I find that most manga are feel-good stories where good triumphs over evil, or a poor, disadvantaged protagonist overcomes his fears and hardships. If I may be so bold, I would approximate that over 99% of stories, not just manga, end this way.

Are there any manga where the good guy gets a bad ending? I just realized that if I do receive any recommendations, I will have inadvertently spoiled myself, because I asked for a specific type of ending.

I am not looking for any hentai, although I do know that netorare is a thing.

Just plain, old manga, but with a nice, honest, hardworking protagonist getting stepped on all over at the end. No comebacks or turnarounds, just 100% bad ending with no justice, even if he/she doesn't deserve it at all.

I think Part 1 of the Kaiji series does something like this. He endures many hardships, and even defeats a few of his opponents, but in the end,

Without further ado, please recommend me some manga with soul-crushing defeat.

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If I've made a thread in the "I'm Looking For..." forum, I am only interested in Japanese manga. I am not interested in non-Japanese media at this time.

Hmm well what comes to mind isn't a manga, but an anime Katanagatari.

If You Want To Destroy The World has the harshest ending possible.

The ending in Homunculus is negative, but the protagonist isn't exactly an angel either.

Uzumaki - Not sure if I would really recommend - it's a horror manga and more strange than scary, but the characters try really hard and fail. Plus you can tell that they're toast a few chapters before the end, so it's like watching a train wreck.

The first suggestion posted is based on a novel, if you prefer that medium over anime
OP, please tell posters to use spoiler tags so we don't spoil each other when helping you out.

To be clear, you don't just want the MC to die or lose a tournament or be permanently injured never able to fight/adventure again.

That's a bit of a tough one Especially just sticking to Manga.

My favourite part of is where this happens to a side-character who fights the MC. (This is a manhwa).
BIG spoiler, might qualify (a webtoon). This duo is known for their insane twists in their stories.

There is a visual novel, adapted to anime that sorta qualifies. You could the main char got what he wanted. You know things won't end well thanks to the title, . Another game like this adapted to an excellent anime, though the first ep is shithouse, .
Another VN->anime , this one has a sad ending but not like the two above, probably doesn't qualify, . (I cried, a little). Though if you watch anime/play VN you'd already have finished that one.

Anyways, that's enough non-manga thingies.

As for manga...you've probably already read this one, . The first two movies are great too.
This probably doesn't qualify:the first storyline/arc of . Because the story continues following different characters decades later. Its not until the third arc that you see what went down at the end on that boat.

I suppose I haven't read enough completely scanlated/translated manga.

Last edited by MatrixM at 12:23 am, Aug 6 2014

Deep Love - Ayu No Monogatari?

I guess this one is different from what you're looking for as it's for side characters, but there's no happy ending in Franken Fran.

tower of god, first season. -
Afterschool War Activities -
Eden - It's an Endless World! -
Oyasumi Punpun -
Mouryou no Yurikago -
Apollo no Uta -
Bokurano -
Battle Royale -
G Senjou Heaven's Door -
Zankoku na Kami ga Shihaisuru -

Last edited by whitespade at 4:09 am, Aug 6 2014

Kind of depends of your definition of a "bad" ending but in Suna no Shiro everything that can go wrong goes wrong...

The anime Witchblade

Seconding Katanagatari anime... but it is based on a novel actually ... Havent read anything though.

Dokuhime has this. Again, maybe not a "bad" ending...

Haou Airen...

Vampire Juujikai

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~4400 manga completed
~1700 ongoing...

doesn't really qualify. is perfect for what OP wants. only kinda qualifies, but moreso than my suggestion.

Only one I can think of at the moment is Nanase.

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Well, if you're looking for the opposite of a feel-good type of story, you could try Arigatou.

Edit: To elaborate, while he isn't really the protagonist, I have the father character in mind; the first comment on the series page gives a good explanation why:


Also, at the end of the series,

Last edited by hahhah42 at 2:46 am, Aug 8 2014

Banana Fish definitely.

Just finished and it probably qualifies - the manga is about hope as well as death and suffering, and the ending isn't 100% negative, but

"Bad Ending for undeserving characters?"

Pretty much every season of Game of Thrones.


Haha, I'm sorry, I don't have anything of substance to contribute, but it seems like you got a lot of responses! I'm gonna check some of these out myself.

Unless you're fluent in Japanese you never will It's never been translated.