__I have not read the manga basically beyond where the anime ends, and the high score I give this is at least partially dependent on how much potential I view there is in what lies beyond the anime's events. _Also, no outright spoilers beyond what's tagged.___
#Introduction#
Land of the Lustrous is wonderful. It is perhaps one of the only series, where I view the anime adaptation much greater than the original source material. No offense to Haruko Ichikawa, but I in fact read the manga prior to the anime. I read the first volume or two, and I remember thinking it was a neat series... but I didn't continue on.
Then, I saw that there had been a PV made for the manga back in like 2013. So I watched that and I just thought: "Wow, holy SHIT, this series is WAY better with color." I decided I would pick up the manga again at some point in the future, and some time passed.
That brings us to the announcement for the anime. Fully CG. Immediately, the defenses went up. "I really don't know about this. That 2D PV looked fucking great. I really don't want to get burned again."
I... absolutely did not expect this to end up being one of my favorite shows of the entire Fall 2017 season. It wasn't immediate. It was a gradual thing. But there's a certain action scene towards the end, not only was I fully invested and hooked into the scene, but I felt genuine danger for the character involved. And that's despite the fact that these gem characters are almost essentially immortal. If they get broken into pieces, they CAN be repaired if all the pieces are there. And yet I still felt danger for not just the one in that scene, but several throughout the entire series.
_...Actually, I'm not even sure I can actually name the last action series where I actually felt like the character is in serious danger. Like even when they get into tough straits, I know they're still just gonna fucking win anyways because they have to._
#The Gems#
Basically, the entire series is around this large cast of characters made out of numerous different types of gems. They are androgynous, and as previously stated, they are essentially immortal. If they get damaged or broken entirely, they can be repaired or put back together as long as they have all the pieces. They don't eat, they don't drink, and the youngest of these gems whom this series is centered around is at least three hundred years old.
Their usefulness in battle is directly linked to their rating on the hardness scale. But it quickly becomes apparent that hardness does not determine everything, as the gems who aren't the ones always jumping into battle first tend to have their own roles. Additionally, there is a rather weak one who only appears during Winter and throughout that entire season, their hardness rating is boosted up significantly, while the rest of the gems are forced to hibernate.
I would have thought since they all wear basically the exact same thing (except I suppose for the "doctor" gem), it would have been somewhat tough to differentiate the various gems from each other. But with the color, obviously that problem's not really there at all in the anime. In fact, as I look at the character list on Anilist, I'm honestly surprised at how many of them I can still recall beyond essentially I guess what you would call the "main core" gems.
Also, the impact or... the weight, of the gems while in battle is remarkable. Like the sound of the gems breaking or losing limbs is just... again, it really helps add the ability to actually have fear for what's going to happen to these gems as they battle, when you start hearing them literally shatter into pieces.
Also, the protagonist of course, as one of the weakest gems, can literally be pushed back by one of the other characters just breathing out air in their general direction. They just outright break if they're treated just a bit too roughly by the tougher gems.
Additionally, I really love the idea of the only danger that faces the gems on a daily basis throughout the series. They're not going to be killed, or rather... destroyed, but instead... reclaimed.
#The Lunarians#
...And that brings to me without a doubt, my absolute favorite part of this entire series. The enemy or antagonist that the gems face and battle with. The Lunarians. Strange beings that have come from the moon to hunt the gems, and if they must, they will literally shatter them into pieces in order to take them back with them to the moon. And then they will repurpose the gems they have stolen, and even use the various shards to make new weaponry to use on the rest in future battles.
Let me be frank here, for a moment. These motherfuckers are just so goddamned cool. They're entirely mute, usually expressionless, bright and shining, and they are completely fucking relentless in their goal. And they are actually pretty goddamned creepy as well. The track of the soundtrack that starts playing basically every single they show up is basically burned into the back of my skull.
The Lunarians are in my opinion, one of the largest puzzle pieces in why I love this show as much as I do. Like if they actually talked, weren't as creepy as they usually are, or like that track didn't exist... I mean, I automatically loved them like the very moment one of the gems cut one of their faces in half, and the Lunarian just fucking smiled in response.
#The World Building#
...I don't even want to get too far into it because I think it's actually too interesting to spoil too much, but I really love the idea of
Spoiler, click to view
humanity splitting and evolving into essentially three different separate species, but one wishes to reclaim the other twoand it only got better and better as it went along and as we even got to see stuff like the place where the gems are essentially formed and first found when they're "born" as well as what the "failures" end up being. I really hope the rest of the series just continues fleshing it out, because I am genuinely very interested in learning more...
...which I unfortunately can't actually say about a ton of other series I've watched.
#The Soundtrack#
I already touched on this given that the specific track for the Lunarians basically made the Lunarians for me, but I really kind of actually love the soundtrack. It seemed almost perfect for every single situation. When I read the manga, to be honest, I didn't think much of Cinnabar unfortunately.
And of course, lo and behold.
~~The Lunarians' and Cinnabar's track have been playing in the back of my brain for the seven or so months it's been since this finished airing.~~
But no, the soundtrack is another one of those things if it hadn't been just right, the balance would have been messed up.
#The Animation#
Actually, it's bizarre to me that just almost absolutely everything in this show just melds together as perfectly as it does. I've seen several people say stuff like "this is the best CG anime" and along those lines. I almost feel as if that's doing this show a disservice.
First of all... what competition does it have in that department, really.
Secondly, I don't think CG is absolute shit 100% of the time. And also the reasons for the CG largely determine the quality. If it's solely because it's cheaper or it's easier, then obviously it's gonna be a piece of shit. But obviously, the people who made this show not only actually tried, but seemed to actually care. That's the key.
When I say I think it's doing this series a disservice by judging it solely as a CG show, I mean I genuinely enjoyed it over a bunch of other action series that were entirely 2D or mostly 2D. There just felt like so much energy was put into the gems jumping around in the air, speeding along across the ground, and battling the Lunarians. The camera was going everywhere, but not in the visually nausea inducing "shaky camera" way.
It only seemed to get better and better with each next episode. It's actually ridiculous. My favorite action scene of this show is probably one of my favorite action scenes overall. I just kept thinking like why don't other series have anywhere near as much energy in the action as this? And also, I actually care!
There have been entire other entire series where the action scenes have me saying "oh jesus just STOP." But with this series, I actually wanted/want more.
And that's just crazy.
___#Phosphollyite#
Phos is of course the beating heart of this show. Phos isn't my personal favorite gem, but I love their character nonetheless. Because the core of the series, what it all revolves around, is how Phos' character changes throughout.
They start out as this goofy, kind of clownish, good-for-nothing gem because as they're the weakest gem and will break from just the other gems interacting with them, they can't go out into battle. And unlike other gems, Phos also does not have their own unique skill or talent either. Therefore, they do not have a job or a "purpose" among the other gems. But that all changes when their leader places them in charge of creating an encyclopedia.
It's nothing glamorous. It's nothing exciting. And it's certainly not what Phos wanted. But it was something that even they could do, and shouldn't have placed them in extreme and immediate danger. However, it of course goes off course and it ends up leading Phos on a path that would irreversibly change them. It goes so far that the leader outright takes Phos off of their encyclopedia duty as a result of them ending up in dangerous situations one after the other.
Yet it's too late. Phos has already started to change. And despite the fact, at a point, they change physically and actually gains a skill of their own, mentally, they have remained the same. Usually, when a character obtains a "power boost", they are almost automatically better and capable of using their newly gained skills or powers right away. Phos fails. Repeatedly. And it ends in horribly tragic results, and after enough of this, they change mentally as well.
If you watched this show and were frustrated with Phos, good. You were supposed to be frustrated with Phos. Because even when their intentions improved and ceased being as selfish and they actually genuinely truly did want to protect their fellow gems from the Lunarians, Phos was still unable to succeed. Or their outright subconscious desire to protect themselves directly stood in their way. A truly good character in my opinion cannot NOT have flaws.
By the later portion of the show, Phos is almost completely unrecognizable to who they were before. Whereas they originally WANTED to go out into battle, they are eventually an almost emotionless shell who are perpetually haunted by their failures.
Another interesting observation I made when I was watching this series and really hasn't ever left my mind since was that it was stated early on that the color Phos is is actually highly desired by the Lunarians and that is just yet another reason why the leader frowns on the idea of Phos going anywhere near battle. But there is a part following when Phos has had their physical body changed that they're chasing the Lunarians alone, but the Lunarians seem entirely set on fleeing from Phos to get back to the Moon.
I really liked that touch, whether it was intentional or not. Because I suppose it could have just been the fact that Phos could actually fight now, but in the context of that part of the show, Phos was one of the only three people currently conscious and awake. The Lunarians surely couldn't have had a better opportunity to try and take Phos, but they didn't. Because they had ceased simply being a normal gem, and had begun to
Spoiler, click to view
literallyTo very briefly summarize everything I just wrote there, I absolutely did not find Phos annoying and I view them to be one of the linchpins of this show.
#Conclusion#
Before I conclude, I do want to say that while I focused primarily on Phos given that she's the main gem that this series is centered around, there actually is stuff to some of the other gems.
A gem whose ability outright isolates them from the rest of the gems and forces them to patrol only during the night. A gem who is supposed to be one of the strongest but is being left behind by one of their peers, and seeks to do whatever it takes to stay by their side. A gem who possesses an unhealthy and consuming obsession over the Lunarians as a result of them taking their partner from them. A gem who wishes to repair their partner whose bodies remains heavily unstable. A gem who only appears during Winter and therefore has a stronger tie to the leader as they usually cannot interact with any of the other gems.
And so forth. I will most likely eventually catch up on the manga as I do truly wish to see where it goes from where the anime left off, but a part of me does desperately wish for a second season. Also, given how the majority of this review has been me gushing about this series, I suppose my score for this is not at all a surprise.
10 out of 10.
~~I actually had it at a 9 out of 10 before this review. But given how positively I apparently think of it and the fact that this review was a breeze to write despite the fact it's been over seven months since watching it, that original score was clearly a mistake.~~
~~Also for the record, yes, Antarctite is my favorite gem.~~