Title: Platinum End Vol. 12
Author: Tsugumi Ohba (Story), Takeshi Obata (Art)
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 200
Genre: Thriller
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
The Story
Volume 12 of Platinum End was a bit on the slow side. It all focused on Dr. Yoneda wanting to set up a meeting between the remaining God candidates in order to bring the choosing process to a conclusion; however, Yoneda has a different plan once the meeting starts.
The entire volume is spent setting up this meeting and formulating a plan on what to do with Yoneda. Then the meeting happens in the final chapter where Yoneda reveals what he plans to do (to the reader) to end all of this.
Outside of a little character development, this was, pretty much, everything that happened in Volume 12. Again, it was pretty slow-paced but it didn’t really feel like a slog at all. There was a lot of information, including a more expanded look at Dr. Yoneda as well as his connection with Hoshi. We also got a bit of a nice moment between Mirai and Saki. Everything rounded out pretty well and, as odd as this sounds, this was a quick-paced slow volume.
I guess the best way to make sense of that is to say that the story didn’t go forward all that much. It took 200 pages to set up and arrive at a meeting; however, the journey to get there was filled with a lot of interesting information to keep you hooked and to make you unaware of the slow passage of the story; however, once it’s over, you realize just how little everything moved forward… if that makes sense.
Characters
The big focus here is on Dr. Yoneda. We took a look at his past from Hoshi’s point of view… how he was in high school, what he went on to accomplish at such a young age, etc. We also saw how fame and that public view affected Yoneda. We saw how he came in contact with his angel and how he theorized the existence (or lack thereof) of a God. It really paints Yoneda as one of the calmest mad scientist villains I have ever seen. He is a bit crazy for wanting to carry out his plan but, at the same time, he has extremely solid logic and rationale backing him up. His plan is evil and unjust but he doesn’t even seem evil himself. It’s a really weird balance and an archetype you don’t see much of these days. I have to say, I really enjoy Yoneda as a character and as a villain!
Osamu didn’t get much development; however, he did get one little minor point of development that makes things WAY too obvious for the outcome of the meeting. I won’t spoil it but I will say that Osamu kind of turned into a number without a repeating decimal point.
Saki finally said it!
Final Thoughts
Another good volume of Platinum End. I really enjoyed a lot of the character-building here all while setting up, what appears to be, the grand finale. There are only two volumes of this series left so if I were to place a bet, I’d say that volume thirteen is going to focus solely on the meeting and its outcome… so that means you should prepare yourself for lots and lots of dialogue, points and counterpoints, and perhaps a little bit of action when neither side can come to an agreement.
Then, the final volume will be the epilogue. The God Candidate will be chosen and we will witness the world-changing and/or accepting/rejecting the new God. We will get more answers to the entire candidacy and perhaps even a “and the cycle will repeat in the distant future” type of tagline to end it all, showing that even God doesn’t last forever (I mean, that’s already established… or else there’s no point in this entire series).
I’m going to make a super bold prediction here. Saki and Mirai love each other. Unless a God Candidate is allowed to live and drop out of the race, then having them as the final two where Mirai kills Saki is WAY too predictable of an ending. Then again, it’s not off the table due to a certain interaction between the two of them in this volume but I don’t think that’s the ending we’re going to get. I believe Ohba and Obata are going to give us a bit of a swerve here.
Yoneda kills Mirai and Saki next volume. The stunning conclusion is that Osamu kills Yoneda before he expects it and becomes God. Because Saki and Mirai are practically shipped, it would be pointless for them to become separated by one becoming God. Dying in each other’s arms is the perfect ending for them. Yoneda wants to know what death is like so Osamu kills him, granting him that wish, leaving Osamu becoming God all due to something else that happened in this volume.
It’s not an expected outcome and it also calls for the main character (or two) to die which is a rarity. Given the fact that both L and Light died in Death Note (Hey, how long has it been since that manga published? Spoiler tag expired for that a LONG time ago, people), I can see Mirai and Saki not making it through in the end. Would it be the ending people were expecting? Nope… but I think a surprise ending like that could be pretty interesting.
There is only one wildcard… one monkey wrench that could become the plot device to get Mirai and Saki out of this without death… and that’s Nasse. Read the book to find out why!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
