Let's Overanalyze: Houseki no Kuni as a Faustian Tale

So, I think Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous) aligns pretty well with the central ideas of the Faustain tale. In this analysis essay, I give an interpretation of the story, which draws comparison to a classic western story that's seen uncounted retellings and reinterpretations to bring into focus what I see as some of the key points of Houseki no Kuni's story.

[@hakka2363]

If you read the manga you'll know the self-harm is NOT just aesthetic, Phos does NOT get better by harming himself, sure he gets stronger but that doesn't mean BETTER, instead he completely loses himself and his beliefs, forgetting even what was important for him and what his goal was. Phos is a completely tragic character.

[@MyopicTurtle]

I don't actually remember what I left in the video at this point, but I think I can sum up my point regarding self-harm fairly succinctly. when people engage in self-harm they are not even attempting to improve themselves (motivations can be very broad, but this factor is constant). Phos's motivations are a bit off for this first instance of self-harm to be understood simply as self-harm. It doesn't matter if stronger doesn't in fact mean better, because Phos believed that stronger meant better, and she strove to attain the strength that she desired. In true Buddhist fashion, her desire lead to pain, because she was wrong to desire that in the first place. If you simply read this scene as self-harm, you completely miss the point. Now, I've read a bit past the Anime at this point, and I'll agree with you on the second instance of self-harm. It's just self-harm, and self-harm is the point of the scene, but it seems far from reasonable to conflate the two scenes considering how much her character changes in the span between them.

[@Elizabeth-fc5lc]

Phos isn't a he, neither is Phos a she, Phos is an it.

[@hakka2363]

Elizabeth Volska I never said they are a HE as in if they're men, I said that because the Japanese version most of the time uses "he/him" as a neutral pronom and so does most of the English ones, in a lot of languages the male pronoms are also the neutral ones, so it's ok to call them "he".

[@sualne4412]

"they" is good too.

[@blueberrymagick]

Nico Nicolau yes MOST of the time, but the only “He” in Houseki no Kuni is Sensei, all of the gems don’t even have genders, and not once have I heard “she” or “he” when referring to gems

[@InquisitorThomas]

Don’t you mean a *Phostian* tale? ;)

[@alexandresobreiramartins9461]

That was a good one.

[@cyncynshop]

Ba-dum-tssiii

[@corneliusmcmuffin3256]

oof

[@ginsan7120]

shut up;((((

[@xRnChrisx]

I totally spilled my coffee upon reading this, and I don't even drink coffee. Good one :D

[@virotox]

*manga readers chuckle evilly*

[@iota-09]

more like, chuckles while crying.

[@Th3Sh1n1gam1]

Kongou sensei... T.T

[@iota-09]

please don't spoiler, i'm just halfway between the anime and the manga, i know(and expected) something to be going around him but... let's try not to use names. just to make sure. especially given most here didn't read the mangea even to the point i reached.

[@Th3Sh1n1gam1]

well kongou sensei has been kongou sensei from the start... not much a spoiler, lol.

[@iota-09]

the emoticn speaks lenghts

[@naumsei6221]

Best quote ever, "stop wasting your life and watch anime."

[@mechaapple7552]

Anime memes are better

[@solidcreature5950]

how can an irony be this agreeable? lol jk. just don't waste your time.

[@zennyblades]

Ayyyyy.

[@BillErak]

>she hits rock bottom Oh you have no idea

[@kevin427]

*rock* bottom kill me now

[@sadi5713]

shit I will go read the manga now.

[@RobertSzasz]

Hey, this is a family channel

[@mouserr]

i really miss Phos from near the beginning. that Phos was adorable

[@jennywithaglock3916]

ha. haha. hahaha.... hah. im gonna cry

[@jebes909090]

I like the android 18 phos

[@geodex9]

Interesting theory, but a little off base. Not everyone gives Phos a pass. Later chapters introduce a character that outright tells Phos that things are their fault. Also, Phos’ changes are mostly based on the treasures of Buddhism, and the concept of suffering. Phos is literally suffering to reach Nirvana, if you will. My best suggestion would be to look away from Judeo-Christian connections, and toward Indian and Japanese Buddhist traditions.

[@MyopicTurtle]

suffering to reach heaven is a christian idea. Buddhism goes the opposite way. The Buddhists argue that desire is the source of suffering, and the way to reach nirvana is to detach oneself from any feelings of desire. the idea this story emphasizes with the loss of phos's body parts is that she's taking the expedient route to fulfill her desires. That aligns with the Faustian tale in that selling your soul to quickly achieve the things you desire rarely works out. The reason I took the Faustian angle wasn't to link this to pseudo-christian ideas, it was to broaden the scope a bit and point out that these ideas are more deeply human.

[@MyopicTurtle]

and yes, not everyone gives phos a pass. Specifically, we could point to bort after phos freezes and doesn't help fight in (i think) the 6th episode. It's more that pretty much everyone around Phos feels that she's worthless, and more importantly, phos agrees. That's a large part of what motivates her to change. you could argue it motivates her too much.

[@alvarodeuxame146]

No, In the Budism the gems are used to decorate the paradise and from there was born the idea that gems don't achieve salvation and that is why they suffer. That is why all the gems in winter and spring wear funerary clothes, Kongo is a prayer machine and the show refers to souls and curses as a consequence of the interpersonal relationships that shape your life. The author herself said that this is a story about the human condition and how to fit into society with work or your function as a condition for human beings. That's why it's a story about identity. I don't see the Faustian Tale.

[@kurokamireaper3761]

@@MyopicTurtle To fulfill her desires? Honest question, can a selfless person be full of earthly desires? Cause that is what I perceive from Phos.

[@insuspectedrulling1082]

Correct me if I'm wrong, i remember the dog reached salvation when kongou make him find peace. He says "he totally find peace" and this is a total buddhism reference though... And if you realise one thing, the whole season was made "meaningless" in a way, listen to their ost wandering between keys and notes really link to ppl like us?

[@cherryberrykomainu8699]

I noticed that the cracks filled by the gold on Phos' legs were very reminiscent of self harm scars

[@MyopicTurtle]

that's interesting. yeah, I thought it was strange that the gold didn't just fill the cracks, but went a bit outside of them. sort of like scar tissue. If you combine that with the kintsugi thing, maybe it points more directly to her imperfection being self-hatred, or something along those lines. very interesting to think about.

[@cherryberrykomainu8699]

MyopicTurtle considering Phos is always told how useless she is, it's no wonder if she has loads of self hatred. Poor girl didn't choose to be so weak.

[@Gikarin.Gamemaster]

Kintsugi (金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い, "goldenrepair"), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-e technique. It fills the cracks and stains just a bit more over on all sides

[@krisynthiagomez5883]

@@cherryberrykomainu8699 In a way she does, she has a conversation with Antarc that pretty much sums it up. Her physicality is only part of it, after all there are low hardness gems like Cinnabar and Antarcticite who are even weaker than Phos, and like Phos demonstrate great potential for strength but can’t really capitalize on it due to their own disabilities, being locked in the darkness and the winter so to speak. Even so they manage to make themselves useful and take their jobs seriously. There are also hints that there were Gems just as weak as Phos, but until Phos was taken to the moon none of them ever betrayed their siblings or Kongo.

[@zygimantassilobritas6034]

>There are several mentions that the show has more eastern ideas than western in the video >Judeo-Christian stories and imagery are used in combination with eastern ones >Judeo-Christian stories are only used as to better explain a certain part of the anime with familiar cultural and literary references, rather than linking stories directly. >The stories mentioned are more about always relevant human experiences rather than religious ones. >A huge amount of comments are asking why are you using Judeo-Christian literature instead of eastern one, as they claim western literature has nothing to do with it. Really makes you think

[@MyopicTurtle]

it's nice to be understood

[@cyncynshop]

How to like a comment twice

[@britishassistant]

Spoiler Warning: In Mahayana Buddhism, specifically the branch of Pure Land Buddhism practiced in Japan, it is believed that every bodhisattva, upon achieving their goals, will ascend to "Buddhahood" and reside in a "Buddha land" where everything is beautiful and people spend all their time learning about enlightenment, which I believe the lunarians' ships are intended to resemble in some part. Sensei, by contrast, is the figure of a lone Buddha, much like in the original Theravada Buddhism, surrounded by his followers as he attempts to protect and save them, allowing them to reach enlightenment without worrying about anyone else. The contempt that Mahayana Buddhists have for this system as a selfish and easy way out may be why the Lunarians actively attack the gems, as they would rather the gems serve a fuel for their collective enlightenment instead of achieve in god it themselves. Or it could be that they perceive Sensei as abandoning them, leaving their Buddha Lands without the central figure of a Buddha to teach in them, warping them from their original purpose. One of the ways a bodhisattva can "save" people is by inviting them to a Buddha Land and using the purity of their own soul to pass on purity to others. One of the ways to access a Buddha Land is to invoke the Buddha's name upon death, which is where we get the prayer "Namu Amida Butsu", a call for Amida Buddha to come take the soul after death. Surprisingly for Western viewers of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, this practice is easier for those deemed "evil", as good people have too much faith in their actions to truly allow Buddha into their minds, while those who are evil know how bad they are and are desparete for a savior. While the show at this point in time has not reached the moon arc, the idea that Phos has committed a sin by betraying her values, and is haunted by her weaknesses, and his slow indoctrination to the Lunarians via Lapis Lazuli fits with these ideas very well.

[@MyopicTurtle]

I'm a few months behind on the manga, but I gotta say, that interpretation seems pretty spot on.

[@adityaiyer6189]

I don't know if this is relevant or not but there's something I noticed: the lunarians seek the ideal of moksha or nothingness (to be stripped away of all desires that surround them) via prayer, and hence they long for death. The sea people are in the constant cycle of life and death, so in some sense they fear it. The gems have no concept of death, and believe that all their siblings taken to the moon will come back one day. I don't know if this ties in to any of the symbolism or not but it just came to me. It could also be likened to either assuming that one is incapable of improvement without external help, improving oneself by learning from the past, or existing as though the lack of improvement has no lasting consequences. (I feel like this is a theme but I can't seem to make it feel very cohesive)

[@britishassistant]

@@adityaiyer6189 That could also play into the themes of death and reincarnation in Buddhism, where one can only ascend to the pure lands once one has let go of all earthly desires. The sea people experience base desires like lust (see Ventricosus showing off her assests while Phos is confused by her pride over “useless lumps of fat” and becoming enamored with Sensei) and so they are condemned to repeat the cycle of life and death. The lunarians are *closer* to escaping this cycle and obtaining enlightenment because they aim for the ideal of moksha, but even they can’t quite get it right; they still feel the desire for death so they are more like “tennin”, a higher level of reincarnations than humans who can still die and be reincarnated back down the scale because of their greater passions and potential for corruption compared to humans. The gems, with no concept of death, are potentially the closest to escaping the cycle in this line of thought, though their desires towards one another drive them away from the teachings of Sensei, who is trying to help them attain enlightenment.

[@user-zq1nz7qv7o]

Lunarians are Sinners, they’re the only thing left from humanity. I’m not sure however how the admiralis, gems and ice floes came to exist.

[@naurrr]

I love this interpretation, really well made video. quick note though, "coathanger abortions" and other desperate extralegal, dangerous attempted abortions are not necessarily self harm in the same way as other self harm like cutting or intentional overdose. they're the result of lack of reproductive health options and generally a last resort. as an example, my grandmother was actually training to become a nurse during the great depression, and saw a lot of women die from coathanger abortions and other botched procedures because it was illegal and there were almost no ways to get one safely done. none of the patients she saw were actively trying to commit suicide or intentionally hurt themselves, they just really did not want their pregnancies and had no way to terminate without serious negative consequences. none of them wanted to die. I felt it necessary to point this out as reproductive health is still a very important topic and reproductive rights are still under siege to this day. because of the horrific ways she saw women die, my grandmother became a strong supporter of planned parenthood in the 60s and 70s, and was relieved when roe v wade was passed.

[@MyopicTurtle]

while I was reading up on self harm to try and get some perspective outside my own experience, I came across an article that included coathanger abortions (I think they might have called it something else) with other things that you would typically think of as self-harm, and I thought it was out of place for pretty much the same reasons that you listed. I kinda thought it was funny though, so I included it in the video, maybe not the wisest choice I've ever made, especially considering that I've heard similar stories from my grandmother, and considering that I cut almost all of the psychology from the script, since it made the video drag (so I'm not giving the context necessary for everyone to know how it's different from other forms of self-harm), but it's a good thing that this bit of nuance can live in the comment section, so thanks for leaving it here.

[@someoneelse5005]

Holy shit, I can hardly believe someone caught the exact same line of thought I had while watching this show. I literally searched "houseki no kuni faust" and found this video. The thing is, I started thinking about the parallels to the known literally work by the point Phos "traded" (albeit somewhat unwillingly) her legs for stronger ones, since she gave memories (part of her personality) for it, and we see how it follows with arms as well. The moments she asks "Who is cinnabar" and when she shows she'd forgotten that she was supposed to find a BETTER job for Cinnabar (instead of just a new job) is actually quite heartbreaking, because while a lot of anime wants to portray loss as something that's necessarily imminent, houseki no kuni goes the faustian route way more obviously - with loss being something one might not be aware of right away, but will come to bite you in the end. Also it's a shame to see your subscribers were taken to the moon, I surely hope Lunarians return every single one of them.

[@MyopicTurtle]

That's really cool. It's gratifying to see someone thinking in the same way.

[@arsarma1808]

I generally agree with the idea that Phos's bit might have washed up with the ice flows (her Inclusions are a microoganism like the one's Antarc says is in the floes). Phos understands it because it is Phos, and after Phos loses its arms to the floes, there's more Phos in the water than there is in Phos. Of course this mean that Phos recognizes the truth on some level; Phos isn't very valuable. Any level of destruction and therefore reconstruction with better material can only be an improvement.

[@Gikarin.Gamemaster]

For those thinking the weird cold lining are like scars, im pretty sure its representing this: Kintsugi (金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い, "goldenrepair"), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-e technique. It fills the cracks and stains just a bit more over on all sides

[@sancami2519]

if you were to continue reading the manga you'd be surprised how much more the Faustian themes surface, it is also beautifully drawn so I really recommend it

[@signspace13]

I really like your analysis, especially the part comparing the lunarians to Bodhisattvas (though I'm not sure if it is the correct term), in that they are an adversary set in place in order to bring other to enlightenment. I read a post the other day that mentioned a part of the Lotus Sutra about seven treasures that each represent a part of Buddhist enlightenment, the are gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, pearl and Carnelian. Some Manga spoilers ahead, but the current Phos of the manga has five of the seven integrated into her body (six if you are willing to consider platinum as silver), and each change in the composition of her body is due to the direct actions of the Lunarians, the point I am getting at here is that what if Houseki no Kuni's story is simply the story of Phos's path to enlightenment?

[@MyopicTurtle]

that's actually closer to where i though the manga would go than i expected. I should read it at some point. Also, is bodhisattva the wrong term? based on some reading I did a while back on the Ghibli adaptation of "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" (which i highly recommend), I was thinking the big central lunarians are Bhodhisattvas, and the smaller ones are apsaras, which are a very rough equivalent to angles. My knowledge of Buddhism is fairly limited, so if you could clear up any misunderstanding, I would appreciate it.

[@signspace13]

MyopicTurtle Bodhisattva is a VERY broad term, and there are a lot of different kinds of Bodhisattva all of Which have different origins and purposes, so it's not the wrong term as much as I'm not sure if it's the exact term. My own knowledge of budhism is probably as limited as your own, most of it comes from Chinese fantasy novels, which aren't a reliable source.

[@MyopicTurtle]

Ok, that's actually very helpful to know. Tells me the general area of my mistake, thanks.

[@mrwolf84]

gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, pearl and Carnelian, CARNELIAN? aaaargh! Padparadscha is gonna die!!!!

[@DaSpineLessFish]

Andrea Guadagno Oh no

[@_coma]

The manga is absolutely horrifying, more so than any other psychological horror I've watched. It's absolutely terrifying. Have fun, anime onlys!

[@catsinwonderland7473]

Psychological horror?! Damn, I’ve got a big storm coming. I hate psychological horror, and I’m pretty sure season 2 is coming in 2021 or 2022. 3D animation takes an arm and a le- I shouldn’t SAY THAT LOLOL

[@_coma]

@@catsinwonderland7473 HAHAHAHA i see what u did there

[@haz9438]

I was in disbelief when I saw your subscriber count. When I discovered that this was a new channel I understood, but if this is going to be the standard of content then sign me up. Incredibly interesting viewpoint, I learned a lot from this. I imagine you guessed most of the author’s intentions in this video.

[@MyopicTurtle]

thanks man, that's some high praise. I really appreciate it

[@iota-09]

as far as i can tell he did one fatal mistake, but it was still a damn good analysis and his voice is asmr-worthy, so still probably going to subscribe.

[@marianacouto9963]

I already read the manga so yeah your teory didn't hold up very well overall ... But this video was so well made that I just couldn't stop watching

[@sancami2519]

why do you believe it doesn't hold up? personally I found Aechmea to be a clearer representation of the Satan archetype in his interaction with Phos

[@alvarodeuxame146]

How, Aechmea, a being who seeks salvation is similar to satan?

[@fabianmiron2782]

Thanks god somebody actually makes an analyses and not just calls it to sound intellectual. Gained new subbed, don’t stop Being awesome

[@dantesdiscoinfernolol]

Hey, cool analysis! Especially the bit about fixing pottery with gold in the cracks: I had never heard of that until now, but it makes the choice of gold for Phos's arms make so much more sense.

[@smolmoru]

worst quote of 2020: "Have a pleasant 10000 years."

[@gaphic]

There are some interesting ideas here, but coming from the manga, I don’t buy the overall analysis, especially as a lens for interpreting the whole story. Personal identity, the danger and necessity of change, and the value and meaning of life without death are much more central themes than ‘selling your soul’ I’d like to see your take on this analysis after reading the manga and seeing where the story is headed (Also the idea that Antarc considers keeping sensei company to be a cop-out job for Phos makes no sense to me. Antarc was willing to be ripped apart or killed to keep their memories of sensei; he is the single most important thing in their world, followed by Phos. Of course Antarc didn’t want to lose their only friend and abandon their father figure in one fell swoop- to them, that was the most important task they could possibly imagine. That’s also why they were so instrumental in Phos’s development; Antarc was the first person who DIDNT give them an easy out. Antarc consistently demanded more, which is why Phos was eventually able to step up, albeit too late)

[@MyopicTurtle]

Even without having read the manga, I agree with most of what your saying here, because I don’t think these views are mutually exclusive, except at a few of the fine points. There’s a number of things to unpack here, and I’m resistant to more brief ways of expressing my ideas, so I hope you’re prepared for a long response. In writting this analysis, I figured the main place where I would get push back was with the set of metaphors I used to describe (at least this part of) the story. I think that’s a part of your objection, however small, so I’ll address it first. The reason I use a lot of language from the Christian tradition as a lens to view this story through is not to detract from any of the other ideas in the story. The reason I use Christian iconography even though it is a less than intuitive lens to view this story though, was to broaden the scope of the messages I saw in this story, and to say they are much more deeply human as opposed to Buddhist or Christian, or any other narrow philosophy. That, and it made it more fun to write. I could be wrong here, but the reason it seems like your objecting to my choice language is that the only thing you picked out that I actually said was “selling your soul,” which in addition to being only one small element of the Faustian tale, much less my analysis, to the point that it falls very short of being a theme in itself, also focuses a lot more on my specific language choice as opposed to the underlying ideas. Of course, I can’t blame you for this gross oversimplification, since KZbin comments aren’t the best place for nuance. Moving on, you didn’t actually say anything to cast my interpretation into doubt (other than the stuff with Antarc, which I’ll get to), though that might just be an attempt to avoid manga spoilers on your part, which I can appreciate. What I’d like to focus on more is your objection to me making a video on themes of the story that are less than central. The reason I started thinking down this route was that some of the events in the story seemed less than satisfying when taken at (close to) face value. Phos indulge in self-harm, and it makes her stronger. What now!? What is that supposed to say? That self-harm could be a beneficial thing to you if you have friends who will notice your cry for help, and are willing to pick up your slack. No, that doesn’t seem like a good interpretation. I think the key to getting out of a grotesque interpretation like that is kintsugi. That bit of symbolism re-contextualizes everything. I won’t go through the reasoning again, or in more detail, because I think that would be a waste of time for both of us, but I will restate the theme that arises out of it. Taking the easy route to whatever it is that you’re aiming at (which metaphorically, you could think of as selling your soul for your own gain) will lead you down a path that puts you in a lot of pain (will drag you down to hell). Instead, you should understand that even with the flaws and insufficiencies that you certainly have, you can still achieve the things that you have judged to be worth while, and you can still be of value (kintsugi). Maybe that’s not a central theme of the story, but I think that you need to understand that on some level to gain an understanding of Phos as a character. Then again, maybe I’m totally off base. I could be wrong, but I haven’t seen a better interpretation, at least not for this part of the story. Okay, that dove-tails nicely with your objections surrounding Antarc. I mostly agree about Antarc’s place in the narrative, and her importance for Phos’s development. She consistently expected more of Phos than anyone else, but even Antarc’s expectations didn’t equate with Phos’s potential. I think this could be a flaw with how I stated the point in the video, but I’d say the important element here is that, throughout the early part of the story, whatever anyone expected of Phos, Phos expected less, and of course, this slowly reduced everyone’s expectations until they both thought Phos was worthless. So, the significance of Antarc coming along and asking anything of Phos can’t be understated. Thing is, she really didn’t ask that much. She asked that Phos walk farther, and help out a bit with the chores. The portrayal of how Phos helped with the chores is important here. In short, Phos hardly does anything. There’s one shot in particular, which I think embodies this. Phos is in the foreground slowly sawing on a chunk of ice, while Antarc flies through the air smashing ice floe after ice floe. The camera refocuses on Phos, and she says “I guess they can take care of them all.” Antarc had a great mentality. She embodied her words of “walk until you can’t, then walk some more.” You might even say that she embodied this idea too much, because she ended up doing all the work so that Phos wouldn’t have to. Antarc had expectations of Phos, yes, but the important thing in the scene where Antarc dies is that Phos surpasses Antarcs and everyone else’s expectations, as she always could have. What Antarc asks of Phos certainly isn’t trivial. She loved Kongo sensei, and knew that it was important for someone to survive to keep him company, but she though the only way for Phos to survive was to hide, and let the lunarians take her away. I don’t say this to criticize Antarc. What reason did she have to expect more of Phos? Phos had only shown her weakness. The fault here is with Phos for taking every easy option available to her in the past and setting the bar so low. I don’t blame you for misunderstanding my point on this one. I was a bit more brief here than, maybe I should have been, but hopefully this gigantic comment helps to clear up any potential misunderstanding, and if you still disagree, that’s fine. Maybe I just need to read the manga.

[@gaphic]

MyopicTurtle thanks for putting so much thought into my comment! but yeah, i still generally disagree with your analysis

[@MyopicTurtle]

k. you have to make an argument to change my mind, you know

[@MyopicTurtle]

Chase Tona, that's cool. just don't want disagreement to come from misunderstanding.

[@matt-wr4co]

@@PsycoAxeFairy don't be an asshole maybe??

[@Shythalia]

showing those stock photos of happy people while talking about self-harm was hilarious 😂

[@koskk_]

After you finished explain the Faustian Tale I was like "how does that make any sense" but I barely got through that thought before I realized. Oh my god it's the Faustian Tale. Great video. Makes me wanna rewatch this series

[@egolayer13]

Houseki no Kuni is definitely my favorite anime of 2017. I think its excellent character development is definitely overshadowed by its unconventional animation style -- which, to be fair, also gets a lot of praise. But it's really in the writing and pacing that it excels.

[@blaxklightpro7530]

You need more subscribers. Such an amazing analysis of anime. Better than what the bigger channels put out anyway.

[@sorrowfulsatchel679]

Land of the Lustrous VS Made in Abyss. Round one. Fight!

[@Seiza25]

This Analysis is the best I've seen so far! Keep up with the AWESOME work!!!

[@toureiro]

I'm amazed how many great and varied analysis of this show there are. This is one of the best.

[@fantalord3689]

you been on point treu intire video, very well made analysis.

[@Bluejeanne1]

This is a really interesting interpretation! Cool video :^D

[@pseudochel]

Very interesting analysis! I love this kind of stuff! Very nicely made video too, keep it up!

[@LilumGlorias]

Amazing review! Thank you very much! I agree with all your thoughts!

[@ilural7841]

Aaaah this is great!!

[@NikolaosSkordilis]

Great analysis, thank you. Somehow I missed the Buddhism related symbolic images (though in retrospect they were rather obvious), while it's very interesting that the alloy choice for Phos was not an accident. I just finished the season and I _really_ hope Orange makes a second season. They can't leave us like this.

[@erichloehr5992]

I definitely see your point. It does answer alot of the missing links in my take away of the series. And although I think the first season was intended to stand alone in this regards, I think there is alot more the writer wants to say. In that regards I see it more of the first Infernal act in the divine comedy perhaps.

[@ody1212]

this deserved to blow up, but how did it even?

[@peachesplums]

the thing about phos thinking about removing her arms is that you can't compare it to human self harm, because it won't hurt and will be easily replaced. What matters is that she's willing to sacrifice the memories in the arms in exchange for a stronger substance also the manga mirrors phos' internal struggle about whether or not sense is right as (spoiler) both sensei and the lunarians have pros and cons to their actions

[@ZweiRanger]

you did good research, which make this all the more interesting. she is tempted of sacrificing what she is, because by losing her initial body, she lose memory, and once we break it down, a person resume itself by the sum of it's experiences. i also like how the show is slightly nihilist. wondering about how relevant it is to live. for beings that have eternity in front of them, they really raise the question as to, what is the point.

[@MyopicTurtle]

I'd say it's more existentialist than nihilist. The two are easily confused, but existentialism can be thought of as a philosophical answer to nihilism. (disclaimer: existentialism is a broad category with many thinkers who disagree with each other on a lot of things) Still, a useful idea is that in a world that doesn't come pre-made with inherent meaning, the meaning's gotta come from you. The conscious individual figures out what they value, and from those values derives meaning. Houseki no Kuni, in particular, puts a lot of emphasis of the relationships between its characters. The fact that they're paired off (for defense purposes) is no mistake, although that aspect of the story comes more into focus in some of the material that isn't adapted to animation yet. At this point, though, the story's got a strong sense of existential angst, which hasn't been resolved in the least. I should also note that this story is rooted in Buddhism, not western existentialist philosophy, but the problem of meaning is a human problem, not an East Indian problem, so the reference point from which we start thinking about this seems irrelevant.

[@citrus_melon794]

This was downloaded on my birthday and i love houseki no kuni

[@Tucher97]

I took the story of Phos as the new recruit in war, where in the beginning she is excited to fight but later on she sees the horror, then near the end she lost someone she admired right in front of her then was told to keep quiet, then by the end she is hollow, not the adorable gemstone as frm the beginning but instead a hardened badass

[@MyopicTurtle]

*hardened* badass I approve of this word choice.

[@Tucher97]

yes, I am glad you saw that

[@Umezete]

I think you missed the biggest part of support for your argument of this show as a Faustain Tale. First, reading the manga this manga is definitely stressing such questions as the definition of self and even soul. The gems aren't like us, their very body is their self. Losing chips is chipping away at ones self and losing large parts of themselves is like large portions of their very souls. Phos losing their legs and arms is chipping away at their very self. Their character growth is juxtaposed with the very erosion of self. This is supposed to lead the viewer/reader to question what is self? Phos's growth and erosion has lasting and obvious effects. They don't like themselves but the reason continues to shift. They have grandiose goals but they shift. Highlighted by Phos even temporary forgetting their original goal of helping cinnabar. In the Manga they even straight ask "Can Phos still be considered Phos?" after the 3rd time they go through a major change. But the answer the Anime seems to hint as is that yes, people change. They grow and growth isn't always perfect, sometimes you trade one imperfection for another. All you can do is move on. The Anime ends on a note of new beginnings. Phos's innocence died over the year the anime covered, but they gained strength of character as well as body. Phos is suffering: Physically, that alloy is a double edge sword that digs into their minerals and can fracture and cause damage; spiritually, they are completely distraught by the death of Antarcticite to the point of hallucinating; and mentally, as Phos has forgotten large parts of their very self. Old Phos would've given up with even a tiny portion of such suffering, and old Phos wouldn't press on. The Phos at the end of the first season shoulders the burden because they would rather suffer even infinitely more if it would allow them to keep their friends safe. They want to shoulder the world and the anime ends on the point where they more of less chose to bear it alone (although they do ask cinnabar for help on a tangent, they have not asked for greater help about themselves.) This point is even highlighted in the earlier scene where they forget cinnabar in the spring. Phos simply says "Forgive me, I'm actually not ok." They stress it's their fault to bear and speak no more of it but this single statement perfectly sums up Phos's mental status in the last part of the season. They are strong, but they are not ok.

[@MyopicTurtle]

One of the most interesting things that I've found in working on these videos is that you can tend to lose sight of certain things when you work on a project for long stretches of time. Probably the biggest one is that you can tend to lose sight of what's interesting to an audience once you've immersed yourself in a topic. In this case, though, I may have lost sight of what's obvious. I can't remember precisely what survived the editing process, and made it into the video, but I'm sure I at least touched on this point that you bring up. I know that the premise for most of the video, which I mentioned early on, was that memories are about as close as you can get to a soul. Beyond that, your point seems to be that Phos's physical changes corresponded with changes in her being, and with an erosion of her "soul." You're probably right that I should have stated that outright, but I guess mistakes are to be expected with a first video, and I should be sure to include ideas even if they seem obvious and uninteresting to me by the time I get to a final draft. Thanks for the input, and I hope I didn't bore you with a long response.

[@Umezete]

Nah, I don't mind reading long responses and I think you touched on it but I think it would've had a bigger impact to be stated outright. I don't want to spoil the manga but the later arc kinda takes what this is building up and kinda throws it up in the air. Phos is suffering alot at the end of this arc but they start to address those issues in later arcs and it reaches a point where Phos can even come to accept much of change and again, grow. Though I feel like the complete work isn't quite going to fit this argument cause the artist is clearly going down a more Eastern Buddhist direction. The author apparently is very well verse in buddhism and it's mythology and Land of the Lustrous is a lens to use what they know to build and question. I like talking about it because it's honestly one of my favorite manga of all time, and I only read it a few days ago. The anime by and large does the manga justice but tweaks some of the weight of the dialogue to better fit the medium of animation. That said, just finished the anime and I love it as well.

[@MyopicTurtle]

and that's the big think that I've noted I should have explained better. Now, I've only gotten a little past the anime, so I can't be sure of where exactly the manga is going, but I think a Faustian lens pairs very well with the primary Buddhist themes of the story (at least in what the anime's covered). Boiled down to its core elements, the primary theme of the Faustian tale is that taking the expedient route to fulfill your desires will lead you to (a definitely metaphorical (well at least if you view the story through a psychoanalytical lens)) hell. The primary tenant of Buddhism is that desire is the source of pain. Singlemindedly pursuing your desires instead of accepting and valuing the experiences that life brings you will lead to a lot of pain. There are some differences between the two, which is why I expect you're right that the Faustian tale ceases to be useful toward the end of the story. Specifically, I'd say the biggest difference is that Buddhist philosophy goes a bit further. both note the problem of desire, but Buddhism purposes a solution, whereas Faust is simply a cautionary tale.

[@themangoprofessor236]

Nice analyzation! Houseki no kuni is so underrated!

[@rufina4135]

I like the new Phos he looks great remindes me of antarc my favourite charater

[@glitchy3400]

The new Phos? Hahahah if you’ve read the manga you’ll miss og phos

[@Red1Ahmed]

The kintsugi symbolism is ingenious ! I didn't think of it when i watched the anime

[@diamond._.8186]

Man, if you get caught up on the manga (chapter 93 as of when I say this) you’ll really understand how good the series is, that ice scene well, it’s a start and a sign for what’s to come

[@Kefkaownsall]

In the manga right now it's a bit more traditional with Phos making a pact with the Lurarians but what's unusual the price is their friendships and in Carin's case their sense of self

[@JKumaD]

OOOOh I didn't even think about Faustian narrative but now that you mention it, before even watching the video i'm just gonna type here, the deal Phos makes is her legs/gold. I mean, it's ongoing, each deal she makes is the sacrifice for her ultimate goal, unlike Faust it's not quite knowledge, but power to be able to gain knowledge. Everytime Phos gives a piece of her weak but very nice and cute self away due to her own actions to learn more, she earns something that changes her. I'm reading the Manga as it comes out as well, and the same themes resonate in what's happening right now.

[@HundreadD]

Funny, I was just thinking this sometime last week. I remember in Thomas Mann's short story Tonio Kröger he discussed how Hamlet in essence can be viewed through a Faustian interpretation, IE when the ghost brings the seed of knowledge to Hamlet on the ramparts of Elsinore it accentuates his soul. Similarly Phos is given the task of assembling an encyclopedia of knowledge of their world, therefore that being the fruit of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste brought death into the World and all our woe etc. etc. to grossly quote Milton. But yeah, it's a strange world that one can find someone with aligned literary tastes with anime, so I do hope you upload more in the future. And definitely give Thomas Mann's story a read if you haven't already (though really it's more about Hamlet than about Faust, I just wanted an excuse to recommend it)

[@MyopicTurtle]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll add it to the reading list. Also, I agree. It's cool to see lateral thinking even on such esoteric topics.

[@iota-09]

yeah... if the sensei never gave phos the notebook, this chain reaction wouldn't have happened, or at least wouldn't have happened in this way, and yes, her soul is indeed accentuated, she's not the character with the strongest emotions and character just because phos is the MC, but because of the growth, phisical and mental she goes through, all of the others gems also lost someone in a way or another, but not in the way phos did, and almost none of them lost something of theirs along with somebody they cared for. power came at the cost of what she wanted that power for, but it also made her soul, her coscience stronger, even though she has less memory than pretty much anybody now.

[@gizzylaserfoot2604]

Cool analysis! Phos’ golden arms definitely reminded me of King Midas.

[@lackynguyen8351]

I didnt know about that pot art. Very interesting.

[@kevin13cabello]

The part about the values and laziness is my life story lol.

[@iota-09]

8:20 there's an argument against that though(in a somewhat unrelated way): bulimia. many bulimic and/or anhorexic people tend to self-harm in undirrect ways, such as not eating for days or even vomiting, that is clearly something wrong and bad, and in many cases even pointless, yet they do it for they might see it as a faster way to change themselves faster and feel like they could be better, more useful. see what takes phos isn't self-harm JUST in the way of ethics, but in altruism, notice how phos is one of the few if not the only character that doesn't care all that much about losing memories, sure she still cares, but compared to antarc and amethyst? hell no, she only cares about being useful for others, why do you think rutile and yellow were so amazed when at sensei's question of why she wanted to fight she answered "because i love you"? they don''t have even a concept of love that is like that of us humans(even partners that are considered incredibly close to each other usually call themselves only partners, never lovers, even when diamond jokes about phos confessing to cinnabar, the word "love" is never spelled) so why? because she shows an almost careless and incredibly selfless love for them, and would go as far as killing herself over and over and over if that would mean the others would be safe and happy... however, that changes with time, she loses more memories and with them some amount of her ethics as well, and THAT is when the depression and self harm starts to kick in, because that scene with the ice floes there isn't self harm, could be flagellation to an extent, but it's closer to a martyr sacrifice. now spoiler alert for around chapter 39 of the manga(would equal around episode 4 of a second series of the anime), it's not a big spoiler but it is a spoiler nonetheless, and one of a quite impactful scene but withut a doubt required to understand phos as best as possible: ------------- see, later on, what happens is another self harm act from phos, one way more extreme, one that is indisputably self harm given by regret and guilt for what she is doing and what it leads to happening to others,(not going too much into detail, but it's "sel-harm cause d by the guilt over the harm done to others coming from her actions and non-actions") not this, this is an act in the hope that she could be more useful to others, to feel more accepted and to serve them as she feels proper, for(continues in the non-spoiler area) -------------------------------------- she sees in her own life some sort of debt towards the sensei, why is she to be left alive and cared for when she can't even help with anything? she's not even the cutest one according to the others, so she goes the extra mile to be helpful to them and resorts to selfless sacrifice, which, as you get to know from antarc's "death", concludes in a big bunch of no actual progress. i have to admit though, you got really close there, even though phos it's actually an overly altruistic character, not one that just seeks for her place in that world, for she seeks a place with a very specific objective in mind and that's what you were missing in this, that objective being(as she would say it) "i want to be useful because i love you(referred to the sensei and the other gems)" that's the key of everything here.

[@MyopicTurtle]

I like Bulimia as an interpretation here. Or maybe it's not bulimia exactly, but i think that gets closer to the mark than anything else. I had thought of the self harm in terms of one of its more aggressive brands, because the imagery of the blade held over the arm seems more overt than the slow malignant way that bulimia eats away at a person, but slow degrading self-harm aligns better with her character arc, so the self-harm element might be more than needless edginess, after all. As for Phos's character, I may have portrayed her as more selfish than she is. You point out an important detail. I had forgotten that part about love. Still, I'm not sure how love fits into the narrative. It does help to explain her characterization toward the beginning of the story; more than just needing some purpose in life, she wants to help these people because she loves them, but so far, love doesn't seem to be more than an initial motivation for Phos to forget. The love Phos feels motivates her to help others, but she seems to forget that as she loses pieces of herself, which I think, is a large part of the feeling of existential angst that exudes from the show. As she degrades herself to help others, she slowly loses sight of her reason for doing so, which makes it all feel futile. If I had to guess, that’s where I expect the manga to go with her character (more depression because she no longer remembers why she's fighting), but I’m only speculating based on the end of this one season of the anime, so I risk being far off base. Still, her love for sensei seems to have faded, as evidenced by the fact that she can't see why everyone else would support him no matter his connection to the Lunarians. Maybe the point of love is that it gives intrinsic meaning to everything. It helps to keep the nihilism away, but It's only come up once in the story so far, so I can't be sure how significant it is. Love is an important detail, but still I think there's more conflict in her character from the start, which you might be neglecting. She has the altruistic motivation of love, but why doesn't she act on it? She's useless to everyone around her, despite clearly wanting to help them. Now, you might say that she was incapable of helping because of her hardness. If that's your opinion, I will unequivocally disagree with you for two reasons. Antarcticite and Cinnabar. Phos is harder than cinnabar. even so, everyone seems to respect cinnabar as, at least, competent. The only problem is that she poisons everything she touches by her nature. Phos only poisons everything she touches by her choices. Antarc does an even better job in making the point that Phos isn't so unfortunate in the way she was constructed that she couldn't be of use to anyone. I think Antarc's hardness being only half a level above Phos's might be the first thing they introduce about her. An interesting detail about Antarc is that as the world gets colder around her, she gets harder, which symbolically aligns with her characterization to say that she will rise to any challenge placed in front of her. Despite them being about the same hardness, Antrac is immeasurably more competent than Phos. My point is Phos could have been useful to everyone around her, but she refused to work hard and hone her skills. Why? I don't know, I guess love isn't strong enough to overcome laziness, or maybe there's just nothing to necessitate her growth. Regardless, thank you for the comment. I think you've helped me to round out my thoughts on this story a bit more.

[@iota-09]

MyopicTurtle MyopicTurtle MyopicTurtle well aside frome the fact that it was more of a metaphor/example to point out wnat i really think the issue with phos is, i Don't think bulimia has anything to do with houseki other than the feelings some bulimic people might feel, you might be focusing too much on the meanings of words and of actions from a symbolic perspective, i meam, surely it has some meaning, but depicting phos trying to cut her arm as just edgy is... Somehow overthinking it, i mean, it's not like there's that many waye to lose a limb. As for why she wasn't more useful to them, it has to do both with how mature she is(let's remember that even though she's 300 years old she's basically a teen compare to the ruler), cinnabar has raw skill and while brittle, her poison is both what makes her useless and useful at the same time, though with antarc it's definitely more od what you're talking about, she might have a different constitution from phos, but her base hardness is less or more the same and she gets to work from the get go, what she was lacking was a motive, which is why i thought your analysis about the box was good, it fits perfectly with a character like phos, which has a lot of potential but no drive other than feelings that she never put to question as her own as everyone else's, love indeed was not enough, i also have good reason to think you might be right with where you think it'll ho, i read a bunch of hapters after the anime and it feels like phos doesn't love the people she knew beforehand as much(even cinnabar, the chapter she asks for cinnabar's help is actually a good bunch of chapters after that of zircon) And yeah love itself has been brought up only once, but relatiomships with people and other beings is a maim focus: zircon, yellow and bort, dia and bort, phos, cinnabar and wntarc(plus some others later on), rutile and padparasdcha, the sensei and the lunrians... It's never said out loud, but the manga focus has always been about characters relationships to one another from the very start, not with just love, but with doubt and hatred too as some of the main aspects of these relationships, though phos knows only about love, slowly thinking about doubt, while for the others it only hatred and love(except rutile and pad i guess), this theory coming from what i noticed: everyone, and i mean EVERYONE hates the lunarians, the only ones that don't hate them so viscerally are the sensei, cinnabar and phos, which explains why she's the only one that actively tried to approach them, she just doesn't know what the hatred the others feel is even after losing antarc, her it's more of a resentment, as she puts the fault of every problem to everyone on her and not on the lunarians like the other did, and there, we go back to the self-sabotaging you were talking about in the video, she doesn't feel lime she's worth being of help to anyone, but still desires to being able to,(and that's also related to the small spoiler i made) this is why i think while not on point your analisys was still great. Self-harm and martyrdom driven by (previously) unquestioned love and self-loathing is, up to what i read till around chapter 40, what i think makes up phos's character. Though i have to be honest... Most of this theorycraft comes from the fact i've never seen a character i related to so much before, it's like looking at a mirror, so most of these points are heavily skewed ny subjective opinion(which is why i have so much trouble explaining them)

[@iota-09]

P.s.;sorry for typos, i'm from phone

[@MyopicTurtle]

I agree with everything you said there. I may have overstated the bulimia thing. it just works as an idea to help conceptualize Phos's mental state. Also, I think the self-sabotage thing is very important to her character, and to understand that, you'll need to recognize that the thing holding her back is not her physical ability, which is why its useful to compare antarc to Phos. Also, yes, I'm overthinking everything. My ideal of a story is one in which all of the messaging aligns and works together in making a richer tapestry. When both the literal plot driven events, and the metaphorical content of a story reinforce each other, the results can be very impactful, and I think Houseki No Kuni gets very close to that ideal. In the attempt to wring every drop of meaning out of a story so meticulously constructed as this, I am going to overthink things; I am going to make mistakes, and I'm going to enjoy myself every step of the way.

[@iota-09]

MyopicTurtle ah yes, don't take it wrong, there definitely is metaphorical and symboliatic meaning in various places in houseki, but not everything is, some things simply are a mean to a specific end, in the arm cutting scene for example, the focus was on the ice floes and on phos's self doubt, not on the actual cutting action, where the cutting, due to the context, i feel was just a mean to an end dye to that specific context, something with a more symbolic image is very much likely to be phos self-inglobation in... Episode 11 i think?

[@paaperman]

I love you. Subscribed... you are smart and soothing to listen to. hope you grow and grow.

[@neutro1538]

If you up to speed with the manga, this theory gets made so much stronger, 10000 years stronger...

[@dwvcollection]

The anime is good and all but why is there less *_necc length_* than the manga

[@brookdavis994]

reading the manga just makes me want a season 2 even more

[@thecancermen245]

Great video

[@Diamanrouge]

Thank you. From a person currently going though a severe case of self-hartred from laziness and tries to forgive herself to move on.

[@axelali3734]

Great Video. You deserve more subs. Good voice.

[@myfunnyvalentin]

I loved your video, it was a beautiful well read and well written video essay. Please make more content. What other anime do you recommend ? Which are some good 2018 anime ?

[@MyopicTurtle]

As far as 2018 stuff, I haven't seen much this year that I've really connected with, but there's a few that are worth a watch. "Hinamatsuri" is pretty good. Most comedy shows that I see seem a bit soulless in how the soul objective is to make you laugh, but this one seems more like it has some concepts that it wants to develop, and the comedy arises more naturally out of the scenarios. it's good. "Steins; Gate 0" looks pretty good, but I'm waiting for it to conclude before I watch any more than the first few episodes that I've already seen "Back Street Girls: Gokudolls" seems like a really interesting one. There's not much in the way of animation, and the production seems pretty low budget, but the writing's been pretty great for the five episodes that I've watched. Well defined characters with a dark sense of humor and some interesting ideas around gender and social repression. Of course, "My Hero Academia" is currently airing, and that's always solid, but I doubt you need my recommendation for that one. A few other recommendations from the top of my head: "Hellsing Ultimate" Watched it like a month ago, and it's the definition of badass. I also think it's got more depth than people give it credit for, but that's the sort of long argument about some subtle details that doesn't fit well into a quick recommendation. Maybe I'll make a video about it. "Angel's Egg" i'm always amazed at how much this movie communicates with visuals alone (There's probably 10 lines of dialogue in the whole thing). I don't think anything in this movie should be taken literally. More than a direct story, it feels like watching a dream from another person's mind. If you'd like something to leave you thinking, this is a good one. "Mononoke" This one's hard to give a brief explanation of without spending some time to think. It's got an interesting art style, and deals heavily in more mythical imagery/story elements. It's an anthology series about a guy killing monsters, but functions more like a mystery series in which he has to figure out precisely what the monster is to vanquish it. Not sure I've really hit on why this one's appealing, but I assure you it's worth a watch. "The Tale of Princess Kagyua" This one's tied with "Princess Mononoke" as my favorite Ghibli film. They're both Ghibli films; I won't waste time trying to sell you on something that shouldn't require my efforts. "HunterxHunter" If you'd like a long running shounen anime, and you haven't already seen this one, here you go. You can thank me later. "Nichijou" The way this one portrays every day life as over the top insanity with far FAR better animation than it has any right to is hilarious. "Psycho Pass" A dystonia cop drama with really interesting story, and solid world building "Akira" pretty cool movie from the 80's. it blows my mind that some of this animation was done back then. But yeah, it's a classic. You should watch it if you haven't. "Ghost in the Shell" along the same lines, it's a classic, and for good reason. Okay, that's about it for recommendations. Oh yeah, guess I should also recommend "Steins; Gate" if I'm recommending its spin off. Also, I will make more content, I promise. I spent all summer scrapping scripts for an hour and twenty minute analysis that you'll probably see . . . at some point. I wanted to finish it before the semester started at university, because I've got a job that I'm trying to balance with school now. Anyway, time's tight, but I assure you, I don't intend to stop making videos.

[@myfunnyvalentin]

MyopicTurtle Thanks a lot for your long and deep answer I wish to see more of your work in the future :)

[@TriXJester]

rewatching this reminds me of the conclusion I came to reading some chapters of the manga recently, Phos has been their own biggest antagonist the entire time.

[@AnAsianTimeBomb]

Honestly I feel like I can draw Faustian parallels with FMA brotherhood too

[@exeVividNova]

The way you phrase the core idea of a Faustian tale makes it be so that most popular interpretation of it (the Goethe's one) is not actually Faustian, lol. Because in it Faust doesn't get punished in the end. If anything, he is rewarded...

[@ToaTaruho]

Great analysis! Are you going to do more videos like this one?

[@MyopicTurtle]

I have a few more ideas. I'm not sure how long they'll take to make, but I definitely plan on making more.

[@jacklee1258]

I think the Ship of Theseus is also a valid interpretation

[@MyopicTurtle]

Something close to it at least. I've seen a few people with similar comments, and it makes sense to me. How much can you change about a person before it's impossible to think them as one consistent identity. Ghost in the Shell explores some similar ideas with how cybernetic enhancement would change how humans view themselves. I find these ideas especially interesting in how they can be analogized to any individual as they grow and change. I find it difficult to identify with myself from five years ago. Where I'd quibble the Ship of Theseus read is that Phos' replaced parts are hardly even similar to the originals. There's no attempt to maintain the same form; it's the opposite, really. That said, I think I understand the point you're getting at, and I think it's a good one.

[@snailorgy]

seeing that exact wiki page led me here. I was just looking for a film about Faust

[@user-bd1wo4no6l]

Wow, dude you are so good at it can you make more videos like that?

[@jebes909090]

My first impression of this anime when i watched it was evangelion meets nier automa......but happier.........then i read the manga.......oh boy..........

[@olookslike0]

I actually really liked the video; it worked to deconstruct what is essentially kind of an unusual narrative. land of the lustrous is especially bizzare in a number of different story telling conventions, which is why I like it. Though to me, what sticks out most about Phos's story is not that the character gets stronger but as they get stronger, they slowly lose their initial personality. The gems store their memories throughout their bodies, and because memory often dictates personality, losing parts of the body means that they lose their memories and to a certain extent parts of their mind. You can see this in just how different Phos not only looks at the end of the series but also acts; they're just not phos anymore. The arms and legs aren't the only thing to go. Apparently in the manga, they lose their whole head which is replaced with lapiz lazuli. and then lose an eye which is replaced by pearl. It makes you wonder; are they really Phos at that point? I think that's one of the small things that makes the series strangely disturbing. Especially how its implied but not addressed much in the show.

[@MyopicTurtle]

completely agree. I thought simply mentioning the loss of memory was enough to make the point in the video, but I sort of regret not developing that part more. Toward the beginning, Phos has a certain amount of clarity about his motivations, but loses that clarity through his route of achieving them. Two biggest examples: he wants to fight the lunarians because he loves sensei. By the end of winter I think he's forgotten that, and he's sort of carried by momentum and necessity. The other one is his neglect of Cinnebar. Wanting to help Cinnebar was a pretty big deal for Phos, but he forgot. I think this is the main way the story creates a sense of--i don't know--existential disillusionment, because Phos forgets any sense of purpose that he had. and yeah, I'd say these points get further developed in the manga. If you liked the anime, you'll probably enjoy reading further.

[@ButterMuttSquash]

This was a really nice video. Except I think you made a mistake at 1:11 when you had footage of Dia instead of Cinnabun.

[@MyopicTurtle]

lol noted

[@LQY]

It's a cool theory!

[@privatepreviewer9167]

Good Quote on 10:19 ... about self sabotage...

[@dunnejos8423]

The play is based of a very old German folk story just called "Faust." Which is much more involved then the play. And in the Book Faust doesn't end up going to hell after he realizes the mistakes he made in order for achieve his goals of knowledge seeking.

[@MyopicTurtle]

yeah, as best as I can tell, the older versions of the story tend to have less of the redemptive aspect. If you're referring specifically to Goethe's "Faust," the first part of which was published in 1790, that's much newer than Christopher Marlowe's play from 1592. My suspicion is that the culture, and general conception of God shifted to be less "hellfire and brimstone" in those 200 years, but it would take a lot of research to confirm (or disconfirm) that suspicion. regardless, all of this was an important gap in my knowledge when I wrote this video, which does change a few of my thoughts on the Faustain Tale.

[@umutozer9667]

I really enjoyed the discussion. But now that the manga is on a hiatus and it has almost reached its end, a second look at it could be really interesting. Please consider if you haven't.

[@RevolutionaryLoser]

I recently started looking into the Hegelian dialectic in the show. I think there's a lot to work with.

[@pelonio6181]

Could You do a video about the manga in the future? There's a lot to Explain where the anime left off and it would make the wait for a possible season 2 a little less boring.

[@frescopino7866]

The more I hear your analisys the more I relate it to the manga and *goddamn* is it fitting. Chapter 52, Phos' plans... The only thing not synching up is his motivation, but other than that you analysis of the anime tells so much about the rest of the story that it's almost scary.

[@MyopicTurtle]

it's just an indication of the quality of the writing. The author knew what he/she wanted the story to be from the start, and built in a lot of reinforcing details. I seriously need to read the manga when I've got more time on my hands.

[@kitsuneayano]

and we are still waiting for season 2

[@pikachu-hd6lr]

Omg i didn't even remembered that Phos tried to cut off her arm

[@KnifeChampion]

good vid

[@jamesamala7371]

manga spoilers, be warned the story HAS in fact become more Faustian as it is revealed that Sensei is a "prayer machine" meant to pray for the lunarians so that they can finally pass on from immortal mundanity. the lunarians, essentially, are the spirits of the humans who used to walk the earth. though many live up on the moon, it would make absolute sense for some to stay trapped on Earth. Spirits even Sensei wouldn't pray for. Sinners. The sinners manifest as the ice, tempting Phos into losing her arms/memories in return for the *idea* of more power. in doing this, Phos sets himself on a downward spiral-- though his power has grown, his mental capabilities and sanity are waning. However, this downward spiral is not *actually* the act of selling her soul in and of itself, no, the selling of the soul only is solidified when Phos loses her head to the lunarians and gains Lapis' instead. Lapis was another gem that had her doubts about their way of life and was killed in the process of figuring it out. She had inhuman (or, gem, I guess) information processing capabilities and incredible sight. With this, Phos finally reaches her capacity of powerups without losing the original being. She has, essentially, gotten the full exchange for her sacrifices. For a while, she uses this to her advantage, now being able to study the lunarians more easily and process information she is given faster, as well as being able to fend them off if need be. he gets onto the moon, and meets the celestial beings that have terrorized them for thousands of years and makes a deal (which could arguably be the real end of the soul selling deal, because Phos loses an eye in exchange for this deal) with them to go back and get Sensei to pray for them so they can move on. thus begins Phos' descent into hell, losing the trust of many of the gems and taking others back to the the moon with him. again and again, he loses more and more of what makes him "him" in the process until on his last trip to earth, the gems, fed up, tear him to pieces and lock him away for 200 years. the story parallels would be perfect if the tale ended there, but unfortunately Phos is woken up again and achieves his goal (while looking like a fucking demonic entity himself I might add), making Sensei pray and release the lunarians, but in the process further breaking him and causing him to make all parts of the humans body (bone, flesh, spirit) disappear as well (eventually. we haven gotten there QUITE yet but thats what we were told would happen). and there you have it. a Faustian tale broken down to it's bare essentials and then needlessly complicated because manga writer says fuck English majors I guess. I hope someone at least reads this. I was supposed to be writing an essay on The Scarlet Letter this whole time.

[@MyopicTurtle]

I see you. Looks like I'll have to get caught up on the manga again. sounds like some interesting shit. Now go do your homework. English teachers only cover the Scarlet Letter because none of the religious zealots of that time period wrote anything else remotely readable. The book sucks, but you'll be better off in the long run, by firstly learn to appreciate the good in things that suck, but secondly by doing your homework.

[@Hellisfear]

Good video fam, Also love all the references. I need to read more Solzhenitsyn, especially 200 years together

[@mertcancelikci6701]

I Want season 2 !!!!!! When it will come

[@namisue7293]

very nice, now please make a video on princess principal

[@SlimTony]

I think the slip into the ice was just clumsyness (she is established as a clumsy character after all) but the subconscious "taking the easy way out with the box" is pretty good

[@MyopicTurtle]

yeah, it's a tossup as to what the author's intent was, as always, but people harming themselves without being entirely conscious of what they're doing is well documented. I guess it depends on how close the author is to the psychology, but it's interesting either way, and I think the point is that she had the intent, whether or not it was enough to act on.

[@bruhgurl9621]

can i have a get a link for that faust play it looks hella cool

[@MyopicTurtle]

I'd found it in chunks, an act at a time on youtube, but now I can only find small clips of that production. managed to find the payed version which I think is the original source, though: globeplayer.tv/videos/doctor-faustus

[@teamtoxic1179]

This one amazing video made me subscribe to you.

[@unpronouncable2442]

There is also a theme in the story of becoming human. Phos looses her legs but they are replaced with legs of flesh. She is bones. And it is not haphazard to say that she will get something from the moon to make her into a real boy

[@shelliingle571]

I heard that's going to happen in the recently.

[@potatowashere2580]

New chapters of HNK: * sweats nervously *

[@gquackstery888]

One thing I'm thinking: mabye the self improvement through self harm is only on a surface level? They are becoming a shell of her former self, even in their appearance, copying the form of one she thinks is desired and using something else to feel wanted. They only look for a 'purpose' because they want to feel necessary. Mabye Phos will eventually regain their arms and just do what makes them happy. Edit: had to change one she to them, but anyway, yeah, this is what I think in the moment.

[@bonhll8070]

4:57 THAT IS SO GOOD HOLY SHIT IF YOUVE READ THE MANGA YOUD UNDERSTAND

[@gnrngkcntnf]

Well you were kinda on the mark with the ice having agency!

[@ishanator3819]

The heavy gold also represents the burden of her path and trauma

[@TheOzpad]

holy shit what a video

[@Sparrow_Bloodhunter]

and here I thought it was just japanese Steven Universe. but in all seriousness I love the show and can't wait for a second season.

[@MetronaJ]

Just so you know when he called the ice floe sinners there is a hint to what he was actually refering to before than, remember what phos said the ice floe looked like? Also, first video? Are you planning to make more videos?

[@MyopicTurtle]

ok so, I went back and looked at that part of the show, and there was one line that stuck out to me. Sensei says "they are but dregs of creatures from the beginning of time." That makes me lean a bit more toward the ice being a personified satan than I was before. makes me think they're something like souls trapped in the ice as a punishment, for something, which would make them almost exactly the same as satan and his demons trapped in hell. yeah, this is all very speculative. . . I didn't see phos saying they looked like anything; probably because I skipped to the wrong part of the show for that. oh wait, was it that they looked like lunarians? ok I think that also works with a souls trapped in the ice sort of theory. With what we know so far about the show's lore is that humanity split over time into three sects, which were called flesh, bone, and soul. The lunarians are the "soul" of humanity, so . . . yeah, no a whole lot of details to work with. And also, yes I have a few more ideas that I plan on turning into videos. I hope to see you there.

[@MetronaJ]

MyopicTurtle yeah, it was the entire looking like lunarians thing, also remember that the anime takes buddhist themes not the others Also guess I'm subscribing :)

[@theproplady]

It's interesting that Dante's Inferno has the lowest level of hell made from ice, with the sinners embedded in it to various levels. The Devil is also trapped in the ice and as he beats his wings to escape, he only makes Hell grow colder. Personally, I thought the ice floes looked like battleships - maybe this was a reference to ancient mankind's love of war and destruction?

[@gareth-chan8450]

In Buddhism they have the cycle of reincarnation, and those reincarnation is actually depending on how you lived your life, you might end up as a fly or a lowly creature if you lived your life wrongly,and you might be another human if you have lived a good life.

[@iota-09]

"makes me think they're something like souls trapped in the ice as a punishment, for something, " YES YES YES THAT'S IT remember ice is nothing but water crystals, crystals, and what are gems? crystals with inclusions, the difference between gems and crystalline beings like ice is the presence of "the tiny beings in their inclusions"(parasytes?) and tell me, why are the lunarians/selenites defines as the souls? and again, why do some ice floes look like lunarians? hmm? hmm? now, we could very much be wrong, but 1+1 and one is just going think that ice floes "sinners" are those human souls that could not be reborn as gems, lunarians or admirabilis and got stuck into ice, their most visceral and dark emotions taking over(which is a thing humans tend to do when they're left with nothing but their opinions as the only action they can take) and leading phos to her arms loss... the thoerycrafting starts when you start think about the ice floes having human souls trapped inside of them and why a gem may fail to be born, would it mean that for a gem to be born their original soul requires certain emotional parmaters that makes them "not sinners"? what about the lunarians then? and the admirabilis? are they just the flesh and bone natural evolution of humans as we actual humans may intend it in a darwinian way?

[@michaelafluellen7438]

I WANT ANSWERS, how do you get the episodes in order plz 😭😭😭😭

[@michaelafluellen7438]

But in English

[@OverReaperCh]

Oh boy, did newest chapters reveal about ice moment i anime. It sure did explained what happened. And what Ice technically was. So, SPOILER. Turns out, the one who took Phos arms was Older BRother of Adamant, on order of Lunarians, what happened to arms exactly like did they get disolved or grinded, We don't know. However, this was part of a plan to turn Phos into new Praying Machine so EVERYONE could just pass on. So to speak, The Older Brother was at foult for Ice and everything giving Ice the Sinner vibe, as he might had use Ice as Proxy to communicate. So Ice is ... Just Ice. Or maybe something like Antarcticite but couldn't develop properly?