Once in a blue moon, a fictional series comes along that seizes my reader heart and imprisons my fangirl soul. The latest to capture me like that is Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s Chinese danmei series Mo Dao Zu Shi. MDZS follows the complicated, tragic, shocking, magical, mysterious, violent, romantic, and humorous story of Wei Wuxian and his frenemy/future husband, Lan Wangji. In an effort to completely immerse myself in the story, I’ve had a go with each of its various adaptations. Lately, I’ve been hooked on the manhua version, The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, which I’m going to discuss here.
Let me back up a bit. My obsession with MDZS began in June with The Untamed, the live-action adaptation of the original novels. I kept seeing people effusively praising the drama on social media, so I ran to Viki to check it out. OH! MY! GOD! I fell head over heels. Hard. I didn’t get bored a single moment during those 50 episodes. However, I still had tons of unanswered questions at the end. I was also dissatisfied with how China’s censorship laws had severely watered down WangXian’s relationship and removed other “inappropriate” supernatural plot points. I needed more.
To satisfy my hunger, I turned to other versions of the story. I streamed the donghua, The Master of Diabolism, on Crunchyroll, and borrowed the five novels from the public library. The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation was the final piece of the puzzle. I borrowed nine volumes from the library and quickly devoured them. Having been a manga girlie since high school, the manhua truly hit the spot, giving me amazing visuals without sacrificing the original plot.
Now that you know the backstory, I’m going to give a general overview of The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, specifically the first nine volumes of the manhua. Excuse me if I get a little too enthusiastic!
First Impressions
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is distributed by Seven Seas Entertainment here in the States. Although they’ve been around for a minute, I don’t know much about the company beyond the name. I’ve never bought anything from them. That said, they’ve done a fantastic job of putting the volumes together.
The books feel luxurious and sturdy. I was totally blown away the first time I held one in my hands. I liked their pseudo dust covers right away. I say “pseudo” because they can’t be removed. Instead, the covers have extra edges that fold over into the inside like a dust cover does. The front flap has basic info about the author, illustrator, and production company, while the back cover promotes the other works by MXTX that are available from Seven Seas, Heaven Official’s Blessing (highly recommended!) and Scum-Villain’s Self-Saving Service. They look so fancy. BTW, they open from left-to-right.
Next, there’s the impressive size of the volumes. They measure 9″ (H) x 6″ (W). That is quite bigger than a standard manga volume from Tokyopop (7.5″ x 5″) and slightly taller than Viz’s flipped manga volumes that I bought in the early 2000s (8.25″ x 6″). The only manga I own that matches the manhua’s size exactly is the single volume of Vampire Hunter D from Digital Manga Publishing that I bought in 2007-08. The larger size works to the books’ favor. It gives the art more room to spread out across the pages and makes the text in the speech bubbles more readable.
Then there’s the weight of the books. They’re crazy heavy! The covers are super thick and the pages feel almost like photo paper. Put the two together and you get one deliciously dense volume. The weight doesn’t impede the reading experience. I can comfortably hold them without straining my wrists. I wouldn’t suggest carrying more than one or two at a time, though. Your backpack (and back!) will surely cry out in pain. Definitely invest in the digital versions if you plan to travel with them.
Which brings me to the price. When I first looked up the series online, I was shocked by how much they cost. They retail for $19.99 each, though most of them can be had for $12-$16. To someone who’s used to ten dollars being the going price per volume, that’s kind of expensive. But let me tell you—they’re worth every single penny!
The Art
The manhua’s illustrator is Luo Di Cheng Qiu. Their style is reminiscent of—though not identical to—that of the donghua. That makes sense since both versions are produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures. My overall impression of the art is extremely positive.
I applaud the attention-grabbing covers. The title and author name are etched in glimmering gold with the smallest shimmer of silver. Very nice. With very rare exceptions, they’re all ink-colored—sometimes black, sometimes purple. This color scheme suits the story’s tone, which can often get dark, and boosts the brilliant illustrations. On the downside, the matte finish does show fingerprints.
The art on the front covers are absolute show-stoppers. They each feature a glorious scene from or related to the story. For example, the first volume shows WangXian floating in the night sky, the moon and clouds behind them as Wuxian plays his flute in his black-and-red outfit and Wangji plays his zither in his white-and-blue robes. It’s the perfect way to introduce the pair to new readers—the two of them spending time together in their natural element with their instruments/weapons.
The back covers, on the other hand, have a more simplistic design. A gold-etched byline appears towards the top, a summary paragraph takes up the middle section, and there’s a content rating box in the right corner. There’s an illustration here too: a small color image at the bottom that represents another angle of WangXian or the story, like Volume 3’s pair of bunnies and Volume 5’s Suibian and Bichen (their swords). If you look really closely, you can see graceful purple patterns that resemble wisps of clouds or smoke drifting across the back.
The spine is cute. There’s an image of a different character’s head at the very top of each one, which creates a nice collage when they’re all stacked side by side. The title is large and gold-etched along the side, with the English on top and the Chinese beneath it. They are the same size and color. This is a change from the cover, where the English title is huge and the Chinese title is much, much smaller and written in white. The volume’s number is in a red circle near the bottom.
As for the manhua’s pages, they’re in full color (which probably contributes to the high price as well). The colors are vibrant, even during the night scenes. The character designs are perfect too. Whereas the characters in The Master of Diabolism are all extremely pretty, with long, flowing hair and big, bright anime eyes, the manhua versions look slightly more masculine and realistic (though no less attractive).
There are noticeable variations in the characters’ appearances across the timeline. Their features, hairstyles, and clothes announce their ages, letting you know at a glance whether the storyline is taking place in the past or the present. This attention to detail extends to Wuxian’s appearance when he’s in his original body versus Mo Xuanyu’s body.
Speaking of Wuxian, he is beautiful as always. They do a good job of capturing his mischievous and bubbly personality. There are plenty of moments when he makes loony expressions or turns chibi that crack me up, but he can look just as seductive and alluring when he’s being serious or in the throes of his powers.
And as a diehard Wangji admirer, I love the numerous close-ups we get of his striking golden peepers shooting one of his trademark icy glares. Even more fun are the times when they show him acting uncharacteristically childish or silly, often in chibi form like Wuxian. It’s adorable.
The Story
Let me share the summary from the back of the first volume to give you a better idea of the story’s overall plot:
Feared and hated for his sinister abilities, Wei Wuxian—the grandmaster of demonic cultivation—was driven to his death when the most powerful clans united to destroy him. Thirteen years later, Wei Wuxian is reborn, summoned by a young man who sacrificed his soul in a forbidden ritual, Wei Wuxian is now bound to seek vengeance on the stranger’s behalf or risk the destruction of his own soul. But when an evil entity emerges, a familiar face from Wei Wuxian’s past suddenly appears amidst the chaos—a powerful cultivator who will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them.
Got it? Okay.
The story is well adapted from the novels. The volumes cover about twenty chapters each. The first volume, for example, covers Wuxian’s resurrection in Mo Xuanyu’s body to Wuxian and the Lan disciples battling the cursed Heavenly Maiden statue. For reference, these events take place up to the middle of chapter 3 in the first novel and episodes 1-2 of the donghua.
Each chapter is 8-10 pages. Two-page spreads done in red and black separate the chapters. The right page bears the chapter number and title and the left features an image of a character—usually Wuxian or Wangji, but like the back covers, it could also be other characters or important items. The reason for the spread is two-fold: 1) a visual embellishment to spice things up, and 2) a method to ensure the page layout works out correctly (which I learned a little about in college).
Though the volumes carry a decent amount of material overall, I wish the individual chapters were longer. Blink and you miss it. A few page turns and it’s over. Worse, when you flip through the pages, you’ll encounter the chapter spreads more than anything else. I prefer the times when there is only one chapter page. They should combine the chapters more or distribute the pages differently.
My biggest question going in was how much The Grandmaster of Diabolism would be censored. Would it mirror Mo Dao Zu Shi exactly, or be edited to some degree like The Master of Diabolism and The Untamed? So far, it’s going the former route. Thank goodness! The manhua restores most of the key WangXian events that the other versions left out and follows the established timeline. However, some scenes have been completely taken out (teenaged WangXian bickering in the cold springs) or altered (the rabbits that Wuxian gave Wangji getting frisky).
Full-on censorship is rare, though. The changes seem to be mostly due to space limitations. For instance, volume six shows the full version of the infamous scene where drunken Wangji binds Wuxian’s hands with his Lan headband and drags him back to their hotel with it. Unlike the other versions, the manhua shows what happened in their room after that: the game of tag that Wangji initiates and Wuxian’s unexpected reactions to it. But the manhua then skips the next scene where the now-sober Wangji applies a balm to Wuxian’s bruised wrists the following day.
It’s a disappointing yet understandable give-and-take situation. The manhua volumes are 210 pages to the novels’ 350 pages. Things will inevitably have to be cut. The awkward morning-after scene probably wasn’t deemed essential. Therefore, it was sacrificed so that the more important scene after it—where Wuxian has a brief heart-to-heart with his “nephew” Jin Ling before they leave the hotel—had space to fully unfold. I can live with that.
There’s only one last censorship question left in my mind now: how will the manhua handle the two far more adult WangXian moments that are coming up? The books have been rated 15+ up until now. Will they take the fade-to-black route to fit the established age range, or will they raise the rating to fit the explicit scenes? Only time will tell. I trust them to make the best decisions.
The Extras
There aren’t many extra features to speak of—just a Character Guide, a Table of Contents, and a Glossary. Honestly, that’s about all a reader needs.
The two-page Character Guide comes at the very beginning of the manhua, right after the title page. It features a picture and a brief bio of Wuxian, Wangji, and two other important characters in that particular volume.
After that, there’s the Table of Contents, which lists all of the chapter names and page numbers. There’s nothing special about that exactly, but it’s useful if you’re skimming to your favorite parts or want to see at glance how far the story will go in that volume.
Lastly, there’s a two-page Glossary in the very back. It only defines the most basic terms and concepts that occur in the story. As the section itself points out, the glossary in the novels are far more in-depth, but this one is sufficient for the manhua.
It’s probably better that the extras are minimal. This is another way to save pages for the story. I’m not even sure what other extras would be appropriate here anyway.
Final Thoughts
The biggest advantage of borrowing the library’s copies is that I got a good idea of what the manhua will look like as they age. They’ve been handled by more patrons than I can imagine, so I’ve seen the worst case scenarios of wear and tear. Here are some of the things I noticed.
First, the spine will likely crack at some point. The cover of the first volume, the oldest of the bunch I borrowed, opens up flat on its own. The seam holding the book together became visible. This is tough to get around because you have to open the book up wide to properly read it.
Second, the covers might develop a crease down the middle. The first volume suffers from this as well. It has a noticeable ridge along its back. I think it came from someone marking their place by laying the book facedown instead of using a bookmark. The cover flap’s thickness might have put more pressure on it, making the ridge thicker.
Third, the gold trim on the covers’ text might wear away. When I got the fourth volume, I immediately noticed that the gold had rubbed off in some places on both the front and back. I’m guessing it’s a result of the book rubbing against something in a backpack. Without the gold, there’s nothing but a black outline where the letters were.
Fourth, they are prone to indentations. One volume had deep imprints on its back cover. Similar to how the gold trim was rubbed off, I’m guessing the book pressed against something in a person’s backpack. There’s no way to undo or fix those marks.
None of this is earth shattering. All graphic novels suffer from these inevitable types of damages. The best you can do is to be careful and treat them with as much care as possible.
Conclusion
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation reawakened my long-dormant manga addiction. This is the first time since my college years that I’ve felt the desire to buy graphic novels of any kind. Additionally, it seems unlikely that I’ll ever be able to own the donghua or C-Drama versions on DVD, so the manhua is the next best thing. I’ll be thrilled to own the 13 volumes once they’re all releasedโฆoh, and I have the insane amount of money it will take to buy them.