Guimi Zhi Zhu: Xiaochou Pian

Very highly anticipated by the wider anime community and indeed me, did the Lord of Mysteries live up to the hype - yes ... and no. First off, the visuals, music, voice acting (watched dub) etc is fantastic, my only production complaint would be that sometimes the sound mixing seemed off and it was hard to hear dialogue but overall, fantastic production. From a storytelling perspective - this is a fucking mess, what's happening and why? for 75% you won't really know any of the answers and the show does not care to give any explanation. And there are so many moving pieces - various cults and characters, all with their own lore, motivation and characteristics, keeping track of who did what or which organisation worships which god - its a mess. But, I did like the characters (especially "Klein"), even though i feel i don't really know them. Its a clusterfuck but one you can have fun with. An 8 is very kind but episode 13 made me feel a level of shock that I've not had in a long time.

Lord of the Mysteries is a truly fascinating show that kept captivating me throughout the season—one of the best I’ve ever seen. Living up to its name, Lord of the Mysteries offers the intrigue of a true mystery show. The story is carefully crafted, with every puzzle arranged so meticulously that it demands intense attention to keep up. The world of LOTM is so intricately built that you’ll find yourself completely engrossed in it. It isn’t limited to mysteries alone—the character interactions, depth of storytelling, and emotional moments are all executed brilliantly. The animation is stunning, with every scene beautifully rendered. It’s not just the focused objects; even the backgrounds receive great attention. The soundtracks are also excellent, each fitting the respective scene perfectly. Hats off to the animation team for their outstanding work. While the first few episodes struggled to pull much interest, the series quickly took an excellent turn in every aspect. Overall, Lord of the Mysteries is an amazing show that I thoroughly enjoyed. It easily stands out as one of my favorite anime of 2025.

Honestly all the negative comments come from a Telegram Group that constantly upvotes One Piece and FMAB and downvotes everything else that has the potential to surpass them. So I wouldn't take 99% of the reviews and rating on here or IMDB seriously. The show is great, as a novel reader I don't think they could have done a better adaptation in 13 episodes. Animation is probably one of the best from donghuas and animes. The story is complex, but if watched attentively it's easy to understand and pulls the viewers in immediately. My brother who has never read the novel loved it, and although found it a little more fast paced in the first three episodes, it was all cleared by the 4th. "Old man Neil's mysticism lessons" contribute a lot to the explanation of powers and world building of the story and should be watched as well. They are put separately on Crunchyroll and on all western viewing websites.

I really liked this series. It takes heavy inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft's works and builds upon this kind of "steampunk with eldritch horrors" theme beautifully. I will quickly summarize my opinion about this series as a list: Good: - The animation quality and the art style are way above most japanese anime nowadays (I'm looking at you, JP characters with hair that shines more than a lightbulb) - The story is original and creative, although it does not revolutionize the genre. - The genre it belongs to is very underappreciated (there are few series in this genre, so it is a breath of fresh air to see something like this) - The main character isn't an ultra OP isekai MC Bad: - The series is too exposition-heavy (probably due to having only 13 episodes for a whole volume of the novel) - The pacing is too fast Invalid critiques that I saw here on MAL: I saw at least two critiques here that are invalid for throwing accusations without evidence against this series. The first one is that some scenes look AI-generated (As far as I know, some 3D animated scenes on this series are kinda clunky, but I have not seen any evidence yet that there is any AI-generated content here. These clunky scenes look more like a result of the chinese donghua industry being still inexperienced with this kind of mixed 3D-2D animation). The second is that this is a "Bloodborne ripoff". Is the worldbuilding of LotM similar to that of Bloodborne? Yes. Is it a ripoff or a copy? No. By this standard, Bloodborne is a "Call of Cthulu ripoff" or whatever. There is a reason why series are divided into genres. It is unreasonable and idiotic to expect authors to create a new genre for each series, as this would make it so that genres that already exist would not be expanded upon, and the amount of new series releasing each year would be pretty much zero, since it is extremely hard to create a new genre.

We will rarely see animes like this in our lifetime Watch this without holding back, dive in, and watch more that’s how you’ll be truly satisfied. There are few anime that gave me this specific feeling, that brick by brick, without any rush, something cool is going to happen. This anime has the most delicate things possible, both the animation, the soundtrack, and the character development, it's all perfect, ignore the people who are saying it's difficult to understand, just pay attention, and enjoy this incredible work. Another interesting thing is the fact that the anime doesn't have an opening, but only an ending, apart from the fact that there are probably 27 - 28 minutes of solid episodes to be consumed, this sounds too good to be true, and it really is, they just cooked it a lot, and that's fucking awesome. 10/10 because it was something that gave me the feeling that I would see something like this a few times in my life

Excellent animation, alongside the originality of the story, makes Lord of the Mysteries better than most series. However, as a novel reader, some flaws become evident due to the process of adaptation. Basically no world-building (context of Tingen City), lack of essential explanations (spirituality, rituals, Churches), and no time to assimilate the concepts that are explained. Most fights scenes are saturated with too many effects and feel cluttered; these are not even battles between multiple powerful Beyonders yet. Some of the shown abilities are inconsistent (shounen-like speed) or not correct (Midnight Poet turning into a crimson shadow, Corpse Collector having ice abilities and being attacked by dead spirits), and none is ever explained. Some cut scenes are introduced as flashbacks when something important happens, which makes one feel like an episode was skipped. I'm afraid this will reoccur consistently throughout the whole series, as the lack of world-building details makes plots come out of nowhere. The rushed pace makes it look like an episodic series, when it should be a slow-burn with increasing tension in the background while the MC Klein gets used to living in Tingen. This will be more noticeable later in the story, because this is supposed to be the peaceful period of time that shapes Klein's character. It will be confusing for anime watchers. Rewatching edit: Another thing is that bombastic music is overused in every scene of action and mysticism, it doesn't help the overall clutter. It feels like every action of Klein is an attempt at aura-farming with all the chorus. A random thing I noticed is how many times the pointing gun closeup is used. In general, it feels rushed, but still better than most anime by virtue of having an actual story, plot and animation.

It sucked at storytelling and pacing, as if it were made only for people who were already familiar with the source material. It jumping from random timelines back and forth only made it more confusing, one such example being it introducing some guy named the sun, then completely erasing him from the story. Half of the time it felt like watching references and nods, not a well written contiguous story. From when it started - with some rush explanations with the in-universe rules - to where it ended - the anime fails at exposition from beginning to end. None of this is new with chinese animations, as they always suck at these things, which is why nothing animated by them will ever be top tier. It's as if they expect you to already know what these niche mythologies are, failing to properly expose a new audience to them, which ultimately leads to a disappointing work of art. Too bad, it could have been anime of the year had they not failed so hard at the most basic aspect of storytelling.

Lord of Mysteries makes you fall in love with Anime again! With recent times people fall out of love with animated shows and have been reading manga, manhwa and novels. However, Lord of Mysteries makes a person fall in love with the medium again because this is what it can achieve. Something so beautifully crafted and handled with the utmost care. It's a very personal show that pushes boundaries of parasociality with the characters, they are brought to life with how they are handled. It is so emotional and hard hitting... it is simply phenomenal. Give it a fair chance and it'll blow expectations out of the water. The music, the animation, the plot, the characterisations, the emotions... This is one of the best anime of the decade.

Lord of Mysteries is a fantastic show, but after finishing the finale, feels slightly difficult to recommend it to the average watcher. The show is filled with the eponymous mysteries all around, like dangling keys in search of a suitable lock, but the detail is lost in adaptation somewhat. The show does its best to bridge some of that gap by adding exposition text in the mid-episode breaks, but some of the hints come too late into the series, and are prioritized weirdly. This makes the show's pacing both breakneck, and simultaneously drawn out. Lord of Mysteries has incredible vision, and direction. Scenes have incredibly tight framing, with a clear intent behind them, and the colour palette and aesthetics really elevate the show's overall atmosphere. The 3D-CG elements in this series is bar none, looking incredibly well integrated in every scene. The "camera work" is also phenomenal, but I've also felt sometimes they go a little extra. Speaking of going extra, the animation and fight scenes go a little extra for my taste, and somewhat take away from the true appeal behind the series, which is restraint. Focusing on the glittery and shiny action scenes moves the focus away from the slowly building tension, but I'll admit they do nail fights in a few crucial scenes. But the show could have benefited from fewer action-heavy fights, and put more focus on explaining the world itself—this is what drew the majority of the source readers into the series. By slowing down the pacing and cutting down on some action pizzazz, people new to this series could have had a better time understanding the world than the meager breadcrumbs the current version has left us with. It also doesn't help that Crunchyroll's Translations suck: they obfuscate and reduce so many important pieces of information or dialogue, or have straight up ignored translating multiple Lore pages that appear throughout the series, which had to be fan-translated on Reddit. I just wish the writers had more faith in the source material enough to give it breathing room instead of packing all the sakuga bells and whistles, that add little but window dressing to the true heart of the series. But despite my complaints, I still strongly recommend watching this show. The vibes of the show are immaculate and perfectly represent the mental image that 'Cuttlefish that Loves Diving' (author) helped conjure with his words. The score is fantastic, it raises the stakes perfectly, with its gothic/Victorian orchestral themes. Overall, it's a strong first entry in a hopefully better paced Mystery thriller series.

This is kino. You will not find extraordinary depth in the characters, or a moralistic plot, or overarching lessons and insights. However the world design and magic system of the show is nearly unparalleled. The VAs are talented and perform their characters well. Visuals are excessive in a clearly Chinesey way, but this doesn't distract at all and truly fits with the setting perfectly. Detractors like to show their underwatted brains with complaints of pacing, confusion, etc. rather than using their heads. Confusion over the course of this show is purely user error. A Skill issue. A fault of a lifetime of having all exposition and relevant pieces forcefed from episode 1, chapter 1, minute 1 of the track, whatnot. Unknowns and frustrations are rewarding to sit through and ponder, not an enemy. It is worth a watch for most anyone. It is worth a rewatch for many. This is extraordinary praise for Chinese animation breaking out in the rest of the first world.

Lord of the Mysteries Season 1 is nothing short of a masterpiece and a new gold standard for donghua adaptations. It masterfully brings to life the intricate, gothic, and lovecraftian world of the beloved novel. The animation by Tencent is stunning. The art deco and steampunk aesthetics are beautifully rendered, with a muted color palette that perfectly captures the story's grim tone. The character designs are distinct and faithful, and the action sequences are fluid and impactful, especially the use of mystical seals and rituals. In short, Season 1 is a flawless introduction. It's a thinking person's donghua that prioritizes atmosphere, intellect, and mystery over mindless action, delivering an unforgettable and utterly unique viewing experience. A perfect 10.

It's no mystery anymore. The Chinese are the lords of 3D animation production. This review comes from the point of view of someone that has only seen the series, and couldn't care less about the novel. I really enjoyed the artwork for this title. I am a total steampunk fanboy, and they did an awesome job with a fine attention to detail. The animation was well above average most of the time. About the only flaw I found with it was, they tried to pack too much into action scenes, and things sometimes were almost impossible to follow. There were a couple times during the season I had to rewind a scene, and rewatch it, to get the gist of what was going on. The character designs are above average. The MC is likable enough, gets a good background, and some serious development. He has to face some truly traumatizing circumstances. The supporting characters aren't nearly as well rounded, although they are not entirely two dimensional. The writers do a good job building some up, and then having them struck by tragic circumstances. They don't always clue the viewer in right away as to the 'why' things happen, when they do. But as the series progresses they do a good job of revealing what is a lot of nasty background plotting. Which leads us to the narrative. This is not a story for those looking for instant gratification or a spoon feeding of themes. It's hard to describe this. Is it a horror animation with a big dollop of mystery? Or is it a mystery with loads of horrifying occult shenanigans? Regardless, the writers do a good job keeping viewers on the edge of their seats. The world building and background reveals are very well done, for the most part. But sometimes I thought things were kind of out of sequence. As I mentioned before, we'll get a highly dramatic scene, you know it's got to have some heavy impact on the plot. But the writers don't get around to letting you know why for an episode or two. Then you slap youself in the forehead, and go "Oh, yeah. That makes sense now." I do want to make it a point to comment on the ending. It was one heck of a horrific and dramatic way to end the season. Well written, indeed. I'm still learning to discern emotional content correctly from Mandarin voice acting. But I commend this cast for making the job a lot easier than any other donghua I've seen in the past. The direction had a solid hand in that, and did a masterful job of keeping the suspense on a high level, without beating one over the head with melodrama. Nice job, indeed. Don't be a Fool. This series deserves your attention to at least try out. If I were to grade it, it would get 92/100 for a solid A-. Stop clowning around and solve this mystery for yourself.

Stunning animation, wonderful adaptation, the only grievance was the pacing in the earlier episodes. While it can't be said that the later episodes did full justice to the source material, it didn't fully shrug it off either. After all, it is impossible to perfectly adapt a written story into visual mediums... As a web novel reader, I can't really speak for the donghua-only watchers, but if one is open to new experiences, they can give it a try, and be ready to be blown away by gorgeous art and smooth as hell animation...and be confused at times. As for plot and characters, they're wonderfully written, of course. But as it's common with adaptations, many of the nuances weren't fully expressed or explored. For instance, the relationship between the Moretti siblings, many instances and intimate moments between them weren't displayed properly or had been neglected, which kinda took away the original emotional impact from the ending of episode 13. The world-building was also neglected and rushed in this adaptation. Which was unfortunate, because one of the mind-blowing things about Lord of the Mysteries was its nuanced worldbuilding. And the Tarot Gatherings shouldn't be neglected to this extent!! I'm truly biased in giving this 10 stars... I hope they at least try to elaborately adapt the next volume.

I usually don't do this; I barely use my MAL account, but I felt I needed to put this review due to the misunderstandings I've seen in the reviews. First off, filter out the reviews that haven't finished the show. The studio made the choice to do an info dump in the first three episodes. This caused a bunch of people to dump bad reviews at episode 3 or 4. Again, this is not the case after episode 3 or 4. My recommendation is to pay more attention to what the characters are saying in the first few episodes, and after that, you can watch like normal and enjoy the show. Honestly, my only other disappointment in the show is the lack of a proper opening. However, to me, this wasn't enough to drop the show down to a 9. If you're worried that the show is being boosted by the novel readers, and the score will drop, don't worry, based on what I saw in the show, I think it will probably level out at an 8.5 or so. TLDR: The first 3 eps were an info dump, so look at reviews that finished the whole show to get an accurate review.

I will start as someone who didn't read the novel yet, but watched the anime. Yes some parts are a lil confusing but the show is still really fun to watch. Story- 7/10 The story was well written, there are some confusing parts tho, like why did he enter this world? What did he doe to enter the world? Essentially a lot of questions are unanswered. There are some parts of the story that are not explained, but by the end u get a pretty good understanding of what's going on. The pacing is done pretty well, with not much filler parts, everything always added to the story, as well as the suspense of it all. It keeps you hooked and wanting to know more of what's happening. It was never boring to me. The whole concept of the world is really interesting, and so are their powers. I also love how they don't shy away from dark themes. Art- ∞/10 ABSOLUTE PEAK. the art was genuinely stunning. Every season is super detailed and they added symbolism every where they could. It really added to the story. Just the way they depicted scenes and powers was absolutely gorgeous. They had made really detailed backgrounds, and the characters were drawn quite beautifully. Like words can nor describe how stunningly they did this. Sound- 9/10 It really made you feel like you were with them. The sound was clear and concise. Their voice actors fit them all perfectly with their characters personality. Also the ending song, absolute cinema. IT SOUNDS REALLY REALLY GOOD. Characters- They all are really interesting in their own ways. Especially mc, he is my favorite in the ways that he acts and behaves. You can easily root for them. They have their flaws, they have their strengths. And you really get attached to some of them. (U will cry a lil). Enjoyment- 10/10 I really enjoyed this show. There was so much plot wise, as well as story that's really interesting and keeps you interested. Also as an artist, this show genuinely gave me so much motivation to create art, since the art it self as well as story was really good. It's a new type of story. There might be some confusion, but it is really good.

Lord of the mysteries is where fiction peaked . The story is profound and otherworldly, unlike the other best one I have seen so far. For me it's an emotion I could never let go of. It found me and collected me, yet shattered me . It's a remarkable adaptation. The production quality is absolutely top-tier, with meticulous attention to atmosphere, lighting, and character design. Shimei has really captured the gothic, steampunk mood of the original work, and the emotional beats land surprisingly well for a compressed 13-episode season. You will see many terrible reviews by self pro claimed anime vetrans regarding pacing issues even some them said chinese dub is so hard to get , it's emotionless , words without weight . Don't let these reviews affect you and i agree it has some pacing issues, you may find difficulty to grasp plot and world settings but if you pay enough attention you can manage somehow . Your attention span is the problem not anime . "The anime world beaware The Fool is arrived "

Not gonna go into a long drawn out review. This show was basically made as a thank you to all the Novel Readers of the novel, so those of us who read the it knows that happened where and what was cut out so we had to fill the gaps. I can understand how the "anime only" viewers will get confused easily because there was a lot of things not fully explained in detail and even our mc Klein is just as confused about what's happening just like the rest of us. The thing is that this is how the Author(Cuttlefish) wrote every single volume of novel, lots of info and then at the end everything gets explained. Its the same thing he decided for the show as well near the end of episode 13 there's a good bit that explains all of these coincidences that happened in the story so far. I would explain it but thats spoiler territory. I think it was a really good adaptation overall for the novel, there's even the shorts that have Old Neil explaining mysticism to help clear some of the confusion of how the powers and stuff works. I still think the story moved too fast for the show but the OST and the fight scenes were really good. 9/10 PS. I'm glad it wasn't another The Beginning After The End incident.

I absolutely had no idea what this show was about. But as soon as I got in, I was hooked. I don’t care about the webnovel but this.. this was a beautiful work of art by itself. The music, the art.. masterful. I honestly can’t wait until the next season comes out. Chinese anime always seems to nail the artwork. The aesthetic just makes it pop. The fight scenes are always butter smooth and makes you feel like you want to be there. This shows steampunk style made it even cooler for me and I’d love to get a replica of Klines gun. I was disappointed that he didn’t lean into his seemingly endless powers with the grey fog but I’m likely missing something. He acted like the underdog but literally has gone toe-to-toe now with three (?) gods and walked away.

"Lord of the Mysteries" is an anime set in a world reminiscent of England during the Industrial Revolution. It's produced by a Chinese studio which is something quite rare, as it's uncommon for Chinese studios to produce such a well known and high quality anime. The art style and animation are undeniably top-tier. It features a unique and sharp visual style, with incredibly smooth movements. The combat scenes are especially satisfying intense and heart pounding, leaving you thrilled and satisfied at the end of every episode. In my opinion, the greatest strength of this series is the music. Like, oh my goodness! Whoever orchestrated the soundtrack is a certified genius. The music makes every scene more immersive and emotionally intense. The audio quality is so high, it feels like it had the budget of a top grossing Hollywood film. The ending song is fantastic as well it perfectly matches the anime's atmosphere. While the visuals and music are of extremely high quality, the storytelling can feel a bit incoherent and messy. This might be because the amount of information given to the audience is overwhelming, making the plot somewhat confusing at times. I think the pacing and narrative structure are the weakest points of the series. But of course, having flaws is almost inevitable when creating or adapting a complex story. Overall, I loved and thoroughly enjoyed watching Lord of the Mysteries. I can't wait for the second season!

So... this is a series that's hard to review because, truly, there is nothing quite like it. Not only in animation style, but in story telling. It's difficult because it is a first, so there is some forgiveness in it's shortcomings being a novelty in it's own right. Firstly, it's shocking how incredible the animation is. There is nothing really to compare it to. It's so finely detailed down to the hairs on a head or shadow moving across a floor. The city scapes are magnificently drawn almost as if you are flying above it. The other worldly realms give a creepy yet believable feeling. The studio must have put tremendous effort into putting together a whole package that is uniquely Lord of Mysteries. If this were made in the USA I'm pretty sure it would win an Oscar, beating out Disney or Pixar it's just that good. The blend of CGI and what appears to be hand drawn is indistinguishable. I know nothing of the details, but having watched a few other Chinese animations, they are dominating the industry. That said, there is a problem with it. Fight scenes can be overwhelming in their totality. It's not that it's not well done in detail, it's just too much to absorb. The season finale is a good example. There's a time and place for "busyness" but when it's full throttle for 10 minutes, it gets to be a bit much. Sensory overload, so to speak. Some people love that, but I find it distracting. There's a saying, Less is More for a reason. My biggest complain with this is the plot. I imagine some of it has to do with the Chinese translations. It feels clunky, like i'm getting bad translations. The other fact is that (from what readers of the novel have said) is that the writing is skipping critical info to keep pace with the episodes. This is hugely unfortunate because for most of the show, I have very little idea what's happening. I vaguely understand the basics, but there are giant gaps where there is nothing to relate to. For instance, the show starts with Klein somehow reincarnating after having killed himself. Zero context or understanding behind the mechanism. It's apparently very important, but we get almost no details why. Even at the end, it's not revealed how or why. This happens over and over, where there is so little setup on critical info that is supposed to impact the story. The story just moves along assuming you "got it" when little to nothing has been revealed. The same holds true for some of the Magic of this particular universe. Every intro starts by explaining the mechanics of sequences but, again, it's super vague. On top of that, there are rituals, and spells, and artifacts, and probably more that I missed that underpin the mechanics of this world that are really vague. In any other show, I don't think this would bother me as much, but because it's so well animated and the story seems so unique and compelling, I don't want to miss a single detail, therefor it's kind of a let down when you go thru it so vaguely. I'm going to rewatch it all in one or two sittings hoping that it flows together better than weekly episodes. All in all, it's an amazing experience. Aside from some minor shortcomings, it''s a great production and a nice change of pace from most Anime out there. It's very groundbreaking in visuals and if they can manage to get the story to flow better it will be an all time great. Personally, it could be on par with Full Metal Alchemist and could deserve a remake and add English or Japanese dubs.