Xingchen Bian

Im new to this making an interest stack or writing reviews thing. But recently watched a boat load of Donghua (Chinese anime) in a very short time period. The CGI takes a little getting used to, but just like watching SUB, you barely remember what it was like before.

This stack is based on Action/Adventure/Fun Cultivation type Donghua. Its not something you really see in anime a lot so it came across as new for me and I deep dove into all the top ones I could find.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND! This is not for everyone. This is not a list where you'll find something you may like, no matter who you are. This is more like "if you love one or two of these, you'll very likely love the rest in the list" kind of thing.

Lastly. I don't actually remember if one is better than another (especially after so many countless episodes and seasons). I have a small list in my head that pops up when I think "cultivation Donghua I wish I could rewatch like I had never seen it before." Some start off slow but get interesting and some the opposite.

I can't tell you what to watch and I don't care if you didn't like it. I did. Don't judge me.

Xianxia, directly translated to 'immortal heroes' comprises a number of popular genres including 'Cultivation', is a genre of Chinese fantasy heavily inspired by Taoism and influenced by Chinese mythology, Chan Buddhism, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese folk religion, Chinese alchemy and other traditional Chinese elements.

Protagonists are usually "cultivators" who seek to become immortal beings called xian. Along the way, they attain eternal life, supernatural powers, and incredible levels of strength. The fictional cultivation practiced in xianxia is heavily based on the real-life meditation practice qigong.

The stories usually include elements such as gods, immortals, yaoguai, ghosts, monsters, magical treasures, immortal items, medicinal pills, and the like. They often take place in a "cultivation world" where cultivators engage in fierce and usually deadly struggles to acquire the resources they need to grow stronger. Oftentimes, the initial setting is reminiscent of ancient China, but the stories usually become cosmic in nature, with the protagonists attaining godlike abilities, sometimes creating their own planets, galaxies or universes. While the primary focus is action and adventure, there are also romance-heavy stories.

Description taken from the wikipedia page about Xianxia subgenre.

This playlist contains series where the main character gained powers that tipped the world power balance through an unfair god artifact or just maintained fragments of their memories from the time gods roamed the Earth(*).

(* In an allegoric and literal sense)

I've watched countless Donghua and this list stands out from the rest because of the shows on the lists good animation quality, unique plots and character development compared to a lot of other Donghua with low budget, generic plots, short episodes and rushed animation.

List of donghua I watched/follow, mostly CGI, that have gotten a rating of 7-9 from me.

I have watched all of them and even re-watched some several times, I vouch for these if you're interested in cultivation, fantasy, adventure, reincarnation.
There are 49 CGI donghua in this stack, and 48 are good quality CGI of decent length per episode, while Yao Shen Ji isn't exactly good quality, it's a decent story and in my opinion fun to watch. Da Wang Rao Ming is the only 2d animation in this list, I love the story and characters, it's also very fun to watch.

I've seen a few interest stacks about this genre but I wasn't satisfied with their list so I wanted to do my own.

Some lesser known Chinese Anime I'm going to check out. Lesser known on MAL, some are popular on YouTube, like Wanmei Shijie has millions of views.

Contains only one entry per show, multiple seasons exist for most of them but only first season is entered.
Ordered by my personal rating.

Collection of all (Urban) Cultivation Donghua (only the first season entry)

Cultivation is a reoccuring theme which can be found in Xianxia/Xuanhuan, the extent varies
Low quality titles are excluded, eg. Ruohong & Soyep titles

Donghua is the term used to refer to animation produced in China, encompassing all animated works but specifically referring to Chinese animation. Donghua adapts manhua comics and is often associated with 3D CG animation, although it can also use more standard anime-style animation -IMDb.

Donghua, located on the lower end of this list, is generally worse than those above. The ten Lowest-placed donghua are only recommended after watching (or if you're bored) all the other donghua in this list.

All entries are based on popularity, views (audience), rating, quality, and my opinion.

All donghua in this interest stack are considered above-average or top-tier, animation and/or story-wise.

Some donghua on this list have not been watched by me but are generally well received.


Check out my other list ([SSS] 2D donghua) for more recommendations. Visit my profile for more.


ADDITIONAL:
1. The Rich God

This list will not include their succeeding seasons to avoid confusion.

~ Continuous update ~