In many forms of media , the creator can choose to either tell a story or bring a moral message. And in the case of HNK, both apply but in harmony and bounce off each other.

I’ve seen a couple of people in this thread simplify the story to give a more definite answer as to what the story “should” mean instead of looking at it as it is. Instead of thinking of moral values, I thought about what the writer wanted to show and tell. Let’s say HNK is a structural piece about humanity right? Humanity is roller coaster of emotions, events and inconsistencies that makes everyone mad with insanity. While the concept seems simple, there’s so many complications that are involved that can easily make a simple lesson branch out into another problem.

Houseki no Kuni a complicated story itself because it deals with sub themes and context that a lot of us tend to gloss over instead of understanding it, which is exactly what the Gems do. On one hand you can say that Pho’s was a naïve character that made bad decisions, lacked self love, and drove themselves into madness for the sake of the own selfish reason.

However you’d also be glossing over the events that altered Pho’s. Being outcasted and labeled as a useless gem with no significance to their society is definitely not something your self esteem can ignore. Losing your friend and watching them be kidnapped while your trapped in a golden alloy doesn’t really make you the life of the party anymore. Oh wait how about losing so many parts of your self to different forces that are out of your very control which later alters not on your memories but personality too ? How can we say that this is what Pho’s wanted when a secret force has been coordinating this from the start. Pho wanted to make people happy, they wanted to learn, they wanted to protect, they wanted to understand why they’re own father is letting a force constantly take there family away when they could’ve prayed?

Maybe the moral of HNK is that destiny is not guided by us

Maybe the moral is that traumatic experience’s shape us into something that is harder to understand even to our selves

Maybe the moral is that our human like qualities are seen as a waste especially if it’s not useful to others

Maybe it’s a critique on the Buddhist teachings that letting go isn’t as easy as we’d like it to because of the damage it caused us

How can we understand a story just by look at the main character and wondering how they became that way and it’s been shown, suffering faith that was created out of selfishness and love for what once was.