Platinum End

Platinum End is a manga from one of my favourite author which are Tsugumi Ohba who handles the art and Takeshi Obata who handles the story. These 2 are my favourite duo and they made my favourite manga(Bakuman) and Death Note that has a really thrilling story and great mind battles.

At the first few chapter, this manga seems totally like a normal psychological manga and i thought that it's just a few chapter and it will get even better. After getting introduced to more of the character, i was really dissapointed and I don't like it, i expected much action like death note, but the story keeps talking about happiness and future.

The two character i like that has really impacted my point of view of this manga is Nasse and Metropoli-man, other than these two maybe Rubel, Saki and Mukaidou are the best ones after them. I am really dissapointed at how the main character turn out to be. Light Yagami and Mashiro Moritaka was one of my favourite character made by the same author and i really love them. In the story, the character development was ok and it explains the concept of the story well.

The Art was ok, it was great. The ending was great, altough it's a bit rushed in my opinion. The dialogue was crazy lot but i think it's what makes their story good even with Death Note and Bakuman.

When reading this, i remembered about one of the manga Ashirogi Muto(the pen name of Takagi and Mashiro from Bakuman) made with a similar concept

‘Platinum End’ is the third big collective creation of the Authors of ‘Death Note’, Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata. And just after you read this sentence your expectations rise higher. To not compare this manga to their world-known work is almost impossible, especially because this title has a lot of similarities to ‘Death Note’, so I will compare to it, but I will try to remain objective as much as possible. Before that I want to mention at the time I write this, I am currently re-reading ‘Death Note’ and reading for the first time their second big hit ‘Bakuman’. So my experience with their past works are relatively fresh.

Short version
- Overall (7/10):
Story writer Tsugumi Ohba dived in really dark and complex themes again. This makes on the one hand so amazing, but on the other so bad for “normies”. ‘Death Note’s theme (killing/crime) is way easier to understand than ‘Platinum End’s topic (God, death and more) for an average person. So a lot of people will think chapter long discussions about God and the World are boring, and that’s totally okay. This is just not for you. However, the first half is more action packed and less confusing. So if you liked ‘Death Note’ give it a try and if you are hooked, nice, if not, drop it. Because it will get way more complex nearing the end. And if you are one of the few who don’t know the mangakas first big work, start with that, before you try this.

Long version
- Story (8/10):
The story is definitely the mothership for this work. If it’s not for you, you shouldn’t read it. But what is the main story? Very simply said: God is dying, so a new one has to be selected. For this task a handful of angels choose a human, give them two god-like powers, and start a battle royale. Sounds simple and very battle shounen like, but don’t be fooled! This topic goes way beyond and turns to a deep dark philosophic theme, especially in the second half. “Second half?!” think some triggered ‘Death Note’ readers. Yes, some of you may assume, that just like the second half of their first work, here it also turns out to be way less attractive than the first. As I mentioned, I’m currently re-reading it, and yes, the second half has way more plot holes, illogical actions and forced twists. However, while some rumors say, the second half of ‘Death Note’ wasn’t really planned, I think in this work it definitely was. But let’s go deeper!
The first chapters start with portraying our protagonist’s circumstances of dead parents, shitty step-family and no will to live… So, yeah, you immediately know, this will be dark and it gets darker and darker! We get themes like “Is suicide okay, if you don’t have a will to live?”, “Is the desire for might rightful?” or “Does God exist? And if it does, what is its meaning?” etc. I would say, this work is not for super optimistic happy people at all. To really understand such topics you have to or had to be a dark minded person or at least an open-minded (hobby) philosopher. But let’s go deeper again!
Tsugumi Ohba gives us not just the questions, but also tries to answer them. While many other titles that I know fear to influence their readers with their viewpoint and skip or solve them mysteriously, Ohba tries to tell us his/her view. (Note: here I can see the developing from ‘Death Note’ clearly) However, such things you can’t just smash in front of the people. So at first, you start way simpler. Introducing the powers, the characters, their motives and the conflicts between them. Then you experience the first “battles” (which may not be that twisted and logical than in ‘Death Note’) and you may think “Hey, it’s like a darker almost-battle shounen! Nice!”. But soon after, you learn you were completely wrong. But we need to go deeper!
While the first half nears to end, and it seems like a heroic live-or-die battle between our protagonists and our main villain, the author slowly turns everything bit to bit darker, until the first half ends with an unexpected twist and introduces the second true “evil”. For this enemy half-assed answers are not enough and this semi-darkness too. So we smash all the lightbulbs, jump right into the darkness and listen to the deepest monologues of Tsugumi Ohba packed in this manga. All the questions get answered, but it also needs a lot of time and you may feel it stretched and very confusing… But let’s go back to the surface and take a big breath!
I tried to imitate the author’s step-by-step diving, and of course I’m not a successful story writer, so to 90% I failed, however I hope you understand what awaits you. Such complex themes you can’t just answer with “yes” or “no” nor with defeating the main evil with the fist of friendship. You need 3-5 chapters of monologues and dialogues, but that’s how you talk about such things with friends and family too. You try to tell your side, while defending it, and the same goes to your partner. Of course something like that doesn’t seem interesting for an outstander, so you have to go in and be a part of it, or just ignore it. On the other hand, a writer has to be as clear and understandable as possible and at the same time remain interesting. You can’t assume that everyone is so deep in this meta/philosophy or intellectual to understand such complex worldviewing. For example, I needed to read some parts twice or three times to understand what the hell he was trying to tell me. So yeah, it’s not easy at all and very confusing, for a lot of people stretched at the end, but also really interesting, dark and philosophic.

- Art (9/10):
Takeshi Obata is definitely one of the best manga artists I know and maybe in the world too. Drawing such realistic scenarios, dark fearsome shinigamis and then impossible funny sketches like in ‘Bakuman’, where he also shows a big diversity, is really amazing. Such an artist can perfectly catch this dark deep feeling of the story and take it on the paper. The designs of the angels are one-to-one unique, some seem lovely and kind, some are handsome and some are really horrific. This goes also for humans, however some characters may be a bit too similar to other ones of ‘Death Note’, but that’s not a big problem. You will never feel “emptiness” like a lot of other manga (especially in most of the weekly publications), because the backgrounds are alway packed and detailed. The only little stain which gives a 9 and not a perfect 10 is that a lot of monologues and dialogues happen in this story. Indicates often the hiatus of the dynamic of Obata’s extraordinary art.

- Characters (4/10):
Now we have arrived at the main weak points of this work, the characters. Yes, the story is extremely deep, but not its characters. Our protagonist is nihil and understandable due to the circumstances, which makes him individual yet boring. Sometimes he shows emotions, but these are shown very poorly. Our support characters are either “I do everything for our protagonist” or “I do everything against our enemy” and are very easy to manipulate or just too naive. Our 2 main villains are extraordinary, but! The first one desires a new world according to his view where he can stand on the top. Sounds familiar? Hmm, strange… The second is a complex genius, way too complex to understand him 100%. He is perfect in everything (sport, science, literature, just everything!), but still lacks sympathy and empathy. Sounds familiar? Hmm strange... I really don’t want to say it, but these 2 extraordinary characters are nothing more than Kira and L from ‘Death Note’ in a different situation and designs, or at least for me they seemed like copies of them. So altogether, compared to their past works, these characters are really dry and uncreative. If I hadn’t read ‘Death Note’ I would maybe give extra points for the villains.

- Enjoyment (6/10):
It is hard to “enjoy” such a dark deep story, full of monologues and dialogues. The extremely weak characters didn’t help either. What you surely can enjoy are the amazing artwork and the discussions about these topics with your friends or family (or some strangers from the internet). For me I would say I enjoyed it (7 or 8 out of 10), but I’m also a dark person and love to read manga, so I’m not annoyed if I have to read some parts more than once. However, thinking of an ordinary average person, it is too much and/or too heavy to call it “enjoyable” (so giving a 5-6).

- Comparisons and recommendations:
For such a manga is hard to compare or to recommend with similar stuff. I could name ‘Gantz’, ‘The Promised Neverland’, ‘Tokyo Ghoul’, just to name some of the most famous ones, but none of them are really similar to this, or at least I don’t know any (so recommend me one). However, one work is of course similar and that is ‘Death Note’. But I don’t believe that there exists someone who read this manga, but not the other one…

Hello, my dear reader.

Let me tell you a little story.
What story, you might ask? Well, it's your story, and mine, and that of many others. How do I know? Because it always follows the same pattern.

It all started when you heard that Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata were working on another manga together. Great news, right? You loved Death Note and/or Bakuman, and you were instantly hyped up for more awesomeness from the power duo. You were perhaps a little surprised that a new manga coming from them didn't have any buzz, but you thought nothing of it at the time.

"It's just because the series is relatively new," you thought. "It'll all change when it gets an anime. Then it will receive the attention it deserves."

Excited as you were, you rushed to check out the summary, perhaps on this very site, and that's when you had your first moment of doubt. The premise sounded exactly like Mirai Nikki!
That caught you off guard. You were certain that Ohba was more original than this.

“Oh, well,” you thought naively. “No matter. I'm sure that his take on the whole thing will be totally different and million times better!”

With your fears assuaged, you got your hands on a perfectly legal copy (cough, cough) and started to read.

First you got an eyeful of the art, and it was top notch. Rich backgrounds, realistic character designs and everything you'd expect from Obata, only better than ever before. The visual aspect of the manga did more than just meet your expectations; it surpassed them by far.

It's even more of a shame, then, that Platinum End was a sore disappointment in pretty much every other department.

You were put out by the incredibly cliché main character, Mirai — an abused orphan boy, raised by his evil aunt and uncle. (Harry Potter anyone?) A perfect, standard anime hero who refuses to kill under any circumstances, and loves to make moralizing speeches every chance he gets, to allies and enemies alike. His motto seems to be that it's better to be harmed than to harm others, even in self-defense. (Kaneki, much?)
From the author who gave us Light Yagami, you would have expected something much more memorable than a stock character like that.

“Still,” you thought, “boring protagonists are pretty much standard. The rest of the cast will make up for it, I'm sure.”

Long story short, they didn't. From the equally cliché antagonist with a sister complex, to a bland love interest who has nearly the same personality as Mirai, none of the main characters of Platinum End are even remotely interesting, and most of the side characters are one dimensional, over the top caricatures that make Misa Amane look subtle and down to earth by comparison.

You found nobody here as intriguing, unique and unforgettable as Light Yagami, nobody as iconic as L, nobody as entertaining as Yuno Gasai. The cast is below average.

So, what about the plot?
In the interest of fairness, one has to admit that it's written adequately. Ohba-sensei still knows how to establish a coherent set of rules and stick to them. There are no asspulls to be found in Platinum End, but neither is subtlety of any kind. Everything here is on the nose, heavy-handed and exaggerated. Then there is the overall silliness of the manga, the best example of which are the Power Rangers style outfits that our main characters insist on wearing.

“Really,” you asked with a facepalm. “Really, Ohba?”

And, yes, he really did it. The master of nuanced mind games had switched to pure ham and cheese.

Other than that, what else can I say about the plot? Well... Let's see how it compares to the other O & O creations.

Death Note was a very unconventional work that didn't follow many standard manga cliches, subverted and deconstructed others, and ended up giving us one of the most unique stories in the medium.
Bakuman was an interesting shounen manga about making shounen manga, that looked at many familiar genre tropes from a perspective of a creator.
Platinum-Please- End-Already, on the other hand, just takes a bunch of overused shounen cliches (death game, becoming a god as a reward, Shinji Ikari-esque protagonist, etc.) and plays them completely straight without any imagination or creativity. Everything Platinum End does has been done hundred times before, and done better. The story it tells comes with no strong distinguishing elements, and no true identity of its own.

“How is it,” you wondered, “that Death Note was more exciting when Light was EATING A BLOODY BAG OF CHIPS than Platinum End is when our characters are fighting for their sorry lives?!”

And that's how you understood why almost nobody talks about Platinum End. You understood the lack of hype and enthusiasm.
Perhaps you did the smart thing and just dropped it. Perhaps you refused to give up and slogged through it, hoping that a miracle will happen and the manga will eventually get good. If you did the latter, congratulations! You are one of the majority of Platinum End's “fandom”, if we can even call it that.

We follow Platinum End out of loyalty for Ohba & Obata duo, nothing more. If it wasn't for those two names, we would have forgotten it ever existed a long time ago.
We read the chapters when they come out, we get bored and annoyed, and we visit forums to practice the ancient and noble art of bitching. You'll find far more people who enjoy complaining about Platinum End than those who enjoy Platinum End itself. But, of course, you'll have a very hard time finding anyone who talks about it at all.

Or maybe I'm wrong, and this isn't your story at all? Maybe you are just at the start of this journey, and you only dropped by to read the reviews and find out if Platinum End is worth your time?

Short answer—it's not.
Don't just take my word for it. Notice that all the glowing reviews were written after the author had read only a few first chapters, and all the others offer almost nothing but criticism, even if they give the relatively lenient score of six.

We all want to go easy on Ohba & Obata, but this work of theirs just doesn't deserve it. It's a generic, by-the-numbers story, sub-par in many aspects, and I will only rate it as high as five because of the great art. If I were to sum up Platinum End in one word, that word would be "meh".

Let's all cross our fingers and hope that their next manga will be a return to form.

After giving us Bakuman and Death Note, two works which had each their own appeals and were really great, you would of course expect a lot from this new work of Ohba, the mysterious author who sometimes cooperate with Obata. Unfortunately, this is nothing like their previous combination, and here we have a rather disappointing and even mediocre manga.

The first chapter did not have anything amazing, however we were still given a sight of how much Obata's art has improved over the year, and finally there was indeed something which looked like an interesting idea, the premise being that an angel gives our main character special abilities, which was quite reminding of Death Note.

However, it all goes wrong when instead of having our protagonist wreak havoc in a way similar to Death Note, or even do good deeds, we instead have a competition between more people chosen by other angels to decide who will become the next God. Will the winner be chosen over his good deeds or capacities ? This was never explained, and it doesn't really matter since it turns out to be a battle royal with everyone trying to be the last man standing.

Still, it could have been a good manga even with such a plot but it fails horribly. The main character seems wise at first, hiding and waiting for other to act, but instead of becoming the fisherman he gets stupidly caught by his love interest who coincidentally turns out to be a chosen too, and makes him her slave. Following that, they act like wuss and keep hiding without doing anything. The story then either shows them doing literally nothing but hiding in their house, or battles between other people.

And here again, it's just horrible. From Ohba and Obata's duo, you would expect smart battles similar to what happened in Death Note, or even something like Hikaru no Go but certainly not. Here we have absolutely nonsensical but "wise" battles with random explanations thrown at every stupid action. What's even worse is that they aren't even on the same footing since the beginning, because the angels aren't on the same level either and not everyone possess every power like the main character.

If not for this being the work of two authors I greatly enjoyed, I would certainly not continue reading something so mediocre, and the art still rises my appreciation by a lot more than it should be. I would not however recommend reading this to anyone, as it's nothing but disappointing.