From Lore-To-Legacy: ENHYPEN’s 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' Makes History As K-Pop’s First Animated Adaptation

There’s something unmistakably 2026 about the moment Dark Moon: The Blood Altar is having. Born online, shaped by fandom, and fuelled by a generation that moves seamlessly between music, animation, and storytelling, HYBE’s cult-favourite universe is now ready for its biggest leap yet.

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This January, Dark Moon: The Blood Altar, the animated adaptation of HYBE’s original webtoon, officially launches across more than 80 regions worldwide, marking a new chapter for a story that already feels deeply lived-in by fans. Available globally from January 9 on Crunchyroll, the series arrives with dubbed and subtitled versions in eight languages, underscoring just how borderless its appeal has become.

At its core, Dark Moon taps into something timeless: vampires, desire, danger, destiny. But what sets it apart is how distinctly modern it feels. Created in collaboration with K-pop phenomenon ENHYPEN, the webtoon has clocked over 200 million views worldwide, less a niche success and more a cultural signal. This is fandom as world-building, where music, myth, and character-driven storytelling feed into one another.

The animated series brings that universe to life with serious creative firepower behind it. Produced by Aniplex and TROYCA, and directed by Shoko Shiga (Overtake!), The Blood Altar is poised to appeal not just to K-pop loyalists but also to animation purists who care deeply about tone, pacing, and visual language. It’s dark, atmospheric, and emotionally charged, the kind of series you don’t just watch, but sink into.

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In a move that feels appropriately cinematic, HYBE is also taking Dark Moon offline and into the real world. From January 12, teaser videos will light up digital billboards in New York’s Times Square, a reminder that this story, once scrolled through on phones late at night, now belongs to the global pop-cultural imagination. Additional activations across WEBTOON platforms promise to keep the fandom loop firmly intact.

What makes Dark Moon: The Blood Altar especially compelling is how it reflects a larger shift in entertainment today. HYBE’s original stories aren’t confined to one medium; they’re designed to travel. From webtoons and novels to books, brand collaborations, and now animation, these narratives thrive on immersion—inviting fans to imagine, project, and emotionally invest.

And perhaps that’s the real magic of The Blood Altar: it doesn’t ask you to choose between being a music fan, an animation nerd, or a lover of dark fantasy. It lets you be all of it, at once.

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