Review of Land of the Lustrous

A peculiar anime with plot that refuses to progress, world that seems to be hollow, CGI graphics which are somehow absolutely amazing and characters that make up for every single one of its shortcomings. That would be Houseki no Kuni in a nutshell. Depending on the point of view it can be either really boring or totally charming. Personally I think it is definitely the second for a good reason. This anime does an incredibly good job at creating fantastic, non-human characters who change over time, have their own unique traits and keep both their motivation and feelings understandable to the viewer. However in contrary to othertitles it does not place the aforementioned characters in an idealized world where everything is either really grim or filled with happiness.

In a way Houseki no Kuni creates a very good imitation of our world - monotonous, sometimes seemingly hopeless but neither overly sad nor full of joy. A world where some are more gifted than others but at the same time everyone is equal in their search for purpose in life. There is something beautiful and admirable about it.