#hnk chapter 96

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 106 Thoughts: Bon Voyage...

Hello all. I hope these last few months have been kind to you in some way. These months have been... a lot. Some very good things happened, and some very bad. I wish we lived in a world were tragedies were just fiction, but that sadly isn't the case. I won't elaborate, but I promise, I'm okay. I just hope 2024 improves, though I know for many others, just hoping isn't enough.

I'm sorry for this late post. Once again, real life had me so distracted that I honestly forgot about Houseki no Kuni's chapter coming out this month. I only remembered when I saw activity around my older HnK posts.

Well, I finished reading the chapter and it was very beautiful and sad in different ways. I'll share more of my thoughts, though I don't think it'll be as long or detailed as my previous ones to be honest... Though I could be wrong! We'll see how it fairs. And who knows? Maybe I'll make another post to dissect this chapter further. But for now, I'll just write whatever comes to mind and try to make it as coherent as possible. I hope you like it. And as always, please feel free to share your own thoughts!

Here we go!

Thunderous Spectacle: The Final Journey

Once again, Ms. Haruko Ichikawa decided to flex her art skills by making beautiful, bombastic illustrations that encapsulates the chaos that is happening on Earth. And the ship departing looks straight out of a sci-fi movie; my mind went to Star Trek when I first saw those pages. Maybe Dune would be more appropriate; I actually don't know, I haven't read or watched Dune, though I hear it's very good.

I wish I had more to say about the visuals for this chapter, but I think they speak for themselves. I will say though...It's moments like this when I marvel... this was originally about a silly gem child trying to find their place in the world. And this is how their journey is finally coming to an end. Almost nothing is recognizable. This certainly was not how I thought this story, or specifically Phos' story, was going to unfold. I wonder if this was Haruko Ichikawa's plan from the beginning? Who can say...

Speaking of plans... Let's talk about Phos's and Eyeball's conversation.

Manipulation or Consideration: Humanity's Parting "Gift"

That was an interesting conversation Eyeball and Phos had when they were finishing up putting the little pebbles onto the ship. I think I remember stating in the last post how I thought it was odd that the Lunarians had this ship prepared for Phos. I'm glad this was somewhat addressed, but the conversation reveals that there was more behind this literal Deus ex Machina ship.

(I will never stop calling it that)

So if I'm understanding Eyeball's logic, Adamant and the Lunarians were considering Phos in the end? That after Phos fulfilled their last duties to the remnants of humanity that they'd be given the chance to leave the planet with whatever species came about before the planet died- Oh. Wait.

Wait.

Was this the thing that Adamant and Aechmea were alluding to back in chapter 96???

Oh my goodness, I think it was.

As I was typing this and going over some of the saved pages I had from the previous chapters, I saw the one with Euclase and I suddenly remembered their weird conversation with Adamant and Aechmea. I also remembered wondering what the heck they meant in the later chapters since their plan for Phos seemed to only be self serving.

HUH.

( Please let me know if I'm way off! For all I know, I could be making stuff up, but oh my goodness, when I made that connection AAaahh)

This was not how this portion was originally going to go, but there you go. I was going to talk about how twisted but not surprising how calculated everything was from the the Lunarians and the other ruminants of humanity's end. And I was also going to mention how the Doctor also fit into this since she was also calculated and manipulative in her own ways. Despite the different forms it takes, humanity didn't seem to change much in this world...

I was also going to originally say that the Deus ex machina ship feels like a backhanded "gift" for Phos, especially after everything that happened to them. And though I still feel that way, after thinking back to chapter 96, I'm now starting to see Phos's perspective of this gift. That despite everything that they put them through, Phos's former families still left this parting gift for them so they could live on elsewhere after they are long gone and when Phos was free from their duties. It's still a backhanded gift in my opinion, but it showed that they cared... at least a bit.

And the fact that their plan also included Eyeball is just wow. I do not blame his small, comedic outburst for that realization. He was manipulated too from the getgo!

At least in the end, Phos chose not to go into the ship. Phos intended to burn that bridge. Even though this thought was implanted by Sensei, Adamant, and the Lunarians, Phos still made that choice on their own and they are owning it. It's bittersweet, though, because regardless of whether or not they stayed or went, Phos's decisions were still a result of them being manipulated one way or another. Pretty much a lose-lose kind of situation, but at least the choice that Phos chose in the end still aligned with what they wanted in they end.

They are giving Eyeball and the little pebbles a chance for a fresh start while Phos can finally end the cycle... By taking humanity and himself to bitter end...

Or does he?

Goodnight, Phosphophyllite

The final farewell between Phos and Eyeball was touching. In a last minute decision to give Phos closure and in an act of true salvation, Eyeball took the last piece of Phos with him. The true remaining piece of Phosphophyllite. To me, this action felt more earnest and heartwarming than the Deus Ex Machina Ship (but that's just me).

What will happen with that piece of Phosphophyllite? Who knows? Maybe that piece will gain sentience and live a peaceful life with the pebbles? A life free of all the constraints as well as the freedoms that was intentionally and unintentionally reinforced within societies created by the former remnants of humanity? I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

As for the Phos that was left behind? The Phos that we've watch evolve from the beginning to end? They will finally rest.

They will finally, and truly be free.

(Albeit in a seemingly not so pleasant way?? Well, they weren't complaining so maybe the lava and other harsh elements isn't hurting them. I hope that's the case.)

I had the feeling that this chapter will be the last time we see Phos, or at least this version of Phos, and it would be a sad but proper send off.

But after seeing THIS at the end, I'm not so sure:

Of course Haruko Ichikawa decides to be cheeky with that little note. Ma'am. Why did you say this???

Is this her roundabout way of saying that Phos is kind of back to square 1? Of being the lonely, jobless Phos who no longer has a purpose and is left with nothing to do but "think." That's pretty funny/messed up joke if that's what she's hinting at.

But again, we'll have to wait and see.

WELP. That's all I have for you all. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter. We're nearly at the end of this saga. We're are almost there...

Please be worth it.

[padpa-appreciation-corner]

Lifelong habits don’t die so easily, and so shall the nap be taken. How fitting of a last appearance.

This is most likely the definite final panel where Padpa appears, so thanks for enjoying all these panels with me !

[find-me-in-hell]

i love hnk and i appreciate that manga is hard to illustrate and the plot for hnk is probably a difficult one but it DOES get annoying when theres been 1.5 years of hiatus, 13 months off hiatus and we've only had 7 chapters (96-102) in that time....

[glyceriiin]

i wonder if its windy on earth,,

[rurutile]

Don’t go!!! I have more content!! pleas :((( Look guys its rutile mmm rutile :DD

[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.

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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.

[just-here-for-the-art-shit]

Ch. 96 Is brutal, and it's easy to say that yes, they're all being complete assholes ... But something is off honestly. The lunarians showed with Phos they could pick and choose memories and it makes me wonder if that's what they're doing - but some of the more intelligent gems are still remembering and caring about Phos. It's all very odd, but it may be their concept of time, as the gems-turned-lunarians don't seem to have great memories, perhaps with how long they've been around. Even those on earth who showed the least interest in Phos had some care and emotions - now it's like they're just ... weirdly emotionless, and I don't think that's just them? But that's speculation. Especially when Yellow has a momentary lapse.

And then I saw something else too - "We're not going to be able to bring Lapis back. We don't have enough memories from their head."

Last time I checked ... Phos has Lapis's head. And Cinnabar's body. All the gems have had their memories extracted from their crystalline bodies to become lunarians - how did they make Cinnabar? And if they can make Cinnabar, why can't they make Lapis? Ghost, who tried so desperately to escape before, is now just "fine" with everything apparently. And the lunarians themselves - if they were apparently so desperate to be released into nothingness, why are they all so damn happy? Why are any of them happy? Why is Kongou acting exactly like Aechmea?

Everyone is getting their dream. Diamond is a star, Euclase is a leader, Cinnabar is accepted, Antarcticite has sensei back, Bortz no longer has to fight and gets to watch their jellyfish grow. The amethyst twins are doing their own separate things, Cairngorm is doted on and considered basically to be royalty, Rutile has Pad back and is working as a therapist. So on and so on. They've all been given what they want and so they just remain happy all the time, with just a few having lingering feelings.

I don't trust Aechmea at all. It seems too fishy. On earth, the gems could display negative emotions and memories and problems, and now it's all magically been wiped away ... like they've been brainwashed, things are too good to be true. But we see with Cinnabar and Euclase they still have some inklings of care remaining in them. Haruko Ichikawa is a master at subtle hints and story telling. It just makes me wonder if this is the attention, to make them all seemingly unbothered, unconcerned, endlessly happy, with no will to fight or question reality whatsoever. I have a feeling that something - or someone, is going to snap.

Of course, having the gems remember these things wouldn't be good for Aechmea and his plans. He doesn't want anyone to interfere with Phos.

I might be wrong about all of this, but something fishy is definitely up 👀. And of course, it makes me just as desperate to see more into the mystery that is Houseki no Kuni.

[fishyfod]

It really saddnes me that in 10,000 years the diamonds never repaired their relationship, Rutile still resents Padpa for their actions, and Yellow’s condition had become more severe. The Lunarians may believe their bodies and lifestyle superior and more convenient than the Gems’, but it’s only skin deep - the Gems’ bodies may have change, but that won’t change their souls (whatever those are), and it won’t cure their relationships or their trauma. They still fall back to old habits, changing one status quo to another, finding routine and never letting go.

On the other hand, for some Gems the second chance was an opprotunity they gladly took to change what they didn’t like. Cinnabar had always wanted to become close to the other Gems, and now they relish in the ability to partake and touch the flowers without worry. Cairngorm’s dream came true, and they can live their lives with Aechmea like they always wanted. Yet, their willingness to change has little to do with their transformation to Lunarians - they both started on the path to change beforehand.

Phos is the harbinger of change to the Gems, for better and for worse, but change is still rooted in the individual taking that step for themselves. That makes all the difference.

[chaoticneturalranter]

Imma fucking say it....all those gems/lunarians (maybe expect for Cinnabar and Eucalse ((maybe Jade))) are assholes. They really left Phos to suffer. This is just how I feel after reading lastest chapter.

Also I have a slight feeling that either Phos is basically going to rinse and repeat what Adament did or just straight up die.

[bbchlow]

Can’t wait to see my baby but don’t wanna see my poor baby Phos suffer yet again :(((

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 96 Thoughts: Hello darkness my old friend

Hello, everyone!  After nearly 1 and a half, Houseki no Kuni finally returns with chapter 96! And the results are... anguish less than desirable, I admit, but it was sadly expected.

Once again, this will be a long post and I may make edits to it later on. Though I know I don’t get a lot of responses, I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts about this chapter, this post, and anything related. I hope you guys are doing alright, though I understand if that isn’t the case. 

Anyways, here we go:

The only ones who seem to care...( even a little bit)

I knew that when this story was going to come back, things were not going to improve like many fans would have wanted. I’m both disappointed and yet not surprised by the attitudes of the former gems that were shown in this chapter. I’m sure there are fans who were hoping certain gems like Antarcticite, Padparadscha, Diamond, or at least Ghost to show more concern or empathy for Phos and are disappointed that they aren’t. I’m also sure there are people who are disappointed that Ghost didn’t confront Cairn at all, but I’ll get to this later.

With Antarcticite in particular, I was disappointed that they no longer seemed as concerned as they were in the previous chapter. However, it was made clear several times that Antarcticite’s love for Adamant was stronger than their care for Phos so...yeah. As for the other gems, especially Phos’s former “allies,” I feel just about the same, if not more unsurprised because I expected this. I explained this before in older posts about how it was clear to me that most of the moon gems care for Phos was near non-existent. With the exception of Yellow Diamond and Padpa (to a degree), the other moon gems didn’t really show concern for Phos or their goals before and after their transformation and when Phos was trapped in limbo for centuries. And they only agreed to go on the invasion, at least with Dia, when their hands were forced. Like I said; disappointed but not surprised.

But isn’t interesting that the ones who currently showed any concern for Phos are Euclase and Cinnabar (at least to an extent)? 

I remember there were many fans who hated Euclase in particular and though I could understand to a certain degree, I didn’t hate them personally. Maybe because I didn’t see all of their actions as completely malicious towards Phos, I thought it was clear from previous chapters that despite everything that had happened, Euclase still had some care for Phos. Plus the fact that they were the ones to ask if there was anything that can be done for Phos says a lot about them in comparison to Phos’s former “allies” (like Antarcticite, Padparadscha, and Dia). And even though Cinnabar claims that they are happier, even with the fact Phos isn’t with them, it’s clear that they are conflicted. 

It isn’t much but would you look at that? Two former earth gems, who were also two of Phos’s biggest critics, seem to care more about Phos than the ones that willingly went with him to the moon in the first place, even though that is a low bar to surpass at this point.

Any glimmers of hope on the moon?

When the leak came out, one of the things I was wondering about was whether or not all of the gems are okay with their transformation. I was thinking about Bort in particular but I wanted to believe that not everyone was okay with it. After this chapter, while my hope that there could be some gems that aren’t happy with this change has decreased, my belief that Bort isn’t totally for it isn’t completely gone. After looking over this chapter several times, I had time determining whether or not Bort was happy. Yes, we see them taking care of jellyfish while choosing to stick with their short haircut, but the whole setting seems... lonely. And when Dia, who I guess has decided to move on from their animosity towards Bort, invites them to the party, Bort out rightly rejects the invitation. To me, it looks like Bort is self isolating and is trying to make the most of the situation. I could be looking to much into this, especially since Bort wasn’t known for expressing happiness a lot. But I don’t know. They just seem like they’re simply... existing because what else are they supposed to do now. 

Speaking of just existing, Bort doesn’t seem to be the only one who’s less “appreciative” of their new lives. Is it just me or does Yellow seem off? Even though they were the first one to express a desire to become Lunarian, though stemmed from their depression, they don’t seem particularly happy. And even while they’re surrounded by their fallen diamonds/gems who are clearly happy, Yellow doesn’t seem happy at all. In fact, they seemed empty. Why is this? Is Yellow still experiencing depression despite how things turned out or could this have been a result of the transformation itself? It think its a bit of both.

Is the lack of empathy completely their fault?

One topic that carried from the previous chapter was how much the former gems would remember things after their transformation and this chapter seems to be confirming this. While there are gems who clearly remember Phos and seem fine to intentionally forget them, there are signs that other characters are already showing signs of forgetting them. My question is, is this because of how the gems natural are or because of the transformation? Once again, I think it’s both. Like I said with Yellow, their emptiness could also be a result of both depression and the transformation. 

I’m not going to excuse the gems as a whole. Even though we’ve seen time and time again that expressing empathy towards others wasn’t something all gems could and forgetting things over time was part of their nature, how most of them treated Phos (and other gems who were going through their own forms of grieving) was.. bad. But at the same time, it’s hard to expect these humanoid being to react how we would want them to react because at the end of the day, they weren’t truly humans. And once again, none of the gems are black or white; they are all shade of grey.

I understand why many fans no longer like the gems because of their lack of care for Phos, especially the former “allies” who are fine letting them suffer for their happiness. However, at the same time, it’s concerning that at least some of the gems are going to be forgetting things and they don’t have control of this. This again echoes real life colonialism, cultural assimilation, and identity desecration. And yes, while the gems staying in their original society wasn’t good for them either and that change was necessary, this is still concerning for me.

What would be nice to see (even though it’ll likely not happen)...

I said it many times and I’ll keep saying it. It’s become harder to predict what Ms. Ichikawa is going to do with this series and it’s even harder to predict how it’ll end. I still think it will be a bittersweet end that won’t satisfy people who want Phos to somehow win in the end. As the new chapters come about, I’m going to keep my mind open and try not to make big predictions, at least not until more questions are answered.

So instead of predictions, I want to quickly list some things that I would like to see happen, even though I don’t think they will. You can see these as my hopefulness or a subtle way of me criticizing Ms. Ichikawa’s story telling so far, or something else I can’t think of. I’ll likely edit it in later.  Here it goes:

Conversations between the gems who were previously in conflict. This would include Cairn and Ghost, Bort and Dia, Padpa and Rutile. Though we got glimpses that suggest that things are now fine amongst these gems, this revelation feels less than satisfying. I want to actually see these gems talk things out, allow them to properly express their feeling about what happened between them without them sweeping things under the rug like they’ve been doing for so long.

Conversations about Phos without Aechmea’s or Adamant’s presence. We got a glimpse of this near the end of the chapter with Cinnabar but I would like to see more to gain more insight into how some of the gems actually feel. And this could lead to the reveal that there are at least a few gems who don’t like what happened to them or Phos. 

Conversations with Adamant without Aechmea’s presence. Some people have pointed out that Adamant also feels off ever since he was transformed. I would like to think that Ms. Ichikawa did this on purpose. I would like this to indicate that while Adamant is going along with Aecmea’s plans, he has his own plans to deal with this situation. 

Former gems, Admirabilis, and/or lunarians sneaking back to earth. I still hypothesize that while Adamant is all powerful and can materialize on the moon wherever he wants, he might not be omnipresent. Meaning that he doesn’t have full control over what everyone does or read their minds. And while he may be good at predicting other people’s actions, he can’t predict everything. I would want anyone who still has an ounce of care for Phos to use this to their advantage to go earth. Maybe during those missions to collect new gems or just when Aechmea is completely unaware. 

Phos protecting new gems from being kidnapped. This is something that I do think could happen in the next few chapters. This chapter hinted at the likelihood that new gems would emerge and Aechmea’s new strategy involves taking them. It would be nice for Phos to fall into the protective role of preventing the new gems from being taken. The downside is that can lead to Phos truly becoming the new Adamant by doing everything, including being the gems’ leader and reluctant praying machine, effectively restarting this whole cycle.

I’ll likely add more to this later but this is it for now.

Until the next chapter...

Despite how I felt with this chapter, I’m glad to see Houseki no Kuni again and it was nice to see the characters, even though they disappoint me. I also honestly liked the interaction between Cairn, Antarcticite and Cinnabar. 

And as always, I’m both excited and dreading the next chapter. Though I admit, even though I ended up making another long post, I don’t know how invested I will be for the rest of this series. Don’t get me wrong, even though it has made me feel all sorts of things and I question the author on more than one occasion, I still like it a lot. But at the same time, I’ve started to get invested in other things both in real-life and on the internet so I can’t promise that I will be making posts for each chapter like I did before. But we’ll see!

Thank you everyone who likes, reblogs, and comments on my posts. These interactions, even though they are brief, makes this journey with this series more bearable and memorable. I hope you like this post and like always, please feel free to voice your thoughts. Until next time, stay safe wherever you are. 

[padpa-appreciation-corner]

Floof spotted !

[pemprika]

how was chapter 96 for you :')

Hnk 96 spoilers

(thx for asking, this is a HEAVY thought dump, so please read with caution for spoilers and heavy text)

LOST my mind btw…….. delirious and still processing it.🧍 I reallyyyy enjoyed everything about it, particularly because it depicted the life of the gems’ in their new lifestyle and environment…. I spent forever wondering how they would change… would they have different personalities? Would they forget their old life? How will they feel about Phos after the almost-genocide?

I was going so crazy seeing the small snippets of interactions… There wasn’t much to see, but it was enough to tell how much some dynamics have changed over time. Interesting how that whether it was a moon gem or earth gem, their decisions and actions affected their relationships with former comrades, possibly permanently. It’s realistic in that sense, the way connections can be irreversibly damaged because of poor treatment, assuming none of them had proper conversations about their issues even after going to the moon. Loved seeing the estranged, apathetic, and cold interactions of the diamonds and Padparadscha, etc. Ichikawa is such a big fan of delving into the concept of consequences in life changes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she moved forward with the ending without giving proper closure to the side relationships, but I really hope she will….. I need to know more…

AND!☝️ I might be just insane for cinnaphos but this chapter is so loud about them. Love how hnk 96 is a peak into Shinsha’s personal conflicts over the situation with Phos. The last scene with Shinsha confiding to Jade about how they felt anxious over the fact that they’re happy without Phos… was perfect….

My interpretation: It’s a high possiblility that in the far distant past, Shinsha had envisioned a happier life to live with Phos and friends, but now, they are torn between their old emotions and newfound happiness. Shinsha, for centuries, dreamt of being accepted for their defects, and they’ve finally attained everything they’ve ever wanted, a place to belong, friends, ability to touch without harm, and a sense of purpose. The word, “Happy” is maybe too simplistic to describe the feeling… I think it’s something bigger… it’s like elation… extreme bliss. They should be the happiest they’ve ever been, but there’s a gnawing feeling that bothers them— feelings of guilt and anxiety over the fact that they’re not with Phos. For them, Phos… for sure… gave them everything they wanted, just as they had promised.

So now, I’m curious if Shinsha will inevitably play a role in the ending after all. Will they give back to Phos and return the favor to provide them the happiness they deserve? I’m not sure if Ichikawa has more depth beyond this point for Shinsha, but it is interesting to think about with context related to Aechmea and Adamant’s response in unison to Euclase’s question. 🤔 Also florist Shinsha … my brain is rotting…😇

[padpasimp]

THE TRANSLATION IS UP

[earthly-ali3n]

thinking about how after losing antarc, phos’s next partner looked like antarc and was literally named ghost

[idont-know-whats-going-on]

I just had a terrible idea

What if... the way to “help” Phos (by the standards of Aechmea and Kongou) is using the original head that they stole from Phos and then... just clone him as a lunarian so that anyone won’t feel guilty about original Phos all situation?

But of course this is can’t happen, right?............ right...?