Ruri Rocks
| Ruri Rocks | |
 First tankōbon volume cover | |
| 瑠璃の宝石 (Ruri no Hōseki) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Keiichirō Shibuya |
| Published by | Enterbrain |
| Imprint | Harta Comix |
| Magazine | Harta |
| Original run | August 10, 2019 – present |
| Volumes | 7 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Shingo Fujii |
| Written by | Michiko Yokote |
| Music by | |
| Studio | Studio Bind |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | AT-X, Tokyo MX, BS11, TVA, ABC TV |
| Original run | July 6, 2025 – present |
| Episodes | 12 |
Ruri Rocks (Japanese: 瑠璃の宝石, Hepburn: Ruri no Hōseki; lit. 'Ruri's Jewels'), also known as Introduction to Mineralogy, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Keiichirō Shibuya. The story features high school student Ruri, a girl who loves minerals and jewelry who meets graduate student Nagi, fostering an interest in mineralogy. It has been serialized in Enterbrain's seinen manga magazine Harta since August 2019, with its chapters collected into seven tankōbon volumes as of September 2025. An anime television series adaptation produced by Studio Bind premiered in July 2025.
Plot
[edit]Ruri Tanigawa is a high school student who likes jewelry and accessories. When visiting a jewelry store, she found accessories that used crystals. Ruri was amazed by the beauty of the crystal, and tried to find it herself. One day, while searching for crystals, Ruri meets Nagi Arato, a college graduate student majoring in mineralogy. Their encounter deepens Ruri's love and fascination with the world of mineralogy.
The characters look for minerals such as quartz, garnets, pyrite, gold and fluorite, and use various mineralogy tools such as a panning dish, a hammer and topographic maps.[3]
Characters
[edit]- Ruri Tanigawa (谷川 瑠璃, Tanigawa Ruri)
- Voiced by: Miyari Nemoto[4]
- Nagi Arato (荒砥 凪, Arato Nagi)
- Voiced by: Asami Seto[4]
- Yōko Imari (伊万里 曜子, Imari Yōko)
- Voiced by: Yume Miyamoto[5]
- Shōko Seto (瀬戸 硝子, Seto Shōko)
- Voiced by: Saki Hayashi[5]
- Aoi Kasamaru (笠丸 葵, Kasamaru Aoi)
- Voiced by: Misuzu Yamada[5]
Media
[edit]Manga
[edit]Written and illustrated by Keiichirō Shibuya, Ruri Rocks began serialization in Enterbrain's Harta magazine on August 10, 2019.[6] The first tankōbon volume was released on October 15, 2020.[1] As of September 2025, seven volumes have been released.[7]
Volumes
[edit]| No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 15, 2020[8] | 978-4-04-736267-3 |
| 2 | August 12, 2021[9] | 978-4-04-736615-2 |
| 3 | October 15, 2022[10] | 978-4-04-737177-4 |
| 4 | August 12, 2023[11] | 978-4-04-737637-3 |
| 5 | September 13, 2024[12] | 978-4-04-737914-5 |
| 6 | July 15, 2025[13] | 978-4-04-738113-1 |
| 7 | September 12, 2025[7] | 978-4-04-738393-7 |
Anime
[edit]An anime television series adaptation was announced on September 11, 2024.[14] It is produced by Studio Bind and directed by Shingo Fujii, with series composition handled by Michiko Yokote, characters designed by Mayu Fujii, and music composed by Daisuke Achiwa and Kazuki Yanagawa.[4] The series premiered on July 6, 2025, on AT-X and other networks. The opening theme song is "Hikari no Sumika" (光のすみか; lit. 'Home of Light'), performed by Rei Yasuda, while the ending theme song is "Sapphire" (サファイア), performed by Hana Hope.[15] Crunchyroll is streaming the series.[16] Plus Media Networks Asia has licensed the series in Southeast Asia and broadcasts it on Aniplus Asia.[17]
Episodes
[edit]| No. | Title [18][19] | Directed by [18] | Written by [18] | Storyboarded by [18] | Original release date [20] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "My First Mineral Hunt" Transliteration: "Hajimete no Kōbutsu Saishū" (Japanese: はじめての鉱物採集) | Shingo Fujii | Michiko Yokote | Shingo Fujii | July 6, 2025 | |
|
Schoolgirl Ruri wants a quartz point necklace she cannot afford. She travels to the mountains to find her own crystals. Instead she finds Nagi, a curvaceous graduate geologist with a Mini Cooper and a medieval European war hammer for sampling recalcitrant formations. With Nagi's help, Ruri obtains a nice quartz cluster; a baggie of pigeon-blood garnets; basic knowledge of pegmatites, plate tectonics, and erosion and transport; and a yen for the earth sciences. Now Ruri wants a rock hammer. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Value of Golden Color" Transliteration: "Kin'iro no Kachi" (Japanese: 金色の価値) | Yasuhiko Akiyama | Michiko Yokote | Yasuhiko Akiyama | July 13, 2025 | |
|
Nagi takes Ruri to a gold prospecting district. Gripped by gold fever, Ruri gains skill with her new rock hammer. But the stones she splits contain only pyrite, confirmed by streak test. A crystal with an unexpected shape prompts a discussion about the difference between cash value and scientific value. Next they pan for placer gold in a stream bed, finding better success after a heavy rain. Searching a pothole yields even more gold, including a huge nugget that Ruri would rather keep than sell. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Lost Planet" Transliteration: "Nokosareta Hoshi" (Japanese: 残された恒星) | Akie Ishii | Michiko Yokote | Akie Ishii | July 20, 2025 | |
|
Nagi brings Ruri to her messy graduate lab at the university, where Ruri meets Nagi's colleague Yoko. Nagi has published a paper on the unusual pyrite crystal Ruri found and listed Ruri as a co-author. In tidying up the lab, Ruri finds an otherworldly-looking bismuth crystal. Nagi shows her how it was made. Ruri also finds an old topographic map, valuable because it shows a mine not depicted on newer maps. The three girls travel to investigate. A magnet helps identify iron ore in the tailing pile. Falling into a collapsed section of tunnel, they must traverse more tunnels to escape. Nagi's ultraviolet flashlight reveals a galaxy of fluorite crystals not previously recorded. Nagi encourages Yoko to lead a study on them. | ||||||
| 4 | "Study of Sands" Transliteration: "Suna o Himotoku" (Japanese: 砂を繙く) | Yurika Tsushima | Michiko Yokote | Yurika Tsushima | July 27, 2025 | |
|
Seeking sapphires, Ruri searches sands. Nagi explains that river sand recaps the geology of all upstream drainages. Examining sand from each tributary and recording both positive and negative results will eventually lead to the source of the sapphires. But the method requires hours of work on the binocular microscope. Ruri finds a shortcut by running a magnet over the sample to remove the magnetic fraction. Yoko works on her fluorites, which may contain tungsten. Ruri's friends begin to wonder how she's spending her free time. | ||||||
| 5 | "Worlds Seen and Unseen" Transliteration: "Mieru Sekai, Miezaru Sekai" (Japanese: 見える世界、見えざる世界) | Miton | Naoto Taniuchi | Mamoru Kurosawa | August 3, 2025 | |
|
Ruri, Yoko, and Nagi search a gravel beach, finding banded agates and other forms of quartz. Nagi speaks of rocks as fascinating clues to the formation and history of the world. A fleck of silvery metal proves anomalously dense in a simple test. It might be platinum, which is less rare in serpentinite from the Earth's mantle. Nagi provides a short review of volcanism and plate tectonics. In the mountains they find a big shiny block of serpentinite, and more platinum grains in a nearby stream. | ||||||
| 6 | "A Closer Look Into the Blue" Transliteration: "Sono Ao o Mitsumete" (Japanese: その青をみつめて) | Hironori Tanaka | Miharu Hirami | Hironori Tanaka | August 10, 2025 | |
|
Ruri has identified the watershed with the sapphire deposit. She, Nagi, and Yoko travel to the area and visit a shrine. Searching on foot nearby seems hopeless, partly because fallen leaves cover the ground. Ruri finds a mistake in her notes. More sand searches correct the error and further pinpoint the deposit. Climbing to a ridgeline, they find plentiful sapphires. Nagi explains how they might have come to be there. An old inscription hints at a missed clue in the shrine's name. Shown but not mentioned: Ruri's shoes and clothes are now more suitable for outdoor work. | ||||||
| 7 | "Seaside Recycling Studio" Transliteration: "Nagisa no Risaikuru Kōbō" (Japanese: 渚のリサイクル工房) | Masaho Hori | Shingo Fujii | Shinpei Sawa | August 17, 2025 | |
|
Schoolgirl Shoko loves rocks, but receives no support until she encounters Ruri and company investigating sea glass. We learn different ways for silica glass to gain colors, including by thin-film interference. A day of searching for old bottles on the beach gains Shoko new friends with a shared interest. Ruri learns that her name is an old word for blue glass. | ||||||
| 8 | "The Golden Elegy" Transliteration: "Tasogareiro no Erejī" (Japanese: 黄昏色のエレジー) | Tomio Yamauchi & Yasuhiko Akiyama | Miharu Hirami | Mamoru Kurosawa | August 24, 2025 | |
|
Shoko, whose shirt commemorates nihonium, explores water quality for her school science project. Ruri wants in on it. Between samples, Shoko finds and then loses an orange crystal. Yoko checks water quality as well, using it to locate a new fluorite deposit. More water tests lead the investigators to an abandoned factory. Inside, they find rare orange zincite. It serves as a pretty decoration and a symbol of Shoko's and Ruri's friendship. | ||||||
| 9 | "Time Capsule of 1.9 Million Tons" Transliteration: "Hyakukyūjūman Ton no Taimu Kapuseru" (Japanese: 190万トンのタイムカプセル) | Miton | Naoto Taniuchi | Miton | August 31, 2025 | |
|
Ruri is disappointed when a reported opal deposit turns out to be fully mined out. Record rains deliver cultural waste to the riverbank, along with unexpected quartz and pyrite. Nagi puts on an impromptu fashion show. The team returns to the river. They search upstream and discover the source of the quartz and pyrite. Further on, at a dam site, they find plentiful opals concentrated by water flow. | ||||||
| 10 | "Sentence to an Abandoned Railroad" Transliteration: "Wansentensu no Haisenro" (Japanese: ワンセンテンスの廃線路) | Akie Ishii | Michiko Yokote | Akie Ishii | September 7, 2025 | |
|
The geologists set out for a historical manganese mine, with Yoko hesitantly in the lead, after Nagi has to miss out due to a last-minute excursion. We learn some properties and uses of manganese. Blocked by a collapsed rail tunnel, the team searches for fallen samples along the tracks. They discover rhodonite and rhodochrosite in quantity, suggesting prohibited use of potentially toxic tailings as track ballast. Perhaps a long-ago rail crew used their cargo for emergency repairs, though the actual answer remains unknown. | ||||||
| 11 | "The Sapphire Cradle" Transliteration: "Safaia no Yurikago" (Japanese: サファイアのゆりかご) | Yurika Tsushima | Miharu Hirami | Yurika Tsushima | September 14, 2025 | |
|
Ruri cannot decide which elective courses to take. Yoko makes "thin slates" and examines them in polarized light. Ruri applies the technique to her sapphires to learn about their formation. Returning to the field, she seeks bits of the crystals' original host rock. Testing with hydrochloric acid reveals calcite. More searching in correlation with the story of the old shrine yields many more sapphires and a plausible model of their history. With more confidence and clearer self-knowledge, Ruri chooses to study Earth science. | ||||||
| 12 | "Memories Come with Rocks and Noise" Transliteration: "Omoide wa Ishi to Noizu to" (Japanese: 想い出は石とノイズと) | Ayumu Uwano | Shingo Fujii & Michiko Yokote | Yasuhiko Akiyama | September 21, 2025 | |
|
Among her grandfather's old things, Ruri finds a contraption of copper wires and crystals. Nagi identifies it as a crystal radio. Ruri, Shoko, and new friend Aoi try to recreate it, but struggle to find the right mineral for the detector. A germanium diode works, confirming the build is correct. A nearby shrine with connections to Ruri's family offers better reception. | ||||||
| 13 | "Look Up, Examine, Search! And Next!" Transliteration: "Miagete Nozoite Sagashite, Tsugi!" (Japanese: 見上げて覗いて探して、次！) | TBA | TBA | TBA | September 28, 2025 | |
References
[edit]- ^ a b 水晶、砂金、ガーネット…鉱物採集は現代の宝探し！渋谷圭一郎「瑠璃の宝石」1巻. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 15, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
- ^ Dempsey, Liam (May 29, 2025). "Ruri Rocks Anime Reveals Theme Songs, Premiere Date in New Trailer". Crunchyroll News. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
- ^ "瑠璃の宝石｜カドコミ (コミックウォーカー)". カドコミ (コミックウォーカー) (in Japanese). October 15, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
- ^ a b c Pineda, Rafael Antonio (September 16, 2024). "Introduction to Mineralogy Anime's Teaser Reveals Cast, Staff". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
- ^ a b c Hodgkins, Crystalyn (March 20, 2025). "Introduction to Mineralogy TV Anime Reveals More Cast in Promo Video". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ 入江亜季、九井諒子らが描き下ろし！ハルタ付録に“おおきいすてきポストカード”. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. August 10, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
- ^ a b 【9月12日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. September 12, 2025. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
- ^ 【10月15日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 15, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
- ^ 【8月12日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. August 12, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
- ^ 【10月15日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 15, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
- ^ 【8月12日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. August 12, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
- ^ 【9月13日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. September 13, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ 【7月15日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. July 15, 2025. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
- ^ 漫画『瑠璃の宝石』2025年テレビアニメ化決定 続報は16日に発表. Oricon (in Japanese). September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
- ^ Cayanan, Joanna (May 29, 2025). "Introduction to Mineralogy Anime's New Video Unveils More Staff, Theme Songs, July 6 Debut". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
- ^ Mateo, Alex (June 18, 2025). "Crunchyroll Announces Release Schedule for Summer 2025 Season". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
- ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (June 25, 2025). "Aniplus Asia Airs Simulcast of Ruri Rocks Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Hajimete no Kōbutsu Saishū - Sutōrī | 「Ruri no Hōseki」TV Anime Kōshiki Saito" はじめての鉱物採集 - STORY | 「瑠璃の宝石」TVアニメ公式サイト [My First Mineral Hunt - Story | 「Ruri Rocks」TV Anime Official Website]. rurinohouseki.com (in Japanese). Retrieved June 29, 2025.
- ^ "Watch Ruri Rocks". Crunchyroll. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
- ^ 瑠璃の宝石. The Television (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
External links
[edit]- Official manga website at KadoComi (in Japanese)
- Official anime website (in Japanese)
- Ruri Rocks (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia