Esoteric Happy Ending: Difference between revisions

* The end of [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|The End Of Evangelion]] implied that everyone subject to the horrific screaming global omnicide could really live again. If they wanted to. Even though the Earth is totally wrecked at this point. Who could be reluctant to leap at that generous opportunity?

** Not quite. The only area in the world that's shown to be wrecked for certain was Tokyo-3. Sure, the world itself doesn't ''look'' pleasant after all that's happened, but it's still habitable nonetheless.

* The ending of ''[[Angel Beats!]]'' is about as esoteric as they come. Everyone {{spoiler|except Otonashi}} eventually moves on and leaves the afterlife, which seems like a vaguely happy [[Bittersweet Ending]], if you ignore the whole "if we leave we'll probably be [[Fate Worse Than Death|reincarnated as water fleas]]" thing, which was...assumed, logically but without proof, early on and never debunked. Even worse, in the last scene {{spoiler|Kanade and Otonashi finally confess their love for each other, which makes Kanade disappear, causing Otonashi to understandably [[Say My Name|flip out]]}}. But ''that'' extreme [[Downer Ending]] is ''maybe'' undone by [[The Stinger]], in which {{spoiler|they appear to find each other again in some future life...[[Epileptic Trees|but many people think this last scene is a dream]]}}. In short: plot resolved with ambiguous [[Fridge Horror]], last scene is happy but may not be real, so...who knows?

** There was the short ova Another Epilogue that definitely showed that {{spoiler|Otonashi stayed and became the Student Council President, and that he's [[I Will Wait for You|waiting to be reunited with Kanade.]] }} This is obviously setting up a new season, so we can only wait to find out how it will turn out.

* ''[[Source Code]]'': Colter ''finally'' creates an [[Alternate Universe]] where the train disaster is averted and he gets to live [[Happily Ever After]] with his new girlfriend... in the body of her old boyfriend Sean, who is now essentially dead since his consciousness has been overwritten. Colter will now have to adjust to living a life that is not his, with a family and career which are utterly unknown to him. And there's one alternate reality where Sean's friend remembers his last actions as irrationally attacking a random guy because he looks Middle Eastern, before falling onto a railroad track.

* ''[[A.I.: Artificial Intelligence]]'': Your loved ones and your familiar world has died out, but you can go under the ocean and relive an illusion of a single, long lost day, made artifically based on you memory. And ''that's'' your happiest day? Seriously?

* According to [[Word of God]], the idea for ''[[Brazil (film)|Brazil]]'' came from the director wondering whether or not an ending where the main character {{spoiler|goes insane}} could be happy. YMWV on whether or not he pulled it off, (even ''he'' isn't entirely sure) but it doesn't stop it from being a [[Cult Classic|good]] [[So Cool Its Awesome|movie.]]

* [[Word of God]] describes ''[[Oldboy]]'' as having a happy ending that's sad or a sad ending that's happy. Either way, the implication is that {{spoiler|the protagonist continues to carry on an incestful relationship with his own unwitting daughter, and that he may or may not know himself.}}

[[Category:YMMV Trope]]

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