Japanese anime is often the standard for animated series. While Japanese animation studios, directors, writers, and mangaka have certainly earned their flowers several times over, this does not mean that they are the only players in the game. Chinese anime, called donghua, are equally well-written and are rightfully gaining more and more popularity and wider audiences across the globe.
Donghua series share many of the same popular genres and subgenres as Japanese anime, like high fantasy, isekai, and historical romance. Recent years have only seen more and more creative donghua stories with fresh takes on storytelling elements like character tropes and high fantasy magic systems. Donghua is also wonderfully creative and experimental with animation itself, blending different kinds of animation, including traditionally drawn animation, CGI, and 3-D animation.
Spare Me, Great Lord! Has a Creative Magic System
Promotional image of Lu Shu promoting Spare Me Great Lord Season 2.
Image via Big Firebird Animation.
Spare Me, Great Lord! is based on a Chinese web novel of the same name. The series takes place in a kind of magic school, and it takes power systems and power leveling to new heights. Shu Lu is a new take on a character who begins as weak but noble and kind, who then inherits a great slew of unique powers.
Shu Lu begins as frail and humble, but a tragic car accident awakens his latent cultivation powers. His cultivation powers are unique and potentially ignoble, and he must keep the nature of them a secret. He can draw on the negative emotions of others to make himself more powerful.
No Doubt In Us Explores Gender Dynamics With Lighthearted Magical Realism
The Emperor and Empress lay down and gaze at each other in No Doubt In Us.
Image via Netflix.
No Doubt In Us is a romantic comedy which follows an emperor and his wife. It takes place in a fictionalized royal court inspired by Imperial China. The emperor and his wife are not a close married couple; they both guard their hearts from each other.
The emperor is ill at ease around his wife, who comes across as fierce and uneasy to please. The Empress Dowager is, in fact, a fierce woman, though she is so not because she’s cruel but because she is intelligent, and she does not yet feel as if she can trust the emperor with her heart. When the married couple fall into an enchanted pond together, they switch bodies and gain a new first-hand perspective into one another’s respective lives. No Doubt In Us examines complex topics like gender roles and political dynamics while maintaining a lighthearted tone fitting for a sweet, whimsical romantic comedy.
Fairies Albums Combines Folkloric Fantasy With an Anthology-Like Story Structure
Tao Yao holds an umbrella in Fairies Albums.
Image via Haoliners Animation League.
Fairies Album is a fantasy series told in a vignette-style structure. The series is underrated, but those who give it a chance tend to truly adore it. It follows Tao Yao, a doctor who treats spirits.
As Tao Yao treats fairies, she listens to their stories, often as a way to find out what ails them, and potentially what could help them. The vignette stories in Fairies Album are incredibly emotional without being trite or saccharine. Later seasons explore a romance in the main cast. Fairies Album is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Sha Luo Shangshu.
Lord of Mysteries Is an Isekai Series Set in a Fantastical World Inspired by Fictorian England
Klein looks at his hand with curiosity while in spirit form in Lord of Mysteries.
Image via B.CMay Pictures.
Lord of Mysteries is a new release donghua based off an acclaimed Chinese web novel series of the same name by Yuan Ye. The series is a blend of several different fantasy subgenres, including paranormal, dark fantasy, Lovecraftian horror, and steampunk. The story, set in an alternate Victorian era England, follows protagonist Klein Moretti, the leader of the Tarot Club.
It’s easy for steampunk to feel a bit uninspired or even overdone, as it was so popular in the early 2000s. However, Lord of Mysteries captures audiences with clever world-building and well-paced storytelling. Fans of the immensely popular web novel series have been incredibly pleased with the new animated adaptation.
Cinderella Chef Is Cooking Anime Meets Isekai Anime Romance
Promotional image from the donghua, Cinderella Chef.
Image via Bilibili.
The fantasy cooking anime, Cinderella Chef is alternately titled Adorable Food Goddess, and it’s based on the web novel, Meng Qi Shi Shen, by Ziyi 281. It follows the heroine, Ye Jiayao, a talented chef from the present day who accidentally travels through time to a fantastical Ancient China. Through her magical transportation, Ye Jiayao retains her cooking knowledge and talents, and her clever wits, which serve her in her new world.
Cinderella Chef has a lush color palette, and an elegant art style that befits its historical and cooking elements. As the title’s reference to a romantic fairy tale implies, Ye Jiayao also has a heart-sweeping romance with a dashing man who assumes a secret identity. What follows is a creative take on beloved romance tropes, like fake marriage/marriage of convenience.
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Is an Incredibly Popular BL Romance
The promotional header for the donghua, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.
Image via Tencent Penguin Pictures.
Mo Dao Zu Shi is translated in English to The Master of Diabolism or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. The award-winning Chinese web comic by Lyo Di Cheng Qiu and Kuangfeng Chui Kudang has amassed such a devoted, international fan base that it was released as print editions in several languages and adapted into an audio drama, an audiobook, a live action series, a stage production, and an anime donghua adaptation of the same name.
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is a BL donghua that has a more subtle romance than in the book, but nevertheless, audiences still adore the chemistry and developing relationship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian is one of the top cultivators of his generation, with a gift for Demonic Cultivation. His love interest, Lan Wangji, is both a friend from his past and a talented cultivator in his own right. Together, they adventure and explore complex clan dynamics.
A Clever, Multi-Talented Bride Dances Circles Around a Cruel Prince Consort in Psychic Princess
Qian Yunxi and the prince are standing back to back in the donghua Psychic Princess.
Image via Tencent Animation.
The paranormal historical donghua Psychic Princess opens when an unwanted daughter in a respected noble house is sent in her sister’s stead to marry a prince with a cruel reputation. Lady Qian Yun Xi is no fearful wallflower, and she looks on her circumstances with optimism and charisma, only to find for herself that her intended consort, Prince Ye You Ming, has in fact earned his reputation. Prince Ye sneers at his bride and after their marriage, and swiftly packs her off to a haunted pavilion.
Prince Ye intends the haunted pavilion as an insult. However, luckily for Qian Yun Xi, she has a special set of talents which make a ghostly pavilion an asset to her rather than a nightmare. Qian Yun Xi can speak with ghosts and animals, among her other manifold talents. Soon, she’s running circles around her arrogant prince, checking his ego until he can’t help but fall in love with her.
Fog Hill of Five Elements Is a Historical Fantasy of Elemental Magic & Legendary Monsters
The main character in the donghua, Fog Hill of Five Elements.
Image via Samsara Animation Studio.
Fog Hill of Five Elements seizes the audience with bold pacing and stunningly animated battle sequences. The series is a creative trailblazer for animation coloration and art style. The animation doesn’t rely on too many wide shots, either. The fight choreography still shines as the characters fight in close quarters, hand-to-hand.
Beyond being a stellar battle anime sure to please shonen fans, the story is also well-supported by nuanced, rounded characters. Fog Hill of Five Elements is only building in popularity with fans of donghua and newcomers to the genre. Hopefully, such popular demand will result in more streaming options for the series, which follows the adventures of warriors with elemental magic who battle fierce and legendary demons.
Renegade Immortal Is an Emotional Dark Fantasy Series
Renegade Immortal donghuaWang Lin reaching out his hand in the donghua, Renegade Immortal.
Image via Tencent Penguin Pictures.
Renegade Immortal is based on the Chinese manhua written by Er Gen and published in Wang Man Magazine. The thirteen-volume book series is adapted into a 3-D animated donghua by Tencent Penguin Pictures. The story follows the weakened protagonist, Wang Lin, who is determined to attain immortality and become a high grade cultivator.
Renegade Immortal stands out because of its stunning visuals and breathtaking fight scene animations. Beyond the art style and aesthetics of the series, the story is incredibly character-driven, which helps set it apart from other battle and power-leveling anime. Wang Lin’s journey from weakness to strength takes place on several levels, from physical to magical to emotional.
Heaven Official’s Blessing Is an Ethereal Story That Combines Romance & Redemption
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian happily sitting next to each other on a rooftop in Heaven Official’s Blessing.
Image via Haoliners Animation League.
Heaven Official’s Blessing has taken the BL scene by storm, though there is plenty more to the series beyond its superbly written romance. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s story is many newcomers’ first introduction to the world of donghua. The animated series is based on an acclaimed Chinese novel series by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu.
The manhua series began as a web novel and gained such a fan base that it was published in print, translated, released as special editions, and adapted into a live action series in 2021. Heaven Official’s Blessing combines a celestial magic system with romance, comedy, pathos-filled tragedy, and thrilling action. BL anime is often censored, especially in anime adaptations, but the relationship between Xia Lian and Hua Cheng is given such care that there is no mistaking their romance.