Eucatastrophe is a literary term J.R.R. Tolkien invented for an ending that is more than just a standard Happy Ending. I’ll copy/paste a more detailed explanation from a Tolkien Wiki.
Eucatastrophe is a neologism coined by Tolkien from Greek ευ- "good" and καταστροφή "destruction".
- "I coined the word 'eucatastrophe': the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears (which I argued it is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce). And I was there led to the view that it produces its peculiar effect because it is a sudden glimpse of Truth, your whole nature chained in material cause and effect, the chain of death, feels a sudden relief as if a major limb out of joint had suddenly snapped back. It perceives – if the story has literary 'truth' on the second plane (....) – that this is indeed how things really do work in the Great World for which our nature is made. And I concluded by saying that the Resurrection was the greatest 'eucatastrophe' possible in the greatest Fairy Story – and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love."
- ― Letter 89
In his On Fairy-Stories Tolkien describes eucatastrophe further:
- "But the 'consolation' of fairy-tales has another aspect than the imaginative satisfaction of ancient desires. Far more important is the Consolation of the Happy Ending. Almost I would venture to assert that all complete fairy-stories must have it. At least I would say that Tragedy is the true form of Drama, its highest function; but the opposite is true of Fairy-story. Since we do not appear to possess a word that expresses this opposite — I will call it Eucatastrophe. The eucatastrophic tale is the true form of fairy-tale, and its highest function.
The consolation of fairy-stories, the joy of the happy ending: or more correctly of the good catastrophe, the sudden joyous “turn” (for there is no true end to any fairy-tale): this joy, which is one of the things which fairy-stories can produce supremely well, is not essentially 'escapist', nor 'fugitive'. In its fairy-tale—or otherworld—setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.
It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to child or man that hears it, when the “turn” comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a peculiar quality." - ― On Fairy-Stories
He sees it in The Gospel and in many “Fairy Stories” but said it never happened in the “modern” novel. "Modern" when he was writing would have included Victorian Era novels. I should note that I think it’s safe to assume he hadn’t read any of the French Novels translated by BlackCoatPress. Because I do think some of Paul Feval’s novels may have them.
Talking about what potentially counts as Eucatastrophes in modern fictional media like Movies and TV Shows and Video Games in Tolkien and Lewis Facebook groups has revealed that what does and doesn’t qualify can be quite debatable. I’m inclined to define it fairly strictly since Tolkien said they are unheard of in any modern novels he was aware of.
I watched a YouTube video attempting to explain what distinguishes a Eucatastrophe from a Deus Ex Machina and I really feel they got it wrong. Especially in how they said Peter Jackson improved what happened in the Crack of Doom, I am a Jackson apologist, but on that one NO the Book’s version is still a truer Eucatastrophe.
To me the suddenness of the Eucatastrophe is vital, it seems like Evil’s about to prevail, like it pretty much already has, then BAM! something unexpected happens. That’s why I kind of feel Jurassic Park has the best Eucatastrophe of anything I’ve seen in a Hollywood movie. But the end of Final Fantasy VII could perhaps also work depending on how you interpret what actually happened there.
What makes a Eucatastrophe still not a Deus Ex Machina in the literary sense (one certainly can be in a theologically literal sense, like maybe the end of Raiders of The Lost Ark), is that understanding how this resolution was properly set up requires paying attention to the themes and morals of the story rather than the technical mechanics of what was happening. Good doesn’t prevail because everything went according to some brilliant plan, or because the hero won a fight, in fact the villains should win the fight.
Proper Eucatastrophes are rare in every medium, but this post is about how I feel Anime is more prone to them then Hollywood is. But I had to cover some non Anime stuff first to provide context for what it means and how I personally view it.
And because I'll be talking about stuff a bit more Niche then everything referenced above, be prepared for Spoilers.
I kind of think the Purest Eucatastorphe in not just Anime but all of Fiction period, including Tolkien’s own examples, is the ending of the Makai Tree Arc (once known as the Doom Tree Series in English) of Sailor Moon R.
Some may argue every Season of Sailor Moon ends in one as well as Ikuhara’s movie, and that may be true. But here more than anywhere else is where Sailor Moon embodies what a Eucatastrophe should be, and finally fully gives birth to what the Magical Girl Warrior Sub-Genre will become. Because a good deal of the other Anime Eucatastrophes I recommend are also from Mahou Shoujo shows.
Like the ending of episode 9 of Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei Herz!, a scene that makes me Cry, it so perfectly embodies both my understanding of The Gospel and the Magical Girl Genre.
When I mentioned in one of those Facebook groups working on a project about Eucatastrophe in Anime someone else brought up the ending of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. And yeah I do feel that also fits, given what I’ve learned following Clearandsweet’s videos on Madoka and what I talked about long ago regarding Kyoko Sakura.
But I want to go back to the Doom Tree Saga. Certain Sailor Moon Podcasts hosted by western Comic Book writers have mostly not enjoyed the ending of this arc in their recent rewatches in spite of their Nostalgia for it. And I think the problems that prevent conventional writers from doing Eucatastorphes are exactly what’s keeping them from appreciating this beautiful ending. Western Superheroes don’t lend themselves to Eucatastrophe, even Endgame didn’t have the guts to do one.
Another Spoiler Warning
The day is not saved by Usagi defeating anyone, the day is saved by the villains finally learning to truly Love each other, but it does happen because of Usagi, because her incredible capacity to Love is what inspires them to finally figure out what Love is.
Let’s go beyond Mahou Shoujo now. Another Anime example suggested to me by others on Facebook was Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind. That is still my favorite Miyazaki film.
Kunihiko Ikuhara’s shows I would be less hesitant to count if their endings were more unambiguously happy. Tolkien’s own Happy Endings do tend to have some Bitter Sweet quality to them however.
I still haven’t gotten to see Spring Song yet. I’ve heard things about what happens in Heaven’s Feel that have me hoping we’ll get one here. The True Magics are probably either Deus Ex Machinas or Eucatastrophes, it all depends on execution really.
I think you could also possibly argue for the ending of Clannad: After Story qualifying.
I feel like some of the Pokémon movies have them, but I’m hesitant to definitively single out any of them right now.
I also think A Certain Magical Index: The Miracle of The Endymion might count.
Actually the Daihesei Festival arc of A Cretan Magical Index II (episodes 8-13, or 32-37 of the series as a whole) definitely counts.
I kind of get this feeling from the final episode of Accel World. Technically that’s almost more a Heist Movie twist making it more like what I above defined an Eucatastrophe as not being. But it does compliment the themes and morals of the show, and I just love how the seeming Damsel in Distress of the Arc actually had a plan all along.
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya’s ending is really right on the line between how I define a Eucatastrophe and a Deus Ex Machina and I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Very recently I considered counting the last episode of Warlords of Sigrdrifa, but I also think that may be stretching it. I really don’t want to look like I’m just giving this label to every ending I like. In those Facebook groups some people suggested that Star Wars (presumably A New Hope) counts and I kind of had to laugh at that one.
The fact that it's kind of ultimately an emotional reaction is perhaps what really makes it hard to define. In a weird way maybe some people think the Threesome Ending of the School Days Visual Novel works as a Eucatastrophe for the players who wanted that ending.
I may edit this post to add additional examples in the future. I have a sense that I may regret not finishing Princess Tutu before publishing this.
Update: On April 1st I watched Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms and there was a moment near it's ending that I feel kind of maybe fits.
January 2022 Update: The first Detective Conan movie, The Time Bombed Skyscraper has an ending that perhaps counts.
September 2022 Update: Actually a better Detective Conan/Case Closed Eucatastrophe is probably the one in episode 345.
December 2022 Update: On my fourth viewing of Robotics;Notes it occurred to me that the Parrot saving Airi in episode 20 could qualify.
April 2023 Update: I have two to add.
First is that Re;Creators may very well count, and perhaps also embodies why the desire of us Tolkien nerds to distinguish Eucatastrpohe from a Deus Ex Machina is somewhat futile. Nothing in the modern world actually matches 100% of Aristotle's definition of a Deus Ex Machina, we literally don't write Plays like they did in Ancient Athens anymore, so there is always some flimsy attempt to justify a resolution that appears to come out of nowhere. What makes it one we'd call a Eucatastrophe or not is simply in how it's executed, or more truthfully whether we happen to like it or not.
Second is that, most shockingly I'm thinking of counting a Hentai called Triangle Blue, but I need to qualify some things.
Triangle Blue like a lot of Hentai of it's genre is a technically a Visual Novel adaptation, meaning it's source material has different timelines that could play out, which we commonly call Routes. Most of the Triangle Blue two part OVA is a very condensed adaptation of one specific route, but then after reaching that story's end crams on some elements from other routes.
So if you stop episode 2 at about 22:14 (exactly when could depend on the upload), that's the end of the storyline it had been adapting and what's left is Anime Original Filler. And in that story I'm willing to consider when Akane's Sister slaps her a Eucatastrophe.
Update April 2025: I've just rewatched Char's Counterattack and it's ending I think counts.
Update May 2025: The 9th Cream Lemon OVA "Happening Summer" has a Eucatastrophe, unlike the prior Hentai example I included this one has no qualifying statement.
