Happy endings vs. Sad vs. Bittersweet

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BAKUGAN MASTER

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What do you choose when it comes to things like this?

For me I choose bittersweet; although things didn't go as the person wanted we got the best of both worlds. I also like Sad endings that aren't to depressing and happy endings that aren't to cheesy.

(Note: Mods I didn't know where else this would fit so feel free to move if you want.)
 
I'd say bittersweet endings have become less and less common. There seems to be this belief that if an audience has invested time watching, the ending must be all nice and happy. At most, you can only really have a bittersweet ending mid-season if it's to be followed up with a happy one for the characters later on.

I'd love to see more shows do bittersweet endings where it fits. I appreciate alot of animated shows are made for children but it gets annoying when certain characters get a happy ending just because. Animation coming out of Japan has certainly been guilty of this in recent times. It seems the idea of sad endings to add needed weight to this story has been replaced by 'And so everyone got a happy ending, because you'll stop buying merchandise if they don't'.
 
I'd say bittersweet endings can work AS LONG AS there's sufficient closer. I've seen endings that equate to "The heroes are doomed, good-bye!", or "Is this the end? Guess you'll never know!" Whatever the results are, it should at least leave the viewers satisfied, understanding that the story they're investing in is over, or that they don't need to see anymore. But then, there are those artsy shows that deliberately leave the audience hanging, I guess...
 
Why not have both? Personally, I find endings where the antagonist's death solves all problems and all is happy boring. I wouldn't mind it if, after the antagonist is dead or defeated, there is still problems that the protagonist must face, and in doing so making sacrifices that might kill him let's say. However, he does something that makes the world much better or makes it better for those suffering.

What I'm saying is have an ending with sad events, but happy resolve. It's a 2 in 1 deal.
 
Sad and bittersweet endings. I like those kind of endings a lot. They're a lot more interesting to me. The problem I have with happy endings is that they can be so over the top, they just become downright silly. To me, as much as I don't like happy endings but how Avatar concluded is awesome.
 
I couldn't have worded it any better myself. Many companies believe in happy endings. This wouldn't work, say, for Happy Tree Friends.

DIE, YOU STUPID CARE BEARS---I MEAN TREE FRIENDS! YES, SUFFER! SOME MORE BLOOD! JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU'RE SAFE---BOOM!

Yeah, I watch Happy Tree Friends.

Next, there's The Butter Battle Book. The open-endedness was VERY important, because the book is almost an exact mirror of real life. WILL BUTTER SIDE UP WIN, OR THE BUTTER SIDE DOWN?!
 
I agree that it all depends on what story they're trying to tell. A bittersweet ending may work better for one series, while another series would work better with a sadder ending. I usually don't mind a sad ending, as long as it isn't too sad at least. As long as there is a good amount of closure for the series, then I'm usually content with that.
 
Yeah, the ending certainly depends on what kind of story is being told. Still, there are a few endings that I don't like. Like the "Everybody dies" ending.
 
Pocahontas was a great example of a "bittersweet" ending that worked perfectly. John Smith couldn't stay with Pocahontas, yet both parted knowing how deeply they had affected each other's life and the tenuous truce between the Indians and English settlers. It was sad, certainly, yet hopeful and mature.
 
Wow, great question!

I generally prefer happy endings, because I like to watch a show and feel happy at the end, knowing that the end ended well!

But, I also like those bittersweet endings that are meaningful, like what the OP said, not too depressing. I find that the loss of a character in the end isn't so sad if the people around react to it positively.

I definitely don't prefer the endings where everyone or almost everyone dies and the bad people rules, they're way too depressing.
 
It really depends on the story.....I do like to see happy endings,but at the same time,some of my favorite animated films have bittersweet endings (The Last Unicorn,Pocahontas,Corpse Bride)....which make perfect sense for the story being told,and it would've been unbelievable for them to have "happily-ever-after" endings,IMO...
 
Action shows should mix it up. One thing I enjoyed about WITCH was that most episodes ended on a downer, with the villain usually coming out on top. Outside of the season finales, the good guys won maybe a few times, and usually with some kind of Xanatos Gambit in play on the villain's part.

It makes for a more interesting story rather than the good guys winning out week after week, since it basically means the villains pose no threat at all and only serve as time wasters. Mostly sad/bittersweet with an overall happy ending like WITCH is what I prefer, I suppose.
 
Looks like you guys favor bittersweet endings because they portray a more realistic/ideal ending, as reality doesn't allow for 100% satisfactory.

I prefer happy endings that are not predictable, like Disney. Rare these kinds of endings are, indeed.
 
That's definitely true, but the bittersweet ending did overall work for the Disney film. It wasn't historically correct, but I don't think Disney would try to tell the real story of Pocahontas in an animated movie for kids either. At least with the sequel, they did point out to go to a library to learn about the real Pocahontas, which was one of the few good points about that sequel.
 
As long as the ending is nice, and closes up the entire story, I don't care whether or not it's happy, bittersweet, or sad. :shrug:
 
The finale for Codename: Kids Next Door was very bittersweet. I think a bittersweet ending worked very well for the KND. We all know we'd grow up, and outgrow. I think the KND ending worked because it did show that things changed, but that doesn't mean you have to.

Actually, Codename:Kids Next Door was the first seriers I watched from beginning to end, so I haven't really gotten a palate for endings yet.
 
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