English Dub Review: Platinum End: “Tower of Nightmare”

Overview: With Nanato by his side, Mirai (Alejandro Saab) struggles to find the will within himself to take on Metropoliman (Griffin Burns). 

Our Take: If Metropoliman is willing to murder a helpless little girl in broad daylight on live television, it is more than likely there is not much that can be said to talk him down from his current downward trajectory of killing indiscriminately. But hey, with Mirai being Mirai, he gives it the old college try anyway. At the very least, Kanade is not portrayed as a complete and utter monster devoid of any empathy with his sister, at least resembling an emotional core at the heart of his character. But his ideology and/or his past could still do with some fleshing out for why she became so important that the way in which he helps her is irrelevant, and one that is more than just a slideshow montage. 

After Mirai and Kanade’s brief back and forth, the majority of time is very action heavy. Overall, it switches quickly between CG and 2D animation pretty well with their fast and frenetic air battle resembling that of speed clash in that of Dragon Ball Z. It does become a bit repetitive as, if you watch closely enough, similar sequences are reused quite a bit, but it is fun to watch nonetheless. There is also a new intriguing tidbit learned about how red arrows work against white ones in that they cancel them out. The fact that not even Baret, Nanato’s angel, knew that is puzzling. Despite Baret’s extensive knowledge and there probably being other candidates in the past that have come across, feels like a contrived way to give Mirai more breathing room against his opponents, because of his demeanor. The new arrow capabilities along with Girl A seemingly dead and Mirai getting a good look at Kanade’s face shows that this bout was, thankfully, not without some consequences that could pay off in the long run. 

While the arrow may feel like it is playing to Mirai a bit too much, he is finally starting to become more complex with his impassioned and nonsensical approach to the fight with Metro that is both personal and scarring to his mentality. His complacency in the abuse and bullying he faced in his childhood from his peers, aunt and uncle informs how he deals with conflict now as a young adult in bearing the brunt of it without objection. This puts him in a frustrating rough position that is gripping to watch, especially when Mirai himself understands that it is not any act of courage or righteousness. Also, unsurprisingly, Saki seems to be hiding feelings for Mirai, which would make sense considering her role has been non-existent thus far in the candidate struggle. So sure, why not have her be nothing but a love interest? Kidding aside, hopefully, like Mirai, she too grows into someone that is more interesting than the very little that has been presented about her thus far.