Creative Staff
Story/Art: Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata
Translation/Adaptation: Stephen Paul
Lettering: James Gaubatz
What They Say
Mirai and Mukaido have survived the battle against Metropoliman by the skin of their teeth. And Mirai even got a quick look at his true identity. Will they be able to track him down and put an end to his ruthless streak of violence? Meanwhile, what dark secrets is Saki hiding…?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Platinum End went big in the last couple of chapters with the fight against Metropoliman as the group knows they have to stop him considering what he’s doing. The battle above the tower that was put into motion because of the serial killer Girl A that he unleashed told them all they needed to know and it reinforced their resolve. The pair put things together well and while the extended length of a monthly chapter just made it a whole lot to take in, the installment went crazy big and gave Mirai the first glance at the opponent under the mask, though he doesn’t know who Uryu is.
This sets this chapter on three different tracks that are a bit connected. For Uryu, he’s dealing with the impact of the bullet and what it did to him, realizing that the protection he has did its job but couldn’t protect him completely. There’s some neat little moments as we see his mental state after all of this and how he ends up back at school the next day claiming he just missed a step on a staircase. There’s a lot to like in how he acts here as it shows his confidence and his status at school but we also see Minami is there and he’s realizing what Uryu really is. This is setting up a potentially interesting subplot to work but I can really just see Minami being killed off pretty quickly here and ending that path just to reinforce what it is that Uryu is capable of.
For Mirai and Mukaido, they’re certainly both just glad to be alive after all that’s said and done. Mukaido’s feeling more alive than ever before, doubly amusing considering that he’s dying, but Mirai is the one to watch here as he really struggles with his first fight and how badly it went down for him mentally. Mukaido’s doing his best to get Mirai to realize that the path he’d taken previously in accepting the bullying he was going through isn’t doing him any good, and that it isn’t a strength, but Mirai just isn’t in that place and can’t be there. This also plays well with how Saki is treating Mirai as she’s struggling with her own issues as her suicidal aspect hasn’t really been dealt with. Mirai’s protective nature is what helps him get by with things to some degree and taking a shift to her background and what’s going on with her is welcome, even if it feels like an odd time to start bringing it out. Mirai’s struggling in a big way and we know Saki is as well, just not why.
In Summary
Platinum End continues to be a bit of a frustrating book but at least this one isn’t focused on the action. When we get fifty pages of it the whole thing just feels like it becomes too much and is too draining to really experience in a good way. This one focuses on the fallout of the fight, giving some welcome time ot Uryu at long last, while also digging into Mirai’s personality. It’s dealing with him in a better way than I expected with the fight and his own psychological condition considering what he went through. Now he’s going to have some of Saki’s weight to deal with as well as she’s ready to talk about her reasons for what went down prior to becoming a god candidate. There are things to like here but it’s still a book that I keep feeling like it would read and flow better with shorter chapters and tighter material all around.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Viz Media via ComiXology
Release Date: September 3rd, 2016
MSRP: $0.99