up in a Flash

At Least the Bad Guy’s Monologue Got Cut Short

Set on the Planet of Endless Illusion, Gun x Sword chronicles the quest of vengeance that main character Van embarks upon. Searching for a man known simply as “The Claw”, Van meets a whole host of colorful characters, many who become allies and many more that do not. In the end, after several super-satisfying mecha battles, Van finally reaches The Claw where he may finally exact the justice he so rightfully deserves. Killing a man’s wife on his wedding day will definitely paint a target on one’s back.

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The Claw stands in arrogance and attempts to talk to Van only to be cut down within seconds in a simple and unceremonious manner. It fits Van’s personality not to bother listening to the villain and give him the time of day, but for fans who were thirsting for an intense one-on-one battle, this wasn’t it. It felt odd that a man who had been discussed since the beginning of the series was defeated with such little effort. It can be argued that it only served to reveal what a worthless nobody The Claw was all along, but it was still pretty disappointing to have the climax of the series last about six seconds.

Gun x Sword

Release Date

2005 – 2004

Network

TV Tokyo

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  Houko Kuwashima

  Wendy Garret

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  Takahiro Sakurai

  Ray Lundgren

9

Amon Saga Brought Its Final Villain to Heel Very Quickly

Emperor Valhiss Had It Coming, Of Course

The titular hero of Amon Saga, Amon, is a young warrior who enters the kingdom of Valhiss under mysterious circumstances. As Amon finds himself caught up in a quest to save an imprisoned princess, his path of personal vengeance becomes waylaid. In the end, however, Amon finally comes face to face with the evil Emperor Valhiss, the man responsible for killing his mother. As Amon and his allies launch a final attack on Valhiss and his lieutenants, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

In many ways, the climactic final battle between Amon and Valhiss works. There’s plenty of action, some supremely cool and satisfying moments of villains getting theirs (Mabo definitely had it coming), but yet, Valhiss’ fate was very abrupt. Amon struggles against him a little and throws a sword through his forehead. That’s it — no elongated battle, no team up against him, no dramatic final words, just a single sword throw. It’s rewarding to know Amon wins, but for as much as Valhiss is built up over the course of the movie as some unstoppable warlord, he went down with a pretty sad whimper.

8

Mobile Suit Gundam Let a Longtime Villain Bring About Peace

It’s Definitely an Iconic Moment, Though

In the year 0079, humankind has begun to populate the far reaches of space. The human colony furthest from Earth, Side 3, declared itself to be the Principality of Zeon and launched an attack against the Earth Federation. The ensuing war would take many turns and cost countless lives, but in the midst of it all was the young man named Amuro Rei, the pilot of the ultra-powerful mobile suit, Gundam. In the Mobile Suit Gundam finale, the Earth Federation forces have reached the main forces of Zeon and are fighting for the future of all humankind.

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With the evil Kycilia Zabi manning the Zeonic forces, a dire turn in the battle inspires her to attempt to flee the losing battle — that is, until Char Aznable, Zeon’s single-greatest pilot and Amuro’s longtime battlefield nemesis, slips out of his mobile suit, finds a rocket launcher floating conveniently nearby, and takes Kycilia’s head off with it. This single scene is instantly iconic and bears a huge amount of significance in the narrative of Mobile Suit Gundam; however, for fans who had been waiting to watch Amuro win the war, this plot twist came very suddenly from out of nowhere. While it is satisfying to watch Char mete out his own justice, the defeat of the Zeon empire was very fast and wasn’t even due to the direct actions of Amuro or his allies.

Mobile Suit Gundam

Release Date

1979 – 1980

Network

Nagoya TV

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  Hirotaka Suzuoki

  Gihren Zabi (voice)

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  Tôru Furuya

  Degwin Sodo Zabi (voice)

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  Toshio Furukawa

  M’Quve (voice)

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  Kiyonobu Suzuki

  Hayato Kobayashi (voice)

7

Genocyber Brought Its Bloodthirsty Story to a Confusing End

At Least the Good Guys Won

The experimential cybernetic battle armor known as the Genocyber is the single most powerful weapon on the planet. Known as a Vajra, the Genocyber possesses virtually limitless power and gives its wielder the powers of telekinesis and even pyrokinesis. The course of the world is altered forever with its creation, and after a hundred years of fighting against the Genocyber, a totalitarian government has asserted control over The City of the Grand Ark, a last bastion for humanity. As the Genocyber finally destroys the corrupt mayor and his armed forces in the city, it rises into space and enters a massive space station.

Episodes 4 and 5 of the Genocyber series are radically different from the first three and serve to explain what happens to the world as a result of the Genocyber simply existing. As the final episode draws to a close, a screen with an image of Genichiro Kuryu, the former leader of the organization that created the Genocyber, is shown looping itself on repeat as the Genocyber destroys the space station. It’s to be inferred that when the Genocyber destroys the space station, it effectively brings an end to the years of strife that the Kuryu Group started, which is fine, but the exact fate of the major characters becomes difficult to ascertain. The entire series is a poignant metaphor for the futility and inhumanity of warfare, which is always a wonderful moral, but the final battle of the series is brief and cryptic, leaving more questions instead of direct answers.

Genocyber

Release Date

March 2, 1994

6

Vampire Hunter D Delivered a Satisfying, If Brief, Final Battle

Count Magnus Lee Went Down Like a Chump

Far, far into a post-apocalyptic future, the Earth is a desolate wasteland ruled by the most nightmarish beasts of the night. Werewolves, ghouls, and vampires hold sway, with humanity doing its very best simply to survive. When a young girl enlists the aid of D, the greatest vampire hunter of all, his battle takes him to the heart of a vampire lord’s dark castle. There, D faces the great Count Magnus Lee, a vampire of seemingly unending power that rules over the land.

For the entirety of Vampire Hunter D, fans watch D cut down hordes of grotesque monsters of every shape and size. His skills are truly without equal. So when his climactic battle with Magnus Lee resorts to nothing more than him getting smacked around the room by Lee’s telekinesis, it’s a little disappointing. And when D manages to defeat Lee by stabbing him through the chest with his sword, it becomes even more disappointing. Lee is a vampire lord who was able to destroy an anti-vampire weapon simply by looking at it, crushed a man’s head open by will alone, and survived getting a dagger thrown through his eye. The final scene is absolutely amazing to behold when Lee dies, but the simplicity in which he dies is a little odd, all things considered.

5

Hellsing Built Itself Up to a Final Battle That Lasted Seconds

Alucard Could Have Fought More Than He Posed

When the undead threaten the safety of the world, the Hellsing organization is at the vanguard to quell them. This has never been truer than when a legion of vampires and ghouls begin to wreak havoc across the world under the direction of a being known simply as Incognito. Alucard, Hellsing’s own vampire, is the most powerful of their warriors, and is the only one capable of defeating Incognito. Fittingly, Alucard’s meeting with Incognito results in the aberration’s gruesome defeat.

The only problem with this final showdown is how short it is. For much of their climactic meeting, Alucard and Incognito mostly just stand and talk to each other. Alucard does his classic Cool Guy poses, Incognito can’t believe how powerful he is, and the fight is over in a flash. Just like Vampire Hunter D before it, it’s an extremely cool moment to see both D and Alucard’s true identity be revealed, but for the payoff of the entire series, it felt very abrupt and without any stakes. It’s awesome that Alucard is so strong, but it gets boring when there’s never a chance of him losing. Alucard and Incognito definitely could have traded more blows than they did.

Hellsing

Release Date

October 4, 2003

Directors

Umanosuke Iida

4

Afro Samurai Worked Its Way to an Extremely Short Final Battle

All That for So Little Action

Whoever wears the Number 1 headband is said to possess the powers of a god. As such, people from all over the world battle to claim ownership of the headband by facing the wearer of the Number 1 headband in a fight to the death. The catch is that only the wearer of the Number 2 headband can challenge Number 1. When the outlaw known as Justice kills the former wearer of the Number 1 headband, he tells the man’s son to challenge him when he’s ready to face a god. Well, after many years and countless battles, the warrior known as Afro does just that.

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Knowing that Afro seeks to defeat Justice not only to gain the Number 1 headband, but also to avenge his father puts a great deal of emotional impact on their battle. Afro Samurai is based around superhuman combat ability, which is why the final battle is pretty disappointing. Justice and Afro trade words, Afro attacks him, Justice replies in kind, and just when Justice thinks he’s won, Afro rallies back and cuts him down. Their final battle, without the build-up, lasts about three and a half minutes. That’s it. And it’s also strange that nearly severing Justice’s head doesn’t kill him outright, but slashing him through the torso manages to stun him enough for Afro to seal the deal. Emotionally, their battle hits the mark. In execution, though, it could have been far better.

Afro Samurai

Release Date

2007 – 2006

Network

Spike

Showrunner

Takashi Okazaki, Fuminori Kizaki

Directors

Fuminori Kizaki

3

Basilisk Delivers an Emotional Yet Action-Free Climax

Everyone Involved Deserved Far Better

The Koga and the Iga clans of ninjas have been brought to war against one another. With the mightiest warriors of each clan being forced to battle each other to the death, the fates of both clans has never been grimmer. To make matters worse, the heads of each clan, Gennosuke and Oboro, were once meant to marry and bring their clans together. But as the warriors from each clan slowly fall away, it finally comes down to Gennosuke and Oboro’s final meeting.

As a twist on the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet, Basilisk is a great anime. It blends plenty of supernatural action with heartfelt drama. The action is awesome, but it’s tempered by the fact that all the bloodshed could have been avoided. So, to watch two people who love each other so fiercely have to face each other in mortal combat is a very heart-wrenching experience. But as far as final battles go, theirs is not even a battle. No combat takes place, which is disappointing for fans who had grown to appreciate the action sequences. And considering that there was never a chance for a peaceful resolution to their feud, the ending is also disappointing for those who wanted a happy ending. It’s a different kind of final battle, but Basilisk’s finale was not what most fans had wanted.

Basilisk

Release Date

April 12, 2005

2

Dragon Ball GT Rehashed a Classic But Tried & True Ending

They Could Have Done Virtually Anything Else

Dragon Ball GT was a very contentious entry in the legendary Dragon Ball universe, to say the least. While Dragon Ball fans were happy to simply have another Dragon Ball series to watch, many felt its plot, new characters, and character redesigns were all very lackluster and boring. Still, the ending of the series brought the biggest and most powerful beings against each other for one last giant battle. As Syn Shenron transforms into Omega Shenron and faces off against Goku, the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance. It’s classic Dragon Ball fare of the most exciting order.

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​​​​​The issue with this final battle is that, ultimately, it did little particularly different from other Dragon Ball Z stories. The Spirit Ball is Goku’s ultimate attack and his signature means of dispatching the strongest foes he’s ever faced. He did so against Vegeta in the Saiyan Saga, and he did so against Turles in The Tree of Might. Even if he conjures up the Super Ultra Spirit Bomb against Omega Shenron, it’s still basically the same ending that’s already been done twice before. For a Dragon Ball series that wanted to bring new ideas to the table, GT definitely could have had Goku achieve victory in a different manner.

1

Gundam Wing Gave Fans an Optimistic, If Not Unanticipated, Ending

The Final “Fight” Was Anticlimactic

When the merciless United Earth Sphere Alliance began to oppress the many space colonies orbiting Earth, a resistance movement began. Soon, all-out war was waged in the name of freedom from the yoke of the U.E.S.A.’s rule, and five young pilots were sent out to defeat the tyrannical powers at large. Heero Yuy is the greatest of the five pilots; his final battle eventually brings him face to face with Zechs Merquise, the pilot of the extremely powerful Gundam Epyon. The finale of Gundam Wing finally gave fans the title match they had been waiting for with bated breath and then cut it short.

The two pilots begin to fight — and then stop. Both realize the futility of warfare and cease their attacks against one another. On one hand, it’s a great change of pace for the two characters to make in the midst of heated battle. On the other hand, for fans who had been dying to finally see their climactic duel, it felt more than a little lackluster. This isn’t to say the ending of Gundam Wing isn’t without its fair share of action and excitement, but the climactic fight between the series’ two biggest characters could have been bigger than what fans received.