Review of Land of the Lustrous

Land of the Lustrous is one of the most stylistic fantasy shows I’ve seen, which helps it overcome obvious plot holes in the premise and other logical issues in presentation, and is elevated further by the development of the main character. In terms of aesthetics, Land of the Lustrous is amazing. Character designs look gorgeous with the variety of different gemstones and hairstyles that represents the individuality in each character. The same can be said for the environment. Most every scene emphasizes the beauty in the environment. The light shining in through the windows, the winds passing through the grass in the fields, the clouds upin the sky, the color distinctions during a sunset, the glistening reflections off the sea horizon – you can tell how much effort went into those backgrounds.

And of course, the animation; the 3D animation perfectly suits the gemstone aesthetic in character designs, but it is also better suited to show lighthearted character interactions with expressive body language. An example would be in the second episode when Phos has their shoulders shrugged up (the possessive noun I chose is correct in case you were wondering) and is swerving their stature back and forth, which emphasizes Phos’ struggle to say something. It is a simple and uneventful moment, yet the animators went with a more complex body language because it was more expressive. If this moment were animated in 2D, the animators would no doubt keep it as simple as possible and preserve their resources, specifically time, for the more important scenes. Maybe it is because of that standard practice that I became appreciative of those inconsequential moments. The only weak-point I’ve found in the 3D animation for this show is in the lip animations, which kind of look awkward at times but not enough to be detrimental.

The soundtrack is outstanding; I cannot count how many times I was entranced in the quiet scenes because the soundtrack drew me into it. In one scene where Phos is just crawling through the snow trying to keep up with Antarc absolutely nothing eventful is happening: little-to-no dialogue, no action, just the sound effects for the snow and the soundtrack. And yet, I was absorbed with it. I’m not trying to say that the scene is incredible or anything, quite the opposite. I chose this one as an example because it is a very plain scene that just moves the show along, but the music manages to carry it. Without the music, I would probably be bored looking at nothing happening for over a minute. You will hear the specific track from that scene multiple times over throughout the series, but it never seems to overstay its welcome. It starts with calm and gentle sounds for the quiet and uneventful moments and will strategically increase in intensity for a moment of awe when the show wants your attention. It is formulaic, but it works incredibly well. Also, the Asian instrumental style of music is quite unique compared to what you would find in most other shows and seems to be tailored to the world, which likely has some inspiration from Buddhism (not that I’m knowledgeable enough of Buddhism to say for certain). I’m sure both factors contributed to how impactful the music was for me and would not have been as much of a standout otherwise.

I love the character interactions in this show. They are so expressive, and not in the typical bombastic way that I’ve come to expect from anime. They are natural, both in dialogue and in movement. I found myself having fun just listening to lighthearted conversations even when there was little of consequence in them. The voice acting and the animation easily carry these moments. However, there are still a few weak points in the dialogue that come from the writing. Particularly in the beginning, the dialogue is often undercut by exposition inserts that break the natural feeling, which doesn’t make for a good first impression and is the reason why I dropped the show before giving it a second chance. It isn’t horrible, but it is something you’ll have to overlook for at least the first episode.

Now for the world, which seems to prioritize style over consistency and logic. Normally, I would not like a show if it ignores logic in the world building. But, for some reason, I did not find myself really caring despite how obvious the flaws were. The most obvious is that gemstones are moving as flexibly as a person. Hardness is often used to describe a character’s strength and fighting potential but is completely ignored when it comes to movement lol. Just don’t worry about it I suppose. There are other minor flaws here and there in presentation that throw logic out the window. In one scene, Phos is running so fast that they cannot control when they stop, which is understandable given their body’s state at the time, but for some reason they must run instead of walk? Huh? Idk, but who cares? I guess these types of flaws are not notable enough to be detrimental to the show … likely because they were too minor or because of the stylistic elements that the flaws allowed for. And besides, there are other merits to be found in the world besides how everything looks.

Like in many other fantasy narratives, there are elements of mystery in the world, which are highlighted at a few points throughout the show. I can’t really say what the mystery is without spoilers, but I can say it relates to the world’s history and likely the origins of the gemstone lifeforms and the Lunarians. It becomes a major plot point toward the show’s end and will likely be the focus in a second season if we ever get one (fingers crossed).

Lastly, I want to talk about characters, specifically the main character, Phosphophyllite. Phos is a very lively but whimsically irresponsible character … befitting of the fact that they are the youngest in the group (even though they’re 300 lol). The first episode establishes their connection with Cinncibar, who feels useless and unwelcome among the others … much like Phos, albeit for a completely different reason. Phos empathizes and then promises to find a role for Cinnci better than their current one. This is labelled the main motive driving the plot, but Phos is swayed off that path many different ways throughout the story by a number of influences. Phos wants to be able to fight the Lunarians; they want to test their abilities; they want to help a newfound friend and live up to the memory of a lost friend; and finally, they want to find the truth that is hidden from them. Phos is as complex as the many things that influence them, and it is a joy to see their development throughout the series.

That’s it. Thanks for reading! This is actually my second review for this series btw. I felt the first one undercut how both the positive and negative aspects affected my enjoyment of the show, so hopefully I got everything across this time and I hope it helps you out as well!