Review of Land of the Lustrous

I am writing this review from a holistic perspective (because of the manga). This show truly is a GEM (pun intended) It's like a breath of fresh air. ➡️Synopsis- Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni) is an anime about immortal jewels/gems. It takes place in the distant future after the earth was ravaged by meteorites which led to the extinction of all life form. Over the vast period of time a new life form emerged resulting in these gems in humanoid form that now reside the land of the earth. But these gems or rather "Jewel People" are at war with Lunarians (People of Moon)who come down from the moon to hunt down these gems and take them away for their personal desires.

➡️Plot- For the most part this a character driven show but the core story itself is remarkable. The story starts off with our main character Phosphophyllite in short Phos, who is one of the 28 gems that live on earth under the care and supervision of a fatherly figure known as Sensei. Very little information is disclosed about sensei except for the fact that he has lived for over thousands of years.
Besides fighting the Lunarians these gems do their daily jobs assigned to them by Sensei. Phos on the other hand has no work to do because he is a fragile gem and isn't suitable to fight the Lunarians either. So he is constantly in an urge to change himself to find a purpose for living. Although all the gems live in fear of being hunt down by the Lunarians they don't seem to question anything and live the way Sensei has shaped their daily lives. Phos, however, wants to know more about their existence, the Lunarians and upon pondering and wandering around he meets a different creature and finds out a big secret that no gem has ever found or heard of.
There is a lingering mystery to the core of its world . Slowly the mystery starts to untwine (only a little bit) and the viewers get to know a bit about the world of Houseki like where did these gems come from, who are these Lunarians etc.
This show is heavily influenced by Buddhism, there are lot of references of Buddhist religion subtly integrated into the show.
Proper attention was given to the direction of the show. It also stayed faithful to its source material.

➡️Characters- The characters or rather gems are based on minerals from the real world. They all have a hardness of 1-10 on the "Mohs Scale". Characteristics of these gems mirror some traits of these minerals. For instance the mineral Cinnabar is known to have toxic elements which is why in the anime the character Cinnabar is ostracized as shown or Bort which has a hardness of 10 is very tough and consequently is the powerhouse of the gems in the battle against Lunarians. These gems don't have a specific gender but are referred to as "He" even though they are feminine in appearance. However, they are referred to as "they" in the manga

Phos's character is the cornerstone of the show. It revolves around him and his actions. Phos is in a constant struggle to change himself due to his incompatibility with the other gems, to earn himself a place among them, to be useful to them, and to have a purpose altogether and the way his character is explored is truly amazing. Ideas like existentialism, individualism and the process of self awareness, self acceptance Ichiko Harukawa depicted these through Phos and his dynamics with the other characters meticulously. Unfortunately this season isn't long enough to be able to shed light to all the characters properly.

➡️Animation & Sound: The animation is CGI for the most part and boy did studio Orange do an excellent job! But there are some 2D elements crafted with the CGI that blends so well with the animation. The actions and fight scenes are amazingly choreographed. The use of CGI gave the animators free reign . The soundtracks are also very good.
Let's not forget about the best part. The visuals. This show is visually marvelous.

➡️Overall: This is one of a kind show and may not cater to the larger audience. The world of Houseki is shrouded with mysteries yet it has a serene and somewhat of an utopian ambiance. The show tells a tale somewhere between fantasy and sci-fi. This season serves as a great introduction to its world and teases the viewers about the undiscovered secrets. Hopefully studio Orange will adapt rest of the source.
If you want to experience something unique then this right up your alley (and please read the manga) Hope you'll find something to your liking.