The 20 Best Donghua to Watch Right Now
This is our standing answer to the only question most readers actually have: what should I watch? The series below are the best Chinese animation available to an English-speaking audience right now. Two months of waiting are over: the first verified movement of the year has landed, and this page records exactly what moved, why, and on what evidence.
The full list
Scores are composite values on our five-factor model (explained at the bottom of the page). They measure a series' overall standing for a Western viewer, not its raw popularity in China. Nineteen series this month — one entry out, one in.
| Rank | Title | Chinese title | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| S-Tier · The defining works | |||
| 01 | Lord of Mysteries | 诡秘之主 | 9.4 |
| 02 | Link Click ▲2 | 时光代理人 | 9.1 |
| 03 | To Be Hero X ▼1 | 凸变英雄X | 8.9 |
| 04 | Mo Dao Zu Shi | 魔道祖师 | 9.0 |
| 05 | Heaven Official's Blessing | 天官赐福 | 8.8 |
| 06 | Fog Hill of Five Elements | 雾山五行 | 8.7 |
| A-Tier · The cultivation backbone | |||
| 07 | The King's Avatar | 全职高手 | 8.5 |
| 08 | Release That Witch | 放开那个女巫 | 8.4 |
| 09 | Soul Land | 斗罗大陆 | 8.3 |
| 10 | The Daily Life of the Immortal King | 仙王的日常生活 | 8.2 |
| 11 | Perfect World | 完美世界 | 8.1 |
| 12 | A Mortal's Journey to Immortality | 凡人修仙传 | 8.1 |
| 13 | Renegade Immortal ▲1 | 仙逆 | 8.0 |
| 14 | Battle Through the Heavens ▼1 | 斗破苍穹 | 8.0 |
| B-Tier · Range and range-breakers | |||
| 15 | Beyond the Timescape NEW | 光阴之外 | 8.0 |
| 16 | The Outcast ▼1 | 一人之下 | 7.9 |
| 17 | Throne of Seal ▼1 | 神印王座 | 7.8 |
| 18 | Scissor Seven ▼1 | 刺客伍六七 | 7.8 |
| 19 | The Magic Chef of Ice and Fire ▼1 | 冰火魔厨 | 7.7 |
The defining works
The top of the board finally has its story for the year. Lord of Mysteries holds #1 on the strength of the strongest magic system currently animated — and, honestly, on the fact that nothing has aired to challenge it since the Prey special. Directly beneath it, the two-year wait ended: Link Click Season 3 Part One premiered August 14, two months ahead of the autumn window that had circulated, with a Crunchyroll simulcast for Western viewers. The between-seasons penalty that held it at #3 despite a 9.1 aggregate is gone — and the season's numbers back the promotion: 18.84M first-day Bilibili views, 420,000 danmaku before evening, a MAL score near 8.6 with a franchise average now above Demon Slayer's. That is what moving a title looks like here: aired episodes, measured reception, and a named comparison. To Be Hero X is not a lesser show today than it was in July — it is the same technical high-water mark — but it now sits third because its rival finally aired and it has not. When Season 2 gets a date, this argument reverses; until then, the order reflects the month as it actually is.
The cultivation backbone
One verified swap inside the tier. Renegade Immortal and Battle Through the Heavens have sat level at 8.0 since June, and the tie-break was always going to be activity: BTTH entered a planned seven-week hiatus after episode 207, resumed September 6 with the series extended 209 → 219 episodes and a ~100-minute finale film (双帝之战) queued for Q4 — while Renegade Immortal simply kept airing, episode 154 landing August 16, on top of an H1 2026 in which it led all donghua in effective views at 1.89B. A hiatus does not erase a legacy, but a live weekly run outweighs a recap-slot rerun when two scores are tied. Both remain the two pillars new xianxia is measured against; the order just now reflects who is actually on air. Elsewhere the tier holds: Soul Land 2 and Perfect World keep their rolling schedules, and nothing else aired with enough force to move a rank.
Range, range-breakers, and one new entry
The B-tier absorbs this month's one new entrant and, as promised in our honesty policy, says so plainly: the tier is nineteen this month because The Legend of Hei leaves the board at #20 to make room. Its position was always held by a paradox — a near-perfect film entry point in a list that rewards ongoing series — and a verified newcomer with a stronger current claim takes the seat. That newcomer is Beyond the Timescape (光阴之外), Youku's adaptation of Er Gen's novel: the first donghua in Youku history to hit an 8,600 heat index, called a 2026 masterpiece by the trade press, with a second season already filed as a 78-episode year-round. Its debuts at #15 with an 8.0 — the same score as two A-tier pillars, held in B only because its Western accessibility lags: no confirmed Western simulcast yet. The moment a licensing route opens, that argument changes. The Outcast, Throne of Seal, Scissor Seven, and The Magic Chef of Ice and Fire each shift one slot mechanically — no new aired evidence either way.
Why the scores don't march in a straight line
The table still does not descend cleanly — a 9.1 sits above an 8.9 now that the tie-break flipped, and two 8.0s in the A-tier are ordered by who is airing. That is the model working as designed: a composite is a weighted blend, and when two series land within a tenth of a point, the softer factors decide — which show is airing right now, which has the cleaner English on-ramp, which is carrying momentum into the month. A raw aggregate would sort them mechanically; a ranking meant to guide a real viewing decision should not.
On our radar for October
Developments that could genuinely move the list next month — flagged as things we are watching, not changes that have happened.
- Spirit Realm Walker (灵境行者) — premiered September 3 on Tencent Video. 26 episodes from the studio behind Battle Through the Heavens. A strong first arc would make it the second new-entry case of the year.
- Battle Through the Heavens' resumed run (September 6) and the finale film. If the final 12 episodes land, the #13/#14 order gets re-examined on full-season evidence.
- Link Click Season 3 Part One's full cour. Twelve episodes run weekly into late October; a full-cour MAL number (not a four-episode one) is what a score change requires. Watch for it on the November page.
- The Sacred Ruins (圣墟). Still no date — Tencent's June conference announcement confirmed the project (90-minute pilot film + 52-episode year-round, Zhumeng Studio on UE5), but a premiere window remains unconfirmed, and we will not print one until the production does.
- Western licensing moves. A Crunchyroll or Bilibili pickup for Beyond the Timescape, Crowned in a Hundred Days' Western run, or any of the B-tier's less accessible titles changes accessibility scores overnight.
Sources for this month's changes: Link Click premiere figures via Baidu Baike and MAL reception via MyAnimeList; Renegade Immortal H1 viewership via Layar Hijau (H1 2026 report); BTTH hiatus and September 6 resumption via 17173; Beyond the Timescape via Mystic Otaku and The Paper; Spirit Realm Walker premiere via Tencent News.
Where the deep dives live
This page is the month's snapshot; the arguments behind each rank live elsewhere so two near-identical pages never compete in search. The June Top 20 carries the full per-title reasoning for the long-held order, and August's page records the no-change month and its reasons. For permanent explainers — power systems, character studies, beginner guides — browse the series hubs, and for genre context and legal viewing advice, start with the donghua guides.