Phosphophyllite (フォスフォフィライト, Fosufofiraito) is the first episode of the Land of the Lustrous anime made by studio Orange.
Kongo Sensei finally decides to give the young Phos an assignment. Much to Phos' dismay the assignment is to write an Encyclopedia about the world.
Summary[]
As a full moon rises, the gem Cinnabar sits moping in a seashore cave. Once they see it is night time, Cinnabar rises to resume their duty as night watch.
The next day, Morganite and other Gems on patrol are seen running across the open field in front of their school. Morga stops to wake a sleeping Phosphophyllite, who passed out in the middle of the field. After a bit of back and forth banter between the two, Morga informs them that Kongo Sensei wishes to see Phos back at the school. Goshenite interrupts them by stating that a Sunspot was seen in the south and they should take care of it. Phos tries to convince them that they should wait for Sensei, but they go ahead anyway.
Phos returns to the school to report to Sensei, but stops to look at their reflection in the pond before hand. While they’re complementing their looks, Jade and Euclase pass by and remark that Phos is as lively as ever. Phos reports to Sensei’s office. Sensei informs them that he has finally found a job for Phos to do. However, Phos interrupts to let him know that Morga and Goshe ran after a Lunarian Sunspot that appeared just a little bit ago. Sensei alerts the rest of the gems, and they soon give chase.
As Morga and Goshe attempt to fight off the Lunarians, they discover they’re using weapons made from the late Heliodor. A gem who was taken by the Lunarians. Sensei explains to Phos that the Lunarians come down from the moon to harvest the gems for their jewelry and that as one of the most brittle among them, Sensei had a hard time finding a position for Phos. Phos exclaims that fighting is the only thing they haven't tried yet, and asks if they can do that job. Sensei explains to them that they should give up on that idea.
Sensei and the rest of the Gems just in time to save Morga and Goshe. Seemingly with the snap of his fingers, the Lunarians disappear into dust. Sensei then yells at the top of his lungs at them for fighting the Lunarians alone. The shockwave of which shatters the close by Phosphophyllite and sends them falling to the ground. As Sensei and a few other gems are picking up Phos’ pieces, he informs them that the job they’re being assigned is to create an Encyclopedia, and gives them a clipboard and paper to get started. This news upsets Phos greatly.
Back in the hospital, Morga and Goshe are being put back together by the doctor, Rutile. Goshe questions whether they can bring Heliodor back if they get enough of their pieces back or not. Rutile explains that their species is incapable of dying, because all they have to do is put enough of their pieces back together to form the memories held within them.
Phos asks Goshe and Morga if they could possibly help them with figuring out what and Encyclopedia is and how to make it. Goshe says they think Encyclopedia categories everything in nature, but isn’t totally sure. They suggest Phos check with someone who might know better like Cinnabar, but Phos is too afraid of them. Instead, they check with a few other gems first before they’re told again by Rutile that Cinnabar might be able to help. Rutile tells Phos that Cinnabar would be able to see a lot of wildlife during night watch because of the light from the poison their body emits. No one wants to go near them though, because if the poison touches any part of a Gems body, it stops light from passing through and means Rutile will have to chip those parts away and lose the memories that are inside of them.
Left with no other options, Phos asks Benitoite if they can take Phos to Cinnabar’s room. Benito shows them that Cinnabar is not in their room, and explains that Cinnabar doesn’t like to be around other people because of their poison, so they usually hide in a cave by the shore. When Phos goes to look for them around the cape where they were last seen, they are attacked by a group of Lunarians. But Cinnabar comes in and saves Phos before they can get hurt. Phos tries to help Cinnabar when they fall off the side of the cape, but their arms break off before Phos can get them back up. After Cinnabar is back on shore, it is revealed that they are the weakest Gem out of everyone, having a hardness of only 2. Phos is taken back to Rutile to get themselves chipped after they exposed themselves to Cinnabar’s poison. Phos wonders why Cinnabar is on night watch if Lunarians don’t come at night, and Rutile tells them that the only reason Cinnabar is on night watch is because they had no other place they could go and not hurt others with their poison. When they leave, Phos stops to say hi to Diamond, who’s wandering the hall at night.
Phos tries again to go and collect some data on what’s around the shore they were at the day before, but they’re confronted by Cinnabar again. Wanting Phos to leave them alone, Cinnabar tells them about a few unnamed species of bugs and plants they’ve noticed around the shore. Phos asks them why they’re always alone and around places where Lunarians were spotted, and Cinnabar explains that because they’re only cause pain to those around them, they’re waiting to be taken away by the Lunarians. This upsets Phos who promises that they’re find a better and more fun job for Cinnabar to do other than night watch so they don’t have to go to the moon.
As Phos is sulking on a table back at the school over what they learned, Cinnabar finds the the clipboard that Phos was using lying on the ground. They remark at how back their handwriting and drawing is before they see the hand print that Cinnabar left on in the other day when Phos tried to help them up. After shedding a few tears, they pick it up with a glove on and take it with them.
Characters Introduced[]
Briefly Seen[]
- Yellow Diamond
- Zircon
- Neptunite
- Hemimorphite
- Amethyst 33
- Amethyst 84
- Sphene
- Red Beryl
- Obsidian
- Ghost Quartz
- Peridot
- Watermelon Tourmaline
- Bort
- Alexandrite
- Diamond
Characters in Episode[]
- Cinnabar (Speaking)
- Phosphophyllite (Speaking)
- Morganite (Speaking)
- Goshenite (Speaking)
- Euclase (Speaking
- Jade (Speaking)
- Kongo (Speaking)
- Lunarians (Seen)
- Heliodor (Mentioned)
- Yellow Diamond (Seen)
- Zircon (Seen)
- Benitoite (Speaking)
- Neptunite (Seen)
- Diamond (Speaking)
- Hemimorphite (Seen)
- Amethyst 33 (Seen)
- Amethyst 84 (Seen)
- Sphene (Speaking)
- Red Beryl (Speaking)
- Obsidian (Seen)
- Ghost Quartz (Seen)
- Peridot (Speaking)
- Watermelon Tourmaline (Seen)
- Bort (Seen)
- Alexandrite (Seen)
- Rutile (Speaking)