Anime Review: Land of the Lustrous

Where to Watch: Amazon

Episodes: 12

Genres: Action, Drama, Fantasy, and Mystery

Rating: 9/10 I saw this anime somewhere on Youtube. After seeing it there, I immediately went and watch all 12 episodes. This is such a gorgeous anime. 

Synopsis from MyAnimeList: 

In the mysterious future, crystalline organisms called Gems inhabit a world that has been destroyed by six meteors. Each Gem is assigned a role in order to fight against the Lunarians, a species who attacks them in order to shatter their bodies and use them as decorations. 

Phosphophyllite, also known as Phos, is a young and fragile Gem who dreams of helping their friends in the war effort. Instead, they are told to compile an encyclopedia because of their delicate condition. After begrudgingly embarking on this task, Phos meets Cinnabar, an intelligent gem who has been relegated to patrolling the isolated island at night because of the corrosive poison their body creates. After seeing how unhappy Cinnabar is, Phos decides to find a role that both of the rejected Gems can enjoy. Houseki no Kuni follows Phos' efforts to be useful and protect their fellow Gems.

Review: I was attracted to this anime through the art that I saw while going through Youtube reviews. This was a show that kept me invested every single episode. The end of each episode was a cliffhanger and you just need to click on the next episode just to find out the results. Each episode kept me on my toes and the more I watched, the more invested I became to Phos and the other gems. I finished this anime in less than a week and I have zero regrets.

This anime takes place in the far future where life has been split into three organism. There are the bones which are the Lustrous, the souls who are the Lunarians, and the flesh who are Admirabilis. Basically the Lunarians are the bad guys who are killing the Lustrous and Admirabilis for their shells and gems. Land of the Lustrous follows Phosphophyllite (Phos) & Co. survival from the constant attacks by the Lunarians. 

The main character is Phos. Each gem in this world are assigned a task by their Master. Note: None of these gems have a gender. Strong gems such as Diamand & Bort who have high hardness are used as fighters to defend weaker gems. Other such as Jade or Obsidian have other jobs such as general or weapons maker. With Phos being one of the softest gems in their world, they are completely useless. By being so useless, they were assigned the job of being an encyclopedia keeper. The anime covers their journey of becoming stronger in order to protect the people they care about and discover what they are meant to be. 

I absolutely enjoyed how this anime was made in 3D. Every scene was just gorgeous. Not to mention, the fight sequences were all breath taking. I think going with 3D instead of 2D animation gave the Lustrous great visual effects. It is hard to show how beautiful gems are in a 2D format. My favorite Lustrous is Diamond. They are so gorgeous <3 

This is a great anime to watch if you're looking for something different in terms of character, setting, and plot. I'm sad at how this anime ended and I hope that they release season 2. It makes me wonder how long would people continue to fight for their life if they have no soul, purpose, or life. These gems live forever. They will never age, they don't need to eat, and they just simply survive. But how long can one live like that forever? I highly recommend this anime. Let me know if you've seen this anime and your thoughts on it!