Land of the Lustrous and Buddhism
Having a master's degree in Japanese studies always felt like it could be a boon for writing about anime, but the number of series where having a good working knowledge of the Meiji restoration or labor movements in 1920s Japan are very small. I think I got a reference in Gatchaman Crowds to Nakane Chie's Japanese Society , I understand the context of Golden Kamuy pretty well and wrote an article on that, Yuureitou has some post-Occupation social trends I could nod at but generally, the interest or deep engagement with the things I am familiar with is not that common. After working at a bookstore and learning more about Buddhism I was really ready to do some analysis, but there's not a lot. Before now, the most Buddhist anime, in terms of cosmology was actually Ushio and Tora. That is, until Land of the Lustrous. This is a Buddhist as hell series, and knowing the context will help anyone to understand it better. I wondered if the Buddhist Priest character and the invaders ...