Platinum End is very divisive in the manga community.
While I would like to give the anime adaptation a fair chance, I fear the series will shape up to be as boring and uninspired as its source material.
On the one hand, I enjoyed the series premiere. I thought it was a bit rushed during some scenes, but overall left a good impression.
On the other hand…I remember reading a few chapters of this manga when it first came out…and being bored as hell.
I decided to ultimately give the adaptation a go to see if maybe I was misremembering things.
Is Platinum End Worth Reading?
For all intents and purposes, many fans of Death Note had mixed emotions after reading the Platinum End manga. Not living up to the expectations of previous work by the mangaka, I was personally left feeling disappointed after reading the manga.
Writer and Artist duo Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi received critical acclaim for their work on the well-established Death Note and Bakuman series. However, most readers were surprised at the stunning lack of depth the Platinum End manga had.
Platinum End Episode 1 Review
Even now as I write up this review, I’m switching between discussions surrounding that manga and its ending – which I remember hearing was extremely unfulfilling.
Of course, the anime adaptation should be treated as a somewhat separate entity, but if the source material is a disappointment…that doesn’t bode well for the future of this anime.
Is the Platinum End Anime Any Good?
Most people would consider Platinum End an anime that is not worth watching. Despite having a lackluster reception to its manga, the source material was adapted into an anime that may have been better left on the decaying pages of a dusty bookshelf.
Regardless, let’s switch gears and talk about the positives on offer for this show.
I think the premise is somewhat interesting.
What is the Point of Platinum End?
The point of Platinum End is for a new god to be determined through the strongest of 13 candidates. The series revolves around Mirai Kakehashi and his guardian angel Nasse.
Fed up with life, Mirai is saved from committing suicide and given special powers to enter a game that will determine the god of their world. Mirai faces off against 12 other contestants each with unique powers bestowed upon them by their angels all with the goal of eliminating the existing competition.
Although this synopsis sounds highly entertaining, the execution may ultimately be poor in the anime.
Is the Battle Royale Genre in Anime Overused?
Although the whole Battle Royale genre has been overdone at this point – but is seemingly back in fashion with the explosion of the Korean Squid Game – the baseline plot was just interesting enough to work in this series.
Story Recap and Analysis
One day, a depressed boy named Kakehashi Mirai attempts to commit suicide after his middle school graduation. Instead of dying, he is saved by an angel named Nasse.
While receiving just enough information to leave room for later conflict, Mirai learns about his new powers over gratuitous camera shots of Nasse’s ass cheeks from various angles.
Interestingly enough, just as Mirai decides life is worth living and discovers some minuscule sliver of hope from their conversation – Nasse causes the first of many conflicts: his (evil) aunt and uncle are the source of his misery.
Apparently, Mirai was given the Harry Potter treatment growing up.
Abused and barely kept alive for money, Mirai learns that his uncle was some sort of criminal mastermind and planted a bomb in his wife’s brother’s car in order to blow the family up for inheritance money.
The only reason Mirai survived is because he was walking to school with his childhood friend, Saki, that day.
So basically, the Power of Friendship saved Mirai’s life.
Mirai’s entire family dies during the hit, and thus begins his miserable middle school life.
Having been randomly given supernatural abilities, and told he can do anything in life is cool and all – but maybe Nasse should have gotten Mirai a couple sessions of therapy instead?
I’m not sure if having all of that power will bode well for this type of main character.
I mean during the episode, Mirai even has to make his aunt “fall in love with him” to get the truth out of her using a red arrow. Mirai (or maybe the anime gods) take a second to animate the teenager ogling his aunt’s breasts before she stabs herself in the neck in front of her no-good husband.
Then Mirai…kind of just leaves? And we realize there has been a time skip of three days.
Mirai is broke in a hotel room, while Nasse eggs him on to murder his uncle, and two cousins, and take back the insurance money. When he protests, Nasse mentions another power up – a white arrow that causes instant death – and just casually spills the whole setup of thirteen candidates bestowed powers to become the next god.
I guess the way it happened was somewhat realistic, but obviously – Nasse is a very shady character and clearly taking advantage of Mirai. Who is not in a great mental space, might I add.
Either way, the draw for next week’s episode seems to be the fact that not every god candidate receives both wings and arrows, as Mirai did.
And even if they receive arrows, not every candidate receives a special white arrow…so the games are rigged and not everybody will survive, or maybe the guardian angels are just very divested in their candidates?
But, tell me your thoughts.
I guess this is the formation of the god candidate into a full-fledged bona fide god?
Do you think we should judge an anime adaptation by how well the manga source material was received?
Were this episode’s events interesting enough?
And, does anybody else have the strange urge to rewatch Mirai Nikki?
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