Guimi Zhi Zhu: Xiaochou Pian

Anime only here, Lord of Mysteries is a fascinating show with a compelling story revolving around a unique steampunk setting in a world full of magic and dangers. I have some disclaimers though, this anime is not for everyone. Like a lot of Chinese source material, they do not spoon feed you answers. They will only drip feed you with hints. If the MC is confused, chances are, you are going to be confused as well, that's just how it works. Now hold your questions and prepare for a journey of twists and turns. While the pacing in the first three episodes is indeed fast, this show is definitely not meant for you to watch in one go. In fact the more I paused, replayed and confirmed my suspicions, the more I enjoyed it. The people who like to theorize and solve mysteries are the ones who are truly going to enjoy this. There are episode extras' that I enjoyed and helped in my digestion of information but are featured separately. (Good job Crunchyroll) Putting other viewers' skill issue aside, The animation is fluid and crazy good looking, with amazing background art that truly immerses the viewer into the world's setting. The eerie, yet beautiful powers, send a chill to my spine. Each location is displayed cinematically providing a sense of dimension to the world. The sound direction and quality makes for tense and exciting moments and the ending itself is pure ecstasy. The world building is godlike, if this is season one, then I can't wait for what season 2 has to offer. Every detail was carefully crafted to provide a moving story to my eyes. A rollercoaster of emotions. I haven't truly enjoyed a show for quite a long time and I can say this one is a true masterpiece. 10/10 would rewatch.

I have still to encounter a good donghua, these shows producers think shiny images substitutes having a compelling story with good characters, as people say, doesn't matter how much you polish a turd, in the end it's still a turd. The 2D animation is super inconsistent, really stiff in dialogue scenes without any sign of character acting and the bad character desing doesn't help. The 3D bg stands out way too much in scenes that aren't covered in shadows, making the 2D characters look really out of place and whenever we have a tracking shot, the bg looks like miniatures. Action scenes are the only times the 2D team seems to be put to work, but they're still awkward, i also have no idea what the Nightmare power actually does in most fights sequences, are people sleep fighting? are they just seeing an illusion while the NightHawk suckerpunch them, maybe a partial illusion, like what we're actually seeing, also what's with the seemingly time travel or premonition power it has. Why is the story called Lord of Mysteries? This show is not a mystery show at all, Klein just follows his divination to a destination where they find a bad guy, then they fight. Story beats feel aggressively truncated, as if it's running through a checklist, characters are introduced, framed as significant and disposed off, why do i care if they die??? Have not read the novel, that's probably more of an adaptation problem i think. It expects emotional investment without making the audience actually care about the character, guy gets engaged, dead, guy gets leisure scene, dead, only time this kind of works is with Neil, but it's in a really weird manner, all the signs are there, we see the eyes, we're told about the Hidden Sage, we're shown the people he's lost, we see him change his demeanor but what happens makes no sense, even with all that it's too abrupt, he doesn't go days without contact or anything, he doesn't lose control, he instead makes a potion to bring back the dead FMA style, but it turns him into a monster blob, why did he take the potion, isn't it supposed to create a body, why would he ingest it? Also what does the Sage gain by turning him into a mosnter, was that not the sage and actually a higher level beyonder from the same pathway as Neil, colluding with Lanevus and Zangwill, so it's easier to control Dunn's actions? I don't really like the coincidence plot point, there is an object that can control someone's action without them realizing, even a beyonder and they end up thinking they're the ones choosing to do what it's written on the book/object, even if you take that out, it doesn't really make any more sense, Lanevus and Zangwill just needed Dunn to take out the Ashes, so they could steal it, there was no need for anything else to happen, no telling him to eat the dead, no telling him to lend the sun artifact, no anything to do with the Antigunous book, the only thing that did was make Klein stronger and allow him to revive himself at the end of S1(i presume him being able to revive himself has to do with the doll showing him the vertical eye drawing), also i didn't understand why Zangwill killed Klein like that, anyone with a brain could tell that the thing that killed Klein wasn't the "beast" they were fighting. Some other things i didn't like, Rose petals guy seems really out of place, dude legit thinks he's the main character with the secret power that he never actually uses. Why does it look like Daly is taking Klein as her pupil? Isn't there supposed to be secrets for those not in the know, why was she there in episode 1? She doesn't work under Dunn, it makes no sense for her to be in a suicide investigation. Why would Dunn take Klein to become a beyonder? Could they feel his "fog power"? If so, shouldn't that make them weary, he would be the prime suspect in that crime they were investigating. Also do people have other powers outside of beyonder powers? Things in this world are too obtuse, i know you're not supposed to reveal everything to keep some eerie aspect to the story, but we have no information about anything, things just happen, the whole plan about killing Klein and the other guys to get the Antigonus book and summoning the true god was just to get some artifact in the volt of a minor branch of the Nighthawks... I'm sure the novel is better, but i can't imagine it being much better than this, it's not just pacing, storytelling and art that are bad, but the plotpoints, the characters, the logic of what happens, this is seemingly just another power fantasy isekai, but with a complex magic system.

I'll tell you the truth about this Anime adaptation of Lord of Mysteries that people don't accept, it's very simple, basically the anime was made mainly for fans of the Novel, which doesn't necessarily mean that those who haven't read the original can't enjoy the anime, but as the original is extensive, deep and detailed it becomes an impossible task to add all that amount of information and elements present in each chapter. Many events were done in a different order than in the novel or simply cut and shaped differently, so to put it simply, is it worth watching as a mystery anime with a bit of supernatural action? YES! WITHOUT A DOUBT, but those who haven't read the original will be able to pick out all the nuances of the plot between the lines? NO DOUBT THAT NOT! But I recommend that anyone who watches until the last episode reads the novel afterward, because you will not only read a masterpiece, one of the best novels ever made, but also depending on your time and reading, you will be ready for the second season of Donghua, That's it...

It's true that the art and animation are amazing, but it is not worth it if you don't understand the story. It seems that they wanted to put too much information in 1 season, so they were forced to cut essential parts of the novel. Most of us that didn't read the novels don't understand anything. Jumps from one part of the plot to another and comes back with no explanation. Things that happen assuming that you already know why they're happening. So in conclusion: wonderful style, horrible narrative. If you didn't read the novel, you'll probably have to search for explanations of the episodes on YouTube, as I did. I'll drop this anime because I can't watch an episode, watch the explanation on youtube and even so, I don't understand it completely.

Lord Of The Mysteries is one of the greatest fictional stories of all time and the Donghua did not disappoint being an absolute masterpiece as well. This review will go over the entire Donghua as a whole and talk about it's flaws and positives. First the flaws, the only main issue of the LOTM Donghua is the first 3 episodes, I'm not even joking. The truth is that LOTM starts of extremely slow paced and since it's trying to appeal to many viewers which most are only seeking short, fast and brainless entertainment, the studio decided to dump exposition and information with fights to hook viewers on. However this was a mistake and caused a lot of outrage. Besides the bad directing and pacing of the first 3 episodes there are really no other flaws besides what your personal preference might be. Now the positives, first I'll talk about the character cast. Klein Moretti or Zhou Mingrui are the protagonist of the story, with the desire to return home and search for a way back the main character goes through many encounters. From these he is forced to adapt to this cruel and harsh world for just a chance at survival, seeing him struggle through his time in this world and develop as a person not only externally but internally. Over time we also see Klein bond to these characters and the connections between them aren't shallow either which allows for many beautiful and emotional scenes. Next the cast, LOTM has a decently big cast of characters, due to this not every receives equal screen time, some are talked about in passing while others are always on screen. However, this was perfect as it allowed for every character to shine on their own, rather than forcefully showing each character we can see how they act and their dialogues. This slowly built the characters each episode and allowed for amazing writing through showing not telling the viewers. Next the story, while at first it feels like a simple and boring mystery with no actual reasoning behind it, that couldn't be further from the truth. What we slowly see as lucky or coincidences all make logical sense, the characters try to solve their problems but are only part of the puzzle. It honestly stunned me how interesting it was while also keeping it entertaining. Quite literally everything comes together and makes for an amazing story and plot. Being honest, there isn't a way I can describe it, it's more of a feeling you get as you watch the episodes, you feel uneasy, curious, suspenseful or even eerie from how or why this is all happening. Now the emotions, this deserves it's own category as I got completely stunned by this, as someone who doesn't usually get emotional from fiction or stories LOTM managed to make me completely invested into it and had me even feel for the characters. This is obviously personal however I don't think anyone can watch this series and not feel something from it. Thirdly the animation, I think I speak for everyone when I say LOTM is arguably the best overall animated media from Asia, just the backgrounds are enough to leave me speechless. On top of that the quality doesn't drop throughout the season at all and even gets better. From the characters, lighting, monsters, camera angles, etc, LOTM delivers on all of this and makes the viewing experience stunning and unbelievable. Finally the entertainment, here is the big problem, this Donghua isn't for everyone. No matter how much I would recommend this and call it a masterpiece I know deep down not everyone could like it. The main issue is personal enjoyment and comprehension First enjoyment is subjective, many people might like repetitive and slop isekai while others only watch Shonen or strictly Shoujo and copy and paste romances, because of this many people can't exactly find fun in a mystery where things aren't presented to you directly in words or need a fight every episode to keep your focus however I will always say to try anyways, perhaps you'll like it and it'll broaden your horizons. Next comprehension, I'm not trying to act condescending when I say this but some people simply aren't smart enough for this, this doesn't mean you need to be intelligent to watch LOTM but at least have basic media literacy and comprehension, the amount of stupid questions I saw on social media within the first few episodes told me enough that this would get hated online. In conclusion, Lord Of The Mysteries is a masterpiece, it takes a lot for me to praise something this high but LOTM easily shattered any expectations I had and is one of my favourite fictions of all time. 11/10

This show is quite something. On one hand, one can easily call it a terrible, 2/10 adaptation, and I can't even argue since that's not an incorrect statement. So much detail, world building, and characterization was omitted from the original webnovel to the anime that the end result feels incoherent and illogical. Everything is ultra fast, you never get enough time to be immersed, and the power "system" with all the ritualistic magic and random names and gods doesn't seem to make sense at first glance. HOWEVER, I derived so much joy, excitement, hype, and feelings from this mid adaptation that it shook me. The final few episodes genuinely brought tears to my eyes despite being filled with questions, and the ending left me wanting so much more I immediately ordered the novels to savor in my own time. While yes the adaptation is on paper not perfect, it is still good in my opinion. If you just look at the given material (including the extra shorts since they are official material that's released at the same time), I think it's a good enough entry that warrants a watch. Despite an imperfect translation of the story to the animation medium, one can easily tell the true story is grandiose, intricate, and for lack of a better term, hella good if you can get past the missing details. Which I could, but I understand not everyone will feel the same way. It's not for everyone, and harsh critics (or even casual watchers) will probably give it a low score, which is very fair. However, personally, I just enjoyed it so much that I cannot give it anything below a 9/10. In essence, if you are indeed using this review as a way to gauge whether or not to watch it, I would recommend watching until episode 4. First three episodes are very fast paced (from what I heard, due to a contract the studio made, so they had to scramble event orders and fit more content in the first 3), but it gets better afterwards. If it has not hooked you even slightly by then, it's probably not going to. If you feel still on edge, episode 6 should be the final nail in the coffin. Edit: I have finished the season through the official early release in mainland China for those that are wondering.

This series requires you to trust the process and have patience. Anime-only. I watched all the donghua episodes and it was truly a cinematic experience. It’s more like a movie rather than an anime. Also, it’s best to binge-watch it since you will remember a lot of the context from before. Now, about the series, I watched the first four episodes and I was just confused and decided to drop it. Everything felt disconnected; I couldn’t make sense of the information being thrown at me and I was confused about half the things. Well, I went to the novel readers and spoke to them about it and gave my complains. Often they said, “have patience and trust the process.” I was like cool. Sure, the world is intriguing—I am not even going to bother talking about the cinematography, art design, and sound track since it’s best experienced and on god level; lord of mysteries has set an unrealistic benchmark for other anime to reach—and had me wondering about it, also the power system seemed good but I felt, “what’s the point of watching something that I do not understand?” But, trusting the novel readers, I gave it a shot and thought, “let’s decide at the end of the season.” I was already curious, just lost. Sure enough, it delivered. Furthermore, I realized that you’re not supposed to know everything. It’s a tendency for an anime to explain you things in the introductory episode, and walk you through it. This series is not that. It’s a MYSTERIES series and in hindsight, I feel stupid to be confused about the mysteries. It will be explained in the later season. I highly recommend it, AND atleast give it a try until episode 7. Furthermore, try the English dub(I did not need it since subs were fine). I am also okay with pausing and rewinding. Lastly, I want to thank the novel readers who were patient enough to explain me things when I felt lost. I just picked up the novel since the world and the power are so interesting and I plan on finishing the novel(Vol 2 for anyone who wants to read it from the end.)

Pacing. If the pacing had been handled properly, this could’ve been great. There was a lot of hype on social media about how massive the source material is and how unique the power system is. Maybe that’s true—but the anime didn’t manage to present it well. I found myself constantly Googling and watching YouTube explanations just to understand what was going on. Eventually, I stopped doing that and just followed the main story loosely. If the source material has too much content, cramming everything together and expecting viewers to keep up isn’t a good idea. That’s exactly what this felt like. It seemed tailored more for people already familiar with the world rather than anime-only watchers. Animation Honestly, very good. The animation quality and camera angles are strong. However, it sometimes moves way too much, making it hard to focus. I get the stylistic choice, but I wasn’t a big fan of it. The details are impressive, though some character faces felt slightly plastic and lacked emotional expression. Characters Decent overall. They did a good job introducing a variety of characters, but because the pacing jumps around so much, it’s hard to form a real connection with them. Recommendation Mixed feelings. It might not work well for first-time viewers, but those already familiar with the world could enjoy it more.

I honestly dont get why people keep saying Lord of the Mysteries is too hard to understand The clue is right there in the title It literally promises layers of mystery hidden truths and mind bending twists You pick up a book called Lord of the Mysteries and then complain its mysterious? Thats like ordering the spiciest dish on the menu and being shocked that it burns. Thats why its called Lord of the Mysteries not Lord of the Obvious.///Lord of the Mysteries is a unique story that stands out with its mysterious plot intriguing world and clever twists i think most people will enjoy this anime.

Whether you like it or not, Chinese animation (donghua) is still a huge novelty for most anime fans. Although some have already earned their rightful place among the most avid viewers of Eastern works, many people are still reluctant to enter this new world, whether because Mandarin is still unfamiliar to their ears or because of the more genuine and innocent meaning of the word prejudice: a preconceived notion based on other people's opinions that donghuas are still light years ahead of their Japanese "cousins." But the current anime season could represent a long-awaited turning point for Chinese animation, and one of the main drivers of this phenomenon is Lord of Mysteries. Based on a hugely successful novel, the donghua was immediately announced, as the original narrative was highly praised for its quality, and the first trailers showed off animation that was simply jaw-dropping. However, in the first two episodes that were released, I noticed a common problem in the current Eastern animation industry: aesthetic beauty at the expense of concise narrative, which greatly affected my experience with the work in question. In Lord of Mysteries (Guimi Zhi Zhu: Xiaochou Pian), we follow the journey of Zhou Mingrui, who, after being reincarnated in a steampunk fantasy world as Klein Moretti, must uncover the secrets of this new universe to find a way to return to our world. He walks a razor's edge between light and darkness, entangled in warring Churches, facing the unlimited potential of power and unspeakable dangers. Giving Caesar his due, it's impossible to get through this entire review without mentioning the grandeur of this donghua's animation. It's simply spectacular to behold; I have no other words to describe what I felt. It's perhaps one of the best-crafted animations I've ever seen, and I even consider it to be on par with what ufotable achieved in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Infinity Castle. The soundtrack, composed primarily of grand choirs and a classical orchestra, perfectly complements the tone of the Victorian world presented. However, the animation isn't all sunshine and roses. Although the weaker moments are an almost indescribable minority, they are nonetheless quite noticeable because they are so distinct. I can't make accusations with certainty, but I strongly suspect some scenes—especially those involving 3D animation—were created with the use of artificial intelligence. Well, that's a topic that deserves another article entirely, but I don't want to address the ethical issue here, but rather point out that these scenes were so inconsistent in terms of quality that at least a suspicion of the use of these tools can be raised. Another point mentioned at the beginning of this review that I thought would bother me the most was the new language introduced to me. As I mentioned earlier, Lord of Mysteries was the first Donghua I watched, and although a dub is being released at the time of writing this, all episodes were available only in their original audio. I was truly overwhelmed by the first few episodes, but gradually I got used to the language, to the point that by the last episode, I had already memorized some of the characters' frequent expressions and didn't even need to read the subtitles to understand what they were talking about in that brief moment. But finally, getting to the gist, the biggest problem with this animation is, surprisingly enough, its story. Or rather, the way it was adapted to Donghua. From the very first episodes, I found myself completely confused by the sheer amount of information presented to me without any context. There are countless characters, life-or-death situations, cults, gods, sad pasts, and all of this mixed with an isekai plot that is often completely sidelined to make way for a slice-of-life story that, honestly, no one cares about. The biggest problem with the story, which was clearly rushed by the anime's production compared to what's in the novel, was that it became impossible to grasp even a single one of the dozens presented in each episode. Instead of delving into a single concept and showing its derivative uses, the story doesn't even explain it and moves on to the next, scrambling all the logic we began formulating so we could understand even the slightest bit of what was happening on screen. In the fight scenes, for example, there was no impact or fear regarding the use of the characters' powers, as we were not shown their limits or potential for evolution, making it impossible to measure what was gained and lost at the end of the fight. The characters also suffer from this great problem, as the donghua wants us to suffer for them in their saddest moments, but at no point was there time for us to empathize with them and thus connect emotionally. And because the story was so fast-paced, the poor protagonist was left to explain to us, in lengthy mental monologues, how the world worked, which is even strange to consider, since he is reincarnated and should learn all the dynamics of the world along with us, something that doesn't happen. In short, Lord of Mysteries has some of the best animation I've ever had the pleasure of seeing, but it falls short in its storytelling, especially in adapting what's in the novel to the donghua. So expect two things: a technical stunner, but a lot of confusion when it comes to understanding the story. Honestly, if you like it, I recommend either reading the novel or watching a YouTube summary video to understand the details of what's happening, as this will give you a better experience than just watching the Donghua adaptation.

My first review on MAL lol. I’m kind of excited, so here we go! So, I’m kind of an anime-only when it comes to Lord of Mysteries. I tried reading the novel while watching the donghua, but since the donghua is fast-paced and the novel is slow-paced, I eventually gave up on trying to follow both. By the time I finished the entire donghua, I had only read about 60 chapters of the novel—which basically covers the equivalent of just 3 episodes of the donghua, or even less. So, I think I can confidently still call myself an anime-only and tell you, as an anime-only, that this donghua is AMAZING. You might wonder: how can this adaptation be amazing when it’s so darn fast compared to the novel? Well, the thing is, the novel isn’t exactly what you might expect. It’s not that the donghua is doing a bad job by being fast-paced—it’s just different. From what I’ve read (60 chapters), the novel is basically slice-of-life. It starts with Klein’s morning routine: going to Old Niel’s classes, maybe meeting Captain Dunn, heading to the divination club, then coming home to have long conversations with Melissa and Benson—often about economics or cooking. You even get pages of Klein cooking dinner, as if it were a food novel. And the next day, most of this happens all over again. That’s not a bad thing. In novel format, this kind of detail works—it can be relaxing, immersive, helpful with the world-building, and only a little boring at times. But just imagine if the donghua adapted all of that: Klein and Benson’s lengthy discussions, every single one of Klein’s classes with Niel, every mundane detail of his job. Let’s be real—you’d probably be more than “a bit bored.” See what I’m getting at? The adaptation makes sure not to drag. Sure, they could’ve explained more, but they didn’t need to make it a word-for-word copy of the novel. As an anime-only for most of the series, I did understand what was going on. Could it have been easier? Sure. But it wasn’t impossible either. Rewatching episodes, pausing at key scenes, and Googling a few things really helped. And honestly, that’s nothing new—haven’t we all done that with other anime? I had to research a lot to fully understand Neon Genesis Evangelion, JJK fights, AOT, and many more. If you care enough about a show, you’ll be willing to put in that effort. Lord of Mysteries is such a unique adaptation. It’s enjoyable, it makes you think more than your typical anime, but never to the point of being incomprehensible. I’m definitely not a genius, and if I could enjoy LOTM as an anime-only, you can too. One last thing: remember, this is a mystery series. You’re not supposed to understand everything right away! Some questions will (probably) only be answered once the entire story is complete (I think it’s planned for 6 seasons). So complaining that certain things aren’t explained yet is kind of absurd. If you’re an anime-only who doesn’t mind pausing episodes or rewatching scenes to understand them better, then this is a masterpiece you should absolutely check out. If you’re not willing to do even that, then this show probably isn’t for you.

OK, I'm anime only here so this will probably be different for novel readers, but I found this series to be incredibly interesting and worth watching and yet it was incredibly confusing at times. This isn't my first donghua so I know than they tend to move quicker that japanese anime and they expect you to pay attention to details and come up with your own explanation at times and generally I don't mind that type of story telling, I like it a lot when they don't spoon feed you every answer in like 5 seconds but this was a bit too quick pacing wise. This is a high concept worldbuilding and people who haven't read the novels might struggle to follow along at times. This is definitively NOT a brain off kind of watch. I highly recommend the English dub as it's very well made and it's easier to follow along (at least to me but English isn't my first language so subs are a bit harder to follow for me because I'm basically juggling 3 languages lol) The cast did a fantastic job in selling me the victorian steampunk-ish vibe of the world, so maybe consider watching the dub. But that said the production value is off the roof, every frame is screenshot worthy, the music is emotional or epic and scaring at it fits the Lovecraftian vibe very well. The characters are interesting and I liked most of them even if I would have liked a little more time to get to know some better. I'm definitively keeping an eye on this project, with a few tweaks it could easily become one to remember.

It's like playing elden ring for the very first time. It's fresh, doesn't baby sit you with the plot and feels epic and beyond yourself. You don't immediately know everything that is happening like in 99% of anime. True to it's "lord of MYSTERIES" name. It's seriously a world of its own unlike all the other slop that relies on bad humour and fan service to keep you watching. To really understand it, you have to watch all the way from the 1. episode until the last 13. episode. Totally worth it though. Only watching first few episodes will leave you confused if you decide to stop watching and it's a good thing.

I specifically created a MAL account to rate this series as an anime only. The problem these days is that many people have developed an attention span of a child. People complain about the story being disjointed and confused but you’re supposed to watch the whole thing or at least until episode 7 to even begin to understand the structure of the story. The plot is phenomenal. Everything is building up to the conclusion but people drop it way too early and then complain about it being confusing. ITS A MYSTERY SHOW, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FIND THE ANSWER ON THE FIRST EPISODE. Jesus. Ignore the bad reviews about people saying they dropped it because they were confused because most of them drop it in the first 3 episodes when the plot hasn’t even begin to coalesce. All I will say is have faith and keep watching. It has got serious Attack on Titan potential. Definitely the next genre defining anime. Well, I will go read the novel now since I have never seen a world soo unique.

Overall: 10/10 Lord of the Mysteries is such a fantastic donghua that it not only does the hype justice but also proves that even an adaptation of that enormous novel can be done. Story: 10/10 Pacing is quick, particularly in the opening three episodes, dropping viewers into a world of mystery, steampunk, and supernatural energies. Though quickness may come off as overwhelming at first, the show does a great job of answering many of its questions by the end, rewarding close listening and repeat viewing. The story is multi-layered, tense, and cosmic-horror-filled, faithful to the spirit of the original novel yet surprisingly mainstream-friendly. Characters: 9.7/10 Klein's development is handled with subtlety, so he is a very relatable and interesting protagonist of donghua. The cast of supporting characters is similarly well-developed, all of whom make their own lasting impression and contribute to the sense of foreboding and menace. Art/Animation: 9/10 Atmospheric, dark, and superbly detailed. The steampunk world is lively, with memorable character designs and backdrops that capture the tone of the book to the letter. Action sections are sharp, but it's the tense and brooding presentation that is the strength. Sound: 9.5/10 Voice acting is at its best and the OST is top-notch. It creates tension at the appropriate times and provides substance to the softer, mysterious sections. Fun: 9/10 Few donghuas reconcile loyalty to the original with production as good. Each episode has you at the edge of your seat, with answers and yet more mysteries to solve. Final Thoughts: Its quick pace and enormous body of material to accommodate notwithstanding, the donghua does it all superbly. It's loyal, fashionable, and remarkably fascinating. Both novel buffs and first-timers need to watch it.

Lord of Mysteries is a stunning watch with incredible potential for storytelling. It is a steampunk eldritch fantasy in a world that is entrenched with magic, divination, top-hat wearing gentleman wielding guns and tarot cards, gothic madams who can appear out of nowhere erase you without a trace, and secret organizations of every flavour. And did I mention eldritch horror? Interlaced between all that is an abundance of wholesome moments as well. It has great characters, a thought provoking power-system, and a setting full of mysteries just like the title suggests. And the reveals end up making for a true delight. So here is the absolute barebones summary of the beginning to get you started: our main character does a "luck enhancement ritual" at the beginning of the series after a series of really bad luck. However, instead of improving his luck, his soul gets sent to another world and he assimilates with the person whose body he enters. Basically an isekai/transmigration story where he doesn't outright replace the person, but somewhat truly merges with him and gains his memories and knowledge. Now he's trying to survive and go back to earth, avoiding detection and learning about the world he is inhabiting. The first 3 episodes have really fast pacing and may be quite confusing, but it does do enough for the later episodes to shine. I recommend watching the english dub or really locking in when reading the subtitles. Episode 4 is good, 5 is really interesting, and then episode 6 onwards is excellent and all the plot points truly start coming together. The animation, music, voice acting (chinese and english) are all stellar throughout the whole season. And the finale is absolutely fantastic. Worth the watch and the investment as the whole series is confirmed to be getting adapted. There's also some mini episodes released with each episode. They're available on crunchyroll or look them up on YouTube by searching for the channel "Merlin Sparrow". The Chibi videos are slice of life moments that didn't make the cut and are really cute. The other one, Old Neil's Mysticism Class, go more in-depth into the power system and some amount of world building. Watching them will help bring it all together. For now based on my own thoughts and that of my friends, I'll go with a solid 8.5/10. Definitely worth a watch. For people familiar with the game "Bloodborne", you might feel at home here as well. That's it, enjoy the ride!

I came into this show with no expectations. Never heard of Lord of Mysteries Before. Right off the bat, a dark, brooding voice explains the basics of the magic system in this world - essentially drinking potions to grant you abilities. You progress through different levels until you basically become a god. Youre then thrown into a room with a guy who shot himself in the head. Don't worry - he's our MC, and he got better. Head wound closes up. He soon finds that he has a strange extra power (I mean beyond healing mortal damage to his brain - that's just the start). MC then find himself involved with folks who drink those potions and act as a sort of police force. He then goes on to develop both his extra power as well as his potion powers in a very interesting world. The first episode was so beautiful that I had to stop watching on my phone and pivot to a larger screen: the gorgeous, fully rendered city reflected the sunset in puddles as far as the eye could see into the background. A beautifully orchestrated, emotional soundtrack throughout the show significantly heightens the experience, and the overall tone - mysterious, serious, dangerous, and lighthearted all at once - leave me delighted and deeply invested. The show builds off the world's history, includes historical languages, ancient architectural sites, and is filled with schemes on schemes. We're along for the ride as we learn with our MC how the world works, how to appeal to the gods for power and protection, and how to make a comfortable life despite risking his life every couple weeks or so. This show came as a serious surprise to me, and I'm very hopeful more will come!

As a anime only I've only heard about lotm novel so I decided to watch donghua which is my first donghua and the first episode captivated me swiftly maybe because I watched too many generic animes now days but the premise of lotm got me hooked instantly. As a mystery show it lives up to its name. After the 6 episode it become my favourite completely and ep 7 was most intense. ep 8 and 9 were rollercoaster of emotions and 11-13 were truly cinematic. I watched them sailing seas since I couldn't wait for the anticipation. Tho, I plan to rewatch it again in dub. Imo, this show deserves rewatch since the fast pacing of initial 3 episodes gets a lot easier after rewatching, viewer can also notice many foreshadowings and details of this show. This shows have all my favourite genre and elements which are rare in most animes The director and team obviously put their heart while making this so my gratitude for them. I think this show may not be for everyone but I pity those who are missing out without giving it a chance. Review rating: 9 - Personal rating: 10, since it was one of the rare show to grasped my attention completely and I am sincerely looking forward for new season.

I love the webnovel, I have read the entire thing though 4 times now and would highly recommend it. The anime adaptation however suffers from attempting to adapt the entire first volume in 13 episodes. The amount of content cut is absurd. The novel has many overlapping story lines intertwined, the anime has chosen to have each episode be a single story line from start to end. Doing this not only is very destructive to the original plot, but don't leave any time for explanations and character development. The show fits way too much content, in incorrect order, with an overarching plot that has no buildup, lacks clarity for new viewers, and is very disrespectful to the original work. That being said, if you have read the novel, I suggest watching select episodes of the show to enjoy the animation and visuals as well as some pivotal plot moments that are very emotional given you already know the plot and care about the characters. I'm happy to see LOM get its anime finally and have more eyes on the series as its one of my favorites, but if you found any enjoyment in the anime, I strongly recommend reading the webnovel, its long but well worth it.

Most of these reviews are coming off of the first three episodes. And as an anime only lets just say the first 3 episodes are rough. Extremely fast, the changing between different pieces of the story felt choppy and they used minimal effort to actually consolidate these things in between these points. Overall the first three episodes were enjoyable but really did feel like they were hurting your own comprehension of what's happening. I stuck with it though and progressively if you are able to grasp everything it throws at you early on the building blocks to the concepts that follow are quite easy to keep track of and sometimes later on (episode 10) I think they might've went overboard with how they explained what was happening and what is to come which contrasts how the series had started. But this show despite having an extremely fast start was able to hook me in and deliver one of the greatest experiences I've ever had with a show. The finale to season 1 was amazing, might be my favorite episode out of any show ever and they did a really good job setting up and making you care for a select few of the sizable cast in only 13 episodes. Klein Moretti is an interesting main character however it's quite clear the focus wasn't directly on characterizing him in the season at least not until the grand finale. Great show, but i recommend making sure you grasp what the show needs you to understand in episodes 1-3 before trekking forward as they are an important foundation for the great ride to come.