Review of Land of the Lustrous

“A pure, unbridled truth might leave its own wounds. And it might change things in ways you’ve never imagined... so make sure you keep your composure.” Houseki no Kuni, or Land of the Lustrous, was so much more than an initial surprise. I first saw clips of this show over a year ago and I’ve been interested in watching it ever since. After finally watching Houseki no Kuni, I was blown away at just about every aspect of the show. When I say this show was perfect, I obviously don’t mean it’s literally perfect because it wasn’t. No show will ever be perfect, it’s just asimple truth. But when I asked myself if I would change anything or if I didn’t like certain points about the show I couldn’t think of a single thing.

I think the most striking part that someone always notices first about Houseki no Kuni is the animation. Houseki no Kuni’s animation Is entirely CGI. Now that should scare any anime watcher and rightfully so. The reason that this show is so special is because the CGI is so well done that 2D animation would be, in my opinion, a down grade. When every character in the cast has shiny, luminescent, gemstone style hair, and where the fights are very fast and intricate, the only way to feasibly pull it off would be with the use of CGI animation. And not only is the use of the CGI justified and very well done but the show is just beautiful in general. With its vibrant colors and landscapes, it just pops out of the screen your watching it on. On a new note, even if Houseki has some of the best animation I’ve ever witnessed in a show, it would only be half of what I was without its phenomenal soundtrack. The show has one of the most unique and beautiful sound tracks I’ve heard in recent years. It’s variety of tracks not only are composed beautifully from a musicality standpoint, but they also instill many emotions, positive and negative, with methods of tone, mood, and different instruments that are used in each track. The theme of the Lunarians gives me feelings of pure fear and anxiety every time I hear it and the main fight theme has a silky smooth, but energetic tone to it which elevates fights to something completely new. I think of these things (the animation, music, etc.) as a building. One that is absolutely beautiful and can be marveled at at every angle. But no matter how beautiful the building may be, it is nothing without a foundation, which in Houseki’s case, is it’s characters and narrative.

For a show where the only huge differing feature between characters is their hair, these characters have some of the most defining personalities, motives, and character traits of any series I’ve watched in a long while. Each gem has a fitting personality that cleverly draws inspiration from the stone their based off of along with having beautiful designs that captures and portrays their characters to a tea. Even if they are a small side character they make you feel like they are as real and as motivated and emotional as the protagonist. One of the best ways this is shown is through the shows very interesting narrative. It has been notoriously difficult for stories to get the audience to care about the characters of a story if they are immortal. While the characters that make up the cast of Houseki aren’t ENTIRELY immortal, the fear of death certainly isn’t a big deal for these gems. Even so, when things do go wrong and some characters to “die” it tears you apart. Not only is it hard to watch to watch some of the characters that you grew an attachment to shatter in front of your eyes but having to see how the other gems react and are effected by their “death” is heartbreaking. The most obvious example is our protagonist, Phos. Without going into details to avoid spoilers, Phos is definitely a product of their surroundings and, WITH context, it really is sad to have to watch them go through what they go through and to see how these events effect them. Not only are the characters are done very well in an individual, emotional sense, the story this show tries to tell is told in a magnificent way even if it is held back by some limitations it gives itself. The setting of Houseki is primarily kept in the same place the entire time with a few jut-offs here and there. Even so, what happens in the setting still fully captivates the watcher through its character interactions, fights, and interesting plot buildup. I think the biggest negative that is holding the Houseki anime back, as I’ve said many other times with many other series, is it’s short runtime. For context I’ve read to the latest chapter in the manga and while I can still say the anime’s narrative is very strong, the manga adds so much more to the equation and elevates Houseki to, in my opinion, a masterpiece level of a series. (Side note: The anime adapted up to around chapter 33, right now there is 95 chapters out for Houseki) I feel that if the anime was given more time to show more of what is to come it would be that much better. (As you could guess I am strongly hoping we get a season two)

Houseki truly was a joy to watch. The anime is absolutely beautiful and is accompanied by an amazing OST. It has a wonderful narrative with even better characters to support it. Additionally, the anime is a quick watch that I recommend to anyone but, at the same time, with the mangas existence, you can truly sink your teeth into this world and story that I truly think is amazing.

My only tip for a new watcher is to go in as blind as possible because this series thrives on the questions it makes it’s characters and watchers ask so I think that is how it would be best enjoyed.