The following contains spoilers for Platinum End, now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation, as well as dicsussion of suicide.
Platinum End, a thriller anime by the same creators as Death Note, stars the humble, pacifistic Kakehashi Mirai who aims to simply live a life of ordinary happiness -- and his efforts to win a divine battle royale to decide who will become the world's next God. It takes more than angel wings and red arrows to win this fight.
The story of Platinum End began as a fairly routine battle royale scenario with an angelic theme but soon expanded in scope and explored a variety of intriguing themes about the purpose of life, the cost of taking another life, the meaning of what God really is and far more. And these topics are explored in more than a few wild and unpredictable plot twists along the way.
When Nasse Chose Mirai As A God Candidate
The very first plot twist in Platinum End ranks among the most important. In fact, if it didn't take place, Mirai wouldn't have even been alive to witness the rest of the series. After graduating from middle school, the miserable Mirai was ready to end his own life and attempted to do so by falling off a skyscraper. That was when the playful but brutal angel Nasse literally swooped in to save his life, and Mirai vowed to make the most of what she did for him.
He was then chosen as one of the 13 God candidates who would fight over the throne of Heaven, launching the entire rest of Platinum End. From this point on, Mirai would fight to protect his own life and that of the people around him. Never again will he consider the self-destructive path.
When Mirai's Team Defeated Metropoliman
Mirai's most powerful rival, the armored would-be hero Metropoliman, was poised to win the entire battle royale with his advanced arrow techniques and devious methods. This included sending his minion Hajime to take Mukaido Nanato's wife and daughter hostage. During the battle, Mirai and Saki finally turned the tables on Metropoliman and restrained him, which gave Mukaido a chance to use the last of his strength to slay the villain with a heavy machine gun.
Metropoliman's death did more than end the threat he posed -- it also shifted the battle royale's tone away from violence and toward debate and philosophical discussion, which is what Mirai preferred. But he wouldn't be the one to take charge of the upcoming debate.
When Yuito Susumu Called For A Peaceful Summit
Not long after Metropoliman's death, the youngest God candidate, Yuito Susumu, made his move. He appeared on live TV and encouraged the remaining candidates to join him in peaceful talks on who should become God and why, a plan Mirai and his ally Saki cautiously agreed to.
This helped shift Platinum End from a battle anime to something more akin to its Death Note progenitor, complete with the use of media, mind games and schemes within schemes. Susumu meant well, but other God candidates such as Nakaumi Shuji and Professor Yoneda would complicate Susumu's efforts to vote peacefully for a new God. Soon, it was Yoneda who ran the show, not Susumu.
When Professor Yoneda Vowed To Kill The God Creature
The brilliant but reclusive professor Yoneda Gaku, the final God candidate to appear, wanted to end the battle royale in a whole new way. He didn't want to fight and become a classist king like Metropoliman, nor did he desire to vote for a new God. Instead, the cynical Yoneda proposed a shocking new theory: that humans' collective prayers and emotions created God, similar to negative emotions creating curses in Jujutsu Kaisen, and Yoneda didn't want such a false deity to deceive humanity with false hope.
So he hatched a bold plan to slay most other God candidates, then have his ally Nakaumi and himself kill one another to ensure no one won the competition. This would ensure God would never be replaced, and the very idea of this being would die out.
When Nakaumi Destroyed Himself As God
In the end, Nakaumi was chosen as the new God and ascended to the heavens as an enlightened being. There, he saw for himself just how many people across the world wanted to end their own lives and he felt powerless to aid them. That, combined with his own self-destructive desires, led God-Nakaumi to destroy himself with a giant white arrow -- then chaos ensued.
This had an apocalyptic impact not just on Platinum End's main characters, but all of humanity and the angels as well. Everyone was wiped out -- but in the end, Mirai and Saki died happily in each other's arms and achieved their true platinum end. They were the winners after all.
For more information on the warning signs and prevention of suicide, 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 the U.S., click here for a list of international hotlines.
