Houseki no Kuni
Land of the Lustrous

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it's over. it's finally over.

what started out as a charming, albeit slightly unsettling, story of cute rock humans fighting fluffy moon aliens quickly became one of the wildest, strangest and most provocative plots i've read yet in manga. seriously, this manga gets really weird. not too incomprehensible, nor pretentiously abstract, but if you want a simple action mystery story Land of the Lustrous probably isn't for you.

PLOT:
plot is good. it's not what i'd say is the selling point of LotL, but it's definitely paced well enough to never feel like a scene drags too long. the plot gets really weird halfway through, and some might ... complain that the second half feels extremely disjointed but i dont know, it works for me.

i will say, there's a portion in the middle of the manga where it does get a bit repetitive and it starts to drag a little. this is due to the setting that the manga confines itself in, which does start to get stale after awhile. thankfully there's a change in setting soon enough, and that's when things start to progress again.

CHARACTERS:
the protagonist (phos) is handedly one of the best ive seen. many amazing protagonists in manga are unlikable or not particularly interesting in the begin compared to the path they will later undertake (i.e. eren, thorfinn) but phos is immediately charming and interesting from the start. there's a sense of incompleteness in phos, which makes their development one of the most fascinating ive seen done in manga.

the other characters are pretty solid too. most of the Gems are dysfunctional in their own way, which makes for an interesting character study on each of them. they get ample page time to establish themselves, and overall i have no issues with them. they do feel set up to flesh out phos further at times, but i really have no issue with that in a manga that is laser focused on its protagonist's development as LotL.

ART:
there are two kinds of amazing art in manga. on one hand, you have the berserks, the vagabonds. those are meticulously drawn to perfection, trying to capture the human anatomy as accurately and as realistically as possible with the pen. on the other, you have LotL.

ichikawa excels at creating evocative, beautiful art while achieving a sense of minimalism in her art. there's no intricate shading, no miura-esque every-pixel-must-be-perfect philosophy behind her art style, but her impressive use of negative space, symmetry in her page compositions and panels are simply incredible. every panel flows seamlessly to the next, and it makes for a great reading experience.

only nitpick is that it can be quite tough to differentiate the Gems, especially at first.

TONE:
i love how bleak this manga can get. i also how love how hilarious it is.

the humour is a constant in the series. unlike many manga out there, where humour is often highly exaggerated and slapstick, LotL's humour is often more quippy, and even in many occasions, pretty damn dark. it's never too frequent to become grating, and the jokes tend to land well.

THEMES:
existentialism and a whole lot of buddhist motifs. sounds pretentious i know, but don't worry, ichikawa does not shove it down your throat to the point where it affects the plot. ive never read a manga with themes that get as existential and abstract as LotL, and as someone who does believe somewhat in Buddhism it is handled in a really interesting manner without getting preachy.

OVERALL:
also the ending's good. it's not anything mindblowing, but it's a fitting, beautiful ending for our protagonist.

a must-read if you're someone looking to read all the classics in the medium. i can promise that you will find NOTHING like LotL, love it or hate it. an imperfect masterpiece.

9/10

Really getting some Steven Universe x Evangelion vibes, says the guy who's only ever watched Steven Universe and Evangelion.

This review is mostly spoiler free in terms of actual plot details, but does discuss changes in tone and vibes across the story that could be considered light spoilers to some.


*~ Plot ~*
LotL's story begins in a straightfoward manner: Fight the bad angel-looking guys that appear and appear randomly and attack, and along the way develop the cast of characters and expand on the worldbuilding. If you enjoy watching an underdog with no fighting capabilities slowly but surely make their way up the ranks as they develop ... new abilities and the like, then the first half of this manga is for you. Good for a casual read, though I personally found the opening volumes to be the weakest part.

There's a problem that potentially comes from the shift in tone over the course of the story as it is such a large change from how it starts that many readers might consider it jarring. The tone only gets darker and darker with later chapters, and character motivations become less clear as we learn more about them. The true foundation of the story is based on uncovering a bevvy of mysteries that Phos's companions seem completely uninterested in, which leads to both frustration and even some ostracization. The story also delves into some of the underlying implications of the gems' existance, as well as the nature behind their beloved Sensei and the goal of the Lunarians in a way that had me flip flopping on who I trusted more, or if I trusted either side at all. The mangaka does a good job at mirroring the reader's curiosity with Phos by having him start off ignorant and care free before escalating to actively seeking out information even at the risk of their own safety and social standing.

I think the best way to describe the change is that if you read the first and last chapters of the story without context I highly doubt many people would recognize that they were part of the same story. In fact, Phos himself goes through such vast changes that they become a walking Ship of Theseus.

It's also worth noting that if you don't enjoy stories where the main character becomes the "punching bag" so to speak, constantly experiencing hardships, trauma (both physical and mental), and just overall being beat down then this is not the story for you. Honestly, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that it is nearly biblical how much the progression of the plot and happiness of the characters hinges on Phos really going through the ringer.

Overall the story is good, but the first volume is like a half empty bag of chips compared to the final volume's full course meal.


*~ Characters ~*
This definitely was the weakest part of the story for me at first. The characters all seemed to blend together (both in terms of characterization and art), and even with the way Phos was given a chance to get to know his companions better one by one through various escapades they all seemed fairly one-note. This won't be an issue for some, but for others it will make the opening chapters feel hackneyed. There are some interesting implications and results that come from the characters being made of gemstones that I won't get into because of spoilers, although these are primarily explored through Phos as they grow and change across the story. I will say that the gems can be put back together after being hurt, so if you don't want to see the characters getting smashed and wrecked on the regular then this is a good warning not to read this as despite not being made of flesh there are scenes that could be considered body horror adjacent.

In terms of the expanded cast beyond our protagonist Phos, it would be safe to say that the side characters are very much side characters for much of the story, and when they do show any change it is usually quick and sometimes even partly off-screen. Phos is the main character, and as such will be the one at the center of basically every major event and revelation. That might sound like a pointless or obvious statement, but I say this to mean that when I think back on the story there are many characters who I could not describe in more detail beyond their primary characteristic that came with them when they were first introduced (i.e. This is the character that fights good, this is the character that likes doing research).

I will say that I really enjoyed the fact that the gems are all fairly androgynous (though with a clear leaning towards a more feminine look), and aside from a certain character towards the end they don't hold much of an interest in gender. They use male pronouns, but it comes across as just pure happenstance and likely would not feel or act any different with any different pronouns. They also don't have any gentials or boobs, though they still cover themselves up because why not (there is arguably a story reason for this, but I can't really get into that). Anyway, as a non-binary I just found this to be very cool.

Overall I liked Phos and some of the other characters were interesting, but most of them aren't anything to write home about (but certainly blank enough slates to write fanfic about if you're into that).


*~ Art ~*
This will probably end up being one of the more disagreed upon aspects of LotL. On one hand, if you grabbed a random panel from the manga and compared it to a frame from something akin to Vagabond then it would be easy to write off LotL's art as inferior. Many of the gems looked identitical to me, and even as they all became a bit more distinct over time they still seemed to blend together to a degree.

Stylized is definitely the best word for this manga's look, and I definitely think that the benefits of this particular style shine through moreso with the setpieces and the way the art conveys particular feelings during key moments. Similarly, the more simplified style works in the story's favor when there are panels that are much more intricately detailed when it comes to making these moments stand out, as with a story in which every stroke is as perfect as can be and panels are rich and full it can be easy for major moments to just feel like any other page.

I wouldn't say I love the art, but when it did everything it needed to and even had a few standout panels.


*~ Wrap Up ~*
To put it shortly, Land of the Lustrous is best described by Shrek's ogre and onions metaphor. There are a lot of layers to this which might not be apparent at first, and I think that this is both a strength and a weakness with the way that many readers will have a strong preference for either the first half or the second half.

It was an overall good read with some really cool moments, but also its share of lulls. 7/10

[Spoilers]

Seriously, seriously, don't read this. It starts off strong, with an intriguing setting and a loveable main character (Phos). The character interactions are fantastic and there is a sense of mystery and melancholy to the whole story. There are various relationships Phos makes that are set up such for future development in different directions. However... (massive spoilers below)

At a certain point within the story, the author decides that Phos needs to suffer and that everyone should turn on them, and makes no effort to make this happening believable. Every single character who Phos has interacted with, befriended, had fun with, fought with, bonded over lost ... comrades with, tried to help, just completely gives zero fucks about Phos within a matter of days. For no reason. Just to get some dumb plot point across. And none of them ever care again. All the relationships, just poof, gone permanently, because the author had a stupid plotline they wanted. Which itself, was really just an excuse to make Phos suffer to begin with. It completely belies the narrative up to that point, just to make you feel bad. Horrible writing, I sincerely regret reading it.