While the events of these final two episodes were clearly necessary to tie the story up, the way in which they were presented does the show an awful disservice, in my opinion. I would have preferred a quick epilogue following the band's Grateful Sound performance - not two episodes of sullen dialogue, inexplicable story developments, and cheap animation. It's a horrible way to end such an otherwise wonderful show.

But, I'm not necessarily surprised. As much as I enjoyed Beck, I often found myself wishing it was better. That is, so much of the show was steeped in mediocrity: the animation, the direction, the storytelling - even the music, at times. It's as if some sort of inherent laziness weighed the entire production down from the very beginning. Pretension, perhaps? I'm not sure. Regardless of the reason, it's disappointing.

I really have to agree with you one the last part of the show, where they present them in picture images. It was the most disappointing ending I have probably ever seen. You don't even get to see the band reunited and played together, that is just sad. When the credit rolled, I was so stunned by the fact that they ended it in such a lazy fashion, I was angry instead of having that bittersweet feeling when a serie ended.

Beck could be so much more, but they blew it.

yep.. gotta agree
shabby production for the anime
especially this last episode - it was basically still photos and random shots of buildings/scenery for 70% of the episode

Big disappointment, I didn't even feel it was the end of the series. It just felt it sort of faded away. Maybe they'll do a second season once there's enough material(manga still running I think) but it's sad one of last seasons better shows turned out to be such a big disappointment. :(

Why hasn't anyone else noticed that Taira was playing for the Pillows? Sure they said Heroes, but those songs were ripped directly from FLCL. Taira's the MAN for landing that gig!

Yep. Most depressing show ending ever. Five minute slide show?! Bah. This show was up and down so often....

lol i enjoyed this ending as much as any other episode of the show - i.e. i liked it a lot.

this was a great series, and a fitting ending... much like mai hime had a fitting ending.

am i the only one who really enjoyed this ending and for whom it did NOT do a disservice to the rest of the series?

I agree with you birdman. I think the ending was alright. It wasn't the greatest, but i still liked it. My favorite slide was drunk Chiba.

Maybe i did'nt think this ending was so bad because i watched "Spiral"...

right up until the 17th min mark, it smelled like a second season was coming....

i admit that the ending didnt do the show justice. i definitely didnt get the empty feeling i usually get from other final episodes.

however, poor ending or not, i really enjoyed the show as a whole. some complain about the music and the engRish but i for one loved the music...as for the poor english, well u have to remember the Japanese have poor english. take it at face value.

Beck sparked my future visits to live houses in Japan.

yup.. i liked the music.. decent end

While it's possible (no, likely) that the final slideshow was a choice made for budget as well as stylistic reasons, I think that it did far less to hurt the show than the music itself. I can even overlook the Engrish. But the music, dear God, the music... At not one single point in the entire Beck anime was I happy or impressed or even content with the music. I don't consider it a taste issue; I like Nirvana and even some Pearl Jam and RHCP when the occasion calls, but I know I've heard high school garage punk bands with better chops than Beck's.

As for those people who think there is a good chance of a 2nd season: Just because there is enough manga content to make another season does not make it a good idea. The first 11-12 volumes worked great for a full-season TV show, maintaining decent story progression while building up to an exciting climax. Compared to that, everything since has been lackluster and mostly incoherent in terms of actual plot structure. I think the story still has legs and has the potential to end well but right now Beck is seriously dragging.

I'm suprised anyone made it passed the first episode.