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'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.