With the surprise announcement of Panty & Stocking Season 2 at Anime Expo, no doubt a sign of Trigger’s victory in a long rights dispute, it might be time to reflect on Gainax’s history with endings. Ever since the studio’s first big hits, they were ending shows in some pretty strange ways, sometimes bittersweet, other times depressing, and all-around confusing. Granted, having a Gainax Ending doesn’t immediately mean that an ending was bad, but the more that shows kept ending with audiences thinking “what just happened?” the more it started to feel like tradition. There are as many kinds of Gainax Endings as there were shows that had them. This begs to question of what exactly qualifies as one.
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[Spoilers Ahead]
The “Middle Finger” Ending
Like with all Gainax Endings, context is key in determining why the endings gained the status they did, and since Panty & Stocking has already been brought up, starting there feels right. After 13 episodes of watching two foul-mouthed angels kill demons to get back into heaven, the series ends on a sequel hook so sudden and rushed as to feel like the creators were racing to the finish line.
Stocking betrays and kills Panty, cutting her into hundreds of pieces. So it’s a sudden change in character followed by an extremely rushed plot hook for a sequel, and the rest of the characters are as awestruck as the audience.
But none of that would really matter if it wasn’t for how the series never continued, making the end feel like a middle finger to the audience. Only now, 12 years later, are audiences getting a continuation that - according to accounts of the teaser from the Trigger panel at AX - might just retcon the ending. So here’s hoping it gets an actual ending.
The “Huh? What?” Ending
Neon Genesis Evangelion had such a Gainax Ending that it got two of them. The show’s last two episodes made people so mad that creator Hideaki Anno made a movie to bring it all to a close. Certainly there is a lot about the ending that is hard to grasp, but far be it from us at GameRant to belittle the artful expression here with any tired “too deep for me” attitude. This series is worth the praise it gets for its story, characters, and themes. And with the benefit of time, Evangelion has only been looked back on more fondly, even with how bizarre these endings can be. Eva’s last two episodes were incredibly abstract and dialog-heavy, as the “Human Instrumentality Project” commenced, effectively meaning that human consciousness transcended the physical form.
The conclusion, rather than a bombastic battle between Evas and Angels, was about Shinji learning to love themselves. When the TV show appeared too abstract, End of Evangelion was created to be slightly more conventionally exciting. Even then, it indulged in plenty of abstraction, as Anno basically told the same story but gave the wider cast a more definitive end to their stories. Regardless, the series ended with humanity seemingly being reaped in some eldritch ritual that raptured all souls. And it isn’t explicitly clear where things stand at the end, with the protagonists all alone on a beach before a sea of red. There is a lot of context to why Evangelion is the way it is and what was going through Anno’s mind when they made it; far too much context to delve into here.
Ultimately, the point was that Evangelion ended in a shocking way that people weren’t ready for, but looking back, it isn’t nearly as unwieldy a story as some make it out to be. The dialog more than succinctly expresses the point of it all.
Don’t Try to Understand It. Feel It.
Ever watch Tenet? It was a Christopher Nolan movie released during the height of the pandemic because Nolan wasn’t about to let his film get shoved onto a streaming service. The film has mixed reception on account of the complexity of its science and the purpose or goals of the plot. One line holds special significance, happening during a pivotal scene where the rules are explained. A scientist says as a preface, “don’t try to understand it. feel it.” That is the most important lesson to take away from that film. It doesn’t mean “turn your brain off” because that is the most counter-intuitive approach to film criticism of all time.
In regard to Gainax Endings, this phrase can mean that not every little thing will make perfect sense, but on some level, the emotional journey will be worth it. Good stories are often multi-layered in the ways they are conveyed, hence why things like subtext are important to appreciating themes in stories.
It’s All About Vibes
Perhaps End of Evangelion made no sense because a viewer has no idea what exactly the Human Instrumentality Project is or what differentiates Gendo’s goals from that of SEELE’s. Maybe while Shinji is losing his mind and destroying the world, it isn’t clear what’s going “according to plan” and what isn’t.
But maybe that isn’t as important as what the characters are going through. Maybe Asuka getting out of her coma and returning to her full strength for one last battle is what matters, or Misato telling Shinji that he isn’t out of options, or Shinji learning to love himself. Sure those other questions have answers, but how important are they really?
FLCL is one of the most aesthetically rich shows Gainax ever made, and despite being so celebrated, it also has the qualities of a Gainax Ending. For those who have watched it, consider if Atomisk or Medical Mechanica actually make sense. Were their motives or the function they serve in the world clear the first viewing? If not, it might be because that is utterly null in the face of Naota’s relationships with these characters or those individual characters’ journeys.
The Good & The Bad
Obviously, not every Gainax ending will come to be loved like Evangelion, FLCL, or shows like Gunbuster and Diebuster. Like with Panty & Stocking, sometimes the ending just kinda disappoints, because maybe it hinges on a sequel that never comes or just serves as promotion for the manga. When it works, it works, and perhaps what makes Gainax Endings special was that these narrative risks kept getting taken with the faith put in creators to make them pay off.
Perhaps some of those took a little longer to win audiences over, and likely more time than Gainax had before it began to decline, but what a legacy to leave behind. Gainax Endings were divisive, bold, and downright ballsy conclusions that didn’t always pay off, but when they did, the results were unlike anything else.
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