Title: Platinum End Vol. 8
Author: Tsugumi Ohba (Story), Takeshi Obata (Art)
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Thriller
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
The Story
Volume eight of Platinum End brings us the conclusion of the fight with Metropoliman. We were left with a close-distance standoff between Mirai and Metropoliman. Mirai comes up with a plan to subdue him, causing Saki to tie Mirai and Metropoliman’s hands together using her angel rings. Mr. Mukaido uses this opportunity to grant himself his final wish.
After the battle, Mirai noticed that Metropoliman was pierced with a Red Arrow the entire time! This means that someone else was controlling him from the very beginning. We later get a glimpse of that person who is just a young child. The child’s motives are not yet known nor is it known whether or not he has malicious intents but he does seem to be intelligent enough to know how to manipulate the other God candidates in order to reduce their numbers. He also had an interest in collecting everyone’s arrows and wings so, despite his childish antics, he knows what he’s doing.
Back home, Mirai and Saki have a bit of a tender moment but Mirai isn’t convinced by Saki’s words because he knows that she’s still under the effects of his Red Arrow. Despite this, Saki says her words are true and she’s well aware of the Red Arrow’s effects. If that’s not relationship advancement, I don’t know what is! Together, the two of them go over the details. Meanwhile, our volume ends with a special meeting between the angels. Apparently, once the candidate field is halved, they hold a special meeting. What this meeting details will be left for the next volume.
This volume was more of an emotional roller coaster than anything. You have a wide range of feelings of joy, sadness, and tenderness as we jumped from one scenario to the other. You could definitely sense the end of a major arc in this volume and the beginning of another. There doesn’t seem to be any room for filler as the next arc is kicking off right away. When you’re fighting to become God, I guess downtime isn’t a luxury you can be afforded.
Characters
Many times in manga, we see a character come to their senses and back out of their ambitions at the very end. This is one of those rare times where a character sees those ambitions through to the very end. This brings us to Mr. Mukaido’s final development as he makes good on his promise of protecting, not only his family but all of the other people who could have died at Metropoliman’s hands by finishing him off personally. Of course, it is no mystery that Mr. Mukaido had terminal cancer and he knew his light was fading fast. He either had to pull the trigger or die knowing that there could be more that would suffer and he couldn’t be there to do anything about it. In the end, with the last of his strength, he pulled the trigger and ended Metropoliman’s life. Despite being taken to a hospital, there was nothing that they could do.
Rest in peace, Mr. Mukaido.
Mirai gets a bit of development here and even though he still doesn’t condone murder, he has come to terms with the killing of Metropoliman. He even called Mr. Mukaido a hero for what he did and even Nasse stated that Mirai was one step closer to finding his happiness because of that. In addition, it looks like the relationship between Mirai and Saki is finally beginning to deepen even though Mirai still has his doubts because of The Red Arrow inside of her. Still, Mirai eats dinner with Saki at the table, something he hasn’t even done with his own family. He said that food was always tasteless to him but Saki’s curry had flavor and was delicious. While they were pretty small steps, you can see their relationship falling into place little by little. Sadly, I predict this as a death flag for Saki. Just when they accept each other, Saki is going to die and it’s going to tear Mirai apart. With the way Mirai has been built, this is the only logical path I can see being taken here. I hope I’m wrong because I would love for there to be a happy ending but think about it… they’re both God Candidates. There can be only one. Saki is going to die. Calling it right now.
Final Thoughts
All in all, this was another great volume of Platinum End. One major arc closes and I have no idea if that child will be the next main antagonist or if he’s just being crafty in trying to become a God Candidate. I imagine it will be the former since this series would get boring without any type of conflict. Then again, it could be the latter depending on what happens with this special meeting that the angels are holding. Perhaps with the candidates halved, there is a new rule introduced that it is now forbidden to team up with each other. I don’t know if that’s really the case because that seems like something they could end a volume on as a major cliffhanger. Imagine that rule passing and all of a sudden, Mirai and Saki are forced apart and possibly even forced to become enemies. Maybe Obata and Ohba can stretch it out and end Volume Nine that way but that’s kind of a long stretch.
Still, it would be an interesting twist although it would probably piss off a lot of the Mirai x Saki shippers (including me) out there. Despite this being the end of a major arc, There are still many directions this story can go in and knowing this duo’s past works (Death Note, Bakuman) I’m sure whatever they come up with will be super interesting.
Also, was it just me or did anyone else just scream “Near 2.0” when they saw that child that was controlling Metropoliman?
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
