Houseki no Kuni

Alternative Titles

English: Land of the Lustrous

Japanese: 宝石の国

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: Unknown

Status: Publishing

Published: Oct 25, 2012 to ?

Genres: Action, Fantasy, Seinen

Authors: Ichikawa, Haruko (Story & Art)

Serialization: Afternoon

Statistics

Score: 8.77¹ (scored by 11,551 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #34²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #202

Members: 39,212

Favorites: 4,070

8.77

Ranked #34Popularity #202Members 39,212

MangaAfternoonIchikawa, Haruko (Story & Art)

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Available on Manga Store
Land of the Lustrous
Volume 1
$12.99

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Synopsis

Long ago, Earth was struck by six meteorites, creating six moons and leaving a lone island in their wake. Those who could not make it to the island sank to the bottom of the ocean, where, over time, they slowly turned to crystal. As countless millennia passed, 28 of these crystallized lifeforms, known as the Lustrous, rose from the depths and resided on the island. Led by the wise Kongou-sensei, they must defend themselves against the seemingly infinite number of Lunarians, inhabitants of the moons who seek to harvest their valuable bodies for crafting weapons and jewelry.

Houseki no Kuni centers around Phosphophyllite, a young gem about to turn three hundred years old. Clumsy, extremely fragile, and having no visible talent, they are one of the weakest gems around, unable to help in the fight against the Lunarians in any meaningful way. But as the battle with the otherworldly invaders rages on, they soon learn that power comes at a cost that no one should have to pay.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

In 2015, Houseki no Kuni ranked at tenth on the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! rankings in the male readers category.

The series has been published in English as Land of the Lustrous by Kodansha Comics USA since June 27, 2017.

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Adaptation:

Houseki no Kuni, Houseki no Kuni (TV)

More characters
Characters

Phosphophyllite

Main

Antarcticite

Supporting

Diamond

Supporting

Cinnabar

Supporting

Padparadscha

Supporting

Bort

Supporting

Rutile

Supporting

Lapis Lazuli

Supporting

Yellow Diamond

Supporting

Alexandrite

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Dec 26, 2017

63 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

Derykasd (All reviews)

89 people found this review helpful

This review is spoiler-free, i won't give you any information you wouldn't find out by searching it or by reading the first chapters.

An absolute joy to read, both on it's visuals and the writing.

"Land of the Lustrous" is captivating, it looks like nothing i have ever seen and has an amazing use of the constant black background to craft loads of striking scenes coupled with dialogue that perfectly fits what it's trying to convey, this wouldn't be nearly as much of a masterpiece if didn't had this specific artwork. While it may not be as detailed as most manga are, this kind of composition works together with the narrative to create an absolutely outstanding piece of art.

Our protagonist is androgynous looking like almost every character in the story, his goofy and lazy personality allows for a much easier start and for us to easily relate to the character of Phosphophyllite, it tries to drag you in as soon as it can and doesn't waste your time, early establishing the main, elegant-looking enemy and the element that makes the entire story flow as it does, the physicality with which the Gems are broken. Not only does it look great, but it adds to the overall whimsical feeling and plot, by chapter one you already know what can happen to these characters and the chance that they can be rebuilt, it makes you ask questions about the moon and it's dwellers constantly, but you'll have a long way ahead to get those answers.

Reading the first chapter again surprised me by how many things it established i just didn't knew where that important and the great foreshadowing, it's very clear that Ichikawa Haruko had a very good grasp of what she wanted this series to be and created a structure in which she could execute all that.

It already starts off pretty interesting and good looking, and from then on, it goes to develop and entertain you with different things that have a believable relation, i never doubted the reasons of a character to be where he is or do what he does, and i definitely never doubted the flaws the characters have, they're not perfect, you may think that they would be after knowing how they look, but the first three chapters talks about three different characters and how they are far from perfect.

While the moon is one of the main elements of the story and being taken to it is clearly a sign of the characters losing, i felt that maybe it wouldn't have too much tension and payoff to the great buildup, i was terribly wrong, i'm not talking about the answers the series gives later on, even tho they are great, i'm talking about how satisfying it is to watch our character's tales.

Every time they broke beautifully, they get rebuilt and as result become easier to be broke again. Some series where characters can't be killed use things like cutting of a limb to take something away from the characters, so having immortal characters that can be rebuilt and not knowing exactly what happens on the moon may sound like the tension would be drain out by the circumstances, but it doesn't, the series actually manages to have a incredibly good body horror aspect both visually and narratively, which creates some of the best looking fight and presentation scenes i have seen in my life.

I could go on about the specifics, but that would be spoiler territory, and i don't want to ruin anyone's possible amazing experience with this masterpiece, i strongly recommend this and it's anime adaptation to literally everyone, as even the CG looks great.

Fascinating concepts, great character development and portrayal, this manga manages to masterfully balance fantasy, horror, action and comedy in a package that i can easily say will be my favorite manga for a very good time, maybe for the rest of my life, since one of the reasons i don't read too much are because most of then don't interest me and i just find anime to be easier to consume.

I can't praise this as much as i wished to, so i'll stop here and go watch something as you go read it, and i hope you find it as amazing as i do.

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Nov 11, 2017

61 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 5

youresquiddingme (All reviews)

75 people found this review helpful

[Spoiler Warning]

I really do like Houseki no Kuni's wonderful characters and whimsical fantasy tone -- until it loses it along with most of its charm and Phosphophyllite's sanity. From chapter 19 onward, Houseki no Kuni's tone and pacing suffer bouts of schizophrenia. Excessive and often repetitive action scenes drag out the midsection of the currently released chapters, littered with gratuitous "deaths". The most interesting and nuanced characters are sidelined until all that's really left to focus on is Phos, Cairngorm, and Adamant -- and maybe Cinnabar, too, since the mangaka really likes to remind you that Cinnabar exists just as you're about to forget.

Houseki no read more

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Mar 2, 2017

53 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

fancyjasper (All reviews)

75 people found this review helpful

This is one of my top manga series of all time.It's going to be getting an official English release this year and despite the series not being finished yet, i thought it'd be a good time to write a review of it for anyone who's curious about it.
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Story+Characters
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The story is very interesting and contains a lot of mysteries. It presents many questions about this world and it's characters. Like, who and what are the moon people? What is the managers goal? Where do these gems come from? and is there anyone else on this world?The series is not all dark and depressing either,as there is read more

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Apr 5, 2017

28 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

J_Kazue (All reviews)

48 people found this review helpful

One of my top rated manga, it has an uncommon and interesting story, due to the mysterious vibes it gives off mostly because of the lack of background information. (There are many clues around the series which i personally think that they are currently in a post apocalyptic earth whose humans 'dissapeared')

Character
Although, the change of personality because of a traumatic experience is similar to other mangas such as Tokyo Ghoul. The main character of Houseki no Kuni whose name is Phos has a particular character development that differs from them. Maybe it is probably because of her/his lack of perception and the ways she/he tries read more

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Houseki no Kuni
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Land of the Lustrous
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