English Dub Review: Platinum End: “A Fine Line Between Offense and Defense”

Overview: Mirai (Alejandro Saab) struggles with his conscience in not killing as he fights Kohinata. 

Our Take: There is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking with your heart over your head. However, when that is ALL you do, it becomes tiring to watch, especially as far as main characters are concerned. Mirai using his head in destroying the disease with a white arrow is a sigh of relief and feels as if it deserves a standing ovation in how far and few between ingenious ideas seem to sprout from him. Although, of course, Mirai being Mirai that relief is quickly snuffed out in him making another boneheaded decision in not taking down psychotic terrorist with a poison fetish in Kohinata. What makes it frustrating is not a smart alternative offered in, at least, knocking her unconscious, or any deep meaning for his ideology of not killing when push comes to shove for the greater good, outside of poorly written simple, idealistic lessons from his parents. Not to mention, it needlessly draws out their stalemate.  It’s the equivalent of shoving bland potato chips in your mouth that you may not enjoy but because there’s nothing else to eat, you have at it. 

Credit to Hajime, he decides to take action and step in to save Saki as she shields Mirai, and sacrifices himself. This is just one of many reasons adding to the frustrations of Mirai’s decision not to, at the very least, to fight when a necessary evil rears its ugly head in that of a God candidate. Hajime’s “emotional” demise doesn’t do much to redeem his development as well as Saki’s “saving” him when nothing that meaningful or even of value has taken place to earn that moment. 

The one redeeming factor through this painful ordeal is Mirai slowly but surely starting to resemble something deeper than just regurgitating speeches about happiness. This is established in his self-love for himself in choosing not to kill someone as pathetic as Metropoliman and allowing somebody like that to weigh on his conscience. Hopefully, these developments continue and evolve and are not generally superficial, as they have been up to this point, continuing forward.