寶石之國 7

宝石の国 [Hōseki no Kuni] #7

by Haruko Ichikawa, 市川春子, 謝仲庭 (Translator)

現在的我能夠繼續走多遠，真有點期待。

在接上青金岩的頭部後過了一百零二年，磷葉石終於甦醒。
醒來之後的小磷看似毫無異狀，
但其實身體及思考有了微妙的變化，
透過海中蛞蝓的提醒，他想起了那個被他遺忘的遠古故事，
眼看終於要深入老師與月人之間祕密的核心…

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

194 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2017

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

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phos keeps on Frankenstein's monster-ing through her quest.

Without getting too into spoilers, there's a BIG time skip in this one, and it's interesting to see the other gems move on without Phos. There are also some new discoveries about the mystery of how the world works and an update on what's been going on with the sea squids (which is adorable). At one point I wanted to yell at Phos for not confiding in their friends. You don't have to carry all the secrets yourself, Kid!

On the whole, this volume has less of the harrowing scenes of the gems being overwhelmed and torn apart in increasingly creative ways. But I'm sure more are to come.

Phos's journey does take a surprising turn at the end, but I like how they thought it through and came up with a theory that utilized their unusually adaptive "inclusions." (Are the inclusions like the soul of the gems?)

Hopefully in volume 8 we'll get the named Lunarian character on the Wikipedia page I have been waiting forever to see.

[Aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot thickens but I wish we get at least some answers soon. So far it’s only been questions pilling up.

[Carlex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tres estrellas y media.

La verdad es que se hacía un poco monótono y que la trama estaba estancada, pero al final de este tomo la intriga principal se pone en marcha con nuevas revelaciones interesantes y... un viaje.

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cliffhanger of an ending to this volume!! This series is gorgeous and fraught with questions and few answers. I love it.

[Vivian ✧˖°. · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my reread and this is and will always be my favorite volume. Also will now be calling Phos “Pospoppy”

[alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

theseus paradox (derogatory)

[Cheesecat777 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has my favorite cover art out of all of the series.

[Skibidi( Ivan's version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re read

[Lidiandoconlavida · Rating 4 out of 5]

«—Aun con otra cabeza y tras cien años... Todavía recuerdas esa idiotez.

—No puedo olvidarte».

Me dio tanto alivio ver que Phos seguía siendo el mismo silly de siempre incluso si tenía la cabeza de Lapis, aunque también es cierto que la cabeza ha tenido sus influencias porque ahora es más intuitivo y se pierde en sus pensamientos.

Cada vez entiendo menos al sensei. No sé si fue bueno que Phos lo enfrentara cara a cara porque perdió el factor sorpresa, pero es que el interrogatorio tampoco nos da mucha información. Como conclusión, por ahora puedo sacar que el sensei no es humano, pues lo dice directamente, y también que parece que no puede confesar lo que sabe porque no quiera, es que no puede. No sé si es que alguien le está obligando a que mantenga en secreto o si los recuerdos que tiene son de otra persona (porque reconocía al profesor pero ¿no sabía decir quién era? Raro. Y si lo pensamos bien, el profesor era humano y el sensei es una gema, y si la leyenda es verdadera, los humanos se dividieron en tres partes que serían el alma, el hueso y la carne, y como el sensei es una gema entonces cronológicamente es imposible que él pudiera conocer a un humano... O tal vez estoy pensando demasiado jajaja ya paro con mis teorías).

La despedida de Phos y Cinnabar fue tan triste. Siento que si Cinnabar le hubiera insistido que se quedase se habrían ahorrado un montón de cosas. Y que Phos estuviera llorando cuando se lo llevaron a la luna... Poor thing.

[Amir Kasra Arman · Rating 5 out of 5]

یه چیز عجیب درباره مانگاهایی ک بیش از ۵ جلد ادامه پیدا میکنن اینه که همشون لوس و سناریو تکراری میشه
اما این کتاب هم با اینکه خیلی اوقات این حس میشه خصوصا تو این قسمت که باز فوس پیوند میخوره! ولی نویسنده خیلی شیک و باکلاس آخر داستان مثه ماهی از این تله هم بیرون میجهه! با اشتیاق پیش به سوی جلد ۸

[Ale-Hoku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que me maten por favor, que ko puedo con todo esto.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 von 5 Sternen

[Rylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

the ending omg! it feels like we will be getting answers soon but i’m nervous as to what we will find out

[Rebecca Lindau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stress

[Sephy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art and vibes have been kind of getting me through but the plot came to play in this one

[rin]

hello darkness my old friend

[Miguel Esteban · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este volumen retoma todo lo establecido con anterioridad y lo lleva al siguiente nivel. Espectacular.

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ichikawa uses a lot hackneyed devices to convey Phos' supposed increase in intelligence after the head transplant, like becoming more verbose or noticing lots of details. But the moment when he gives the young Admirabilis king part of the seam between his legs and torso convinces me. It's the kind of subtle thing the old Phos wouldn't have seen. The moment Phos manipulatively pretends not to hear what Cinnabar yelled is also beyond the old Phos. Despite this, Phos still feels largely the same. He retains the idiot personality, if not the idiot intellect. He impulsively blows his cover to Adamant, just like the old Phos, but now has the wits to keep up the verbal attack, at least for a while. A truly dangerous combination that leads to his most harebrained scheme yet.



The facsimile of the Doctor/Professor still hasn't been completely explained, though as of volume 12 there are certain logical conclusions that can be drawn, and possibly some straightforward information coming. The weird thing is that she seems to be made of the same material as the regular lunarians, but layered multiple times, and dissipating after being cut. If she was just a crude facsimile, not even made of flesh, why did she seem so deformed?



-Cairngorm looks odd when he's about to tear his head off
-Adamant couldn't attack the Doctor or tell Phos about it
-Admirabilis think lunarians want to become human again, hope to invade the moon to save their comrades (SEA ARC???)
-"Cairngorm is a surprisingly good actor", claims frilly dresses aren't his thing

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the weirdest manga series that I've read but totally in a good way. Phos's head was chopped off and got a replacement, this is so not what I've expected. Then the time skips over 100 years and sensei is a machine?? OMFG!

[Peregrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A transhumanist mindf***

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was a roller coaster full of emotions.

The beginning was extremely intriguing and I wanted to see if Phos would be fine after the operation (and luckily, they were). The middle part was a bit boring, with nothing significant happening, except from the part where Phos meet the current ruler of Admirabilis and descendant of a slug that Phos once talked with.

She informs Phos about Earth's history [that it was inhabited long ago by humans, but after the planet was hit six times by meteors, they went to the ocean, where they separated themselves into three parts: flesh (the people of Admirabilis) , bones (the Gems) and soul (the Lunarians)].

Phos' curiosity and frustration over the fact that Sensei doesn't reveal anything to them lead them to being captured by the Lunarians. Ok. Gotta say that the ending got my interest again.

Now, I am excited to see how the moon is, what they will do to Phos and what happened to the other captured gems.

On to Vol.8

[S46354595 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghost looks like an old friend of mine. Do I actually have any thoughts on the volume? No. This is one of those rare instances where me having no thoughts means I am so invested that my brain shut itself off and I'm just along for a wild ride. I have no predictions. I have no thoughts whatsoever. I am obsessed to the point of silence. Too bad my library doesn't have the rest of the volumes so from here on out I'll be relying on scanlations. You'd think that with a series this popular, which is checked out more times than it's available, they would get the rest of them. But noooooo of course not. Why would they bother? It's not like the interlibrary loan system for my area is down or anything...I did not intend this to turn into my beef with collection development, but here we are. Please ignore my mad ravings and read this series.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not sure if I am entirely convinced by Phos getting a new head but it is true that her character is a bit more appealing now. I just am not sure if I would not prefer for it to happen in the course of the events rather than as a result of her new body part. I did like her a bit more and could definitely find myself in her own character a bit better, melancholic and sad, and yet not giving up.
I am curious what she would find out once she is going to get to the Moon, and I really do hope that at least one of the worries that have been hunting her since the first encounter with Cinnabarit.

[Daniela Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

YES! This is what I’m talking about.

The head swap, the freaking double consciousness, the dreams, the mannerisms being transferred - I loved this one.

Phos being taken, working together with Cairngorm, I’m so hyped up to see what happens next. Even the return of the slug was cool. It was really nice to see both the time change and all of the differences in Phos in this one, but paired with some return characters and ideas / continuity.

[Canned Bread · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this last year and obviously it's 5 stars, but this is the place holder for the visual novel/chapter (Because GR wants me to vet my visual novel to a Goodreads librarian and fat chance they'll accept it, so *ring finger raised*):

"Such is the Joy of Our Reunion" by Arknights

It is the 6th part of the Sui series and frankly, I think it was their best side story to date. My notes are in the Wave Notebook, to future me, as to not dereal Land of the Lustrous to hard lol

5/5 still

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally the plot is moving again. It was slow going at first because phos had to regain her memories (again) but with this new addition to her body things are finally moving at a pace that makes you feel like we may actually get some answers to the mystery. I've never been so invested in a manga series.

[Julian Hollander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing volume, not a single chapter felt repetitive compared to chapters in other volumes.Setting up well for the moon arc and there is so much more emotion and tension is strongly portrayed, and Phos goes through W development. This volume felt much more text-heavy than the others, but I'm not complaining at all since manga are more fun to read than just seeing drawings of fights.

9,2/10

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, this series is pretty great.

Very action packed and beautiful art.

It does have a repeated story structure in part, but with each repeating action we get further and further to knowing answers to the overall arc.

[Sam Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

100% seguro de que la autora me quiere dejar muerto de la impresión y del estrés emocional que me causa el manga.

SIEMPRE LOS ACABA DE UNA MANERA EXTREMADAMENTE FUERTE QUE TE DEJA CON GANAS DE MÁS.
No puedo.

[Amber&Silver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo manga rientra tra le storie più strane che abbia mai letto, ma continua ad essere affascinante. Questo settimo volume mi è piaciuto in modo particolare.. vorrei che Cinnabar apparisse di più, però. Rispetto all'inizio è stato relegato in secondo piano.