End of the Candle

End of the Candle [終末のキャンドル] was an anime series created by the Japanese doujin group Studio Heartzwei, released as a collection of VHS tapes between 1989 and 1992.

The plot follows three high school girls, Satsuki, Ayu, and Sanae, as their school is locked into a quarantine by military forces after the sudden outbreak of a mysterious virus that dramatically alters the personalities of their classmates. Anyone infected forgets who they are, refuses to eat or drink, wanders aimlessly until they pass out, and after death their skin turns into a substance similar to corrosive acid. The lockdown persists for weeks with little help from the outside world, resulting in some surviving students turning to cannibalism to survive.

Originally only sold at doujin market events, End of the Candle remained in obscurity until the series was uploaded to VouTube with English gag subtitles in 2007 by user UnclePretension, gaining a cult following amongst English-speaking anime fans. One running joke in this version suggested a romantic relationship between main characters Satsuki and Ayu, resulting in the two became a popular pairing for shipping, appearing in several pieces of fanart and fanfiction.

VHS tapes remain incredibly scarce and fetch high prices on auction sites. Acquiring a genuine tape has become far more difficult thanks to the proliferation of bootlegs. Additionally, some bootlegs are labeled as Go for a Punch/Saki Sonobashi due to the similarities with that supposed lost anime.