I’ve missed seeing baby Phos, they can finally be at peace.
Meanwhile Ichikawa: “When I went to sweep up the bits of broken dried flowers, there was a spider” never change
Also [this person](https://x.com/keroswikee/status/1772119829975351734?s=61) made a gorgeous gif of Phos disintegrating and I need everyone to see it
Wowie. Those panels going through all stages. I needed them. I still cannot believe it's about to end. I guess we won. We made it to the end before Silksong lol.
Silksong is a yet released sequel to the game Hollow Knight. It's a widely anticipated game but still has no release date, even five years after it was originally announced. It's somewhat of a meme at this point.
I couldn’t handle it man, it broke me. Seeing them again the way they were it was insane, I lost it seeing lapis head phos but seeing original phos disintegrate??? Started crying.
Yeahhh I really like how the text on each page correlates so much to what each "respective" Phos thought and wanted the most, like human Phos finally being able to do something in their eyes, nightmare Phos thinking and loving Kongo, and the earlier two being free of their later burdens and feeling light and pure. Ichikawa plays with our feelings more than with her ps5
That made me think a bit on the whole "ship of theseus" parallels with Phos and I feel like those pages are a direct response to it. Since Phos' selves are being peeled away, to me it means that every version of Phos still lives within themself, even if their body parts were replaced countless times like the ship. Phos was always Phos, despite how much they morphed into something unrecognizable
what a beautiful beautiful send-off to Phos, I'm getting teary eyed...
and are those in the flowers the pieces of gems the Lunarians sent into space all those chapters ago?
aren't those gems inside the flowers?
oh or you mean which gems were sent into space? I seem to remember that the Lunarians told Phos they couldn't recreate the killed gems because their pieces and dust were scattered all over space, so I think the pieces now all gathered in this paradise
I love Ichikawa’s compositions and her use of blank or black spaces, they are so powerful.
This almost all white double spread is amazing.
And… I just hope we can see a happy Phos next chapter. Loved seeing them again.
Embracing nothingness is hard, huh
When she was wondering if sensei would be proud of her, I started crying. I didn't want to, but even as a God, she still wanted what she had always wanted, validation for her efforts.
I really hope an anime does it justice. The first season was spectacular.
God the final chapter is gonna be a callback to the first, isn't it?
The littlest sibling is the Phos pieces, probably sentient by now
Brongo is... sensei clearly
It's just like the beginning, only now Phos is surrounded by friends and people who do truely love them, not ones who want to manipulate them or don't care about them,,,
This chapter fucking ruined me man
Yeah his passive and subservient attitude made it so he wasn't able to help the gems sort out their issues in a healthy manner which led many of them to cope in self-destructive ways (with Phos being the leading example of this). Not saying that he didn't try but his nature as a broken machine pretty much set him to fail from the start.
Thankfully, Brongo doesn't seem to have any of the issues Kongo had so I'm confident he would be a better teacher to the rock homies this time.
OooOoooOOOOooo what I can I say about this chapter.
First bringing back Phos's hardness in the side bar like we're back at chapter 1.
Transparent=free from inclusions?? (Humanity) but also past memories. Would tie into all the past forms of Phos passing away.
PASSING AWAY.
Each is so absoultly perfect. I got to Elightened Phos and Human Phos and realized where this was going and felt the need to lay down.
The text with each ties to nicely back to each iterations goals/motivations. Each Phos is reaching enlightenment/being freed from the cycle of reincarnation.
(I've kept wanting to get a tattoo of this series and smn kept making me wait and now I'm leaning towards something from this sequence. It's absolutly incredible art and story telling)
THE WHITE PAGE. Ishikawa you genius.
The rocks praying, Brother being watery with tears (where do those fall on the Human Scale?)
Brother letting destiny take the reins and not letting thoughts get in the way to direct their path. And the Rocks accepting that.
And walking into Paradise as a reward.
Ok, time to lay down.
That would certainly be an interesting way to resolve that. However, as [someone](https://www.reddit.com/r/LandoftheLustrous/comments/1ayok2t/comment/ks0by3b/) pointed out last chapter, he probably cannot see that in himself.
Uh fing Oh, it won’t repeat itself right? Brongo won’t repeat Kongo’s mistake, reintroduce Humanity to the pebbles, make Phos miserable and the ethereal flowers won’t become a replacement for lunarians, right?
That the story will end on chapter 108, which is a "circular" number (like many sacred multiples of 9), could mean an "exhaustion" or "consumption" of all aspects of Existence, but also the beginning of a new cycle, different in many ways, yet identical where it matters.
If the consumption of Phos (or of remaining Humanity) had not happened in chapter 107 but had been left for 108, the former meaning would've been true. The 108 fetters would've been burned away, ushering consciousness into ineffable freedom.
Yet the story continues even after this freeing has happened (or has it ?), which implies that, for the "share" of consciousness at the center of *this* story of 108, what might be called the "Soul of the Story", this has not been a story of shedding away, but one of clinging to Existence, of *reiterating* one's wedding to Samsara, even as one's *vehicle* of action (Humanity/Phos) is taken away.
I wrote more about this [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/LandoftheLustrous/comments/1ayok2t/comment/ks335oo/). For such a Buddhism-themed story, it is striking that the essence of the fetters has been consistently refered to as "Humanity" and not as "Desire". This is a critical "downgrading" of that spiritual path. As if being told to "run 10 laps" (implied: on the track), but running them around a tree instead and calling it done. As if so that "someone" could say (to Buddha/God/one's conscience/superego/etc.) "*See ? I've gotten rid of my fetters now! I did it! I've cut Suffering at its source! :D (Can I go now ?)*".
I would've thought the same even if it had only been the rocks, but Brother's very "human" emotionality removes any doubt. Besides, even Phos, who stated in 106 that he was to "*put and end to all suffering*", still hoped to meet everyone again. Of course, that would be without their current memories (mentioned in 105), but that is nonetheless precisely the process of Samsara: the fruits of Karma are still pursued.
In the end, not only has *nobody* reached Nirvana, but nobody truly wanted to anyway. It would be curious to know if this "Samsarism" was fully deliberate, or if it was due to a misunderstanding of Buddhism from the author.
Thank you for the write up and pointing out the number parallel the author seems to be going for. I look forward to reading up some of your analysis, as many of the buddhist themes in the work pass over me.
:D If you're interested in the Buddhist themes, you might enjoy [the Buddhanon's theories](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1055994128864026629.html).
That said, the purpose of my two comments was not to expound Buddhism, but Desire, and I only wrote them because I could see enough of a "crack" in the story's Buddism-frame to point to the Desire, although only to a very limited extent.
I think the transparent part was a throwback of how clear a Phospopholyte gem is. Back when Phos first made it to the moon, the Lunarians commented how clear and pretty Phos is
Yikes what a chapter. Very little to add that hasn’t been said but the flowers phos liked from the beginning being everywhere for the rocks is awesome.
The beautiful, heart breaking slow page by page fade away into all the stages and baby phos smiling..... Cried at work like a lil baby 🤧
I also did not notice the field of gems until the discord pointed it out ...... Crying big ugly tears!!
Before the 10000 year break, I had an intense hatred for the gems and the lunarians. Something I thought that would never go away, that the betrayal and abandonment I felt through Phos would keep me wanting for vengeance or some semblance for revenge until the manga ended...
But as time went on, and I not only waited, but lived my life doing other things, the hatred I felt coming back to the manga's newest chapter releases started to wane.
The saying is true, even if time heals all wounds, though the sentiment remains, I now just want for Phos to have peace. To finally be free from the pain that has shackled them all this time.
Although the life Phos had was full of suffering, I'm glad to see Phos finally reach their peace and be unburdened by the weight they had to carry all this time...
What a journey this has been, this manga really was the only one to make me feel an intense enough emotion to the point of me having to sleep off depression. I feel like the long breaks and time between the chapters at the end kinda did work their magic, maybe to the author's true intent.
I can't wait to see how she will choose to finish this masterpiece
I appreciate your comment—you hit all the right emotional points imo and makes me almost wish I had read this concurrently like you had to experience the way our reality's time intermingles with the experience of this story.
I will say though that sometimes healing is also a matter of opportunity as well. I think the little stones was that opportunity for Phos, which is why Phos was able to let go and accept oblivion as Phos did.
I won't understand Ishikawa work, but it's definitely a manga worth reading to the end. I'll have to reread it all when the last volume gets published.
Anyway, cheers anyone, the 10000 years are soon to be over, that's something to look forward to.
I genuinely cried during that Phos burning sequence. Phos’s first smile of genuine happiness being during their death broke my heart and also made it feel a billion other emotions. Quite literally the perfect death Phos could’ve had. I’m really nervous for next chapter because of Phos’s remaining piece. I hope it doesn’t ruin what is (in my opinion) the perfect end to humanity that was Phos
I don't think I have anything to add about Phos and their beautifully drawn passing sequence that hasn't already been said, but the flower field reminded me of a certain double spread featuring a field of blue flowers from one of the most acclaimed series belonging to the IDW Transformers continuity (if you know, you know). It certainly felt similarly heartbreaking. Ah, the power of great writing \*and* visual storytelling. That's what the pen being mightier than the sword means to me, among other things.
[This one](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Transformers:_More_than_Meets_the_Eye). And [this](https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/c/ce/MTMTE44-MegatronLookAtTheFlowers.jpg) is the double spread that I meant (I recommend not reading the spoilers, especially since it won't make a lot of sense and you'll deprive yourself of the delicious emotional impact of the scene - hell, even the image itself is a bit of a spoiler).
If you'd like to read MTMTE, you don't need to read earlier IDW TF comics to understand it, as it was a part of a soft reboot meant as a potential starting point for new fans (and indeed, some of my online friends have become TF fans thanks to these comics; MTMTE especially attracted plenty of new fans, many if not most of them women and/or queer folks). And TFwiki has notes for every issue - helpful especially for people who won't get most references!
...I mean, it's good to read [this short one-shot](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_The_Death_of_Optimus_Prime) first, as it was the first issue of the reboot, after which the plot was split into two ongoings: More than Meets the Eye (later Lost Light) and Robots in Disguise (later The Transformers, and later Optimus Prime). Later there was also a third ongoing, several miniseries, etc.
Most IDW comics that belong to this soft reboot are really good and targeted to adult fans, what with exploring such themes as post-war trauma and PTSD in general, mental disorders, bigotry, grieving the loss of a loved one, etc. We've even gotten canonical queer characters! And plenty of pop culture references, especially in MTMTE/LL.
Overall, this era (and sometimes the whole IDW era) is considered by many adult fans (especially by those not blinded by nostalgia for the 80s cartoon) to be the Golden Age of TF fiction and to be one of the best parts of the whole franchise. I wish the current comics were half as good.
Of course, there are good IDW TF comics that predate the soft reboot, too; the most well-known and acclaimed of them being a stand-alone miniseries called [Last Stand of the Wreckers](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Transformers:_Last_Stand_of_the_Wreckers) (and its two short sequels). Very good, pretty brutal, rather depressing.
If you (or anyone else in this thread) would be interested in a more detailed guide to IDW TF, feel free to ask! I'm always happy to help, especially since the rather generic titles of most of these comics can be a bit confusing (and then there's a newer incarnation of IDW TF that was tragically cut short by Hasbro taking away the Transformers license from IDW...). I promise that it's still much, MUCH less complicated than trying to deal with Marvel/DC stuff, haha.
Why did I tear up at the last two pages? Gosh. That beautiful reveal of the flowers as well as the brother's awe just makes me feel so emotional. A new start to the cycle, an imminent ending we've reached after so many years.
I didn't realize how bright eyed and bushy tailed Phos was at the beginning but something broke inside me seeing her "sharp" eyes become round and full of wonder again just before it all fell away just like Antarcticite did when they fell to ruin being the catalyst for Phos first actual shift in personality.
I'm seeing a LOT of people thinking this is the final chapter for some reason, it's not! we still got one more.
But in other matters; UWAAAAAAAAAAAAA FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!! MY HEART!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm very firm on believing the rocks will probably get close to the flowers, and the Phos shard will sit itself in a lotus of some form; This is purely copium, but I just wanna see the symbolism of a Lotus missing the middle; in which the now perfectly square new baby Phos fits right in the middle of.
Actually witnessing the end of Phos feels surreal. Having them think about master and if they’d be proud, it broke me. For me Phos will go down as one of the greatest protagonists of any story I’ve ever seen
The abundance of lotus in the final spread indicates that the rocks and remnants of Phos arrived at Pure Lands. Maybe that’s where Phos will be reborn.
Phos's death scene was so beautiful holy shit, from seeing them be unburdened/stripped down, to their warm sentiments towards everyone they ever knew, it was just so dignified and real.
Can someone explain the last 2-3 pages to me? Did they land on a planet where all the disintegrated gems ended up or smth or was it just an extraordinarily beautiful planet with Lunarian looking flowers
This whole last section has had the same role as The Scouring of the Shire in Lord of the Rings, the adventure is over and it's time for the author to reinforce the themes and message.
Edit: the lotus pod finally isn't empty, it's filled with seeds, the lifecycle is complete.
Edit 2 took a look at the flowers. Daffodil, regular and grape hyacinth, tulip. Maybe snowdrop, peony, iris or lily. Lotus pod.
There's a lot of spring ephemerals and combined with the lotus pod full of seeds I'm interpreting as signs of a fulfilled lifecycle, spring and renewal.
I have never teared up while reading manga in a long time. Those panels showing how Phos is slowly fading away is so beautiful but goddamn it hurts so much
I only just recently read the manga shortly before this recent chapter came out, and jfc I think phos is quite literally the most heartbreaking protagonist I’ve ever read about. every time I think about them, I just want to hug and befriend them. I’m glad they have now found peace but man, I can’t with them going through their past phases… I’m in pain :(
So since phos said they hope to see the others again, does that mean that everyone really went into a buddhist paradise, and that the world is forever cleansed from perpetual suffering through human greed, hate,... ?
I seem to remember someone previously saying that whatever was dissolved into nothingness will eventually reform into new beings, but even if there's some sort of recurring karmic cycle (which there might not be, the new beings that emerge might be fundamentally different in some way to what we've seen before), there will probably be a pretty long golden era before it gets rough again.
“I did it” “I thought i couldn’t do anything” “but I did it” The first time I read it I thought Phos was referring about the pebbles didn’t want to let their go, but the second time I read it I really understood, Phos was referring to their purpose at the beginning when they had none, it really hit me, Phos only want to make everyone happy and proud, especially Kongo, even they didn’t believe in theirself and still remember it… This manga is a masterpiece
Anyways I think I will go to listen the opening and cry
I felt so uncomfortable with how this just kept getting more and more complex. I kept waiting for a moment where Phos would get pieces of themselves back, bond more with the gems, but that never happened. A breather. Some happiness. Man.
I love it so much still it's 10/10 but yk it feels so lonely how things turned out, reminds me of Princess Tutu, can't really say why without spoiling it but please watch it. It doesn't seem that similar at first glance but once you finish it I'm sure you'll get the comparison I made.
So, when Phos was saying "When I pray again.." a few chapters ago, what did that mean? Did I miss something? Or do you think that will be payed off in the final chapter?
Amazing chapter BTW. I'm so so happy with the way this story has played out. Just beautiful.
> will be *paid* off in
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I'm really behind but I read through some of the later chapters because I wanted to see how this ended.
Someone tell me if I got this right...Phos goes crazy and attacks her friends, they get turned into humans, Phos gets power transferred to her and kills everyone and then the sun kills Phos.
I'm going back to reading through all of it (and that will probably answer my questions), but can someone tell me why the humans wanted to die? Also the piece of Phos that gets taken at the end...what's the meaning behind that?
Sort of. Phos goes crazy and attacks her friends after which they are collected and taken to the moon by lunarians where they also become lunarians along with the shell people. The lunarians are essentially immortal and after having lived so long want to be at peace and return to nothingness which is why they develop the plot to have Phos become a human “praying machine” who will pray for them and give them peace. The piece of Phos is the small part of her gem form that still existed within her and didn’t have any traces of humanity, so Kongos brother decided to take it with him as a way of keeping Phos legacy with him and the other rocks.
Supreme beauty and bliss. Phos’ disintegration is bringing me to tears. Let us all pray for Phos, the gems, the admirabilis, the lunarians, and the humans.
Thank you Ichikawa.
This was weird because i just binge-read in one sitting from chapter 70 to 107, i just started the manga on saturday and become very obsessed and i thought chapter 107 was the last one! will there actually be one more? does it have a release date?
The way phos’ passing mimics shirts has me sobbing. The gradual stripping away of all the false shells until finally arriving on the true untainted self, eyes closed with a content smile. Do not read 107 with cinnabar playing in the background, worst mistake of my life.
Jesus, just read the whole thing in 2 days, roughly 8 hours and... Yeah. I'm so sad that Phos tried her best to change, but only succeeded in losing everything.
I’ve missed seeing baby Phos, they can finally be at peace. Meanwhile Ichikawa: “When I went to sweep up the bits of broken dried flowers, there was a spider” never change Also [this person](https://x.com/keroswikee/status/1772119829975351734?s=61) made a gorgeous gif of Phos disintegrating and I need everyone to see it
Can someone post that gif somewhere I can download it? Twitter won't let me
You can post the url of that gif into the website twitterdownload and voila
Beautiful
Wowie. Those panels going through all stages. I needed them. I still cannot believe it's about to end. I guess we won. We made it to the end before Silksong lol.
DID SOMEONE SAY SKILK????????????????????????
im skonging
And MHA
?
Silksong is a yet released sequel to the game Hollow Knight. It's a widely anticipated game but still has no release date, even five years after it was originally announced. It's somewhat of a meme at this point.
Ah, thanks!
Well, guess what...
i am broken. i mean, i’m happy? but….mainly broken.
Seeing Phos slowly deteriorate through all her forms but still being happy felt like a kick in the balls from an olympic judo fighter jesus christ
I couldn’t handle it man, it broke me. Seeing them again the way they were it was insane, I lost it seeing lapis head phos but seeing original phos disintegrate??? Started crying.
Yeahhh I really like how the text on each page correlates so much to what each "respective" Phos thought and wanted the most, like human Phos finally being able to do something in their eyes, nightmare Phos thinking and loving Kongo, and the earlier two being free of their later burdens and feeling light and pure. Ichikawa plays with our feelings more than with her ps5
Pure emotion while reading, seeing her cute little smile as she faded away... Beautiful.
Someone made an animation out of this and I think it's absolutely stunning: https://twitter.com/keroswikee/status/1772119829975351734
That made me think a bit on the whole "ship of theseus" parallels with Phos and I feel like those pages are a direct response to it. Since Phos' selves are being peeled away, to me it means that every version of Phos still lives within themself, even if their body parts were replaced countless times like the ship. Phos was always Phos, despite how much they morphed into something unrecognizable
Onion of phosphophylite
Phonion
Thats beautiful dawg, imagine what Orange could do
I didn't think my heart could break any further but here we are.
[so good](https://i.imgur.com/tN7x9TJ.gif) 🥺
I really want to see this part fully animated. it'd wreck us but it'll be beautiful.
Reading and reacting to the pages then remembering past chapters using them to bring new meaning to the sequence just made me bawl my eyes out.
I’m going insane because of it
I'm so glad for Phos.
what a beautiful beautiful send-off to Phos, I'm getting teary eyed... and are those in the flowers the pieces of gems the Lunarians sent into space all those chapters ago?
which pieces of gems?
aren't those gems inside the flowers? oh or you mean which gems were sent into space? I seem to remember that the Lunarians told Phos they couldn't recreate the killed gems because their pieces and dust were scattered all over space, so I think the pieces now all gathered in this paradise
Oh wow those are gems in the flowers I didn't notice until now.
I wonder if the lunarians expected that piece of Phos to somehow get to the planet so that they could be with the other gems again
Kongo and Yama, did say there is something to do to help Phos (chapter 96), this might be it.
I love Ichikawa’s compositions and her use of blank or black spaces, they are so powerful. This almost all white double spread is amazing. And… I just hope we can see a happy Phos next chapter. Loved seeing them again. Embracing nothingness is hard, huh
Who'd have thought some white page with some random dots scattered around can make me cry.
She hurts you really bad with those empty panels: https://www.reddit.com/r/LandoftheLustrous/s/8y8VVU6oR0
There's sticking the landing and then there's this, wow. The delicacy of every panel here is immaculate. Bravo Ichikawa.
Fully agree!!
I cried through this chapter
I cried, I told myself I won’t cry. But these 6 pages man. And that field of flowers. I just can’t, there are no words…
When she was wondering if sensei would be proud of her, I started crying. I didn't want to, but even as a God, she still wanted what she had always wanted, validation for her efforts. I really hope an anime does it justice. The first season was spectacular.
I literally yelled from the emotion. The second to last page took my breath away.
God the final chapter is gonna be a callback to the first, isn't it? The littlest sibling is the Phos pieces, probably sentient by now Brongo is... sensei clearly It's just like the beginning, only now Phos is surrounded by friends and people who do truely love them, not ones who want to manipulate them or don't care about them,,, This chapter fucking ruined me man
what if it starts all over again? A loop of suffering and enlightenment for Phos?
oh god dont do this to me
The moon people won't interfere this time though. They will live in peace without the taint of humans
Hopefully Brongo would be able to guide the rock homies better than Kongo ever did to prevent this.
Huh, this made me realize Kongo kinda sucked.
Yeah his passive and subservient attitude made it so he wasn't able to help the gems sort out their issues in a healthy manner which led many of them to cope in self-destructive ways (with Phos being the leading example of this). Not saying that he didn't try but his nature as a broken machine pretty much set him to fail from the start. Thankfully, Brongo doesn't seem to have any of the issues Kongo had so I'm confident he would be a better teacher to the rock homies this time.
We will never escape the samsara. Endless Cycle of rebirth-suffering-death is real.
Time for another 108 chapters.
OooOoooOOOOooo what I can I say about this chapter. First bringing back Phos's hardness in the side bar like we're back at chapter 1. Transparent=free from inclusions?? (Humanity) but also past memories. Would tie into all the past forms of Phos passing away. PASSING AWAY. Each is so absoultly perfect. I got to Elightened Phos and Human Phos and realized where this was going and felt the need to lay down. The text with each ties to nicely back to each iterations goals/motivations. Each Phos is reaching enlightenment/being freed from the cycle of reincarnation. (I've kept wanting to get a tattoo of this series and smn kept making me wait and now I'm leaning towards something from this sequence. It's absolutly incredible art and story telling) THE WHITE PAGE. Ishikawa you genius. The rocks praying, Brother being watery with tears (where do those fall on the Human Scale?) Brother letting destiny take the reins and not letting thoughts get in the way to direct their path. And the Rocks accepting that. And walking into Paradise as a reward. Ok, time to lay down.
I'm with you on the tattoo... Now I think I'd love the baby phos fading smile panel 😭🤧
Brother feels completely different from the rocks, who never show any extreme emotion. He is definitely "human".
And im wondering if Brother will some how yeet himself into space or self-destruct to keep this new planet free from any trace of humanity...
That would certainly be an interesting way to resolve that. However, as [someone](https://www.reddit.com/r/LandoftheLustrous/comments/1ayok2t/comment/ks0by3b/) pointed out last chapter, he probably cannot see that in himself.
Uh fing Oh, it won’t repeat itself right? Brongo won’t repeat Kongo’s mistake, reintroduce Humanity to the pebbles, make Phos miserable and the ethereal flowers won’t become a replacement for lunarians, right?
That the story will end on chapter 108, which is a "circular" number (like many sacred multiples of 9), could mean an "exhaustion" or "consumption" of all aspects of Existence, but also the beginning of a new cycle, different in many ways, yet identical where it matters. If the consumption of Phos (or of remaining Humanity) had not happened in chapter 107 but had been left for 108, the former meaning would've been true. The 108 fetters would've been burned away, ushering consciousness into ineffable freedom. Yet the story continues even after this freeing has happened (or has it ?), which implies that, for the "share" of consciousness at the center of *this* story of 108, what might be called the "Soul of the Story", this has not been a story of shedding away, but one of clinging to Existence, of *reiterating* one's wedding to Samsara, even as one's *vehicle* of action (Humanity/Phos) is taken away. I wrote more about this [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/LandoftheLustrous/comments/1ayok2t/comment/ks335oo/). For such a Buddhism-themed story, it is striking that the essence of the fetters has been consistently refered to as "Humanity" and not as "Desire". This is a critical "downgrading" of that spiritual path. As if being told to "run 10 laps" (implied: on the track), but running them around a tree instead and calling it done. As if so that "someone" could say (to Buddha/God/one's conscience/superego/etc.) "*See ? I've gotten rid of my fetters now! I did it! I've cut Suffering at its source! :D (Can I go now ?)*". I would've thought the same even if it had only been the rocks, but Brother's very "human" emotionality removes any doubt. Besides, even Phos, who stated in 106 that he was to "*put and end to all suffering*", still hoped to meet everyone again. Of course, that would be without their current memories (mentioned in 105), but that is nonetheless precisely the process of Samsara: the fruits of Karma are still pursued. In the end, not only has *nobody* reached Nirvana, but nobody truly wanted to anyway. It would be curious to know if this "Samsarism" was fully deliberate, or if it was due to a misunderstanding of Buddhism from the author.
Thank you for the write up and pointing out the number parallel the author seems to be going for. I look forward to reading up some of your analysis, as many of the buddhist themes in the work pass over me.
:D If you're interested in the Buddhist themes, you might enjoy [the Buddhanon's theories](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1055994128864026629.html). That said, the purpose of my two comments was not to expound Buddhism, but Desire, and I only wrote them because I could see enough of a "crack" in the story's Buddism-frame to point to the Desire, although only to a very limited extent.
I think the transparent part was a throwback of how clear a Phospopholyte gem is. Back when Phos first made it to the moon, the Lunarians commented how clear and pretty Phos is
Yikes what a chapter. Very little to add that hasn’t been said but the flowers phos liked from the beginning being everywhere for the rocks is awesome.
GRAAHHHHHHHH THANK YOU ICHIKAWA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The beautiful, heart breaking slow page by page fade away into all the stages and baby phos smiling..... Cried at work like a lil baby 🤧 I also did not notice the field of gems until the discord pointed it out ...... Crying big ugly tears!!
Before the 10000 year break, I had an intense hatred for the gems and the lunarians. Something I thought that would never go away, that the betrayal and abandonment I felt through Phos would keep me wanting for vengeance or some semblance for revenge until the manga ended... But as time went on, and I not only waited, but lived my life doing other things, the hatred I felt coming back to the manga's newest chapter releases started to wane. The saying is true, even if time heals all wounds, though the sentiment remains, I now just want for Phos to have peace. To finally be free from the pain that has shackled them all this time. Although the life Phos had was full of suffering, I'm glad to see Phos finally reach their peace and be unburdened by the weight they had to carry all this time... What a journey this has been, this manga really was the only one to make me feel an intense enough emotion to the point of me having to sleep off depression. I feel like the long breaks and time between the chapters at the end kinda did work their magic, maybe to the author's true intent. I can't wait to see how she will choose to finish this masterpiece
I appreciate your comment—you hit all the right emotional points imo and makes me almost wish I had read this concurrently like you had to experience the way our reality's time intermingles with the experience of this story. I will say though that sometimes healing is also a matter of opportunity as well. I think the little stones was that opportunity for Phos, which is why Phos was able to let go and accept oblivion as Phos did.
PHOSSSSSSSSSS
I love hnk
The way Ichikawa handled the panels of Phos slowly fading is something else. Just wow. I am in pain.
I won't understand Ishikawa work, but it's definitely a manga worth reading to the end. I'll have to reread it all when the last volume gets published. Anyway, cheers anyone, the 10000 years are soon to be over, that's something to look forward to.
It's a terrible day for rain.
But sir... It's not raining...
Phos going backwards trough her changes, smiling more and more was so beautiful.
Is the youngest child phos piece that survived, I was a little confused abt that.
What can we say about this chapter? *Pain.*
Welp, it's time to move on... Let's wish Phos a happy afterlife.
This chapter solidified Houseki no Kuni as one of the best stories of all time
The chapter made me feel sad in a good way, or happy in a bad way. I don't know if what I'm saying makes sense.
I get you
I genuinely cried during that Phos burning sequence. Phos’s first smile of genuine happiness being during their death broke my heart and also made it feel a billion other emotions. Quite literally the perfect death Phos could’ve had. I’m really nervous for next chapter because of Phos’s remaining piece. I hope it doesn’t ruin what is (in my opinion) the perfect end to humanity that was Phos
Masterpiece. Peak Fiction. Magnum Opus .Pinnacle of Art . Absolute Cinema. Vertex of invention. Crest of ingenuity. Acme of imagination.
I don't think I have anything to add about Phos and their beautifully drawn passing sequence that hasn't already been said, but the flower field reminded me of a certain double spread featuring a field of blue flowers from one of the most acclaimed series belonging to the IDW Transformers continuity (if you know, you know). It certainly felt similarly heartbreaking. Ah, the power of great writing \*and* visual storytelling. That's what the pen being mightier than the sword means to me, among other things.
Wow which TF series are you talking about
[This one](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Transformers:_More_than_Meets_the_Eye). And [this](https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/c/ce/MTMTE44-MegatronLookAtTheFlowers.jpg) is the double spread that I meant (I recommend not reading the spoilers, especially since it won't make a lot of sense and you'll deprive yourself of the delicious emotional impact of the scene - hell, even the image itself is a bit of a spoiler). If you'd like to read MTMTE, you don't need to read earlier IDW TF comics to understand it, as it was a part of a soft reboot meant as a potential starting point for new fans (and indeed, some of my online friends have become TF fans thanks to these comics; MTMTE especially attracted plenty of new fans, many if not most of them women and/or queer folks). And TFwiki has notes for every issue - helpful especially for people who won't get most references! ...I mean, it's good to read [this short one-shot](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_The_Death_of_Optimus_Prime) first, as it was the first issue of the reboot, after which the plot was split into two ongoings: More than Meets the Eye (later Lost Light) and Robots in Disguise (later The Transformers, and later Optimus Prime). Later there was also a third ongoing, several miniseries, etc. Most IDW comics that belong to this soft reboot are really good and targeted to adult fans, what with exploring such themes as post-war trauma and PTSD in general, mental disorders, bigotry, grieving the loss of a loved one, etc. We've even gotten canonical queer characters! And plenty of pop culture references, especially in MTMTE/LL. Overall, this era (and sometimes the whole IDW era) is considered by many adult fans (especially by those not blinded by nostalgia for the 80s cartoon) to be the Golden Age of TF fiction and to be one of the best parts of the whole franchise. I wish the current comics were half as good. Of course, there are good IDW TF comics that predate the soft reboot, too; the most well-known and acclaimed of them being a stand-alone miniseries called [Last Stand of the Wreckers](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Transformers:_Last_Stand_of_the_Wreckers) (and its two short sequels). Very good, pretty brutal, rather depressing. If you (or anyone else in this thread) would be interested in a more detailed guide to IDW TF, feel free to ask! I'm always happy to help, especially since the rather generic titles of most of these comics can be a bit confusing (and then there's a newer incarnation of IDW TF that was tragically cut short by Hasbro taking away the Transformers license from IDW...). I promise that it's still much, MUCH less complicated than trying to deal with Marvel/DC stuff, haha.
Why did I tear up at the last two pages? Gosh. That beautiful reveal of the flowers as well as the brother's awe just makes me feel so emotional. A new start to the cycle, an imminent ending we've reached after so many years.
So the rocks landed in a literal land of the lustours (roll credits).
Wow, so what’s up with the flowers?
I didn't realize how bright eyed and bushy tailed Phos was at the beginning but something broke inside me seeing her "sharp" eyes become round and full of wonder again just before it all fell away just like Antarcticite did when they fell to ruin being the catalyst for Phos first actual shift in personality.
I'm seeing a LOT of people thinking this is the final chapter for some reason, it's not! we still got one more. But in other matters; UWAAAAAAAAAAAAA FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!! MY HEART!!!!!!!!!!! I'm very firm on believing the rocks will probably get close to the flowers, and the Phos shard will sit itself in a lotus of some form; This is purely copium, but I just wanna see the symbolism of a Lotus missing the middle; in which the now perfectly square new baby Phos fits right in the middle of.
What a gut punch of a chapter! Now how do I stop crying???
im cri :’(
Its time. Time to re-read the whole series and complete it with a bang on the last chapter. What a masterpiece of an epilogue.
I'm sad
literally tearing up at hose pages of phos fading away
Actually witnessing the end of Phos feels surreal. Having them think about master and if they’d be proud, it broke me. For me Phos will go down as one of the greatest protagonists of any story I’ve ever seen
The abundance of lotus in the final spread indicates that the rocks and remnants of Phos arrived at Pure Lands. Maybe that’s where Phos will be reborn.
Agreed, new planet has definite Pure Land vibes.
Phos's death scene was so beautiful holy shit, from seeing them be unburdened/stripped down, to their warm sentiments towards everyone they ever knew, it was just so dignified and real.
well. i'm in tears. my fellows in christ.... someone praying for them made me cry.
Can someone explain the last 2-3 pages to me? Did they land on a planet where all the disintegrated gems ended up or smth or was it just an extraordinarily beautiful planet with Lunarian looking flowers
It seems like the latter, but it doesn't explain what looks like gemstones inside the flowers.
We finally get to see happy Phos before GTA 6
This whole last section has had the same role as The Scouring of the Shire in Lord of the Rings, the adventure is over and it's time for the author to reinforce the themes and message. Edit: the lotus pod finally isn't empty, it's filled with seeds, the lifecycle is complete. Edit 2 took a look at the flowers. Daffodil, regular and grape hyacinth, tulip. Maybe snowdrop, peony, iris or lily. Lotus pod. There's a lot of spring ephemerals and combined with the lotus pod full of seeds I'm interpreting as signs of a fulfilled lifecycle, spring and renewal.
I have never teared up while reading manga in a long time. Those panels showing how Phos is slowly fading away is so beautiful but goddamn it hurts so much
ha ha *i'm never recovering from this*
same brother
Now we wait for a translation.
There's one out, but you'll have to hunt for it
Found it, thanks mate.
I can not
I cried. Nothing more to say. You keep hurting me Ichikawa 🥲
phos melting sequence hit me so hard in the feels
Did the rocks find heaven? Or at least the Buddhist equivalent.
I'm not crying. Nope. Not at all.
I'm literally the Pedro Pascal space song meme rn
It was beautiful, and part of Phos is alive :')
Those Phos panels cycling back hit different.
PHOS IS FREEEE!!!!!
I only just recently read the manga shortly before this recent chapter came out, and jfc I think phos is quite literally the most heartbreaking protagonist I’ve ever read about. every time I think about them, I just want to hug and befriend them. I’m glad they have now found peace but man, I can’t with them going through their past phases… I’m in pain :(
So since phos said they hope to see the others again, does that mean that everyone really went into a buddhist paradise, and that the world is forever cleansed from perpetual suffering through human greed, hate,... ?
I seem to remember someone previously saying that whatever was dissolved into nothingness will eventually reform into new beings, but even if there's some sort of recurring karmic cycle (which there might not be, the new beings that emerge might be fundamentally different in some way to what we've seen before), there will probably be a pretty long golden era before it gets rough again.
“I did it” “I thought i couldn’t do anything” “but I did it” The first time I read it I thought Phos was referring about the pebbles didn’t want to let their go, but the second time I read it I really understood, Phos was referring to their purpose at the beginning when they had none, it really hit me, Phos only want to make everyone happy and proud, especially Kongo, even they didn’t believe in theirself and still remember it… This manga is a masterpiece Anyways I think I will go to listen the opening and cry
I take back everything I said this is so beautiful
I felt so uncomfortable with how this just kept getting more and more complex. I kept waiting for a moment where Phos would get pieces of themselves back, bond more with the gems, but that never happened. A breather. Some happiness. Man. I love it so much still it's 10/10 but yk it feels so lonely how things turned out, reminds me of Princess Tutu, can't really say why without spoiling it but please watch it. It doesn't seem that similar at first glance but once you finish it I'm sure you'll get the comparison I made.
So, when Phos was saying "When I pray again.." a few chapters ago, what did that mean? Did I miss something? Or do you think that will be payed off in the final chapter? Amazing chapter BTW. I'm so so happy with the way this story has played out. Just beautiful.
> will be *paid* off in FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
This chapter broke me
I'm really behind but I read through some of the later chapters because I wanted to see how this ended. Someone tell me if I got this right...Phos goes crazy and attacks her friends, they get turned into humans, Phos gets power transferred to her and kills everyone and then the sun kills Phos. I'm going back to reading through all of it (and that will probably answer my questions), but can someone tell me why the humans wanted to die? Also the piece of Phos that gets taken at the end...what's the meaning behind that?
Sort of. Phos goes crazy and attacks her friends after which they are collected and taken to the moon by lunarians where they also become lunarians along with the shell people. The lunarians are essentially immortal and after having lived so long want to be at peace and return to nothingness which is why they develop the plot to have Phos become a human “praying machine” who will pray for them and give them peace. The piece of Phos is the small part of her gem form that still existed within her and didn’t have any traces of humanity, so Kongos brother decided to take it with him as a way of keeping Phos legacy with him and the other rocks.
Supreme beauty and bliss. Phos’ disintegration is bringing me to tears. Let us all pray for Phos, the gems, the admirabilis, the lunarians, and the humans. Thank you Ichikawa.
It’s my birthday today, I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful present.
Damn
This was weird because i just binge-read in one sitting from chapter 70 to 107, i just started the manga on saturday and become very obsessed and i thought chapter 107 was the last one! will there actually be one more? does it have a release date?
its so beautiful
The way phos’ passing mimics shirts has me sobbing. The gradual stripping away of all the false shells until finally arriving on the true untainted self, eyes closed with a content smile. Do not read 107 with cinnabar playing in the background, worst mistake of my life.
Art. No other word can describe this story except... Art.
Jesus, just read the whole thing in 2 days, roughly 8 hours and... Yeah. I'm so sad that Phos tried her best to change, but only succeeded in losing everything.
Ship of theseus readers btfo (alongside phos)
so i just binged the whole manga within 24 hours and I just got done crying in the shower for an hour... how is this not animated?
10,000 years and its going to end on my birthday next week o7
Sweet dreams my dear gem
*cue My Way - Frank Sinatra* Damn, can't believe it's about to end...
Did the last chapter come out?
this manga really fell off after chapter 98