After writing my horrendous SAO ""review"", which was just an angry rant, I have now decided to actually write an actual review of something I am very passionate about. I only discovered this series just two weeks ago, but it's already in my favourites. I want to talk about what exactly makes Houseki no Kuni so amazing in my eyes.

This review will contain a lot of anime spoilers, so please proceed with caution. I will talk about the story a little bit and then about the characters (namely Phosphophyllite). Please keep in mind that I have never written an actual review before and that English is not my first language, so please bear with me. With that out of the way let's get into it, shall we.

THE STORY
In a world where gem people populate the earth is our protagonist Phosphophyllite. They are an almost 300 year old gem who is trying to fit in with the rest of the gems by fighting the lunarians and protecting everyone. However since they are a very brittle gem, they are not allowed to fight, but after 300 long years their beloved Kongo-sensei is finally able to give Phos a job, that being making an encyclopedia. Phos isn't thrilled about this news, but have no choice and accept their new job. Over the course of the anime, Phos get in trouble a lot of times, because they are still very curious and want to fight alongside the others. At first I thought this story would kimd of go in a "Shounen-like" way: Weak, useless protagonist dreams of being strong and fighting off the lunarians for the sake of everyone else and with the power of friendship, Phos gets great power and achieves their goal in the end. I was right about the fact that Phos gets very powerful and fights, however I never ever expected that events would turn out this way. I now want to elaborate this in the characters part.

THE CHARACTERS

I want to specifically talk about Phosphophyllite, since they are the character that changed the most.

Phosphophyllite is our weak little protagonist. Over the course of the anime they undergo drastic changes. In the beginning, Phos seems like this cute little gem, whos a bit goofy, loud, very clumsy, but also very sweet and kind. This does not make them popular with most of the gems however, since they often see Phos as a "useless idiot who keeps getting into trouble" and the viewer perhaps does agree with this. Phos DOES get themself in a lot of trouble, they DO get themself shattered a lot of times, they can't fight, they may be too loud and obnoxious and the other gems keep have to save them. Phos is 100% aware of what the other gems think of them and the anime shows this. From the very beginning, we can see that Phos hates themself. There are several instances where Phos doubts themself and even doesn't mind shattering in the ocean, getting lost forever since "they are useless anyway and by dying in the sea they werw at least useful to Ventricosus". Phos wants to find purpose, they want to be loved, they want to be acknowledged as a good person, they want to be useful to someone. This is why they want to fight and this is also why they want to find a job for Cinnabar. Cinnabar is depending on Phos, whether they are admitting it or not, someone in this world where everyone thinks that they are useless is actually waiting for them to help them. This is what Phos wanted all along. However things take a horrible turn fast. They get betrayed and lose their legs, they almost let the Amethyst twins get captured by the lunarians, they lose their arms to the ice floes in winter and Antarcticite gets shattered and captured. Antarc's death js the huge turning point in this series and things only get worse from there. The innocent Phos from the beginning seems to be completely gone. With agate legs and arms made of a gold-platinum alloy, a new Phos now stands before us. With this they are now finally able to fight, they already got what they wanted all along in episode 9 of the anime. They seem more distant and suffer from severe PTSD, blaming themself for getting Antarc killed.

"Phos could just go to therapy!", "They could just talk to someone about it!", you say? How would they do that in a world where nobody has ever changed for the past centuries? How could they do that in a world where mental health is not a known concept? The other gems never changed. They have always been the same. Yellow Diamond, the oldest gem alive with over 2000 years old, also lost a lot of partners, however they are just keeping their feelings inside, brushing them off and living their life, even forgetting why they are fighting in the first place. Like Rutile said, when a gem loses parts of their body, they also lose their memories and also a part of thenself, their character. Phos has lost all four their limbs, they are no longer this cute innocent gem from the beginning. They are suffering from PTSD. Phos never really fit in with the other gems, they were always curious, they were always asking questions, they were always trying to change themself, while the others were content with everything they had. So how could the others help them when they never felt the things Phos is feeling at this moment? In a way, all of this makes Phos more human.

In Shounen anime you always cheer for the main character to get stronger and more powerful so they can beat up all the villains with just a few punches and you feel happy and proud when they grow. But in Houseki no Kuni this growth feels wrong. It doesn't feel rewarding in the slightest, as you watch Phos lose themself more and more. It makes you want to go back to the beginning of the anime and tell Phos how amazing they are right now and give them a gentle little hug. It's very tragic to watch everything unfold.

I strongly urge you guys to read the manga. Most of the questions you have while watching the anime get answered. Fair warning however: This is not a happy story. It's a story of someone's mental health deteriorating more and more as the story progresses and it's absolutely heartbreaking to watch it unfold. Phosphophyllite is an amazingly written character and Ichikawa's art alone makes reading the manga worth it.

Thank you for taking your time to read this.