Houseki no Kuni (HnK) is a story I hold near and dear to my heart. From its moments of joy and bliss, to the hopeless dread the story delivers onto the reader, HnK is a masterpiece from start to finish. I’ve been considering writing an actual review for something for some time now, and why not start with my favorite piece of media as of recently. The manga also just finished, so this is sort of a tribute to show not only my love for the series but a set in stone opinion of it.
To give a quick synopsis of HnK, we the reader view the story through the perspective of Phosphophyllite (Phos), a young, fragile gem that is different from the rest. With her body being one of the lowest hardness the Lustrous (the Gem Society) have seen, she is incapable of fighting. This leaves Phos to be ostracized from the rest of the Lustrous, as she lacks any sort of contribution to society. This spirals the reader into the multitude of events that occur over the duration of the story.
With that being said, I can get into my actual review of the manga. I will be structuring it where I divide the categories where the manga’s content falls under, and rate each aspect on a score of 1 through 10:
Story: 10
HnK on all fronts never reaches a low point. Each chapter is not only as enticing as the last, but somehow improves on the previous chapter. Not only that, but no single chapter goes without progressing the story, which actually causes the reader to be seeking filler content at times because of how action-packed each chapter ends up being. The actual material that the story follows is phenomenal, with a very in depth portrayal of its themes and constant foreshadowing of future events, leaving no twists to feel like ass pulls. There’s actually so much depth within each chapter it's easy for the reader to reread the manga three to four times and still find new things they never knew previously.
Art: 10
HnK’s art always has a certain charm to it. Ichikawa never fails to provide a polished look to each panel, whether that panel is a simple shot of Phos sitting, or an extremely complex fight between the Lustrous and Lunarians. The designs of the characters are minimalistic, yet they all have their own charm. A complaint I hear from time to time is how the characters look the same, but trust me with time it’s quite easy to tell the difference between them. The art isn’t just gorgeous, but it is well thought out and effective in conveying the themes. For example, the elevation in which the characters reside in a specific panel portray how they fit into the hierarchy. With perception and fitting into society being a constant theme across the story (I will expand on this later), Phos is often time positioned lowest in a single frame at the beginning to show she was seen below and inferior to those who were placed higher in the panel. This fluctuates as new characters are added and the status of older characters change.
Characters: 10
HnK having an ensemble cast requires the story to provide proper characteristics and “screen time” for a vast amount of characters, which can oftentimes feel like a drag to sit through. Despite this, HnK prevails to not only flesh out each and every character, but it's quite easy for the reader to love each and every character. No character exists without their flaws, and in that sense all the characters feel real and relatable. That's especially impressive, when considering it's easy to create side characters that exist for a single purpose or trait, and yet every character in HnK feels complex and bound for change. As for the main character, I cannot think of another character that triumphs the sheer relatability and depth that Phos has. This is possibly the #1 thing this manga is praised for, so I feel as if there is no need to go into extreme depth about this matter, but rather just take my word for it; Phos is beyond substantial as a main character.
For some final thoughts of the review, I have to say the themes that this story delivers aren’t per-say unique, but they are without a doubt high in both quality and quantity, and they stick. I think the biggest effect reading this manga had on my day to day life was the realization how significant having a role in society is; and the fact no one is born without a purpose. Phos struggles throughout this manga as they constantly seek a role in society, but when in reality the role she seeks is not the role that is proper for them. The story also poses philosophical questions, such as the nature of humanity and human behavior, Theseus’ Paradox, etc.
I If I were to recommend anything to anyone and I could only recommend a singular entity, HnK would be the entity I would recommend. From the thrilling story, to the beautiful artwork, to the amazing characters, HnK has easily secured its place in history as not only one of the best manga written, but one of the best pieces of fiction.
