What can living, breathing gemstones teach us about being human? Quite a lot actually.

Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni) is a 2017 manga adaptation set in a world inhabited by sentient gems (jewels), who fight off mysterious enemies from the sky, the Lunarians. Able to be broken, but always put back together just the same, the gems live thousands of years without questioning their purpose, gifted to them by Kongou-sensei, with rare exceptions like Cinnabar or Phosphophyllite (Phos). So, most of them live static lives, never seeking change or truth. However, those exceptions, namely Phos, do try to grow and change, taking direction from others like Diamond, who accepts herself, but not finding the same success. As a soft, non-durable jewel, Phos simply isn’t valued in her world. This leads her on an ever shifting quest, from creating an encyclopedia, to finding Cinnabar a better purpose, to taking Antarcticite’s place, and more. As her memories are lost and her body is replaced, will she find happiness by breaking their thousands of years stasis, or will she ultimately find suffering in a return to human ways? Land of the Lustrous is certainly an anime with deep themes, touching on change and its cost and reasoning, the perspective game of self worth, and what it means to be alive.

A video essay analysis on the themes of Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni)

0:00 Introduction
2:11 Land of the Lustrous
4:10 Diamond
9:30 Cinnabar
18:26 Phos I
32:18 Phos II
46:37 Outro

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