Forum - View topicLord of Mysteries (ONA) (donghua).
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Edjwald
 Posts: 3505 |
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Lord of Mysteries (ONA) (donghua) Source: Chinese Web Novel (completed @ 2 volumes by Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, Yuan Ye) Demographic: Seinen Animation Studio: B.CMay PICTURES Genres: action, drama, fantasy, horror, mystery, psychological, thriller Themes: alternate history, dark fantasy, detective, Europe, factions, isekai, monsters, mysticism, occult, secret organization, sorcery, steampunk, transformations, urban fantasy, Victorian era Plot Summary: In a Victorian world of steam, dreadnoughts, and occult horrors, Zhou Mingrui awakens as Klein Moretti. He walks a razor's edge between light and darkness, entangled with warring Churches. This is the legend of unlimited potential...and unspeakable danger. Air Date & Platform: June 27, 2025 (Friday) Available on: Crunchyroll Episode Count / Runtime: 13 episodes [EDIT: Fancy opener stuff edited. -TK] Last edited by Edjwald on Sun Jun 29, 2025 6:13 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3505 |
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I'm glad this anime was one of those two episode sampler deals, because the title is very apt. I had no idea what was going on for a good third of the pilot episode. Don't get me wrong, it was still a lot of fun, and in a way it worked to emphasize the disorientation and desperation that the MC felt when he transmigrated, but the story gives the impression of a very complex world without really explaining much of it.
By episode 2 I felt a little more grounded. The art style and color scheme of the animation is pretty awesome - the muted colors fitting the Victorian style setting and lending to the general atmosphere of murkiness rather than being bland . Every now and again I see signs of that cut and paste effect where talking figures are being animated over a static setting, but not too often, and not in a distracting way. The supporting characters - particularly the nighthawks - seem fun. Dunn Smith has a Sherlock Holmes thing going on, and the way Leonard Mitchell almost playfully dismantled a pair of kidnappers was pretty engaging. A supportive kid sister who deserves to be brought out of poverty and protected is a fairly standard way for Chinese web novels to emotionally anchor transmigrators in their new world, but it works. I'm assuming that Klein's missing memories don't mean that he hasn't merged some memories from his body's previous owner, otherwise the ease with which he's manage to fit into this new life without being called out by the people who knew him just doesn't make sense. Like I said, fun. The world is interesting, the sense of menace is almost tangible but not to the point where events aren't enjoyably exciting...more action than horror. Definitely putting this one on my watch list. |
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Eilavel
Posts: 475 |
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Hmm. I'm aware of the webnovel this is based on as it has a good rep for such things.
Its 2.8 million words long. And its part 1 of 3. Even presuming a lot of bloat from the nature of web serialisations, I just don't see this getting fully adapted ever, which even though this is probably something I'd like makes me reluctant to get on board as an unfinished mystery story is very unsatisfying. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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Episode 1 & 2
I love steampunk aesthetics and this show is using them to great effect. Boy, have Chinese shows ever come a long way since Crunchy started streaming some of them years ago. Those first offerings were generally pretty bad. The show also has other things I generally love: a cool team with a secret hideout, freaky monsters, a cute sister. Yeah, I'm in. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3505 |
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@Eilavil - fortunately or unfortunately, I've gotten somewhat used to not getting to see the end to a story over the years. I'm not saying I like it, but it seems to be the price of admission if you're going to fully embrace either genre. As long as anime ends with some sense of closure, I'm willing to forgive a bunch of potential future storylines and unanswered questions. It's the anime that end on direct cliffhangers with no guarantee of a second season that I don't forgive, like Idaten Deities Know Only Peace or Quality Assurance in Another World. They cheesed me off so badly, I won't watch even if a second season does come out or ever touch their respective mangas.
@Blood - Yah, I developed a standard operating procedure: ignore Japanese light novels and manga and watch the anime, but read Chinese and Korean web novels and ignore the anime. That's become increasingly difficult. |
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Eilavel
Posts: 475 |
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@Edjwald- Oh, I generally agree. But when a work is specifically all about very long set up mysteries, I think thats when the drop-off just can't satisfy me; its less of an issue with more general genre fiction. Despite being pretty tempting, I think I will restrain myself.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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Episode 3
Good lord. The visuals of this show found my eyeballs on a dating site, swiped right, took them out for dinner and drinks, brought them home, then made sweet, sweet love to them. Every frame of this beauty is an ocular orgasm. (Note to self: don't watch porn before posting.) Anyhoo, I am really digging this. In addition to the visual splendor, I like the action scenes and Lovecraftian vibe. Also appreciated having one of my most cherished biases confirmed: clowns is bad news. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3505 |
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For me, episode 3 was like watching some intense athletic competition in a sport where I didn't know all the rules but got the gist and loved the spectacle. Very fun stuff, and I will say that this show does a much better job of conveying a Lovecraftian sense of menace than that Necromonico Cosmic Horror Show anime. 3 episodes in, I think it's safe to say that this anime is likely to be one of my seasonal faves.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12058 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Very behind on my watching, but I saw episode 02, last night, and think this is a very unique show. This is also the first donghua I've seen, so I think my amazement is divided between a) it's a Chinese animated work, and I'm surprised at how well it's made; and b) the story and setting are also pretty cool and lend themselves very well to the production quality.
Anybody that's a fan of animated anything in general should give this a shot, if not for the visuals alone. It just so happens, I feel the story content itself also makes for good dark fantasy material. Last edited by Tony K. on Tue Jul 15, 2025 11:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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Episode 4
Agreed, Tony K. I admit I don't follow the hocus-pocus stuff with 100% clarity, but I get the gist and that's enough to dig the story. This is the first donghua I've seen that I'd like to own on Blu-ray just for the sumptuous visuals. It's not just that they are beautiful - which they are - but they so perfectly evoke the atmosphere of the show. They make it a more immersive experience than it otherwise would be. |
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Gina Szanboti
 Posts: 12724 |
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As I said in the Preview Guide comments, I only get half of the storylines simultaneously going on here, but when it looks this good, I don't care. I've really been impressed with some of the titles coming out of China lately, even though there's still tons of motion comics, cgi-fests and other subpar animation in the sea as well. Like I've been watching Super Cube, which isn't quite as convoluted as this, but man, the fight scenes are just jaw-dropping. Creative camera work I've never seen done before while still being coherent enough to follow the action, something I sometimes have trouble with in the spectacle-anime like Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen.
Anyway, even if I never figure out what's going on, LoM will still be worth my time, unlike ByeBye Earth or Unnamed Memory. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3505 |
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I actually thought episode 4 was a bit more user friendly since they had a ritualistic magic tutorial at the beginning of the episode. I'm still not clear on how Klein became such an instant badass, just add water in the mysterious fog realm while being a talented novice in the real world - or alternate reality world anyway, but I get that it has something to do with the mysterious diary and that he's faking it until he's making it. Just going with it has a lot of rewards.
One of the conceits of Chinese web novels is that when an MC transmigrates into an alternate universe and enters the body of someone of the same name who just died, the MC usually has fragments of that person's memory start to merge with their consciousness. I'm still wondering if that's the case here since the hardest thing I'm struggling with believing doesn't involve tentacled monsters and such, but the idea that neither Melissa or Benson has noticed anything. Then again, this is an alternate Victorian setting, so maybe emotional intimacy consisted of "Was your porridge served in sufficient quantities?" and the like. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 12058 Location: Frisco, TX |
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My girlfriend and I were talking the other day about this show. She mentioned how the storytelling feels way more abstract, particularly in the sense of it being an isekai, compared to Japanese anime, and she wondered if it was cultural thing (Chinese vs. Japanese), but deferred to me because I've watched a lot of Chinese movies.
I basically told her, yes. I do believe a lot of Chinese media I've seen over the years (mostly from Hong Kong, but a few mainland and Taiwanese films) have this tendency to use more abstract storytelling techniques and less "info-dump-y" dialogue. Compared to anime, this donghua just kinda' throws you into things, and you're about as knowledgeable as the main character trying figure things out as you go, which is part of the reason I really like it. I don't know how much it costs for the production company to make something this high-quality, but it seems to be staying very consistent and hasn't seemed to miss a beat, yet. I would imagine the industry of donghua is more of a specialized field compared to anime and they don't produce nearly as many titles per season, or maybe even in per year. But I'm very impressed with this and might even start dabbling into more, at some point. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 12724 |
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A quick scan of the titles this season listed on Animeschedule.net shows me 57 entries, based on name and title card art, so I might've missed some or wrongly added some. That seems pretty normal to me. Some are 10-15 min shorts, some are 35 or longer episodes, so it averages out I guess. But works of this caliber are still the exception (as they are for anime as well). E4 I'm not a man, but aren't men supposed to take off their hats indoors? Unless you're a good ol' boy or something, who sleeps with it on. And how could no one at that party be at all aware of something odd going on upstairs. Like, wouldn't, say, gunshots clue them in? Speaking of good boys, lol at the dog. And just as I was feeling sorry for it being spun around, too.  She must be pretty strong though - goldens aren't small dogs.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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Episode 5
Welcome to the Demoness Sect. Another feast for the eyes, especially the Underground Market. By the way, I came across a useful YT video that I think clarifies some of the LoM hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he2R_GGwHEY&t=118s The same chap who did that video apparently makes one after every episode. Once I get back home, I think I'll rewatch the episodes and then watch his videos. I'm really invested in trying to understand this world as best I can without actually reading the source material. |
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