Recently, I finally got around to reading the rest of the manga series Houseki no Kuni, better known over here by its English name, Land of the Lustrous. Some months ago, I had read up to around where the anime adaptation by Studio Orange ended and then got caught up in real-life things, so I never did get around to continuing it. With me being on summer break now having all the free time in the world, I finally decided to get back to it. In short, I’m so glad that I did.
Land of the Lustrous is one of the more unique stories I’ve read. It tells one of the most human stories I’ve experienced but does it with a cast of non-human characters. While their world is probably the furthest thing from my own reality, it’s the way the author went about expressing the characters and their emotions through these struggles that I found to be so relatable and endearing. Phos especially, being the main character, was (unfortunately for them) the perfect fit as protagonist of the story.
The things Phos goes through are nonetheless horrible, things people wouldn’t wish on even their worst enemy, but what makes them so impactful is the way they are used to subvert so many expectations the story builds up with the reader. Land of the Lustrous often builds up false contexts, allowing the viewer to form their own logical conclusions, then slowly breaking them down through its many twists and turns. It causes viewers to construct “desired endings” for the characters involved. “Desired ending” refers to a somewhat close hypothetical world where the viewer can see a story coming to its end and giving the protagonists what they want. This builds up a sense of hope within the reader, one that eventually proves to be false.
Just when one might think this “desired ending” is finally within grasp, the story expands its scale. It opens a new door and shows both the naive viewer and characters that what they thought was the means to their desired end was just a new beginning. Efforts were for naught, lives were for waste, and their situations often end up taking hard turns for the worst. The hardest part to accept is that when this subversion happens and the hope that was once had is yanked away, the only ones who are at fault are those who pushed for what they desired. Doors don’t open if someone doesn’t turn the knob, so the question for the viewer is what drove someone like Phos into reaching for that knob?
That sense of hope isn’t just something the viewer holds themselves, it’s a shared thing with the protagonist(s) that results from the story being framed around their point of view. That prior sense of hope which drew the characters into chasing that desired ending is also what the viewer was rooting for. It makes the experience of reading a story like Land of the Lustrous feel very personal, and when our expectations are subverted, it’s absolutely crushing.
Hope is yanked away, but as viewers, we realize this is what we were rooting for. This is what we wanted, or so we thought. We (as the protagonist and the reader) were so focused on reaching that desired ending that not once did we stop to think about the ways it might stab us in the back.
Our situations and experiences are what form everything about us. Our own stories are formed from everything that has already happened. Everything we are told and everything we see builds up every expectation we have. We create these hopeful worlds for ourselves in our heads based on the things we desire. We chase these worlds because it’s the reality we believe we want.
But reality isn’t often what it seems. Expectations are subverted. Dreams get crushed. It’s a scary world out there. You might finally reach that door you worked so hard for, only to turn the knob and realize the entire building is on fire. We get so caught up in our chases we don’t ever stop to see the forest for the trees, but that’s okay. We’re all only human after all.
Stories like Land of the Lustrous reflect this aspect of our lives. We function like metaphorical machines, but we are in fact imperfect. We make choices that reflect our programming, but our hands will at some points do things their body will regret. We’ve mistakenly opened the wrong doors, but at least we’ve reached it. At least we had that hope, and at least we tried.
Land of the Lustrous toyed with my hope in ways I never expected. As I saw so much of what it built up spectacularly come crumbling down, I couldn’t help but look back and appreciate the journey there. Phos made so many mistakes and suffered so much, but I still appreciate that hope they held. Even in their darkest spots, Phos still at least tried to make progress toward a greater future. Phos never did truly give up.
That drive was something I found so endearing. While the story was emotionally crushing, I still pulled something from it that I will hold onto for quite a while. We may be imperfect by nature, but we still can function in some way. You can shut yourself down out of worry for failure and you can be angry about making the wrong choices, but the future is often something you can only see through blind eyes. Why shouldn’t put your all into building that desired end?
Sometimes the best thing you can do is swing your hardest and run for your fucking life, at least then you’ll know you tried.
Credits for all pictures used: Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa.
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