It’s unfortunate that many people overlook and under rate CGI based series, me included. But after reading the synopsis and watching 4 episodes, I’m glad I made the decision to watch Land of the Lustrous. I guess you can say this is the…Hidden gem of the season \(\~_~)
Out of all the anime that aired this Fall, Houseki no Kuni caught my attention the most. With its oddly intriguing story along with the setting and characters. The characters of this series are gems. You know, Diamond, Jade, Alexandrite, and the other ones. Each gem has a certain hardness, how easy they can break. One of the very weak gems are our main characters, Phos and Cinnabar. I did not do any research so I have no idea about how each gem acts and their exact information. But the anime does well to explain enough the characteristics of each one.
Basically the Gems or Jewels task is to fend off against like, Moon Dwellers? They constantly fight the gems to kidnap them for the purpose of decoration. Of course, being gems, it’s understandable. With this, Land of the Lustrous does well to present an action packed, scenic filled, colourful, atmospheric anime for us to enjoy.
Unfortunately for Phos, her task doesn't come with badass fighting scenes, her (I know they’re genderless, so i’m just gonna refer to these as girls cuz they're more feminine than anything else) job is to write down notes for an encyclopaedia and make history. Not so fun is it. Being an easily breakable gem, Phos had it coming.
The soundtrack is quite amazing with its catchy opening and insert songs. The sfx used as well is amazing and the overall music just fits perfectly.
The animation is definitely a strong point, despite the CGI that it has. It flows nicely and the action scenes and cinematography is spot on.
I am pretty tempted to read the original source to see how it differs, but I do hear that the adaptation is pretty well made, so no complaints there.
The voice acting performance of course is very good as well, each character has an appropriate voice for those characters. It fits and it makes me feel for them more.
My enjoyment for this series is beyond the roof. To the calm, SOL feeling situations, to the action packed and serious scenes as well. Although the tone shifts could make people see this series different, I do believe it has a more positive impact than a negative one. I enjoy each character and the different types of jewels and the use of their “hardness” rank. I love how some gems are fragile and some aren't and they use that nicely in this anime.
Overall this anime needs more attention, just because something isn't cgi, does not mean it can’t present a good story driven anime with good characters within a good setting. Houseki no Kuni deserves a lot more. If you have time at all, I really do recommend watching this anime, because It wont be a waste of time.
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