Platinum End

Title:Platinum End
プラチナエンド
Overall:Unevaluated
Keywords: , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - Signal MD
IRINO Miyu
OGURA Yui
On the day of his middle school graduation, deeply depressed Mirai Kakehashi attempts to commit suicide by leaping from a tall building. His parents and brother were killed in a mysterious explosion when he was seven, and since then he has lived a miserable life in the care of his abusive aunt and uncle. But to his surprise, just before striking the ground he is snatched up by Nasse, his 'personal angel'. She vows to give him the freedom and love that was missing from his life--but Mirai finds that there's some weird stuff going on in the divine realm.

24 episodes
Episode Details 
16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Unevaluated Stretch [series:4377#628]
(23 episodes watched):

I guess the idea here was to give us the impression that this show would be a moving story of a downtrodden guy getting a second chance at life with the help of an angel--and then yank the rug out from underneath us and reveal its real premise. The problem is, it didn't do a very good job. I find that while I can suspend disbelief to a remarkable extent--like an angel saving a guy at the last moment--there are definite limits to what I can take seriously. This show, however, seemed to think viewers would buy whatever it fed them without any second thoughts. One of the first problems I noticed was the revelation that Mirai is blameless regarding his state of mind since his family was actually murdered by none other than his abusive uncle. That was a much too simplistic and convenient explanation for me. I resented the implication that depression is a sin that Mirai needed an excuse for. As is often the case with emotionally disturbed people in anime, Mirai pretty much snaps out of it, because, you know, it was all in his head. He undergoes a suspicious epiphany about the value of life. Nasse sure sheds a lot of feathers! How does she have any left by the end of the episode? Anyway, why did Mirai deserve the fantastic devices, and the dream come true that they portend? It seems that these devices could easily be more of a curse than a blessing. And why does Nasse not worry about ethics all that much? This was all clearly leading somewhere, but when the destination is revealed I could only roll my eyes. It seems that there's a sort of election underway to choose the next God, and the way the winner is decided is apparently by a battle of elimination between 13 candidates, of which Mirai is one. This was so preposterous that I found myself feeling incredulous, and wishing that I had misunderstood the plot. But unfortunately I think I got it right. All of a sudden this was feeling like Mirai Nikki or some show like that (was the protagonist's name a clue?). The implication that the next world is a nihilistic hellscape is vaguely disturbing. I must admit that it is so bizarre that I am tempted to keep watching, but not because I expect it to shape up and be good in the end. If you are going to pull that trick of making us expect one thing then delivering something else, you need to make sure that what we actually get is something good, and I seriously doubt that that will happen here.

So, that's the way things are going to be. I must admit I remained curious where things were going to go, and as a result watched episode two. A disclaimer at the beginning warns that the show is "Intended for mature audiences only". Basically, 13 angels each select one human as a candidate to be the next God, and the candidates have 999 days to decide, by any means necessary, who the winner will be. The outgoing God specified that he wanted only persons who had lost all hope as candidates, for some reason. The next world is a somewhat more sordid and, well, human place than we had expected. The candidates get different abilities bestowed upon them, which is thoroughly unfair, but it's best that we dispense with outdated concepts like fairness. The show was actually pretty entertaining as Mirai finds himself drawn into this competition which he would rather concede and withdraw from (he can't). A frontrunner emerges in 'Metropoliman', a superhero-like character who seems admirable in some ways but adopts a ruthless campaign of eliminating all competitors. I wound up thinking that this might actually be a fun show that I would watch to the end.

As is often the case in anime, Mirai learns that someone he knows is also a God candidate. Saki, a girl he has known since they were children, has an angel named Revel. Mirai and Saki ally themselves. We learn some more of the rules, for instance that angels may not directly harm any candidate. As absurd as it initially seemed, this show is actually pretty intense and engaging, and I look forward to additional episodes. The scene where it seems that Metropoliman has already found Mirai, who would be doomed if that had happened, was clever. The showdown between Metropolimnan and several rivals in episode four was intriguing but left me confused in the end. I was largely able to keep track of the fairly clever tricks each side used, which was fun. Except for one: Why didn't the very first move, shooting the character who (if I understood things correctly) turned out to be the real Metropoliman with a red arrow, work? The explanation was that this must be a person who has already been hit by a red arrow, so another one won't have any effect, but Metropoliman was clearly in command and not doing anything he didn't want to. Maybe I need to rewatch the episode. But it was fun nevertheless. The degree of scheming and outwitting opponents rather than just physically beating them in combat reminds me of shows like Death Note--which makes sense, since OHBA Tsugumi is the original creator of both.

Mirai and Saki find themselves another God candidate ally in episode five. This guy, Mukaido, has terminal cancer and all he wants is to keep Metropoliman from becoming God. He seems trustworthy and a person you could sympathize with to me, though I wouldn't totally discard the possibility that he might betray them. Five candidates remain unidentified. The rules of the game can be complex and confusing--like what happens when red arrows are loaned to ordinary humans and they shoot God candidates with them. Several times it is pointed out that even the Angels sometimes don't know all the rules, which is amusing. Metropoliman could have shot a candidate in the back in episode seven but doesn't, probably because the candidate was a major character. It turns out candidates can use their Red Arrows as a sort of sword to parry attacks by the White one, which comes in handy. In episode eight a school friend of Metropoliman begins to suspect he knows his true identity, Saki undergoes an emotional crisis, and at the very end we first meet a previously unknown God candidate--this rather flamboyant person is apparently an 'assassin'. For the most part I'm enjoying this, though it doesn't seem quite as complex and sophisticated as Death Note. It seems to get so-so ratings from anime fans at ANN.

This guy, Sokotani, has a bizarre past. He was once hideously ugly and correspondingly unpopular, and was driven to the sort of despair that led to him being selected as a God candidate by the death of his mother. He has wound up with a mix of evil, idiocy and insanity as a personality, and hence is hard to sympathize with. Though he has had a ton of plastic surgery (which is sometimes played as a joke) it is his personality that is ugly. It seems to me that this guy could easily have been a much more interesting character, but the author chose not to do that. In episode 10 there's a fight between Mirai and Mukaido against Metripoliman and Sokotani (who idolizes Metripoliman). For the most part, it was kind of weak--why didn't Sokotani shoot Mirai in the back as he argued with Metripoliman? Why did Metripoliman quickly loose interest in this affair once it became a stand-off? The way the impasse was broken was kind of amusing and cathartic, however. But it dragged on so long that the outcome was still unresolved at the end of the episode. One thing I definitely wasn't expecting was that Sokotani may wind up an ally of Mirai/Mukaido/Saki, at least temporarily.

Metripoliman shows up with several non-candidates who he has nevertheless armed with God weapons. But again, the tension is undermined by the characters talking when they obviously ought to be attacking each other. Why sit back and let your opponents hash out a plan? And Metripoliman's henchmen (like the crazy woman who specializes in bioweapons) were so farcical that they were hard to take seriously. This is definitely not Death Note quality stuff. On the other hand, when things reach a climax with a sort of a duel between Metripoliman and Mirai, I was sure I knew how it would end. Based on the series up to that point I was sure that I'd be disappointed--that while Metripoliman seemed to be on the ropes, he'd be rescued somehow and the uninspiring fight against him would drag on. But what happened was actually sort of cool; though I guess you could say I was surprised that this show made the right choice for once, which is shallow praise.

Season two begins with the introduction of the new frontrunner in the campaign to see who will be the next God. Susumu Yuito (IIRC) is a boy who apparently was mistaken for being suicidal when he was in fact suffering from nothing worse than boredom (which suggests that Angels cannot read minds). He seems inoffensive, and the remaining Angels wonder if there is anyone left who would commit murder in order to become God. But surely this boy is hiding something. We also learn why Metripoliman couldn't be shot with a Red Arrow during the big fight. Episode 16 was a pleasant surprise. Mirai gains a pair of new allies: he and she (I forgot to note their names) are police detectives charged with identifying 'Red' (Mirai), but they apparently don't trust their superiors and would rather help Mirai than turn him in. They are also lovers. Mirai decides to trust them and they are introduced to the capabilities of arrows and wings and the existence of Angels in a (surprisingly) believable manner. I found this new development to be genuinely intriguing and really wanted the episode to continue rather than end at 23 minutes.

A new God candidate is identified in episode 17. This guy, Shuji, is supposed to be depressed and suicidal despite the prospect of possibly becoming God, and shouldn't pose any sort of a threat. But the lecture he gives is unconvincing and it just goes to show how unrealistic it was for Mirai to snap out of his own depression in the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, a clever scheme comes together regarding how to peacefully decide who will be the next God. One candidate remains unidentified and you just know this person has no intention of allowing the decision to be made amicably. A survey at ANN rated this show as the worst one of the Fall 2021 season, but I think that while it definitely could have been much better it remains intriguing enough to be worth watching.

In episode 18 we finally get an introduction to the final candidate. This guy, Professor Yoneda, is a brilliant scientist who nevertheless had developed a pessimistic outlook on humanity's future. Just what he believes is made more clear in episode 19, but not completely. His personal philosophy seems to be that God is a creation of the collective imagination of mankind (or something like that), and mankind would be better off without it. He's not exactly an atheist. But I wish it were made a bit more clear exactly what he believes and why he'd be willing to kill to get what he wants. Surely becoming aware that at least Angels exist would make him think twice, wouldn't it? The fact that he has 'The Angel of Destruction' as his partner can't be good news. It looks like a battle of wits rather than weapons from here on. Mirai's plan if he becomes God is revealed and is curious.

Last updated Thursday, March 24 2022. Created Friday, October 08 2021.

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