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This is the best Boy's Love manga I've read. Despite being a Chinese manga, and having to follow the strict censorship regulations of LGBT+ content that exist in China, the relationship of the two protagonists has been adapted clearly and beautifully, being as faithful as legally possible to the source novel.

But Mo Dao Zu Shi is so much more than a gay romance.

Story: 10/10

There are several arcs in this story. With its current 190 chapters, the manhua has adapted roughly 60% of the full story, as presented in the novel. The Mo Dao Zu Shi storytelling combines different timelines, slowly unveiling many mysteries and providing ... exceptional background for the main characters AND antagonists. Despite its length, it doesn't take long for the heavy-hitter arcs to appear and blow you away. Once the main story is explained, and the main relationship gets established, the manhua quickly moves on to one of the most brutal tales I've ever seen in any form of media, and the hype never runs out of steam after that.

The relationship of the protagonists is perfectly rooted into the main story. It is the driver of the plot but it never overshadows all the unexpected twists, creative world-building, and intelligently written mysteries. No element of this story is lesser than the others, and everything gets just the right amount of spotlight to allow such a long tale to feel fresh, arc after arc.

Characters: 9/10

Wei WuXian is one of the best protagonists I've seen in anime and manga. He's such a diverse, funny, strong, flawed, scary and commanding character; he's perfect as our guide for this very, very complex story. Lan Zhan, the second protagonist, has incredible depth and it's impossible not to admire how much time was spent creating such an endearing badass that actually deserves all the praise he gets inside the story.

As for their relationship, it is my favorite romance in fiction. The love I witnessed here is unique. Not only is it very obviously adorable, but every gesture and every dialogue matters. Everything they do and say to each other, from the start, has a double meaning that you'll only being to understand after knowing their history. It's a relationship that has been planned with a lot of effort and care, continuously becoming more and more interesting and delightful to watch. I have never seen a slow-burn romance that hits as deeply as this one once all the pieces begin to fall into place.

The 2 main antagonists (so far) are incredible. I'm a sucker for good antagonists and I whole-heartedly HATE these genius and ruthless manipulators. I feel personally hurt by their actions. Simply amazing.

I give characters a 9/10 because while I'm impressed by the ones mentioned above, the remaining cast ranges from good to average. So far, there's no one else that has proven to be exceptional despite such a large cast of characters.

Art: 10/10

It's a colored manhua presented in relatively short chapters to maximize the resources put into the art. The talent here is as good as it gets for manhua; they hired the perfect person for the job.

Enjoyment: 10/10

It became my favorite romance story overnight. The roller-coaster plot and outstanding art are the cherry on top.

Overall: 9/10

I can't give a 10/10 to an unfinished story. There's also one arc (Lotus Pier Flashback) that let me down, because the donghua (anime) did an spectacular job with it, and I was expecting the manhua to deliver on the same level, but it didn't. As I said before, I'm not impressed by all the characters yet, and I need to see how they'll adapt the rest of the romance, considering the Chinese censorship on LGBT content doesn't seem to be going away any time soon, and it could potentially sour the endgame of their relationship.

All that being said, there's enough material already in this manhua adaptation for me to enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who likes dark fantasy. Brace yourself for an unpredictable, shocking, and often cruel story coated by a big, fat layer of sweetness in the form of the titular gay love story.