Title: Platinum End Vol. 9
Author: Tsugumi Ohba (Story), Takeshi Obata (Art)
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Thriller
Publication Date: July 2, 2019
The Story
Volume nine of Platinum End begins a brand-new arc and with a new arc comes a ton of new characters! The boy we saw at the end of volume eight is Susumu Yuito and his angel is Penema, the Angel of Games. Susumu goes in front of the media and exposes everything about the God Candidates to the entire world and even suggests that Mirai should become God. While Sususmu seems genuine and innocent, his plan was the have the authorities go on a manhunt for the other God Candidates in order to eliminate him; however, his plan backfires when they target him during his broadcast.
The reveal of the Candidates throws the world into turmoil. Countries, governments, politicians, and the like are all targeting the six remaining candidates into order to use their powers for their own nefarious deeds, such as assassinations. This shifts the focus of the story from God Candidates eliminating each other to the remaining candidates fighting for survival against the rest of the world.
I was wondering just how Ohba and Obata were going to move forward with the story and as soon as I saw Susumu at the end of the last volume, I felt that he would become the new major antagonist. In a way, he has in the fact that he was the catalyst to our newest issue but he’s not exactly an antagonist rather than a pot stirrer. The world itself has become the new antagonist and that makes the story all that more interesting!
We are also introduced to a new character named Hoshi. He’s an investigator who seemingly doesn’t agree with the governments of the world looking to weaponize the God Candidates. He gets in contact with Mirai and Saki and has them assist him in identifying other Candidates in order to take them into protective custody. It remains to be seen just how genuine he is right now as there are multiple red flags strewn throughout the volume about his character. He is certainly one to watch!
Our volume ends with the reveal of another God Candidate who is about to kill his brother with a white arrow. Honestly, while that is a bit of a shocking ending, I don’t think it holds much weight. Sure, every God Candidate has their quirky little problems but to go from a major focus to “oh, this guy is about to kill his brother” seemed like a really sharp left turn. This seems like a plot point that would best be saved for the middle of a volume or an ending had it been built upon a lot more than it had been. Just seemed a bit out of place to end a volume.
Characters
Lot’s of new characters to talk about in this volume!
First off, we have Susumu… a sixth grader who was lonely who was approached by Penema when he contemplated taking sleeping pills. When he became a God Candidate, he witnessed the fight between Mirai and Metropoliman and had a sensation flow through his body. Witnessing that battle filled him with the sense of being truly alive. Since Susumu is into games, he felt that becoming a God Candidate was much like watching a game play out in front of him. When his goal of eliminating the candidates by using the police force was revealed, it painted him as the next major antagonist. He still could very well be but it looks like he was simply there to introduce the world itself as the next big threat. Still, a pretty interesting character as it uses a child’s innocence into order mask evil intent.
Next, we are introduced to Yuri Temari and her angel Yazeli. Temari is unemployed yet enjoys living the life of luxury. Outside of that, we don’t know much about her right now. Her angel is only a second-rank so she only got to choose between red arrows and wings. Her personality is a bit on the egotistical side but when Mirai was recommended as a God Candidate by Susumu, she was all for it as long as Mirai was the kind of God to pamper the remaining candidates. She is really full of herself but in a comedic way. Right now, the character is a bit run-of-the-mill and bland. Hopefully, she’ll become more interesting later on.
Next up we have Hoshi and his wife Yumiki. They are both investigators who are in love with each other. Hoshi seemingly has a strong sense of justice and doesn’t want to see the God Candidates get turned into weapons by the government. He takes Mirai and Saki into his own, personal custody and proves his loyalty by setting up Yumiki to get hit with Saki’s red arrow. So far, his motives seem to be genuine but there are a few telltale signs that there are some ulterior motives behind his actions… especially with his infatuation with the abilities of the God Candidates themselves. I’m not buying his good cop role just yet. Then again, I could be wrong about it all.
Finally, we have Minamikawa… a typical high school boy who ends up getting a really cute girlfriend. While he is a God Candidate, he’s just an ordinary teen boy who nearly pissed himself when he saw Mirai confront him with a white arrow. Poor guy… So far, he just seems like a typical happy-go-lucky boy who scored his ideal girlfriend. Nothing too interesting about him yet.
Final Thoughts
The next arc is here and it kicked off in a huge way! We quickly established a new cast of characters, new plots, new threats, and a new direction that the story is moving towards. I liked how the angels of the remaining candidates held a meeting and stated that the rest of the candidates had no wish to kill each other. We also learned the information that there are about 800 days remaining until time runs out on picking a new candidate for God. We hadn’t had a scope update in a while so it was refreshing to see just how much time we had left in this game.
Because of this meeting, I don’t think that Susumu truly wanted to eliminate the other candidates. After all, Penema left that meeting with an idea of his own. Given the fact that it was stated that none of the other candidates wanted to do anything to each other, Penema was clearly the one stirring the pot and manipulating Susumu to do and say the things that he did. Since Penema is the Angel of Games, it makes complete sense that he would sit back and watch all of this unfold all while enjoying himself. The sad thing is, the other angels agreed to all of this because they know the urgency of the situation. If things were left the way they were, the 800 days would expire and no God Candidate would be selected, meaning God would die and no one would take his place.
Things have gotten interesting and I’m really enjoying the direction this story is heading in! I can’t wait for volume ten to come along!
Follow me on Twitter @TheAnimePulse
You can also check out other The Outerhaven reviews on your favorite social media networks:
Subscribe to us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theouterhaven
Subscribe to us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOuterHaven
Subscribe to us on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/theouterhavennet
This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
