#focused analysis

[thegratefulgolfer]

Adding A Stroke For No Reason In Golf

Every golfer I know and play a round with will add a stroke or two for no reason. Whether it is a loss of concentration (usual reason), a poor decision or a swing hitch extra strokes are added to our final score just because. These errors are always prevalent in a amateurs game, however it is the avoidable mistakes that really frustrate me after the fact. The challenge is I know the I am making a…

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[thegratefulgolfer]

Full Swing Analysis - It Is Not For Everyone

Trying to emulate a great golf swings is challenging to say the least. It is almost impossible for an amateur to look at a great players swing and say, I can do that no problem! This approach to golf is rife with pitfalls and rabbit holes. Similar to other golfers, I try to improve my swing through observation, knowledge, and experiment. This process is not for those looking for a quick fix to…

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Symbolism in Land of the Lustrous (Part 2)

Gold

The first thing we think when we hear gold is wealth and social status.  Phos’ social standing did skyrocket in line with the addition of those glitzy new arms, but it was hardly with the connotation typical to gold’s symbolism.  In fact, the gold alloy was initially brushed off as trash, unsuitable for use (much like Phos themself up to that point).  And while that in and of itself is significant, it has nothing to do with gold’s symbolic meaning.

Instead, I want to focus on three of gold’s other common symbolic meanings: wisdom, justice, and corruption.  

While Phos is absolutely nowhere near wise, the events surrounding the acquisition of these two new arms has set them down that path.  Swinging back to yesterday’s discussion of stone’s symbolism, Phos’ acquisition of these arms catalyzed the shift from childlike complacency to passive observation.   And indeed, Phos started making some real observations about the world.  In Episode 9, Phos remarks on this being their first time seeing the shift from winter to spring, and how remarkable nature’s flexibility is.  Compare this to Phos at the beginning of the season, as they struggled to find even the most remote of inspiration for their encyclopedia.  While Phos still has a lot of growing left to do, these have been great first steps.

Justice is perhaps not the most accurate word for what Phos seeks - they seek truth, and in truth the ability to make things right.  While I suspect we will not see it unfold until next season, Phos has taken their first steps toward uncovering Master Kongo’s secrets - secrets that even the fellow Jewels acknowledge are likely damning.  They caution that, should whatever that truth is be revealed, it will likely carry consequence.  But that is not enough to dissuade Phos.  The timing of this newfound curiosity is not all that connects this to the gold arms.  The gold has interesting reactions to Phos’ thoughts on the matter, reacting seemingly outside of their control.

Which leads into the next topic, corruption.  From the moment it is attached, the gold starts physically corrupting Phos.  It is an outside agent forcing its way in, like a parasite.   It overtakes them, invading every inch of their body, splintering and cracking their insides.  It also coincides with the corruption of Phos’ memory, the loss of their original arms triggering yet another significant memory loss.  For better or worse, it caused a fundamental shift in Phos’ personality, as remarked upon by many characters in the final few episodes.

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Bells

In almost all religions, bells are a holy symbol.  It is almost always either a symbolic “voice” of god, or a means of directly addressing a deity.  That said, I think it goes without saying why our resident moon creeps have bells as such an overriding part of their theme music.  As the “Soul” in the “Meat - Bone - Soul” trio, they are the closest things to divinity in this wacky land, and the ominous chorus of bells preceding their arrival beckons to that.

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Snails & Shells

Ventricosus is a Naticidae, or as it is more casually know, a Moon Snail.  No really, it’s called a Moon Snail.  Moon shells, with their spiral shape, symbolize the moon.   And in symbolizing the moon, they indirectly symbolize what the moon symbolizes - which is a lot.  Most broadly, it represents the rhythm of time - a major underlying theme of this show.  

The shape of the Moon Shell symbolizes cycles in general, but most importantly the cycle of life and death.  This is important in the context of the Admirabilis, as they are the foil to the Jewels.  Where the Jewels are effectively immortal, the Admirabilis live, breed, and die.  That our main Admirabilis character has a shell that symbolizes this cycle is not a coincidence.

Aculeatus, on the other hand, is seen in a Conch shell.  The Conch has widespread symbolic value throughout the world, but no more so than in Hinduism.  And considering this show’s vague Hindu aesthetic, namely in the Lunarians, I would guess it has its symbolic roots there.  But I don’t know the first thing about Hinduism, which is a major handicap in analyzing this show!  So I’ll just leave this alone!  (it’s also 1am and that’d be a whole nother rabbit hole)

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On that note, I’m going to end this here.  My next analysis will deploy some time later this week, and will likely be on narrative structure.

I do wish I had a better understanding of Hinduism and Hindu culture, as I feel that would offer at least a few extra insights into this show’s imagery and symbolism.  If anyone with a solid knowledge of Hinduism reads this post and would be up for it, I’d love to do some collaboration to that end!

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Symbolism in Land of the Lustrous (Part 1)

This is the first of (hopefully) many focused analyses of Land of the Lustrous.  I was originally going to start with a post on narrative structure, but that analysis is going to be a bit...uh, unforgiving.  So you get symbolism first.  Enjoy!

Stone

Stone carries some pretty intuitive symbolism: steadfastness, resilience, longevity, etc.  And indeed, these traits are embodied in most of our characters.  The Jewels are content, or perhaps complacent, to trust in their ability to outlast the tides of time, despite the threat of the Lunarians being just as ancient as themselves.   The tacit agreement the Jewels have to follow Master Kongo, despite his secrets, is one example of this stone-cold steadfastness.

But stone is often personified as a passive observer.  Above all else, stones know patience, stemming either from a cold indifference or a blatant complacency.

While not immediately apparent, we see the behavior of the passive observer heavily portrayed in our protagonist - more so than the broader symbols of steadfastness, etc. mentioned earlier. The most blatant example is when Phos takes to looking out onto the horizon toward the end of the season.  Totally oblivious to the passage of time, Rutile has to tell them they have been standing in one spot for ten days.  It is an explicit reference to the overwhelmingly potent patience of stone.

Yet Phos embodied the sense of stone long before their traumatized ass took to staring off into the horizon.  For hundreds of years, Phos drifted lazily about.  Where the latter episodes characterized a passive indifference, Phos’ earlier self characterized a childlike complacency.  Flying in the face of our usual expectations of their trope (that is, the arrogant airhead), Phos was in no way impatient to find their role, instead complacent to sit by and let it come in time.  

Phos becomes aware of their detachment from time in Episode 5.  When faced with the proactivity of the Admirabilis, Phos delivers the line, “What have I been doing all this time?  I turn 300 today, you know.  You must be so much younger than me, but look how much you’ve done.”  It is a surprised, but earnest, acknowledgement of just how detached both Phos and the rest of the Jewels are from the passage of time.

Before I move on, I want to further underscore the importance of stone’s symbolism.  There are many elements in this show that are there to remind us that these characters are distinctly not human.  I think that this symbolism, while definitely the most subtle, is the most important - not just in the reminder that the Jewels are not human, but as an explanation for their thoughts and actions.  Phos does not take to staring off into the horizon for days at a time just to give the animators an excuse to stick a bunch of butterflies on our character: it is a tacit reminder that the jewels are very far detached from humanity.

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Butterflies

I obviously can’t include the above gif without talking about the symbolism of butterflies.  Butterflies are seen throughout this show, often times landing on characters.  Phos in particular seems to be a butterfly magnet.

Butterflies symbolize life and the soul.  And that’s important, since most of our cast is rocks.  I think this is a gentle nod to the fact that there’s more to these Jewels than empty husks.

But a butterfly’s most common meaning relates to their life cycle, from caterpillar to butterfly, symbolizing cycles, rebirth, and new beginnings.  Which is incredibly convenient.  We can look at the first eight episodes of this show as Phos’ caterpillar stage.  They’re “young,” naive, and more or less helpless.  Then they get their new arms, quite literally entering a cocoon state as their body is transformed.  And once they break out of that shell, they transform into a whole new person - both physically and mentally.

A lot more could have been done with this motif, such as showing us caterpillars toward the beginning of the season.  But y’know, I’ll take the scraps they give me.

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A Part 2 will be coming tomorrow.  It will be about gold, shells, and bells.