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Produced by B.CMAY PICTURES, Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2, titled Fool and Beyonder, respectively, marked the premiere of arguably the most-hyped Chinese animation series of the year. Released on Saturday, June 28, 2025, the premiere showcased the beginning of Klein Moretti's journey as the Fool, with breathtaking animation sequences.
Every frame was produced with immaculate precision and care, giving the readers of the original Chinese web novel and the anime-only audiences a scintillating experience. However, despite the glorious visuals and the catchy OSTs, Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 raised some eyebrows, mainly because of the show's fast-paced narrative.
The first two episodes covered 44 chapters from Cuttlefish That Loves Diving's Chinese web novel, resulting in severe omissions and readjustments in the donghua. Furthermore, the fast-paced narrative served too much information at once for many viewers to process.
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While it's a common problem for anime adaptations of novels, it's different in the case of Lord of the Mysteries, simply because the web novel is rich with narrative scope.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 and reflects the author's opinions.
Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 review: An overall narrative criticism
Under the direction of Ke Xiong, Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 commenced with the adaptation of Cuttlefish That Loves Diving's Chinese web novel. Although the episodes were rich in visuals, the narrative aspect had much to be desired. As we know, it's not an easy feat to condense events in an anime adaptation of a novel or a light novel series. Omissions and readjustments of events are part and parcel of such adaptations.
However, Cuttelfish That Loves Diving's web novel is replete with crucial information. As a result, it's a challenge for the directors and producers to condense the narrative in such a way that it meets the runtime, which is already longer than a standard anime/donghua episode with 35 minutes (including the ending theme). One of the main concerns that many viewers may have had before the premiere was how the concept of Beyonders would be told.
The solution was the introduction of a narrator at the beginning of the episodes. In Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2, the narrator explained how the Path to Divinity worked, including the concepts of Pathways. However, an anime-only viewer wouldn't have benefited from such information thrown at first hand.
Cuttlefish That Loves Diving's web novel series slowly explored the concept of the Beyonder and described them through the lens of Klein Moretti. However, the male protagonist's identity was lost in the adaptation. The donghua didn't showcase the same Klein as the web novel series, and it was mainly due to the adaptation.
Directors and producers had no other choice but to discard several monologues from Klein Moretti, as they had to focus on the main narrative, which was also fast-paced. For instance, Zhou Mingrui's transmigration scene was elaborately portrayed in the web novel, while the donghua couldn't project Mingrui's confusion well.
From the narrative perspective, Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 covered the first 44 chapters from the web novel, beginning with the transmigration scene, and ending with the aftermath of Klein's first mission as a Beyonder. The first episode also teased the season finale, with scenes from the Doomsday of Tingen. The opening scene served as the hook for the audience to get interested in the narrative.
While Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 were interesting, they had too much information to process. For instance, the episodes quickly threw terms such as Beyonders, Pathway, Antigonus Family's Book, and others at the viewers' faces, without giving them the room to breathe. Of course, it's arguable that it was necessary for the sake of the animation, which follows a different pacing from the web novel.
That said, the viewers require an appropriate amount of screentime to process one term before another gets introduced. This was, undoubtedly, the major flaw of Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2. Zhou's adaptation as Klein in the alternate Victorian world was spontaneous, just as his decision to become a Beyonder was too "quick."
Web novel readers would know how long it took for Klein to decide on becoming a Beyonder. However, the donghua didn't have the liberty of covering every Moretti monologue into the story. Otherwise, the series would have caused boredom. Notably, the series' Chinese premiere seemingly fixed the "pacing" problem with a unique mini-lesson video from Old Neil, where the elderly man gave "lessons" on important terms from the series.
Yet, it's not available on Crunchyroll or sthe how's global version. Nevertheless, these lessons still don't completely discard the flaws the main series has in terms of the narrative. Compared to the first episode, the second episode had even more omissions and readjustments. For instance, the anime removed the slice of life conversations among the Moretti siblings when they were choosing their new house.
Additionally, the second episode had a massive change from the web novel regarding how Klein decided to become a Seer. In the web novel, Klein first read Emperor Roselle's diary, and then heard about the Seer potion from Dunn. Only after that did Klein decide that he would choose the Seer path.
However, in the donghua, Klein decided right away, after reading Roselle's diary. Dunn Smith's explanations didn't have a major impact on the boy. Furthermore, the instances where the Beyonders lost their control were also not elaborately detailed in Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 and 2. However, some narrative choices were unique, like Daly Simone probing into Klein's mind.
Furthermore, keeping Leonard Mitchell's hilarious fall from the stairs was also a nice touch, proving that the directors and the production team love the series.
Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2: Animation and production
The major highlight of Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 was how the entire narrative was visually presented. B.CMAY PICTURES has done a commendable job of capturing the written words from Cuttlefish That Loves Diving's web novel in breathtaking animation sequences. From the onset, the series highlighted the rich narrative with a vivid blend of CGI and 2D animation.
The Chinese animation has the habit of using CGI and 3D in donghua. Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 has only uplifted the experience by the seamless blend of such technology with the mainstream 2D character models. The background art looked stunning in both episodes, including the frame movement and animation. Especially, the gathering scene was the major highlight of the premiere.
The gray clouds formed seamlessly, with jewel-like objects floating around Klein Moretti. Furthermore, Klein's desires shaped the castle. These details from the web novel were remarkably presented in animation. The entire gathering scene was the definition of masterpiece, although it cut the dialogues between Audrey and Alger.
Moreover, no one can deny the aura Leonard Mitchell excused with his Midnight Poet scene in episode 2. Obviously, the voice actors have done a great job of representing every character. The usage of reverb in Leonard's Midnight Poet scene only elevated the moment. Furthermore, the visual representation of Klein Moretti's awakening as a Seer was marvelous, to say the least.
However, even the visual aspects were met with some criticism. In some parts of Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2, the character movements seemed off and jarring. However, it was a negligible flaw compensated by rich details and vivid animation quality.
Conclusion
In the end, Lord of the Mysteries episodes 1 & 2 served as a near-perfect masterpiece. Despite the fast-paced narrative, the premiere offered a special experience that would entice fans to give the series a try.
Lastly, fans must also learn to enjoy the Chinese animation separate from the web novel, as there would be some heavy readjustments and omissions from the material. Having said that, the Chinese animation series will definitely retain the essence of Cuttlefish That Loves Me's web novel, as evident from the premiere.
Also read:
- Lord of the Mysteries episode 1 full highlights
- Lord of the Mysteries episode 2 full highlights
- Lord of the Mysteries anime complete release schedule
