Note: due to the fact that the whole cast of Houseki is agender and I DO care about the issue, I will address them either by their name or by gender neutral pronoun. But do forgive me if sometimes the old habit gets the better of me. You readers, on the other hand, can address them in whatever way you like. We all live in a free country after all, even more so with the net. Just be mindful not carry yourself overboard like the folks over animefeminist (where they no longer associate with the ANN source because the said source used feminine pronounce for these characters). Geez, I get their intent, but it was way aggressive.
We still stick to the introduction phase of Houseki, this time we follow Phos meeting the entire new cast of the team. Basically, we have the same plotline as the first episode: Phos have trouble coming up with ideas for the encyclopedia, the based team (this time consist of speaker Jade – the cutest screaming voice ever – and Euclase) advises Phos to meet some other member who is on patrol aka “Character of the week” and while they meet up, Phos learns about their trouble and they will have to fight with the Lunarians as well. Bear in mind that this plotline is Houseki at its most normal, because boy, Houseki is getting weirder and weirder even at its beginning phase. The melting Phos, for example, is something so striking that I won’t forget anytime soon. I believe most of you might notice that Houseki is a work that has strong Buddhism context. I mean, just look at the Lunarians, compare to this; or the fact that Kongou-sensei is the monk. The story so far doesn’t touch much of Buddhism philosophy yet, but since those are crystalline lifeforms, they might take the idea of “reincarnation/rebirth” to a whole new level. I myself expect a strong Buddhism reference that will pop up soon as the story progresses.
This episode gives us a closer look at Dia, whose despite being one of the toughest gems of the team and the most adorable thing on Earth, feeling deeply insecure about their role. In fact, the main theme of Houseki so far is the struggle of our characters towards finding who they are and what their role is in this world. From Cinnabar who curse their very own existence, Phos who literally looking a for a suitable role and Dia who feel totally useless despite being a diamond. Dia’s new technique, a baseball-style that first looks impressive, but too risky and even careless since Dia’s body can’t handle the constant pressure, and she knows it. Bort and Dia make up a complicated team since it’s clear that Bort go out their way to protect Dia because they love Dia, but it ends up making Dia frustrated that they can’t do anything and resend Bort for that. So far, Houseki has been quite successful in fleshing out the personal issues from the cast around Phos. Phos, on the other hand, don’t develop that much but it’s understandable since the story is still in its early stage.
I really love the art designs of the Lunarians. Appearing like a dark storm, they are frightening in how bright they are. The art designs of that sluggish thing, however, are so eerily out of this world, but that’s precisely what it is. It slurps Phos up and we can see him melting right before our eyes. We know pretty sure that Phos will survive, but how much left of them will remain? People have mentioned this show as a body-horror show, and while I can see some of that elements, the graphic details don’t upset me that much. It fits very well to this story. Houseki is weird, that’s awesome. Houseki is raw, that’s even better. I have absolutely no idea what will happen next or even how the hell will Phos get out of this sluggish monster alive, but you bet I’m intriguing. The wait for the next episode will be long for me.
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