Webtoon Review: Onyx Equinox
Zyanya is in training to become a warrior for her people in the city of Danibaan. She’s pretty good at it, too. Alas, this is not enough to stop Mictlantecuhtli from dragging the entire city into the Underworld. Zyanya survives, but we’ll catch up with her later.
The gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca are not happy about Mictlantecuhtli’s actions but can’t directly act against him. There’s a blood drought on, and all the gods need blood sacrifices to hold on to their power. Unfortunately, the humans have been wasting their blood on wars and feuds among each other, reducing the number of human sacrifices available. Tezcatlipoca is all for destroying the humans and starting with a new servant race, but Quetzalcoatl has a different plan in the form of a wager. If a human, “the lowest of the low” can successfully close the five gates to the Underworld before the next new moon, that will seal Mictlantecuhtli away, allowing the other gods to keep their power. Otherwise, Tezcatlipoca can go ahead with his plan.
The chosen one is a slave boy named Izel. Despite the inherent hardships and poverty of his position, Izel is relatively happy living with his older sister Nelli and improving their craft skills so that one day they might be able to buy their freedom. But due to the recent disasters, the city elders decide it’s time to step up the human sacrifice schedule. Izel as a foreign slave is the obvious target, but Nelli volunteers in his place. Izel is not happy and tries to go into the Underworld himself.
Izel is…saved…by Tezcatlipoca’s mystic jaguar servant Yaotl, but that worthy isn’t interested in the boy’s welfare so much as getting him to close the first gate. Yaotl doesn’t deny that the gods could bring Nelli back to life if they so chose, which motivates Izel to take up the quest.
Along the way, Izel collects companions. K’in and Yun, twin ballplayers with a mystic sports artifact, Zyanya the warrior, and Xanastaku, a girl who can redirect the flow of energy. The group isn’t exactly friends, but they do share a common goal, mostly. Too bad several of them have secrets that might derail that quest.
This Crunchyroll Original animated series is clearly inspired by the success of Avatar: The Last Airbender. One can imagine the pitch meeting, “like Avatar, but Mesoamerican and R-rated!” As far as I can tell, the cultural aspects are decently researched, and there are some cool costume and god designs.
The good: Mesoamerican culture is massively underrepresented in U.S. media, especially when told from the Mesoamerican perspective as opposed to that of the colonizers. As such, watching this was very gratifying to my “learn about others” itch.
Less good: Izel whines. A lot. He’s got good reason to, but since he’s the central character and on screen most of the time, it’s wearing on the nerves. He also has a tendency to make bad decisions that work out because other characters bail him out.
Crunchyroll clearly meant for this series to have a second season, so a lot of loose threads are left hanging at the end. For example, Izel and Nelli’s father, who sold them into slavery in the first place, is still alive the last time we see him, and there is obviously more to the story than Izel is privy to. This will be okay if there is in fact a second season, but I am skeptical about that.
Content note: Lots of blood, human sacrifice, slavery, harm to children, R-rated language, body horror, abuse, attempted suicide–and in one episode, nudity and onscreen sex (no genitals) which thankfully involves none of the underaged protagonists. While the protagonists are mostly teenagers, this series is not suitable for younger viewers, and parents may want to screen this before letting teens watch.
Overall: I’m glad this exists, and it’s decently done, but the target audience mismatch means I can’t recommend it unreservedly.
