What are we watching: Land of the Lustrous

What’s it about: In the mysterious future, crystalline organisms called Gems inhabit a world that has been destroyed by six meteors. Each Gem is assigned a role in order to fight against the Lunarians, a species who attacks them in order to shatter their bodies and use them as decorations.

Phosphophyllite, also known as Phos, is a young and fragile Gem who dreams of helping their friends in the war effort. Instead, they are told to compile an encyclopedia because of their delicate condition. After begrudgingly embarking on this task, Phos meets Cinnabar, an intelligent gem who has been relegated to patrolling the isolated island at night because of the corrosive poison their body creates. After seeing how unhappy Cinnabar is, Phos decides to find a role that both of the rejected Gems can enjoy. Houseki no Kuni follows Phos’ efforts to be useful and protect their fellow Gems.

Studio: Orange

Director: Kyougoku, Takahiko

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIYgPnSvnCE

Where can I watch it: https://twist.moe/a/houseki-no-kuni-tv/1 , https://nyaa.si/view/991627 , https://cytu.be/r/chapochat (At select times)

  • the_river_cass [she/her]
    ·
    4 years ago

    phos is so painful on the re-watch, haha. I love how much of a character journey this show is. it's so rare to find stories that have the confidence to center their characters rather than plot events but the result is so much more vivid, interesting, and memorable.

    • Awoo [she/her]M
      ·
      4 years ago

      What do you mean by painful? In her behaviour or in another way?

      • the_river_cass [she/her]
        ·
        4 years ago

        yeah, their behavior is just uncomfortable knowing where they're headed. I think I just came to really like them over time but didn't connect with them initially so now I'm feeling that disconnection with a character I really enjoyed.

        • Awoo [she/her]M
          ·
          4 years ago

          Interesting. I recall that when this originally aired a lot of people had the attitude "I liked Phos better when she was normal". I laughed about this at the time because it rather mirrored the way people behave towards trans people. Nobody actually cared what Phos wanted, they wanted cute silly Phos back and refused to see that despite how much she is changed by what occurs she is MUCH happier and doesn't experience crippling depression and inability to work after the changes she goes through. Of course the typical anime audience doesn't get this and ignores the problems of the character being depicted that I go into here . People's attitude of "nah she should stay as she is because I like it and it's cute" is completely dismissive of how crippled, unhappy and unable to be a productive member of the society Phos is prior to her changes.

          It's interesting to see someone that dislikes Phos as she is here compared to later. Lots of people just seem to like her because "cute and child-like wonder".

          • the_river_cass [she/her]
            ·
            4 years ago

            oh hmm... it might be my personal experience coloring things. the person we see in these early episodes reminds me way too much of the aspects of myself that I've spent decades trying to root out (yay adhd). and so their change into someone who takes on all the responsibility in the world, someone who drives the world forward, really spoke to me. it never occurred to me that people would really like the lackadaisical, deeply depressed and hopeless Phos that lacks any conception of their own will. but I've always preferred strong-willed characters to happy and kawaii, in any case.

            the comparison to trans people feels really apropos. both because you're right that people who view Phos through a lens of "they were so cute and silly, bring that Phos back" are objectifying them and because the character diagetically reconstructs themselves to better fit their own image of who they need to be.

            she is MUCH happier and doesn’t experience crippling depression and inability to work after the changes she goes through

            this is true, but at least where the anime ends,

            spoiler

            they're also dealing with some serious trauma and hasn't exactly learned to respect the humanity and agency of others

            which continues to cause them pain.

            • Awoo [she/her]M
              ·
              4 years ago

              this is true, but at least where the anime ends,

              spoiler

              they’re also dealing with some serious trauma

              and hasn’t exactly learned to respect the humanity and agency of others, which continues to cause them pain.

              Yes. I'm intentionally leaving out this because we're not up to that point. It should probably be spoiler tagged? She 100% becomes much much happier within herself but gains new troubles as a result of new experiences.