After watching Tamon’s B-Side I decided to fit in one last series before my Crunchyroll Ani-May promotion expired. I saw a spoilery clip of a devastating scene from Dark Moon on Threads that made me curious about this show, so I decided to give it a watch, going in totally blind except for that little clip.

There’s a whole universe around Dark Moon. First of all, it’s part of the K-POP group ENHYPHEN, where the vampire characters are based off of the members of the group (I think this post shows a comparison between the group and vampires, but I’m not sure.) Then there’s the manhwa, which you can read on WEBTOON, created by HYBE. I believe the anime Dark Moon is based off of the manhwa.

Anyway, we get a great opening sequence to the anime series, complete with a song by ENHYPHEN.

They do the closing songs, too: “Criminal Love” and “Fatal Trouble.”

Anyway, so judging from the opening sequence, you can tell we’ve got a slick, gorgeously animated series ahead, with mysterious characters and beautiful boys surrounding a single female character, Suha.

The vampires are all brothers (due to them sharing the same orphanage) and there are seven of them:

• Heli
• Jino
• Shion
• Solon
• Jaan
• Jakah
• Noa

The brothers attend Decelis Academy, a night school, and live secretly among society. They do not feast on human blood, only the blood of animals (like snakes and chickens). They are members of the Nightball team (something that looks kind of like rugby) and blend in well with their fellow students.

Along comes Suha, and all of the boys are drawn to her, especially Heli, who has the luck of meeting her first. Suha is a new transfer, and her dorm room isn’t ready yet, so she’s put in what used to be the boys’ hangout room. The boys go to the room and run into Suha moving a bed completely on her own–by raising it above her head. It turns out she has super strength! And the boys, feeling a strong, unknown pull to her, immediately get comfy and social with her, and show her their powers, too.

There’s a mystery brewing on campus and off campus of dead bodies showing up, and students from Sunshine City academy have gone missing. The students in question, and a key group of male students from the school, are werewolves– a vampire’s bitter enemy.

The main werewolves are Khan, Najak, Enzy, and Tahel, who are based off of members of another boy band, &TEAM. They are also mysteriously drawn to Suha, and Khan even falls in love with her, thanks to a magical night with a full lunar eclipse.

Anyway, for 12 episodes, this show packs a heavy load. I loved seeing the mystery grow about the monstrous vampires (different from the Academy boys) invading the area and trying to get Suha; I liked the subplot with Chris/Dardan; and I liked the episodes where we simply watch the characters grow with each other.

I just wish that the series had room to breathe–a 24-episode series would be better because then the whole “past lives/ancient kingdom/heroes reborn” wouldn’t have appeared so abruptly with tons of exposition delivered quickly. The story about who Suha really is, and who the vampires were, and Dardan’s identity seemed really convoluted to me, and I think if the pacing slowed down and the story was spread out over a couple more episodes, it’d be more palatable.

That’s not to say that I didn’t like this series. There were definitely enjoyable moments, shocking moments, and emotional moments–and I love me a show that pulls out all my emotions. It’s just the pacing and somewhat ludicrous-sounding backstory that holds me back from completely loving this.

The aesthetics are gorgeous, and along with the songs by ENHYPHEN, I thought the musical score was lovely, too. My favorite character is Solon, a moody “I care but I’m never going to show you how much” type of character who has a big secret of his own, one so large he keeps it from his brothers. Heli is a great male lead, too, and Shion is a lot of fun.

Suha is likeable enough; I just wish we had more time to grow into the story of her true (and past) identity. I did root for her to end up with a certain character, and I wasn’t disappointed.

All in all, if you love vampires and a healthy dose of KPOP, you can’t go wrong with Dark Moon: The Blood Altar. There’s enough of an emotional push-and-pull to keep you invested in the episodes, despite my qualms about the show overall. I enjoyed myself watching it, and that’s the most important thing.

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Dark Moon: The Blood Altar is available to stream on Crunchyroll, but they also have full episodes available to watch on YouTube starting with episode 1 (link to dubbed, which I thought was great).