What are we watching: Land of the Lustrous
What’s it about: 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.
Studio: Orange
Director: Kyougoku, Takahiko
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIYgPnSvnCE
Where can I watch it: https://twist.moe/a/houseki-no-kuni-tv/1 , https://nyaa.si/view/991627 , https://cytu.be/r/chapochat (At select times)
I wouldn't say resentment. She loves Bort very very much. She destroys her body in her desire to live up to her role as a diamond, her belief that as a diamond she should be performing as well as Bort performs, she is self-destructive in her desire to live up to her role as well as Bort can. Bort on the other hand, being the most perfectly constructed for fighting, just wants to keep her from taking part, Bort feels an overwhelming sense of responsibility in the role that she takes within this society, so much so that it makes her quite harsh with others, probably not helped by her personality.
The way Diamond talks about Bort, she tends to feel inferior because of how easy she cleaves. A 10 who breaks is hardly a 10 at all. She did mutter about how if only Bort was here, if I'm not mistaken. This sets up a tension between them that will come to a head later.
I'm not sure it's resentment towards Bort for her own ability though. That's her self esteem, her desire to try and be this image of a diamond she has in her head that she should be achieving. Her mental trouble is akin to dysmorphia, a person who would endlessly weightloss or throw up in pursuit of what they think they should be. Her resentment towards Bort, if any, is more like a resentment for Bort not allowing her to support her.
The dysmorphia read is a good one and one I've not considered myself [Edit: after my second watch I was far more comfortable with my nonbinaryness :thonk:]. At episode 2 it is too early to be sure the nature of White Diamond's tension with their relationship with Bort. Bort does care a lot, and is extremely overprotective of both Diamond and the other gems for their keen ability to fight the Lunarians.
I really dont want to color anyone's views on the episode discussions anymore than I have because I've seen the anime and read the manga up to the last translated chapters.
You know more than me then! I'm anime-only. I'll move onto the source materials when it's clear we won't get more anime but we know for a fact that more of this is coming so I've held off.
Hopefully, HOPEFULLY , 2022 will bring a S2. in the meantime strap yourself in,
spoiler
it gets heavy
phos is so painful on the re-watch, haha. I love how much of a character journey this show is. it's so rare to find stories that have the confidence to center their characters rather than plot events but the result is so much more vivid, interesting, and memorable.
yeah, their behavior is just uncomfortable knowing where they're headed. I think I just came to really like them over time but didn't connect with them initially so now I'm feeling that disconnection with a character I really enjoyed.
Interesting. I recall that when this originally aired a lot of people had the attitude "I liked Phos better when she was normal". I laughed about this at the time because it rather mirrored the way people behave towards trans people. Nobody actually cared what Phos wanted, they wanted cute silly Phos back and refused to see that despite how much she is changed by what occurs she is MUCH happier and doesn't experience crippling depression and inability to work after the changes she goes through. Of course the typical anime audience doesn't get this and ignores the problems of the character being depicted that I go into here . People's attitude of "nah she should stay as she is because I like it and it's cute" is completely dismissive of how crippled, unhappy and unable to be a productive member of the society Phos is prior to her changes.
It's interesting to see someone that dislikes Phos as she is here compared to later. Lots of people just seem to like her because "cute and child-like wonder".
oh hmm... it might be my personal experience coloring things. the person we see in these early episodes reminds me way too much of the aspects of myself that I've spent decades trying to root out (yay adhd). and so their change into someone who takes on all the responsibility in the world, someone who drives the world forward, really spoke to me. it never occurred to me that people would really like the lackadaisical, deeply depressed and hopeless Phos that lacks any conception of their own will. but I've always preferred strong-willed characters to happy and kawaii, in any case.
the comparison to trans people feels really apropos. both because you're right that people who view Phos through a lens of "they were so cute and silly, bring that Phos back" are objectifying them and because the character diagetically reconstructs themselves to better fit their own image of who they need to be.
she is MUCH happier and doesn’t experience crippling depression and inability to work after the changes she goes through
this is true, but at least where the anime ends,
spoiler
they're also dealing with some serious trauma and hasn't exactly learned to respect the humanity and agency of others
which continues to cause them pain.
this is true, but at least where the anime ends,
spoiler
they’re also dealing with some serious trauma
and hasn’t exactly learned to respect the humanity and agency of others, which continues to cause them pain.
Yes. I'm intentionally leaving out this because we're not up to that point. It should probably be spoiler tagged? She 100% becomes much much happier within herself but gains new troubles as a result of new experiences.
God I love this OP, it's so colourful. I really love how it contains such a huge amount of childish wonder in its depiction of Phos and the journey and troubles she's going to go through .
What happens if the doctor breaks?
The gems have absolutely no issues with physical contact and are way more touchy-feely with each other than normal. This I think is very much influenced by how touchy people were in the USSR, how much more physical people were.
Phos' problems: Hinted at in episode 1, are now explained.
This interaction is incredibly important for giving us insight into what Phos' problem is and what allegory to real life mental/physical problems Phos is dealing with.
Phos represents a transgender person. Phos experiences extreme dysphoria on account of being born into the "wrong body" for what she feels she is supposed to be within this society. In this society gender does not exist but roles in society certainly do exist and the writer is treating us to a conceptual idea of how expected roles in society can create exactly the same issues. Phos feels she is supposed to be a fighting-type gem. It's all she wants. She truly believes that is what she is supposed to be... But she is limited by her physical structure which she feels is wrong for her. She expresses the desire to be reborn in a different body type, this is exactly the same kind of thought transgender people go through, she experiences dysphoria and she is struggling with all the mental issues that dysphoria causes.
Diamond's problems
Diamond loves Bort so so much.
Inside this line from Diamond we are treated to our first glimpse of the problems of other gems. The different issues each gem faces within society and the mental battles they face. Diamond is perfect, she is perfect and wonderful and beautiful and loved by everyone. But even this gem, who is obviously so perfect, faces expectation battles. She weighs herself against Bort and finds herself lacking. She is our representative for that person you know that should have it all but still finds themselves troubled. She has low self esteem on account of feeling that she can't support Bort the way she wants to. This causes her to do dangerous things, dangerous and body-destroying things in pursuit of living up to expectations that she absolutely can't meet. These are expectations she shouldn't even have to meet, Diamond is wonderful and everyone can see that..
This probably isn't helped by the way Bort speaks to her and takes such a commanding lead in disallowing her participation in fighting. Bort though, being the strongest and "most perfect", likely suffers from her own problems feeling the burden of responsibility to protect that role places on her.
I would liken Diamond to someone with dysmorphia-related illness. A person that might be anorexic, or endlessly pursue fitness and never be happy with it. She will destroy her body to live up to what she thinks she should be based on her perceived belief of what a diamond should be and her own inadequacy in being what she has in her head.
The snail
This is the most visceral, horrific and awful artistic depiction of suicidal ideation and physical body dysphoria I've seen. This holds a dual role in the story, it depicts the occurrences going on, but it also uses body-horror to try and bring the audience into the emotions that Phos is feeling from her issues. It is trying to depict dysphoria and make people feel the chilling horror of being in a body you despise, a body you want to destroy, a body that feels like a monster to you, and this feeling, this emotion Phos is stuck with, is accompanied by the constant cry depicted here as she falls downwards into what is just a bottomless endlessly deep ocean she can't escape, "Save me".
I think with Houseki no Kuni, unlike other anime, it is extremely important to analyse a step deeper. There is art within art inside this show, and the dual meanings and depictions that are chosen are all intentional. It's a piece of work that is carefully construct art from beginning to end with layered meaning within meaning. On one level you can look at it as a simple shonen, but when you start diving into what is being depicted artistically you find something quite special.
I 100% don't want to disregard your reading or imply mine is any more true, but it's eye opening to me that you see Phos as a transgender representation whereas I, being cis + depressed, only saw them as depressed and similar to myself without considering a dysphoria angle. I guess maybe that's a sign of good art that people can read and relate to the same character from different angles.
I do love this show a lot and have already rewatched it multiple times, and read the manga to a similar point to where the anime stops, but had only really approached it from my own perspective, so that's a bonus of these group rewatches.
I think people with depression will empathise with any trans person when their issue is represented just as the visible symptoms to onlookers because the visible symptoms of dysphoria to an audience are... Depression, anxiety, self harm, etc.
The feeling of "I wish I was born in a different body" and "Something about my body is wrong" and "I do not fit correctly into the role that society is giving me" are all things that can only ever be expressed through speech, they are not expressed through behaviour or visible symptoms.
Ultimately what trans people experience is all the things that depressed people experience because their being transgender and being forced to conform to an incorrect societal role (wrong gender) causes them to have depression and multiple other comorbidities.
It is only when you deeply listen to the person in question and they tell you what is wrong with them that you can diagnose that they are trans, just like with Phos, you have to pay close attention to what she is saying about her experience to realise that what she is describing is so close to being trans. The gem society is unique in that it intentionally has no genders in order to represent the issue Phos has through a different lens -- that the issue of being transgender is about societally imposed roles for people and that even in a society without gender you can get something that looks almost identical but it would occur through a different set of societally imposed roles.
Honestly now you've said it, it's borderline explicit how clear Phos can be as a trans allegory, there are definitely some points later in the show I wont discuss here that I can see in a new light. I think part of the reason I missed it (rather than just my own self projection) is the genderless society, which does both obscures and highlight the idea of gender dysphoria, by making it not technically about gender anymore but showing the pure emotions of it, removed from our societal constructs.
Though it is a weird feeling to have a character I so deeply related to, suddenly gain potential depth I wasn't aware of/and can't fully relate to. Again I'm cis and this is outside of my experience, so please trust I mean no offense by anything.
I think that's another very important and interesting thing to think about in the entire topic. Huge numbers of people are capable of relating to and empathising with a character that is based on the trans experience... And yet the moment you try to explain that to a large amount of the audience their reaction would be pure hostility or denial of her status as a character intended to represent trans problems.
People can't relate to the causes of trans pain, but they can relate to the symptoms because the mental-health outcomes ultimately manifest in many things most people related to.
Many of those people would be part of the societal group that would say "No, you can't change yourself, you are not a fighting-type and therefore are not allowed to change yourself, this is unnatural!"
It is in recognising the similarities that we can say "You know what, I'd rather you weren't cripplingly depressed and in pain so you definitely should do whatever it is that stops you experiencing that." Anyone that experiences depression should feel this way about anyone else that also experiencing depression regardless of what causes their depression.
