Recently, I was introduced to a Chinese BL anime, Mo Dao Zu Shi (currently translated as Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) which ended up as quite a pleasant surprise. Mo Dao Zu Shi belongs to the wuxia category, the genre of martial arts fantasy in Chinese fiction that is often mixed with historical philosophy, which is something I used to constantly watch when I was young. I haven't really looked at this genre in a really long time so this was a little nostalgic.  If this wasn't classified as BL, I honestly wouldn't have known as there's nothing in the 15 episodes of the first season that goes beyond what could be interpreted as strong bromantic relationships. Also, unlike the typical BL story format, this isn't a self-contained story revolving around the main couple but works more like a fantasy epic, which I really liked.

Mo Dao Zu Shi is a story about practitioners of the spiritual arts (known as 'cultivators') who battle against evil energy (demons, ghosts, monsters). Interestingly, it opens in the present time where it's been some years since the death of Wei Wu Xian, a cultivator who practiced the heretical method of demonic arts, who makes an unexpected return to the living in another person's body. A whole bunch of other characters are introduced before the story switches to the past, depicting the history of these characters and their relationships in the remaining 13 episodes. I really enjoyed the back story as it explores the camaraderie that the characters used to have and hints as to what went horribly wrong.

Wei Wu Xian (Wei Ying) and Lan Wang Ji (Lan Zhan) form the main pairing of the series. Theirs is the classic example of a massive clash of personalities when they meet for the first time since they're nearly complete opposites of each other. That said, their interaction in the beginning is pretty funny with Wei Ying's persistent attempts to break Lan Zhan's quiet and strict composure. Their relationship is a slow burn with Lan Zhan gradually becoming affected by Wei Ying's free-spirited attitude. Another possible point of conflict between them would be Wei Ying's venture into the demonic arts although I suspect Lan Zhan might have sided with Wei Ying when all the clans sought to destroy the latter (-to be revealed in the next season perhaps).

That said, I found the relationship between Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng equally if not slightly more interesting. These two are clan brothers but in present time, Jiang Cheng harbors a lot of hatred towards Wei Ying, which is kind of sad because the anime really delved into the bond they used to have, already tested several times in the past due to the predicament of their clan. His story (together with the Jiang sect) is one of the highlights of the series.



I also have to mention the animation - it's gorgeous and very fluid. Some of the backgrounds used resemble Chinese art paintings, giving the anime a very rich and surreal atmosphere. And I'm very impressed with the voice-acting. I haven't really seen that many Chinese animations but when compared with the standard of Japanese voice-acting, I found the Chinese voice actors very competent in their characterizations. Mo Dao Zu Shi seems a little under the radar at the moment possibly due to a number of reasons (unfamiliarity with Chinese anime, BL fans not interested due to lack of overtly sexual scenes, general anime viewers put off by the BL tag, etc.) but I think it deserves a bit more exposure.