Dark Moon: The Blood Altar

Template:Infobox manhwa Dark Moon: The Blood Altar (Template:Korean), also known in Japanese as Template:Nihongo is a South Korean manhwa released as a webtoon written and illustrated by HYBE in collaboration with Naver Webtoon and a separate web novel with an alternative storyline on Wattpad. An English physical version was published by Yen Press' imprint, Ize Press. The Korean release was published by Haksan Publishing. It ran from January 15, 2022, to August 12, 2023, consisting of 70 chapters.

The characters and storyline are based on the South Korean boy band Enhypen and their music videos. The original story began with their "Drunk-Dazed" music video released on April 26, 2021.

Dark Moon: The Blood Altar is part of Project Dark Moon, a multimedia initiative by HYBE that blends music, film, novels, animation, and other media to create an immersive narrative universe. It is the first story in the Dark Moon series, consisting of Dark Moon: The Blood Altar with Enhypen, the prequels Dark Moon: Children of Vamfield and Dark Moon: The Blood of Vargr, the sequel Dark Moon: Two Moons, and the spin-off Dark Moon: The Grey City with the Japanese boy band &Team.

An anime television series adaptation produced by Troyca premiered in January 9, 2026.

Plot

Sooha is a young woman who has been forced to conceal her superhuman abilities to avoid being mistaken for a vampire. After being wrongfully accused of vampirism and blamed for her childhood friend's death, she enrolls in Decelis Academy, a night school said to bar entry to supernatural beings such as vampires and werewolves.

At the academy, Sooha meets Heli, a student who befriends her despite learning her secret, and is introduced to his close circle of friends, each secretly being a vampire and possessing unique powers. Though they try to protect her, the group is inexplicably drawn to her and willing to follow her wishes. When a recent murder linked to a vampire occurs, Sooha is drawn into a centuries-old conflict between vampires and the other most popular group at school, the werewolves. As tensions rise, she becomes entangled in the dangerous supernatural world she has long sought to avoid.

Characters

Main characters

• Sooha

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The protagonist of Dark Moon: The Blood Altar. She is a human with supernatural strength that often makes people mistake her for a vampire. The discrimination she received due to that, started her deep hatred towards vampires. She transferred to the tenth grade at the Decelis Academy.

The vampires

• Heli (based on Enhypen's Heeseung)

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A vampire in the twelfth grade at the Decelis Academy and the captain and center of the Nightball Team. He has the ability of telepathy and is able to converse with others through his mind.

• Solon (based on Enhypen's Sunghoon)

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A vampire-werewolf hybrid in the tenth grade at the Decelis Academy and a forward of the Nightball Team. He keeps the fact that he is half werewolf from his vampire brothers.

• Jakah (based on Enhypen's Jungwon)

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A vampire in the ninth grade at Decelis Academy and the wing of the Nightball Team. He is the smartest among his brothers and has supernatural speed.

• Jaan (based on Enhypen's Jay)

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A vampire in the eleventh grade at the Decelis Academy and the enforcer of the Nightball Team. He has supernatural strength.

• Shion (based on Enhypen's Sunoo)

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A vampire in the tenth grade at the Decelis Academy and a back of the Nightball Team. He has the ability of manipulating others' minds, as well as gravity manipulation.

• Jino (based on Enhypen's Jake)

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A vampire in the eleventh grade at the Decelis Academy and a back of the Nightball Team. He has pyrokinesis, the ability of manipulating and creating fire.

• Noa (based on Enhypen's Ni-Ki)

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A vampire in the ninth grade at the Decelis Academy and a forward of the Nightball Team. He can control darkness and cast shadows.

Side characters

• Chris

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A human and Sooha's childhood friend. Despite passing away at a young age, Sooha appeared to see him after transferring to the Decelis Academy.

The werewolves

• Khan (based on &Team's K)

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• Tahel (based on &Team's Taki)

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• Najak (based on &Team's Nicholas)

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• Enzy (based on &Team's EJ)

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• Ruslan (based on &Team's Harua)

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• Camill (based on &Team's Jo)

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• Mahan (based on &Team's Fuma)

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Music

Memorabilia (ENHYPEN album)

Memorabilia is a special extended play (EP) by South Korean boy band ENHYPEN, released on May 13, 2024, as part of the Dark Moon: The Blood Altar webtoon series. The album includes tracks that serve as the opening and ending themes for the anime adaptation of Dark Moon: The Blood Altar.

The physical album was issued in multiple versions, including Moon, Vargr, and a special Decelis Academy edition, each containing themed merchandise such as photo cards, lyric sheets, and collectible items tied to the Dark Moon: The Blood Altar universe.

Track listing

1. "One In A Billion" (2022)
2. "Criminal Love" (2023)
3. "Fatal Trouble" (2024)
4. "Teeth" (2024)
5. "Lucifer" (2024)
6. "Scream" (2024)

Other

ENHYPEN have released multiple music videos and visual content as part of the Dark Moon: The Blood Altar universe.

• ENHYPEN – "Given-Taken" (2020)
• ENHYPEN – "Drunk‑Dazed" (2021)
• ENHYPEN – "Fever" (2021)
• ENHYPEN – "Tamed‑Dashed" (2022)
• ENHYPEN – "Tamed‑Dashed (Japanese ver)" (2022)
• ENHYPEN – "Blessed‑Cursed" (2022)
• ENHYPEN – "Future Perfect (Pass the MIC)" (2022)
• ENHYPEN – "Future Perfect (Pass the MIC) (Japanese ver)" (2022)
• ENHYPEN – "One In A Billion" (2022)
• ENHYPEN – "Bite Me" (2023)
• ENHYPEN – "CRIMINAL LOVE" (2023)
• ENHYPEN – "Fatal Trouble" (2024)
• ENHYPEN – "XO (Only If You Say Yes)" (2024)
• ENHYPEN – "No Doubt" (2024)
• ENHYPEN – "Bad Desire" (2025)
• ENHYPEN – "Knife" (2026)

Series

Title	Role	Plot summary
Dark Moon: The Blood Altar	Main series	Follows the story of Sooha and a group of vampires at Decelis Academy, exploring supernatural conflicts and the challenges of coexisting with humans.
Dark Moon: Children of Vamfield	Prequel	Focuses on the origins of the seven vampires. They grow up in an orphanage before discovering their hidden heritage and the secrets of the vampire world.
Dark Moon: The Blood of Vargr	Prequel	Focuses on the meeting of Princess Selen who tries to find a way to change the doomed future of the kingdom of Vargr and the seven knights trying to protect her.
Dark Moon: Two Moons	Sequel	Continues the events of The Blood Altar, introducing the mysterious girl Selen and further developing the relationships and conflicts within the vampire society.
Dark Moon: The Grey City	Spin-off	A prequel spin-off featuring a group of werewolf boys navigating new dangers in a seaside village.

Media

Webtoon

Dark Moon: The Blood Altar began publication on January 15, 2022, on the webtoon hosting services Naver and Line Webtoon.

Web novel

Simultaneously published alongside the webtoon, HYBE and Naver Webtoons co-planned the web novel edition on Wattpad in which the storyline differentiates from the Webtoon version.

Short Films

Three short films have been released in connection with the Dark Moon universe by ENHYPEN. The films serve as cinematic concept works that visually expand upon the narrative themes and lore of Dark Moon: The Blood Altar.

• Dark Blood Concept Trailer (2023) - directed by Yu Kwang Goeng
• Orange Blood Concept Trailer (2023) - directed by Yu Kwang Goeng
• Desire Concept Cinema (2024) - directed by Minsoo Park

Print

Ize Press published an English print edition of the webtoon Dark Moon: The Blood Altar on December 12, 2023.

The Korean version was published by Haksan Publishing (Template:Korean) on December 15, 2023, as well as the webnovel on December 1, 2023.

The German version was published by Manhwa Cult on June 6, 2024. The French version by Hugo Publishing and the Thai release by Amarin are set to be published soon.

Anime

An anime adaptation under the Japanese name Template:Nihongo was announced during the Aniplex Online Fest event on September 16, 2024, which was later confirmed to be a television series produced by Troyca and directed Shōko Shiga, with scripts written by Touko Machida, characters designed by Masami Inomata, and music composed by Naoki "naotyu" Chiba. The series premiered on January 10, 2026, on Tokyo MX and other networks.Template:Efn The opening theme song is "One In A Billion (Japanese Ver.)", while the ending theme songs are "CRIMINAL LOVE" and "Fatal Trouble", all performed by Enhypen. Crunchyroll is streaming the series. Medialink licensed the series for streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Reception

Dark Moon: The Blood Altar is the most successful works among the HYBE Original Story Webtoons by HYBE and Naver. It exceeded 100 Million cumulative page views on Naver and is also highly evaluated in South Korea with a score of 9.78 out of 10. The webtoon ranked in the top five in the platform's chart in seven different language services including German, Spanish, French, Chinese and Indonesian, topping all Sunday series for 10 straight weeks. The Comic Book Resources similarly included the series in their "25 Top Manhwa You Need To Read".

Collaboration

• A festival with the theme of 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' will be held at Lotte World from September 1 to October 22, 2023. Any visitor can enjoy the festival wearing a school uniform with Decelis Academy logo, which is the background in the webtoon, and experience Decelis banquet hall on the third floor of Magic Castle.
• E-Land's global SPA brand SPAO launched 'Dark Moon collection'. This collaborative collection features products such as pajamas, rugby tees, ball caps, and socks inspired by the logo of Decelis Academy, the school the main characters attend. SPAO Dark Moon Collection will first be released at SPAO offline stores on September 22, 2023, and will be available at SPAO online stores starting in October.

External links

• Official website on Naver Webtoon (in Korean)
• Official website on Line Webtoon (in English)
• Official website on Wattpad (in English)
• Official anime website (in Japanese)
• Template:Anime News Network