The shocking ending of Platinum End sees the destruction of the human race, but hope somehow survives.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Platinum End episode 24, “The Final Arrow,” now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation, as well as a discussion of suicide.
platinum endThe divine battle royale to decide the next God of the world ended in Episode 23, and peace returns to Earth in the series finale as the new God Shuji takes his place in the heavens and the arrows are confiscated. Only one red arrow remains with Professor Yoneda, but otherwise it’s as if the titanic clash never happened. Few people even have memories of what happened.
Protagonist Kakehashi Mirai can now resume his humble quest to find true happiness as an ordinary citizen of Earth, and the other God candidates and their associates do the same. Although the new God has apocalyptic plans in mind, not even the end of humanity will be able to extinguish true hope and happiness. That’s the shonen way.
In heaven, the new God-Shuji converses with the original God and they finally resolve the “chicken and egg” paradox between humanity and God. An unknown part or entity created God long ago. God then created mankind, disproving Yoneda’s “parasitic creature” theory. Meanwhile, God-Shuji looks at the endless suffering of humanity around the world and concludes that nothing short of genocide can save it from despair and misery. As the destructive angel Munai had always intended, God-Shuji takes his own life, and the angels and humanity die with him in a massive apocalypse six years after the God candidate’s battle ended.
Starting with the youngest, everyone on Earth vanishes into thin air. Most people are horrified and shocked to see everyone else disappear, until the same thing happens to them. It’s a nightmare scenario for 99% of humanity, but one couple in particular doesn’t care that much. Mirai and Saki, who have since gotten married and opened their own flower shop, hug each other and wait for the end to come. They both tried to take their own lives once, but survived, giving each of them a new appreciation for their time left on Earth.
They perish without remorse, and even if she must pay with her life, Mirai spends her last moments of happiness with the woman she loves as her initial quest comes to an end. This allows Mirai to die happy, unlike her misery when she first tried to take her own life at the beginning of platinum end. On one level, this can be interpreted as a suicide prevention message, but there is more.
The sudden apocalypse in platinum end final he does more than conclude the series by killing the entire cast at once. He also reaffirms some basic core values of Shonen, such as the power of friendship, the virtues of courage and persistence, and the wisdom of seeking selfless and constructive goals.
Mirai’s goal of finding humble happiness may have seemed underwhelming early in the series, especially compared to Light Yagami’s quest to become a god of justice in Death Note – but in the end, Mirai gets the last laugh. He dies in Saki’s arms the happiest man on earth, with no fear or regret at all. His simple and mundane goal had allowed him to spend the previous six years in complete happiness, and in Episode 24 he dies in peace, and a similar thing can be said for his wife Saki. However, this generally cannot be said for the rest of platinum endThe cast.
The other characters behaved more selfishly and their deaths were just as harsh. The ambitious and cruel Metropoliman died in anguish when Mukaido shot him with a heavy machine gun, and in Episode 24, Professor Yoneda dies as he panics over the state of the world. Selfish hedonist Temari Yuri dies in a panic and confusion, a poor way to end her life. These characters never sought humble happiness, nor did they try to benefit others. So they get a proper ending in the ending, while the shonen heroes Mirai and Saki get the best ending possible: a true platinum ending.
For more information on suicide warning signs and prevention, click here. If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you live outside of the US, click here for a list of international hotlines.
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