Seven Seas Entertainment, the publishing company that brought us Yes, No, or Maybe?, and the newly re-translated version of Seaside Stranger, has announced their biggest licensing agreement of boy’s love content, to date. Coming directly from China are three novel series by renowned danmei author Mo Xiang Tao Xiu (MXTX, as she is commonly referred to as). Starting December 2021, Seven Seas Entertainment will be releasing one book from three of her series. Titles include The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Ziju Xitong), Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi), and Heaven’s Official Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu).
What is Danmei?
Simply put, it’s the Chinese sub-genre of boy’s love (BL). It’s a genre of fiction focusing on love and romance between men, typically produced by female authors for a female audience.
Who is MXTX?
Mo Xiang Tao Xiu is a internationally recognized author of danmei novel series. All three of her book series have received manhua and animated adaptations. Originally starting by self-publishing her work on the website JJWXC, for free, NXTX’s audience grew to an astounding size (similar to C.S. Pacat, author of the Captive Prince trilogy).
Her most famous work is without question Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, which received not only a manhua adaptation but also two TV serialization. In 2018 Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation began serialization as an animated adaptation, and is still ongoing today. Its third season began airing in China this August. In 2019, the live-action TV drama aired for 50 episodes, titled The Untamed. In 2021, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation began broadcasting in Japan with a Japanese dub and was a huge success. The Japanese version of the TV series aired with a newly recorded intro song performed by Aimer, known as the singer for the majority of the Fate/Stay Night theme songs.
What are Her Books About and What to Expect?
Seven Seas Entertainment went on to announce that they will be releasing the uncut version of all three series, including side stories and newly written content not found in the original web version of each series. Additionally, the English translations will feature exclusive illustrations, shown here with a description of each series:
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System
Half-demon Luo Binghe rose from humble beginnings and a tortured past to become unrivaled in strength and beauty. With his harem of over three hundred wives and dominion over both the human and demonic realms, he is truly the most powerful protagonist — in a trashy web novel series!
At least, that’s what Shen Yuan, online alias “Peerless Cucumber,” believes as he finishes reading the final chapter in Proud Immortal Demon Way. But when a combination of rage and a poor meal choice leads to his death, Shen Yuan finds himself reborn into the world of the web novel, in the body of Shen Qingqiu — the beautiful but cruel teacher to a young Luo Binghe. Although as Shen Qingqiu he now has incredible power and abilities as a cultivator, he’s also destined to be horrifically punished for crimes against the protagonist, so this new Shen Qingqiu has only one course of action: get into Luo Binghe’s good graces before the young man’s rise to power. That’s the only way he’ll escape the awful fate of a true scum villain!
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation
Wei Wuxian was once one of the most powerful men of his generation, a talented and clever young cultivator who harnessed martial arts and spirituality into powerful abilities. But when the horrors of war led him to seek more power through demonic cultivation, the world’s respect for his abilities turned to fear, and his death was celebrated throughout the land.
Years later, he awakens in the body of an aggrieved young man who sacrifices his soul so that Wei Wuxian can exact revenge on his behalf. Though granted a second life, Wei Wuxian is not free from his first, nor the mysteries that appear before him now. Yet this time, he’ll face it all with the righteous and esteemed Lan Wangji at his side, another powerful cultivator whose unwavering dedication and shared memories of their past will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them.
Heaven’s Official Blessing
Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedication and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise can also fall…and fall he does, cast from the Heavens again and again and banished to the mortal realm.
Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time. Now only a lowly scrap collector, he is dispatched to wander the earthly realm to take on tasks appointed by the heavens to pay back debts and maintain his divinity. Aided by old friends and foes alike, and graced with the company of a mysterious young man with whom he feels an instant connection, Xie Lian must confront the horrors of his past in order to dispel the curse of his present.
Release Period?
The first volume of each series is scheduled for simultaneous release on December 14th, 2021. After that, each series will follow its own release schedule into 2023.