English Dub Review: Platinum End: “Gift from an Angel”

Overview: After attempting to take his own life, Mirai Kakehashi (Alejandro Saab) is saved from an angel known as Nasse (Jessie Flower) and given the opportunity of a lifetime to turn his destiny around. 

Our Take: Rather than a gift, this feels like scribblings jotted down on a napkin that is supposed to pass for either a homemade gift or a late essay, take your pick. There is a huge mess of exposition splattered throughout given about both the heavenly game of choosing a God from an angel and that of the main character, Mirai, that neither are truly sorted through properly in any capacity. 

Mirai’s personal tragedies and any attempt in trying to make you care about him fall flat with how poorly executed his short and simplistic backstory is. His loved ones aren’t present enough for you to really care. The reasoning behind Mirai’s abusive aunt and uncle’s behavior and violent crime is delved upon and fully appreciated for the evil that it is, beyond the simplicity of wanting money. The one shining element to gleam from everything that is thrown to the wall is the angel, Nasse, assisting Mirai. It is a guiding power that represents neither good nor evil but merely the best interest of their chosen candidate and a conduit for their nature as is. This adds some much needed weight to Mirai’s decisions. 

Mirai, himself, doesn’t make a compelling first impression either. His initial portal suffers from the same issue plaguing the setup of his backstory and the death defying game he finds himself in that of lack of detail. His suicidal attempt is almost treated as trivial with very little in depth into how he feels after or even into his motivation, despite the fact that his aunt and uncle may be disgusting scum. There needs to be more behind his suffering than the basics of what’s been laid out. At the very least, his goal of happiness is simple, attainable and makes him feel at least somewhat relatable especially with God tier powers at his disposal.  And it greatly differs from author Tsugumi Ohba’s other notable protagonist in that of Light Yagami from Death Note, in that he has a conscience and doesn’t have a God complex. Platinum End needs to do more character building and a greater job of balancing plot lines if it wants to lift itself up.