Angels of Death Ending – Why On Earth Did They Go And Do That?

The show has come to an end. It’s curtains for “Angels of Death”. The finale has left viewers perplexed and asking all sorts of questions, so we at Entoin decided to delve into the “Angels of Death” ending and see what happened to cause this mildly amusing hullaballoo.

The show is known for its amazing musical scoring and chilling horror atmosphere. The meanings and symbols explored in this show touch upon spiritual, religious, and metaphysical concepts. There are different ways to understand what the characters are doing and saying, which makes this psychological-horror anime ‘versatile’ in the often linear world of anime storytelling.

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A Heart-Wrenching Plot-Twist

It’s an emotional roller-coaster, especially for the fans of the series who did not anticipate that particular ending. To understand why it ended the way it did, we need to take you through a basic outline of the plot written for the finale of “Angels of Death”.

Another major shoot-out takes place in the show, namely when Gray pulls the trigger on Danny. This was done in self-defence, to protect Zack, whom Danny was eyeing to get rid of at the time. Meanwhile, Zack was busy carrying Ray (Rachel) through the exit, leaving Gray and Danny deep in conversation about Danny’s ‘obsession’ about the way Zack and Ray transformed one another.

Danny seems to have reached a nirvana moment, realizing that everyone in the building at the time is a human, who is beautiful despite their imperfections. The police were already on their way and arrived in time to arrest Zack just as he makes it to the exit. Along with Rachel, he is forcibly taken to a hospital.

But the two got separated, leaving Ray uninformed about Zack’s situation or whereabouts.

Ray was ushered to a mental care facility after her initial arrival at a hospital. She underwent rehab at this new location, all the while unaware of what was happening to Zack.

Zack, on the other hand, was found responsible for all the murders that he had committed in past episodes of the show. The cows came home, as the saying goes, for Zack. He is held accountable for all his actions, including his kidnapping of Rachel after murdering her parents. His sentence: death.

That very night, Rachel learned about this dark twist in Zack’s fate. But she was not alone in knowing this, not for long. Zack had escaped prison and broken into the facility where she was being kept, all to fulfil the promise he had made to her.

A daring window escape was in order, immediately following which Ray insists that Zack end her life and get it over with, as discussed in the past. Zack only replied by asking her to stop crying and to smile.

How Did The Game End?

We mean the game quite literally. “Angels of Death” anime has, after all, been inspired from the game of the same name. There, things ended a tad differently. Zack does break into Ray’s room at the mental care centre, but he is spotted doing so. That, in turn, led to Rachel shutting herself in her bedroom.

At the time Zack broke the window to escape with Ray, the doctor was positioned outside her room.

She called the cops on them when she witnessed the breakout. Some blood was left on the window, and it belonged to Zack who was hurt during his speedy spring to freedom.

In-game, Ray injured Zack with a knife. That happened when Zack broke in, alarmed her, and put her in a panicked self-defence mode. As soon as she gleaned it was Zack standing in her room, she dropped the knife and let him help her escape the premises.

Eventually, the doctor rushed into the room along with a bunch of cops. But the two had long fled the scene. The game also revealed that no bodies were discovered within the facility.

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Finale Episode Highlights

Fans received a dark and soul-jarring ending to the series, leaving them with some memorable highlights. The dialogue between Danny and Gray was quite insightful. Gray thanked Danny whom he said was responsible for his learning something of ‘profound interest’.

Zack and Ray’s relationship had apparently enlightened Gray to the point that he understood the two were genuinely in love with one another. Gray also learned that they were human, in truth. In Gray’s eyes, Zack’s human side was revealed when he used his blade to help someone else.

This ‘hidden human side’ of Zack brought some much-needed closure for his fans and admirers. Gray also appreciated the way all the guardians in the building (during the finale episode of “Angel of Death”) behaved. Blindly devoted and ugly though they were, Gray found them beautiful for their deeds and choices leading up to that moment.

Gray found himself atoning as a result of all his realizations in the final episode of the series. The building then collapsed, taking him and Danny with it, just when they both found closure. The show’s ending was all sorts of complex and ambiguous, owing in large part to how exactly the showrunners decided to conclude this fan-favourite anime.

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Debating The Ending

It is not crisp or clear if Rachel is actually living the events that take place in the finale, or if she is dreaming it all up, Zack included. This encouraged fans to offer two distinct interpretations of the ending.

The first perspective is the simplest: Zack found Rachel with the express intention to kill her, thereby keeping his promise to her. This idea also believes that Zack succeeded in that task. The alternative idea is also a rather dark one.

Rachel comes to learn of Zack facing the death penalty for his deeds, at which point she drops into a deep self-induced psychosis that sees her creating false events in her own head. In this instance, Zack coming over and helping her die was Rachel taking her own life in reality.

The show’s ending did not lean one way or the other, leaving fans to work out what’s symbolic and what’s real by themselves. The second ending mentioned above has more takers because it just felt more real and sensible to a lot of viewers of the anime show “Angels of Death”.

However, Ray’s reasoning throughout this show makes another set of fans wonder why she would ‘break character’ like that. Which brings us back to Zack actually, for real, coming to save Rachel and fulfilling his promise to end her life. That it is not all in Ray’s head.

This particular concept aligns ideally with the events that unravelled in the original game version of the show. Zack finally becoming Ray’s ‘Angel of Death’ feels at once poetic and justified.

Final Thoughts

Several fans adored the music composition in this episode. It was poignant and memorable, especially during Zack’s arrest scene. The melancholy of his conundrum practically flooded viewers with the emotional sentiment.

The dialogues were beautifully written, bringing as much closure as possible for as many characters as possible. The core narrative in “Angels of Death” has always stood strong, even from episode one of the series (titled “Kill me…please”). That narrative remained sturdy even in the finale.

The wonder of it all is how well the creators and writers made this episode meaningful to the extent that different viewers can and have found varied meanings and symbolisms as to what was going on leading up to that jaw-dropping ending that said so much and said so little at the same time.

Granted, not every frame of the series was perfect. It had its slow moments and not a small dose of repetitive scenes. If you belong to the club that believes the ending happened for real, and that it wasn’t a mere dream or some moment in purgatory, then the “Angel of Death” ending will leave you feeling satisfied.

What began as a Japanese horror adventure game (by Hoshikuzu KRNKRN for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch) has crossed the boundary and become an anime show (that aired in English on Aniplus Asia) that has garnered the attention and love of fans of this title all over the world. If you haven’t watched it yet, now may be a good time to start. The anime first released on 20th December 2016.