WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Platinum End Episode 12, "A Fine Line Between Offense and Defense," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
Protagonist Kakehashi Mirai continues to fight for his life in the heavenly battle royale, but he must do more than survive his feud with the fearsome Metropoliman. This is more than a death game -- God and the angels want to forge the next God candidate in the fires of battle, and Kakehashi, for the longest time, seemed unfit to claim victory.
Kakehashi refused to shed blood when he faced Metropoliman and the sadistic Girl A at the Great Tower, and now, he must contend with Metropoliman and his minions once again. This time, the battle itself inspires him to find a noble reason to fight, despite his pacifistic tendencies. This time, he has an angle against Metropoliman.
The largest battle yet unfolds at the abandoned amusement park where Sokotani Hajime had held Mukaido's family hostage until Saki found the courage to shoot Sokotani with her red arrow to control him. In this episode, Metropoliman strikes back with his newest and scariest minions yet, including the virus-wielding Kohinata Fuyuko and the heavily-armed Bakamatsu Ryuji, along with an unnamed child wearing a peculiar mask. Kohinata holds thousands of people hostage by threatening to release a deadly virus unless Kakehashi lays down his life, but Kakehashi fights back.
Kakehashi restrains Kohinata, only for Hanakago Saki and Sokotani to intervene, and the messy battle ends when Sokotani perishes at Kohinata's hands -- a heavy price to pay for taking Kohinata down. Metro and Kakehashi each lose an ally, and Kakehashi reflects how those thousands of hostages nearly died and thus would never find true happiness in their lives. Even Kohinata wanted happiness, Kakehashi reasons to himself, and in death, she can never find that happiness. Kakehashi still refuses to take a life, but defending happiness gives him the necessary courage to face Metropoliman alone at last.
Kakehashi has a constructive and defensive attitude about people's lives and human nature, which at first held him back while fighting Metropoliman, much to Mukaido's frustration. Even the playful angel Nasse found Kakehashi's pacifistic attitude bizarre. This time, Kakehashi stands firmly against his worst enemy, since he has finally rationalized everything in his mind, and he has a plan of attack that fits his worldview and goals. He aims to have a happy and normal life, and he wants everyone else to find similar happiness for themselves. Only by capturing Metro can Kakehashi protect his and other people's happiness, and that allows him to face Metro's white arrow without fear.
This also shows how ambitious and idealistic Kakehashi Mirai can be. He faces such a powerful and treacherous enemy, yet he insists on fighting his own way, without taking anyone's life. Either Kakehashi will pull off the upset victory of the year, or he will pay a heavy price for refusing to use his white arrow or any of Mukaido's firearms to take down Metro. By contrast, Metro feels confident in his use of lethal force, and he only needs to land one white arrow to dispatch Kakehashi for good. The clash of ideals begins -- happiness vs. domination -- and there can be only one winner. Kakehashi is all in.
