Imagine a society where there is no gender, no race, no scarcity of resources and where beings are immortal. How would such a society function? Would such a society be a utopia? Would members of such a hypothetical society still fight with one another? What could even serve as a cause to fight? And if there is fighting, how would members of such a society reconcile with one other? How does one forgive an immortal enemy? These are just some of the heady themes that Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Jewels) has to ask of its reader.

Set on Earth, tens of thousands in the future, when mankind has gone extinct – 28 immortal jewels, all of them equal and genderless protect their small island from mysterious Lunarians who wish to abduct them for unknown reasons. One of these jewels – Phosphophyllite – a good-natured jewel – possessing no redeemable qualities, is our protagonist. The series follows this jewel’s journey as it develops from useless to useful to… well… something else completely. I won’t spoil it.

The first third of the plot can be summed as the “slice-of-life” portion of the series, the part where readers are most likely to drop the series for either being uneventful or for having wacky art. Personally, I’d recommend the anime for this portion (which I have reviewed separately) and then transition to the manga. The second third of the series is the build-up and the last third is the payoff. And what a splendid payoff it is! I won’t spoil it.

Houseki no Kuni is inspired by Buddhist concepts of suffering (dukkha), compassion (maitri) and nirvana (moksha) and is a reflection on how people who genuinely have love for one another can still end up being hurt and causing hurt. With this in mind, the series documents how society, through the suffering of Phosphophyllite, slowly enters in a downward spiral of distrust, anger and violence. And the series does this so well that it is simultaneously beautiful yet tragic, exciting yet foreboding and comic and yet deeply disturbing. While the series gets the ball rolling slowly, it is remarkably well executed. I can safely say that if this series is able to end on what it intends to deliver – the series could end up becoming as one of the finest manga that I have had the pleasure of reading my past 15 years.

So, what’s not to like?

Well, as mentioned earlier, the art is not that great. The characters are often indistinguishable from one another and some fight scenes look downright amateurish. Which is surprising because some manga panels are downright jaw-dropping gorgeous. In any case, be prepared for some sub-standard art. Also, some of the sub-plots (e.g. involving Ghost Quartz) while cohere philosophically are rather jarring (that is to say, that the subplots exist solely to make a philosophical statement rather than to take the plot forward). Finally, if you’re a reader who prefers their manga for fun and light reading or are generally put off by plots that have religious subtexts, this is not the manga for you. I, personally, come from a country where Buddhism has had a presence for over 2500 years, and where it has left and indelible presence on my country's culture, so I can readily relate to what this series has to offer. Highly recommended. 9/10.

*This review stands as of Chapter 90. I will update the review once this manga ends.