Ruri Rocks — Pioneering a New Era in Outdoor Anime

Most people would agree with you if you said that an anime about mineralogy would be a boring watch. However, Kiichiro Shibuya and the staff at Studio Bind aren’t “most people.” Not only did Studio Bind and Shibuya-san give us the best-looking anime of the season with Ruri Rocks, but they also delivered what’s aiming to be one of the best outdoor anime to date.

With animation that captures the brilliance of the gems it depicts and a love for nature that permeates every exploration scene, Ruri no Houseki champions the beauty of the wild.

What’s Ruri Rocks About?

You can become extremely passionate about something in the simplest of ways. For Ruri Tanigawa, her passion for geology and mineralogy started when she saw a crystal pendant at a shopping mall. Falling in love with the pendant, Ruri rushes home to pester her mom for an early allowance. Her mom instead tells her that grandpa used to collect crystals by the box-load whenever he foraged for wild plants.

Thinking that she could do the same, Ruri ventured into the wild and had little luck. But when she met the graduate student Nagi Arato and coerced Nagi into taking her to find crystals, Ruri found way more than she expected. Astounded by the beauty she saw and thinking she could turn a profit from her mineralogy ventures, Ruri began accompanying Nagi on mineralogy expeditions.

Studio Bind — a New Standard of Excellence

Most people believe that diamonds are rare, but they are more common than sapphires and emeralds. Additionally, gemstones like moissanite shine far more brilliantly. And if Studio Bind were a gemstone, it would be moissanite.

People celebrate anime studios for their fluid fight sequences, seamless movement, and vibrant, colorful scenes. But those are always at the forefront. I believe one can gauge a studio’s level of excellence by the attention to detail in background scenes and minor moments. And with their Ruri Rocks adaptation, Studio Bind proved to everyone that they care about the background stuff as much as they do about the main attention grabbers. I never thought I’d see a studio perfectly recreate the scattering of a headlamp’s light in a mine or a mineral shining correctly. Studio Bind does it as if it were a regular occurrence.

Any outdoor hobby’s biggest draws are the vistas. Most outdoor-related anime miss that simple fact, but not Studio Bind. They treat the outdoors and the scenery with love.

Ruri Rocks — a Love Letter to the Outdoors

Anime and the outdoors saved my life, which is why I hold outdoor anime to a higher standard than any other genre. Of course, I’ll niggle over crappy animation in outdoor-oriented anime while still (for the most part) happily watching them. But I do vehemently complain when outdoor anime treats its hobby like it’s replaceable.

Think about NegaPosi Angler. The angling community helped Hiro heal. But by the halfway point, the way the show integrated angling made it feel interchangeable with any other hobby. Hiro could have befriended people doing graffiti, picked that up, and the core story would have remained the same.

On the other hand, Ruri Rocks thrives because it showcases its hobby. Ruri no Houseki isn’t a show about kawaii waifus that features mineralogy. Instead, it’s an anime about mineralogy that features kawaii waifus. The way Nagi-san discusses geological time and its processes, and how Ruri-chan gradually comes to understand and appreciate the by-products of the passionate celebration of mineralogy, is compelling. In doing so, Ruri Rocks becomes one of the most honest representations of why people love the wild because it offers a wonder that people cannot find elsewhere.

Mandatory Voice Acting Insert XD

Asami Seto voices some of my favorite waifus, and I can never tell it’s her. I didn’t realize that the voice behind Mai Sakurajima, Shishu, and Nagi-san was the same seiyuu. That’s not an insult — that’s high praise. Being able to voice so many characters so seamlessly is extraordinary. While Ruri’s VA, Miyari Nemoto, doesn’t have as extensive or diverse a career as Seto-san, her performance is no less commendable. Miyari perfectly captures Ruri’s abrasive and boisterous personality.

Ruri and Nagi work so well together. People say that opposites attract because watching two opposing personalities coalesce is a beautiful thing. Differing personalities in a friendship provide the perfect environment for personal growth, and that’s what you see in Ruri Rocks. Nagi acts as the anchor for Ruri and keeps the rambunctious loli’s problematic aspects in check. Meanwhile, Ruri’s zeal and curiosity drive Nagi forward professionally and personally. These two will correct each other when they’re overstepping, and they bring out each other’s best. In three episodes, you can tell that Nagi and Ruri went from a random duo to affectionate friends. At first, they bonded over a shared interest and then cozily settled into each other’s company.

Random Thoughts and Deets

Unlike other recommendations where I promote horniness or pleasing visual experiences, with Ruri Rocks, I’m recommending an experience. Nature heals. There’s a growing body of evidence that shows how touching grass benefits your mental and physical health. I can’t promise that an outdoor hobby will fix all your problems. But I can promise that if you ever find yourself holding a selenite crystal in a desert under a sky painted with colors you’ve never seen, life will change.

Enterbrain’s Harta magazine has serialized Ruri Rocks since August 2019. Kiichiro Shibuya writes and illustrates the manga, which currently has six tankoubon volumes. Check out Ruri Rocks on Crunchyroll, and maybe pick up rockhounding as a hobby too.

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