The terrific donghua series, adapted from a web novel, is perfect for Bloodborne fans, with its occult elements, cosmic horror, and questionable reality.
Ten years after Bloodborne’s release, its fans are still exploring the game and finding new secrets, while stubbornly waiting waiting for a sequel. I also wish for more stories about old secrets and the dreams of hunters. The hopes for a possible sequel only make me more eager to get in touch with anything that could even slightly hit the same notes Bloodborne does. Instead of a new game, I found my answer in a Chinese animated series. The donghua Lord of Mysteries offers hidden dangers, fascinating magical powers, and eerie secret societies that follow mindbending gods — the perfect replacement for the never-released Bloodborne 2.
Adapted from a web novel written under the name Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, Lord of Mysteries (currently streaming on Crunchyroll) is the story of a Chinese man who wakes up in another world after performing a ritual in his room to enhance his luck. Instead of the 21st-century China he used to live in, he now inhabits the body of Klein Moretti, a citizen of Tingen City, in a Victorian-esque place where the streets are full of horse-drawn carriages and the alleys are crowded with demons. In this new world, Klein becomes a beyonder, a person with supernatural powers, and he starts working with the Nighthawks, a group responsible for battling the occult and other shady figures of Tingen’s society. B.CMAY Pictures (responsible for the Mo Dao Zu Chi donghua adaptation) handled the animation for the series, making it one of the best-looking shows airing this season.
The beyonders and their powers are at the core of Lord of Mysteries. Capable of becoming powerful enough to rival gods, beyonders acquire their magical skills by drinking special potions. What are they made of? We don’t know. The recipes are secrets kept by important families and organizations. We do know that different potions unlock specific pathways of supernatural power.
