Land of the Lustrous is a seinen manga by Haruko Ichikawa. It was first published in 2012. It stars Phosphophyllite, a member of a race of human-shaped gem people called The Lustrous. The Lustrous live on the last continent on Earth after meteors struck the planet. They are led by a monk-like figure named Kongou-sensei.

Phosphophyllite is too weak and useless to have a job around the monastery/school. They want to be able to fight, because people from the moon keep trying to abduct their friends. Many things happen after Kongou-sensei asks them to compile a natural history of the land.

I'm enamored by the composition and style of these series. It has an art deco (?) esque aesthetic and the way the Lustrous have gem-like hair and expose their mineral nature when fragment is beautiful. There are also beautiful effects with liquid metal. The moon people look like figures from Buddhist mythology so, a lot of flowing fabrics and lotuses.

My one complaint is that it's hard to distinguish the Lustrous because they have the same body shape and dress the same and have the same skin tone after they apply white powder to cover up. I can't help but compare the character designs to Steven Universe, another rock people series that came out a year later :/

If you read this series, please try finding an official translation. The English scanlations online are inconsistent with pronouns. The Kodansha translation avoids using gendered pronouns at all, substituting with "that gem" or "that child".

The series is getting an anime adaptation, which is airing in October. I'm excited for it.

I want to watch the anime, it looks so pretty! It seems to be a CG show (which makes sense, considering how hard it must be to animate the otherworldly aspects of the series in a traditional medium), but from the trailer I saw, they're doing a good job!

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