Houseki no Kuni

In the mysterious future, crystalline organisms called Gems inhabit a world that has been destroyed by six meteors. Each Gem is assigned a role in order to fight against the Lunarians, a species who attacks them in order to shatter their bodies and use them as decorations.

Phosphophyllite, also known as Phos, is a young and fragile Gem who dreams of helping their friends in the war effort. Instead, they are told to compile an encyclopedia because of their delicate condition. After begrudgingly embarking on this task, Phos meets Cinnabar, an intelligent gem who has been relegated to patrolling the isolated island at night because of the corrosive poison their body creates. After seeing how unhappy Cinnabar is, Phos decides to find a role that both of the rejected Gems can enjoy. Houseki no Kuni follows Phos' efforts to be useful and protect their fellow Gems.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Phosphophyllite Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Antarcticite Supporting

Ise, Mariya Japanese

Diamond Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Cinnabar Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Padparadscha Supporting

Park, Romi Japanese

Bort Supporting

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Rutile Supporting

Uchiyama, Yumi Japanese

Yellow Diamond Supporting

Minagawa, Junko Japanese

Alexandrite Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Kongou-sensei Supporting

Nakata, Jouji Japanese

Kamei, Hiroshi Producer

Takei, Katsuhiro Producer

Kaneko, Hirotaka Producer

Shimizu, Mika Producer

Reviews

Sep 1, 2025

50Fiftillididee

Recommended

💎Bling Dream °8.1° °excellent ° 💯%🔍

LotL feels more like one is dreaming than watching the 📺. It's so mesmerizing that it's nearly soporific. It doesn't seem to be anything else quite like it, so its sheer originality is refreshing as well. It's written, drawn, and acted with striking beauty. It is well worth the time.

This land is populated by people who are made of jewels. "Country of Jewels" is, apparently, a more direct translation of the title. They are the Lustrous, the embodiments of gemstones. As long as they're not destroyed or smashed to bits, they are immortal. They ... carry the qualities of the gemstones that they are named after. From that perspective, this story is educational as well as beautiful. There's even a nifty science-like explanation for life on their planet.

The Lustrous have an enemy. Lunarians look Greek in appearance, with Egyptian influenced headdresses. They're drawn to possess the Jewels‘ beauty, and systematically descend to capture them. The Lustrous Land’s society, therefore, is built around defense. Strength, or resistance to chipping and breaking, is measured from 1 - 10, and split strength into durability and hardness. It can be developed and improved upon. Only the most durable are fighters. Recovery is also a priority: When attacked they may break apart into shards, but if all the pieces can be collected, fallen comrades can be put back together. That's Rutile's job. Everything is workable if they shatter, but what if one of them melts? They haven't worked it all out, yet. A slug will tell Phos that beings were split into bone, flesh, and soul. There's certainly something going on that remains hidden from common knowledge.

Based on author Haruko Ichikawa's manga's 108 chapters, about 1/3 has been committed to the screen. The artwork is lithe and fresh between moments of striking beauty.

The story takes place at a school of sorts (should we call it a polishing school?😉). 28 Lustrous are enrolled there and the ever more mysterious Kongo is their teacher. At a mere 300 years in age, Phosphophyllite is the youngest. Her work assignment is natural history as, to her great disappointment, she's no fighter. She's too fragile and prone to cracking.

Diamond - she's the hardest, but she's kind. Bort - the most fearsome warrior in Diamond class. Red Beryl - wardrobe. Jade is Kongo's assistant. Antarcticite only comes out in winter. Watermelon Tourmaline is full of energy. Benitoite can't say “no” - she's too benevolent. Obsidian makes the tools. There's even a Zircon, and many more. Each character is named after a gem or mineral. There's many I've never heard of, such as Rutile and Phosphophyllite (Phos). (Per Wiki, phosphophyllite "is highly prized by collectors for its rarity and for its delicate bluish green colour. Phosphophyllite is rarely cut because it is fragile and brittle, and large crystals are too valuable to be broken up…” It has primarily been mined, strangely, from Potosí, Bolivia, New Hampshire, and Hagendorf, Bavaria - isn't that bizarre?!). There's even Cinnabar, a form of oxidized mercury. Her power is positively poisonous.

Phos is our lead. She's young and breakable but she wants to fight. In the early episodes she meets Cinnabar. Phos thought she had it bad! Cinn is toxic to the others so she's pretty much secluded. She does the night watch. Alone. Phos wants to find a better situation for her.

In the meantime, Phos takes questionable advice and starts trying to gain strength through dubious means. She ends up changing her physical makeup. One of her changes is Kintsugi, or Kintsukuroi, which is a Japanese method for repairing broken pottery by putting it back together with molten or softened gold in between the pieces instead of glue. The effect is not unlike stained glass. It celebrates the breakage rather than hiding it. “I was so spoiled. I'm jealous of my old innocent self. My spoiled former self.” Those are words we hear more than once. More than anything, this is a story about maturation.

We should never stop learning, growing, or maturing, and the show's end is actually a beginning. I suppose the extremely popular manga will have to go on my reading list now.


QUOTES📢

Courage. It's always courage. Just how much is it going to take?

A pure, unbridled truth might leave its own wounds, or worse yet, it might change things in ways you've never imagined.


〰🖍 IMHO

🎬8.3 📝8.5 🎭 8 🌞6 🎨8.5 ⚡7.5 🎵/🔊8 😅2 😭2 😱2 😯3 😖2 🤔7 💤3 🔚 ?


My Age rec: 11+ There's some non-sexual bare buttons and jiggling boobs, but LOTL is always classy.

Re-📺? Yup

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Nov 25, 2025

AeroGunz

Mixed Feelings

“Land of the Lustrous” is what happens when the writer hates it’s own creation so they rewrite them half way through.

You know, when I saw that a lot of people compare this show to “Haibane Renmei” I was expecting the same level of heavy handed writing with passive characters that only gain motivation towards the end of the series. Well… I was half right. This show also has heavy handed writing with mediocre world building and more questions than answers and not in a good way. Surprisingly I think I like this show more than “Haibane”. This time at least we have a pretty solid ... story and the plot (at least in the beginning) isn’t that bad.

Before we start I would like to explain something. I will be talking about “plot” and “story”. Many people use those terms interchangeably. I’m not one of those people, so to make sure everyone is on the same page…
I use the definitions for “plot” and “story” as Lisa Cron describes them:
“What happens in the story is the PLOT, the surface events.”
“STORY is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes internally as a result”.
I was also diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, yes I was diagnosed before 2013 so I have Asperger’s and don’t intend to call it ASD or high functioning autism. I earned my Asperger label. Given that I am not a pro metaphors and symbolism. Keep that in mind when You find something that You think was a metaphor of symbolism in the show and I didn’t catch it.

The show starts with an actually interesting story. A story of an underdog — Phosphophyllite aka Phos — trying to make something of themselves. They are weak, have the second lowest toughness and are treated by others like a nuisance. Basically they display almost all traits a protagonist of a fairy tale would have. Yes, there is a point to mentioning this. They want to join other gems (that is the name for immortal, androgynous, humanoids whose bodies are made out of minerals) on the front lines and fight the enemy — Luminarians — that want to capture and shatter the gems to be used as weapons and decorations. Yeah… not a very gripping reason. I was hoping that it would be expanded but no. That’s all we get in this show. It seems that the reason for the whole fight is vanity.

Phos is weak and unlike others has no job or function. This is the first dumb part. They are aimless for over 300 years? Seriously? You are telling me that the gems are so devoid of thought that in 300 years they are unable to find anything to do? Not even a damn hobby? For eff’s sake…

I actually liked the idea of Phos. An aimless underdog with big dreams. Not very original but always entertaining. I was intrigued how the writers would go about developing them. Will they allow them to create their own, unique path? Something unorthodox that will be as useful as fighting on the front lines? Will they make them more of a support that works in the back lines for the benefit of their fighting companions? Maybe they will have a unique function related to her material? Yeah… no. That would actually require creativity. Phos basically becomes close to the best of them in fighting because of plot contrivance. They destroyed an interesting character and made them conform to everyone else in the most dumb way possible. If that’s not character assassination I don’t know what is.

Phos went from a cheerful, curious, annoying to others character to almost emotionless, stoic killing machine. Why? Why not make them someone who fights using methods that would be considered unorthodox or maybe even heretical to others? Why must they become like others? It changes the whole perspective on Phos and who they are. Granted the writers at least gave a rather solid (even if cliche) explanation for that — survivors guilt — but their transformation went a bit too far. I’m all for change after a trauma but this wasn’t a change, it was more of a total remake. It killed what made Phos internally unique and replaced it with what makes them externally unique. The two events that made them the gem version of Frankenstein’s monster are both… weak. The first one does have some logic to it but the second is absolute garbage.

Phos loses their legs because they were tricked and used by someone they trusted. As, probably, some sort of twisted both gratitude and apology they were left with material (that wasn’t phosphophyllite) to rebuild them. I’m not opposed to this course of action in general but this time it’s really weird. The person that gave them the material and who used them weren’t close enough with Phos for me to believe that they feel sorry for their actions. They had one long conversation filled with speculations, fairy tales and that’s it. They didn’t even have a proper ideological confrontation. They didn’t clash about it, they didn’t debate. There was nothing there. It’s all so empty and plot driven.
And that’s still better than the second event that gave her new arms. For fucks sake, that part is the most idiotic thing in this show and that’s saying something. So how does Phos lose their arms? What sort of powerful enemy or scheme resulted in such a loss? Phos hears an unidentified voice that tells them that she will become stronger because “someone” will figure things out once they lose their arms. Yes. You’ve read that right. Phos sacrifices their arms because a voice tells them to do it. They have no reason to believe that they will become stronger, get new powers or anything. It’s even stated by using “someone”. That implies that Phos has no agency in that. Again. They are, again, on the mercy of others. Of course everything works out because the plot armor is strong with this one. If it makes you feel better that part of the plot is probably the worst the writing gets. Small blessings I guess.

I’m gonna be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of the world building in this show. It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen but it’s far from competent. At least if the goal was to build a world that would seem to be filled with living, thinking creatures. If the goal was to create a stale world that only waits for the show with a main character to begin to actually start anything that would pretend to be growth than… congratulations, mission accomplished. I guess if You don’t think about it it’s not bad, but I am the type of creature that does think about things like that.

Now, I am a big fan of fairy tales so the mythological part of world history was actually fun for me. I have no problem with this approach and even different parts of human beings “evolving” into different species is rather interesting in a brother’s Grimm sort of way. So when it comes to history I have very little to complain about. What I do have a problem is the “present” time that we see in the show. The oldest gem is over 3000 years old, the youngest (Phos) is just over 300. Even 300 is a lot of time. They do seem to have knowledge from the past humans judging by Sensei’s (I’ll get to this fucker in a bit) attire and the uniforms of the gems plus the names of the crystals. And yet there is no advancement in their ways. Hide behind the symbolism and metaphors all you want but I know bad world building when I see it. For 3000 years not one person thought about changing swords into something more appropriate. They are fighting enemies that use bows. Why not have their own bows, crossbows or even a damn sling? History teaches that people have raging boners for making things to kill at even longer ranges so why not gems? Do they like to endanger themselves by going close and personal against an enemy that usually has higher numbers and wants to capture them? Is there a reason why they need to use swords? For eff’s sake at this point I would actually accept a halberd, spear or even a damn javelin. I see no reason for them to use swords that have a pretty shitty range. The only reason they work is because the enemies are weak AF.
For 3000 years not one gem thought of creating something of an R&D department? They have a semi med center that uses medical tools, even if some of them make no sense (looking at you clamps) in context of using them on minerals so I see no good reason for them not to have an R&D department (or even a single person). The show portraits Alexandrite as someone like that but if that’s the case, she really sucks at her job. She’s more of a historian or scribe than a true scientist. I’m talking about someone who would update the weaponry to match new threats, find weaknesses in said new threats and even get the gems anything that would pretend to be a defensive tech. For effs sake, a shield was one of the most important tools for soldiers for a reason. They wouldn’t need to dodge arrows if they had shields. They would even be able to work in a formation to maximize their effectiveness. Since the luminarians don’t seem to attack different places at the same time (even then they use two sunspots in one attack) that would minimize the chance of capturing a gem without the help of sensei.

And of course, something that I would have thought obvious in their circumstance, experiment with mixing different minerals and alloys into gem bodies to maximize their effectiveness and min-max their build. Something that actually happens to Phos and everyone is acting like this is the first time this was done. Why? Fighting seems to be the main function of the gems so why don’t they evolve to be more efficient and effective at it? They do have motivation for that. They don’t want to be captured, shattered and used as weapons or decorations (and who knows what else) by the Luminarians. They also don’t want to see their friends succumb to such a fate. They have more than enough reasons to want to get an edge on the enemies. The enemies that, unlike the gems, evolve their weapons and tactics. We don’t even see sensei teaching them that it’s their doctrine or way so the real reason is… just because (and the writer is not giving enough of a shit about passing time).

I honestly fail to see what sensei's function and role in this organization is. Gems listen to him, treat him as a leader and father figure but all I see is an incompetent moron with little to no leadership skills. His only real role is being a BFG 9000. He can get rid of luminarians with little to no problems but spends most of the time pretending to be a monk. He is considered a father figure but doesn’t really act like that. We don’t see him teach gems anything. He just gives them jobs, pats them on the head and is horrible irresponsible with his power. He shatters Phos on two occasions and it’s portrayed as scolding. Yes. The mofo shatters one of his own as a disciplinary action. He doesn’t even care if he hurts others. The only reason why he doesn’t is that someone always tells them to take cover. I don’t care if the gems are immortal and can be put back together. You don’t effing hurt those You lead. Of course the show doesn’t see a problem with that because… of course it doesn’t.
There is also no real reason for the gems to listen to him. Unless it’s all fear of his power. In the very end it’s stated that most gems suspect that sensei has some connection to the luminarians (if not being one out right) and yet they still listen to him. Why? He’s an incompetent leader and I actually think he keeps gems devoid of the R&D department. He’s probably the worst character in the show.

Now… this is getting too long… after all that one might think I despise this show. Well… that’s not true. The writing is questionable, the world is lazy and stale but the plot itself isn’t all bad. Plus the execution is really solid. Good visuals, solid music and nice voice acting (for what they got to work with). It creates something that irritates me on a writing level but I can’t seem to drop it. Partially it’s because of a very clever trick of ending an episode on a cliffhanger but the other part is that the show actually intrigued me. Despite the problems with writing it’s original enough to make me care. If given a proper writer this could have been a masterpiece.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 30, 2025

Supersonic_Pain

Not Recommended

Funny

When I first started this, I was ready to give it, like, a 5 because there was genuinely nothing I had to say about it. It was just Very Boring.

That's still true but I do have a bit more to say.

First, positives.

I feel bad for shitting on this show not for the mangaka but for Orange. This show looks pretty good and considering I also hated Beastars, it just looks like I'm an Orange denier and yeah, not true, it's not like it being boring is Orange's fault. It looks very fluid and there is a good amount of stuff I don't think would work ... as well in 2D like the alloys or the gems breaking apart.

The soundtrack is pretty good.

All these characters are kind of caked up? They've got a hell of a curve in the back. Good for you, Studio Orange.

...if one of my three positives is that the characters have fat asses, you know this show can't be that good (unless it's an ecchi which it's not).

The story feels weird and, like, disjointed?

The second paragraph of the synopsis on MAL says:
"Phosphophyllite, also known as Phos, is a young and fragile Gem who dreams of helping their friends in the war effort. Instead, they are told to compile an encyclopedia because of their delicate condition. After begrudgingly embarking on this task, Phos meets Cinnabar, an intelligent gem who has been relegated to patrolling the isolated island at night because of the corrosive poison their body creates. After seeing how unhappy Cinnabar is, Phos decides to find a role that both of the rejected Gems can enjoy. Houseki no Kuni follows Phos' efforts to be useful and protect their fellow Gems."

You would think Cinnabar was an important character but they're just kinda like "oh hey Phos, lowkey gonna let the Lunarians kill me (author's note: these gems can't die, who gives a shit, they're probably just gonna go to the Moon and reclaim them anyway), is that cool with you?"

They're kind of a standoffish asshole and don't really matter, it's more about that final sentence where Phos tries to be useful and the way they do that is... questionable?

They introduce a new gem and they die in like 2 episodes and then Phos goes from their first half personality to a Badass(tm) and it's corny and lame. Instead of actually working around Phos being a relatively soft gem, they just give them superpowers (that already correspond to other gems in the force, mind you) and never really bring it up again.

Speaking of other gems, there are way too many gems in this series.

This is 12 episodes and there are like 24 gems and not very many of them get a character at all, let alone a good one.

Rutile is A Doctor who likes dissecting things and doesn't like being called a quack
Diamond is Sweet and apparently not very good at their job
Bort is ALSO a standoffish asshole but they are good at their job and only conveys what matters or whatever
The Amethyst twins are twins. And bang their heads together.
Alexandrite is a Lunarian freak who researches Lunarians but crashes out when they see one
Yellow Diamond is old and fast
Red Beryl likes fashion
Obsidian likes weapons

It is no exaggeration when I say by the time I finish my next series, I will barely remember who any of these guys are.

Speaking of the Lunarians, they are just kind of some sort of eldritch abomination. They are hinted at the very end to have some sort of sentience beyond what we normally see and they are hypothetically part of a trio with the gems and the fish people (oh yeah, there are fish people. They also don't matter after a couple episodes). And eldritch abominations can work for the main antagonistic force, that's kind of what Madoka Magica did with the witches, but then you need to tell an interesting story around the protagonists.

And it has no real thread to go on, just whispers of arcs.

Should we care about Cinnabar? Phos and Cinnabar don't interact once for, like, half the series after the first episode and the only solution to giving Cinnabar a fun job they'd enjoy we see proposed is a job that explicitly isn't fun.

Should we care about Diamond? They seem to disappear after Bort starts teaming up with Phos.

Should we care about Alexandrite? We barely know her. It's even worse for Padparadscha.

Even Phos is a completely different character from the gem we knew at the beginning of the series.

(it's also worth noting that this show does not end on a satisfying note and you'd need to read the manga after, fwiw)

I really wanted to like this series but it was just a boring slog with no characters I could get attached to. If nothing else, give it up to Orange for trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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