#HNK Theory

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 99 Thoughts: Chasing Unrealized Wishes

Hello everyone. I hope you are doing alright. These past few months have been strenuous in many parts of the world and I hope you are all doing alright and staying safe. 

To be honest, I didn’t expect to see the latest chapter of Houseki no Kuni so soon. I thought it wouldn’t be until December that we’d see another chapter, but this was an interesting surprise to see today.

I just finished reading the chapter and I’m going to be honest with you: I think I liked it more than I thought I would. It’s funny because not much happened in this chapter; it was mainly dialogue between Phos and the new rock lifeform. But the revelations that Phos made through this simple conversation was what really did it for me. I’ll try to elaborate on this a little more.

I must also say, after what happened in the last chapter, Ms. Ichikawa has once again did a good job subverting my expectations when it comes to her story telling. Whether it’s a good subversion or not... that’s up to you. For now, I’m currently leaning on it being “good.” I’ll also talk about this a little in this post. 

Anyways, this post will be much shorter than my long posts because despite me liking the chapter (for the most part, I didn’t have much to talk about here. Sorry that it won’t be as in-depth like I normally write them. This may change in time, so I’ll add more to this post some time later if I make new revelations. For now, I hope this is good enough.

As always, please feel free to share your thoughts. Here we go!

Phos: I will never be satisfied

There are many things I liked about this interaction, but the following pages are the ones I want to focus on. Here’s Phos, who’s offering the new rock all things they believed they needed to thrive in this new world. Limbs, so the new rock can move at their own convenience. Eyes and ears, so they see and hear the world around them.

But the rock didn’t need those things. The rock is content with what they had and didn’t have any desire for more. The rock knows what it is and is aware of it’s imperfections and limitations, but that doesn’t matter to it. They’re happy the way they are.

An exact opposite to Phos, and Phos realizes this. 

And it’s here that Phos makes these realizations: They never really realized what they really wanted and why. And because of that, Phos was never going to feel fulfilled, no matter what they gained or sacrificed. They were driven by their knowledge and their ever evolving desires, but they all came at great costs to them and everyone around them. They could have turned back at any point, but they didn’t. They kept pushing and pushing, even when it meant destroying themselves and everything they once knew. Yes, it was all orchestrated by Aechmea, but Phos still kept the momentum, even when they knew they were being used and manipulated. It didn’t matter to Phos because to them, they were making progress towards something they thought they wanted, even though that “something” never truly comes to fruition in the way Phos originally expects. 

So because they never really figured out what they wanted, Phos was never going to be satisfied with anything, no matter what they’d do. They always strived for more and even when they thought it was enough, it was never enough. One can even say that while some of Phos’s past actions had selfless intentions, they are also driven by lowkey, insatiate selfishness for an unmaterialized and intangible goal.  This endless pursuit costed everything, and now Phos has nothing left. Part of me thinks that’s what Phos also realized here.

Now, I can see how some fans may feel conflicted about this revelation. I haven’t seen the posts yet, but I can imagine some seeing this as Ms. Ichikawa backtracking the character development Phos had until that point and may even see the author somewhat condemning Phos in some way. For those of you who feel this way or don’t agree with what was said in the chapter or my post, please feel free to share. 

(And please let me know if I’m reaching; I was trying to think of the possible reasons why someone may not agree with what transpired in the chapter and I could be overthinking here)

Regardless of what fans may think of this chapter, this is a very bold admission for Phos to make. But I think this revelation needed to happen. Heck, this conversation as a whole needed to happen for Phos because they needed to hear this new point of view, especially from someone/something who was not directly part of the past events. Why? Because even after the dust had settled and the original source of Phos’s suffering is no longer there, I don’t think Phos would have ever realized they were in yet another never ending cycle of personal suffering.

Sometimes a complete outsider’s perspective is all one needs to get the big picture and helps one appreciate the little things that were once overlooked. And what a better option to get that perspective from than a specimen who is both similar and nothing like you. This interaction, even though it ends with Phos having a bittersweet mentality about everything, I think this interaction was lovely and helped with their character development in more ways than one. I’m sure it’ll care on to the next chapter. Speaking of next chapter...

Edit (I wanted to quickly add this after rereading the end of the chapter): I was thinking about Phos and the rock’s comments about the white dwarf star and I needed to double check my research on the lifespan of stars. A white dwarf is one of the final stages a star can go through when it depletes its fuel. If that dwarf is the original sun, that means it’s going to “die” and become a black star. I wonder if this little tidbit is intended to be foreshadowing for what will happen to the Earth and to add onto the many symbolisms of this story. Please let me know what you think!

The Story From Here On Out: What happens now?

It’s funny how a few predictions I and several others had made in the past have somewhat come true in this chapter, though clearly not in the way I’d expected:

Phos being the one left behind in some way

Phos finding new gems/ specimens and starting a new society

Phos taking over Adamant’s old position in more ways than one

Phos will have a bittersweet end to their story (Still to early to call but everything is leading to this direction)

After the last chapter, I didn’t think anything of these old predictions to happen because honestly, I wasn’t sure if Phos was even going to still exist after their prayer with how it all looked. I’m glad and sad that Phos still existed afterwards. But now the question is... what happens now?

Will Phos continue to find other rock or inorganic life forms to create a society with? Or will they let them just exist in their own way, just like their new rock companion? And will Phos just continue to exist without any reason or goal anymore? Who knows.

But I think now that the remaining human remnants are gone and Phos no longer has direct connections to them, Phos will now properly be able to decompress and reflect. This will not be like the times before where Phos was completely alone for thousands of years or buried alive or left in a coma. This time, Phos isn’t alone and is with a being who offers them a much needed fresh perspective. I mean, this simple conversation was able to help Phos in a unique way. Maybe future conversations with this rock and any other species Phos comes across will help them more. They might be able to find a new happiness where they are now.

(Also, isn’t it funny how this rock lifeform that barely knows Phos showed more care to Phos than most of the past characters that grew up with Phos? I’m not surprised)

Wow. This story really went in directions I didn’t think they’d go in. I reread the first chapters of the series and yeah, if I were to go back in time and reread the story from start to this, I wouldn’t have predicted most if not all the events that happened. (BTW: The blackout out pages in this chapter were a very cleaver call back to the first chapter. Someone else made a post about it and I thank you for making the connection)

But beyond the small predictions I just made, I don’t know where else the story can go from here. And I can’t help but think it won’t go on for much longer. With how everything is paced and the fact that the 100 chapter will be released next month, I honestly think this story is going to end there. I know many people believe that it’ll end on chapter 108 because that number is relevant in Buddhism and maybe they’re right. But I just wonder... what else could happen? Despite the many loose ends that have been mentioned by myself and many others, I don’t think they can be resolved now. Maybe Ms. Ichikawa has another plot twist up her sleeve somehow. I don’t know. I’m not going to think too hard about this right now.

But one thing’s for certain though; this crazy ride of a story is almost over and I’m still sticking to it to the very end because I need to see how it all ends. There are still many things I feel iffy about when it comes to some of Ms. Ichikawa’s decisions with this story, including characterization and pacing. But despite my criticisms, I still enjoy this story and even if the ending doesn’t meet my expectations, I know I won’t regret staying with it to the end. I know not everyone feels the same way, but to each their own.

Sorry that this post isn’t as insightful as my past posts. Maybe I’ll come up with a follow up post later after having more time to think about it. Anyways, thank you for reading and please feel free to share your thought! Stay safe!

[weebookey]

Houseki no Kuni - Questioning Everything: Enma & Kongou Sensei [Thread]

As revealed in Ch.89 Aechmea is a reference to the the Buddhist God of Hell - Enma Daiō. He is said to be both the ruler of the underworld, and the one who judges the souls of the dead on whether they go to Heaven or Hell. Some of this information gets interesting now....

Multiple sources state: "In the Indian Veda myth, he is said to be the incarnation of the Jizo Bosatsu, the stone statue which is the god of help in Japanese Buddhism." Sensei's full name? Kongou Daihijisho Jizo Bosatsu

Their relationship is still unknown and, to put frankly, extremely suspicious. Multiple panels and dialogue throughout the series emphasize they are one-in-the-same:

Its also noted that Enma was the first person to die. In chapter 89, after Barbata explains his role during the history of the Lunarians, Enma shows disappointment when talking about who to prioritize for enlightenment [...]

However, in Chapter 65 Kongou makes a similar remark regarding humanity, noting that Equality and Tolerance are concepts which never upheld for long within Humanity [...]

[cont.] "Because he is also an incarnation of the god of help, it is said that he can come and go freely between heaven and hell." This perfectly explains Enma's vaporisation and instant-arrival on Earth to confront Phosphophyllite during the onset [...]

Another interesting detail is how easily Enma can speak on Earth? This was something every Lunarian had trouble performing and could barely make a sound. [...]

Back to Kongou - "Jizo Bosatsu is the protector of children. In Japanese folklore, Jizo hides the children in his robes to protect them from 'demons' and guide them to salvation" [...]

"Unlike most bodhisattvas, who are shown wearing richly adorned clothing to indicate their exalted status, Jizo has a shaved head and wears the simple robes of a monk. He made a vow not to become a full Buddha until all souls have been freed from suffering."

ICHIKAWA WHAT ARE YOU COOKING?!!

Head-cannon: Enma is a significant figure related to the team whom worked with Ayumu. Perhaps he was the first person to be subject to enlightenment by this machine. Something went wrong and Kongou had a 'change in physical appearance.' They HAVE to be linked at this point

[vivixrocks2]

Okay so I read the lastest chapter today and I want to bring up this post I made before the end of hiatus : https://vivixrocks.tumblr.com/post/673229013554266112/ive-been-having-some-thoughts-of-hnk-lately-and-i

If you haven’t read chapter 96 yet or don’t want spoilers DO NOT READ THIS.

.

.

.

.

In my third question I wondered if they are able to recover Lapis and turn them into a Lunarian that they would be able to recover Phos too and create two different Phos’s, one Lunarian and the original on earth.

From what I’m getting from this latest chapter is that IT IS possible. Ghost Quartz says they cannot recover Lapis because they don’t have enough memories from their head.

Phos lost almost all of their body parts EXCEPT for their torso. One of those body parts that were taken and probably crushed and turned into the dust on the moon is Phos’s head.

Do you see where I am going?

They could probably recover a younger Phos before they got Lapis’s head. So basically Post winter Phos as Lunarian (imagine their confusion).

But now I wonder what will happen to Lapis? It’s hard for me to explain what I am thinking but wouldn’t their memories but merged with Phos’s now? Like what I am trying to say is like Is Lapis still alive through Phos? Like a ghost?

If they recover Lapis with their head they took from Phos will they have the memories of everything that Phos did with their head?

Are Phos and Lapis they same being now?

Can there be two Lapis’s like there is two Phos’s? One is before they had their head chopped off and one with memories of Phos.

[bortzcore]

hey guys what's up it's been a whi

oh!

[mieowkoid09]

THEY LOOK SO SAD IN THIS PAGE... DID THEY LOSE SOMEONE TO THAT MISTAKE?? Omg... headcanons/theories incoming

What if the gem Bort lost was Heliodor? The timings match up seeing as how Dia said that "Bort is getting so strong lately."

...Basically. implying this is a recent occurance. And you know who got caught recently?

Heliodor.

I'd also like to point out that Heliodor was captured at the cape of emptiness, aka where Cinnabar is staying. So its also an interesting detail to CinnaBort.

Ugh i need to see cocky Bort getting absolutely traumatized plz

[vikuku]

Loneliness and Empathy in the world of Houseki no Kuni

Hii!! I have been keeping this in my head for while and I ended up deciding to do a blog regarding it (my first blog here!) and I think I have everything done to be able to explain my point of view of something have seen in Houseki no Kuni.

I watched Houseki no Kuni in 2020. the anime beautiful landscapes immediately caught my attention, but as I saw more, I had a feeling of loneliness in the series backgrounds even though the characters were there.

I feel like those landscapes actually shows how lonely everyone is

Despite living together and fighting as a team, they’re still lonely, most of them seems to not to care much about each other's well-being. the only thing they care is the work they must do. They wouldn’t even ask someone to hang out, ask how they are doing or anything like a friendship.

In the beginning Phos was weak, so the gems would not be interested to her that much, when Phos got new legs, more gems started talking to her, so pretty much basically they only got interested in her when she became useful and no longer a burden to them.

What I’m saying is that almost no one else cares for each other, so they’re alone.

[19-bellwether]

Just watch Adamant and Aechmea be like yeah there's something we can do for Phos :) and then use Phos's original head to bring back post-Winter Phos. That's what you wanted, right? Phos can be happy on the moon with us now :)

[tama1313]

(HNK spoilers!) I may be biased because Ghost is my favourite but I have a theory why they decided to do that to Cairngorm.

If they only cared for Lapis and projected them over Phos, they didn't have to turn Cairn into Antarct. But they eventually did.

Why?

Well, Phos and Ghost has a lot in common: they both are "outcast" with difficulty at actually socialize (even if in different ways) and they both lose someone they deeply cared (the only gem they could connect with).

Therefore Ghost does not only project Lapis on Phos. They know what's feel ling being through something like this.

Therefore the whole plan to turn Cairn into Antarct in my opinion, was actually more a clumpsy tentative to preserve Phos from any further sorrow and avoid them to suffer like Ghost did (also sweet reminder that is not Ghost's fault if they were born like this and more than once in the manga is hinted that they trust Cairn and evel let them take control over their shared body)

Sure, what Ghost did was wrong but hey! We are in HNK, not in a Disney movie

This manga is full of morally gray characters with ambiguos morality (our beloved protagonist too) which's action are way worse than theirs, and yet I see Ghost getting a lot of hate

[theephemeralflow]

HNK theory

Spoilers ahead I just had a minor theory for chapter 101

So the creature thing, I wonder if that was the machine before Adamant, you know the one that tried to destroy humanity by purposefully miscalculating the path of a meteor? The ice flows, how he tried to resemble the lunarians to convince them to help him. Now I can’t really say he climbed out of water, he may just be goopy instead of wet, but I wonder since the machine is not really human, if he would’ve survived the prayer, and being built for humans, he would’ve been able to “smell” humans, maybe how he detected the gems and the lunarians as the ice floes. And this is just a mere observation but as I was looking for the chapter where he is mentioned, I stumbled across the human particles, I wonder if I’m just overthinking that the creature resembles them, because to be fair when all you are is a small head and some legs you will resemble anything else that lacks what you lack

[neolxzr]

I JUST SAW UR HNK POST AND YOUVE PROBABLY SEEN MY INSANELY LONG RANT IN UR TAGS. i am becoming increasingly suspicious that we are the same person

HI HONESTLY WE MIGHT BE. YOU SO GET IT

its like always crazy to me to meet people who know about it because the fandom feels so like. quiet??? not present?? like i KNOW there are people making hnk content and talking about it but that verry very very very long break between manga chapters i think caused a lot of people to stop like actively talking about it which like. fair but its still nuts to me because in my mind its my niche gem that me and my 2 friends know about and i need to indoctrinate everyone ever into watching it and reading it but i keep finding out that other people know about it already and love it and for some reason i am completely shocked every time

god. i liked beastars s1 never saw s2 and like i think the animation style was cool i GUESS but studio orange's take on hnk was PERFECTION and like combined with the music which is fuckign beautiful and tragic and emotional and the OP which makes me want to cry and th ggraAHHHHHHHBHBHB like whhhy why hwywhywhy did we need 2 seasons of beastars and not another season of hnk why. guys please

[king-paimon]

Houseki No Kuni Chapter 102 Thoughts: A Pleasant Surprise

Hello everyone! I hope April has been kind to you. I can’t believe that the month is already almost over. Time is still going by way too quickly. Maybe I feel that way because I’m “old.”

Anyways, I just finished reading chapter 102 and once again, I’m baffled by Ms. Haruko Ichikawa’s abilities to put more twists in her stories. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten so used to anything good happening in this story ending with more heartache and tragedy, I was ready for that to happen once again because of how the last chapter ended.

Thankfully, it appears that didn’t happen this time. Though I’ll admit, I’m still skeptical.

I honestly (for real this time) don’t have much to add for this meta post, but I still want to share my thoughts. This was a nice chapter with a pleasant surprise in the forms of new members of Phos’s found family!

Spoilers below! And as always, feel free to share your thoughts! I love reading them.

Eye’s Real Identity Revealed

First thing I have to say: Great job to everyone who correctly guessed the identity of the eyeball! It’s Adamant’s long lost “brother!” 

And he’s a goofy little guy!

That was the biggest surprise for me. You’d think that the being that helped end humanity would have a dark personality and be thrilled at the thought of wiping out the little rocks because they are linked to humanity too. But no! He seems to be enjoying life. Neat! Their interactions with Phos and the little rocks was interesting, including how they described humans. I mean, after everything that happened, can’t say I blame them. 

I don’t have much else to say about them. Again, great job to everyone who was able to figure out who it is! I’m glad I was wrong with my old prediction. I wonder how their interaction with Phos will go in the following chapters. 

Speaking of interactions... let’s briefly talk about Phos’s last lines.

Phos’s Final Quest

I’m not surprised by Phos's request. Though it could have been nice for Phos to live out their existence amongst their growing found family of little sentient pebbles, goofy eyeball creatures, and other beings yet to be discovered. However, it’s been reiterated many times that for Phos, so long as they exist, they will suffer in some manner. And even though I think they were happy with the pebbles, Phos wants to truly be free from their existence. To completely erase it.  And I think that’s completely fine. Sure, it’s sad to think about, but it’s understandable and I’m here for it.

Besides... the last few chapters seem to indicate that Phos feels like they’ve done what they’ve needed to do in this new world. Maybe Phos’s finally established their true end goal. After beating to the tune of someone else’s drum and being driven by their own unquenchable desire for unrealized goals, Phos now has a goal that is truly theirs and theirs alone. And if that’s how Phos wants to end their story, I hope the goofy eyeball will be able to help them.

Inching Closer To The End

I don’t have any predictions at this point and I think I’ll be holding off making any prediction for a while. Like I said before, Ms. Ichikawa has a knack for taking the story in unpredictable directions. Whether these story twists translate to good story telling is still up for debate, but I’m saving my final judgement for the end of the story. With that being said...yeah. Though I’m not super invested in Houseki no Kuni as I was a few years ago, I’m excited and sad to see how this will end. Because it’s clearly coming to an end soon. How it’ll end? No clue.

We’ll have to wait and see. Until then! See you!

[weebookey]

Ever wondered why Cinnabar is the only gem to have their Japanese name? Here are some ideas on alternative meanings behind 'shinsha'!

[vivixrocks2]

HNK Spoilers!!!

.1

.2

.3

I read somewhere that the reason why gems where white powder on their body (besides red dia wanting to look more like sensei) is because it protects them from like sand and other stuff in the air that chips away at them? I think I found that in the extra book that came with volume 11 (Japanese version only)

So does that mean all the gems are going bald?

[four-eyed-floozy]

Ok I have a theory, feel free to reply with you're own thoughts, leaks beware

Ok so a dumb little thought but what if this lil rock guy is the 28th gem, remember that discrepancy? The lil rock guy says they've been here all this time so maybe that's it.

[mieowkoid09]

Why did Phos falter at destroying Cinnabar in Chapter 92?

Like seriously, what happened? Did Phos become frustrated by the indifference in Cinnabar's face and faltered? Does Phos (obviously) have lingering affections for Cinnabar and hesitated? Did Phos become cocky and underestimate Cinnabar? seriously, what happened? I hope when this scene gets adapted in the anime we'll understand more lol

Also omg is Phos' gold alloy poking the remains of the Mercury Phos clone Cinnabar made and then crushed?

[tiredaalienn]

Shun as a blue calcite is @lu-kario's idea! So special thanks to them

I really like the idea bc:

1. Colour is a perfect match and the hardness of 3 is really suitable for him

2. Blue calcite is considered to protect from theft and he is someone who would need that

3.Its belived that it transforms bad energy into good one ( what else do you call escapism that he uses? )

Ok, so i chose ametrine bc I wanted to have an allusion for his bleached hair

Interesting fact he is basically an amethyst, colour change in the stone is due to exposion to the light and it occurred in Arens situation bc he's hair came from first and technically just bleached on the sun

Also ametrine is spoken to help people that are struggling with their aggression