There are several reasons why adaptations adopt unique finales. Many production teams are simply adapting mangas that don’t yet have an ending to be faithful to and don’t want to settle for their co-creation to be left in the middle of a plotline. Others believe their vision should have the opportunity to materialize, given that the original story already had its time in the spotlight. Whatever the reasoning, here are four anime adaptions that completely changed the manga’s ending.
Warning: spoilers ahead!
4 Elfen Lied
This notoriously gory series derives its title from a German poem that translates to “Elf/Fairy Song”. In the manga, Lucy’s alter-ego Nyu is taught the song by an aspiring singer and Lucy later sings the song herself in the manga’s final chapters as she makes the fatal choice, in opposition of her killer instincts, to save Kouta, the human boy she’s always loved, rather than destroy the world, which has constantly inflicted cruelty upon her when she attempted to coexist alongside humans as a Diclonius. This inability to exist within the human world is reflected in the poem, with its titular elf being chastised for his attempts to peek into human life. Kouta kills Lucy soon after in an act of mercy as the process of reviving him has left her irreparably damaged and in pain. Years later, fulfilling the promise he made to Lucy to visit the place they first met on the anniversary of their encounter, Kouta and his daughter meet a pair of twin girls that look nearly identical to Lucy when she was young.
Unlike the manga, the titular poem plays essentially no role in the anime and is replaced by “Lilium”, an original song created for the series that is featured in its opening and acts as the melody of Kouta’s music box, a recurring motif in the show. Since the anime concluded before the manga did, the adaption had to develop its own original ending which last show Lucy facing off against those who imprisoned her at the start of the series and losing her horns. Although the viewer isn’t absolutely certain of her fate, the final moments of the anime depict someone showing up at Kouta’s door, prompting his music box to pause its melody.
3 Soul Eater
The anime adaption of Soul Eater garnered plenty of criticism for its original ending, particularly for Maka’s bravery-fueled Power Punch that vanquished the series’ primary antagonist, Asura. An ending that many found to be an unoriginal and a tad corny climax to the anime. In defense of the adaptation’s finale, the manga would continue for several more years before unveiling its own canon conclusion.
Crona takes the spotlight in the final moments in the manga, sacrificing themselves (and the happy ending they received in the anime) to seal Asura within the world’s iconic moon, trapping themselves inside as well in the process. Maka does swear to find a way to free them eventually but Crona’s ultimate fate is left up in the air.
2 Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist is probably the most well-known instance of an anime adaptation with a manga-divergent ending. It was necessary for the series to develop its own finale if it didn’t want to end simply with the wrapping up of a plot arc as the manga was years away from completion, and was actually requested by the mangaka herself. Though even if it was agreed upon to take the show in a different direction, few fans could have predicted that the series would conclude with one of the protagonists being yanked out of the story’s fictional world and stranded on Earth. Unexpected, more than a bit bizarre, and arguably inferior to the manga’s conclusion, but undeniably memorable.
The manga would eventually obtain a second anime adaptation, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood which faithfully animated its final chapters just months after their fruition.
1 Paradise Kiss
One of the creations of the highly revered mangaka Ai Yazawa, Paradise Kiss is more of an honorable mention in this list as the close of its anime adaptation follows the same basic story beats as the manga’s finale (unlike its eventual live-action film). However, in a fashion that brings to mind the idiom “the devil is in the details’’, the seemingly small changes implemented in the anime end up effectively neutering Yazawa’s heartwrenching manga ending. Not having Yukari’s fiancé be named or shown nor portraying Yukari happily laughing with said fiancée makes the similar scenes feel much more hopeless and melancholy than the original which hit the perfect balance of accepting harsh realities and achieving one’s dreams.
In the unforgettable epitome of a bittersweet ending, the manga illustrates that even though Yukari perhaps isn’t truly over George, hence her final words stating that she’ll be left crying at the sight of his clothes, it still injects the sense that Yukari has at least moved on with her life and her dreams for her future. She doesn’t entertain the idea of reconciling her relationship with George, finding happiness with another man even if the soon-to-be newlyweds still carry torches for their first loves in their hearts.
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