Platinum End, Vol. 1

*Minor spoilers aheadAfter Death Note and Bakuman, Tsugumi Ohba (the writer) has done it again! Seeing him team up with Takeshi Obata (the artist) again is an amazing delight. Both men have grown since their last collaborative work Death Note. Particularly Obata's artwork seems to have gotten even better, whether it is a two page spread showcasing many angels or a close up of a character in emotional pain, he manages to pull off most panels with expertise.This manga might just eclipse their previous effort Death Note. The biggest reason for this, is the moral gray line that main chracters like Nasse posses. As an angel, it doesn't follow the typical behavior we would expect in other mediums. Weather it is the nonchalant attitude toward murdering other humans, or the idea of controlling people through love. Nasse definitely steals the spotlight and all the scenes it is in, just like the Shinigami Ryuk did in Death Note. The fact that there are 12 more angel characters to explore, has me excited for new volumes.The other main character Mirai (one of the god candidates) may not be as interesting as the angels, but his redeeming qualities shine through in his refusal to abuse his new powers. He is not like Light Yagami, in the sense that all he wishes for is normal happiness (ex. a home, food, and future love). The big intrigue is if he will ever willingly use all his given powers, due to temptation, outside forces, or sheer negligence as seen in the first chapter.Without a doubt I will be buying volume 2 come March, and hope to see what happens after the massive cliffhanger at the end of this volume. Mr. Ohba and Mr. Obata keep up the great work!

If you enjoyed Death Note and Bakuman, you understand that Ohba and Obata make a great duo, and Platinum End is no exception. Keep in mind that the two previous titles that they worked on were released on a weekly basis, with shorter chapters. While Platinum End has a monthly schedule, which some people believe has hurt the series.This being a monthly chapter manga, the chapters are longer to make up for it. The first few volumes compile only three chapters each, but they add up to the same length of any other manga book. That gives you an idea of how long each chapter is, and as a result they have a slower burn to them. The creators have more space to breathe and now have the leisure to use bigger panels when they want you to see and feel the scenes and appreciate the beautiful artwork.If you like Ohba's and Obata's works, give this one a read. Just keep in mind that since you're only getting three chapters in this volume, you might want to at least pick up volumes 2 and 3 as well to get a better feel of the story. It takes a little bit to introduce the readers to the characters and world, the plot, etc. But it's certainly a page turner, and I myself devoured volume 1 in one day, then volume 2 the second day, then volumes 3 and 4 on the third day! But everyone has different tastes, so my honest advice is to at least give this series a try, but I strongly recommend to at least read the first 2 or 3 volumes before you decide if it's for you or not.

What’s this? A new series by the number one tag team of Ohba & Obata (Death Note, Bakuman)? Well I pretty much bought this as soon as I saw it, and like their previous, highly original and clever stories, this one does not disappoint. Fans of Death Note will feel quite at home here as the spirit realm once again interferes with the world of men, but it’s angels this time, not Shinigami, and there are 12 other chosen contestants that are in the running to become the next god of the entire world.To tell you the truth I wasn’t convinced I was going to enjoy this plot that much. It seemed like Death Note, but lesser. I shouldn’t have worried! These creators really know how to come up with an interesting premise and then reveal the story with tons of reversals and twists. You might as well buy book 2 as well. Trust me. When you get to the cliffhanger at the end of the first installment you won’t want to stop!

My sister really wanted this manga but our local bookstore never had it in stock. Finally caved and got it for her as a gift and she likes it so far. Not my kind of series (I'm more into josei, romance, some shounen) but I'm glad she liked it. The cover was kind of shiny too? neat.

Big fan of this manga. The art and story are both excellent, as are expected from the creators. Give this one a read if you’re a fan of Death Note!

Just recieved it today and immediately read it. The cover has an iridescent effect to it which looks very nice. I will start by complimenting the art in this volume. It is stunning from cover to cover. Many shading effects that I expected to drop off after the first 30 pages or so were consistent throughout the entire volume. My reason for only giving this 4 stars is the quality of the dialogue in the story. Now, this could be due to the translation, but the plot has a lot of potential, and I felt removed from my 'reading daydream' by some corny dialogue at least once or twice. That being said, I will still follow this for a few volumes to see how the story and dialogue continue to develop.

i like the cover it's like a rainbow shine when u move it around and the book is good

This series clearly bears the style of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (who also made DeathNote and Bakuman). It dives into some serious themes right away, and does so well. I will say that this series goes at a much slower pace than their other works and contains less dialogue, but the story is solid and the artwork has improves over previous works.