魔道祖师 (Mo Dao Zu Shi)

魔道祖师 [Mó Dào Zǔ Shī] #1

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù, 墨香铜臭

Wei Wuxian ist einer der mächtigsten Männer seiner Generation. Seine dämonischen Fähigkeiten versetzen die Menschen jedoch in Angst und Schrecken, sodass die Nachricht über seinen Tod eine Welle des Jubels und der Erleichterung auslöst. Jahre vergehen, bis Wei Wuxian durch ein Opferritual zurück in die Welt der Lebenden – in den Körper eines Fremden – beschworen wird. Während er versucht, seine wahre Identität geheim zu halten, wird er mit dunklen Machenschaften konfrontiert, die er nicht ignorieren kann. In all dem Chaos begegnet ihm plötzlich ein vertrautes Gesicht aus seinem früheren der attraktive und rechtschaffene Lan Wangji. Fortan stellen sie sich gemeinsam den bösartigen Geistern und feindseligen Clanmitgliedern, um die in dichten Nebel gehüllten Wahrheiten ans Licht zu bringen! Der Manhua zur weltberühmten chinesischen Light-Novel, – welche bereits als Vorlage für den Donghua und die Live-Action-Serie diente!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels, LGBT, Comics, Queer

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2020

About the author

Associated Names:
* 墨香铜臭 (Chinese)
* Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù
* โม่เซียงถงซิ่ว (Thai)
* 묵향동후 (Korean)
* Мосян Тунсю (Russian)

Reviews

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's over. What will I do with my life now? I will miss them everyday.

...............

Mo dao zu shi is one of my favourite things in the world, for those who don't know. I read the original book two years ago, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. It's as if a small portion of my universe revolves around them.

But I never read the manhua because I saved it for the moment when I started missing them and wanted to start all over again, and I believe the time has come.

[Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

[read up to chapter 73]

oh my god what the – THIS IS GAY GAY

[˗ˏˋ eg ˎˊ˗ · Rating 4 out of 5]

[read up to chapter 94]

Proud to announce the adoption of my new son, Wei WuXian

[River · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75/5

The -.25 is only because some of the story was skipped a little, but it was still brilliant. WangXian are everything! I can't wait for the rest of the novel to be adapted.

[anmol · Rating 5 out of 5]

what does wangxian mean to me!!??? WHAT DOES AIR MEAN TO MY LUNGS!!???

___________


im back to my bullshit wangxian

[riri · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK HURT AND IT HURTS SO GOOD.

[richa ⋆.˚★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

You might support Wei Wuxian's rights but I support Wei Wuxian's wrongs. He is my comfort character and I have a room in my heart dedicated to Wuxian and Zhanji, my favourite couple. 😈🥺

detailed rtc

[Celestina1210 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lecture en VO
Pour le travail je devais lire un manhua l’équivalent chinois du manga. J’ai choisi celui-ci parce que c’est le seul qu’Amazon me proposait et si j’avais déjà lu le roman je dois avouer que j’ai préféré l’univers est très complexe et il m’a paru plus abordable avec le prisme de la bande dessinée, je trouve les illustrations magnifiques. Peut-être que comme je connaissais l’histoire je suis plus facilement rentrée dedans…

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wangxian owns me in all forms!!



















Merged review:

4 'Amazing art style' stars



It's so much better to read this in physical form compared to my first read on the phone. (I'm trying to forget how much will this whole manhua cost me but... yolo, haha). The beginning of MDZS is awesome in any adaptation. It never gets old how when I first read: "Rejoice! Wei Wuxain is dead!" I was like, 'isn't he the protagonist??'.


Gif by chengxiaoshi


I really like the art style here. Actually I'm not that much into comics, so it's usually the art style that draws me in. From my first time reading, I remember I first fell in love with chibis - they are just so cute. But this time, I took more time to pay attention to every panel and I like how some scenes are drawn in lots of details and some are very plain but still show everything that is important.



I don't have much to say about vol 1. We get to meet main charachters. Wei Wuxian definitely has a hilarious introduction when he's fooling around as Mo Xuanyu. Then we also meet Lan Juniors, Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng. But my favorite scene so far is Lan Wangji's arrival 😍



Gifs by kaheyama


Looking forward to the next volumes to see my favorite scenes again and enjoy wangxian being silly cute together 🤍🖤



4 'Amazing art style' stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 'Hanguang-Jun is my type' stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
tbr
tbr
tbr
tbr
tbr

[❤️Court - Villains Do It Better❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Def not as good as any of the other adaptions, and confusing at times because of how much was skipped over, but I'll still rate high because ✨WangXian✨

[Melodious Midnight Melancholy「مروة」 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't use this phrase lightly, but the novel of this manhwa(Chinese comic) is a literary masterpiece !!!!

It is truly well deserving of all the praise and high acclaim it has received; I have never in my life been so gobsmacked (in the best possible way!) and left utterly speechless ! Yes I have fallen into the rabbit hole fandom of MDZS/The Untamed, AND I REGRET NOTHING!!!
Everyone needs to experience WangXian's beautiful love story at least once in their lifetime...
14/08/2020.

[Laura Díaz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uf, no. Ha sido decepcionante. Esperaba mucho de esta historia, tiene mucha fama y reconocimiento, pero este primer manhwa no cuenta NADA, y no solo eso, sino que es absurdo en su totalidad.
A veces intenta ser gracioso, ahí bien, y otras serio, entonces la combinación no funciona para nada. Mete muuuchos elementos distintos que hacen que no tenga mucho sentido.
Es como cuando de pequeños mezclábamos la plastilina de muchos colores pensando que la combinación sería un arcoiris super bonito y luego salía una cosa verde feísima. PUES ASÍ.

[Kate♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5stars

The art for this is beautiful!

I have now consumed this story in so many mediums lol - novel, tv show, and now Manhua - I'm going to know it like the back of my hand

[Shu Wei Chin · Rating 5 out of 5]

First update: 28/03/2022
Second update: 05/04/2022 SPECIFICALLY for Chapter 229. Why? This is why:
The manhua version of this scene. And these particular Lan Wangji moods:



Anyway, here's an actual-ish review:
I admit to wanting to read this just because I miss the pure admiration and love between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan for the thousandth time, and I want to see it visually. I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. This manhua is also so deliciously gay that my heart might just stop any moment.

I am so thankful that this story is available in all forms; the original novels (魔道祖师 Mó Dào Zǔ Shī ), audio drama, live action, donghua and manhua adaptations. Definitely either read the original novels or watch the live action drama first, because then you get to experience the full depth of the world and character developments. This manhua felt to me like a beautiful and cathartic complementary adaptation. It just makes it so easy to flick through some comfort ✨ wangxian ✨ content when I miss them. And I miss them daily!

[Alba · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of people on twitter were talking about the donghua, so I watched it and loved the story so much that I spent 4 days reading the whole novel.
At first, I was only reading it for the romance and sad love story but then I was at 3am crying because Wei Wuxian was a beautiful young man who only wanted to do good things and protect the people he cared for. And they make him become a villain and die and hate living that he didn't want to come back.
I should stop here or I'll say more spoilers xD

[Lucía Cafeína · Rating 3 out of 5]

De primeras, algo confuso, pero también ha sido emocionante, diferente y hasta gracioso. Tengo mucha curiosidad por cómo va a continuar todo.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not compete in a freaking matching contest with them

[soph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve missed Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, so glad I can read about them again.😋

[Muhanuzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't stop smiling when I think of Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. They were adorable. I am thinking of finally watching the series, 'The Untamed', only to get myself re-acquainted with Lil'apple (I really hope he is there), Jiang's temper, our general Wen Ning, and those students.

I read this book of 2599pages in 2 days! I couldn't put it down.

Things to note: (1) those with TRYPOPHOBIA should be careful as they read. Those two scenes affected me. Don't want to go through that again. (2) the book isn't as clean as I had expected. You can't skip those parts, because well, our resident funny guy doesn't shut up and you might miss something.

The extra stories at the end of the book? Perfect! We do love our extended epilogues.

I discovered that I loved Asian novels in 2020. This year, am reading more.

[Encarni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este primer volumen es solo la antesala de todo lo que se viene.

Aunque el inicio es un poco caótico, nos vale para hacernos una idea de la situación del protagonista, nos presentan a algunos personajes y empezamos a conocer un poco este mundo de fantasía.

Estoy deseando poder seguir con el volumen 2!!

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graphics were incredible. I have no regrets about deciding to purchase the physical copy over the kindle copy. There is just something about holding the book in your hands and flipping through each page admiring the art in front of you.

Only 4 stars because the portion from after they drag ‘Mo Xuanyu’ from his room at night to where the Ghost General appears on Mount Dafan - all that in between has never been one of my favorite parts of the novel. No matter what adaptation I read it or watch it in. No idea why.
Surprisingly, this first volume doesn’t even make it as far as the Ghost General appearing. They did leave it off in a good spot, but was just surprised they didn’t push it out further.

Going to go preorder Volume 2 now. Looking forward to it coming out in a few months.

[Di'ana (Knygų drakonas) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nerealu!!! Tobula!!! Fangirlinu 3 000 🤣😅😂🤣🙈

[Anna C]

Art : 4 stars
Character : 4 stars
Plot : 4 stars
Romance : 4 stars
Storytelling : 4 stars
World building : 4 stars

4 stars for chap 1-72

UPDATE (2019/08/20)

Now the live action has 15 different language subtitles for first episodes. Scary and crazy, the team of The Untamed, I mean. But I'm so happy that means now even more people can enjoy this wonderful drama. 😆 I'm currently on episode 36, waiting for episode 50 to be released this Thursday so I can start binge watch to the end. I'm deliberately devouring this as slow as possible, because I don't want to reach finish line.

So, turned out I made right decision to watch the drama first novel later. Because actually they changed some parts but stayed true to the important parts, they mixed present and past timeline, this might be a tiny letdown for some people, but most are rather content with what we can have here, you can't ask for more than this.
So, I was right to watch drama first, this way I can enjoy each version better (because I've no expectation whatsoever to begin with) and then I can taste the 'dessert' better later (imagining the actors doing things that were banned in drama, hihihi).

So, if the BL novel is yaoi, then the live action is shounen-ai. Best of both worlds! Because without intimate skinship, such little gestures like long stares, piggyback, etc that showed love and affection were already enough to make us squeal because it showed the depth of feelings. Actually I like this shounen-ai version more than yaoi even though I haven't read the novel yet. Yet I won't lie if we can have a kiss or sex in drama, I'll die from happiness too, yes, a kiss/sex from them will definitely kill us!! 😂😂
On one episode where Lan Zhan finally met Wei Ying after one month of Wei Ying's seclusion, his eyes OMG his eyes when he saw Wei Ying!!! The longing, the deep and pure love was so palpable there that I was torn between want to watch it or too embarrassed to watch it yet at the same time also holding myself not to scream like mad girl. 😆😆 Oh, the agony.
I mean, that Lan Zhan, who is so stoic...so Wang Yibo's acting here is 👍👏 Such expression of love through eyes only... Do I need to tell you I rewind that scene for nth time and even screenshotted it? You guess it. 😂

I actually really like and grateful how the producer, the scriptwriters, etc tried their best to working around the censorship. I'm going to borrow someone's comment because I can't say it better than him/her : "How they presented their relationship as something really sweet and wholesome, picking out the nuances and fleshing out bits here and there, that it was satisfying to watch. I personally love how this version of Lan Zhan is more expressive. Though I love the novel and its all goodness, I don't mind this interpretation because it's so well done. The drama gave us so much subtext to make up for the censorship, that I'm not even mad." The bright side of censorship.

2019/08/01

Mo Dao Zu Shi, the most popular BL in China right now. First, it's a BL novel, then there's its manhua version, then anime, audio drama, and now live action drama which is currently airing! There will be 50 episodes, I don't know if it's only Season 1 or not. But, yay! 50 episodes! 😆

Actually I was saving this manhua to read later, after more chapters available online. But I was intrigued by its live action episode 1 and 2 although the CGI is poor (but it's typically Chinese drama so I expect nothing 😁). Also both main actors are such a feast for the eyes especially Wang Yibo, our Lan Zhan. 😍 I'm just weak to beautiful guy, especially the one in long hair and white robe, and then it's wuxia too, I always love to watch wuxia in my younger days, lol.

So, YouTubers said I should read its novel first before I watch the drama, since manhua is still ongoing too. But screw that, manhua first so I can watch the drama asap, I'll catch up with the novel later, there's 100s chapters, no way I'm gonna read 100s chaps first, I couldn't wait anymore, strike it while I'm in the mood for watching drama, the last time I watch any drama is 9 years ago. 😂 I also want to squeal with fujoshi and fudanshi on YouTube 😆, even though you won't have kiss scene, they said they only stare at each other, but the feeling is in the air, woohoo, isn't that feel even purer when there's no physical intimacy? 😆

Currently there are 39 episodes available, with 11 language subtitles, really crazy... Oh yes, the name of live action drama is The Untamed. There's even premiere edition where you can watch it live with all fujoshi and fudanshi around the world and use live chat to communicate with each other. I haven't watched its premiere but I'm currently following The Coming One III show, singing competition, there's Hua Chenyu (my favorite genius artist-singer-musician) in it as mentor, so I watched the premiere of this show's newest episode and wow it's a great experience to watch it live with so many people together and live chat with them. 😆 Actually it's through this channel of singing show that I found out The Untamed is live action of Mo Dao Zu Shi, what a big surprise for me! Just, it's BL guys, the thought that there's BL drama starred by popular actors with credible and guaranteed quality and so popular in China is something else entirely! What's more, so many fujoshi and fudanshi from various countries watch this drama, and read its novel and manhua. Ckckck. Big big surprise. To think BL is rather taboo in China too.

Anyway, now about its manhua, the opening is very confusing with so many hard-to-remember names (even for Chinese like me), one person can have 3 names! Not only that, so many characters in it. If you love supernatural fiction and slow burn romance with plot, read this. Maybe start from manhua first so you get the idea who is who and to see if you like it or not before you dive deeper into its novel. You can peek at its live action's 1st episode too, so you can imagine the actors in your head when you read manhua/novel.

[April's Fool · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this book after watching the live-action series made based on it, "The Untamed". As I loved The Untamed, I love this book as well. The main characters are nice enough to like and relate to and the secondary characters are also good and well-written. Some of them are relatable (Nie Huaisang), some are enerving (Xue Yang) and some are inspiring (Xiao Xingchen). The plot is compelling, both in the past story and in the story set in the present and makes you care for what happens and what exactly is going on and what is going to happen. It also has so pretty good discussions on morality and prejudice and how people can judge others so easily, despite not knowing all the facts. So, overall I did enjoy reading it. Nonetheless, I do have some complaints to make about certain things in the novel.

*SPOILERS (mild)*

The relationship between Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian lacks romantic development. Surely the romantic/sexual tension between them is visible but the arc that leads to their romantic involvement lacks development, it has barely any depth. Not to say I don't believe they love each other but the way they actually get together is odd and seems rushed. They should have talked more about it with each other.

Another thing that I have to complain about are the sex scenes. They're really problematic, good lord help us all.
First of all, why the fuck doesn't Lan Wangji ever prep his boyfriend/husband? I'll never understand that because sex like that sounds really painful. Even if he had a vagina, it would be nice because you don't get wet out of the blue, but when we talk about anal sex, it is especially important because otherwise, it will hurt like hell. And I can't imagine Lan Zhan wanting to hurt Wei Ying, it doesn't fit his character, so... Odd.
Second of all, the fucking dream sequence. Where do I even start with that? Wei Wuxian fucking a sword? Wei Wuxian raping Lan Zhan? The Fact that Lan Zhan is a minor in the dream? There are so many wrong things in that sequence that are normalized that I can't even express how disgusting it is. This sequence helps normalize stereotyped bad misconceptions about gay men: it shapes them in an uncivilized way; it portrays them as predators and rapists, which have always been "arguments" that homophobic people use in order to "prove" that gay men are bad and will harm your children, something obviously untrue. So, because of this, I cannot fully enjoy this book.

*END OF SPOILERS*

All in all, the plot of the book is pretty good and thrilling, but it has some serious flaws that really bother me (which are probably there due to the fact that the author is a straight woman who probably did 0 research about the lgbtq+ community and especially gay men) and that's why I can't give it more than 3 stars: those portrayals are so damaging to gay men I just can't ignore them. Nonetheless, if you want a good world build with "magic" and good discussions on morality, intention vs actions and how shit people can be to other people based on their want for power or their own misconceptions and prejudices than this is a good book for you.

[Achim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
212 Seiten und ich habe noch etwas Schwierigkeiten, mich in dieser Welt zurecht zu finden. Wie üblich habe ich kleine Probleme mir die Namen zu merken, zumal noch zwischen Geburtsnamen und ählich aussehenden Hofnamen unterschieden wird. Da ist es nich unbedingt hilfreich, dass das Aussehen der Haupt-Charakteren nicht leicht zu unterscheiden sind. Man muss dabei sehr auf Kleinigkeiten achten, die schnell verschwimmen können, wenn es zu Szenen mit vielen Figuren kommt. Wahrscheinlich wäre es besser gewesen, wenn ich alle 3 bislang erschienen Bände in einem Rutsch durchgelesen hätte, denn die Geschichte selbst hat Potential, zumal sie durch einen leicht schelmischen Humor aufgelockert wird, der immer dann durchbricht, wenn Wei Wuxian seine tatsächliche Identität zu verschleiern versucht oder wenn durchbricht, dass es wohl nicht das große dämonische Böse ist, zu dem er nach seinem Tod gemacht worden ist, denn letztlich geht es in diesem ersten Band darum, dass nicht einfach nur sein Geist beschworen wird sondern der verzweifelte Beschwörer seinen eigenen Körper zum Tausch anbietet, um so die Rache zu bekommen, die er selbst nicht verfolgen kann.

Der erste Band löst noch nicht das Rätsel warum Wei Wuxian ermordert wurde ausser, dass sein Ruf als mächtiger "Kultivator" (was immer das auch sein mag) des dämonischen Pfades gerechtfertigt ist. Wie üblich bei dieser Art von Zwangs-Reinkarnation kann er seine Kraft im neuen Körper noch nicht voll ausspielen und muss sich vor seinen Gegnern, die noch immer leben, in Acht nehmen. Irgendwo soll sich im Lauf der Geschichte auch eine Liebesgeschichte entwickeln, aber davon ist in Band 1 noch absolut nichts zu entdecken. So gesehen ist dieser Band trotz allem eine Einführung und endet auch noch unnötigerweise mit einem Cliffhanger.

Noch habe ich mich nicht entschieden, ob ich mit Band 2 des Comics weitermache oder das Ganze doch besser als Roman lese.

[R.Qtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually this is the manhua version. I didn't know that it exists in Goodreads...but here it is haha. So the story is exactly the same as the novel but the chapters are different. Chapter 30 in the novel might not be the same as chapter 30 in the manhua. After reading the novel, watching the animation and movie, this is the best feeling to read the manhua. It is also an ongoing project so a rollercoaster ride again! Although I finished MDZS weeks ago, the emotions and feelings are still clinging on to me. This is one of the best adaptation! The characters drawn are cute and surely the same as the novel described it.

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de enamorarme perdidamente de los personajes de The untamed (en Netflix), encontré la adaptación a cómic y me está gustando mucho. Hay cosas mejor y más explicadas y, en general, tiene un tono más ligero i divertido: las escenas de Lan Zhan borracho (dibujadas en chibi) son lo más.

Como ha aparecido en Goodreads el tomo 2, seguiré allí el ritmo de lectura, en realidad debo ir por el volumen 6 o 7... En fin...

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le he puesto tres estrellas porque realmente no sé qué esperar ni cómo me siento respecto a este manhwa. Me parece una historia superinteresante y en la que quiero adentrarme más, pero a la vez creo que me lo estoy perdiendo todo al empezar desde 0 por aquí. Ha sido bastante confuso. Hay muchos personajes y poca exploración en ellos, cosa que entiendo por el formato y por ser un primer volumen, de ahí que quiera seguir leyendo para formarme una opinión.

[Alo · Rating 5 out of 5]

[manhua] [read up to chapter 175]

I'm so in love AAAAAAA I just finished the novel and I'm reading this manhua, and it's absolutely beautiful ❤️

The story, the romance, plot, characters, art, everything is amazing. I love it ❤️✨

[regan ★ !! · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ★

it’s so exciting to reread and experience the start of mdzs all over again. i love the manhua it might be my favourite version of the series! bit sad tho that i was excited for the moment wwx realises lwj knows it’s him only to figure out it’ll be in the next volume lol