Did you know that during a search for the Loch Ness monster, water samples were collected and tested for DNA? Through that method, scientists hope to find evidence of any unknown creature lurking in the loch. Water is fascinating. With only a few drops, you can understand so much about the environment and everything in it. And as shown in the eighth and ninth episodes of Ruri Rocks, water is a valuable indicator of the minerals that may be present in the surrounding area.
Ruri Rocks, Episode 8 — The Golden Elegy (A Very Brief Synopsis)
I still remember the days when I wasted hours of my life testing and retesting water samples. That’s a horror I never wish to relive. However, that’s a sentiment that Ruri and Shoko disagree with, as the girls WILLINGLY chose a water quality study as their class research project. While this initially seemed like a plot device to bring Ruri and Shoko closer (SPOILER—it was), it also introduced the mineral featured in the anime: zincite.
A Tale of Zincite
Over the past two months, we’ve learned about many minerals in Ruru no Houseki, and now we’ve reached the one I find to be the most beautiful: zincite. Zincite crystals are a rarity outside of New Jersey (USA).
Zincite is a common byproduct of zinc smelting. The reason for this lies in the properties of zinc. Unlike other smelted metals, zinc has a relatively low boiling point. Vaporized (or oxidized) zinc cools and reacts with oxygen in the air and forms crystals in smelting stacks and off-gas deposits. Those properties lend themselves to the creation of synthetic zincite crystals.
It’s unlikely that you’ll run into New Jersey sourced zincite crystals online or at rock hounding conventions, these are among the rarest gems you can encounter. But that doesn’t mean you should overlook synthetic crystals. Ruri Rocks mentioned that the vibrant red color of zincite is due to its impurities (mainly iron and manganese). When someone produces synthetic zincite, they can change or remove those impurities. This results in crystals that range from colorless to nearly all shades between dark red and yellow, as well as some hues of green.
Production Notes
If you say my articles are just Studio Bind puff pieces, I wouldn’t take offense. I’ve consistently praised them because they truly deserve it. The level of detail Studio Bind puts into even the tiniest things is almost obsessive. Think about all the times you’ve seen objects hit each other in an anime. Now, how many of those times was the sound actually similar to what those objects would make? If you’re trying to remember, chances are it’s pretty rare.
Jump to the 18:49 mark in Ruri Rocks, episode 8—what do you hear? You hear the faint sound of a rock hammer hitting a steel pipe.
Studio Bind puts so much love into Ruri no Houseki that even the background noises are realistically recreated. And that’s not all—if you pay attention to the background sounds, you’ll notice they change depending on whether the characters are in forests or mountains. Very few studios would go to such lengths.
Ruri Rocks, Episode 9 — Time Capsule of 1.9 Million Tons (A Very Brief & Skippable Synopsis)
With episode 9 of Ruri Rocks, we get another reason to appreciate how the natural world intertwines with the story. Specifically, it showed how hydrological processes can be a key factor in mineral
hunting. After a typhoon dumps a heavy deluge on Ruri and Shoko’s hometown, the girls decide to use the flood to their advantage as they search for placer gold. But when they find trace amounts of pyrite and quartz in their gold pan, they rush to Nagi and Imari to find out why. After unlocking a few SR and an SSR Nagi card, the girls head out to hunt for opal below a dam.
Following some background on the pros and cons of dams and how emergency water flow can reveal long-buried rocks, the mineral squad sets out to find their loot.
The Mineralogy Corner
Opal is generally divided into two categories: common and precious (gem quality). Unlike zincite and the other crystals featured in Ruri Rocks, opal is the only mineraloid in the series. But what exactly makes it a mineraloid, and how does it differ from a true mineral? It all comes down to its structure. A mineraloid lacks the crystallinity found in true minerals. Used for jewelry for a long time, opal comes in many colors. The more vibrant and iridescent an opal is, the more valuable it tends to be. There are distinct opal types, and they’re worth checking out.
Rainbow opals retail for a few dollars per carat. On the other hand, a highly iridescent black opal can cost over $10,000 per carat. One of the most expensive opals is the Rockefeller Collection’s Fire Queen, weighing 900 carats and valued at approximately $3.6 million today. While opal can be found worldwide, most specimens come from Australia and Mexico. Lab-grown opal exists, but it’s usually less iridescent and easier to tell apart from natural stones. Until next week—ja ne!
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©Keiichiro Shibuya/KADOKAWA/”Ruri’s Jewels” Production Committee
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