Some thoughts before starting Platinum End Episode 4– Mirai needs to get his act together and start paying attention to the Death Game in front of him and not on the girl who probably doesn’t even like him. The show also airs at a pretty weird time. Oh well, let’s see how this episode went in this review!
Platinum End Episode 4 Overview
Platinum End comes to us by the writers and creators of Death Note and Bakuman, Takeshi Obata and Tsugami Ohba. As if that wasn’t enough reason to get excited about this show, it is being directed by two prominent people in the anime industry. As it is a two-cour series, its first part is being directed by Hideya Takahashi, who has previously directed JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5. The second part is directed by Kazuchika Kise, the animation director behind Your Name and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The series is being produced by Studio Signal.MD, the studio behind several well-known anime such as Recovery of an MMO Junkie and Mars Red. If you’d like to catch up on our review of the third episode, you can do so right here!
– Platinum End Episode 4 Review does not contain any spoilers –
Platinum End Episode 4 Review- Plot and Characters
I loved Platinum End Episode 4. My heart is still racing after the end of this episode as I write this review, and that doesn’t happen very often. I realise that this isn’t a very popular opinion to hold right now, but I am already quite fond of this series. This episode just affirmed the opinion that I hold for it in multiple ways, and if you allow me to, I will try to explain my reasoning behind that as best as I can.
One of the first anime most people watch when they start watching anime is Death Note, and Code Geass usually comes not too long after. Both of them are classics in their own rights that feature a ton of mind games and mental battles between characters. The problem with having such anime as ones you look back upon this fondly is that their success can almost never be replicated by anything else.
Whether it be due to the plot, incompetence of the studios, the source material, or any combination of these three, not many anime have thrilled the masses in the same manner as these two have been able to. I understand that, and I accept that as something that happens when you love classics of a genre. However, I still appreciate it when shows try to do what classics did better, even if the result turns out for the worst.
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We saw Battle Game in 5 Seconds fail to get off the ground last season while trying to do something similar, but I still appreciated that it tried. Coming back to my point, what I love about Platinum End Episode 4 is that it came the closest to replicating the same exhilaration that an episode of watching Light and L battle it out was able to generate. I love it because it dares to be goofy in the same way the chip-eating scene was while trying to evoke a deeper meaning with its plot.
I know I wouldn’t compare Platinum End to Death Note anymore, but you can’t blame me for this one. Platinum End Episode 4 was fantastic in the same ways Death Note was, and that’s probably the biggest compliment one could ever give it. Now, I’m not crazy, and I’m aware that this is definitely worse than Death Note in most aspects, but as I said, I love that it tries. That goes a long way in my book.
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Platinum End Episode 4 saw Metropoliman playing mind games to draw out other God candidates to kill them, and their confrontation was phenomenal. Mirai sat most of this episode out, and that was for the best. He isn’t a very smart or interesting character right now, so it’s good that he let the actual great characters do the work. Metropoliman is wonderfully sadistic and just smart enough to give the show a great new edge to look out for.
The show also sinks very low to generate contempt for Metropoliman by involving an actual child in the proceedings, and it works. The other God candidates were also solid, and I like all of them so far, except Saki. She can go drown in a volcano for all I care, as she is a worthless husk of a character who has done nothing good for the show so far. The only concern I have is that the show is going through God candidates too swiftly right now, as we have a full 24 episode series to fill up. Let’s see where it all goes. I am in for the ride.
Platinum End Episode 4 Review- Art and Music
The only reason Platinum End Episode 4 isn’t getting a perfect rating is because of the frankly terrible animation in some parts. The multi-coloured metropolimen looked awful and sharply contrasted with the show’s usually decent 2D animation. 3D animation is tough to deal with, and Signal.MD didn’t do a very good job with it. The characters looked very goofy and didn’t have the gravitas you would expect from them. The music was very good, and the opening might be the only thing here that’s better than Death Note.
Verdict
Platinum End Episode 4 was the best in the series so far and made the best use of its theme and characters that it possibly could. I like this series, and I don’t care if you disagree.
Click here to read the review of the next episode.