An adventure shonen with a sweetness to it that helps to set it apart.

When I was a child, there was a point in my life where I was super into gemstones. There was this website that listed a bunch of gemstones and their properties that I spent way too much time on, and I remember birthstones being a frequent discussion of conversation in my youth. And like many people, my introduction to the world of manga was through action-adventure shonen series, built on sprawling lands and intricate power systems. So when I heard there was a manga on Shonen Jump+ that combined gemstones with action-adventure shonen, I knew it was something I had to check out. And I'm glad I did, since it has been a delight.

Diamond and the Rough begins with a man named Akeboshi visiting an underground village. Akeboshi is an ore craftsman, a person who uses gemstones to give them powers. During the visit he encounters a boy named Kai, whose entire family was turned to gemstone-encrusted stone by another ore craftsman three years ago-an incident Kai was lucky to get out of with a petrified, red-diamond encrusted left leg. After Akeboshi rescues him from a gem merchant who was looking to exploit the gemstones embedded into him and his petrified family, Kai agrees to become his ore craftsman apprentice. The two set off on a journey to find a cure for Kai's family, meeting other ore craftsmen and learning more about the world around them along the way.

The continents in Diamond in the Rough are giant petrified beasts wandering in the ocean, a setting that I find very cool. People live both underground and above ground, with the former generally being the less urban society compared to the latter. The world of this series has a certain whimsy to it; I feel like the series's optimism helps add to the vibe the world gives off. Each town is highly different from each other and are illustrated beautifully. The art in this series in general is very good, with the way the characters and their gems are drawn standing out in particular. The character designs are all distinct from each other and have a certain roundness to them that makes them pleasant to look at. The eyes and gemstones all shine, and Nao Sasaki's color pages accentuate the beauty of the world they have created.

The power system in this series is based all around gemstones. There are regular, semi-precious, and precious stones, with the latter being viewed as the most valuable. Most people have one gemstone they are compatible with, although some particularly strong ore craftsmen can use multiple stones. There's also the legendary titular Diamond in the Rough, who can use the power of any gemstone. The abilities provided by the gemstones themselves are related to their properties and the imagery related to them. Examples include rubies being fire-based, aquamarines being water-based, tiger's eye letting the user summon a tiger and alexandrite changing between healing and offensive abilities based on the time of day. It's not really something I've seen in other series like it before, and I look forward to seeing what the remainder of the series will continue to do with it.

The bond shared by master and apprentice is stressed through multiple character relationships in the series and is probably my favorite thing about it. Our primary pair is Akeboshi and Kai, who were on slight odds in the beginning but quickly become very close over the course of their adventures. Kai did not have an easy life during the three years in between his family's petrification and meeting his master, spending most of his time taking on odd jobs while never having anyone he could really count on. Akeboshi spent much of his youth as a test subject, and this combined with his being more of a free spirit made him reluctant to take on an apprentice, as he isn't really a fan of conforming to the higher-ups expectations. Once he takes Kai in however, he discovers a happiness he never knew before and decides to devote himself to becoming the adult he wished he could turn to in his youth.

The other master/apprentice pairs also get quite a bit of time together. Kou is looked down on by her family due to her being compatible with the semi-precious tiger's eye as opposed to her brother's precious amethyst. Her master is the lapis lazuli-wielding Sakon, who endears herself to Kou when they first met by asking her to teach her how to speak like a proper lady. Kou warms up to becoming an apprentice and Sakon grows to care deeply for her, and the two fight alongside each other to protect each other. There is also Kurogane and his master Benito, who are not ore craftsmen but weaponsmiths. Benito found Kurogane after he had been derided by his family for being too weak and unmasculine for them. Kurogane is a human, while Benito is a stone-eater, a race of horned people with a history of being discriminated against. He took Kurogane in regardless of how they would be perceived, and Kurogane discovered his true passion for weapon making as a result of his master's tutelage. Kai, Kou, and Kurogane all become friends with each other as the series goes on as well, and seeing these three kids who have been isolated from friendship most of their lives find true friends in each other is adorable to see.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the series will be entering it's final arc. I honestly do not know how I feel about this. I think this series has the potential to go on for a long time, and it seemed like the series had a lot of the world still left to explore. I have faith that Sasaki can pull off a final arc, but I was surprised to see that it is happening so soon. I feel like there are aspects of the world that have been unexplored, and a large amount of supporting characters that could do with more screentime and fleshing out than they have gotten. I think the latter is something a lot of shonen tend to struggle with, as I see a lot of characters in those types of series that I feel just don't get the attention they deserve.

Diamond in the Rough is a series I readily recommend to anyone who enjoys action adventure series, and while I'm not sure it'll be winning over people who aren't into it I'm sure there's a few who will find something to like in there. It's a series I had a feeling I'd enjoy but I didn't think I'd like it quite as much as I do. It's not my favorite member of it's genre, but it's for sure one of my more recent reads from it that I've enjoyed the most.