To be a Fate fan through only its anime is to suffer.
Alternative Titles:
- Lord El-Melloi II-sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note
- ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿 -魔眼蒐集列車 Grace note-
Year Anime Premiered: 2019
Animation Studio: Troyca
Number of Seasons: 1 + 2 special episodes
Source Material Country of Origin: Japan
Source Material Available: Light Novel, Manga
Is It Officially Licensed Past Where The Anime Ends?: Light Novel: No, Manga: No
Is It Fan Translated Past Where The Anime Ends?: Light Novel: Yes, Manga: Yes
Entry Last Updated: April 28th, 2026
Where To Start The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II Light Novel After The Anime?
TL;DR – The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II anime is kind of a scuffed anime adaptation, start at Novel 1.
The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II anime is a bit of an odd one. The Episode 0 special, A Grave Keeper, a Cat, and a Mage, takes a small part of the first novel and stretches it into the whole first episode.
At Episode 6, the anime starts adapting Novel 4, which it adapts in full with Novel 5 for the remaining episodes.
So, the anime just wanted to adapt those two novels (the Rail Zeppelin arc), and just kind of created some filler set before those two novels instead of adapting the novels. It has been said that the producers wanted to focus specifically on that cool arc and didn’t have time/budget for the rest.
The Fate series has a history of creating anime as companion pieces for fans rather than anime as a good adaptation of the source material (See: Fate/Strange Fake and Fate/Grand Order). The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II anime was likely just one more companion anime project for the pile.
The Waver, Reunion, and the Magic Lantern special was also anime-original.
Is The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II Light Novel Over?
The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II light novels are complete. They ended in 2019 with Novel 10
You can, however, continue on with the sequel series, The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II, which started in 2020 and is currently ongoing.
Where To Start The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II Manga After The Anime?
The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II has a manga, but as the anime adaptation was scuffed (see the long explanation in the light novel section above), you should also start it at Chapter 1.
Is The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II Manga Over?
The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II manga is still ongoing. Since launching in 2017, it usually releases a volume per year.
Will There Be A Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II Season 2?
Perhaps if they need another promotion, we will get an adaptation of a single arc from the sequel series. Either way, there has been no news of a Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II Season 2 anime.
