Review of Land of the Lustrous

Warning, this anime does not end with a satisfying conclusion. The story just stops without any meaningful resolution. This wouldn't be a huge problem if there was another season, but It's near the end of 2022 and I don't think it's gonna happen. The world feels both simple and mysterious. It's not mysterious because there is complexity hidden under the surface. Rather, it's just that nobody makes any progress in solving anything. The setting is small and there's not that much to explore, but despite that we still don't know why things are the way they are. The world doesn't feel fleshed out. We have asingle building which is fairly sophisticated architecture on a weird sickle shaped island and everything else is just undeveloped.

The CGI is pretty, and the gem characters move nicely. But the backgrounds are fairly plain. The Lunarians have a very generic look to them. Pretty, but they all look the same and have no individuality to their animation, so they don't feel alive at all. The fighting is ok, except that the enemy is generic and lacking in agency.

The drama doesn't hit very hard. It's somewhat humorous, but not particularly endearing or emotional. The main character starts off as exceptionally useless, with some hefty aspirations but weak and without the resolve to improve. There is some character growth, but it feels too sudden, like we are seeing two different characters. Several of the other characters have distinct personalities, which is nice for something this short. There is a kind of familial loyalty between the characters; that is to say you might piss me off but I'll still do everything in my power to protect you. They explore strong themes such as people's desire to be useful, how people view and treat others who are not as capable, the pressure and responsibility that falls on those who are capable. It asks whether the mindset is more important than some innate ability, with an open-ended answer.

The OP and ED don't sound good to me. There's a gamelan inspired bgm whenever the Lunarians invade which is kinda cool, but I don't think there was any other noteworthy sound.

I feel like it's a decent introduction as a part of a greater work, but not enough happens for it to stand on its own. Maybe ok if you plan on reading the manga.