Best Chinese Donghua Series for Beginners

Key points

• Donghua from China, like anime, offers different styles of storytelling and animation.
• Link Click explores the manipulation of time in a way unique to the supernatural genre.
• God Troubles Me is a laid-back donghua with sitcom vibes, perfect for new fans.

Anime has been a major part of the entertainment world for centuries. With each new series, there is always something fresh that takes the entire anime scene to the next level, elevating what some might call the “standard”. While most people think of Japan when they hear “anime,” that's no longer the case, especially with some anime becoming super popular thanks to Korean manhwa like Solo leveling AND Nobility.

There's one type of animation that doesn't get as much love as anime generally, even though it contains some of the best stories and most amazing animations around: donghua. Donghua is basically an anime from China and usually features Chinese culture and traditions. While similar to anime in many ways, donghua come in a variety of styles and concepts, sometimes making them even more diverse in terms of animation and storytelling.

7 Click on the link

Supernatural mystery with a very sentimental undertone

Click on the link is a 2021 supernatural mystery donghua that stands out as having one of the most unique premises on this list. What makes it so different, not only from other donghua but also from most anime, is the way it handles classic supernatural tropes like time travel and parapsychology in a fresh and non-generic way. The story follows two friends who run a shop called Time Photo Studio, where they take photographs of customers and essentially come in to complete a specific task requested by the customer.

The main characters, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang, have strange abilities related to time manipulation and reality alteration. Cheng Xiaoshi can travel back in time by placing a photograph and possessing someone's body in it, while Lu Guang has the power to read the photo and predict the exact events that will happen within 12 hours of when it was taken. Together, they use these skills to help people resolve their regrets and find closure.

6 Land of the Soul

3D Donghua with heavy martial arts and Isekai themes

Donghua can be classified as a group of Chinese animated series, but they are not even strictly classified as anime, mainly because they are not always in 2D. In fact, some of the most popular donghua right now are animated in 2.5D or fully 3D, breaking the mold of what “normal” anime usually looks like. Land of the Soul is a 2018 donghua based on a web novel, which can be considered an extraordinary example of such a series, considering the fact that it is entirely made in 3D animation rather than conventional 2D.

Land of the Soul is an isekai story that revolves around traditional Chinese martial arts. It follows the journey of a man who loses his life after gaining forbidden knowledge, something that inevitably leads to punishment and death. After acting on his impulses and doing the unimaginable, he takes his own life, thinking he has lived enough. But instead of finding peace, he was reincarnated in a strange new world, inhabiting the body of a 6-year-old boy with the power to control supernatural beings known as spirits.

5 The daily life of the immortal king

Action comedy with an inherently overpowered main character

The daily life of the immortal king is a 2020 donghua that transforms its narrative from being exclusively action to incorporating small slice-of-life and comedic elements. It follows the story of Wang Ling, a seemingly normal sixteen-year-old high school student whose biggest challenge right now is… well, high school. While this is largely true, Wang Ling has a little secret that makes him different from average students: he is virtually invincible, with powers far beyond anyone's understanding.

At just six years old he managed to defeat the demon king and since then his powers have only grown stronger. But, for all his unbeatable strength and the fact that he is the reincarnation of the most powerful being in the universe, his biggest problem and only thorn in his side is high school, which apparently is more difficult than any feat. legendary he has ever accomplished before.

4 Spiritual pact

Supernatural action with a BL subplot

Spiritual pact is a 2016 donghua based on a manhua of the same name that extensively incorporates themes of spiritual mastery into its premise, like many other notable donghuas. It follows the story of two unlikely people brought together by unexpected circumstances whose survival depends on each other.

You Keika is a seemingly normal man with a seemingly ordinary life. He is not very financially stable and spends most of his time in part-time jobs to earn as much money as possible. But then, as if things couldn't get any worse, he dies in an accident and returns as a spirit. That's when he meets an exorcist who offers him a deal: he will keep you safe from humans, and in exchange, you will have to help him deal with the spirits.

3 The Avatar of the King

A real-life storyline that follows the journey of a disgraced professional gamer

Anime centered around video games tend to lean into the whole isekai theme, where the main character is transported into the world of the game – think Overlord, No game, no lifeAND Sword art online. This is the usual route. But what's less common is a story where the main character stays in the real world and goes on an eSports journey instead.

The Avatar of the King it is unique in this sense. It's a 2017 donghua based on the web novel of the same name, and there's no fantasy twist to getting sucked into the game's world. Instead, it's all about an eSports player's fall from grace and his struggle to make his way back to prominence, starting from scratch in the hugely popular online game Glory.

2 Star swallowed

Action, sci-fi, martial arts with hardcore animation

For those looking for a very hardcore donghua that focuses heavily on action and sci-fi, Star swallowed it could be a very solid choice. It is a 2020 3D donghua set in a very futuristic post-apocalyptic world with physically advanced humans and gigantic monsters on the loose. But, like most Donghua, Star swallowed keeps martial arts at the center of its story despite the sci-fi backdrop.

The show follows the story of Luo Feng, a recent high school graduate who wishes to become a warrior in their calamity-plagued world. Their world has been struck by a virus known as the RR virus that kills humans and transforms other living forms into violently mutated creatures. These warriors are the only line of defense humans have against the mutated creatures, and Luo Feng is ready to give his life to become part of them. What he doesn't realize is that it may be even more important in the grand scheme of things than he realizes.

1 God bothers me

A slice-of-life comedy with strong sitcom vibes

God bothers me is a 2019 donghua that is perfect for new donghua fans, especially because it is relaxed and fun. While it leans heavily on a fantasy plot, nothing feels overly complex or difficult to follow. It's basically a slice-of-life comedy with three totally unexpected characters who find themselves in a strange life situation, a bit like a sitcom.

The story centers on Su Moting, a half-monster, half-god who has only the human traits of both parents left. Her very non-human parents, wanting her to become more self-sufficient, decide to kick her out so she can hopefully learn some independence. This kickstarts her journey as an independent person, which leads her to live with two even stranger roommates: an introverted cat monster and a super dramatic god who seriously lacks social awareness.