Legend of Exorcism

天宝伏妖录 (Tianbao Fuyao Lu)

7.6(3,620)

MAL Score

Ranked #1715

Popularity #6943

Action
Adventure
Comedy
Fantasy
Mystery
Historical
Mythology

Episodes: 13
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Kong Hongjun, a half-yao who has spent his entire life on Mount Taiheng, finally embarks on a journey into the human realm, facing a trio of daunting tasks. He must uncover the truth behind his father's death, confront the dangerous Black Jiao and its yao allies threatening the city of Chang'an, and return the legendary Heart Lamp to a member of the Chen family. However, his adventure takes an unexpected turn when military general Li Jinglong accidentally absorbs the Heart Lamp on their very first night in the bustling city.

Invited to join the Court of Exorcism in Chang'an, Kong Hongjun finds himself alongside the disgraced Li Jinglong, who is now his captain. Tasked with ridding the city of hidden yao threats, they are joined by a noble from a distant land and an anxious scholar. As they navigate the challenges ahead, Kong Hongjun grapples with the need to conceal his true heritage from Li Jinglong, who harbors a deep-seated hatred for yao, all while devising a plan to retrieve the Heart Lamp that now resides within him.

Otaku Consensus

Legend of Exorcism earns its solid-but-niche reputation by pairing Leping Shen’s compact 13-episode direction and script control with Sparkly Key Animation Studio’s unapologetically full-CGI take on historical Chinese demon hunting. Its best qualities are the case-driven Court of Exorcism framework, the mythology-forward Chang’an setting, and the Hongjun/Jinglong tension; the recurring barrier is that its CGI presentation and danmei-coded restraint will not convert viewers looking for conventional 2D anime expressiveness or explicit romance.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Legend of Exorcism if you want occult investigations, imperial-city politics, and Chinese mythic creatures without the school-battle formula that dominates a lot of demon-hunting anime. It scratches a similar itch to Jujutsu Kaisen’s exorcist teamwork, but shifts the appeal toward ancient Chang’an, court authority, hidden identities, and a more detective-like rhythm. The show is especially rewarding for viewers curious about donghua as its own medium: Sparkly Key’s full-CGI production gives the action a different texture from standard TV anime, while the Boys’ Love tag registers more as charged partnership and emotional pressure than genre checklist. With only 13 episodes, it is a focused entry point into historical fantasy donghua rather than a sprawling commitment.

Key Characters

K
Kong Hongjun
Hongjun is compelling because his half-yao identity turns every exorcism case into a personal contradiction rather than a simple good-versus-monster assignment.
L
Li Jinglong
Li Jinglong gives the series its sharpest interpersonal friction: a disgraced military man leading exorcists while carrying a hostility toward yao that complicates his bond with Hongjun.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
The series is produced by Sparkly Key Animation Studio and is strongly categorized as Full CGI on AniList, making it a useful example of Chinese donghua’s CG-led fantasy pipeline rather than a conventional 2D anime production.
2
Leping Shen is credited as both chief director and scriptwriter, giving the 13-episode season a notably centralized creative hand across staging and adaptation structure.
3
AniList’s high Historical, Demons, Detective, Ensemble Cast, and Magic tags point to a hybrid identity: it is not just an action fantasy, but a casework-driven supernatural team story rooted in ancient Chinese setting and myth.
4
The Boys' Love tag sits at 68% on AniList, signaling that viewers often read the Hongjun and Jinglong dynamic as a major appeal even though the series is cataloged primarily under action, adventure, comedy, fantasy, and mystery.
5
Its MAL data shows a classic hidden-gem profile: a respectable 7.59 score from 3,620 votes and a rank around #1715, but a much lower popularity placement at #6943.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: The original story credit goes to Yexiang Feitian, tying the anime to a named Chinese source author rather than an anime-original production.
Fun fact 2: Leping Shen holds two key credits on the project, chief director and script, which is unusually useful context when judging the season’s pacing and tonal consistency.
Fun fact 3: AniList users rate it 73/100 with 102 favourites, while MyAnimeList users rate it 7.59/10, showing similar mid-to-high approval across two major anime tracking communities.
Fun fact 4: AniList’s tag distribution is unusually specific: Historical at 85%, Full CGI at 83%, Demons at 80%, Detective at 79%, and Ensemble Cast at 73%, a profile that separates it from generic fantasy-action listings.
Fun fact 5: Although the synopsis foregrounds exorcism, AniList’s Exorcism tag is only 20%, suggesting catalog users see the series less as a pure ritual-exorcist show and more as historical mystery, demon politics, and ensemble fantasy.