Land of the Lustrous

[Raknasuu]

LOOK AT THAT GODDAMN COVER. It's beautiful.

 

[Countessofcosmos]

If you listen closely, you can hear my heart shattering like Phos's mind and body

 

[Fumettosa]

Gave it all a second read, which turned out to be essential to dispel my confusion. The sporadic upgrades (not an issue per sé cause you can see how much care the author pours into crafting her story) make it hard to grab both plot points and the absolutely necessary nuance of motivations.
This said,
On Phos:

Spoiler

God, being Phos is SUFFERING. I had to put down the phone at a point cause I had to realise the generic discomfort and hopelessness at my and my family's situation wasn't related to them, but to the feelings this manga elicitates. The points where they break down psychologically for the guilt strike a very vulnerable nerve. I love how that's depicted, it made me feel seen and understood, and at the same time it felt excruciating cause I felt I, as a spectator of their story, cannot help them. This is masterful storytelling.

On the characters:

Spoiler

They're all beautifully crafted, I love and hate them so much. I feel visceral rage towards Cairngorm and Cinnabar for forsaking Phos, but as the plot beautifully shows, it's not like they weren't manipulative in the first place, a trait emboldened by Lapis' head transplant. Reading it again helped me see that Adamant doesn't want to pray because he doesn't want to remain alone, away from the criminally cunning lunarians, the helpless admirabilis and the pure spirited gems. The lunarians, Enma in particular, are a piece of work. He was a facilitator of Phos' suffering out of his warped idea that a true human is a vengeful one. I ask myself if Phos' nightmare and subsequent rage wasn't the result of synthetic inclusions. A hint of that is Yellow Diamond's delusions of being a lunarian, that the scientist speculated was due to his new inclusions.
In general, every major character holds an important conflict, like Diamond and Bort's relationship, the amethysts, Alex, Enma, Ghost and Cairngorm, Adamant of course. That's just so good. Could've been so easy to make a completely Phos oriented story, but instead everyone around them is so alive. What really sells it to me is how non ideal they all are. Everyone has absolute scumbag traits right next to their most adorable ones. Such a refreshing break from the self serving good/evil bias we're constantly exposed to from all media. It's definitely an us/them story at some point, but nobody's absolutely right (so far), and the consequences of warlike scheming and self aggrandizing are shown realistically, if a bit hyoerbolically.

Also the art is amazing.
Damn I wrote another essay.

 

[snowblues]

"Phos is a gem who is given no assignment until the gems' master Adamantine asks them to write an encyclopedia."

I think he kind of forgot about it by now.

 

[cochicho42]

OMG the last chapter is amazing, i cant wait to the next one

 

[SanityBlurz]

Auuuuughghghghghghghghh PAIN

 

[iota-09]

oh boy... so, what now? and was that phos talking about "two pathetic gems", or... the gold?

i always had the gut feeling phos had changed in a multi-minded being after the gold fusion, and if my theory is correct, assuming the one who is speaking is the gold and not phos, what with the amalgamation that comes from gold and mercury and how the latter destroys/"eats" the former chemically... i wonder, what will happen?

i expect a lot of word soups in the next chapter or the one after.

 

[vaishnav]

This manga always manages to surprise me 😀

 

[futurecity10]

Woot, new depression chapter

 

[chunkymonkey]

I remember when this used to be a mostly happy manga. 😥

 

[cervidae]

the art really is incredible. i'm rereading and ichikawa is so good at including these subtle movements of the body (body language). if you reread, i recommend paying close attention to the way she arranges her figures, bc I swear the woman has skill.

also as sad as this chapter is, i realize that phos has technically fulfilled his promise to Cinna. Cinna DID get a fun job due to phos' actions...🤷🏾‍♀️😭

 

[MantisGhost]

This gotten really dark all of sudden. It also makes me happy to see that this project is not dead. I miss old Phos

 

[CookieMonster]

@MantisGhost

This gotten really dark all of sudden.

What do you mean all of sudden? It's getting darker and darker for like last 50 chapters.

 

[Phuocphuc46]

Just shoot me in the head and it would be less painful

 

[TherianTheorist]

Metallurgy Trivia; Mercury can soak into gold and silver, forming an alloy just by sustained contact.

 

[LemonSquares]

Season two needs to come out sooner

 

[Elandriel]

I appreciate the color but i guess i dont understand why

 

[anon763]

Aren't fan colorizations normally put in a separate manga entry?

 

[LordoftheKeep]

@LemonSquares or at all... 😟

 

[cervidae]

thnx for the colors but i am now sad over realizing they aren't NEW CHAPTERS gdi my heart is shattering my heart is breaking