Review of Land of the Lustrous

Kintsugi. “Kin” meaning gold , “tusgi” meaning to join. Do yourself a favor by reading the Wiki page or watch a Youtube video about Kintsugi before you watch this anime (or for that matter, read this review). For those who can’t be bothered – Kintsugi refers to a Japanese art form where old broken ceramic pottery is repaired using golden lacquer. The idea behind Kintsugi is that an object which is flawed or imperfect is something to be cherished. A perfect ceramic vase is easy to create and easy to admire. However the same vase which over years becomes scratched, chipped, broken and then islovingly repaired – not through hiding the imperfections but by showcasing them with golden lacquer, emphasizes that these imperfections make the vase, despite its chips and cracks an object worth treasuring. That is Kintsugi. And if you understand Kintsugi, you’re appreciation of Houseki no Kuni will increase manifold.

Houseki no Kuni is not a sci-fi anime, or a plot driven anime or a suspense anime or an action anime even though it has elements from all these genres. It is a character study of a being called Phosphophyllite – a living sentient jewel that inhabits a post-apocalyptic planet. These jewels are genderless, immortal and are constructed of minerals of varying degrees of hardness (Diamond = 10, Phosphophyllite = 3). These jewels are regularly attacked by astral beings (modeled after Avalokiteśvara – the thousand hand Buddha) who for some reason desire to possess them. Why? It’s a mystery.

All this – while certainly an interesting premise – is simply the setting used to develop the character of Phosphophyllite. We see how this sentient jewel goes from a cute-bubbly-innocent good-for-nothing into something worth admiring. However, no development is costless and where the series excels is to showcase the sacrifices that Phosphophyllite makes to become an admirable jewel. While shonen anime like My Hero Academia make such “power-ups” an event where the viewers are expected to feel excited and happy for the protagonist, Houseki no Kuni expects the diametric opposite – any development will require pain and suffering. The question the viewer is supposed to ask - is that suffering worth it? Is the loss of innocence a price worth paying to become a beautiful person?

The plot, as mentioned earlier, is interesting but plays second fiddle to the characters. A negative point of the series is that the list of characters is much too large for a 12 episode series – we meet 16 characters of which only Phosphophyllite develops. All the rest are secondary. The manga on which this series is based on is still ongoing (as of 2020) and the series covers just 1/3rd of the available source material. I’m hoping that in the manga – the mysteries behind this world will be further explored and I hope that a second season will be made sometime. Just don’t expect these 12 episodes to resolve the plot. Watch it for Phosphophyllite. As long this caveat is kept in mind, the series gets a solid recommendation from my end.

*Edited for grammar.