Houseki No Kuni is a manga written by Haruko Ichikawa which began serialization in 2012 and is still ongoing at the time of this review.

The manga is a brilliant work of art which has really great world-building which takes inspiration from Buddhism, a very fast-paced and kickass story that keeps you on the edge for the next chapters, and finally; characters that implement the ideas of change, impermanance and attachment to a degree where it feels surreal.

Already going to say this; Definetly an exceptional manga.

Story;

It all begins with Phosphophyllite wanting to join their gem friends in their battle against the Lunarians, which serve as the antagonist of the series.
In the world of HnK, every gem has their own role in the society based on their hardness and brittleness. Gems with lower hardness are percieved as "useless" and "non-powerful". Phosphophyllite, a young gem that has a hardness of 3.5 which makes them very brittle and the addition of knowing the Lunarians love the colour of Phos' constitution; It only makes sense for the Sensei to not allow Phosphophyllite to fight.

After being scolded by their Sensei, you can clearly see that they have lowered self-esteem in how weak they are. They cannot "become" stronger but they still want to prove themself that they are important, and so they venture out for purpose like all the other gems do. During the story's journey, there are many traumatic experiences Phos goes through; From being saved by Cinnabar 2 times, experiencing death by getting eaten up by a snail, to losing an ally because of their own incompetence. The key-point here is that its not one specific change that affects Phos; its many. Phos is constantly changing and being broken apart which makes the decision to use gems as the idea for these characters very smart; You can literally see them changing, one body part to the next.

From losing different body parts and memories, to losing their allies, be it to Lunarians or their own minds and lastly, negative emotions starting to build-up within you; its the little things that shape a human to be what they become today. If you have become stronger and more smart, all while you lose your memories of the past, are you really the same person? The story is also about purpose in life. Without death, there is no purpose in life and it becomes even more tough for gems to handle that fact they only have one purpose which they are given by their Sensei, which is one aspect of permanence the series shows is a bad thing in its own story. Another thing to note is that every time they feel attached to a goal, it only brings them suffering which can be seen through pretty much all the characters. Consistency is in all the characters and i find it very enjoyable.
After the Winter arc, it would seem very predictable which direction the author would go for but taking the "existential" route seemed like the way to go, which im fine with, all things considering they teased it. The story becomes much more intense and cruel to the gems, and by the time you think you have one question answered, 3 more questions pop up and you keep reading. The comedy is good at times too, which helps balance it out so the story isn't overall very edgy all the time.

I also love how Buddhism is implemented into the story from the idea of Seven Treasures in Tibetian Buddhism being implemented into Phos, the Western Paradise which is the The Land itself, Phos' sprouting out from their cage like a lotus flower during Winter Arc to Sensei's look is a depiction of the the Founder for the Jodo-shu sect in the Pure Land Buddhism. It does it all without sounding preachy and getting in the way of the story, and teaches us a few things in the meantime.

Characters;

The author manages to create a living being in the idea of "The Ship of Theseus", which i found super interesting. Their inner paradox is very interesting to see, where whenever they gain a new body part, they lose a bit of themselfs. Both in memory, and in body parts which begs the question if they can even be considered the same being from the first chapter? Usually when you are presented with a problem, you generally try to think of a way to change your way of thinking, or you change yourself. This is the solution Phosphophyllite comes to after speaking to Diamond, and after that, Phos is constantly doing something new in order to achieve results. The problem however is that they constantly end up in danger, but as long as it achieves something, its a small price to pay which shows how change can be harmful, especially since they keep forgetting stuff all the time. The pain of simply existing because you have no purpose is heavily taken from one of the core principles of the marks of existence in Buddhism, specifically dukkha. The other 2, annica (concept of impermanence; that everything will change) and anattā (the concept of non-self, the fact that Phos keeps changing) keeps eating at Phos aswell, which makes it more apparent what happens to them in the later arcs. There is only one path for Phos; Whether the truth they seek for is the one that saves them with englightment, or destroys them with despair. Phos is definetly the most interesting character in the entire series, and without them, the series wouldn't work.

Cinnabar is in the same situation as Phos; being seen as weak and off to the side to watch out for Lunarians at night, even though they don't appear. Their wish is to be taken away from Earth to the Moon to "fulfil" something, and their poisioning makes it unable to live with the other gems. They are ashamed of themselfs and hates opening up to the other gems, but overtime they show affection towards others. One of the main characters to change Phos' perspective.

They often show a weak side of theirs that they want to be separated from their partner that is Bort, due to having an inferiority complex. Although they don't say it out loud to other characters, their inner monologue ask themselfs about what would happen if "Bort was gone". A very dark gem which is quite ironic, considering they are the brightest of them all, definetly a very good choice from the author!

Lost someone very close to themselfs and obsesses with the Lunarians to keep her rage floating. Whenever they see a Lunarian, they turn to red.
Interestingly, they seem to become more jaded over the course of the series.

Art;

Albeit the weakest department of the entire manga and one i can criticize the most, i won't deny that this manga has some beautiful panels. Ichikawa manages to fully capture the tone of the series, by making use of the black colour which can capture dread very beautifully. They also how to make this manga feel very gruesome, even if there is no actual blood in this, which makes the manga art even more impressive. Here are some of my favorite panels!

Here is the last panel i will show but sadly, its spoiler if you haven't read past chapter 30;

Spoiler, click to view

Thoughts;

This manga is a brilliant art of work which genuinly captures the faults of us humans and implements the ideas of losing people near you being self-destructive. Constantly working yourself up to be a better human but failing miserably hurts, and this manga captures it very well. Ironically, a story about rocks, the most inaminate thing in the world, act more humane then actual human characters in other mangas so well, makes this story worth the read. If you have read Berserk/Vinland Saga and want something in that regard, i would highly pick up this manga since the three of them tackle the same struggle humanity faces. I would also reccomend this manga to all the people who love Eren from Attack on Titan (or used to lmao).

Definetly a new favorite manga of mine. Excellent and beautiful in its own right.

Here is a favorite quote of mine;

To come to acceptance with things and feelings is rare and to accept them completely is a miracle. It's impossible to make that moment come faster by yourself. Someday it comes unexpectedly. In order to not become warped or heartless, let it go in a natural way. Let yourself feel sad when you are, and let yourself forget when you do