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{{trope}}
[[File:shortpacked-monkey.png|link=Shortpacked
Many shows are tempted to do big finales, but the nature of the story is just too low-key for a [[Grand Finale]].
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Bishoujo series seem particularly fond of this formula, even though it seems like a really obvious attempt to install pathos after having [[Filler]] pad the story.
It becomes even weaker in [[British Series|British shows]], where [[British Brevity|a season might be six episodes]], and a series might be three seasons. Some [[Britcom
Compare [[Sudden Downer Ending]].
{{endingtrope}}
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Anime
* ''881''
* ''[[Ojamajo Doremi]]'' has this as its series finale, and is pulled off quite well, considering it's ''Doremi herself'' that gets the [[Heroic BSOD]]...
* ''[[Doki Doki School Hours]]'' ends with the realization that Mika might not be teaching anymore due to marriage...though falls on its face after the meeting.
* ''[[Mahou Tsukai
* ''[[Excel Saga (
** And then it spirals into utter insanity in the ''very'' last episode.
* ''[[School Rumble]]'' {{spoiler|Yakumo & Karasuma}} in particular.
* The second season of ''[[Hanaukyo Maid Tai]]'' was particularly a victim of this. The maids and slice-of-life were abruptly destroyed by ACTION, FIGHTING, and other such things in the last couple episodes.
* The ''[[Rozen Maiden]]'' anime is a ''huge'' culprit of this. After spending the majority of the show switching between lighthearted comedy and action-filled drama, {{spoiler|Souseiseki decides to stop playing around and to win the Alice Game, but instead gets killed off by Suigintou in the process. This in turn triggers Hinaichigo's death in the following episode, clearly cementing that playtime is ''over'' in the anime, and the remaining dolls spend the final two episodes duking out in an ''extremely'' drama-filled [[Battle Royale With Cheese]]}}. And the worst part is that the ending leaves a lot of openings for another season.
* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' ends this way. It's a comedic series, though a few episodes near the end had a more serious tone, but the second to last episode ends with a huge bomb being dropped on the audience(and the main characters!) and the last episode is full of drama.
* Tatsunoko's 1969-70 anime ''[[
* ''[[Potemayo]]'' attempts to do this by revealing the back story of Sunao's mother in the second to last episode, as well as aming it seem that Potemayo and guchuko were dead in the final episode, although they turned out to be merely unconscious and recovered by the end of the last episode.
* ''[[Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru]]'' Does this by having hotori write a story, and then be hit by a truck while she is reading of her failure to get the story published. While there is still some humor in this episode, it still ultimately gets played in this way.
* ''[[Dokkoida
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* ''[[Coupling]]'' does a slightly different version of this. It's not a death, but a birth, the culmination of the pregnancy that's formed the basis for a lot of the comedy in the fourth and final series. But the final few minutes are played completely serious.
* Subverted on ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]''. A doctor announces that they are having trouble resuscitating Raymond after a very minor surgery, but seconds later he is completely fine. Debra then made everyone swear not to let Raymond's mother know about the near-death experience, since it would bring out the worst in her motherly overprotectiveness. The episode did have a little more emotion than usual, but otherwise it had the same tone as any other episode of the series.
* ''[[Dinosaurs]]''. It's a comedy series about dinosaurs that suddenly ends with a [[Green Aesop]] in which [[Kill
* Season Six of [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] (otherwise ''not'' a low-key show) went along somewhat slowly. Then [[It Got Worse|Willow went insane in the last four episodes]].
* Most of the light hearted [[Super Sentai]] series such as Goonger follow this trope. The darker ones however such as Changeman or Liveman are serious already so the finale episodes generally are of the same tone as the rest of the series.
* ''[[Lexx]],'' which had for the most part had been humor of the WTF variety, turned quite dramatic in the final episode, most notably {{spoiler|the death of the Lexx, Kai's return to life only to die, and the destruction of Earth}}. (Although to be fair, some of the show's subplots and backstories were kind of tragic to begin with.)
** The {{spoiler|destruction of Earth}} was actually a very clever part of it; ''Lexx'' being the show it is, very few viewers doubted that it would happen as soon as it was shown on-screen, but as season four progresses, it seems to become increasingly unlikely, to the point where the audience is seriously questioning whether or not it will happen with many close-calls ultimately prevented by the crew instead of caused by them like usual. The finale seems to take this further, with the crew trying to ''save'' it from a different threat {{spoiler|until 790 pulls the trigger.}} By the time it finally happens, the audience has essentially been fooled into thinking [[Like You Would Really Do It]] applies, and it's genuinely dramatic instead of a gag like it's been for the entire rest of the show.
* Every season of ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' ends with a
* The last episode of the fifth season of ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'' ends with {{spoiler|Larry's death}}. It doesn't last, though.
* ''[[
* The first series of [[Downton Abbey]] ended with the announcement of World War 1; the second series ended with {{spoiler|the arrest of Bates on the charge of murdering his obnoxious wife. The war itself was pretty anti-climactic and had little serious impact on the family that wasn't somehow reversed}}.
* ''[[
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The [[Visual Novel]] ''Heart De Roommate'' is for the most a fluffy slice of life comedy with the odd burst of drama for flavour, generally kept upbeat even through the more serious second half of the game by the cheerful, quirky characters. Then you get to the downright dark finale, featuring an honestly suicidal new character with a very dark backstory and a nasty [[Nonstandard Game Over]] for the incautious. The [[Class Reunion|epilogue]] on the other hand is a straight [[Bittersweet Ending]], actually made all the more effective by the [[Growing Up Sucks|previous happiness.]]
* ''[[
* ''[[
* The season finales of the ''[[The Adventures of Sam
* The first installment of ''[[Wasted Youth]]'' is basically ''[[Bully (
== [[Web Original]] ==
* The last act of ''[[Dr.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[The Movie|The finale]] of [[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]] has one of Eddy's scams backfire and seriously injure the neighborhood kids. It also shows {{spoiler|Eddy's older brother to be a [[Complete Monster]] to Eddy, who routinely abuses his little brother, and the movie ends with the Eds finally being accepted by the other kids, with no [[Snap Back]] or [[Reset Button]] or anything.}}
* The finale of each ''[[
** ''Total Drama Drama Drama Island:'' Courtney crosses the [[Moral Event Horizon]] by actually threatening to let fellow campers die if they don't hand her the money, an angry Izzy leads Noah and Eva in a tirade against their [[Arch Enemy]] Justin, Courtney betrays Duncan for the money leading to some bitterness between them, Heather has a [[Villainous Breakdown|breakdown]] and ''Harold'' of all people helps her through it and alot of the characters show how incredibly determined they are to win the competition, making the fact that {{spoiler|only fourteen of them qualify for season two}} quite depressing to the fans.
** ''Celebrity Manhunts Total Drama Reunion Special:'' After ''Total Drama Action'' ends the campers find themselves lost without their celebrity status. So when they find out that Chris is premiering a new show called, "Total Drama Dirtbags" with an all-new cast, the original campers, feeling bitter and wanting their fame back [[Misfit Mobilization Moment|set off together to sabotage the new cast.]] [[What Do You Mean
* Season Two of [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:Ending Tropes]]
[[Category:
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