If you’re looking for a new donghua to add to your watchlist this summer, you won’t want to miss Lord of Mysteries. With a supernatural steampunk Victorian twist, this fantastical and suspenseful action-packed dark mystery isekai is sure to keep you guessing. Mysticism, divine supernatural powers, secret societies, warring churches, Lovecraftian occult horror, puzzling mysteries to be solved, and, of course, an underlying isekai plot — this donghua hits all the steampunk bells and whistles for the makings of an absolute hit right off the bat. The trouble mostly just lies in getting the word out for giving it the proper recognition it deserves in the sea of already hyped anime.
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As the web novel by author Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, Yuan Ye, began its serialized debut in 2018 on Qidian, its eighth and final volume finished in April of 2020. Thanks to CKTalon, it was officially translated and published on Webnovel. And now with the donghua adaptation being created by studio B.C May Pictures, we can’t wait to see more of what this blend of Victorian steampunk, Lovecraftian horror, and supernatural mysticism has to offer as the protagonist navigates occult horrors in this dark fantastical mystery. Especially after the highly underrated debut of To Be Hero X in April, these Chinese anime should definitely have their time to shine for the major hits they truly deserve to be.
A Dark Steampunk Mystery with a Supernatural Twist
June 28th, 1349 of the Epoch Calendar. Tingen City, Loen Kingdom. Time ticks as Tingen City’s Doomsday on September 9th gets ever closer. And this is the time and place Chinese youth Zhou Mingrui awakens to when his “Luck Enhancement Ritual” goes awry, transmigrating him into the body of university graduate Klein Moretti, a man who’d just committed suicide. In a world where those with supernatural abilities, called Beyonders, strive to achieve god-like powers on the Path of the Divine, the newly awakened Klein must uncover the truth behind secret mysticism societies and his own mysterious suicide and transmigration. Using his wits to survive and masquerading as a god-like entity is only the beginning as he forms an organization known as the “Tarot Club” and increases his own powers to return home.
But the rabbit hole of secrets and mysteries go even further with underlying societies and supernatural powers, even divine, as Lord of Mysteries includes Xuanhuan elements (fantasy genre inspired by traditional Chinese culture, mythology, philosophies, etc.), religious inspiration, and a whole systematic magic structure. The Beyonder’s use of magic isn’t just arbitrary, but includes a whole system, the Path of the Divine, utilizing potions and ascending to Divinity via 22 Pathways (inspired by the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and 22 cards of the Major Arcana in the Tarot) with different levels, or Sequences, wherein the lower the Sequence, the closer one is to having god-like powers.
Two Gorgeous Donghua That Deserve Wider Exposure
With a storyline that transcends time and space, the visuals definitely don’t disappoint when it comes to portraying such. Despite the backlash of issues with mistranslations and complaints about pacing (which is currently being ironed out for episodes to come), Studio B.C May Pictures instantly shows its artistic prowess by utilizing both 2D and 3D assets to showcase a beautiful, seamless blend of styles within the animation, creating an absolutely stunning world immersed in both dark, muted industrial grit and brightly saturated mysticism and intrigue. If you’re a fan of supernatural Victorian era plots and aesthetics like that of Black Butler, you should definitely not sleep on this donghua.
With To Be Hero X (Pb Animation Co. Ltd., LAN Studio, Paper Plane Animation Studio) already having been far underrated with its ongoing airing since April, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched if Lord of Mysteries were to also be lost under the radar of anime releases fans are hyped about this summer. As many fans may be initially put off with both donghua including the use of 3D graphics, they each absolutely deserve recognition for both their actually stunning animation and refreshing, innovative takes on their respective genres. The Lord of Mysteries ONA is to have a total of 13 episodes with each episode released Fridays on Crunchyroll, but you can catch the 2-episode special premiere now!
Are you hyped for Lord of Mysteries? Let us know in the comments your thoughts on this fantastic new donghua!
