I'll make this review short. And I'll treat the gems as "she" despite being non-binary because it is more easy for me to write this down. Thank for your comprension.
Our story takes place in a world where mankind has going extinct, and the world is inhabited by gems that are invaded by lunarians, a weird race that attacks, destroys and kidnaps the gems; Phos, our protagonist, laying in the ground with nothing to do, is wakened up by one of her gems comrades for a work offer... I want to summarize it as simple as this because the twist and the progression in Houseki no Kuni makes it that looking back at this chapter holds a so significant narrative and feeling in it that it is just incredible. Basically Phos is looked down funnily by her comrades gems because the strength of a gem is based in their hardness scale... Then how do our protagonist Phos starts? And that's the first approaching with its character: Phos wants to be stronger, to be able to defeat the lunarians despite having a hardness of 3.5, making it impossible in the eyes of everyone around her and even in the eyes of the master of the gems; Kongo.
And with the main plot summarized... What's so special about Houseki no Kuni? I think everyone who has read the manga will answer you the same: Phos, we, as lectors, are drawn upon such a journey of self-understanding coming from Phos that it is so emotional driven it can make people be fond of our protagonist problems and dynamics with other: The feeling of wanting to improve, to help others, just to see all crumble as you continue still going bad ways because of the way you're hurt, that is something that resonated with myself throughout the whole manga, that human feeling of self-hate because you don't fit with everyone else, that strong loneliness of wanting to change... Just to still being unaccepted by the rest... I won't explain in too much detail about Phos journey as experiencing it reading page by page is something that will just be stuck in the lector's mind for a long time. Phos change in the entire manga feels so natural and so well calculated it just can't stop amaze me, people often think Phos is rewritten by the author to make the protagonist fit in the story and Buddhist themes more, but that couldn't be further from reality. Trauma builds character, that's the philosophy in Ichikawa (the mangaka) as she continued the series with Phos, the excessive well thought dialogue and interaction between characters works as an example.
In one of the most tragic event for our protagonist, we heard how she is entrusted with the task of "helping sensei to not feel lonely" which is a phrase that resonated so much with our protagonist to the point where we see a real and straightforward correlation between her character progression and this idea that is hurt to see, despite all her changes throughout the story Phos continues to show her self to others in some ways: when she first changed she was still playful and kind to others, after that she still considered Kongo an important piece of her life, and after that she still wanted to help the other gems. That's what is so incredible about how the dialogue is structured and how everything is delivered in this manga, because it makes a twist around our characters, specially the protagonist. Ichikawa tend to make her paneling in which two character are talking some mundane things by a strong following of little change in expression to make it feel real and alive, so when a character speak out the main topic of their exchange in dialogue we're always welcomed with a big panel focusing in their expressions and positions, why? Because Ichikawa's way of portraying the relationships in Houseki no Kuni works as a full exchange between people who are hurt with a dynamic to make it like both character are part of the problem (the examples being between Phos and Cinnabar/Diamond and Bort) and I just absolutely adore how her paneling helps build scenes and dialogue, that's why I said Houseki no Kuni takes full advantage of the medium, because the monochromatic and the like "geometry" in the drawing in Houseki no Kuni is so perfectly well crafted that help us understand more the feeling that this work delivers the best: Loneliness.
The negative and positive space just along the structure of Ichikawa's art makes it so the themes and messages are perfectly cohesive with each other. This is not a work where the art is realistic neither it tries to be, but the style it has on its own is just so incredibly good and intriguing that it just went over my favorite art in all of the medium. I love everything about houseki no kuni's style and arts decision: The fact that even backgrounds are little to almost never drawn is something that works because of how it is handled (which normally would be a lazy and mediocre choice for an artist) and how the crippling feeling of misunderstanding and loneliness is present. Ichikawa's artwork and thinking is something that deserves praise. For example, in every volume until volume 11 (where something really big, happens) there is one character that is almost always drawn; Cinnabar, but she is dawn always in the page holder, being apart from every other character... Why? Because that's a subtle way of showing, a paratextual way of depicting Cinnabar's problems and themes in a clever and interesting way that works within the medium of a written work and portrayed it in paper. The budhism messages are a touch so lovely to this work that I always felt like everything was structured so well done I felt even little myself compared to the themes.
That thought-provinkg themes of Buddhism, incredible protagonist and the beautiful writing is what makes this work feel special and so magic. Houseki no Kuni is a manga that I followed since school since I was like 13 years old and is finished now that I'm 20 years old. Is a story whose themes followed in my path of life to this day and watching the culmination and how I even managed to understand the cycles of hatred, the loneliness, the sorrow, the fear of change, the fear or forgetting and the forgiveness is something that resonated in some aspects of my life as I have grown up, and the story continued unraveling itself. I may sound silly as I also feel I went on a journey of my own while Phos was going in hers. Sometimes I wanted to give up and feel far away from the world and the people, just as Phos did. I feel like I was lost in trying to please everyone else except me, just as Phos, that's why I'll always have a soft spot to Houseki no Kuni (despite having an overall excellent quality and being one of the best), but just as Phos continued and tried and tried until she achieved peace, I still continue struggling with life too, that's how much this works means to me. A fantastic even cosmic journey of how little we could be in the big picture, about what does it mean being human and the nature itself of us as humans. This manga portrayed so many things in such a creative and interesting way that I feel like this is one of those works that I'll cherish forever in my life and a work so interesting and marvelous it makes me wonder about the structure and the dynamic of a manga. I love Houseki no Kuni and Ichikawa for this work. This review works as a way to just shower this page with my gratitude and with the love I feel for this media.
I thank you, Haruko Ichikawa, for making a work as Houseki no Kuni. I'll remember it for as long as I live.
