General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

The Spirealm (致命游戏_(网路剧))

The Spirealm (致命游戏, Zhi Ming You Xi) is a 2024 Chinese horror-mystery web drama adapted from Xi Zixu's (西子绪) danmei (Chinese fiction genre of romantic love between men) novel Kaleidoscope of Death (死亡万花筒), starring Xia Zhiguang as Ruan Lanzhu and Huang Junjie as Ling Jiushi¹^•². It is best known for the brevity of its mainland release: iQIYI released all 78 episodes, each about 20 minutes long, without warning on February 2, 2024, and removed them within roughly two hours, apparently because of Chinese censorship of dramas adapted from Boys' Love (BL) novels³^•⁴. The complete series later reached international audiences through Viu, Rakuten Viki, and iQIYI's international site².

Key fact	Detail
Original title	致命游戏 (Zhi Ming You Xi); working title during production was 灵境 (Ling Jing)¹^•⁵
Source novel	Kaleidoscope of Death (死亡万花筒) by Xi Zixu, a danmei novel with over one million collections on Jinjiang Literature City¹^•⁶
Main cast	Xia Zhiguang as Ruan Lanzhu; Huang Junjie as Ling Jiushi; Liu Ruogu as the twin brothers Cheng Qianli and Cheng Yixie²
Directors	Peng Fa (Danny Pang) as chief director, with Lu Jincheng⁷
Format	78 episodes of about 20 minutes each in the mainland release; 38 longer episodes in international versions³^•⁸
Mainland run	February 2, 2024 on iQIYI; all episodes released at once and taken down within about two hours³
Ratings	Douban 7.2 from more than 20,000 voters (another report gives 7.3 from over 40,000); IMDb 8.4/10 from 541 votes⁹^•¹⁰^•⁴

Spoilers

Plot

Ling Jiushi, a VR game designer frustrated with his job, quits and receives a game disc from abroad. After a car accident he finds himself in a corridor with 12 iron doors. Inside the first door, a mysterious man helps him escape wolves in a snowy mountain forest and welcomes him to the world of the doors¹. That man is Ruan Lanzhu, leader of the group Hei Yao Shi (黑曜石), who repeatedly saves Ling Jiushi as the two clear the twelve stages together¹^•¹¹.

The door worlds are lethal: a careless move inside a door can cost a player's life in reality, and Ling Jiushi discovers that danger encountered inside a door is followed by misfortune in the outside world as well¹. Back in reality, the game is called "Ling Jing" and has spread internationally; the drama's backstory attributes the game's deadly elements to foreign capital that added gore and violence, causing players depression and worse, and Ling Jiushi sets out to destroy it¹. Episode titles correspond to the novel's door worlds, including Snow Village (雪村), Lady in the Rain (雨中女郎), and Hyakki Yagyo¹^•².

Production and the censorship strategy

Filming began on November 22, 2022 and wrapped in March 2023, with production based in Sichuan⁷. By that time dramas adapted from danmei novels had been effectively barred from mainland release, and few expected the series to ever air⁵.

iQIYI's route to broadcast relied on the lighter review regime for micro short dramas. In project planning the company retitled the adaptation from the novel's title to Ling Jing (灵境) and registered it as a network micro short drama; the finished series carried the title The Spirealm and displayed the approval number 网微剧审字第001号, issued by the Sichuan Provincial Radio and Television Bureau⁵. The adaptation also removed the novel's explicit romance, keeping a double-male-lead "bromance" configuration, and reframed supernatural door worlds with science-fiction explanations tied to the VR game premise¹². Early in development there were reports that Ruan Lanzhu's character might be changed from male to female, but the broadcast version kept both male leads¹³.

The release itself was deliberately unannounced. There was no marketing campaign, no opening ceremony, and on the evening of February 2, 2024 (the night of the Little New Year holiday) all 78 episodes appeared on iQIYI at once⁵.

The two-hour run

The strategy worked briefly. The series trended as viewers realized a danmei adaptation had actually aired while comparable projects remained shelved³. Within about two hours, however, the episodes were taken down, a removal widely attributed to the BL origin of the source material³^•⁴. Commentators called it the shortest-lived drama on record; one viewer joke held that The Spirealm accomplished in two hours what the shelved drama Guang Yuan had taken two months to go through¹³.

Because the full series had been online, copies circulated quickly through network drives and fan channels, a distribution pattern Chinese media described as "underground circulation" (网盘流通)¹⁰^•¹⁴. The show's official Weibo account later published a long post, deleted shortly after, saying that after the takedown the promotion team was down to one person who could not pay editing costs and had submitted a resignation¹⁵.

International release and reception

The complete series found official outlets abroad. It was re-uploaded on Viu Thailand with 38 episodes on April 9, 2024¹, streamed on Rakuten Viki and iQIYI's international site, and aired in Japan on WOWOW in October 2024²^•¹². The international versions reorganize the material into 38 longer episodes rather than the 78 short ones of the mainland drop⁸.

Reception was favorable. On Douban the series opened at 7.2 from more than 20,000 raters, most of whom had watched through network-drive copies; a later report put the score at 7.3 from over 40,000 voters⁹^•¹⁰. On IMDb it holds 8.4/10 from 541 votes⁴. Reviewers noted that the production values, effects, and design matched full-length dramas rather than typical low-budget short dramas, which supported the positive word of mouth despite the cut romance line¹². The two leads saw a rise in popularity, and magazines featuring each of them on the cover set records for first-day sales in Japan¹¹.

Aftermath

On February 22, 2024 the production side launched a licensed merchandise crowdfunding campaign through the brand Xingchen Zhuzao, with packages in four tiers from 129 yuan (nameplate and bracelet) to a 1,790 yuan top tier containing eight items, plus unlock rewards at 100,000 and 1,000,000 yuan of total funding⁹. The pricing drew criticism as exploitative given that the drama had aired for only two hours, and the official account deleted its promotional post after backlash⁹^•¹⁶. The screenwriter said in social media posts that investing in the series had left him bankrupt, since the revenue-sharing drama was unlikely to earn back its costs after the rapid takedown⁹.

The case became a reference point in Chinese entertainment coverage for the position of completed danmei adaptations: industry commentary argued that overseas release, as happened with The Spirealm, was one of the few remaining paths for shelved BL dramas⁶.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Sp to Z

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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