I think it's my first ever review on MAL. Consider it a reaction to Hameln's low rating. I don't understand the tendency with MAL users to badly rate anything released in the 20th century with subpar art direction. Back in the day, we cared about story and music, more than moe and tsundere stuff. Low budgets always gave more room to creativity. Hameln's showrunner, if the word exists for Japanese productions (maybe script editor?), was Yasuhiro Imagawa. And it shows. In those days, he was popular with a handful of fans who saw what he was trying to do: take an existing, often bland IP, andadapt it into an anime show that would end up shocking everyone, not just for the shock value, but because it'll make them think about the ending for a long time.

He did it with Giant Robo (although quite tame, the intention was there), then with the Berserk TV show. The latter was more or less a straight adaptation of the manga, but it was quite ballsy to end it exactly there. Hameln was very different, but Imagawa still did it -- the last two episodes were incredibly disturbing and moving at the same time. I'm an old geezer, I've seen it all, nothing can surprise me anymore, but this one really impressed me. After 25 years or so, it's still in my anime top 10, and the only anime from the last 10 years that made the list was Ranking of Kings (once again, a show that puts it all on story, not art). JoJo doesn't count, its material dates back to the 90s/early naughties. But yes, JoJo should be in my top 10 as well. It's probably bigger on the inside, like a TARDIS.

At that point you start thinking, at least I did, "why did they have to hide the ending behind an endless string of boring episodes with terrible big eyes and repetitive scripts?" I felt the reward was worth it, but how about everyone else? I'd tend to say, just skip the show after the first episode, and watch the last few. It's okay. You probably won't miss anything important. You will, however, have a magical experience with those last two. Believe me!

If you can't fathom the terrible designs but still want good shows with surprising endings from that era, aside from Berserk and Giant Robo, I'd recommend Utena (although with even more repetitive scripts), and Princess Tutu. Interestingly, both are from two different directors of the Sailor Moon show.