Land Of The Lustrous, Vol. 9

宝石の国 [Hōseki no Kuni] #9

by Haruko Ichikawa

月世界に降り立ったフォスは、月人の首領的存在・エクメアに対し、「仕事をしなくなった」とされる先生への刺激を与えるために、「宝石たちの裏切り」を提案した。宝石たちの星に戻ったフォスは、月世界の情報を伝えて、宝石たちに月への興味を持たせていく。約束の場所には、数名の宝石が集まり、月世界へ向かった。一方、残された宝石たちに金剛先生が伝えたことはーー。

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Fiction, Comics, Science Fiction, Seinen, Graphic Novels

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2018

About the author

Haruko Ichikawa (市川春子 in Japanese), born in 1980, is the author and artist of Land of the Lustrous (宝石の国, lit. "Country of Jewels"). She started her career in 2006 with the one-shot Mushi to Uta (虫と歌, lit. Insects and Songs). Between 2007 and 2011, she published seven one-shots in the manga magazine Afternoon, which were later compiled into two individual books named Ichikawa Haruko Sakuhinshuu (市川春子作品集, lit. Haruko Ichikawa Works Collection). She started writing Land of the Lustrous on October 25th, 2012, which currently has 10 volumes.

In 2010 she won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for works on Mushi to Uta. She has also contributed characters designs to the games Pokemon Sun & Moon and Pokemon Sword & Shield.

Reviews

[juls ˚⊹♡]

₊⊹♡ 5 stars ⋆˙⟡

i’m so happy they finally found the answers to their doubts, but i really miss when everything was calm and they were living a peaceful life 😭
ALSO WHAT HAPPENED TO CAIRNGORM???

[Loz]

Drama and action and yearning! I love this series. It's beautiful and aching.

[Carlex]

Tres estrellas y media.

Anhelos de seres inmaduros y el universo poético particular de la autora.

[Diné *The Lazy Kitsune*]

Overall impression on what I read so far: I think the main reason this story grabs from the start is how complex the character of Phos is and what a journey they make. However what amazes me is that every character in this series turns out to be complex and will surprise the reader at least once or twice. Despite the black-and-white stark contrast art style, the story is never that simple. It is quite easy to sympathize with every character and to understand where they are coming from. I mentioned in one of the previous reviews that I have a favorite character (Antarc) but at this point I can't even choose because I love them all.

[Saire Marloz]

Rutile tiene una obsesión muy grande con Pad, todo su ser cambió al darse cuenta que Phos se la llevó para que la restauraran. También me dio tristeza el shock tan grande que le dio a las gemas al ver que sus amigas se habían ido, como todas se quiebran en su exterior y su interior, al ver todo eso al fin Adamant decide decirles un poco más sobre su pasado y vemos que el realmente ama con todo su ser a las gemas y por eso creo ese mundo solo para ellos. También me gustó que al fin Cairgorm fuera libre de la manipulación de Ghost, al principio no me gustó su actitud pero después entendí que es una consecuencia de ser reprimido mucho tiempo en el interior de alguien más.

[Hannah Revesz]

woah Cairngorm you have CHANGED

[tori]

there's no way this is gonna end well

[Amir Kasra Arman]

فکر میکردم داستان تموم میشه ولی ظاهرا بازم ادامه داره! ولی خیلی خوب بود خیلی! حیف که برای معلوم شدن نتیجه‌ی رقابتش با آکامه بر سر جایگاه نخست باید تا انتهای داستان صبر کنم و این یعنی حداقل یه سال دیگه

[Sol]

It was around this point I originally began to hate most of the characters in this series (as of chapter 96 I wouldn't even need an entire hand to count the ones I don't). But the level was completely unreasonable. They're just drawings. This re-read has tempered my anger. You wouldn't hate a rattlesnake for being extremely venomous, so why should I hate a gem for being selfish, apathetic, and having no empathy?



Now, it's not as if Phos never made a mistake, especially in this volume, but the earth gems are intolerable. They know they are ignorant, and when given a chance to open their eyes, they choose to remain as they are. Adamant tells them PHOS IS RIGHT and they ignore him, because they'd prefer that nothing about the way they live change, rather than to find out the truth, and maybe have a chance of improving their lot. All their subsequent evil flows from that. That's not to say the moon gems are any better, but they are passively evil. An earth gem will stab you, a moon gem will leave you to bleed out as he walks by. Never trust a gem farther than you can throw him.



Adamant's explanation of how the gems came to be as they are is illuminating. Red Diamond, the first born, was clumsy, and had no eyes. We know that the gems subsist only on sunlight, feel very little sensation, and are functionally immortal if not shattered. They can maintain perfect stillness for days at a time, are disinclined to change their circumstances, yet adapt quickly when things do change. In totality, it seems their original nature is to be a semi-sessile creature, absorbing sunlight in stillness, occasionally moving if their light should be blocked for an extended period. Aechmea has made much of Adamant's attachment to the gems corrupting him, but equally Adamant corrupted them with knowledge and emotions they were never equipped to grasp.



The revelation that (most of) the gems don't really care about each other (which is more of a volume 10 thing) is shocking, but makes several past moments more understandable. Their lack of reaction to learning Antarcticite was gone, Sphene and Peridot ceasing to care about their stolen partners. In volume 10 when the earth gems were said to have "forgotten about Phos", I initially wasn't sure if it was meant they had literally forgotten he had ever existed. All of it makes me wonder what Ichikawa is trying to say about Buddhism. After all, the gems are meant to be the gems that adorn the Pure Land, and they both suffer less and have less attachment to anything than we do. Are they not closer to enlightenment? (Probably not, since they fail massively at most aspects of the eightfold path.)

Houseki no Kuni was never actually a Buddhist series. Imagine if I made a show where your viewpoint characters are a flock of anthropomorphized sheep led by a guy dressed as a catholic priest and they get attacked by sentient statues from a Nativity scene, which take them back to the sun to roast them alive. The main thrust behind the plot for the first half is the protagonist becoming increasingly skeptical of the gospel, leading up to him eating from the Tree of Knowledge and getting taken over by satanic forces. Then he finds out the priest has been deliberately fattening the herd up all along. That's the level of irony in the Buddhist iconography of HnK from day one -Anonymous

I don't whether the above reader is right, or what it would even mean if he was. My knowledge of Buddhism is woefully shallow, and at times I become conscious of the fact I'm really only half-reading the story. Yet even without that knowledge, it's still enthralling, which is the mark of a true masterpiece.



Also the Craig question. I still don't understand his character. This volume introduces the idea that his attachment to Phos was caused by Ghost's inclusions lingering in his eyes, which when removed, allow his true character to flourish. The image of Ghost literally being a ghost controlling Cairngorm from beyond the grave is appealing, and it makes the moment when he almost tore off his own head with a look of horror make much more sense, yet the development is awfully convenient for Aechmea.



Cairngorm being the only gem to reject the whitening powder and show his true mineral surface must have some significance. The other gems reject their original nature in favour of the counterfeit given by Adamant (including the powder), and Cairngorm rejects that, yet also is the first to wish to become a lunarian, yet not actually the first to become one. All in all, ???.

[Lidiandoconlavida]

«Hubiera sido mejor que yo no estuviera aquí. Pero yo no puedo destruirme a mí mismo».

Perfecto. Es tan perfecto cómo encaja todo en su lugar. El mejor de los tomos que he leído hasta ahora sin duda.

El punto de vista del sensei es realista y me ha hecho simpatizar con él, incluso si es una máquina (no es un ser vivo lpm) que está rota. Y cómo cuenta que empezó solo, que nacieron las gemas y les dio la forma que los humanos le habían dado a él porque las gemas se querían parecer a su mentor es simplemente tan real y tan humano, lo hace más canónico porque las gemas en su día fueron parte de los humanos.

Y que el hecho de que Phos hubiera convencido a algunos a irse a la Luna provocase que las gemas que se quedaron en la Tierra primero enloquecieran porque creían que habían hecho algo mal para que las otras las hubieran abandonado, pero que eso mismo haga que las gemas que quedan hagan piña y que Cinnabar por fin se junte con los demás como le prometió Phos... El desarrollo de la historia y las reacciones de los personajes son muy lógicas y eso me encanta.



«—Fingiré ser Antarc.

—¿Por qué irías tan lejos?

—¿Por qué? ¿Por qué...? Porque tengo que proteger a Phos.

—¿Por qué?

—Me dijo que lo hiciera.

—¿Quién te dijo eso?

—Mi antiguo yo».

Me gusta que no se puedan recuperar a todas las gemas que fueron pulverizadas. Si pudieran reparar a todos, sería demasiado fácil y apenas existirían consecuencias graves porque todos serían inmortales. Aunque lo que más me interesa de las muertes no es la muerte del personaje en sí, sino cómo afecta la muerte a los demás (ejem ejem, Phos).

Aunque Cairngorm ahora me sea insoportable, la subtrama que ha tenido ha sido muy cool, cómo Cairngorm era controlado por Ghost como si hubiera un fantasma dentro de su cuerpo. Es retorcido el hecho de que sintiera que no tuviera una identidad por culpa de Ghost.

Me está gustando mucho el rumbo de la historia, que sea filosófica y macabra y te haga dudar de cuál de los bandos está siendo correcto a la hora de obrar (probablemente yo sea Team Tierra en vez de luna porque no confío nada en los lunarians, pero la verdad es que los Team Luna también tienen puntos buenos). La historia es muy interesante aunque igual de trágica; es literalmente una joya.

«La libertad es algo... que uno debe obtener por sí mismo».

[L. Luck]

Interesting ideas, but kinda weak in execution and some other places?

NLROMV

3☆

[Helena]

4.5
Jupi! Wycieczka na Księżyc!
Fos oprowadza swój nowy gang po Księżycu, a szefunio Echmea mnie zaczyna powolutku wkurwiać. Niby ma ogarniać te zmielone szczątki, ale na razie tylko podrywa Kwarc Dymny jak typowy CEO z booktoka…
Fos ma wspaniały plan wrąbać Mistrzowi, co mu się (znów) nie udaje. Zgarnia resztę i jadą na atak. Fos zostaje roztrzaskany, ale na szczęście Lunarianie go biorą, zanim pozostałe klejnoty mogłyby mu bardziej zaszkodzić.
Osobiście podobają mi się te późniejsze tomy, ale jak czasami patrzę na np. 1. tom i widzę radosnego Fosa, to nie wiem, czy mi się chce płakać czy śmiać.

[Teresa]

piú vado avanti e più la storia si sta facendo estremamente intensa e ammaliante! I personaggi sono caratterizzati benissimo, i disegni sono ricchi di dettagli e la narrazione è profonda, con riferimenti al Buddhismo giapponese, alla spiritualità, vengono trattati temi particolari e affascinanti. Sono davvero molto curiosa di sapere come continua !!!

[Rylan]

every time i think i know where this series is headed something happens that completely takes me by surprise

[Toni]

4.5

[DonutKnow]

The character designs are so unique, but most times I don’t really understand what’s going on. There’s the politics behind a war versus the lunarians and then day to say existential questions 🤔

[Arien Vega]

Yo de esta no salgo bien.

[Sofya]

Все в этой манге такие суки) I'm jealous

[rika ۶۟ৎ⋅˚₊‧]

mi strappo tutti i capelli fr !
( amo le mie gemmine pretty ) 🌟

[Miguel Esteban]

Esto se pone cada vez más interesante. Pero no me impactó tanto como el volumen anterior

[Maria]

I have mixed feelings about Cairngorm now. I mean she is beautiful as sin, I love her clothes and I am glad to see that she chose to be free, but she is so mean to Phos!

She outright told her that she is wrong at everything, that the others follow her plans because they 've got no other choice (which it's true, but still…) and that she doesn't see her as a friend!

Despite that, I wanna see what will happen later. Up to Vol.10!

[Snail]

I admire the world and characters created by Ichikawa so very much.

[Emily]

3.5!

[Aleksandra]

okay okay a lot happened here!!!

[Sol]

Why

[Sucre]

can literally never tell where this is gonna go next and I say that in the most appreciative way possible

[Aitor]

Ya solo con el principio del tomo, Ichikawa demuestra su comprensión absoluta del personaje de Phos. En el viaje a la luna, Phos tiene un momento de introspección en que compara los agujeros de Padparadscha con su mente fracturada, un breve destello de comprensión por su parte acerca de la situación en la que se ha metido. Lo que activamente trataba de evitar en un pasado se ha convertido en su hoja de ruta y tan solo aquí repiensa sus decisiones hasta entonces. No solo eso: Ichikawa nos muestra muy ingeniosamente lo poco planeada que tiene Phos la restauración de las gemas. Una vez más, el egoísmo de Phos busca antes el beneficio propio, ese convencer a las gemas para obtener la recompensa, que el altruismo.

Las tretas manipuladoras de Phos tienen una consecuencia directa en la Tierra: mientras las gemas celebran fiestas en la luna, vemos la descorazonadora imagen de Rutile buscando a Pad sin éxito, la ira consumiendo su cuerpo por no haberse dado cuenta antes de las acciones de Phos. Vemos la destrucción de Red Beryl, la tristeza de Amethyst y la búsqueda activa de la muerte por parte de las gemas. Es profundamente triste, y por eso mismo funciona tan bien el capítulo en que Sensei revela la verdad, reafirmándose en su bondad, en su altruismo. Una contraposición directa con la nueva actitud de Phos, cuya identidad se fractura paulatinamente por la influencia de Lapis.

Me gusta que Ichikawa no haya tirado por lo fácil. Phos no es un personaje despreciable, un villano sin redención; es el producto del autoodio y el sufrimiento. Al no comprender su propio dolor, es incapaz de entender el de los demás y ayudar con sus diversos problemas. Diría incluso que llega a esparcir la influencia negativa de su autoodio al resto de las gemas. Que ahora Phos tenga una consciencia activa sobre el paso del tiempo planta las semillas para un futuro de sufrimiento en que el personaje sufra cada segundo de su existencia. Repito que tengo miedo.

En materia de secundarios, vuelve a mostrarse la genialidad de Ichikawa con Caingorm, que por fin descubre su auténtica aflicción: querer cumplir el papel de Anc por la influencia de Ghost. No solo es esto una espectacular muestra de hasta qué punto el odio por uno mismo puede llevar a las autolesiones, sino que también comporta la destrucción de la identidad propia. Renegar de uno mismo con el objetivo de convertirse en alguien más y, así, contentar a otra persona sin tener en cuenta el bienestar propio. Es una situación verdaderamente jodida y, por eso, creo que el momento en que Caingorm se deshace de Ghost resulta agridulce: por una parte, suprime su parte identitaria más conflictiva, aquella que la lleva a autolesionarse; por la otra, reniega de quien es para convertirse en alguien más. Se abre un debate interesantísimo sobre la naturaleza del ser e incluso un entramado crítico acerca del sufrimiento de las personas no normativas, cuyos esfuerzos por cumplir con lo normativo pueden llevar a la despersonalización. ¿Hasta qué punto es Caingorm, ahora la Princesa, una personalidad propia o está siendo moldeada por las expectativas de Aechmea?

En el budismo, el camino de la iluminación pasa por la conscienciación de que no tenemos una única personalidad, un único ser. En su lugar, tenemos múltiples percepciones de nosotros mismos y debemos abrazar esta naturaleza fluida, con todos los cambios que ello conlleva para la persona. Phos y Caingorm representan esto mismo, aunque el manga todavía no haya demostrado si es algo positivo o todo lo contrario. Abre la puerta para el debate y, de forma muy inteligente, nos demuestra los pros y los contras de la conscienciación del cambio.

El final del tomo es sorprendente. A pesar de todo lo que Phos ha hecho, a pesar de encontrarse en pleno combate, Euclase aparece para decirle que es su esperanza, tal y como se dijo tomos atrás. Phos es la única gema dispuesta a cambiar el statu quo del mundo, buscando un nuevo futuro más allá de la zona de confort en que se encuentran todas las gemas desde hace cientos y miles de años. El cambio tiene siempre un origen único, una persona que decide iniciar el cambio. Así es como han comenzado todas las revoluciones antinormativas y así es como se han producido la mayoría de los cambios de nuestro mundo. Ichikawa, de nuevo, tinta toda la historia de un subtexto no normativo fabuloso.

Me pregunto si logrará Phos en los siguientes tomos propulsar este cambio, a costa de su propia identidad, o sus esfuerzos terminarán en tierra de nadie. Este tomo, si no lo había hecho ya antes, demuestra la obra maestra que es Houseki no Kuni.

[Lucky]

Ok a lot happened in this book too, but I do think this one was more intermediary setting up this final conflict and really accelerating everything, so for this review I’m just going through things that I noted on my read through.

I appreciated how Amethyst 88 fooled Phos and apologized for deceiving them, that frame right after of Phos getting caught off guard despite them doing something similar to everyone else was an interesting moment as a reader and reinforced the idea that all the other gems aren’t just Phos’ pawns/a part of their plan.

This is extended further when Cairngorm truth about their eyes is revealed, I do think the relationship with Aechmea is really weird and kind of groomy, and I haven’t quite wrapped my head around how the eyes had so much influence or caused such a shift, cause Cairngorm was violent to Phos when Ghost was taken, however the obedient behavior is reinforced by past things like when they offered to give their head to Phos. Big shift as we saw in the ending Cairngorm going full Lunarian, so interested to see if there’s more depth beyond this switch.

I really enjoyed getting Kongō’s reaction to the gems and his true honesty with all the gems. I am a little bit interested how it delved into a violent plan given the “start over” they went to, but I guess Phos was trying to shatter that dude. More on that later, but his honesty and kind of heart to heart with the remaining gems, while recognizing Phos probably has a full plan is very on brand for the machine and honestly quite endearing, I wish Phos had tried communicating with him around other more stubborn gems, I feel as though maybe it wouldn’t have gone this way.

Ok onto the fight…why is Cinnabar doing allat?! Isn’t their poison like a big no go and the gems are cooked?! How is that helpful to Euclase’s “start over” naive plan? (Complete copium of a plan). I suppose all this miscommunication and poor misguided structure could be attributed to Kongō’s absence as a leadership role but man was that encounter rough. Papparadscha was also going ape shit on the other gems too, they were supposed to be there to try and convince them but was very quick to shift.

I am very interested to see where this leads and I think this volume might be one of the ones that has left off with most uncertainty for the continuous plot.

[William Moses Jr.]

Ah, this is so intense. We're starting to get to the narrative payoff of so many decisions that were made in the past. And it's so damn intense. But sitting through this somehow feels meaningful. The manga allows its characters to act as if they were real. To truly make their choices as they might in the real world and let things happen as they may. Somehow, I find myself unable to look away, while also feeling intensely affected by the story as it is currently playing out. Hats off to Ichikawa. It took a long time to get here, but that slow, deliberate, methodical build up was worth it so far. I don't know how things will play out and I desperately want to find out, but there's still a constant feeling of dread and a feeling of "maybe I don't want to see how things turn out".

[Julia]

I still can't make up my mind if Phos did the right thing... I guess we would never find out, and if she did something differently, itd be a completely different story. I am also a bit unsure about Smoky Quarz and such a huge change in her character... she was much cooler before but let's see what would happen to her. Nearing the end, it makes me quite excited and yet... sad to say good bye to all the Lustrous.