K-pop boy group ENHYPEN has their own anime now. Dark Moon: The Blood Altar premiered on Crunchyroll on January 9, 2026. Produced by Troyca and directed by Shōko Shiga, the anime itself is an adaptation of the webtoon of the same name.
It’s a supernatural school drama where ENHYPEN’s seven members are reimagined as vampire students at Decelis Academy, a prestigious night school that officially bans vampires and werewolves but secretly houses both. The story follows Sooha, a human girl with superhuman strength who transfers to the school. Instead of living a normal life, she gets pulled into a web of murder and secrets about her own past.
Dark Moon: The Blood Altar is the first anime based on a K-pop group. It’s a bold step that could open the door for more animated titles based off of K-pop idols.
What Do Non-K-pop Fans Think of Dark Moon?
Depends on who you ask.
ENHYPEN fans obviously love the series m. For everyone else, the reaction is more mixed. The IMDB score sits at a 6.3, though that number is influenced by review-bombing from K-pop antis and enthusiastic fans spamming their takes.
Reviews from Anime News Network, which tends to reflect the broader anime community, called the premiere charming. Another reviewer noted that the male leads weren’t pushy with the female protagonist the characters had distinct personalities, and the show left them in a good mood.
The general consensus is if you like supernatural romance anime mm you’ll probably enjoy this. The important thing is the show is capturing the attention of people who’ve never heard an ENHYPEN song.
What Makes a K-pop Concept “Anime-Friendly?”
Dark Moon: The Blood Altar didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s part of the multimedia Project Dark Moon, where HYBE plans to blend music with movies, animation novels, and other media to create an immersive universe.
It started with the music video for ENHYPEN’s “Drunk-Dazed” in April 2021. “Drunk-Dazed” introduced the group’s vampire mythology that would be explored in “FEVER,” “Tamed-Dashed,” “Blessed-Cursed,” “Bite Me,” and “One in a Billion.” Fans spent years spotting connections between the videos, tracking clues about the story HYBE was telling across releases.
Then came the webtoon. It ran for 70 chapters that were released from January 2022 to August 2023. It exceeded 100 million cumulative page views on Naver with a 9.78 out of 10 score.
In May 2024, HYBE released the Memorabilia special album as a soundtrack for the Dark Moon universe. One of the songs from Memorabilia, “One in a Billion” was written specifically as an OST for the webtoon. The album eventually provided the anime’s opening and ending themes. By the time the anime was in production, the mythology had been running for three years with an audience that was already deeply invested.
But not all K-pop groups have a concept that’s interesting enough to adapt into a full-length anime.
A concept needs narrative depth that holds across multiple eras. One album cycle with a cool music video isn’t enough. It needs a story that’s fleshed out and interesting to carry a full series without relying on the actual group to appeal to fans. It needs character archetypes among the members that are unique enough to function as an ensemble cast. Most importantly, the worldbuilding has to already exist in a form that can be expanded. It can’t be something that was invented to justify an adaptation.
A group like ATEEZ would be perfect to base a series on. Their Treasure/Expedition/Halazia storyline features a complex mythology, that has been going on for years. EXO is a slightly frustrating case. Their original concept made the members with their own distinct superpower. It was practically designed for animation. SM Entertainment had one of the most fascinating concepts in K-pop yet they haven’t really done anything with it outside of group comebacks. Dreamcatcher, ARTMS, Monsta X, ILLIT, NMIXX are another example of groups that can be the source of some interesting anime.
A Win For K-pop Agencies
Anime has enormous reach in Japan and Southeast Asia, two of K-pop’s biggest markets. Turning a group’s concept into a television series can introduce them into an audience that’s not familiar with K-pop. Plus, if an anime becomes popular it can lead to merchandise, soundtracks, theatrical releases that can generate revenue.
However, money, connections and time are resources many K-pop agencies don’t have. HYBE is big enough to attract the best animation studios and ENHYPEN is a popular group that’s been around for almost six years. Larger agencies like SM, JYP and maybe KQ Entertainment for ATEEZ, are positioned to pursue something like this. Smaller labels are at a disadvantage, especially for groups that lack a passionate fandom.
Is This the Future of K-pop?
Even if Dark Moon becomes a massive hit, it doesn’t always mean it’s the start of a new trend. Hell, the anime only premiered last month and hasn’t been renewed for a second season yet. It’s too early to see if other agencies decide to follow in HYBE’s footsteps.
If this is the beginning of the next phase of the Hallyu Wave, all parties involved have to be genuinely interested in making an anime work. It can’t be stuffed to the brim with fan service or reference only hardcore fans will understand. And the studios involved need to be invested in in the material, not just contracted to bring it to life.
The fact that an ENHYPEN-inspired anime even exists is a good sign. Studios are constantly searching for an IP with a good narrative and the K-pop industry is ripe for inspiration. Some non-K-pop anime fans like the series, so there is interest in a project like this. Only time will tell if we’ll get more shows like Dark Moon: The Blood Altar.
