Crunchyroll announced that they have acquired streaming rights for the first two seasons of The Master of Diabolism donghua, also known to English-speaking fans as Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi. The series will premiere on their streaming platform on December 11, 2024, and will be available worldwide (excluding Japan, Korea, Mainland China, and Russian-speaking territories).
Update, 12/11/24: The series is now available to stream on Crunchyroll.
The promotional logo for The Master of Diabolism donghua, also known as Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi.The series was a joint production of Tencent Penguin Pictures and B.C May Pictures. Originally premiering in 2018, it ran for a total of 35 episodes and completed its three-season run in 2021. Crunchyroll has not yet announced whether they also have the rights for Season 3, or for the spin-off donghua series The Founder of Diabolism Q (2020). DanmeiNews has reached out to Crunchyroll for additional comment.
Streaming will be available in the original Chinese audio with English subtitles. No English dub has yet been announced. Considering that Crunchyroll also produced the dub for fellow Mo Xiang Tong Xiu work Heaven Official’s Blessing, they may make further moves judging by the level of fan interest.
Crunchyroll has provided the following summary for Season 1:
After attaining the state of immortality, Wei Wuxian’s rule descends down the demonic path of Mo Dao. Ultimately, his reign of terror is overthrown, but the tumultuous fall leads to a chance for redemption. 13 years later, Wei Wuxian is reincarnated and reunites with his former classmate, Lan Wangji. Together they’ll unravel the mysteries of the supernatural world and forge an unexpected bond.
All five volumes of the original novel series by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu are available for purchase in English from Seven Seas Entertainment. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (魔道祖师) is a smash hit danmei series that began serialization on jjwxc in 2015 and ran for 113 chapters (plus 13 extra chapters). It has inspired numerous adaptations, including the donghua discussed in this article, a manhua, an ongoing Japanese manga, an audio drama, and a live-action known as The Untamed.
DanmeiNews provides the below summary from its catalogue:
The powerful necromancer Wei Wuxian, despised across the land, awakens in a stranger’s body thirteen years after his death. He is drawn into a supernatural murder-mystery and must investigate alongside the straitlaced Lan Wangji, with whom he shares a very tangled past.
Crunchyroll has both seasons of Heaven Official’s Blessing (link: Season 1, Season 2) available to stream on their service, with both dub and sub options. They also have several other danmei adaptations available, such as priest’s Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire and The Defectives. Perhaps Crunchyroll may also pick up Scumbag System, which is the donghua adaptation of the remaining member of the MXTX trio, The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System. Fans of the series will surely continue to hope.
Source: Crunchyroll News, Twitter/X
