#animorphs ending

[hyenaedits]

Animorphs, MHA, and Bittersweet Endings

I would have been okay with MHA having a bittersweet ending if it had actually stuck to its themes all the way through.

The bittersweet ending of Animorphs works because it seemed inevitable. Even with the goofier moments, there was always a thread of tragedy, a reminder that this cycle didn't start with the kids and it probably wouldn't end with them.

But MHA started out with so much hope. Deku becoming the greatest hero, the hero he needed at the time, was a forgone conclusion.

The theme of hands reaching out and lifting others up was a constant throughout the series. We see villains like Gentle Criminal actually seek redemption and find it.

But then everything just turns into a drawn-out tragic fight to the death. It makes for great angst AMVs, but it feels deeply unsatisfying, especially since the epilogue tries to gloss over it with a wild tone shift.

There's a brief mention of Ochaco mourning Toga and Enji visiting Touya before he dies of his injuries, but overall, we're supposed to believe that the world is okay and on the right track now when not much has changed. Citizens are a little kinder, but the Hero system is still in place and nobody questions it.

And Hawks, who has been hurt most by the system, is now upholding it. And he seems perfectly happy with it. No mention about the loss of his wings or his lingering guilt over Twice.

Animorphs actually sits with the weight of the war and shows that the kids are Very Much Not Okay after everything. Cassie is the best off because she tried to cling to her principles throughout even if she didn't always succeed. But nobody came out unscathed, and the narrative doesn't pretend otherwise.

I'm not faulting Horikoshi for this. The manga/anime industry is brutal and I don't blame him for being burnt out. I'm just trying to process my own feelings on the matter.

[the-lady-mel-king]

Possibly Unpopular Animorphs Opinion: The ending was lazy

I get what Applegrant were trying to say and the concept isn’t the problem, but they executed it poorly. Instead of making up some random fucking creature to launch the Animorphs into a war, the Andalites should have declared war against the humans. Our relations were quite literally held together by cinnamon buns, and we all know how Andalites feel about other species. I saw a post on here say that they fully expected the Andalites to go to war against earth within 50 years and I completely agree. It’s inevitable.

Having the Andalites go to war against the humans also would have brought Ax’s arc better closure in my opinion. Having him ultimately stand against his own species and choose the Animorphs one last time would have solidified his character growth and concluded his journey nicely. I understand why in canon he rejoins the Andalite navy, but it still felt a disappointing.

I also think having the Andalites turn on us works nicely with them being a metaphor for the US empire as well. I mean, they were fully willing to commit genocide against us.

Anyway I think Applegrant just didn’t know how to execute their idea and then went about it extremely rushed. What do y’all think?

[thenixkat]

The Animorphs ending was on-brand for the rest of the series, which is to say sloppy, poorly edited, heavily flanderized certain characters, poorly paced, forced, and rife with continuity errors.

But what I really want to know is how the fuck you look at a series that has “Genocide is great, especially if the groups yer getting rid of have undesirable bodies/minds or are otherwise inconvenient” as a core message and tripled down on that in the ending and say it was good?

[moonfaerie24]

So yesterday it randomly came up, and I was trying to explain “Animorphs” to my husband. I realized those books ended 14 years ago. Not going to lie, I’m still pissed about that ending. 14 years later. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. 25 year old me is just as mad as 11 year old me was. 

#neverforgive #neverforget