寶石之國 8

宝石の国 [Hōseki no Kuni] #8

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

「你能夠拯救我們，我有這預感。」

為了幫助同伴，也為了探究老師的祕密，磷葉石在黑水晶的幫助下被月人帶到了月亮上。到了月世界後，小磷一邊斬除月人一邊前進，最後遇見了他們的「王子」－－在那裡，他被告知了難以置信的真相，也看見了他從未想像過的光景……

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

196 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 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

[Carlex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tres estrellas y media.

La verdad es que este número cuesta de leer por algunas ilustraciones y letras muy reducidas 🙇🏻

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Oh SNAP!"

This was a phrase I said a lot as I was reading this book. Big Stuff comes in this volume and I enjoyed it very much. After seven volumes, we break one of the series' central mysteries and find out what the actual heck is going on with the moon people. While I do like the mystery, the story is at a point where Phos deserves some answers and OH BOY the ones they get... Horrifying but absolutely worth the wait and contributing to the story and fit the themes.

There is more exposition in this volume than usual with the story, but I'm not to bothered because Phos is interacting with an entirely new environment and hearing some new points of view. Also, the tension is kept high even through scenes that are mostly talking.

Also the moon landscape is a chance for some new lovely and spooky Haruko Ichikawa artwork. <3

I love that Phos is taking charge and putting a plan into action in this volume, while also taking what other characters tell them with a huge grain of salt. This character has evolved from the weakest link possibly the person in their world who can work the most change. At they same time, they are not without flaws, and they are becoming deceptive themselves even while decrying deception in others. I love seeing this evolution even as there's a strong sinister feeling that Phos is probably making decisions that will have very bad consequences for the other gems.

This volume represents a complete arc of revelation, plan, and execution. Once again, Phos (and several other characters) are at a completely different place than at the start. And I'm curious to see what happens next as the next volume is out in English...but at the same time I feel like it ain't gonna be good. There's no way this can be good.

As usual with Houseki no Kuni, a manga I could finish in a half hour left me reeling and wanting to immediately read it again when I got to the last page. This series is a masterpiece of a simple story packed with deep emotional resonance and symbolism. Excited and scared to see what's next!

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Phos but I can't wait for this whole thing to implode in their face. It's inevitable.

[Booksinvasion · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'occhio finito mi inquieta ma la trama diventa sempre più interessante 🖤

[Mari-WA160817 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die Geschichte nimmt so richtig Fahrt auf. Diese Mangareihe kann ich wirklich empfehlen.

[Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phos' arrival on the moon upends the series. The inscrutable enemy becomes shockingly legible, and many pieces of the Adamant puzzle are revealed. Assuming Phos is being told the truth. Even now, multiple volumes later, with the Prince Aechmea yet to be caught in a direct lie, I don't think many people would trust their ancient enemy so quickly, which makes Phos' actions so so frustrating. Even more than the night raid, I think this is the moment he really started falling down the stairs of failure. In his defense, he'd already experienced the old Adamant stonewall, and got confirmation of Aechmea's most disturbing claims. So as always, Phos rushes in without thinking.



Aechmea describes the board game as a "molecular geometry" game, while Adamant said it was made with "no particular purpose in mind", yet the two end up at the same sentiment - that those in the past put no thought into the future of their creations. Adamant and Aechmea are similar in many ways, yet each of their followers see the world very differently. Despite being disembodied souls, the lunarians see deterministic and material reasons for everything - if Adamant will not pray, he must be broken. The gems, by contrast, see emotional causes behind phenomena. In this specific case, they were both right: Adamant is broken, but the reason he will not pray is his love for the gems. Whether this will be true in general remains to be seen. There's a complex web of irony and similarity relating the gems, lunarians, Aechmea and Adamant that has yet to be fully revealed or resolved.

[Amir Kasra Arman · Rating 5 out of 5]

هوراکو ایچیگاوا بهت التماس میکنم بذار تا آخرش کتابت فوق العاده بمونه.

این مجموعه‌ی بسیار قوی تا قبل از جلد هشت جزو تاپ تن مانگای من بود ولی بعد از این قسمت در ومال تعجب اتفاقی افتاد که فکر نمیکردم هرگز دیگه تکرار بشه! تونستم یه داستانی پیدا کنم که به تاپ 3 اضافه بشه!! این مانگا الان تو ذهن من رقیب سرسختی برای آکامه شده و فقط جلد آخر مشخص میکنه میتونه بعد از چند سال طلسمو بشکنه و جای آکامه رو بگیره یا خیر...

[Constance · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really loving this series and will definitely be watching more of the anime.

[Eressea · Rating 4 out of 5]

20250713 2nd read
第五集前還有印象
第六集之後完全沒有看過的記憶Orz
--
20191121 1st read
搜索枯腸想不出什麼厲害的感想
只覺得小磷策反好像太容易了點@@
還有第八集突然很有Cyberpunk的感覺
以及月人把寶石磨碎鋪在地表當裝飾品
超級嘲諷佛經得七寶鋪地而已

快出第九集吧~

[juls ˚⊹♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

₊⊹♡ 5 stars ⋆˙⟡

i'm so invested in this

[Aitor · Rating 4 out of 5]

La llegada a la luna viene con toda una serie de revelaciones que Ichikawa ha ido preparando durante siete tomos y, por suerte, el resultado no decepciona. Esperaba algo más de acción y un viraje hacia el debate existencialista identitario que tanto prometían anteriores volúmenes, pero la verdad es que las respuestas que se dan en los primeros capítulos son igualmente satisfactorias.

Si ya elogiaba a la autora por la atmósfera de extrañeza que lograba crear mediante su dibujo en algo tan cercano para nosotros como es la Tierra, lo de la luna ya es como para echarse a llorar. Esas estructuras geométricas me vuelven loco y los ligeros toques de worldbuilding (el aceite mineral, la comida y los cubiertos, las sillas...) me venden un espacio muy distinto al que Ichikawa nos tenía acostumbrados tantos tomos. Sin embargo, el ritmo de la serie vuelve a ir un poco en su contra: al final, siento que no he visto suficiente de la luna y me pregunto durante medio tomo cuándo volveremos.

A nivel argumental, las decisiones de Phos demuestran cómo ha evolucionado como personaje desde aquella gema inocente y despistada del primer tomo a esta manipuladora e insaciable fosfofilita. Sigo pensando que todo va demasiado rápido, pero el conjunto me tiene lo suficientemente interesado en su trama y misterios como para perdonárselo un poco. Este es un manga raro; no sé muy bien por qué sus fallos argumentales no me molestan más. Supongo que aportan una confusión general que, sin duda, refuerza la atmósfera de extrañeza que el dibujo (cada vez más remarcable) y el tono general de la serie transmiten tan bien. Repito que tengo mucho miedo para posteriores tomos, en especial a partir del siguiente.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Akurat jeden z moich ulubionych tomów.
Fos niestety trafia na Księżyc. Tam dowiaduję się, że Lunarianie umieją mówić, że powierzchnię Księżyca pokrywają zmielone szczątki wcześniej porwanych klejnotów (uuu mrocznie), a Mistrz to naprawdę maszyna do modlitw. To, że Fos jest naprawdę wkurzony, to jest mało powiedziane. Szefunio Lunarian narzuca na Fosa zadanie bojowe, czym jest przekonanie Mistrza, aby pomodlił się za Lunarian, bo coś tam i coś tam (po przeczytaniu zrozumiecie).
Fos wraca do swojego grona, ale nie udaje mu się nic, oprócz przytachanie kilku innych klejnotów na stronę Lunarian.
Tym razem traci oko, ale dostaje nowe, więc nie ma się co cieszyć.

[Rylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

i never would have expected anything that happened here land of the lustrous does a great job at making you revaluation everything you thought you knew about the world and characters this manga is absolutely brilliant

[Sofja · Rating 5 out of 5]

ÆÆÆÆÆÆÆ

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[lcvesbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great.

[Miguel Esteban · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too much.

[Lidiandoconlavida · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Alguien como tú, que es amado incluso en la luna, no podría entender lo que se siente al estar solo».

¿Todo está pasando porque una máquina está rota? Bueno, desde luego esa no la vi venir.

Me pareció que Phos confió demasiado rápido en los lunarians, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que literalmente pulverizan a las gemas. Es cierto que parece que los lunarians dicen la verdad, y que llevarse a las gemas y triturarlas para decorar la luna con ellas es un buen plan (aunque inmoral) para que el sensei se arregle y libere a las almas impuras de los lunarians, ya que el sensei de verdad se preocupa por ellas y la conmoción podría arreglarlo como un golpe puede arreglar a una máquina.

Me gusta mucho la evolución de Phos, aunque su ética es cuestionable porque no le importa traicionar a las gemas siempre y cuando pueda salvarlas después (un poco al estilo Eren Yeager vaya), es comprensible. El cómo manipula a las otras gemas para hacer un pequeño ejército y hacer la traición más dolorosa es muy inteligente.

En cuanto a Cinnabar... Entiendo también por qué no acompaña a Phos a la luna, incluso si Phos no lo intenta manipular y le dice todo directamente a diferencia de los demás. El plan de Phos requiere que el sensei se quede solo, y Cinnabar debió de verse reflejado en él porque conoce bastante bien la soledad y no quiere que nadie pase por eso. Me duele ver que ellos dos toman caminos que siempre los mantienen separados, pero ambas decisiones son respetables, o por lo menos razonables.

[emelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm using this volume as a stand in for the entire series (since it's one of my favorite covers and I don't feel like adding every single volume). I'm still trying to process how I felt about the bittersweet ending, but overall, this was an amazing and complex story. The interpersonal relationships were well crafted and the layers they continued to build on as the story progressed were incredibly captivating. Land of the Lustrous as a whole also has some of the best artwork I've seen by far, with unique character design and visual storytelling that shows impressive interwoven details to the story, with and without supporting dialogue. I'm looking forward to further analyzing multiple different aspect of this series now that I've finally gotten around to finishing it.

[lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

LE PLOT TWISSSTTTT WE KNEW IT
on savait tous que y'avait une couille dans le patté avec les séléniens et maitre vajra !! et je suis vraiment agréablement surprise car l'enjeu est en encore plus grand !! les scènes sur la lune sont toujours sublime et les ptites touches d'humour bien à la phos font toujours plaisir

[L. Luck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of exposition, but interesting turn in the story. (No long reviews on middle volumes)

4*

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welp. I definitely asked for answers and boy howdy did we get them. And what a cliff to end the volume on! Great art, great story, both continue apace with verve and vigor. Can't wait to read more.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not sure I like the direction Phos is going in. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out for the rest of the series.

[Lucky · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Holy sh*t… I said for that the last volume was signifying and big shift and boy did I underplay that. So much that has been building up was poignantly picked apart by Prince Aechmea with utter bluntness that the shock hit me as a reader as it hit Phos (I’m sure it was much worse for the gem).

I really loved this explanation/payoff for the background Kongō and the Lunarians, it fits so well with everything we have been told yet it is such a satisfying “twist”.

First Kongō-sensei…he’s a ROBOT (machine—whatever)!?! It’s like the missing puzzle piece in all of the behavior we witnessed—the strict boundaries yet complete openness at the same time when Phos was asking questions, his longevity and knowledge, the NAPS?! (was bro just charging up -_-). I really enjoyed this twist as a reader since throughout the whole story this far we were just in the dark as the other gems, and there were many red herrings along the way tying him to be some human-like being, and so we personified him that was as well.

This still leaves another question in lieu… if he is a robot for prayer, where does his ingrained affection for the gems come from?? It is mentioned that he was created from a sentimental standpoint, to keep the last human from feeling lonely. So I wonder if this being his primary purpose overgrew, or intertwined with the alternate purpose of “freeing” the Lunarians, and resulted in this dynamic and love with him and the gems. Also, they say he is broken, but were the pet and the board game properly released/deconstructed?? It looked different than the normal way of dealing with Lunarians. I also wonder how sentient is Kongō now if he truly is a machine?

Another cool thing I picked up in the translation notes, which have been absolutely amazing, is that with purpose of being a prayer machine, Kongō is dressed as a Japanese Buddhist monk. This is why we see the form the Lunarians take on their attacks (Buddhas and Bodhisattvas), even what we thought was their “battle garb” is just another way they are trying to connect or elicit some sort of response from Kongō. Everything they have done, all the atrocities the gems have endured, was to get to Kongō. I do think this poses an interesting situation, if we can assume that he is not cognizant of their exact motives either. This really creates a gray area of blame that makes the entire situation even more hopeless.

This gray area of blame is also why I was a little surprised to see the direct animosity in Phos towards Kongō, alongside the gem’s much more manipulative, violent plan that I honestly think is a little naive at this point in time. I do think this is because of a few things.
Phos doesn’t really grasp the idea of a machine, a broken one at that, so it is hard for them to really excuse the blame. I also think because of the innate and deeply seeded love all gems have for him, this info feels even more like a deep-seated betrayal. I also think this willingness to manipulate the other gems so easily as Euclase suggests, is due to Lapis’ influence or possibly something that happened to Pho on their time on the moon. I do think Phos is getting a little gung ho and should try to reason with Cinnabar or think about alternatives, but given the two gems that make up Phos, this behavior seems on brand. I am also surprised the gems she did “convince” were convinced so easily to go behind the backs of others, so interested to see how this plays out.

Now my favorite part of this volume, especially from an analytical perspective: the Lunarians and the Moon. The Moon and its society resembles a twisted afterlife of cold luxury and indulgences, and as Prince Aechmea describes it, it kind of is, and it eerily directly correlates to many processes we see in our own, present society. My favorite section was the conversation between Phos and Aechmea from pages 60-65. Aechmea sulks in his failed efforts despite the scale of feats that had to happen to try them, he explains how they are “the wretched remains of what was already trash”— just fueling his self doubt. Phos questions why can’t they just stay how they are and Aechmea reveals that he feels a need to emancipate his people from this endless cycle of natural human tendencies and conflicts, which were never made for eternity, since they really have no value or purpose in that scope. However right after this he oxymoronically mentions the urgency of the situation and need for a solution. This kind of cements the Moon and Lunarians as some “almost afterlife” — a meaningless purgatory.

Going back to the translation notes, they so aptly pointed out some other direct references to afterlife, first with “care for a bite?”. Phos eating the food of an “underworld adjacent” land calls to the connected myth among various cultures of eating food in the land of the dead keeps you tied there (Persephone, Izanami, etc.) while the translation notes implicate more we have already seen this with Phos’ being a sort of Moon propagandist and wanting to go back. Also the 49 days of Phos being on the moon refers to the Buddhist time frame of the intermediate period between death and reincarnation—entering back to the land of the living. This is just a direct parallel between the Land of the Lustrous (omg name drop) and the Land of the Living, and conversely the Moon with that of the dead.

This has definitely been my favorite volume to go back and analyze and it itself is so dense of things to pick apart, but also just enhanced everything I had read before this. Really excited to see how this plays out and eventually concludes!!

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Adamant, the hardest thing in the world… I will break you!"

Ladies and gentlemen, these are Phos' most badass words!

Man, my opinion over the Lunarians changed completely. I went from "they are simply the bad guys" to "god, I feel so bad for them! I hope they will rest in piece".

So, we finally saw the Moon, which was both luxurious and slinky at the same time. The ground was covered by a shiny powder made by the gems' fragments turned into dust (ouch! poor gems! I don't know if that means they're official dead. Anyway…). Their technology was far more advanced that the gems'. And the Moon itself produced some kind of oil, which took various sizes during nighttime.

And on top of that, the Lunarians' Prince reveals to Phos why they kidnap them: as a way to force Sensei to come to them and put them to rest. See, Sensei is a machine was made by a human and their role is to purify the souls. The Lunarians are unpurified souls and there's no time left before they go mad from their state.

Phos returns and plans on convincing the gems to come with them. You don't believe it, but one who wants to come is Dia, for her relationship with Bort isn't working!

Man, I can't wait to see what will happen in Vol.9!

[Ale-Hoku · Rating 4 out of 5]

* Reseña hasta el capítulo 70*

Bueno, estoy alargando un poco el publicar esta reseña pero bueno, he decidido hablar de este tomo hasta leer lo último publicado del manga.
Mis sentimientos por este manga es medio confuso, porque me gusta, me encantaba la ideas que tenía en los primeros tomos, pero en estos últimos capítulos se e hizo muy difícil leer, pero no porque no me interesara sino que siento que flaquea un poco.
A lo que me refiero, el desarrollo de personajes es tan curioso; no es bueno ni malo, me gustan todos los personajes, incluso los “antagonistas” porque lo que viene siendo su origen, su metas y el concepto que da mucho para tocar temas de la muerte la existencia y las metas personales, y esto no ha cambiado con el pasar de los capítulos, se ha vuelto confuso ¡sí! Pero estoy dispuesta a seguir con el manga.

Eso es lo que yo opino del manga hasta este punto. Y el dibujo es bonito, sí aun así no es mi favorito
Que lo recomiendo, totalmente.
Es para todos, no tanto. Creo que si quieres leer el manga o darle una oportunidad a este debes estar consciente de que es un poco “voy recto en la historia, pero te hare dudas”

Calificación: 3.8 / 5 estrellas.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phos is getting quite entangled in her own plan on how to end the war... but I feel it in my guts it won't be the right decision. Someone is bound to get hurt, and as much as I can understand her ideas behind going back to the Moon (and some other characters), it is a bit sad to see the break in the team of the Lustrous. I am also surprised to see Phantom Quarz to have so little independence from Phos - it feels like unnecessary change in her character, which is difficult to explain.
I am also surprised by the naivete of Phos, which could be understandable with her old self, but is rather weird, especially now with the knowledge of Lapislazuli. Some decisions aren't very clear to me, hence only 4 stars.
Still, a great manga, great story.

[EP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. This series is amazing.

"Why do you want to be nothing? Are things so bad the way they are?

'Yes'

Why?


“I want to set them free as soon as possible.

They may look like they’re happy, but they’re forcing it, and they’re exhausted.

We go to sleep at night.
Wake up in the morning, eat, defecate.
Converse with, settle disputes with, love each other and fight with one another.
Constantly fighting the angst that comes from never progressing.
Taking what little comfort we can in finding imaginary problems.
All in a never-ending cycle.

After wandering through eternity, these natural human tendencies are an agony that no longer suits us.
Yet, for some unknown reason, we cling to them.
We cannot fight them.
It is a terrible curse…
The night grows old. Let’s go.”

[Cielaly · Rating 4 out of 5]

 I've been putting this off in such a long time because of my brimming hate towards Phos. So now, that I cleared my mind and finished this volume—I still hate him. I actually gave up on trying to understand and make excuses for his actions and stupid decisions.
How can someone be as retartded as Phos: This guy kidnap and turn my friends into fine dust so they can't be fixed/revived—I'm trusting him now and betraying the guy that has been protecting my kind for years by sacrificing his own bidy. For fuck's sake dude, I actually like the actual villain more than him. I'm giving up on Phos, sorry not sorry.

[Daniela Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way I literally inhaled this one going OH SHIT, OH SHIT!!!!

I swear this was a volume where so much happened and was revealed, I couldn’t keep up.
1) Phos went to the moon
2) the lunarians can TALKKKKK
3) the freaking moon being made up of the dust of the gems was killer, I couldn’t with that. All for it to look pretty???
4) the Lunarian world was super interesting and weird
5) SENSEI IS A MACHINE??? I had guessed that he was weird / not a human but this one shook me. What a twist
6) now they’re all willingly going to the moon??? Me thinks shit is about to hit the fan really hard.

Ahhhhhh!!