By Dustin Cabeal

The only reason I read this and that I’m reviewing Platinum End for the third time is because it was sent to me for review. It will be the last time I make this mistake because I have a strict three strikes and you’re out policy.

There is a minor improvement in this volume. It’s not as mind numbingly stupid as the previous two volumes. It could be that I’m just so numb to how stupid it is that it didn’t aggravate me as much while reading it. Mostly I was able to chug along without breaking my pace, which isn’t the case with the previous two volumes. Those were more “red light green light” in that I couldn’t finish them in one sitting… or three. I suppose that’s my only compliment to the story. It didn’t make me want to stop reading it for any other reason than disliking the story.

Speaking of the story… do you want to spend a lot of time in Mirai’s room? Because you’re going to. They pick up a third dude for their party; he’s an old dude that apparently worked in fashion. You wouldn’t know it by the way he dresses and the fact that he looks like every broken-down cop, ever. He’s also dying of terminal cancer and could go at any moment. Not wanting his family to be targeted and unable to risk waiting for the game of god to finish, he teams up with Mirai and Saki. His angel knows too much, and a major problem with the story is revealed. Tsugumi Ohba has but an insane amount of thought into this story, but none of it is interesting, and yet he still feels the need to explain every excruciating detail as if it were the coolest idea he’s ever had. Don’t get me wrong, if the character’s, their motivations and all the events of the story were different, I would love this concept. Since they’re not and this story is lacking in all those departments, it’s an unbearable mess 99% of the time.

Ohba does finally spend some time with Metropoliman. He’s a punk ass kid that… I don’t know doesn’t like stuff the way it is… maybe? He’s what’s his face from Death Note with even less character motivation. Wait, he wants to save his cryogenically frozen sister… she what I did there? You probably don’t. I just bullshitted through his motivation because that’s exactly what Ohba does throughout this volume. It’s all by the seat of his pants when it comes to character motivation because so much time was wasted creating angels that do nothing and technically won’t have much to do with the story if a new god is chosen. They’re a waste of time and yet focused on pointlessly.

Much like with Death Note and likely anything else this team has done, there’s an injection of sex and murder into the story. There’s some school girl killer that’s called “Girl A, ” and she’s helping Metropoliman kill all the ugly girls… except none of them are ugly. She sleeps in the blood of one of her victims and is all naked and big boobed. Her problem is that she’s too generic and this type of character has been done numerous times and with much better motivation. It’s still an archetype that I don’t care for because even when done well they’re just fundamentally worthless to the story. It’s just cheap sex appeal with a chance of murder. Sorry, I’ll pass.

The art is the art. It’s not bad; it can’t save the story and mostly feels like autopilot. It’s all by the book with very little breaking the norms of manga… from ten years ago. I’ve read a lot of manga this year, more than I ever have before and there is just a very dated feeling to this story and art. The panels aren’t shocking when there should be shock and awe. The action is detached and fails to add to the drama or tension of the story, and the characters don’t make sense in the world. The fashion designer isn’t fashionable. The bratty, spoiled rich kid actually has a somewhat valid reason for becoming God, while our main character is still ready to jump off a roof and die for a woman that barely knew he existed a week ago. The art is just as broken and by the book as the story.

Sadly, I’m sure there are some people that like this and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not on its way to becoming an anime. This is the last stop for me. I’m not finishing it, it’s not getting any better just less painful to read, but that interest hasn’t clicked yet, and I’ve read way too many chapters for it not to have. To go out on a pun, this is the end for Platinum End.

Score: 1/5

Platinum End vol. 3
Writer: Tsugumi Ohba
Artist: Takeshi Obata
Publisher: Viz Media