The Greatest Anime Ending Ever Tournament

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Since we already have a CB opening moving onto the finals, I'll throw FLCL a bone here to allow for more variety. Move ROSS to the top of my list.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Thanks, doc.

"Blue" and "Ride on Shooting Star" move on to the finals.

This concludes the Semi-Finals! The FINAL ROUND of this competition will be up momentarily!

[gunswordfist]

Damn, this tournament moved fast!

[LumRanmaYasha]

This is it, folks. After over 2 months, we've finally arrived at the final round of this competition. Over 100 endings were nominated for this tournament, and of them, only four remain. These four are truly and unmistakeably great endings, but only one of them can be the greatest there ever was. Now, which of these four will it be? It's decision time! Are you all ready? Well then, without further ado...

THE FINAL ROUND: WHICH IS THE GREATEST ANIME ENDING EVER!?!

1. FLCL - "Ride on Shooting Star" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTtOUlhL0WQ



VS.

2. Cowboy Bebop - "Blue" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIG7E2_iAYk (skip to 00:45)



VS.

3. Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Gods - "Cha-La Head Cha-La [FLOW rendition]" - http://youtu.be/_RCWVW1xCs4



VS.

4. Yu Yu Hakusho - "Neverending Homework [english dub]" - http://youtu.be/98rwIFDT8Uc



A truly great final round! All of these endings are fantastic and most are among my all time personal favorites! I've spoken about why I enjoy each of these particular endings before in this thread, so you'll have to forgive me for not repeating my thoughts on these again, but I think each of these endings makes a worthy case for the title of the Greatest Anime Ending Ever. With that said, my picks are as follows:

"Blue"
"Ride on Shooting Star"
"Neverending Homework"
"Cha-La Head Cha-La"

So, folks. What's it going to be? Which of these will be our Greatest Anime Ending Ever? I'm very curious to find out! 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Neverending Homework- Nostalgia may play a factor, but I truly love this ending song. The dubbing is excellent, here, and there's a real passion to the vocals and music and how they match up with the visuals. It gives me a response of putting a smile to my face. It beautifully captures the themes of love, compassion, and the desire to do everything that you can for the people most important to you.

Cha-La Head Cha-La- As I've stated before, I have a strong emotional connection to this song and the visuals from the manga. Dragon Ball is often a series that gets criticized for being low on story and high on bad filler and power-ups. It really saddens me because most people who say this have never touched the original source material. Toriyama's manga has such an energetic flow and uplifting tone to it that, regardless of whether you enjoy it or not, the anime never truly managed to capture. This amazing theme song is one of the few things that really does match up with the manga, and highlighting so many iconic and memorable moments almost brings a tear to my eye. Goku scaling Korin's Tower, overcoming King Piccolo, becoming a Super Saiyajin for the first time....these are some of the greatest moments in all of comic books, IMO, and this ending theme both complements and highlights it perfectly.

Blue- First, I just want to say that this series finale is the greatest Ashita no Joe reference ever, on top of being its own iconic moment in all of animation. It's an excellent, emotional, captivating song. It's not something that I necessarily feel compelled to listen to over and over again like some other songs, but it stays with me long after I do listen to it, which shows just how powerful music can truly be.

Ride on Shooting Star- As I mentioned earlier, this one isn't a personal favorite. I do enjoy it, but don't get an emotional reaction out of it like I do for the others. That said, it's a lot of fun, and I both respect and totally understand the appeal in it, hence why I helped to vote it through to this final round via the tiebreaker. It most definitely deserves to be here.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Same as Cartoon X.

Well, that was lame so I'll try to elaborate.


1. "Blue"

My all-time favorite ED. While the ending of Cowboy Bebop was already epic, this ED effectively gives it an emotional depth that is as subtle as the rest of the anime (this show has flash AND substance) that always hits hard no matter how many times I see it. If there is any anime ED I want to see winning this competition, it's this one.

2. "Ride on Shooting Star"

Of all the "fun" anime EDs, this would be my #1. The song is so catchy that it remains lodged in my head well after a decade of first hearing it and the animation spliced with live action footage is clever enough. It's really silly, but I can't say it isn't really good.

3. "Neverending Homework"

Not my favorite YYH ending, but that song is classic. I like the split between the fighting aspects of the show and the more emotional side of the Spirit Detective arc which matches the show masterfully. That said, there are parts of it that don't do much for me, but it is undeniably great.

4. "Cha-La Head Cha-La"

Great music, great concept for an ending. That said, as clever as it is, the other EDs are just plain better. Better songs by far (I like Head Cha-La, but it's the weakest song here) and more inventive animation. Still, it's an excellent tribute to Dragon Ball and I'm glad it made it so far.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I disagree about the other songs just being "plain better." I could argue that I find it to be a "better song by far" than ROSS, personally. Of course music is all subjective and such, but you say it as if it's definitive more than an opinion.

[gunswordfist]

I'll vote a bit later.

I agree with Spark. I like CLHCL but I think the other songs/music sound better. Just my opinion though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I disagree about the other songs just being "plain better." I could argue that I find it to be a "better song by far" than ROSS, personally. Of course music is all subjective and such, but you say it as if it's definitive more than an opinion.

Alright. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hey, don't paint me out to be the bad guy, here.

I was just sticking up for one of my favorite anime songs which you were talking about as if it weren't "worthy" of being in the same league as these others. That's all.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Hey, don't paint me out to be the bad guy, here.

I was just sticking up for one of my favorite anime songs which you were talking about as if it weren't "worthy" of being in the same league as these others. That's all.

You're wrong.

[gunswordfist]

I nominate ensatsu-ken for the next villains tournament.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Everyone knows that if you do that, then there'll be absolutely no competition.

Where's the fun in that?

[LumRanmaYasha]

Blue- First, I just want to say that this series finale is the greatest Ashita no Joe reference ever

Eh, my vote for that is the last 5 minutes of Urusei Yatsura episode 43, "The Terror of Meow," myself. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

You're trying to get me to watch Urusei Yatsura, aren't you?