Pain in Powder | Houseki No Kuni

Рет қаралды 6,163

Күн бұрын

Discussing the role of powder in Houseki no Kuni, and how its symbolic meaning in Phos and Cairngorms relationship shows how they are foils.
Big thanks to ⁠‪@Mackthegui‬ for editing this video!
Go checkout his channel and HNK videos:
/ @mackthegui
• What Immortals Fear: L...
• The Purpose of Immorta...
Consider subscribing:
/ @rizacreatoryt
Join My Discord Server:
/ discord
Buy Me a Coffee: (Donate)
www.buymeacoff...
Thank you for opening my description and reading the random stuff I put here :)
See you in the next video!

Пікірлер: 53

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Big thanks to Mackthegui for editing this video! His channel is linked in the description, go check out his HNK videos as well

@Mackthegui 6 ай бұрын

It was lovely working with you! A big change of pace editing someone else's video. I'm looking forward to what you make next!

@inspirashamul 6 ай бұрын

One of my favorite aspects of Phos is their agate legs because of how beautiful yet distinct it is. It’s a shame that they were hidden for most of the series because of the exact thing you talk about: appealing to the humans that Kongo looked up to. This is why I was glad that the gold alloy couldn’t even be contained by that powder itself. Their shame could be covered. Their change was irreversible. Great video and fantastic concept to tackle as always!

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Yeah good points

@aaiknn 6 ай бұрын

It’s interesting how the legs are the only replacement that gets fully covered up, alloy as mentioned, how hair doesn’t get powdered so lapis is visible, the pearl eye explicitly cannot be closed… The legs’s super speed also basically gets nulled by the weight of the alloy.

@inspirashamul 4 ай бұрын

@@aaiknn Yeah this is true I didn’t really think about it in that way. I wonder why Ichikawa chose this to be covered when it could’ve easily been hidden with pant legs or something.

@aaiknn 6 ай бұрын

Another interpretation I’ve seen raised about Phos’ permanent powder is how it locks their appearance into being more human-like. Building on that, it also places them closer to Kongo who doesn’t need powder.

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Oh true!

@DingoDummy2026 6 ай бұрын

I didn't feel like crying for a fictional character on Wednesday night, but here we are I guess

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

As intended

@TheLivingHuman 6 ай бұрын

God I love Houseki no Kuni, it's one of those things I'll never get tired of even years later

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Agreed

@bolladragon 6 ай бұрын

One detail about Cairngorm is that they’re technically smoky quartz, a greyish-brownish form of quartz, with Cairn specifically being uniquely the kind that’s almost jet black. Ghost was most likely milky quartz, which is whitish and just barely translucent, as she managed to almost completely cover up Cairn’s rich color without completely doing so in their hair. Ghost quartz forms when a crystal manages to grow completely over another and you can still see the original crystal inside. So, if we go by the whole prison imagery here, Cairn’s total lack of choice from birth to be or do anything unless Ghost also wanted the same clearly affected them. I think that’s more why the Cairn realizing Ghost was still in charge after most of the gem was carved away resulted in such a violent scene that ended in Cairn just carving out their own eyes with their shattering hands after Ghost was forcing them away from Aechmea’s offer to surgically remove them. The dramatic shift in personality wasn’t actually a shift at all; that’s the person Cairngorm always was. And them fully embracing of Lunarian freedom of expression and the slinkier than average clothing? That’s what Cairn always wanted to do. And now Ghost’s soft conformity and love for Phos wasn’t stopping them.

@Will0wisp_ 6 ай бұрын

I feel like everyone is always so mad at cairn for cutting phos from their life (I was to, don’t get me wrong) but cairn is right. They had no obligation to do the things they did for phos.

@Chronomel 6 ай бұрын

I feel like the scene where ghost drags them away is actually evidence that they weren't literally always controlling Cairn. As in, if they could do that in such an intense way, why haven't we seen it before? I think Ghost's control was only metaphorical, as in, Cairn doesn't know how to do anything except follow orders, so they were being controlled in that way. And Ghost's inclusions react so violently cuz they don't want to be destroyed. Of course, in that moment, it seem like complete confirmation that Ghost is controlling and Cairn is finally getting complete freedom, but Aechmea controls Cairn in a similar way also. Aechmea tells Cairn that moon life is what freedom is and that the *only* reason why Cairn was following Phos was because of Ghost, and I think Cairn is still being controlled in that way. It's not like Cairn was a mindless slave before, even while inside Ghost they protest and complain and have their own goals. Moon Cairngorm gets a taste of freedom but is still hanging on Aechmea's every word, and we still see Cairn complaining and asking for more based on what he has outlined as ideal

@Quarataia 6 ай бұрын

One of the things I love about HnK, anything really can be a true revelation.

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Yes, it’s amazing

@nouvaldiarditioyoghi1295 6 ай бұрын

and here I thought there aren't any small details left to talk about so glad I'm an avid fan of this series

@pogchamprussell1261 6 ай бұрын

another episode of "interesting title choice" *The chair sequel*

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Exactly

@Sentence00 6 ай бұрын

This was beautiful, thank you Riza for giving me something else to take into consideration in this series, I will admit that the powder is not something I had give much thought

@disneyjunkie19 6 ай бұрын

ngl i never thought that much about the powder but now i have aNOTHER reason to hate kongo, for which i must thank you, riza. (also the editing looks so smooth and has a remarkable attention to detail and tone! good job mack.)

@howiesells5523 6 ай бұрын

I to wonder about that line for the longest time

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Twining

@kazumihiga7792 6 ай бұрын

6:59... indeed, kongo knew 🤯💥💥

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Yeah

@klassickirby7785 6 ай бұрын

Absolutely love your videos and can never get enough of your chapter analysis. Im curious if you'd be willing to go over an iceberg someone made on reddit regarding the series, I'd love to see your thoughts on it!

@callum2277 6 ай бұрын

I think this really highlights how gem society and their love of Kongo is responsible for so many problems. To the audience Kongo is disarming because of how kindly he treats the gems but look below the surface and you see its all rotten to the core. The gems don't realise they are being manipulated due to Kongo's effects on the human descendants nor do they understand the restrictions he imposes upon them out of fear of humanity. Kongo is a living (are machines even alive?) contradiction he is terrified of humanity yet shapes the gems to be as human as possible. The permanent powder on phos post moon could also be seen as him clinging to the past. Even after the invasion ark the first thing phos thinks of after his battle with aechmea is rebuilding the gems. After all that has happened phos clings to the hope things will go back to the way they where that he can go back to adamant back to to the others. Phos still wants acceptance from the other gems and from kongo even if he doesn't realise it until after he prays. Phos motivating through the manga could be seen as variations get rid of the lunarians and become the ultimate hero of gem society.

@Crabstickmuncher Ай бұрын

I just got into hnk and read it once but seeing this was making me think about all the details i just pushed aside and just said whatever to and i started to realise i liked the gem society more for some reason and it really made me think about my view on society its self as a person always trying to comform to what others find appealing i realised that hnk is really not that different from real life

@bababoey5951 6 ай бұрын

finally watched, interesting analysis of the subject at hand. will memorize for further pondering.

@danielaragon6288 5 ай бұрын

I just jumped into the manga again and finished it, thanks to your videos I got to understand a lot I had forgotten ☺ thanks, really nice analysis you got there

@weathering-the-storm 2 ай бұрын

I love everything about Hoseki No Kuni its such a beautiful introspection about the flaws of being human and how society can influence you. I want to immerse myself in everything related to this gorgeous story! Where can I get that lore book

@DjLoxma 6 ай бұрын

love your analysis! i dont comment on videos because im overwhelming mess of thoughts but wanted to say i enjoy your work somewhere while watching i remembered how i miss phos, like a lump in the throat also never stared enough through phos' invasion arc costume (even tho its one of my favorites), looks like the shape of hnk logo but vertically. oh am i seeing things?

@bababoey5951 6 ай бұрын

gonna be busy today will watch later! love HnK videos

@rizacreatorYT 6 ай бұрын

Thank you

@Краденыйносочек 2 ай бұрын

im not able to analyze hnk that deep, tho i would realy love to, its my favorite manga, i really enjoyed listening to your ideas, especially about her cracks being shown cus i couldnt understand why her outfit looked that way now i actually exited to watch the chairs video that ive been coming across for months now lol

@TyraBergh-o5b 2 ай бұрын

Still waiting on that Rutile / padparadscha video analysis ☝️😔

@trikster6748 4 ай бұрын

You know what Cairn without powder reminds me of? Jewellery. This is basically how Aechmea treats them. It goes back to first chapters when Kongo's explanation for why Lunarians hunt Gems was "to make jewellery out of you". Also, it plays the theme of lunarian Prince making his genderless "wife" more femele presenting. I'm curious if other gems, after settling on the moon for 200 years, wanted to stop using powder. They didn't because they were so used to it? Or Aechmea used that permenent powder on them too?