This week on Platinum End, we learn about unusual wing placement!
I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t really looking forward to this episode. In fact, I put off watching it until the last minute. And you know how it is, sometimes you already decide that you’re not going to like an anime even though you haven’t watched it and it gets very hard to give it a fair shake. That’s sort of where I was. I mean I was already rolling my eyes at the “intended for mature audiences” disclaimer and that wasn’t even part of the episode.
In my defence, that warning about mature audiences at the beginning was immediately followed by a series of events that not only seemed to have been written for a fairly juvenile audience but also by a fairly juvenile author. I’m just saying, Platinum End doesn’t quite strike me as a complex and subtle drama meant for adults. Is all.
But wait, much like Platinum End itself, this post has twists! Even though I had pretty much decided to hate the episode and was already composing a scathing review in my mind as that annoying comedian guy bit it… I just didn’t. I still don’t think Platinum End is a great show for me but I liked this episode way more than I thought I would and way more than the first one.
Part of it is certainly that I have adjusted my expectations but it also felt like in this episode, Platinum End wasn’t taking itself quite as seriously. Like it kind of wanted to embrace being a bit of a trashy supernatural soap opera and I think that might be a great move! I also enjoyed the idea of one of the candidates playing superhero. It’s both fun in how deeply childish it is and sort of twisted. I play on the whole power corrupts notion that the author is fond of in a very direct way.
Also, the main character, after accidentally murdering his aunt and finding out his entire life was a lie, has found a new zest for it. Life that is. He’s still a bit on the mopey side but he doesn’t want to die and is going to work hard to get a lovely high school experience. I much prefer him this way over the edge lord thing he had going on last week.
And so, by the time he was trying on his new school uniform, well… how can I put it. I didn’t hate the episode. I would watch another.
I mean there’s still plenty that doesn’t make sense and if you think too hard about the story it sort of falls apart. I love the idea that God specifically wanted suicidal people as candidates. The justification that they would want to change the world because they aren’t happy with it is all sorts of flimsy. After all, they have specifically given up on it. Some people have depression without actually hating the world and plenty of non-suicidal people want to change it. I think God may just be trolling the angels for giggles.
I’m also not so sure how to feel about the idea that Metropoliman is also a high school student. I thought it would have been funnier if he was an adult. The fact that he and Mirai will most likely be engaging in a cat and mouse game each trying to discover the other, while the rest of the student body is oblivious but also at risk. Well, it sounds a bit too familiar.
So in summary: butt wings!
I sadly couldn’t read this , but your review did remind me to watch this . I heard about it a few months ago and totally spaced it till now . Plus had to catch up with some light novels .
I do hope you like it!
I’m considering starting the manga since the anime for me is not as exciting as I expected still this episode was better atleast.
I like your optimism. I hope the manga is better paced. I have no clue
The Death Note angle would have been nice to see- since that’s the creators most popular work. But seeing them change things around a little bit is also fine.
The idea of the Suicidal wanting the change the world is a good way to keep wacko’s like a certain High School student from trying to seize the power for himself. So even if it doesn’t make all that much sense; it DOES prevent psychopath’s from claiming God’s power.
I’m glad you liked this episode more!
There are tons of ambitious and psychopathic people that have committed suicide. It’s very common. A lot of dictators have gone that way as well. I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive in any way. Maybe it’s the case in the universe of the anime though we haven’t been told that yet.
Butt wings? And they are facing down… If aerodynamics matter, he would have to fly backward.
I like the MC. He’s a suicidally depressed person who was given a new lease on life by divine intervention. I’ve seen that trope before somewhere. He was helpless in the face of a cruel environment and said intervention allowed him to achieve genuine justice. (Cinderella?) I can see a substantial shift in life attitude from that as he is now able to discover what he needs to be and not be crushed.
He’s also a moral person who would rather not have to deal with the power. Reminds me of Frodo. To have kept a moral compass despite the evil and unfairness heaped upon him makes him remarkable. If I were writing the story, it would be all about the conflict between doing the easy things vs. the right thing. The other 12 candidates would be examples of various ways to stray from The Path. It has a distinctly Buddhist flavor.
Have you read the manga? You know a lot more about the protag than I do. He seems to not want to murder too much but he was also pretty ok with blaming his uncle for a murder he had committed so in the anime the morality is kind of questionable for now. He also basically just wants to stay out of trouble and have fun at school. He’s more of a lesser of potential evils but still kind of bad. Which is interesting as well but a different archetype. Maybe he becomes more virtuous later.
Haven’t seen the manga and likely won’t. Anime has to stand on its own because most people will never see the manga. I’m just judging from what I’ve seen on the show.
I did like this episode a little more than the last, but I’m not sure yet that’s enough. This show is definitely on probation.
I don’t like I-want-to-live main character any more than mopey main character. And the turn-around is hard to buy into. That talk about happiness is a sure way to set yourself up for disappointment, not because you can’t become happy, but because you set yourself up for constantly asking “are we there yet”.
Rolled my eyes at the idol scene, especially at them all scattering like chickens. I mean they do have their clothes, so wouldn’t they put them on first instead of flashing the security cams and worrying about their careers?
There was one scene I really loved: Main character: “Oh, no, an angel. If I play it cool, he won’t notice me.” Angel zoom: What have we here?. Main charactor: Oh no!
That was really well done, I thought.
Actually, I think the show might be more interesting if the guy were still suicidal:
Meteropoliman: I shall now shoot you with a red arrow so I can become God.
MC: *mumbles* I hope it doesn’t hurt.
Meteropoliman: Hmmm? Speak up! I cannot hear you.
MC: It’s nothing. Please shoot me with the read arrow, or let me go to class. I don’t want to be late.
How’d you make such a main character last the entire show? That might be a fun challenge. I think the easiest way would be a comedy with lots of misunderstandings and coincidences.
The MC is completely inconsistent but I do like your interpretation of it. I think taking it as a parody might be the only way to make it work for me but it’s not a very good show… I would be surprised if it turned out great
Great review! Too bad you didn’t enjoy it more..
I’m kind of surprised I haven’t come across this one before.. I’ll have to check out the manga. 😆
Hey, there’s still time. I haven’t read the manga. I wonder if it’s more my style.
That is true! Blood+ starts off pretty slow but once it takes off? A killer anime.
And it’s worth checking the manga out.. I’ve found that a lot of times they’re better than the show. But that’s me.
Have a great weekend!