AAA'08 - Award for Best Ending Sequence (ED)

2007 was easy. We had the wonderfully Madhouse-crafted Oh-Edo Rocket ED and quirky Moyashimon ED. There were fluid animation, clay-like sequences and cute dangos.

Sadly 2008 had few to none out-of-the-box EDs. Even so, a handpick of them managed to suit the mood and pace of the song, which is the main criteria for this award. A good song alone is not enough to win. Yea tough judge, I know. With that said, the winners are...





When you see an awesome muscled guy wearing a maid dress, you know you're in for a good time (doesn't apply in real life). He is always battle-ready and even graduated from MIT (what?!), so he's somewhat feared by his master and his (yummy) maid colleague.

Madhouse managed to summarize the show well with the ending. With a song likened to great songs in Drummania, the animation even flows smoothly with it. Unlike Kemeko DX's ED which is only funny for the first 3 times, this ED has a longer lasting comedic effect. Pretty much suits the whole panicky feel of the show.






A show about four individuals with different lives and personalities, united by the building they live in called Hidamari apartments. Hidamari means being exposed to the sun. Amidst the ED's simplicity, that's the message that it's trying to express. The circular rays in the ED symbolize the "sun" that unites them together.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it? :P But I think that's the director's intentions!

This ED comes to no surprise when it comes to what Shaft Studio is capable of. Using symbolic markings for each character, the right choice of colours and an artistic impression of the environment. It's simply Shaft doing what they do best. Sprinkle that with great well-to-go music, and it earns its deserving fourth place.






Rather than focusing on sword and sorcery, Spice and Wolf stresses more on the economics and trade of medieval times. It's a simple take on the life on a medieval merchant, who meets sex-ay wolf-deity Horo-sama.

The ED renders the whole show in children storybook form, which I think is genius. Various depictions of apples (that Horo LOVES so much) and the tradesman cart PLUS a playful engrish tune by Rocky Chack helped with the full childlike experience.

A slice of sunshine pie, anyone? :9






After a great journey through the world of Neo-Venezia, why not enjoy a relaxing song with a nice cup of Cafe Latte?

Neo-Venezia (a remake of Venice City) is beautiful because you're constantly surrounded by water, so this ED best describes the serenity in which Aria takes place. How sunlight is refracted through water is similar to how it's refracted through that stone. Ripples forming in the water, clear blue sky in the horizon and lastly a gondola slowly skimming through the waters of Aqua.

Dunno about you, but damn that summarizes Aria pretty well! Ha-hi!






Explaining the premise of Kyouran Kazoku Nikki is like bursting into a laughing gas chamber. I mean, come on, it's a show about cat-eared girl, a government servant, a jellyfish, a talking lion, an android, a homosexual (GASP!) and 2 sisters forced to live as a family for the sake of world peace. It's like the writer put together characters and plots that he pulled from his ass!

Of course not. In fact, the light novel and anime were popularly received in Japan coz it was carefully written, regardless of its zaniness. Every character has a unique past and interweaves well with the plot. For that, the studio came up with 8 character ending sequences. The cool thing is that on every channel it was broadcasted, they changed the order of the EDs.

All of them were nicely crafted, at worst average. But one stood out for me from the rest. Hyouka the Android's ending. Hyouka is yet another android character who wants to blend in with his human counterparts.

The digital undertones and Hyouka's voice merged in harmony, although the last repetition of the chorus was a *little* annoying, though not enough to undermine the whole ED. The visuals were treated tastefully, using 3D and motion graphics in *just* the right scale. The conclusion was the best, showing the 3D house in which Hyouka calls home, coz that's what the show is all about. Best ending of the year for me, no doubt.

You might wanna watch the next best ED of Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, Yuka's ending. Loved the morbid lyrics and cute overtones, but for me the 2nd half prevented it from being the Top 5.

Next up, best openings!