A trailer for an animated TV series adaptation of award-winning Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem trilogy was released at a event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the founding of Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili on Wednesday.

The Three-Body Problem trilogy tells the story of how human scientists try to contact an advanced alien civilization, the battle between the two civilizations and their rise and fall. 

The English translation of the first book in the series won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015.

The trilogy is regarded as one of Liu's most representative works, leading many film producers to set their sights on it. 

Although a film adaptation was supposed to come out in 2016, it was later postponed and no news of a new release date has been announced. Meanwhile, an application for a TV adaptation of the books was approved by the National Radio and Television Administration in May.

To the surprise of many, this animated trailer beat them all out. The news caused a sensation online, with the hashtag for the show, which will be called The Three-Body Universe, receiving more than 130 million views on Sina Weibo. 

Tens of thousands of Chinese netizens have posted comments, mainly expressing their surprise, excitement and also worry due to the difficulty involving the VFX and adapting the complicated plot.

At the event, Liu said that he hopes the animated series can exceed his original vision to produce something that even he will find breathtaking.