Contexts Essay 2000 Word Written Assignment OGR

by
Coyle Loughran

Title: The Land of the Lustrous – exploring the purity of psyche

Introduction

Land of the lustrous was written by Haruko Ichikawa (see Fig. 1) and
published on 25th October 2012. It was made into an animation and
released in late 2017 by Orange Animation Studio. It is also known as
Houseki no Kuni, which in Japanese means ‘Country of Jewels’. In a
world populated by jewels that take the form of people, Phosphophyllite
(Phos) (the main character) is seen as weak and fragile (in other words
has the lowest ‘hardness’ out of all of the precious stones) and is
considered ineffective by ‘her’1 people. Phos asks her rather detached
but learned fellow inhabitant called Master Kongo who gives Phos a
project to create a natural history encyclopaedia, which leads to a
friendship between them. However, in the background the "jewel people"
are at war with the Lunarians (Moon people) who are envious of the
rarity and luxury value of the jewel people.

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‘her’ – Land of Lustrous does not identify with gender, however for ease of reading and explanation Ichikawa
uses the pronouns of ‘him’ and ‘her’.

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The jewel people are made up of ‘pure psyche’ – there is no gender, no
sexuality and no social hierarchy. There are not normally job roles or
‘purpose’ – they just exist. They do not possess internal organs and do
not eat or breathe, therefore they have no physiological needs. They are
not born, and they do not die in the ‘human’ sense. They are made up of
micro-organisms. So ‘death’ for them is just the break down of their
‘being’ into dispelled matter.

The tale is akin to the classic German legend, of Faust (based on the
historical figure of Johann Georg Faust (c. 1480–1540)). Faust becomes
dissatisfied with his life, and makes a pact with the Devil, in exchange for
his soul to be given unlimited knowledge and pleasure. The main
character Phos ‘loses herself’ in her desire to be strong and the tale
unfolds as she is impacted by the ‘loss’ of two fellow inhabitants; and the
friendship with Cinnabar.

The essay explores the links between Land of the Lustrous and
psychological theories of what constitutes ‘psyche’ (soul, spirit,
personality etc.) Therefore, the essay investigates the work of Sigmund
Freud’s (1856 – 1939) (neurologist and psychoanalyst) Psychoanalytic
Theory of Personality (which states that personality has 3 components
‘id’, ‘ego’ and ‘super-ego’); the work of Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970)
(American Psychologist) in terms of his theory of The Hierarchy of
Needs; William James (1842–1910) - a philosopher - who in his theory
of Pragmatism explored to what extent a truth or meaning can be
measured in its practical terms (pragmatic outcomes). This is contrasted
with the work of William Wundt (1832 –1920) (known as the father of

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Psychology) who theorises about consciousness; sensation and
feelings. Lastly, the ideas around ‘Attachment’ are considered in terms
of Phos’s attachment to Master Kongo; and therefore, John Bowlby’s
(1907 –1990) (British Psychologist) Attachment theory is also
considered.

Fig 1: Haruko Ichikawa – creator of Land of Lustrous (note: she only

reveals her identity via pencil drawings like this)

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Main body of essay

Fig. 2 – the main character - Phos

Paragraph one
The story in more detail. The main character – Phos and what happens
to her. The links to Faustian tale. (References to Faust). (Comments
from other Commentators on Land of Lustrous). The other characters
e.g. Master Kongo – his role ‘father’/’sensei’. Reference: example of
direct quote:

“The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in

psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction
of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious,
and between the different structures of the personality”. (McLeod,
2017).

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Fig 3: Master Kongo

Paragraph two

Reference: example of paraphrasing:

In his paper in 1943, Abraham Maslow suggested that in order for humans
to be healthy they have a certain amount of needs, these needs can be put
into a hierarchy with physiological needs at the base and higher ‘spiritual’
needs at the top (Burnton, 2012).

Compare and contrast jewels with humans. Jewels do not have

physiological needs. But do they have the other needs? Debate – using
storyline and characters. References – commentators on a) human
needs b) debate around Land of Lustrous – does Phos feel ‘love’ for her
friends (e.g. Cinnabar). Does she feel sadness when her friends/other
inhabitants ‘die’?

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Fig 4. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Paragraph three

What do we mean by personality? Freud (1915) – id, ego, superego.

Other theorists around personality? Compare and contrast. Compare
and contrast humans with ‘jewels’. Break down – the 3 components Do
the jewels have ‘id’ for example? Instinct? Or Super-ego – morals? Ego
– realism? References: commentators/other theorists around
personality. References: commentators on whether the jewels have
personalities?

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Paragraph four
Bowlby’s (1969) attachment theory can be seen across the cast in many
ways but ultimately links back to Master Kongo being at the centre of it
all. He is the all-powerful master of the gems. We will explore the
attachment Phos has with him. Can Jewels have attachment, if they do
not have a ‘personality’?

Paragraph five

William James (1907) - pragmatist. He defined true beliefs as those that

prove useful to the believer. Truth is verifiable (can be tested) when
thoughts and statements correspond with actual things, and "hang
together," or cohere, as pieces of a puzzle might fit together. These
'truths' are confirmed by the observed results putting them into practice
So, do the jewel people have ‘truth’? If they do not have personality – is
there truth?

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Paragraph six

Wilhelm Wundt (1873) is another theorist - like William James - which I

am going to include as a main staple in the essay. Briefly, he goes into
the mention of elements of conscious and the elements of sensation and
feelings. Again, do jewels ‘feel’? Have sensations? References.
Something Wundt has said about sensations.

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Research proforma

Name of Name of What are they Why is it Reference

theory/concept theorist (if saying? linked? sources
appropriate)
Faust Faustian Tale Selling your Phos – loses Faust
soul to the herself in her LofL
Devil desire to be commentators
strong – online
articles
Hierarchy of Maslow Humans have Do jewels Maslow
Needs all these needs. have the Commentators
The top ‘self- same needs? on Maslow
actualisation’ is LofL
spiritual. commentators

Personality Freud Id, e.g., Do jewels Freud’s work

theory superego – have Compare with
what is personalities? other theorists
personality?
Pragmatism James True beliefs – What is ‘truth’ Compare and
only real when to the jewels? contrast with
become ‘real’ to other theorists
the person in a
practical sense
Empiricism/ Wundt Physical vs Do the jewels Compare and
Sensationalism psychological ‘feel’? contrast with
perception of Maslow.
sensation Commentators
on Wundt.
Quote from
Wundt.
Attachment Bowlby Attachment The Commentators
Theory does not have attachment on Bowlby.
to be between Phos Quote on
reciprocal. One and Bowlby.
person may Cinnabar? Examples
have an from episodes
attachment to of LofL.
an individual
which is not
shared.

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Image references

Fig 1: Haruko Ichikawa in Myanimelist [online] available at:

https://myanimelist.net/people/16515/Haruko_Ichikawa
accessed on 27/2/19

Fig 2: Land of the Lustrous – Hidden Gem (Phos) in Comicsverse

[online] available at:
https://comicsverse.com/land-of-the-lustrous-hidden-gem/
accessed on 26/2/19

Fig 3: Master Kongo in Kingdom of Gems [online] available at:

https://houseki-no-kuni.fandom.com/wiki/Kongo
accessed on 25/2/19

Fig 4: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in Wikipedia [online] available at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs
accessed on 28/2/19

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Bibliography (start of...)

Burton, N. (2012) ‘Our Hierarchy of Needs: True freedom is a luxury of

the mind. Find out why’. In: Psychology Today. [Online] at:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/our-
hierarchy-needs
accessed on 27/2/2019

McLeod, S. (2017) ‘Psychodynamic Approach’. In: Simply Psychology

[online] at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.html
accessed on 28/2/2019

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