Welcome to episode 5 of Platinum End where they end the stadium situation from episode 4 pretty quickly with Nasse warning Mirai not to reveal himself, then talking with Metropoliman, before Metropoliman shoots the screaming girl from last week and then flies away. It’s all a bit anti-climatic and you have to wonder what the general public are thinking as they walk away from the stadium.
Actually, it is a bit of a missed opportunity for Platinum End given prior to the stadium, the news and various characters had been having incidental conversations around this dressed up super-hero but after the stadium we get no contrasting commentary to know what the overall hit to Metropoliman’s reputation has been. I think that may have genuinely made the whole stadium sequence feel a little bit more worthwhile. As it is, it all feels a little fruitless.
Though, I do enjoy watching Nasse float upside down.
Platinum End pushes forward but leaves us with questions about the fall-out.
Even as Mirai and Saki are trying to emotionally process what they’ve just witnessed and are thinking through what their options are, they are interrupted when a strange man appears at the balcony door.
Turns out, Metropoliman isn’t the only god-candidate looking for the others. Though I will admit that this middle-aged guy dying from cancer is a lot more effective in his strategy. Rather than stand in the centre of the stadium and bellowing for people to reveal themselves, and thus rush to their deaths, he hit a whole bunch of PIs and the like with red arrows and sent them out to look for candidates (specifically those who looked like they could see the angels).
It feels kind of refreshing to have a somewhat rational decision and plan coming from a character in Platinum End.
I’m not entirely sure whether I believe that he’s telling the truth or not, but I kind of like that he doesn’t seem interested in becoming God and is more concerned that Metropoliman doesn’t. Also, the fact that he admits to having been using his powers for his own self-interest (getting money for his family who will be left when he dies) makes him seem fairly believable as a character. Actually, he’s so far seemed the most real of any of the characters we’ve met.
And so Platinum End spends a bit of time on his back-story and how he met his angel. I’m hoping this doesn’t mean he’s going to die next episode because that would set a terrible precedent going forward. We met characters in episode 4, got a flash back from them and they died in the episode. The young girl was introduced and got to at least linger over the credits from one episode to the next and then died. If this guy has been introduced, has some backstory, and then dies next episode I’m pretty much going to sum this one up as Juni Taisen the second and at least Juni Taisen had some very solid action sequences.
The other focus toward the end of this episode is on Kanade, or Metropoliman, and his day to day. We see him learning some new tricks with the various arrows and wings he’s picked up and basically they continue to give us reasons to dislike him and not want him to become god.
Incidentally, how many people in the real world encase the dead in something transparent standing up and then go and sit in front of it and talk to them? I mean it happens a lot in fiction but it just seems kind of creepy and weird and as he holds us the white flowers and wishes his, I’m assuming, dead younger sister a happy birthday you just have to wonder how this whole situation came about.
Platinum End isn’t rushing to provide us with an answer to that question.
Anyway, as usual, Platinum End has some interesting ideas floating about but whether the story will capitalise on any of them remains to be seen. The alliance forming with Mirai, Saki and Mukaidou could become quite interesting or may be very short lived but I’m kind of hoping the older guy hangs around because I think he could keep things feeling a bit interesting for awhile.
The full review for Platinum End Episodes 1 – 12 can be found here.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
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Karandi James
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