Anime Twitter Spotlight: Horror Rocks

Today, I take a look at the Twitter artists of a fanbase for Land of the Lustrous, or Houseki no Kuni. While I have a deep love for the series, I've come to also love the artists that congregate around it. There's something unique about the talented people around the fanbase, but what is it exactly? Let's find out...
PS: I swear I'll improve my video output lmao
Featured Twitter artist, QuanXiaHanYan: / quanxiahanyan
Music:
"Marble Machine" by Wintergatan: • Marble Machine - Band ...
"Machines That Sing" by me: • Machines That Sing - J...
All Art sources:
ciloranko
_____ite
mimoza303
katsumirah2
mo_nirvana_ka
o_haru24
V_of_0
Kisuette_
W0_0ny_C
s_s_s660
kawaii_wanal
qwxqd
Nyangji_
adgjlkkk
tikusyou125
YEXUAN825
Li_thi_a0101
amonamaru4
kyu_sai74
con__pei_tou
adgjlkkk
dooodleD
hgs_zm
shinytoxapex
IRigoma_15
cj60909002
musheng656
misoka0
QuanXiaHanYan
iciriini

[@qeeun5140]

The body horror is a side dish. The main dish is the depression after reading and watching the anime.

[@tea_n_ink]

for such a small fandom, the art of HNK is INSANE, it has this strange beautiful existential, body horror to it

[@phosphophilite1130]

Quality over quantity

[@tennicksalvarez9079]

Ive just finished it just damm just damm!!!!!! Oh god

[@blwlmnswg]

exactlyy j read ch 106 today & it's weird but yeah beautiful

[@whomst855]

Every artist in this fandom is a fucking mastermind and I'm so happy that more people are noticing this underrated gem of a manga.

[@kathleengracihana646]

I see what you did there

[@noonstar3435]

*ba-dum tsss*

[@tiringsarcasm]

Another lovely Essay, I’ve always been interested in body horror that don’t incorporate any gore because of the ingenuity shown by artists who go out of their way to do so. This series seem to depart from horror as a tool to scare you but instead as a tool to show you the truth of Phos' state of mind. This is amazing because the fear comes not from a threat to you but instead your ability to empathize with them. Thus creating horror from understanding. I also find the message hard to grasp and considering how many artists are involved it makes sense. Every artist saw something inside the series that they found compelling and sought to show that narrative through their art. While many people and artists have a general understanding of the narrative direction every single one found a different way to interpret it. Like white light refracting into a thousand different colours. Truly beautiful.

[@Deluxe2004]

The character is called phosphophyllite, but the mayority call it phos. I really recommend you to check the anime or manga, the art put in both of them are just beautiful, specially like how the creator (Haruko ichikawa) makes the Manga illustrations, this gems are recognizable by their hair color, but the author makes possible to show their reflection and personalities in the black and white environment. Seeing how perspective and narration are used are some of my favorite things about this series. I hope you will give it a try :)

[@tiringsarcasm]

@@Deluxe2004 I will absolutely try it out! Although I am finishing a webnovel right now, I'll be sure to take a look.

[@Keesh_Oak]

I loved watching Land of the Lustrous when it came out. I've been meaning to start reading the manga, and ur vid definitely pushed me to make it my next series to marathon. As always, keep up the great work Khang! Can't wait for the next vid!

[@ceton1843]

i pary for you. you're in for one hell of a ride. also lucky you the hiatus is finally over so you wont have to sweat if or not the series will be discontinued

[@Deluxe2004]

Yes, please read it, you will not regret it, the art of Haruko ichikawa it's so beautiful and shocking, seeing how she can make work a colorful world in a black and white environment.

[@smolmoru]

go for it. the story and art are amazing. but beware, it just goes further downhill from there.

[@WobblesandBean]

Spoiler alert: It doesn't end well. You will be left VERY confused, dissatisfied, and upset.

[@essorath5870]

When I made my friend read the series he said that he cried multiple times

[@queenviren]

I just drew lustrous fanart a couple days ago. They are some of my favorite characters to draw. They are just fantastically designed characters, and I frequently browse lustrous fanart. The creativity is nothing like I’ve seen before

[@apolloandwarrior_3229]

Same, I just finished one of Phos and my Twitter pfp is a chibi lil Morga

[@princesssparrow4530]

I LOVE LAND OF THE LUSTROUS SO MUCH IT SO COOL TO FINALLY HEAR PEOPLE TALIKING ABOUT IT! It's so underrated for how good it is :( thanks for making this, all the fanart you showed was so ethereal, I can't believe that I missed it! The fact that all the characters are technically beautiful stones, gives all the body horror its special flavor~~

[@inspirashamul]

I hope you got the chance to reach out to these artists to see if you can display their work on this video especially since this is a running segment on your channel. Great script though I really do love all the fanart for Houseki no Kuni because of how eerie and disturbingly beautiful it is. I can't even count the amount I have saved in bookmarks lol but love to see the series talked about in this way particularly because of how unique the fanart is compared to other series!

[@Fos-]

Hi there

[@krisn4006]

Hello there

[@krisn4006]

And yeah some artists really don't like their arts being used in other's without / with consent

[@chaoseq69]

It's the dood himself

[@inspirashamul]

@@chaoseq69 yessir!

[@moobymooby3214]

Houseki no Kuni made me realize the job I want to do, it made me realize something important. That's why it holds a special place in my heart. It also touches the way of how time flies, the ways to or not to move on and how someone can reject themselves, and this are some of the things it covers. HnK is underrated, the story is good, the animation is beautiful, and the Manga is impressive. I totally reccomend it.

[@temmie4198]

I can't even express myself, houseki no kuni is simply beautiful in every aspect. It has one of the best character developments in the whole world, I would do anything just to be able to tell Haruko Ichikawa how grateful I am for having created perfection in a literary work

[@herrscherofascendance52]

Oh boy if u see Phos Final form his/her Divine form.... It's much heart breaking (at least for me who's been reading it since day one) Phos after 10,000 years of lonely Apotheosis to divinity finally gained everything, Power, knowledge, and Absolute authority. Phos obtained the special status the original Phos wanted from the beginning......... And yet not a single resemblance of Phos former self can be seen at all... Featureless, blank & faceless like a mannequin Phos became as such.... A lonely God who wishes to die.

[@momoko6917]

houseki no kuni is my favorite anime and manga because it's beautiful , the anime and manga give that feeling of melancholy on a cold morning, it's a great story that I recommend to anyone

[@stephlala094]

I am obsessed with Houseki no Kuni. It's amazing dude. It ain't good for my mental health but God damn is it great 🤧

[@Angel_Underscore]

Oh you appealed to the HnK fandom? you cracked the formula, I bet you are gonna get a subcount explosion. Keep it up this was great.

[@colox97]

IMO HnK is the anime (or even story in general) that best represents metaphorical breaking of oneself with the actual phisical destruction of the body, it conveys so much more than just a scar or a missing limb

[@ruk7657]

Aahhhh, I've only recently started reading Land of the Lustrous after sitting on it for litteral years so I can't finish this video yet out of fear of seeing something that I don't want to BUT I love that you've used the "Marble Machine" song for the BGM. Great to see a new video from you!

[@essorath5870]

I’m going to assume you caught up by now, how hard did the depression hit you

[@louxie6367]

Land of the lustrous is one of my favorite manga, purely for it's way of capturing Phos' slow decent into despair and loneliness. The manga isn't perfect but I don't think I have every read anything that captured a feeling so well, which is also why it is amazing to see art that manage to do the same. The expressions, the solitude and the muted and often cooler colors.

[@Grappleberry]

Prior to reading Land of the Lustrous I had never been too interested in the body horror side of art. Afterwards, though, it was like I had my eyes opened. It’s so fun being able to draw things that would normally be quite disturbing and gorey without all the blood, guts, etc, and instead illustrating the beautiful shine of gemstones. Also, the artists in this community are amazing. I’ve never had any bad experiences with any of them! Great video! It definitely captured the talent of this community well.

[@elooplan6612]

I think for me its the fact that phos has all of these different stages and each stage is different even though it is still the same person. The transformations are beautiful yet also sad seeing as the innocent person phos originally started as turns into a monster of loneliness even though near the end they are overall trying to save the gems yet get hidden and ultimately they were set up from the beginning so whatever happened to phos was destined to happened and phos couldn't escape it. The idea of that is very interesting to most artist and just trying to interpret it in a beautiful way is almost like a different way of thinking

[@miri5609]

Houseki no kuni / Land of the lustrous is such a great series. Not only its story and character, but there's something about it that really made it stand out to me. There's really a certain feeling you get when reading it, and as an artist I really feel it. I've drawn stuff for multiple fandoms, and yet almost all my most detailed drawings are of this one. there's just something about it hard to grasp with words that i think all of us are trying to encapsulate in our art

[@erineberly4734]

I hope anyone who has only seen the anime comes and reads the manga cause it's truly something amazing

[@pauline_f328]

Phos is a character I relate to a lot. Despite being in general unwilling to change myself for others, my whole life I've bent over backwards trying to meet expectations I just couldn't meet, not with my mental health intact, and sometimes not at all. I've given some the benefit of the doubt, assumed maybe they were right, and that even if they weren't I wasn't entitled to them appreciating me. Over time, it all built up inside, and once in a while it explodes in a sudden bought of powerful anger - powerful because it's in private, and so instead of turning against others I oftentimes turn to art. Whatever the original intention, that's what those drawing - and Land of the Lustrous - convey to me. Accumulating pain over time, smiling through it, until it starts bursting forth, become impossible to ignore and finally, _finally_ comes anger - anger that can be directed at people, but is even more often directed at the void - at the world that set you up to fail so many times over. At the people around you who let the wounds accumulate without noticing that they were there, or even minimized them because they didn't realize their number. At the self sometimes too. To me, these artworks embody that tension between having pain and anger but not being able to express it verbally, and instead doing so in whatever other way you have available. The way you dress, the art you make, the way you move, the expression you have when someone says something that deeply hurts but you aren't able to explain why. It's a cry for help that you don't expect to reach anyone - a plea into the void that has hurt you. And so, it doesn't need to be clear - couldn't be clear, perhaps. You have to invent your own way of expressing it because the world hasn't given you the tools for it. It's when you're stuck between a rock and a hard place and nobody will come help you and the only thing left you can do is go _splat._

[@HANIMEME]

WINTERGATAN LETS GOOO

[@anastasia_852]

Houseki No Kuni is the most unique manga and anime out there I've ever seen. The way how body horror represents the lost innocence and depression of these gems is done brilliantly. I'm glad you made a video about it. Edit: Now that the manga has ended, let us pray for a S2 so we can watch Phos suffer in smooth animation.

[@castellaris]

finally, a new video from this channel to rewatch over and over again

[@jzwaan02]

I want to mention that, not only do I find this video to be a great display of how creative the HnK community can be, but also that your choice of music here is impeccable. Most people know about Marble Machine, but the second track in this video doesn't even have a 100 views on YT, which is criminal. Great video, but also thank you for introducing me to a new beautiful piece of music.

[@jmes3242]

houseki no Kuni is a story that's connected with so much. phos is such a sad tragic character. phos is a character that was completely used and manipulated his entire life. the other characters only started caring about him when he started proving useful to them

[@YaburuRunyaru]

They're someone who went to art school who's talented in surreal illustration. The detail is rad here. They really must feel a connection for what this character has to go through if they have this much patience for so many works. I've always considered reading/watching it, but I haven't really gotten a a chance to.

[@LostAbyssParadox]

Love you Khang!

[@Ellistar]

land of the lustrous is so unique and strange, its not lude, gory or happy, its just, sad. You dont know how depressing and meaningful the show is until you look back and think about it, thinking about how phos just keeps breaking more and more and replacing themself to become useful, they destroy themself to the point they no longer are themself. Its so strange, yet, beautiful.

[@Rarchieo]

I appreciate that you leave the source/handle for each artist as they were on screen. I have a bunch of new artists to follow.

[@noonstar3435]

I think Land of the Lustrous is about not losing your kindness and passion to the harshness of adulthood, and how you'll lose what you truly wanted most if you start changing yourself for other people.

[@kazumihiga7792]

A great interpretation to put on my list (no Mather how much I see in any comments and I still get so much from what they say)

[@kurrs177]

indeed, one of the best things about the lotl fandom is how they beautifully produce artworks.

[@squiggle3801]

Just finished the manga and this video is hitting different different

[@planktongunslinger5730]

YEESSS. I've always been an twitter art fan, but this type of fanartists doesn't get the recognition it deserves. It's unlike any flashy oversexualised fanart I've seen.

[@Hero_15]

I started watching it two days ago and was so excited that I read the manga right after the anime ended and was shocked by the dark turn of events.

[@hajojo]

This was a really beautiful spotlight. I absolutely adore Houseki no Kuni. The series means so much to me and Phos as a character may be my all time beloved. Only thing is, I'm not on twitter. All the Houseki Fan Content I've seen and consumed is from KZbin and KZbin alone. There's some beautiful works of art here, but nothing quite like the still pieces. I was wholly unaware of this side of the fandom, and this pristine beautiful quality of art and honestly I almost felt myself driven to tears. Thank you for making this video, I will check out more of the artists shown. Maybe one day I too will contribute (but twitter scares me haha).

[@Creatorsan]

If I had to describe Houseki No Kuni, it's pretty much a psychological horror about the journey of a sentient rock that keeps you hooked the more you read the manga. Honestly some of the panels are so beautiful yet terrifying when you think about how it'll effect Phos.

[@Thenormal880]

Loved the video man keep it up

[@shlrup6154]

Houseki has such amazing artists...

[@saaaaaaaaalt838]

I LOVE the art scene for hnk. It's a large part of the reason why the series is still a main stay in my brain. It's progressively branched out to other aspects but I first made a twitter account to follow these artists.

[@benruniko]

I was shocked how well Marble Machine worked as background to this. Great video! Edit: oh wow there is a whole subgenre of art i need to go appreciate now. Thank you for letting us know! I am glad this all exists.

[@yshihootelle]

I'm glad someone feels the same that HNK probably has one of the most beautiful and sparkly fanarts and talented fan artists out there. It makes me so happy listening to you feel the love and care these artists makes for a show about depressed rocks.

[@berika6]

I was not very familiar with anime/manga but an artist I followed retweeted a japanese fan artists work. I had to see what this series was about. So many possiblities for exploring so many visual themes!

[@jonnevitu4979]

Watched the first season in basically one go after knowing of its existing by a random meme, after I found that theres was no season two I decided to read the manga, that was the first time in almost a decade I wanted so hard to know about what happened to an anime character that I escaped the " I only watch the anime" thing. As someone who you can say have a normal life besides the big ghost behind me telling me I wasnt suppose to exist due my mom getting pregnant kinda of on the edge of the age possible to that to happen + the wrong incentive to not worry about protecting herself while making sex cuz "too old" coming from her doctor. The journey to found a purpose to live is something I can relate maybe too much with Phos. "why am I here?", "why do I have to be a burden to someone that just wanted to retire?", "what if I just didnt exist?", "I really hate that doctor". If I could give back my 21 years to her I would do that without thinking twice.

[@Jazzimus]

hnk fanart always be hitting different

[@veryredfumoze]

let me just say this... drawing these rocks are is hard as shit that slender shape is so hard to get right

[@SaltSniffer]

Silently hoping you do something on 86 bc you would honestly have a field day with it 💞 It has so many characters sith traumatizing lives and backstories, metaphors, BEAUTIFUL animation, and so many things I simply cannot express them in a single comment. I hope you give it a look ♥️

[@smolmoru]

I have no words to explain how much I adore Houseki no Kuni, but it's not just the concept, story and the art that infatuated me. for me personally it also is one extremely rare representation for people, like me who identify as agender/genderless. one that's not just a robot or something. also there is no romantic plot anywhere(!!spoiler!! besides one that's basically grooming) and therefore HnK seems to attract aro/ace people. given that we barely get something that is nonsexual, barely romantic *and* isn't quite the material for lewd artists, ofc aspecs would find the gems appealing. at least I've come across more HnK fans that are on the aspec and/or agender than that aren't and I love that I feel like to make the point I'm trying to make a little more understandable, I should mention that for aspecs(not for all aspec, cuz well it's a spectrum with vastly differing people) that are like more on the repulsive side, it's not uncommon that they have to leave a fandom, because their repulsiveness gets constantly triggered by horny fans or in general allos making almost everything sexual in one way or another. this happened to me recently and I couldn't listen to my favourite band, that also helped me through a really dark period of my life, because of that exact reason. I basically instantly lost a supportive pillar I usually could rely on when overwhelmed and stressed by life. I can't forbid people to do that, nor do I want to, but I just want to spread some awareness for a minority that often gets ignored or just isn't worth consideration from allos (sorry, I can't help myself. but it's somehow a way to spread awareness for those who usually face denial of existence from *all* sides)

[@Noname-lx2gq]

I love this video so much. The well thought out analysis of the fan artists and how they convey and interpret Phos’ development as a character is so interesting. I utterly enjoyed hearing your perspective on this topic considering I’ve noticed this as well and now I finally have the words to describe it.

[@kayeanneotico1603]

Horror lies within the beauty is the definition of Houseki no Kuni/Land of Lustrous

[@Ghost_of_spades]

The burger picture is the best one yet

[@CatsRule1001]

QuanXiaHanYan's art reminds me of QinniArt's style. She passed away from cancer a few years ago, but specifically the art at 3:49 REALLY took me back. Her art is beautiful and would have been wonderful in the world of Land of the Lustrous.

[@AlexHa]

❤️❤️

[@mr.Rafaguirre]

Funny how i get into this series due to a lewd fanart, but got attracted to the characters, beautiful arstyle, amazing story, gorgeous soundtrack and specially the amazing fanarts. I really love this series

[@rougestarlight4308]

MORE HOUSEKI NO KUNI CONTENT, LET'S GOOOOOO!! Thank you so much for your work

[@marceloguerra6658]

The fire that started in me to get back into drawing the Lustrous 😭 absolutely beautiful video ❤💎

[@zenozelda3542]

I had this recommend for me so many times so I decided to watch it now. Your interpretation and words literally made me cry.

[@Stillseeurshad0ws]

Its beautiful.. I appreciate all this wonderful art. Every piece is superb and I love it all, so much talent with this fanbase.

[@apieceofblueglassmoon]

I love your videos so much, your voice is so calming and I've almost watched like almost all of them www

[@atrophos4104]

thank you for this video, amazing music, amazing way of explaining everything, hope this video gets popular and leads the show to get more recognition and hopefully a second season as i've been waiting for another season for years,

[@wtfdoiputhere2310]

Wonderful video!! Most artists have read the manga where over time it dives into deeper segments of the already hard topics such as ptsd inferiority mental instability and more most artists find their own ways into interpret the story and show that via their art phos transformation over the series is hard long and dark they have little to nothing left of themselves at the end which these artists do a wonderful job at portraying the loss of self and self destruction first unintentionally but later knowing destroying yourself mentally most of the headless depictions of phos stem from a later chapter in the manga where they lose their own head and have a new one attached the head had stored it’s own personality and memories and this drastically alters an already somber phos into someone who’s so calculating their reckless which has drastic consequences for all the gems i think all these artists didna wonderful job of protraying how they observed this transformation

[@yato_simp1711]

At first i was very impressed, I was starting the anime and i went to see some fanart, I am not afraid to say that every single one is breathtaking... I just finished the scan...im broken, my brain no longer brain, my heart no longer heart... Even tho the end seems messed up and made my head hurts.. Spoilers The emptiness of the manga is everything...there not a lot of details, like on the moon.. The moon is empty the earth is empty.. phos...is empty The end made me cry, not because everyone i liked dissapeard but... everyone left phos to their lonelyness. For 10.000 years.. I wanna jump off a Windows.

[@silanpoly4695]

5:12 people who watched the first episode All other arts - people who watched all season(+read the manga)

[@UniverseUA]

I also made a fanart of Phos

[@hipunpun]

Great vid! ❤️

[@dustbunny4544]

This guys voice feels forced but I love his videos

[@Life65Set]

Finally someone covered HnK art properly. Thanks for the work!!

[@josephcharabin2641]

Thank you for doing this video

[@ren6140]

This is such an specific video, but one I feel the same towards. I hace a dedicated archive with hundreds of fanarts from this series stored in my PC. And now, I shall further expand it

[@choxomoxxo565]

Damn I did not expect to get so flabbergasted at strokes of a brush on a canvas and it's REALLY impressive, but now I think my brain has more ideas for some uh, dreams, no sleeping tonight I guess

[@lexo365]

Yeah i know right! That artist is amazing, I downloaded almost all his posts to use them as wallpapers lmao

[@Seraphythesimp]

NO WAY A VIDEO ABOUT HOUSEKI NO KUNI IN 2022?? *Shed a single tear of happiness.*

[@rielle7469]

wow thanks for making me fall deeper in love with the IP 😦

[@WobblesandBean]

Lol I love how the music is Wintergatan's Marble Machine only with bells.

[@artz-chan9640]

A.k.a the fan artists are goats amen

[@radiodreampinas]

HOLD UP- OS THAT WINTERGATAN I HEAR IN THE INTRO OF THE VIDEO???

[@aperson9603]

Land of the Depressed Land of the Mentally Ill Land of the Longing for Happiness

[@nitawzanyokeoneo1271]

Yo' nice video bud! B)

[@TheNemkris]

Had to mute but thanks for the art compilation.

[@SpaghettiTheory]

I really like your videos but please man, having the audio be so loud on one side only makes it barely watchable. It's quite easy to fix in most any editing programme.

[@atrophos4104]

i quite like it. it goes so well with the video

[@lovely-maxcaulfield]

For me this series is about humanity

[@ruud9761]

I really wish I could get some of those arts on a displate.

[@wolfgangchen7287]

i'm so sorry but when i heard how you pronounced 'quan xia han yan' i screamed irl 💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@Thousand00]

The manga gave me a full week of depression. I'd go through it again if it means I get to experience Houseki no Kuni for the first time again.

[@shirleyalaybien]

Yee houseki no kuni!

[@nightevermoon9529]

when someone suddenly goes to houseki no kuni be like:

[@kapa2205]

Guys if you loved the anime you will love the manga even more trust me

[@jamueI]

Well meaning, kind, weak, purposelessness, lacks self value and is stupid? Bruh that's literally me, even the part of bringing problems to people unintencionally, man im really cringe, atleast im not self destructive, i think

[@micanikko]

This video has never been more relevant, especially with the manga recently coming back.

[@mostafaasla3530]

I believe houseki no kuni is understood only by the artists or people with sense of art. Some panels in the manga i keep staring for minutes at them although i reed manga to not consume time.

[@horuho245]

2:50 this piece and the next piece are amazing i love them, i also love 2:13, 1:38 and the next piece, 0:09 and the next piece and 1:45

[@kavinaderrow3269]

I'd liken Phos to the ship of Theseus. Over time, they've had parts of themself replaced. They still have their memories, but with only their torso being the gem they're named after, are they still Phosphophylite?

[@israel7066]

and it is interesting to think how this also applies to humans too

[@maxdotsenko1826]

GOD, i love Hnk

[@smallgoblin2594]

Is so pretty

[@Pub4si]

1:23 What? I'll get on it right away

[@boo2138]

darker steven universe

[@microwavent]

Chapter 107...

[@phosallphosphor-us-death-e3966]

fuck i love houseki

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

:D