Review of Land of the Lustrous

Please note this review is intended to be read by those that have finished watching Housouki no Kuni and while care has been taken to minimise spoilers there may still be some present in character analysis. Intro and premise One gems journey to become a capable warrior to protect her friends Based off a popular manga of the same name Housouki no Kuni also known as Land of the Lustrous is an action fantasy anime that common to animes of this genre has a large-scale fight as its main premise. Taking place in the near future where a new form of life that unlike normal humansare gender less and immortal called Gems live upon the earth. The gems of which there are 28 in total must not only struggle with living their lives on the planet but also contend with defending themselves from a hostile race that dwells on the moon that regularly invades hoping to capture them and turn them into decorations. In this fight for survival, each member of the gems is given specific roles to play in the fight whether acting as recon, warriors, medics and scouts all will have a role to play in this battle for survival. Although the premise of large-scale battles between races is a common enough theme within action anime I felt that the struggle between the gems and the Moon dwellers were unique in that rather than mere destruction the gems were fighting hard to stop the moon dwellers from taking them and transforming them into ornaments which I felt was a fate worse than death.

Taking place in an alternate version of earth where humanity become extinct the overall story of the series while showing the battles that make up the war that’s being waged between the Gems and the Moon Dwellers also looks at the development and gradual evolution of the character of Phos a relatively weak gem that aspires to be useful to her friends and allies and fight on the battlefield alongside them and her gradual evolution as the war between the two races intensify.

Phosphophyllite

Phosphophyllite voiced by veteran seiyuu Tomoyo Kurosawa of Black Bullet fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main protagonist of the series. A member of the gem race and the youngest of their number Phosphophyllite in the beginning of the series was a calm, confident, positive and eager person and was someone that was keen to enter the battlefield and find a role for herself in the fight against the moon dwellers. However, due to the fragility of her mineral namesake, this hope of her was dashed time after time causing her to be saddled with lighter duties while the others fought. Though Pho’s tries to blow this off with her positive attitude this is something that she detests greatly. True to her positive nature Phosphophyllite who is more commonly known as Phos by others is a cheerful person by nature and is kind and caring to everyone that she meets and as a result of her desire to help is someone that’s always eager to help others even if it places her in harms way showing her strong determination. While lively and happy for the most part it can be seen that Phos is someone that gets bored quite easily which often leads to her throwing one of her tantrums in which she tries to get others to assign better tasks for her. In the beginning of the series, it can be seen that due to her fragility which limits the roles that she can be given on the field that Phos was viewed somewhat with disdain by some members of her fellow gems who see her as useless to their war effort. While understanding this Phos still tries to remain positive and lively playing the joker and still trying to help showing her strong desire to help her fellows in the war.

As the series goes on Phos personality gradually changes as a result of not just the war itself changing but also because of the tasks that she has set herself to do. In the beginning of the series as a result of her fragility which meant that she was only given light duties, Phos notably had a lot of free time on her hands which allowed her to explore the area around the school and get to know the terrain around it relatively easily. As a result of this Phos was given the opportunity to encounter many interesting lifeforms that existed in the surrounding area and understand what life is and what makes life unique. As a result of this Phos was also able to determine that while she was too fragile to be of much use on the battlefield she was at least capable of helping others with solving their problems a realisation that really improved her mood and personality as for the first time it imbued in her a sense that she can be useful to others at last. This new realisation of hers causes Phos to become more determined to help her friends and in doing so overcome the fear that she feels when being near the moon dwellers. Arguably the most significant change of Phos personality came about during the winter period which resulted in her not only gaining new legs but also arms as well though at great cost due to the loss of a valued comrade. In the aftermath of this loss, Phos personality changes substantially becoming braver and more composed and more willing to stand on the front line. At the same time, however, Phos notably becomes more quiet and sullen that replaces her positive and cheerful nature. While Phos personality before was a tad on the reckless side after gaining the new limbs, she becomes less reckless and instead more cautious and willing to use her improved perception skills to determine the best chance to intervene. On the psychological level, it can be seen that in light of her friend’s death that Phos is now more dutiful and determined in order to honor her friend’s memory. The character of Phos I felt was an interesting one that was not only well designed but also well developed. While she was someone that lacked a real purpose, in the beginning, her gradual development as the series went on from someone that got scared easily to someone that can face a whole group of moon dwellers by herself was a change that I thought was well executed. I felt that her seiyuu Tomoyo Kurosawa really did an excellent job in portraying the character of Phos.

Cinnabar

Cinnabar voiced by veteran seiyuu singer Mikako Komatsu of Re Creators and Tales of Zestiria the X fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is a fellow gem of Phos. A somewhat gloomy gem that is also dutiful and serious Cinnabar is a bit of an enigma within the gems in that due to her condition she is unable to be near her fellow gems and as a result, while she can be relied upon to fulfil her duties as night watchman she can only do so by herself. As a result of this, it's perhaps unsurprising that Cinnabar prefers solitude and doesn’t want others to see her at all. Despite the pain that she obviously feels it can be seen that Cinnabar is conscious of her duty and still regards her fellow gems with respect and kindness and was, in fact, the one who advocated for the duty in the first place as it will allow her to protect them while at the same time minimising the threat her curse brings to them. Despite this duty, however, Cinnabar is also conscious of the damage that her curse can do to the surrounding areas and as a result dislikes fighting as this will cause it to unleash. As a result of the curse and the damage that it can do to the surrounding areas, in the beginning, Cinnabar saw herself as someone that was useless and indeed hoped that one day she too will be taken so that her misery will be dealt with.

However, it can be seen that as a result of meeting with Phos and interacting with her Cinnabar’s personality gradually changes as a result of this becoming much more talkative and willing to express her own feelings and willing to help others that need help instead of wallowing in despair. It can also be seen that Cinnabar was affected a great deal by Phos determined attempts to help her find a way to nullify her poison as doing so also puts her life being put in danger as well.

Diamond

Diamond voiced by veteran seiyuu Ai Kayano of Tales of Zestiria the X and 3 Gatsu no Lion fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is a fellow gem of Phos. A member of the Diamond class of gems like her teammate and friend Bort Diamond who likes to be called Dia is a quiet, soft-spoken, kind and positive person by nature. A kind-hearted and understanding person that’s also compassionate to a fault Dia is someone that cares deeply about everyone whether they are her friends or just acquaintances and will always try to help others with their troubles no matter how troublesome it is. As a result of her helpful, calm and compassionate nature Dia is someone that can be seen to be easily approachable by many people including Phos if they want to get something off their chest and as a result, Dia can often be seen as having the role of a listener as well. Complimenting this role of Dia is the fact that she also has a funny and curious side to her that reveals itself when she encounters beings or situations that she has not encountered before. A prominent trait of Dia is her persistent nature in that once she sets her sights on something she will not stop until she succeeds which for her means that she will keep talking to people until they relent and tell her what troubles them.

As the series goes on and as Dia’s personality becomes more visible it becomes apparent that despite her cheerful and positive nature that Dia is someone that works hard to overcome her classes inherent weakness of being fragile and that she is someone that while grateful for Bort’s protection doesn’t want to keep relying on him. As a result of this Dia’s true self can be seen to have very low self-esteem and constantly tries to be useful to Bort. As a result of seeing Pho’s evolution, Dia starts to realise just how much she had relied on Bort in their battles together and starts to gradually get braver, more independent and stronger in an effort to stand at Bort’s side as an equal rather than as a liability. It can be seen however that her relationship with Bort despite saying otherwise is a deep one and that she see’s being his partner a role that’s important to her. The character of Diamond I felt was an interesting character that was well developed and designed. In particular, the contrast between her public face that she presents to her fellow gems and her inner self that reflected her true struggle I felt was well done. I felt that her seiyuu Ai Kayano really did an excellent job in portraying the character of Diamond.

Bort

Bort voiced by veteran seiyuu Ayane Sakura of Charlotte and Dragonar Academy fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is a fellow gem of Phos. A member of the Diamond class and Dia’s partner Bort is a quiet, calm and composed person by nature that prefers to keep to himself for the most part. In contrast to his partner, Dia Bort is someone that speaks little and treats his fellow gems with a gruff manner and indeed tries to keep personal relations like friendship to a minimum. Though widely regarded by the others as the strongest of their number in terms of martial might Bort is widely seen by others as someone that was brooding and hard to get close to and indeed the only person that is close to him is his partner Dia. In terms of core values and beliefs, Bort is someone that takes his role as a warrior pretty seriously and indeed seems to have taken the role to heart as well as he believes that strength is very important to him and that without it you are nothing. While Bort does look down on people that lack strength it can also be seen that Bort is also someone that respects people that have strength and is willing to teach them to better use it if he deems it necessary. While gruff towards others Bort does care a great deal about his partner Dia far more than his attitude actually suggests and that the reason that he wants to keep getting stronger is because in addition to fulfilling his duties he also wants to protect her well-being. As such despite his attitude towards her Bort’s one true wish can be seen to be Dia choosing to leave the battlefield so that she can be safe while he protects her.

AMV

Animation wise I felt that the animations for the combat scenes as well as the environments were pretty well done and were pretty sharp and clear. The series also had a good variety of environments that did a great job of showing what the different regions of the Earth were like. The combat scenes in addition to being well animated were also well designed and interesting to see. The character designs for the cast I felt was done pretty well as it ensured that character was unique and each of the models I felt was beautiful and elegant. The designs of the enemies that the cast faced in the series I felt was pretty good and evoked the image of actually fighting a god pretty well which was due largely to the designs of the enemies. The designs of the enemies also notably got more elaborate as the series went on which in the story highlighted the fact that the enemy was getting even more serious as well. In terms of music, I felt that the opening and ending themes were both excellent and did a great job of conveying the mood of the series. The background music for the series I felt was also pretty good. In terms of voice acting, I felt that the series had a very capable voice cast that did an excellent job of portraying the series many characters. In particular, I felt that Tomoyo Kurosawa, Ai Kayano and Ayane Sakura who portrayed the characters of Phos, Diamond and Bort respectively did an excellent job in portraying their assigned characters. While I didn’t cover her role in this review I felt that veteran seiyuu Chiwa Saito also did an excellent job of portraying the character of Ventricosus.

Overall conclusion

Overall Housouki no Kuni was an excellent anime that had among its main strong points its interesting premise, excellent story, great characters and excellent combat scenes. The main premise of the series is of course the struggle between the Moon Dwellers who want to turn the gems into ornaments and the gems struggle to defend themselves and stop that from happening. While the main premise of the series is the war between the two races the series also introduces a number of themes that serve to enhance the members of the gems and defy them as unique lifeforms rather than as mere prey that the Moon Dwellers see them as. These include the duty to protect their fellow gems by assisting the front line in whatever role they can best be of use in and loyalty to both their fellow gems and to the cause. These themes I felt did a great job of enhancing the personalities of the individual characters as it made them more grounded and gave each a defined purpose in this war. The series overall story I felt was pretty strong and while it looked at the war from an overall perspective it also did a great job at highlighting the struggles that each of the gems experienced as they fought in it particularly with regards to Pho’s struggle to become strong and useful to her friends and the sorrows and despairs that she experienced in her journey to become strong and be of more use to her friends and allies. The lore within the series especially with regards to the moon dwellers while not coming into play until the latter part of the series I felt was intriguing and helped a lot in defining the world’s races and the relationship between them.

Overall Housouki no Kuni was an anime that I enjoyed a lot in that it had an interesting premise, story, characters and well designed and executed combat scenes. I do feel however that the series had too many characters in it and that as a result not all were given enough roles to make them stand out. In terms of final score, I would say that the series would deserve a score of 9/10.