Platinum End ep 16- The Cat’s Out of the Bag

A couple of episodes ago, I predicted that Platinum End had nowhere to go but up. And I would like some type of cookie. I’m not saying the show is good now but it’s better. At least I think so.

This particular episode was mostly set up as we are essentially starting over now that the main antagonist of the first arc is gone. We already know what type of show Platinum End is so I’m not holding out for anything all that different from the first cour. However, there is some promise here.

There are a lot of things that are still pretty vague. The kid wants everyone to find the god candidates so that a god can be chosen and he can stop being afraid of getting murdered. Good, clean, logical motivation. So far, that’s a high point for the series. And up to a certain point, the other candidates also have a vested interest in seeing things play out one way or another. Having everyone looking for them shifts the story into high gear and creates the conflict needed to get things moving. So far, I’m quite happy.

However, throwing the two police officers into the mix is a little less obvious. Why do they want to help Saki and Mirai. Against their supervisor’s orders at that. There was a throwaway line about not letting innocent children be used as weapons but it’s not yet clear that that’s the motivation we’re going for. Don’t get me wrong. At this point, it’s not a bad thing that the characters remain ambiguous. It adds a bit of tension. Maybe they’ll turn out to be traitors. I’m just not sure I trust the show to remember to give them a motivation eventually.

Also, the fact that governments want them as weapons is silly. That they want them because they can’t have super-powered people running around is something I can easily buy. But for military purposes. At one point, a character who I presume is a high-ranking politician or military official says that the god candidates are “better deterrents than nuclear bombs”. I assume he means for wars. We don’t use nuclear bombs as deterrents to overeating. And to this I say: HOW?

From what I can tell, God candidates are essentially supernaturally good assassins. But they’re not reducing entire cities to dust. The wings make them very fast only as long as they are in an open space and still depend on their very mortal stamina. The red arrow is probably the most impressive as it’s a mind-control device. But we do have means of seducing, tricking, blackmailing or brainwashing people into doing what we want already. And the white arrow is only better than a gun in that it can get past security and doesn’t need ammunition. And all of this is still attached to a person.

The little girl at the beginning had wings and arrows and still got killed without any issue. Because she was still just a little girl. If these god candidates are untrained and unfit, they might only be as effective as a highly trained assassin even with their powers. And certainly not anywhere near as destructive as a bomb, let alone a nuclear one. But see, this sort of silly nitpicking is fine. It’s the type of half-baked plot we can giggle at. I still have hope that this show is getting more entertaining rather than less.

Previous Episodes

• Platinum End ep 1 – A Messy Start
• Platinum End ep 2- With Great Power
• Platinum End ep 3- Amore
• Platinum End ep 4- How Blasé
• Platinum End ep 5- Everybody Hates Metropoliman
• Platinum End ep 6- Another Fakeout
• Platinum End ep 7- Saki Saves the Day
• Platinum End ep 8- Emotional Baggage
• Platinum End ep 9- Ridiculous
• Platinum End ep 10- She’s an Angel!
• Platinum End ep 11- In the Name of Love
• Platinum End ep 12- Baby’s First Philosophy Class
• Platinum End ep 13- Bad Guy is Bad
• Platinum End ep 14- Tedious
• Platinum End ep 15- Smart Kid