Platinum End is a shōnen from the already familiar collaboration of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. And these authors are the creators of the awesome Death Note. Released this summer, the first two volumes are already on sale.
Seen from here, the story looks simple, but like Death Note, the main character’s path is quickly scattered with pitfalls.
Review of Platinum End first volume
A moral statement
We have become accustomed to this with Death Note, Good and Evil are two antagonistic notions that the authors like to confront. And against all odds, we find them in Platinum End. Indeed, in the first two volumes, we see an opposition between Mirai, the suicidal young man who suddenly decided to find happiness and do good around him, and Metropoliman, a methodical upstart ready to eliminate all the other candidates by using his powers.
Well, I don’t mind this dichotomy between Good and Evil. I hope it will be as well done as in Death Note where the character of Light used to show that the distinction between the two isn’t so easy. Here, it’s a too manichean world that the authors draw us. But let’s wait to read the rest…
God, a human creation
In Platinum End, humans compete to become the next God, that’s what the story is about. This reflection is interesting because, like Death Note (yes, I’m sorry, I compare a lot but it was a great series that is unforgettable), it shows God not as a supernatural force but as a human creation.
Even if the angels don’t belong to our world, it’s finally Man who takes over the Universe by being set up as the supreme authority. And finally, being God is like being the CEO of the company, you have to crush everyone to get there… No need to say, the message is clear (and not very clean)!
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A social painting?
So, no, it’s not like in Last Hero Inuyashiki or Ajin. Which are both manga also asking the question of Good and Evil). But the Japanese society depicted in the manga, and even further. It’s the Humanity that the author describes to us (like in DN ahah). A humanity with its own morals relative to each one, its own vision of the world, its own credos…
Should I take revenge? Or Should I use my powers to do good or to achieve my ends? Or Should I go through evil to achieve good? All these questions are outlined throughout the first two volumes. In the end, Platinum End is just the story of a tortured young hero wondering what to do in a world where only individuality wins.
In a way, a manga like solo leveling this kind of manga where the hero must manage alone is mandatory to survive.
An illusory brotherhood
We are only at the second volume. But, I can already see a friendship between Mirai and Kanade (Metropoliman, the villain of the story).
Firstly because they are the same age and they both go to school (doesn’t it remind you of the moment when L enrols in the same college as Light?).
Secondly, because the two boys meet at the end of the third volume. And there, I see the pattern coming: “Mirai, you are a real friend, you are like a brother for me”, “Kanade, you too are the only family I never had”, “Sorry but I have to kill you, only one of us can reach the end of the race”.
Well, I’m caricaturing the line, I grant you, but you have to admit that it’s completely predictable.
My opinion on platinum end
We were waiting for Platinum End with impatience and a little bit at the turn. I think it’s a successful gamble for Ohba and Obata who knew how to captivate their fans quickly.
If the picture seems Manichean at first reading. It’s going to be said that the characters will evolve and surely change their ways (we are talking about the creators of Death Note!).
The only drawback according to me, I have the impression that the two stories copy each other, but we’ll see with the next anime that will be on crunchyroll.
Anyway, if you haven’t read the first two volumes, it’s time to start, I think you won’t be disappointed.
Official Trailer – Platinum End anime
