It’s no great secret that I’ve often overlooked Chinese-made anime here. Perhaps I’m just bitter because most plagiarism of my work comes from Chinese sites and it frustrates me more than CCDP fascist policy, but mostly it is because you have to work a lot harder to find Chinese anime, as it turns out. Still, while you have to put the leg work into finding it, like being a Westerner finding Japanese anime in the 90’s, Chinese anime in the present day is becoming increasingly more accessible, and many viewers are learning that they have some good stories to tell.
Best Chinese Anime
The King’s Avatar
This series is easily one of the most popular Chinese anime series, and popular enough to be relatively well known outside of China. It follows a professional and top-tier gamer, who was pushed off his team and the game. Yet, he dives into the game as an unknown rookie on a new server and reaches for the summit yet again. It was legitimately nice to find an anime about gaming that didn’t turn into some sort of isekai sort of thing.
Full-Time Magister
One day, Mo Fan, son of a laborer with a crippled sister, is sent to a new world where he is still very much in the same situation, but this world sees magic reign above science. As such, he endeavors to become a great magister. Despite being bullied in his new school, he manages to harness the power of two elements to change his lot in life.
Chinese animation can be a bit wanting sometimes, but not here. This may have a pretty standard isekai/magic school plot, but it really brings the flash and sizzle in visuals that you watch those shows for.
The Daily Life of the Immortal King
As a prodigy, Wang Ling is near invincible in his existence, but power isn’t his problem, high school is. With a number of obstacles popping up in his path, his desire to live low-key and normally is becoming increasingly difficult.
This is proof that the more popular a series becomes, the more you will see it outside of China. This one is particularly beloved, though not as inventive as you might hope.
Rakshasa Street
Rakshasa Street follows a man who can wield a guardian spirit that he receives by chance. This allows him to enter a special area where humans with the affinity and spirits live side by side. Together he and his spirit unravel what exactly brought them together.
Now for as generic of a plot as this sounds – and is, I guess – it is proof that a standard plot done well can be very successful. It is, however, pretty fun to see that donghua lovers are just as crotchety about 3D CGI in their 2D anime as Japanese anime fans are.
Spiritpact
Chinese anime is probably one of the last places I expected to find a shounen-ai anime, much less a pretty good one that isn’t as unbearably trope-laden as some others. Regardless, it follows a man that, after some unfortunate events and a run-in with a white-haired man, has died and become a spirit. The man he encounters notices him wandering, and, as an exorcist, offers to form a pact that they will keep each other safe.
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation
For every cultivator, there is a bright path to immortality that they must walk and a forbidden demonic path that they must avoid. However, after a powerful cultivator accidentally steps onto the demonic path, it leads to destruction. After his reincarnation, he ends up in the body of a lunatic only to be reunited with a former classmate that thrust him on a journey of intrigue.
Someday, I will learn what exactly a cultivator is and why it is so prevalent in Chinese anime. I will also endeavor to learn why stories with strong shounen-ai vibes are so extra special popular. If that is a put off for you, I recommend that you still give this anime a try because it is pretty subtle and the story is actually really interesting.
Lan Mo’s Flower
I’ll be real. I don’t love the message that this romance about a girl that is able to change her appearance via a magical hairpin sends, but it is still a cute romance series. Though it only has 9-minute episodes, it still captures you in the way that you want a romance show to capture you, and the whole hair pin thing does inject a decent amount of innovation to the standard formula.
Heaven’s Official Blessing
Once long ago, Xie Lian was a crowned prince. Now, having failed to ascend to heaven two times, he is finally allowed into heaven. Only to end up being kicked back out again and forced to eek out a living exorcising ghosts.
More shounen-ai vibes, yes. However, incredibly rich lore that is probably getting plenty attention since it is on Netflix, but deserves a bit more!
Soul Land
I took one look at this animation and wanted to give it a pass, but it was something very highly acclaimed among Chinese anime, so I soldiered on. The story takes place in a world where everyone has an innate spirit. Some among them can harness the power of said spirit as a Spirit Master. The main character, a prodigal martial artist, leaps off a cliff and finds himself reincarnated. He discovers that his spirit seems quite useless, but that is not quite true.
Psychic Princess
Don’t be fooled by the title. This here is a fine rom-com rather than a middling supernatural show. The series follows a fixed marriage by the emperor. Originally, it was Qian Yunshang that was to marry Ye Youming. However, due to tensions between the families, Yunshang’s father summons back his eldest daughter who he exiled to the wilderness due to her strange powers so she can marry into the Ye household instead. While drama is abound, no one can resist her charms for long.
Uncharted Walker
One day, when they all wake up from sleep, a group of misfits find themselves on a desolate and dangerous island. While struggling to survive, they now make their attempt to escape.
While the animation here is rather average, I always enjoy a brutal struggle for survival. It takes some interesting turns too, separating it from mediocrity and being another Lord of the Flies.
Adorable Food Goddess
Food is a universal love, and as such, I could not help but adore this food-based series. It follows a girl who dreams of becoming a chef, but is sent back in time to Imperial China. Where she ends up getting a chance to follow her dreams to open a restaurant. It has got solid food and a bit of romance, which is a pretty great combo.
Spirit Blade Mountain
There was once a prophecy that said all the spiritual energies would be exhausted from the land and heaven by a comet. However, the comet passed without incident. At that same time, a boy was born in a rural village. Years later, the powerful clan in the land sounded a call for all talented individuals, inviting them to become sages, so this boy decided to leave his village and enter.
This one plays out less like most Chinese anime, but actually a lot more like your standard shounen battle anime shows.
My Cultivator Girlfriend
This series takes place in a world where the only law is the law of the jungle. Those who are cultivators are granted special powers and need to defeat other cultivators to rise in rank. One day, a security guard accidentally steals the abilities of another cultivator and finds that they are now hunted by someone even more powerful.
It is indeed a rather straight-forward story, but something tells me people watch this for the ecchi rather than the action.
Nuwa Growth Diary
Less lewd than it sounds, Nuwa Growth Diary follows an orphaned girl who learns that she is the Goddess of Creation, Nuwa from Chinese mythology. She is then trained to help lost souls reach heaven.
As a short form series with 9-minute episodes, this lacks some depth, but it does tell nice stories.
The Silver Guardian
This final one was a collaboration between Chinese animators and led by a Japanese director. As such, it got a touch more exposure outside China than some others here. The Silver Guardian follows a high school student and gamer that is rescued from drowning by a beautiful girl that happens to be the daughter of his favorite game director. When he discovers his favorite game is getting shut down, she sends him a new replacement and soon finds that she has been kidnapped inside the game. Spurred on by his affection, he dives into the game to save her.
I’m not an authority on Chinese anime by any means. If you have more donghua that you think fans out there absolutely need to hunt down, then let them know in the comments section below.
what about link click? that’s the best one