Platinum End

I know why you are here!
It's because real life Ashirogi Muto is back for one more masterpiece up their sleeves!! You know what I am talking about if you have seen Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's Death Note and Bakuman.
I know it's too soon for me to write a review on this manga but I will keep on updating it as some new chapters are released.

Story -
Fed up with the depressing nature of his existence, Mirai Kakehashi, decided to suicide. After jumping off a nearby skyscraper, when he opened his eyes, he found himself in the arms of an angel, Revealing herself to be his guardian angel, Mirai is given the choice between wings to fly anywhere and arrows make anyone fall in love with him for 33 days. Seizing the chance to take both powers, Mirai uses them to discover the truth about his life, allowing him to finally find a reason to live.

Art - 10/10
Platinum End delivers more of the fantastic art that Obata is known for. I can’t say enough about how well Obata’s art complements Ohba’s writing, perfectly emphasizing the thematic contrast between light and dark. I especially love the character design. Like always, Ohba has followed his drawing style of drawing one character, Mirai, pretty similar to Light of Death Note and Takagi of Bakuman.

Character -
Not many characters have been introduced yet. I will probably add more to this section later on. For now, I will let you know that, like Light of Death Note, Mirai's personality is great. With his charming and smart personality, he will climb up the favorites list pretty quickly. Just hoping that Mirai doesn't becomes exactly same like Light or else it will become boring and predictable.

Enjoyment -
I really liked the first chapter. Platinum End shows huge potential and I must suggest it to everyone to start reading right now!

Overall - 9
Based on it's first two chapters, I am giving it a 9. My ratings may change with the plot progression. Platinum End appears to be a successor to Death Note’s continual contrast between “good” and “evil”, and its commitment to showing relativistic nature of these concepts. This is made apparent in this chapter through Mirai’s angel, who gives advice strongly suggesting Mirai use his powers for his own gain, even if the surrounding results are darker than one might expect an angel to tolerate. The end of the chapter excitingly ties this all together in revealing the wider context behind her sudden interest in Mirai. It’s definitely worth witnessing firsthand so I won’t spoil it, but I loved how many potential directions this story could go in.

First of all this might have some spoilers.. you have been warned.

OK so first i have to say i love this manga as much as death note, allot of people would call me insane or stupid for that but, hear me out. Before we get into why i like it let me introduce some problems people have with this that i didn't, which is probably why i like it more then them.

First is that people were wanting something like "Death Note" i loved death note its what got me into Physiological stuff, but i didn't want something too similar to it, so if u want something like death note it has some things that can relate to it just nit the same way.

Second, I started Dec, 23 2018, so i had allot more content to read through, and it releases a chapter a month i believe so people also didn't like the wait i would recommend reading it after or near the end, in fact that when i believe most people will enjoy it the most when they can just read through all of it.

Third, i seen people complain about the fight scenes being too long that them all having the same weapons make it boring, all i have to say to that is, that its also a battle of wits not only physical i would say its more a battle of wits, so of course they're going to be long they have to think before making a move, and i think that them all having the same weapons makes it more interesting, you get to see how differently they can be used, it shows how different the characters are, some use the arrows for greed, others use it for good, etc. They can also use it in different ways, shoot it, use it like a sword, and more that can be done with using both the wings and arrows and even more with white arrows. So in pretty much all battles its whoever outsmarts the other or something unexpected happening,

And now the actual review is shorter than the problems i seed that really don't have to do with the story itself. Im trying not to spoil it so making it simple.

Story, i find it great, some cliches but i never had a problem with them as long as its still a good story and it doesn't get in the way of the story.

Art, as expected from Takeshi Obata amazing, all there is to it.

Characters, are good, they don't emphasize character development as much as other story's really only see a big change with a couple of characters the rest you have to notice the little things to see how they changed. Or they're hit with a red arrow and change completely so theres really not much to it, so i do say it can be better but im not the type that goes only for the characters. (that being said....still Nanato and Nasse are my favorites.)

Im really enjoying it so far.

i Give it a 10 overall sure 9,10,7 and 10, don't make a 10 but im being bias on this part i love this manga and think that the fight scenes will get better if it gets a anime adaptation so, In short i love it

Simply put, Platinum End is a story about a boy who commits suicide, but is saved by an angel so that he may participate in a battle royale to become God.

Disclaimer: Platinum End takes a very cynical view on the concept of God. If you love listening to Pastor Dave preach every Sunday, I would not recommend this to you.

Tl;dr
Platinum End is philosophical and presents interesting questions on the role of God, but suffers from a lack of character depth. However, I thought it was interesting and I think you should give it a chance and read with the role of God in mind.

The story is written by Tsugumi Ohba, the critically acclaimed writer of Death Note and Bakuman. In terms of story telling, Platinum End does not reach the intimacy that Death Note and Bakuman.
Platinum End is set in modern society, so there is little world building. Thus, it heavily relies on the characters for most of its story. There is a great emphasis on specifically human psychology and their outlook on life. Topics such as greed, depression, cynicism, etc. are used as a means to question the role of God. Many of them come off as simple and one-dimensional, but not out of place.
The story heavily relies on the dialogue between these characters who have all decided to take their life and are chosen because of their dissatisfaction with the world. The core theme that this manga centers on is the role of God. How should God act in the face of cruelty and injustice? Should God intervene to make humans happy? And specifically, What is God?

The art is by Takeshi Obata, the same artist that partnered with Ohba on Death Note and Bakuman. If you love his art style, there is more of it here! The art style is definitely not as radical as Death Note nor perky like Bakuman. It is more somber and blurred compared to his previous works.

From here on out, I'm going to take a more polar stance on this manga.
Personally, I found myself realizing that the scope of this manga is too big for its own good. That's not to say that it's terrible.
First, characters in this manga are shallow. But I believe this was intentional and too much of it would take away from the core themes that Ohba was trying to establish.
Second, this manga handles its main character in a somewhat unorthodox way. It establishes Mirai as a depressed main character, but he rapidly turns into a messiah character. I found him to be somewhat unrelatable toward the end. A similar thing happens with the main heroine and I believe that most readers would loose interest because of it.
Third, the angels literally do next to nothing for the story other than being a plot device. There is little to no character building for them which I believe is a missed opportunity.

Overall, I thought it was a fun read and the somewhat open-ended? ending was interesting.

Are you a fan of Death Note? Well look no further cause this is the awkward version of it. Heck even the MC is like Light except all his cool qualities got showered down to make him look like a normie. Instead of BiG BrAiN plot, we get something downright normal, almost making it closer to a slice of life anime then a thriller.

The Beginning of the manga was not all that bad, but everything starts looking bland as the series enters its middle stages making me question is "this" or is "that" necessary, for instance the presence of romance in this part was just bland and cringey.

Then there is the "villains" who are supposed to have a good excuse for opposing the MC, but not gonna lie, the excuses are completely stupid and hilarious as if the author decided to copy a couple of Gintama gag villains

Some people shit on Death Note saying that it has a bad ending, But once you finish reading this, you will start questioning your own existence on why you spent a week reading this manga.

But enough of its bad qualities, let move to its good attributes: the art... and yeah that is all it has.

Platinum End - A manga work... about to die.

When people known that Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi would work together again, it was only logical that I became very enthusiastic in what they were going to do for this third work/manga together. People already knew this but for those who don't, these two authors worked together on past works such as Death Note (2004) and Bakuman (2008) as Ashirogi Muto.

With this information previously known, Death Note has succeeded in being one of my favorite works so far succeeding consequently other works with the same legal value as this. This manga, Platinum End - or in Japanese ["Puratino Endo"] - still had an advantage that the previous works didn't have: the fact that now it is being worked on a magazine that would give them the supreme freedom and with that, I sincerely hoped that this pair of authors delivered already in the first chapter, some fantastic content and really developed. However, this was not what was shown.

The plot begins showing a class with all the students making plans for their future, while the protagonist, named Mirai, is apathetic, finding everything extremely tedious/boring.* Apparently, Mirai is just a normal student but the story behind it is much denser and heavier than Death Note. When he is about to commit suicide from a 23-story building, he is saved by a (woman) guardian angel called Nasse. During the speech, the angel says that it simply appeared because she wanted to make him happy no matter what, and this is the symbology to which this manga gives when it mentions human feelings. Nasse also explains the definition of "love" as a normal feeling, within an enormous amount of pages.
Explaining by detail what I mean, it is actually very simple to notice: the first chapter has 66 pages, including covers (manga plus the magazine where it is serialized) and commercials, and with that twenty (plus more) pages are 'wasted' just to explain Mirai's sense of his future. Obata Takeshi did an excellent job bringing Mirai's anguish, despair and skepticism in the first pages, however, his work was almost in vain because his colleague Ohba Tsugumi chose to explain that Mirai no longer wanted to live in those several pages. Ohba wanted to show (to the readers) that Mirai is an isolated character (as if he doesn't feel in a correct social position) due to his shameless past. While re-reading in the actual book, Ohba touches the subject, again and again, using almost ten pages to force the existence of Mirai's sadness; it reinforces an idea that was previously settled and understood in the main plot by the (woman) guardian angel Nasse, which in detail makes no sense, since the idea is repeatedly reinforced in the Nasse's speech balloons. To make the point clear, the motive for Mirai's suicide was due to the horrible life he had when he was younger, where his family mistreated him (while they were still alive) but this becomes clear when, once again, Ohba decides to reinforce the idea of the horrible life that Mirai had - and Ohba keeps doing this explanation every time there is a new chapter.

The problem of Platinum End is, therefore, the repetition of the same idea in each gesture of action that happens as the story progresses, there are also problems of speech because each character makes very large and extensive lines to explain something, which turns out to be boring while reading the actual volumes; it's something very annoying to me but people overall can tolerate it. The artwork never goes unnoticed and is just one of the few highest points in the manga.

In a few pages, the protagonist's expressions, the feelings that come to mind, and the depressive character were all well captured visually and you can see in the realism of the drawing. I do not want to blame one artist for the other or vice-versa, but I believe that Ohba should have thought more specifically about the idea of this work and especially in existing terminologies of human life in order to perform this work phenomenally and without errors, as he did in Death Note where each weapon was a way to react and to think. In this case, Ohba treats the reader as if he was a child and he himself 'punishes' the reader with the repetitions of speech and the way of acting before society. It is quite clear that the society that is shown in the work is a society closed and isolated from the rest of the world, just as Japanese society behaves. By the way of seeing more selective, Ohba gives us only a repeated history and with basic narrative errors.

The small problems of this sequence of scenes are that the authors simply sought out ideas that had already been published, more concretely they were to look for ideas to the previous work, Death Note. They also tried, in a way, to introduce plot twists so that the story seemed more truthful and specific but this did not work out, in Death Note the lines were small but explanatory so that the reader perceived both sides of the same coin and in Platinum End, there are not simply two sides of the same coin, there are overly explanatory and redundant lines that reinforce a single idea, which has already been explained (previously). There are scenes that include blood - not gore scenes - that are positive for this series because they give readers a new experience without the basic idea that is provided to us in the synopsis.

So far, the story is by no means a novelty but somehow the script works and here are some reasons: Platinum End is a work that was delivered to the fans in an inconsistent, predictable way but at the same time it is an interesting subject that few mangaka's approach for being vastly vast and complete and therefore I feel that Ohba should be based only on the theme of anguish, despair, and hope that ceases to be negative and hopefully positive.

*(That's a reference to a character named Yagami Light, from the Death Note manga. As shown in the manga, Light also finds everything extremely boring, before finding the ultimate weapon, the Death Note. However, Mirai takes it to another level because Mirai suffers from depression).

Story: 4 | Art: 6 | Character: 6 | Enjoyment: 5

Score: 6/10 (so far)

Personal Note: This is not my definitive review so over time I will edit it. The first volume just came out in Portugal, so my review is limited in comparison with other manga versions, as far as the language in which this manga is edited. Next update can happen maybe in August.

Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's 3rd Manga to be my next obsession. First Death Note and then Bakuman. A manga worth crying for :'(

The two artists are well renowned for their first manga Death Note which was thoroughly set the dark mood for the readers. Based on the current chapters it has the potential to be as interesting as their first work.

I believe that with they themselves it will be impossible to beat death note. People are reading this manga and cant forget how well Death Note did and feel like they are trying too hard and pushing their luck. This manga should be read forgetting that and enjoyed on its own.

Story:9
The story as of yet is premature, Mirai Kakeshi a boy who doesnt seek refuge in living attempts to kill himself only to later find himself alive and saved by an angel. As the first chapter concludes he finds himself on a game where he needs to survive to be crowned god. Will he change his mind to live or not?

Art:10
Obata contributes equally and even better with ever work he is serialized in. The right amount of everything where it is needed. Very delicate and sophisticated details behind his art. His art style well suited for this manga's dark theme.

Character: 10
Not much characters have been introduced as yet. Not, focusing on the main character it is being well developed. He finds no reason in living and tries to kill himself. After being given a second chance to live he learns to the reason why he is so miserable of the way he is. An interesting way to see how he reacts on the situations about to unfold on him. Within the story are angel with opposed nature to what most people would believe. The angels show little remorse to the humans want of surviving and some enjoy their slaughter.

Its a manga work looking forward to the end. I have enjoyed the chapters I've read so far and is worth giving it a 10!

Well, I started to read this when the 4th, 5th Chapter got out, right now I've read for about 8 Chapters (?)

Note that the creators of this manga are the same creators from Death Note and Bakuman, both really good and known by almost everyone (Even though I haven't watch/read Bakuman until the end). So, as may think, this manga has a great potential and also, became popular because of their creators.

Moving forward, I enjoyed the beginning of the story, it was interesting, depressive boy wants to die, an angel saves him and boom, magic happens, all that thing about being the god and introducing the villain was also fun and interesting to read.

Summing this up, I enjoyed what I've read until now, and I am expecting it to become better as more chapters are published, ( even though I don't remember some things already because it takes a long time for chapters to get out haha)

Last question: Would you recommend reading it?
A: I totally recommend you to read this manga if you like the stuff that they made before, and I would also recommend you to watch/read Death Note and Bakuman ( I failed in this one xx)

It was my first review, so, I am sorry if I messed up at some point.

Before I start, I wanna say I have not read death note, but I love Bakuman.
The primary problem with this manga is it is disinteresting and dull.
The protagonist is probably a prime example of this. The has no real interesting motivation or any drive to do so. He just sort of gets dragged into everything. During the first chapter, we get the idea that he is somewhat of a lonely, awkward kid, but all that is brushed off after chapter 3 or so, then he becomes kind of just a dull slate who reacts to things I guess.
This dullness is also reflected in the female lead. again, she also is kind of a blank slate who reacts to things in a way you'd expact a girl to, I guess. We really have no idea who or what she is because she doesn't talk that much anyway, and doesn't really have a significant role in the plot other than the fact that she is a god candidate and needs to be protected by the protag.
A character named Nanato (the only name I remember) is a fairly interesting character. A hell of a lot more than the other two anyway. He has stakes and a clear motivation as to what he is doing. He is also the only one who has any sense of humor at all.
The central concepts of having god candidates is boring too. When a goddess possesses you, you are able to receive either wings or arrows as your power. If the angel is high class enough, you can have both to begin with. If you kill another candidate, you gain their powers. Now, wouldn't it be interesting if all the powers that each candidate had were different? Isn't it an interesting power struggle to see which god candidates have powers to your liking and then attacking them? Maybe smart planning can lead to being pretty much invincible. But no, we just get extra rings on your arms and necks. Great.
Another weird thing about this manga is the edginess. Now, I'm not saying it's inherently bad or anything, but it's just odd to have edginess happen without any real reason. Chapter one shows our main character trying to commit suicide. That doesn't really reflect or add upon who we see him has later as a blank slate at all, so why bother with it? Somewhere around chapter 5 a little girl dies. No real impact on the characters in post or anything really. It's needless edge. It really doesn't to be there.
One more point to rag on about. The concept of god used in this world. Mirai Mikki fucked concept up even worse, but PE doesn't handle it in the most effective way either. These stories are lovecraftian by nature; it deals with the inevitable and unchangable decision of an ascended being. Way to go, ruining it by showing god and heaven. Lovecraftian horror is the horror of constantly being watched over by beings and deities that we have no control over, perhaps we are not even aware of it. Just think of how terrifying it would have been to know that the god in the world of PE is an omnipresent, omnipotent being who can make these horrifying death games happen at the click of his fingers, or, even more scary, just by a single thought. Is it just for his own amusement? Does he even genuinely want god candidates? We will never know, because the thoughts of gods are completely beyond our comprehension.
Goddamn it. You know, I started writing this as a 6 but it went down to a 5 the more I thought about it. Maybe it isn't such a great idea to 'write my feelings down' or whatever.

My initial interest to read this manga sparked from the fact that Platinum End has the same artist and author as Death Note. A series that is arguably one of the most popular and most liked Manga series of all time.
As you can imagine my expectations were quite high when I started reading this one.
I have to get this out here as fast as I can: Platinum End is in no way similar to Death Note!

In the beginning you might find some similarities like how both MCs have some supernatural being as a companion and godlike powers to change the world but the whole atmosphere and story are completely different from another.
Let me get into details now.

Story:
The premise of this manga sounds like a battly royal although it's not really one.
13 angels have the duty to chose one human that then becomes a "god canditate" meaning they become a person among 12 others that will get the chance to become the new god of the world.
Those who are chosen are being bestowed with godly powers.
There are three different powers in total and while some people have all three of those, some only have one because their angel doesn't have a high enough rank.
Just on paper it may sound dull to only have 3 different powers but in execution the author shows that there are many different approaches to make use of their abilites.
In that aspect it's a bit similar to Death Note because the rules of those powers are just as important as the powers themselves.

The story takes a long time to get going though and I only started to enjoy the story to the fulledt when I already read around 15-20 chapters.

Art:
The artstyle of this manga is probably the best thing about it altogether.
It's super detailed with expressions and no character looks like a carbon copy of another. It's ironic but the "blandest" character is probably the main character as he looks pretty much like Light from Death Note.

Character:
Oh boy the characters are probably one of the weakest aspects of the story.
The main character is an extreme pacifist which is not surprising because many shounen MCs fit that bill but in his case it's so extreme that it sometimes just comes off as very annoying. At least there is a reason for him to be this way but still.

Personally I enjoy the side characters way more than him and some of these are really well written to be honest!

The most interesting characters are probably the angels though.
They seem to be loyal to their chosen human but we never know what they really are thinking and what this whole "god choosing" is really all about.
This makes them extremely interesting and mysterious. Not to mention that they're designs are super pleasent to the eye as well!

Enjoyment:
In my opinion this manga is definitely worth reading and is one of the better shounen manga. It's really mature for a Shounen Jump title and tackles some really heavy topics like suicude and illness.
You shold not expect Death Note and you shouldn't expect a Battle Royale ala Kings Game either. It doesn't have as many mind games as Death Note but there are still so many suspenseful moments that want to make you want to read just one more chapter after another!

I have read every chapter currently available, which at the time of this writing is 40. We are in the middle, nearing towards the end of the second arc, and based on the direction the story is going in, nearing the endgame of the manga. So, I'll update this once I'm done, but here are my current thoughts.

I first found out about Platinum End like almost anyone did, I was reading Death Note's wikipedia page and that led to Tsugumi Ohba's page and found out he had a third manga with Takeshi Obata. However, I was a little worried when it turned out that nobody talked about it. But I moved on and decided to read it for myself. And I can gladly say it was worth it. Platinum End is a fun, yet dark almost Superhero style romp that I could recommend to just about anyone.

The Manga follows Mirai Kakaheshi, who is a sad loner who disappointed with his lack of happiness, tries to commit suicide. This happens only a few pages in so it immediately grabs you as shocking. Anyway, he is saved by an Angel named Nasse and told that he is one of 13 God Candidates, one of whom will replace god. It's not exactly clear from the beginning, how God will be decided, but soon Mirai is wrapped up in a world of Angels and Devils as he tries to survive.

First up, let's go over what I don't like. And that, if you can tell by the score is very little. However, if I had one complaint, it's that the fights sometimes drag on a little longer than they need to.

Okay, so, what about the characters? I mean, you rated it a 7. That I did, and that's only because of the Manga's two main characters, Mirai and Saki.

Mirai, compared to Light Yagami is a bit boring. I'm not going to lie. He's always going on about how he doesn't want to kill and doesn't really have too much more than that. However, the arc he goes through throughout the course of the manga is brilliantly written and a lot more indepth and does expand his character. So he gets a pass.

Saki does not get a pass. She is boring. Not in comparison to someone else. She is just boring and lacks any real personality. They do start using her a bit more in the second arc, but at least at this stage, she is really flat.

So, what about the other characters? That's why this is a 7. Every other character is either extremely likeable or so well-developed, it hurts to hate them. I can't go into too much detail as I'd have to spoil a bunch, so I'm just going to leave it there.

The weak protagonist however does not mean this is a bad story. The story writing is what you expect from Ohba, as a masterfully written series that ask the Question "Do the means justify the end?" While Death Note got into that, that was more centered around the discussion of good and evil, while this doesn't cover that area as much. Each story beat is insanely satisfying with the characters that are good really lifting the story up.

The great story is also increased by the art which is absolutely brilliant. I thought Death Note looked amazing with it's dark color scheme and shading, but this does insanely better. Each scene with it's angle and shading perfectly manage the scene with several shots I'd even call beautiful.

Obata's art also helps with the action which I for the most part find really tantalizing. It's clear that the duo havevn't exactly figured out action just yet, but you feel the impact of each shot and strike that I'm surprised it was even possible in a manga.

So, would I recommend it? Hell yeah! Despite some pacing issues, if you can push through the first few chapters, this series is an interesting character experiment that I can't wait to see where it goes.