Maybe it’s because I’m really tired today but I did not care about anything that happened in this week’s Platinum End. Not at all. And I would argue that we could have just skipped this episode altogether and not missed anything. Maybe even have been a smidge better off.
Ok, I’m hearing myself in my head. I definitely sound grumpy.
But ‘cmon. You have to admit it’s not like we learned anything important or that this was mesmerizing to watch or anything. I didn’t really care about the two guys. They were depressive dudes who became candidates. OK. And now they’re dead. Oops, spoilers. But I don’t care that they’re dead. And even the other characters onscreen mentioned not caring. I didn’t know these guys in the least and the show is set up for the candidates to die so it wasn’t a shock in any way. Sadly, the animation isn’t impressive enough to just enjoy it on an eye-candy level either.
And admittedly, I do sound a bit like a monster but I don’t care about the girl much either. She’s more sympathetic simply on the virtue of having a character design of a little girl crying. Most of us are wired to want to protect children. But on a character level, I don’t know anything about her either, and the show hasn’t given me any reason to be more attached to her than anyone else. Except over the top dramatics.
At the end of the episode, we know that Metropoliman is not a great guy and is very dangerous. We already knew that. I don’t find him any more threatening now than before. We know that being a God candidate puts your life in danger. We found that out in episode 1 along with a more visceral demonstration in my opinion. And we found out that the other candidates are just normal folks that will likely become fodder. We also knew that. Oh, and that you can hire people. None of this is useful in any way.
You could argue that the point was to marvel at how diabolical Metropoliman’s plan was but that actually sort of bothered me. His plan in and of itself, to trick other candidates into revealing themselves was whatever. Fine I guess. I wasn’t floored by the brilliance of it. But it cost him a lot and the series doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge it.
One of the things that Platinum End seemed to be building up was that Metropoliman was coming across as some kind of hero, loved by the masses. This was an interesting aspect because it puts our main characters in the unenviable position of being against someone the general public admires. It sort of forces them to cast themselves in the antagonist role, at least as far as their own community is concerned. And that brings up all sorts of inner conflict and additional complications that have nothing to do with the silly story. There were tons of potential themes to explore.
But all of that got thrown away because of this little scheme. Now not only is the general public aware that Metropoliman is dishonest, plays dirty and is not the good guy by any stretch of the imagination. But he, in fact, went so overboard in the bad guy clichée that he might as well have been twirling his mustache. we the viewers also can forget about a nuanced character that we could begrudgingly think should win or something. Nope, he’s the baddy bad bad guy who snatched a small girl just to shoot her in the face in front of a stadium full of people.
She’s mind-controlled. He could have taken her backstage and done this.
The one thing I figured they could have been driving to is getting our characters discovered. And I guess that’s what the cliffhanger is about but I’ll get to it. When they got to the stadium they made a big deal about not giving themselves away and I thought they would have to really force themselves to act natural. Enduring a horrible spectacle and forcing themselves not to react or something. But they’ve been openly discussing red and white arrows in a conversational tone. Mirai was starting at angels he’s not supposed to be able to see. If the point was just to have them give themselves away, they could have done it last week and it would have been more intense since it would have involved a super observant enemy who can keep them on their toes! But no…
There is a possibility that the little girl will survive and become an important character. Then this whole escapade would at least serve as an eventful character introduction. I still wouldn’t say it was the best way to go about it but I would take back the claim that it was a complete waste of time.
However, judging by the way the narrative has unfolded so far, I think the most likely outcome is that the cliffhanger is a fakeout and the little girl will get killed next episode leaving our main character with a thirst for revenge or something. Completely unnecessary as the simple fact that Metropoliman was trying to kill them is more than enough motivation to pit them against him. Oh well, at least we’ll move on to something new soo. I hope we get to see the angels again. I liked them!
Disclaimer. I rarely write such negative reviews. I am really tired. And you know what, if you liked this episode then that’s great. I think knowing how to enjoy things is a skill and I would rather that everyone else had fun with it. But if you also weren’t crazy about this episode, at least we can commiserate!
Even though this show is a little dumb , I’ll take it . It reminds me of the other show that the Future Diary mangaka made . It was Big Order and wow that was really a dumb show , especially after being super invested in Future Diary. So this show gives me definite Big Order Vibes lol
You are indulgent! That’s a good thing!
Haha sometimes I need a good dumb show , to make the others really shine ✨. Also have you checked out Faraway Paladin? It’s so good .
Is it? OK, I’ll add it to my list
I loved the first 4 episodes . I’m still waiting week by week . If you like fantasy style anime , and Isekai, it’s really good . It’s not too terribly tropey and main character doesn’t have a harem atm. Also the art reminds me of old Final Fantasy Tactics .
I know the feeling. Being so tired that you don’t enjoy an episode as much as you usually would. It’s frustrating- but do it often enough, and you’ll get used to it like I have. Hope you get some rest!
I did! I feel much better
When grumpy, nothing beats homemade Snickers
That sounds very right. I should make some
This was an episode to showcase a couple of things:
A) To establish that the metropoliman dude is pure evil. The loli candidate is a mere prop to stir emotions. The fact he attacks her without hesitation was a kick the dog moment.
B) To show how clever and ahead of the game he is compared to other God candidates.
Despite the grandiose stance and drama he generates, I don’t feel he is will be the main villain and is just a stepping stone for something even bigger and more sinister. The fact he was so impulsive to destroy his reputation suggests that could be the case.
Going by what I heard from the manga and the negativity that from it, I don’t expect this to be a deep or nuanced series. This will be a story where the bad guys are clear/obvious and my expectations is this will follow a simple deathmatch storyline. Watch after drinking a few beers and feeling drunk/tipsy will likely make this a more enjoyable experience.
Also, I hope you sleep well tonight and feel better for the big day! Halloween!
I do feel better! Thank you.
I do think that this is probably what the episode was trying to do but it just didn’t work for me as an audience memeber on any level. Unless there’s a LOT more to this plan, it seems short sighted at best to me.
I am with you in that this set-up makes little sense for Metropolitan as it has cost him the reputation he had been building and there was zero reason for any other candidate to show up so it is hard to care about those who threw themselves into the lion’s den.
I was a little more sympathetic to the girl given her age but overall found this episode fairly flat because they kept trying to build up tension that I just wasn’t feeling.
The little girl is so far entirely by design. mean there’s nothing in the writing to show that she’s a child. If she had been drawn as an adult, it would have worked just as well. Maybe that wil change in the next episode.
Too bad, this seemed like an interesting concept. But too often these concepts end up getting mangled and unworkable in these kinds of series.
Personally I find the execution is just too lazy in this one.