Ep. 02: Lord of the Mysteries

If episode one was about pulling our main character into a new world, and establishing his new identity as Klein Moretti, episode two focuses much more on what he’s going to do with that. In my post for episode one, I said that I hoped we’d see more about how the power system of this world works, and the episode did not disappoint.

We learn about four of the Pathways (again, think about these like classes in an RPG): the Sleepless, the Corpse Collector, the Mystery Pryer, and the Seer. After getting ahold of a diary that was written by Emperor Roselle, whom we can now be even more sure came to this world via transmigration like Klein has since the ‘impossible text’ is written in Simplified Chinese, Klein learns that the key to successfully taking a potion and gaining powers is basically method acting.

Klein chooses to go down the path of the Seer, despite the fact that the Nighthawks–the faction he has been offered membership within, which are basically this area’s police force’s ‘special’ unit–warn him that they only have the potion for the nineth sequence (or level, or skill tree node, or whatever gaming term you want to use to wrap your head around it).

We are then treated to a borderline psychedelic art montage where Klein is instructed by ‘Old Neil’ on how to get control of his new abilities as his consumed potion settles in. And this isn’t any old ‘ruh-roh, I ate cheese and now my tummy hurts’ kinda deal. The potion had stuff like Nightshade and Hemlock in it. I was with Klein when he was pondering, “If I drink this am I gonna die?”. The true danger of the potion wasn’t the ingredients in an earthly sense, though. It was about whether the thing would end up shattering Klein’s mind.

First he needed to visualize something that existed in the world that he was in now. No big deal. But then he had to visualize something that was not in this world, and being from a world with technology far beyond what is present in this steampunk, Victorian era, he essentially ‘broke the internet’ for lack of a better description.

I thought that the way this advancement of power was shown to the viewer was really clever. Between the concept of acknowledging present reality and expanding one’s mind to encompass what could be, and the incredible artwork that was used to bring this concept to life, it was pretty amazing. Essentially, Klein has been changed on a cellular level.

The second half of the episode picked up the pace a bit more, taking Klein and his new abilities and putting them into a real world scenario where he worked with another member of the Nighthawks to track down a kidnapped child. Lord of the Mysteries got a good chance to flex the fact that it’s not just a pretty show, but a well animated one. The fight choreography, with quick moves and flashy powers against the narrow, dimly lit and dingy backdrop of a rundown apartment building was well done.

The monster designs didn’t hold back, either. Pretty sure this thing is going to be haunting my sleep for weeks. So. Many. Teeth.

And in the midst of this grimy, soulless place, where misery seems to seep from every crevice, the show was equally unafraid to allow beauty to tinge how our characters faced the evil before them. This is a common artistic choice in storytelling, but it was particularly stunning here, thanks to how good Lord of the Mysteries art design is from word go. I mean, just look at it. It’s gorgeous.

With the child rescued and the force of evil from a bozo nightmare vanquished, we seem to have wrapped up the majority of the episode. But make sure you stick around after the credits. We seem to have a jump forward, with Klein and his siblings moving into a new home. Klein also seems to be getting into the spirit of the Victorian setting, being given a nice suit top hat by his siblings to celebrate his new position. “Every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man.”, as they (in this case ZZ Top) say, and I must say in this circumstance I agree.

We are still very early in this series, and given that this is based off of a web novel–meaning its source is a text–there is still undoubtedly a lot we don’t know yet. But I think they are doing a lovely job of introducing us to this story world and the characters in it. As much as can be expected by two thirty-something minute episodes of an animated series.

Still enjoying myself. Still eager to learn more about this place. And still trying to pick my jaw up off my desk at how gorgeous this anime is. C’mon, Friday night. I want episode three.

So, are you watching Lord of the Mysteries? What did you think about episode two? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.